April no Aho [Chapter 16 - 3/4]

[JFC]

Chapter 5

An alarm went off. Like clockwork, I lifted my arm and slammed my fist down on the clock. Back to sleep. It left a throbbing sensation in my hand as well as my head, but I knew it was from being hungover. The alarm will ring again in ten minutes but I don't have to wake up for another thirty. In fact, I realized, I don't even have to wake up today! I have the next few days off, but I was just too lazy to unset it.

Yeah, that sometimes happens to me during the first few days of summer vacation. It really sucks when you're allowed to sleep in but you're used to waking up at 5:30 in the morning. 

As I lay there drifting between sleep and awake (and a bit of pain) all I kept thinking was Aya. It's almost as if I could feel the warmth of her body beside me on the bed. It's just the pillow, my mind said. Instinctively I turned toward that warmth and wrapped my arms around it.

Oh boy...this is going to be interesting when Miki actually "wakes up".

Then another sound went off. It's from a cellphone this time. It wasn't mine so I ignored it but it kept ringing.

"Aya, answer your phone." I groaned, my eyes still closed. It rang for a few more seconds then stopped. Then it rang again. Suddenly I realized that I have never heard that ringtone before. It wasn't Aya's and it certainly wasn't mine. I cracked open one eye as light pierced through it. After my vision became clearer I realized that I was face to face with Aya's mouth and never realized how curvy her lips were. Because they're not! What the hell??? My eyes went wide open this time and I found myself cuddling up with Miss Weirdo this whole time. I muffled my scream and almost did a backflip off the bed. I hit the floor and groaned. Eri's phone was still ringing.

Assuming that Eri's still fast asleep, this could explain why she's late so often. She sleeps through her alarm clock and wake up calls.

I gave up my attempts to wake her up and answered her phone.

"Hello?" I grumbled.

...

"Ah, you're not Eri. Who is this?"

"No, who are YOU?"

"I'm Eri's mom. Where is she? Is she all right?"

"Eri's mom?" Suddenly I went into manners mode. "Kamei-san. I'm so sorry for being rude." I bowed apologetically though it wasn't necessary. "This is Fujimoto Miki."

"Fujimoto? Ah, Fujimoto Miki-san? Good morning!"

"Good morning to you, Kamei-san." I replied "Um, Eri's here at my apartment. I guess she must've fallen asleep here."

"Oh, good. I thought she had fallen asleep on the train again. You know the girl can sleep anywhere."

ON THE TRAIN!

"Eri, wake up!" I poked at her butt and slightly giggled. She brushes me off again. I would keep groping and poking her but it's just no fun if you're not awake. I then bent over close to her ear. "If you don't wake up," I warned, "I'll give you a wedgie."

Eri then squirmed around and shot up from the bed as if she had woken up from a nightmare. "NOOOOOOOO!"

Hey, whatever works. 

*ERI'S MOM INVITES MIKI FOR XMAS*

Woo! XMas with da Kamei's!

If Eri's weirdness is any indication, it'll be interesting to meet the rest of the family.

I hear Eri scurrying around in the background. I forgot that she was a morning person and is usually up and energetic at this time. I don't know how she does it. I have to hit the snooze of my alarm at least 5 times before I finally get up.

I usually try to limit myself to hitting the snooze button 3 times before I get up.

Maybe I'm getting old. I just don't have the energy like her.

That's what coffee's for.

*MIKI AGREES TO GO SHOPPING WITH ERI*

Hmmmm...wonder who the gift is for?    Easy answer would be Eri's mom, since she's busy at home, it give Eri a chance to find something for her.

"Ummm, can I borrow that drama we watched last night too?"

Such a random answer, I thought. But I just rolled my eyes and went into my living room and grabbed the DVD out of the player. "Here keep it." I practically shoved it to her. "My birthday gift to you."

"Really? Are you sure? Thank you, Miki-sama!" She smiled.

I nodded my head. Yes, please take it away from me. I don't ever want to see that or Kazou and the chick with the incurable disease ever again.

First thing that popped into my head at this part was..."Oh, when she gets back and finds out that drama is gone from Miki's collection, Aya's going to be pissed!" 

[rndmnwierd]

Lawls I love the EriMiki interactions. If Aya doesn't come back soon, it seems like Eri might just worm her way into Miki's heart.

