10 x 2 + ∞ Chapters of Pointless, Plotless Fluff

[rndmnwierd]

Poor Aya and Miki. Why am I laughing then? Everything that could possibly go wrong did.

[Mikan]

This day reminds me of a real life incident that happened in a large city in America. The hospitals were all packed with mothers giving birth in a particular month. The reason for this being that 9 months earlier there was a three day black out 

I suppose when all the powers out, what better stay at home activity is there ^^

[ChiruChaCha]

Hmm, should I pursue this one about Rika's heartbreak, Nacchi's "Corruptor of young H!P girls" role, or Maki's lousy ex and sucky career story?  Or just keep on beating the hell out of Aya and Miki with sarcastic commentary by Reina and wonderful words of wisdom by Shiba-chan?  Hahaha.

I vote for Tsunku's process of coming out of the closet. The title could be along the lines of "Tsunku, Queen of the desert" with H!P songs instead of ABBA xD

This day reminds me of a real life incident that happened in a large city in America. The hospitals were all packed with mothers giving birth in a particular month. The reason for this being that 9 months earlier there was a three day black out

ROFL

[OTN1]

Mikan, coast-wide blackouts bringing out the naughty in everyone, resulting in overcrowded hospitals 9 months later?  Haven't those people ever heard of protection?  Hahaha!

JFC, setting fire to the kitchen trying to cook?  Been there, done that, don't want to do it again (yes, a horse I refuse to beat!).  I have other things in store for these two.

ChiruChaCha... let's just leave Tsunku happily married to his supermodel girlfriend.  I don't want to mess with his character.

More Terrible Day to come soon!  I'm editing it.

[OTN1]

.8 - Wrong Number

I went to the kitchen to see what I had, which turned out to be absolutely nothing.  I could have sworn I'd gone shopping just a few days ago.  Miki started to whine and complain about having to go out shopping with me again.  I was a bit irritated at our pleasant time having been so rudely interrupted that I snapped at her and told her to stay in the apartment and not touch anything while I went to buy something to eat.  She ignored me and went off to lie down in my room.  I sighed and left after grabbing my wallet, a raincoat, and an umbrella (for it was still raining steadily).

I went to the convenience store and bought some food, but as I was leaving, a big, burly man in a long overcoat bumped into me and my bag went flying into the street, where a passing truck immediately flattened it.  I almost started to cry.  Almost.

"I'm sorry, little lady!" he cried out cheerfully, and I wondered how he could possibly be so cheerful on such a terrible day.

I mumbled that it I was all right, and I walked away, dejected.  I went back into the convenience store to buy more food.  When I got to the till, I pulled out my wallet to pay... and I had no money.  I had spent my last bill, and all I had was some small change.

"Excuse me, I have to use the ATM," I excused myself embarrassedly.

I went over to the ATM and put my bank card in, going through the boring procedure of taking out money.  However, when it was time for the machine to spew out my cash, my card was spit back out with a message on the screen

INCORRECT PASSWORD

I sighed.  Why couldn't these machines be programmed to give this sort of information out at a more convenient time?  Oh, say, right after inputting your incorrect password?  I repeated the procedure, only to have the exact same thing happen.

I grew antsy.  There was a line forming me behind me, and as much as I wanted to yell out, I didn't want to cause a scene.  I inserted my card for the third time and typed my password in ever so carefully, making sure to get it absolutely right.

It ended up being incorrect once again, and the machine swallowed up my card, flashing a cold message across the screen that suggested I call my bank about my password and my debit card.

Tail tucked between my legs and ears drooping down low, I made my way back to till, and, utterly humiliated, explained in vague terms that I'd decided not to go through with my purchase.

Next week's Friday magazine?

Ayaya Squanders Money on Wine and Can't Afford 7-11 Tea and Soba!!

I left the convenience store, dejected and a little hungry.  By the time I got back to my apartment, it was dark out.  At least the power had turned back on and we wouldn't have to sit there with no lights on for the entire evening.

I got into the elevator and sighed, standing in front of the full-length mirror that covered one of the walls.  I fixed my hair as best as I could, thinking about my action plan.  I decided it was Miki's turn to go outside.  She had money.  She could go and buy something to eat.

