@risa_ai: mehehe thank you!
@arisa03: lol rule of fairy tale: there is no second ball.
@Tian_Yuan: lol it was actually kinda cold because I was up north, and I'm a summer girl in the first place
but it wasn't bad~
and i'm back~
I gotta admit, it took me longer to pick a title than actually write it... lol
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Chapter 6 – “But the glass slipper did not fit the Stepsister” Risa rotated the small jewelry between her fingers, observing every angle and facet of it. It was a simple earring with a hook and a tiny chain streaming down from it, connected to a small glass charm that was cut up into a diamond shape. Although it looked like any common earring that could be found in a jewelry shop, the bean could not help but continuously stare at it, mesmerized by its clarity.
Why did she have to leave so quickly? Just a little longer… just three more seconds and Risa would’ve been able to hear her name. She must’ve had some sort of curfew… but was it so necessary to run out without a warning like that? Would she even remember her? Would she look for her? Would she recall the name “Niigaki Risa”? Or would she remember but just not care…?
Whatever the case was, Risa knew she had to find her. The fact that she wasn’t able to get any sleep last night because of recurring thoughts about the woman at the club definitely meant that she was hooked. If she didn’t search for her, Risa knew she wouldn’t be able to hear the end of it. The earring would be the key. Through it, she would find the woman, remember her face, her voice, her smile, her actions, the way she danced and wrapped her arms around Risa’s waist…
“Gaki-san! Did you hear what I said?”
Risa blinked as her eyes refocused on the earring in front of her and then her surroundings. Her flatmate was staring at her with a half-frustrated, half-worried expression whilst seated across the table. Her hair was ruffled up from just getting out of bed but her skin looked supple and clean from being washed. She leaned over the table and repeated the words that Risa had missed.
“I said, good morning, Gaki-san,” she said slowly.
“Ah. Un. Ohayou, Aika,” the bean replied curtly. “When did you get up?”
“A while ago,” the younger girl said. “I’ve been in the kitchen for a couple minutes too, but I don’t think you noticed.”
“… Oh.”
Risa made a guilty expression, smiling nervously at her friend as if to beg for forgiveness. Aika raised an eyebrow before she sighed and leaned back in her chair.
“Were you thinking about that woman you met last night again?” she asked.
Risa smiled a little, nodding her head. “You can tell?”
“Well, you’ve been spacing out while clutching that earring like it’s the holy grail of something,” Aika grinned. “She was really that attractive, huh?”
“Oh gosh, Aika, you wouldn’t believe it,” Risa sighed, a dreamy look appearing on her face. “She was sweet, funny, beautiful, a great dancer—”
“Yeah, yeah, you already told me a thousand times last night,” Aika interrupted, rolling her eyes. “Apparently, she was amazing enough to make you forget about your dear childhood friend at the club and ditch me for the rest of the night.”
“Mou, I already apologized for that!” Risa moaned. “Are you going to hold that against me forever?”
“Don’t worry, I’m only teasing,” the younger girl laughed. “I wasn’t mad in the first place anyway. Besides, because you left me first, I got picked up by a woman who offered me a drink at the bar.”
“Good, so you’re not really mad—wait, WHAT?” Risa slammed the table as her mouth dropped open. “You picked up by WHO and you drank WHAT?”
Aika’s eyes opened wide as she gasped softly, realizing her slip of the tongue. “Oops.”
“Aika!” the bean scolded. “I told you to stay away from alcohol! You’re still underage!”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t get caught!” the younger girl insisted. “Nobody doubted my age. Besides, I didn’t get drunk or anything; I only had a sip.”
Risa groaned, unconvinced by her friend’s excuse. “Mou, Aika! What am I going to tell your parents…”
“See, see, see, that’s the beauty of it, Gaki-san!” Aika said quickly, jumping at the chance to defend herself. “My parents live in Shiga while we live all the way up here in Tokyo! They won’t ever have to know!”
“Aika—”
“Please, please, pretty please?” the younger girl begged, pouting like a puppy with her hands clasped together. “Let me off the hook, just this once! I won’t ever drink irresponsibly again, I promise.”
“… Oh, fine, just this once,” Risa finally said, sighing. “I don’t have the time or the brain capacity to worry about your innocence right now anyway.”
“… You’ve fallen hard, haven’t you?”
“Ee?” Risa looked up at her flatmate, who was peering at her with a knowing smile. “I… I suppose… yeah.” The bean blushed red after admitting her feelings and exhaled heavily. “I just can’t get her out of my mind. She’s all I’ve been able to think about since last night and… and I just have to find her. There was this… thing between us at the club. I don’t know what it was, but I could feel it and I know she felt it too. This earring is all I have of her now, but I have to make the most of it and look for her.”