[rokun]

Man, sorry I didn't reply sooner to this, °e! Now you see more of how I'm like in this forum - I hang out every day and post my own stories (when I'm writing them, lol), but have a hard time reading stories sometimes. Anyway, I'm soo glad you're posting this and updating again. Don't know why, but your writing just always brings a smile to my face. It's just... so cute!

So you said this wasn't a GAM story, but I think it's fairly safe to say now it's (at least in good part) a FujiKame which, of course, is insanely cute (and also rather messed up... ). Gosh all the references you're putting in there bring back memories... Aya and Keita... Aya's age rumor... the H!Ms. Speaking of which, now I understand Japanese decently, I've got years of episodes to watch. I should do that one of these days... hmm... maybe a plan for tonight.

No idea what you're going to end up doing with this, as it seems completely awash with possibilities now lol, but keep it going!!! And again... welcome back... *wanders off in search of a certain communist...*

[DO Me DO Me]

Aww thanks rokun. It's really nice to hear from the ol' 4th station crew. My writing's cute? Maybe not the sugary sweet kind but the cutesy, humorous yet clever and twisted kind. A few hours ago I was reading my very first fic "The 7th Day" and just straight up LoL'd at how I ever came up with that story. One thing, it's probably the ONLY story in the world that involved the (un)lucky 7th gen audition finalists. Second, it's one of the few stories where it's mostly straight fiction meaning other than they were the 7th gen rejects, there's no other references I used to write the story. Because I realized now that I'm good at writing stories only if they have references to something that really happened (as in M.A.R.I.). That's why my other stories like "NG" and "First's the Worst" (<--though I'm thinking of reviving this one) failed because I have a hard time writing characters and situations that don't exist. Of course, it's all fiction, but using references makes it seem more real I guess. hehe

LoL don't worry, I do the same. I've been reading and catching up on fics (including yours) and haven't really commented on them, but I am reading them! You're looking for riida too? It's probably a good thing that she doesn't control this forum, remember these days?  Although, I wouldn't mind, it's a good motivator.

But glad you're liking the story, I'm going to town with all these references I'm putting in it. That means I'm going through old videos, very nostalgic! 

[Sukoshi]

*Sukoshi crosses arms*

I still want more NG!

 

[rokun]

^^ Yes, I think the way you defined cute is fairly appropriate. "un"lucky 7th, wow, more memories! I wrote some stories with references like that too, but I seem to have rather gotten away from it... lol. Still, it wasn't a bad thing. Maybe I'll do that again some day. It's a different world from the Curse of the Dragons or Odyssey eras now anyway...

And haha, I'm going through some old videos too! I've got what should be all H!M epis beginning from July 2004 (when I first started downloading stuff), and began watching them from there last night like I said in my last post. Yaguchi short jokes, Aichan country bumpkin jokes, and Super Unit Ecomoni... ahh natsukashii~~~

Glad after all this time we've kept on writin'

[ShikyoxYaiba]

Oh man, I keep getting lazy in replying. Nevertheless, I love this... All of the references make me lol since I actually understand them.

[kRisZ]

After my vision became clearer I realized that I was face to face with Aya's mouth and never realized how curvy her lips were. Because they're not! What the hell???

 

"Hey!" I yelled to her. "Answer your damn phone!" I threw a pillow at Eri but she just wrapped her arms around it and turned over to the other side.

cute

I got up from the floor and finally got a good stretch from my rude awakening. I looked at myself and Eri. Everything seems to be normal.

lol 

[DO Me DO Me]

Sukoshi - Gomen, if I even remembered what NG was about anymore I'd still be writing it. As far I can remember the ending was dumb/disappointing anyway. Can I exchange it for a rewritten version of "Everything's Really Insane" instead?.....that is, when I get around to it.

rokun - Yup, good to be back. 

JFC - I gotta ask ya, are you quoting the story first before you read it and comment it as you go along?

And you lurkers, come out from hiding! Commie, where are you?

Well I feel like updating again, yay! I've written enough chapters ahead that I won't come to a stuck point and keep ya waiting, hopefully.

------------------------------

Chapter 6

So we took a taxi to the place she wanted to go. I still don't know how I agreed to go with her when my head was still bothering me. I tried to catch a few zzz's but with no luck. The driver kept looking at us suspiciously, asking us if we were famous to which we kept denying, pulling our baseball caps lower over our eyes. I caught Eri fidgeting with the sweatpants I lent her and it made me snicker. They were a bit tight around the thighs (of course) and I then noticed one of the pockets was inside out. I shook my head in disappointment then proceeded to tuck it back in.

"Kyaa!" Eri yelped. "What are you doing?"

"Fixing your pocket, it's annoying me."

"Oh. I didn't notice." She replied.

Of course not, I thought. From the unintentional cop a feel (I swear, it was unintentional!), Eri's hip felt quite firm, definitely muscular. If there was a sound to describe it it would be do~n! I shook my head. Ah, Miki, I thought to myself, what's gotten into you? You should be at home in bed...with Aya. I slouched in my seat, crossed my arms, and tried to sleep but I was immediately interrupted.

"Hey, remember your story about riding in a taxi and 'purichi gyaru izu taifu~n'?" Eri said the last part in poor English and cackled afterward.

"What? Why are you suddenly bringing that up?" I groaned.

"It just reminded me, since we're in a taxi and all."

"So if we were in the dairy section of the grocery store, do I need to remind you about the 'Chiizu in rifuriijita'?" I countered. "Or better yet, eating 'dog chiizu'."

"Onri wan!" Eri retorted, in English. "I only did that once."

I rolled my eyes. Pfft, so she says. I don't really care. Actually, from the things I've seen her eat I wouldn't be surprised if she really eats dog food on a regular basis. By now the taxi driver must be thinking we were a bunch of lunatics and is on the verge of kicking us out of the taxi any minute now. But after that the next ten minutes were complete silence, although awkward, it finally gave me a chance to sleep a little since that morning mishap. But then...

Bonk!

"Ugh!" I groaned and opened my eyes. The taxi had come to a complete stop causing me to bang my head against the window I was leaning on.

"We're here~" Eri chirps.

After rubbing the bump on my head I looked out the window. I have no idea where we are but we better not stay too long. My mood has not been good since this morning or since last night even. We got out and paid the cab fare. Our destination was a crowded street market, of course it was only worse because it's Christmas Eve and all these last minute shoppers scurried about, not to mention it was a potentially dangerous place for us idols to be in. Maybe Eri's love for crowded places is probably why we came here. I tried to understand why, although her reasons are probably different than mine. Suddenly my hand brushes against someone's butt. That person turned around to find the culprit but with no luck. This suddenly gave me an idea. Through the crowds I would anonymously touched random people's butts. Big ones, small ones, fat ones, skinny ones, I felt all kinds of butts. At one point some poor guy got smacked in the face with a purse. I snickered eviliy in my head. I know it's kinda wrong but I couldn't help it. The thrill of being able to do this and not get caught actually lightened up my mood. Maybe going with Eri wasn't so bad after all. I'm at least out and doing something which is what Aya would've wanted me to do, right? Although this probably isn't what she meant. Who cares? I then followed closely behind Eri and when I found the opportunity I slapped her butt.

She turned around. "Was that you just now?"

"What?" I answered innocently.

She shrugged her shoulders and walked on. This time I gave her a wedgie.

"Itai!" She squeaked. "It was you!"

"Oh, shut up and go look for whatever it is you're looking for." I said and shoved her into the nearest shop.

"Ok, we are here." Eri said to herself as we entered the shop. "Time is of the essense. Every minute is crucial and so is the decision to chose the right thing." She looks through the little aisles of random junk. I wonder if this is how she shopped in Thailand. If so, people must've thought she was nuts. "It's ok Eri. Even if you do not succeed, it is not the end of the world. All will be forgiven. It is the thought that counts afterall, right?"

"Eri!" I broke her crazy train of thought. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Was I thinking out loud again?" She asked, now embarrassed.

"Again???"

When Eri said she was bad at shopping she wasn't kidding. We spent thirty minutes at that little store and came out with nothing. The next store took even longer and it was just a candy store.

"A scarf? Nah, he'll never leave it on." Eri spoke to herself, digging through racks and shelves of things. "A hat? Nah..."

I grew impatient. "Eri who are you buying for anyway? Your dad? Brother? ...Boyfriend?"

"Huh?" She looks up at me then starts to laugh. "Oh no, it's for Aru."

"Aru?" I repeated.

"Yes, Aru, my dog."

My face just dropped while my hand came up and smacked the back of her head.

"Iii~taiii..." She said rather slowly, rubbing the back of her head.