Risa ran her fingers through her hair, wrinkling her expression as though in deep contemplation. Aika gazed at her while chewing her lips, seeming to calculate something in her head. Her older childhood friend had always watched out for her, taking part in solving her problems. Perhaps this was one of those times where Aika had to take the babysitter role from the bean and help her out in a dilemma. If she didn’t assist Risa, it seemed as though the older girl wouldn’t be able to function for at least a good week, maybe even a month.
“Tell you what,” Aika said, grinning. “Since you have work today while I don’t really have any plans, maybe I can take that earring and ask around a bit. I can walk around the streets by the club and try looking for the owner. I’ll think of it as my own solo tour of Tokyo. How about it?”
“Really?” Risa gasped, her face brightening. “You would do that for me?”
“Of course,” the younger girl laughed. “For you, Gaki-san, this is definitely not a big deal.”
“Arigatou, Aika!” Risa exclaimed, getting up and dashing towards her friend to hug her. “You’re the best! I could never live without you!”
“Hey, you know I only want what’s best for you,” Aika grinned, hugging the bean back. “And right now, if we don’t find this woman, I think you’re going to deteriorate to a zombie.”
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Risa laughed. “Okay, so, you want to take the earring with you?”
“Maybe you should hold on to that, in case you bump into her or something,” Aika suggested. “I’ll take a picture of it to show people.”
“Yeah, fat chance I’ll just coincidentally bump into her,” Risa scoffed, putting the earring down on the table as Aika took out her cell phone.
“Hey, weirder things have happened,” the younger girl shrugged. She aimed the lens at the earring and snapped a photo of it. “Just for reference, what does this woman look like?”
“Um, short brown hair, she’s about my height... give or take a couple centimeters… oh, and she said she was 25 years old.”
“Okay, I’ll keep those in mind.” Aika put her cell phone away and stood up from her chair. “I’ll just visit a couple shops down town and ask around. I’ll do my part, so you better do yours and focus at work today, Gaki-san.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t slack off at work—” Risa gasped in realization. “WORK! I completely forgot; I have to leave now! And it’s my first day too… Ugh, I’m such an idiot!”
The bean grabbed the earring off the table and rushed back into her bedroom to change. Aika just laughed at her usually calm friend’s break down and took her time in casually strolling into her own room to get ready for the day.
** ** **
Ai let out a deep sigh as she stared into space while leaning on a coat rack. She slowly smiled as memories from the previous night crossed her mind again, bringing back images of the beautiful girl she had met on the dance floor. Risa. Niigaki Risa. 23 years old. Risa. The more she repeated the name, the more wonderful it sounded. Risa. Risa. Risa.
It was by an unfortunate turn of events, however, that Ai had to run out before midnight in order to steer clear of her stepsister’s wrath. Just that moment alone, in which she had to leave the club while her turtle friend distracted the bunny only a couple feet away, had made Ai feel as though ten years had been cut out of her life. Even worse, she had lost the earring that Eri had lent her in the process of escaping as well.
But the worst of all was that she had run out without exchanging contact information or a solid guarantee that she would meet Niigaki Risa again. All Ai knew about her was her name and her age and that she has her own place and a job. She wasn’t even sure what kind of job. With so little information, how was she supposed to reunite with the mysterious woman?
And the bigger question was, did Niigaki Risa even want to see Ai again? And did Ai want to see Niigaki Risa again? The older woman had thought the answer was a definite yes to the second one but after further thought, she realized there was a problem: Niigaki Risa didn’t know who she was. To her, Ai may as well be some mysterious woman in red and black who is the essence of beauty and seduction. But reality was not so, since Ai was actually just a worker in a small clothing boutique and a part-time janitor. She was not the most attractive woman in the world, and definitely not the most sophisticated. So if they were to meet again, outside of the club, while Ai was just being her painfully-average self instead of a glamorously transformed lady, would Niigaki Risa be disappointed? Did Ai want to risk that?
“Ai-chan, I pay you to work, not to daydream!”
Ai gasped as she quickly pulled her weight away from the coat rack she had been leaning against and turned to her employer. A dress on a hanger fell off the rack in the process and the turtle quickly bent down to pick it up before her friend could. Embarrassed, Ai bowed her head a little in apology.
“Gomene, Eri,” she sighed. “I guess I just kind of spaced out for a moment there…”
“It’s fine, I’m only teasing,” Eri grinned, hanging the dress back on the rack. “I know exactly what you’re thinking about right now anyway.”
Ai raised an eyebrow. “You do?”
“Ni. I. Ga. Ki. Ri. Sa.” The turtle leaned in closer to her friend’s face with each syllable with a smirk. “That woman you met at the club, right? From the looks of your texts last night, it seems like you really like her.”
“N-not particularly,” Ai mumbled, her cheeks starting to feel a little warm. “I mean… I’m interested, yeah, but… we’re probably not going to be able to see each other again…”
“Why not?” Eri asked, tilting her head towards one side. “I think it’d be nice for you to see her again. Who knows, maybe this is the start of a little… something-something?”
“I doubt it,” Ai laughed. “We barely know each other. What are the chances of us meeting again in a city as big as Tokyo?”
“Hey, you never know,” the turtle said, throwing her arms out and twirling around. “Anything is possible if you just believe~”
“You’re making it sound like some sort of fairy tale,” Ai sighed.
“Fairy tales are based off of what’s real life anyway,” Eri pointed out.
“Well, my life hasn’t exactly been a magical fairy tale,” the older girl grinned. “It’s fine though, really; whatever happens, happens. I’m just going to treat it like another nice moment in my life that I can just treasure as a good memory. The only thing I regret is losing your earring…”
Ai reached into her back pocket and pulled out the crystal charm jewelry and held it out to the turtle. But Eri shook her head and took a step back.
“It’s okay, Ai-chan,” she assured. “I was thinking about giving it to you anyway; it suited you really well. If you ever find the other earring, it’s yours to keep.”
“Really? Is that okay?”
“Un! Daijoubu~”
Ai slowly smiled as she reached out and embraced her friend. “Arigatou, Eri! It’ll be a souvenir, to remind me of the night I… broke a couple rules.”
“Oh yes, you disobeyed your baby stepsister and went to a club for the first time in years,” the turtle said sarcastically, pulling away from the older girl’s tight hold. “What a rebel you are, Ai-chan.”
The older girl chuckled at her friend’s comment before she held up the earring to the light coming through the glass wall at the front of the store. Smiling at her friend’s marvel at the jewelry, Eri skipped towards the other side of the store to straighten up a pile of folded clothes. Shortly after, the two women heard the chime of the store door opening. They both turned habitually towards the entrance and bowed.
“Irasshaimase—”
“Relax, it’s just me.”
Ai and Eri looked up at the familiar voice to see a black-haired girl they both knew all too well. Her hair was in waves today and she was wearing a pink flowery spring dress. She had a small purse in her hand along with a small paper bag.
“Sayu!” Ai called, surprised by the sudden visit. “What are you doing here?”
“What, am I not allowed to shop here?” Sayumi said in her usual cold tone.
“Of course you’re allowed,” Eri chuckled. “But you rarely buy things here anyway. Don’t you go more for brand name stuff than boutique clothes like Tresor’s?”
“Well maybe I felt like buying something here today,” Sayumi spat out. She marched straight into the store and placed her things on the counter and twirled around. Ai and Eri secretly eyed each other and shrugged. The bunny’s gaze landed on the object in her older sister’s hand.
“What’s do you have there, Onee-chan?” she questioned.
“Huh?” Ai looked down at her own hand and realized she was still holding onto the earring. “Oh! This! Um, it’s nothing important.”
She quickly shoved it back in her pocket and glanced at the turtle, who was chewing furiously on her bottom lip. Neither of them wished to explain to black-haired girl that the earring was something Ai wore the previous night to the club that Sayumi had specifically forbidden her from visiting.
The bunny raised an eyebrow at the two older girls’ strange behaviors, after having caught the slight glimmer of a crystal jewelry in the spit second it was revealed to her. What was so incredible about an earring that she wasn’t supposed to know about?
“Nee, Sayu,” Eri called out, attempting to change the topic, “what’s in the bag?” She skittered towards the counter and stood on her toes to look into the paper bag that the bunny had brought in. “Is it food?”
“It’s bread and coffee,” the younger girl answered. “I just happened to pass by a bakery. They looked good, so I bought some.”
She reached in to the paper bag and took out a couple of melon breads and red bean breads. She then took out a large silver thermos as well with paper cups. At this point, Ai had approached the counter as well, almost drooling at the sight of the delicacies.
“Oishii sou…” she mumbled. “They look really good…”
“You can have some, if you want,” Sayumi said, nonchalantly. “You didn’t have time for breakfast this morning so… if you’re hungry, you can eat it. I don’t care.”