"Baka! You dragged me all the way out here for you to buy a gift for your stupid dirty dog!"

"He's not dirty!" She defended.

"Whatever, I'm going home. You've wasted my time!"

I couldn't take it anymore. I got out of the store and started walking away as far as I can. As I did I swear I could feel this heaviness weighing on my back. Not physically though, I think it's something called guilt. Or maybe I'm still hungover. Suddenly my conscience appeared in the form of Aya.

Tan~ It said. How can you be so rude? She was only trying to be nice. If she hadn't been there you'd be sitting at home right now wasting away.

"I wouldn't be if you hadn't left me all alone!" I spoke back to it only to realize that I am actually talking to no one but myself. I got a weird stare from a little boy. I glared at him and he ran away. "Fine." I sighed and turned around.

I don't know why I'm doing this but if it'll get rid of this nagging conscience off my shoulder. I see Eri still inside the store, looking confused as ever over what to buy for her dog. She doesn't really seemed phased by me blowing her off a second ago.

I cleared my throat. "Eri!" I shouted to her.

She looks up from under her cap, surprised. "Miki-sama?"

I came up to her. "Ssss...ssss..." I stuttered. "I'm sorry." I don't know why that was so hard to say since I say it to Aya all the time. Eri looks at me blankly which doesn't help me at all. Did she accept my apology or not? I added, "Um. I guess, I'll see you tomorrow at your house, ok?"

A grin suddenly emerged from her face, exposing her wonky tooth. "Really?" She comes up to me and hugs me suddenly. "Thank you, Miki-sama! It'll be fun, I promise."

I'm actually quite frightened to hear that.

[ayase909]

wah~ this two were suguio! 

it made me laughed when i read the part about one of the hello morning episodes, it reminds me the whole ordeal about it......

espicially the "rifuriijita" part....

as usual....mikitty the groper strikes again! haha " nice job! 

the yankii mikitty  is turning into a softie 

next chappie, author-san! 

[rndmnwierd]

I realized how stupid my last reply was, but I was too lazy to change it. Poor Miki, getting dragged out of bed with a hangover just to shop for Eri's dog. At least she got some enjoyment out of it with the whole anonymous groping deal, which had even more hilarious results. I can even picture it, lol. And aw, Aya's acting as her concious even when she's not around, that's too cute.

I can't wait for Christmas at the Kamei's, oh man, the possibilities for that are endless.

[Yuuyami]

Lmao, poor Miki xDDD All that shopping... for a dog xD

But hey! Free gropes! xDDDD

Though I find it interesting that a non-physical Aya appeared even though she hasn't before. A part of Miki's guilty conscience in the form of her long lost lover, awww <3

Looking forward to Miki prancing with the Kamei family~!

[adventwriter]

Awesome chapter. I love the interaction between Eri and Miki - and Miki's groping antics were just awesome. All of that for Kamei's dog 

Can't wait to see Miki spend Christmas with the Kamei's.

[Sukoshi]

Ooo a rewritten version of Everything's Really Insane ?

*Sukoshi uncrosses arms*

koakuma Sukoshi: oh no!  Don't fall for that.  e said the same thing 2 years ago!

Sukoshi:

*Sukoshi recrosses arms and stares at that Fujimoto* 
I'm probably the only one that doesn't feel sorry for Miki sama   Eri did drag her out for a free grope fest after all

It'd be funny if Eri's family did turn out to be normal.  So normal that Miki gets freaked out and runs out the door.

[JFC]

I gotta ask ya, are you quoting the story first before you read it and comment it as you go along?

Quote & comment as I read. That way it lets me get my thoughts down fresh as I progress through the chapters.  Only problem with doing it that was is that it takes a while.





Chapter 6

*FUJIKAME IN THE TAXI*

But of course it would have to be then that Eri remembers something like that.

*MIKI'S FUN IN THE CROWDED MARKETPLACE*

Miki's ninja-style groping FTW.

*ERI'S SHOPPING 'STYLE'*

Yeah, I'd probably be irritated to at that, I must admit. Then again, I'm a dude, so it's only natural that we'd be irritated by that.

I'll see you tomorrow at your house, ok?"

A grin suddenly emerged from her face, exposing her wonky tooth. "Really?" She comes up to me and hugs me suddenly. "Thank you, Miki-sama! It'll be fun, I promise."

I'm actually quite frightened to hear that.