“Ahh!” Eri exclaimed, a huge grin appearing on her face as she pointed at the bunny. “You purposely brought these for Ai-chan, didn’t you Sayumin? Because you knew she didn’t have breakfast this morning!”
“B-baka! It’s not like that!” Sayumi denied, her cheeks blushing in either fury or embarrassment. “I told you, I just happened to pass by a bakery; it wasn’t on purpose!”
“Oh yeah?” Eri smirked. “Then how come the coffee is in your thermos? This means it was made at home, wasn’t it?”
“… S-so what if it was?” Sayumi scoffed. “I was making coffee for myself and I made more than I needed… so I packed it. They’re just leftovers.”
“Okay, okay, that’s enough, both of you,” Ai laughed. “Sayu, thanks for thinking of bringing these in; like you said, I didn’t eat breakfast today, so I was getting a little hungry. Arigatou.”
“It’s not like I did it for you, anyway…” the bunny muttered.
“I’m grateful, too, Sayu,” Eri grinned, pretending not to notice the quick glare from the younger girl. “Caffeine is the life of any employed worker, right?”
The two older girls then opened the thermos and started to pour the coffee into the paper cups. Ai pushed a cup with the hot liquid to her sister with a smile, allowing Sayumi to drop her scowl a little and receive the offer. Eri took a sip of her coffee and let out a low satisfied sigh, encouraging the other two girls to do the same. Then, Ai reached over and grabbed one of the melon breads, sealed in a plastic wrap, and took careful care in opening it. She took a hearty bite and chewed, smiling as the sweet flavor triggered her taste buds.
“Umai~” she commented aloud, taking another bite. “You were right, Sayu, these are good. Thanks again.”
Sayumi let out a low grunt in acknowledgement before sipping her coffee again. She watched her stepsister munch down the bread eagerly, sipping the coffee after every other bite. She seemed rather happy to finally get food in her stomach, which made the bunny decide that she made the right choice in bringing food to Tresor today.
“AHHH!” Eri suddenly screamed aloud before starting to whine. “Mou~ Yada~!”
The stepsiblings quickly looked at the turtle, who was holding an empty paper cup away from her body while she stood frozen. A streak of brown was visible on her pink blouse, starting from her stomach and running down to her waist line. Sayumi merely blinked at the incident, mumbling something about how Eri really was an airhead to have spilled coffee all over herself, while Ai quickly dashed forward to her friend with a tissue box she spontaneously grabbed from under the counter.
“Thanks, Ai-chan, but tissues won’t do any good,” Eri groaned, watching her friend attempt to blot the stain out of her shirt. “And this was a new blouse, too…”
“Maybe it’ll come out if we wash I it right now,” Ai suggested. “Come on, I’ll help you.” She quickly pulled her friend towards the back doorway that was covered with a dark curtain, which led to the stairs that connected to the turtle’s personal flat above the store. “Sayu, would you please mind the store for a while? We’ll be right back.”
“Eh?!” Sayumi’s eyes widened in panic as she blinked a couple times. She had never worked before in her life, and now her sister was asking her to mind a store? Even if it was only for a short period of time, the bunny didn’t know if she had the resources to do that. She furiously shook her head and looked to Eri for rescuing. However, either because she didn’t notice Sayumi’s desperation or because she decided to ignore it, the turtle only replied with a sweet smile.
“If someone comes in, just say ‘Irasshaimase’ and be pleasant,” she advised.
Before Sayumi could protest further, the two older girls disappeared behind the curtain. The bunny huffed as she unconsciously leaned against the counter, badly in need of support. How could they actually leave her hear alone? Michishige Sayumi? Working? Those were two things that just didn’t go well together. It was like wearing brown with purple or something like that. Major clashing.
Coming to the conclusion that she definitely would not be able to hold the fort down, Sayumi dashed towards the curtains. But before she could push it open, a jingle sounded at the store entrance. Gasping, the black-haired girl turned around and spoke out the words that she had been taught to say.
“I-irasshaimase…!”
The costumer that entered the store nodded at the welcome before her eyes were drawn away to some of the mannequins that decorated the front of the store and the dresses that were hanging on the walls for display. The girl had short brown hair that was partially pulled back and she wore a large Mickey-Mouse t-shirt with leggings and sneakers. She didn’t look so much younger than the bunny herself.
Then, gasping as if she remembered something that she had forgotten, the girl marched straight towards the counter where Sayumi stood frozen. The bunny felt her body stiffen even more, if that was possible, as she braced herself for some sort of business-related question that she would not be able to answer.