Personally, I'm looking forward to the impending wackiness.

[strawb3rrykream]

Ch. 5
OSHI- First Miki wakes up with Eri in her face, and then Eri's mom calls!!!! I agree, not a good way to start the day. So cute that Miki's going to the Kamei's house for Christmas, even if she had to be roped into it. And the shopping too.

Ch. 6
The pocket thing...reminds me of my mom. She always fixes my pockets. Weird. Oh lawd, I love that HaroMoni episode. I can't believe Miki went on a groping spree. I mean, I kinda can but it's still like whoa~~~ Eri's buying stuff for her dog?! That is so weird, not even gonna lie. I know ppl do it but still...so weird. OMG Miki apologized?!

[DO Me DO Me]

rndmnwierd - it's not stupid. I noticed that whenever people predict what's going to happen next I end up leading them into a detour and then another and another. But from all the comments I've read, a lot have figured out where it's going to go BUT you just don't know when it'll get there. Just enjoy the ride.

Sukoshi - Awww, don't believe me?  I know I said the same thing 2 years ago But I've got the prologue rewritten at least!

JFC - It takes awhile but it makes a fun read esp. when you act out parts with emoticons

ayase909, Yuuyami, adventwriter, strawb3rrykream - Yup, nothing like Haromoni English lesson nostalgia, groping Miki, and silly but lovable Kamei to make a crazy story. I really love their interactions of course I exaggerated them. I really missed seeing that, it was kinda weird but kind cute at the same time.

Ready for the next part? Let's meet the Kameis! 

[DO Me DO Me]

Chapter 7

"Fujimoto-san! Merry Christmas!" Eri's mother greets me at the door.

"Merry Christmas, Kamei-san." I bowed to her as I entered their home.

This was the first time I've ever been to Eri's house. It wasn't that hard to find for it was the only four storied house in the neighborhood. Weird, I thought. Maybe they extended it and added a third and fourth floor. Her family's pretty rich or so I've heard. I took off my shoes as Eri comes running down the long flight of stairs, breathless in the end.

"You came!" She smiled, catching her breath. "Come on in."

I took a look around. For a tall house, the space was rather small. I took a step on the floor when this demonic hell beast suddenly comes out of nowhere and barks at me.



"Oh, shit!" I reacted then realized that Eri's mother was standing next to me. "-tzu." I tried to play it off. "It's a shih tzu, right?" I giggled nervously.

"No, he must be a mixed breed of some sort." Eri's mother replied.

"Oh." I played along.

"Weird looking, isn't he? He's like an alien space dog." Eri replies as she bends down, making kissy faces at her dog to which he growled in response. "Bad Aru!" Eri yelled at him.

Eri's mother then gave me a tour around the house. She told me that no member other than Sayumi has been to their home. Gee, don't I feel special? Along the way I met the rest of her family. Eri's younger sister, who's almost a spitting image of a younger Eri, greeted me first. I met her once before. She's really smart and good in school and totally normal and more mature unlike her older sister. Eri's older brother nearly freaked out when he saw me. Eri says he has a crush on me. Well, who wouldn't? I just hope he isn't one of those Miki-sama, punish me! guys. I'd be freaked out knowing that my brother had some weird crush on my co-worker. I think he nearly had a heart attack when I smiled at him. Finally I met Eri's so-called handsome father and I have to say, Helloooo daddy! My god, I wonder if Eri's mother ever had to fight off other women. If not, I might be the first. Am I too young to be a mistress? I shook my head in disgust. What is going on with me? I think I'm already affected by the aura of the Turtle family. I want to get out of here ASAP!

"And this is Eri's room." Eri's mother said as we reached the top floor. I figured her room would be up there, it almost looks like an attic, perfect location. Eri's mother then turns to her. "You did remember to clean your room, right?"

Eri pouts, "Shh, mom!" She hissed between her teeth. She's embarrassed by her messy habit even though everyone knows about it. Eri then turns to me with an uncomfortable smile. "Excuse me." She says as she barely squeezes sideways through her room door and shuts it. I could faintly hear her tossing things around. I looked at her mother who just shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm sorry." Her mother apologized.

"It's ok." I replied. "I was her hotel roommate a couple of times."

A few minutes later, the door finally opens a little wider this time, and Eri pokes out her head. "All good." She chirps as she motions me to come inside. I turned to look at her mother again who just gave me another shrug. I sighed as I walked into Eri's room.

"Well, I'll just call you girls down when dinner's ready." Her mother's last words were.

"Hai!" Eri and I answered together, as I watched her mother descend down the stairs. I wished she'd come back.

As I hesitantly entered Eri's room it looked like she had just trashed the place rather than tidied up. I wasn't surprised though.

"Weren't you just cleaning your room?" I asked her.

"Everything IS clean." She emphasized, meaning although it's messy, everything on the floor is clean, not dirty or stinky, if that made any sense.

The floor was almost non-visible except for a little path carved between the door to her bed in the corner, which was buried under a pile of junk. I hope she doesn't sleep with all that junk on it.

"I don't." Eri answers, as if she just read my mind. "I just push it to the floor when I'm about to go to sleep."

I swear I just saw three marus floating above my head. I've just entered into a whole new world. It's like this movie I saw awhile back, Twilight Zone. She showed me around her room, pointing out her various turtle paraphernalia she either collected or were given to her by fans. There was a collection of manga that looked like they haven't been read and some of them had duplicate volumes. Eri explained that she forgets which volume she last read and ends up buying the same volume again. And I'm sure there's a bunch of things she's borrowed and never returned to the owners.

I had no choice but to sit on the exposed floor where none of her junk touched. "Are you sure there's no critters crawling around here?"

"I hope not." Eri answered. "Or I'll end up sleeping in my parents' room, again."

My OCD cleanliness wanted to get up and start cleaning her room but I resisted to touch anything of hers. I shuddered thinking the floor will suddenly come alive. I stood back up and paced along the path impatiently.

"Where's your bathroom?" I asked.

"Um, second floor at the end of the hall." Eri replies.

"Oh, ok. I'll be right back." I said and exited her room.

As soon as I got out I let out a huge sigh of relief. It felt so stifling in there I just had to get out. I leaned over the banister and peered down. The spiraling stairs seemed endless as I made my way down passing the third floor and then going down another flight of stairs into the second floor. I see the bathroom at the end of the hall and quickly locked myself in. I sat down on the edge of the bathtub for a few minutes and sulked. Why am I even here? I thought. I just got here but I don't think I can take much more of this. I got up now and looked at myself in the mirror.

"This is all your fault." I said to it but I am actually talking to Aya. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here right now. And as much as I wanted to, I can't just leave that would be rude of me. Pent up with frustration and anger, the only other thing I could do was just let it out. But before I did I turned the sink on full blast, grabbed a towel off the rack, and had one hand on the toliet flusher. With that I shouted out loud obscenities muffling my face with the towel, along with the sounds of running water and flushing toliet.

"!@#$ *&%$...Errrrr! ARghhhhh! ^&*$ !@#$ GAaAaaAaAaAaAaAH!!!"

And then silence.

After catching my breath, I finally stepped out of the bathroom feeling a bit light-headed but somewhat relieved. But then I spotted the stairs and dreaded going back up. I took one step on the first stair up when I heard my name.

"Fujimoto-san?" A tiny voice called.

Startled, I turned around and saw Eri's younger sister poking her head out from her room.

"Oh, yes?" I replied calmly.

"Are you ok? I thought I heard some yelling." She noticed.

"Oh, uh. I just saw a huge spider in the bathroom but I killed it." I lied. "Sorry about that."

"Oh, it's ok. Good thing you got it." She then comes out of her room holding a box in her hand. "Here you go, Fujimoto-san. I heard you were coming today so I got this is for you." She looks around rather suspiciously at first, then hands me the box.

"For me?" I gasped. I didn't expect her to give me a present. Well, at least one good thing happened today. I smiled at her as I started to unwrap the box. But to my surprise, or rather, disappointment, inside was a very odd looking sweater in all the colors I hated which was anything other than black. It looked hand-knitted too for one sleeve was slightly longer than the other. Did she knit this herself? I thought. Definitely needs more practice. Trying not to sound rude I replied, "Thank you. It's quite interesting." I held it up. There's a character in front of it, it looks like a dog but its face looks totally warped and deformed.

"Ehhh? What is that?" Her mother appeared out of nowhere. "Isn't that the sweater Eri made and gave to you for your birthday awhile back?"

"Uhhhh..." Eri's sister droned guiltily.

Her mother looked at her disappointingly.