“Sumimasen,” the girl said, her voice surprisingly low-pitched for her age. “I was wondering… if you had any idea who this belonged to, perhaps?”
The girl held up a lit screen on her cell phone, presenting a picture of a crystal shaped earring. Sayumi squinted a little before she blinked, recognizing the jewel. She could swear that it was the exact same one that her stepsister had been holding, the one that she tried to hide from her. But how did this costumer have a picture of it…?
“I’m sorry, I know it’s a weird question,” the girl laughed, noticing the confusion on Sayumi’s face. “It’s just something that was lost that my friend happened to pick up. It looked rather precious so I’ve been trying to find the owner of it.”
The bunny wrinkled her face again, staring at the picture of the earring. The more she looked at it, the surer she became that it was definitely the one Ai had been holding before. But it was odd that she didn’t recognize it as Ai’s belonging; she knew her stepsister didn’t own much jewelry in the first place, and this was definitely not hers. So was it Eri’s? Perhaps she was just admiring it before. But then she put it into her own pocket…
Either way, Sayumi decided that she could pass the earring on to one of them. She could possibly even use it to discover what is so secretive about it. She didn’t like being kept in the dark about her stepsister’s business. Deciding on this plan, Sayumi held out her hand in a demanding manner.
“It’s mine,” she claimed. “Please give return it to me.”
“… It’s yours?”
The girl raised an eyebrow as she scrutinized at the bunny. Sayumi nodded in response and pushed her hand forward again. After a long staring contest, the girl let out a small laugh, like a scoff or a dry chuckle, and snapped her cell phone shut. She looked up at the black-haired girl with a cynical smile; Sayumi returned the gaze by narrowing her eyes, unable to grasp the situation.
“Pardon my manners, Ojou-san,” the girl said, an icy edge in her voice, “but you’re a terrible liar.”
Sayumi’s hand dropped to her side as she blinked repeatedly in disbelief. “W-what…?”
“I said, you’re a terrible liar,” the girl repeated, the dry smile still plastered on her face with cold eyes. “Forget lying. You just seem like a low person all around.”
“… Excuse me?” Sayumi started to feel her body tremble with anger as she clenched her fist tightly to get a hold of herself.
“I mean, honestly,” the girl continued, “was this single earring so tempting that you had to lie about being owner of it? That’s low, Ojou-san.”
“I… I wasn’t lying—”
“Oh please. Your appearance is completely different from the one I heard about the real owner: you’re too tall and your hair is too long. Besides, you don’t seem the type to wear this kind of earring anyway.”
“How dare you—”
“And even if you were the owner,” the girl said, unwilling to take a step back, “your first course of action should’ve been to thank me for finding your belonging, not demand back like I was the one who stole it.” She then muttered to herself, “If you were the one Gaki-san fell for… I would beat her over the head.”
Sayumi exhaled sharply, shocked by the way she had been treated. Nobody had ever spoken to her like that in her entire life. How dare this girl show her such rudeness?
“Well, since you’re not the one I’m looking for, I’ll be taking my leave now.” The girl smiled sweetly at the fuming bunny before she walked back towards the exit. As she opened the door to leave, she turned around one more time. “Oh, and Ojou-san… don’t lie again. You really are terrible at it.”
As the door jingled shut, Sayumi stood in place, staring in to space, too enraged to do anything else but to continuously puff out air in disbelief. How dare that girl ridicule her that way! The Michishige Sayumi who had gotten whatever she wanted since she was born! As she continued to vent out her fury through heavy breathing, it wasn’t until she heard a commotion behind her that she slowly came back to her senses.
“Sayu, did we just get a costumer?” Eri asked. “Was she just looking?” She placed a hand gently on the bunny but it was quickly pushed away angrily. “S-Sayu…?”
“Sayu, what’s wrong?” Ai questioned, sensing that something was off. “What happened?”
The bunny furiously whipped around and glared at the two older girls. She saw that Eri was now wearing a clean shirt and that her sister had a concerned expression on. Her eyes immediately went to Ai’s pocket, which she was sure held the earring and the secret that she was not being told. Feeling the frustration pile up inside her, Sayumi finally raged aloud.
“I can’t believe you would receive such rude people into your store!” she shrieked. “I hate this place!”
Without another moment’s notice, Sayumi quickly grabbed her purse off the counter and stomped out of the store, leaving her stepsister and friend to stare at her in shock and confusion at a loss of words.
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and the fairy tale continues~
Topic: Juliet and Cinderella ~ [UPDATE - Chapter 22 - (10/28)] (Read 83260 times)