"Ah, Eri made this?" I chimed in. Of course, only a monstrosity like this could only be created by Eri.

"I'm sorry about that." Eri's mother apologized to me then looked at her youngest daughter. "You! Take this back."

"But mom! I don't like it! It doesn't even fit and it's freaking ugly!" She whined. "Nee-san couldn't knit to save her life."

I leaned forward and whispered to her, "Eri's bad at everything, isn't she?" And snickered.

"Nee~..." We both hummed in unison.

"I know." Even Eri's mother agreed. I was surprised by her answer. "But you know, the thing about Eri is that she doesn't give up. She always seems to work really hard even if she knows things won't turn out the way she wanted it."

I nodded. Well I have to agree with her on that. Who knows how many times I've seen Eri do something and fail miserably on the shows or concerts. But she doesn't sulk and dwell on it as others would have, she just keeps going. Learning as she goes along, I suppose. While her incompetence became a trademark of hers, her secret weapon is her determination. Wait a minute, did I just understood something about Eri? The Kamei Eri? Crazy, weird, aho Eri? I shook my head. Gah, this is getting weird. I'm picking up weirdo vibes from this house.

"I'm sorry, I'll take this back." Eri's mother says as she reaches for the sweater and takes it from me. "How could you give away something your sister gave you?" She scolded her youngest again. "You know how much work she's put into it? It's like a piece of art."

"Nee-san sucks at art too." Her daughter remarked.

"Mm-hmm." I replied and we both snickered. But the truth is I'm probably worst than Eri in art. While we're both creatively challenged, Eri's drawings just seems to have a unique charm of its own. I don't quite understand how but I couldn't help feeling envious whenever I see her wacky drawings.

"There you are." Eri suddenly appears in the scene. "What are you guys talking about?"

The three of us looked at her like a herd of deer caught in headlights.

"Oh, nothing really." I replied, hiding the box behind my back.

"What's that?" Eri spots the sweater in her mother's hands. "Ah, that's cute but kinda weird looking. What is it of? Somehow I feel like I've seen this before somewhere."

Our legs gave away like we just heard another bad joke from her. We all just gawked at her. Is she serious?

Her mother replied first. "Eri, don't you rem-"

"Remember, nee-san?" Her sister interrupted. "We saw it that one time at the mall." She nudges her mother to play along.

"Oh really? Hmm." Eri pondered. "I swear I've seen that somewhere else though. Definitely not my style, but oh well, if you like that sort of thing."

Eri left us now and headed toward the bathroom at the end of the hall. The rest of us look at each other, shaking our heads. We all thought the same thing.

"Did I mention, nee-san is very forgetful too?" Her sister made a last remark.

"Oh, trust me, I know." I replied.

Her mother sighed. "Well, when she's out of the bathroom," She said. "Tell her to come down, dinner's about ready. You guys too."

"Hai~!" Eri's sister and I replied.

As Eri's mother made her way downstairs I swear I thought I heard her mumble, "At least I have one smart child in the family." I almost cackled but I held it in.

A big smile beamed across Eri's sister's face. She must've heard it too. "Well, I'll meet you downstairs then."

"See ya." I replied as I watched her skip down the stairs.

And then there was one, well two if you count the aho in the bathroom. I paced back and forth in the hall while waiting for Eri to come out. This certainly has been an interesting day, I thought. It made me wonder what a typical day at the Kamei household was like. Only really knowing Eri's personality in the workplace, I suspect she must be a handful at home. For all I know, she could be completely different from work and at home. So far, from what I've seen, she's just the same at home as she is at work, maybe even worse. A few minutes later Eri finally comes out of the bathroom.

"Finally!" I huffed. "Your mom said dinner's ready." As I started to go downstairs I felt my cellphone buzzing in my pocket. I took it out and looked at the number. It was unfamiliar to me but I answered.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Tan!" A familar voice greets me.

"Ah, Aya!" I squeaked so high Eri's dog downstairs started barking. My face lit up until I realized that Eri was next to me. I excused myself into the bathroom again. "Aya, I'm so glad to hear from you." I nearly choked up.

"Me too, Tan." She replied, sounding quite chipper than I was.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, Tan."

"That's good to hear." I then switched into bitch mode. "Now where the hell are you? Do you know how worried I was about you?"

"I'm sorry to worry you." She apologized.

"Where are you? What are you calling from?"

"I'm on a pay phone. Don't worry about it. I'm not too far, but not near either."

My eyebrow furrowed. "What the hell does that suppose to mean?"

"Miki-sama," Eri knocks on the door. "I'll be downstairs, ok?"

I covered the mouthpiece. "Hai!" I replied and uncovered it again.

"Tan, who's that?" Aya questions the extra voice.

"Kamei Eri." I answered. "I'm at her house."

"Oh, yeah?" She sounded surprised. "What are you doing there? I thought you didn't like her much."

"Well, I partially blame you for it."

"Me? Why?"

"If you hadn't left, I wouldn't have been blackmailed into taking Eri out on her birthday, or nearly drowned in a sea of last minute shoppers, and get the third degree guilt trip by her mother to come over to their house for Christmas." Ok, so maybe it didn't exactly went that way but can you blame me when I'm on the verge of losing my mind?

I hear Aya guffawing on the other line. "That's quite a story there, Tan. I see you're already forgetting about me." She joked. "Maybe you should hang out with Kamei-chan more often. At least she's making you go out and do something instead of just being lazy at home. Heh, you wouldn't even do that for me."

"Not funny, Aya." I was starting to get pissed off.

"I'm sorry, Tan." She tried to say without laughing. Didn't work.

"Anyway, when are you coming back?"

Her tone went serious now. "I don't know."

That doesn't tell me anything. "Well, are you at least safe where you are?"

"Of course, I'm fine. Just don't tell anyone I left. Tell them that I've been sick or something."

"Well it's gonna be hard to explain that at work. But what are you going to do till then?"

"Just thinking things through, I guess." She sounded unsure. "I don't know. I just feel there's too much on my plate right now, you now? I need to sort them out and stuff."

"Yeah, ok, whatever. Just be careful and make sure you eat and stuff."

I hear her giggling. "Tan, I'm just venting, not homeless. I'll be all right and I'll start calling more often, ok?"

"You better, 'cause..." I peeped out of the bathroom to make sure no one was around. "'Cause I miss you."

"Awwww~" Aya coos on the other line. "That's so cute!"

"Shut up!" I retorted.

"Anyway, I just wanted to wish you Merry Christmas and all, it wouldn't be right of me not to tell you."

Wouldn't be right not to tell me? That's the least of our problems right now! How about it wouldn't be right of her to disappear and leave me lonely, clueless, and suffering. I took a deep breath to calm down. But there's no use in trying to argue, I just had to suck it up and take it.

"Merry Christmas to you, too." I mumbled unenthusiastically.

"Well, I have to go now. I'll call back again, I promise."

"Wait, don't go." I pouted.

"Sorry, Tan. And please tell Kamei-chan I hope she likes the gift I gave her. Bye now. Love you!"

"What? You got her a-"

*click*

"...gift?"

I looked at my phone and sulked. Unbelievable. Am I the only one in the world who didn't know about Eri's birthday? Is it a national holiday I don't know about? To her fans, of course, but come on. Wait a minute, isn't December 23rd also the Emperor's Birthday? How did I even know that? Gah, stop this nonsense. I looked at myself in the mirror again.

"This is all your fault!" I pointed but you know who I'm talking to.

Without further complaints, for it was useless, I finally joined the rest of Eri's family downstairs who seemed to be waiting on me. I apologized for holding them up as I pulled up a chair next to Eri. On the table were various dishes of food I've never seen before. Must be the traditional Kamei Christmas dinner. I felt a bit apprehensive yet curious on how this dinner will go and I hope it does not include a trip to the hospital.

[rokun]

Did I respond to the last chapter? I dunno. While reading through this story and thinking on my own, I'm remembering what your writing style is like... so I am apprehensive about how this story will proceed. That said, we're seeing the Kamei household I see! Miki has the hots for her dad eh? lol, that'd go over well I'm sure. And we see the return of Aya... Surprised Miki's not pissed she's not spending Christmas with her. >.> It is the couples' holiday, after all...

You mentioned in a comment to my story that Eri hasn't appeared yet. She will, and reading this is definitely giving me ideas on what to do with her character there too. ^_^ You're getting late! Looking forward to more.

[rndmnwierd]

Oh my god, I just about laughed my ass off at the sweater thing. My friend thinks I'm crazy(er) now. I like how those three commiserated on how bad Eri is at stuff, that was cute. Can't wait for the next chapter, as always.