I was in the process of inspecting my eyes, noting that I only had one more floor to go, when suddenly the elevator jolted, the lights cut out, and I was plunged into complete darkness.

[OTN1]

Almost done.  I you guys are happy that you got much more than 10 chapters.  Haha.  One more to go after this, which will bring it to a total of double what the thread title claims.

.9 - Bad Connection

I froze, my finger at the corner of my eye, my mind grinding to a halt.

This can't be happening, I thought desperately.

The darkness lasted only for a split second, though, and the emergency lights turned on promptly.  It was still deathly silent, and my breath began to come out in short pants as I sunk to the floor in fear.

The most logical explanation was that the power in the building had cut off again and I was trapped in the elevator.

Trapped.

Time to panic. 

I began to hyperventilate, my mind becoming foggy, my brain floating on a hazy cloud.  I was on the verge of passing out when I pictured Miki standing above me, hands on her hips and yelling at me to get a grip.  I imagined her slapping me hard on the cheek.  I focused on this image and slowly brought myself out of my panic attack, re-learning how to breathe properly.

I had to stay calm.  For all I knew, I only had a certain amount of oxygen left.  The first thing I had to do was get to the emergency phone.  I went over to the panel on the wall and opened the little box marked "Open in case of emergency".  There were instructions written on the inside of the little door.

"'Pick up phone and speak slowly and clearly into transmitter'," I read aloud, my voice bouncing off the walls in an empty way.

Simple enough.  I took out the old-fashioned phone and held it to my ear.  It made strange clicking sounds that I assumed meant it was connecting to the emergency operator.

"Hello?" I said tentatively.  "My name is Matsuura.  I'm stuck in an elevator."

I couldn't keep the fear out of my voice, and when I heard no response, I freaked out.

"Um, I'm trapped.  I mean, it stopped.  The power's gone out.  Is anybody there?  Can you help me?  Please?"

An airy silence was all that greeted me.  I looked around the small phone box for a switch of some sort that maybe they'd forgotten to write about, but there was none there.  I did come across a small sticker label, and I inspected it for a clue.

"'This unit should be inspected every six months,'" I mumbled as I read aloud.

I squinted my eyes to see the smaller print under the warning.

"Last inspected on the third month of 2002."

Wonderful.  Just wonderful.  How had they managed to keep this elevator in operation if they hadn't inspected the emergency phone in eight years?  I would have some words with whoever was in charge of the elevators in this apartment.  Angry words.

I hung the phone back up and closed the little panel, sitting down with my legs crossed and my purse in my lap.  Suddenly I felt buzzing and a familiar melody starting up.

Of course!  I had my cell phone!  I ripped it out of my bag and opened it up.  I had a new message from Miki.

The power went out again.  Shall we jump off the roof together in a glorious double suicide when you get back?

I hit speed dial and called her up.

"Hi," she drawled.

"Miki, I'm trapped in the elevator!" I shrieked.

There was a silence.

"..ya... ou repeat that?  I... what you sai..."

No.  There was not going to be weak transmission.  I would murder electricity, concrete, and all concepts of science if I couldn't communicate with Miki in my time of extreme desperation and need.

"I'm stuck in the elevator!" I yelled slowly.

A stunned silence.

"In your apartment?!" Miki's voice came through loudly and clearly.

"Yes!" I yelled back.

There was another silence.

".......... do?"

"What??" I asked, holding my tears back in.

"... said what...ould I do??"

What should she do?  Call the landlord!  Or the custodian!  Or the firemen!

"Get me help!!" I yelled.

"Yeti felt?!" she yelled back in confusion.

"HELP!" I screamed.

"Ahhh.... hhh!  ..kay, I got it, ... -chan.  Chill."

"Hurry!" I whimpered.

She seemed to hear that.

"Save your battery," she said. "... ll back later.  Bye."

She cut the connection and I curled up into a small ball in the corner.  If the elevator fell, I'd die.  If the air ran out, I would die.  If I was stuck here for four days without water, I would die.  Maybe I wouldn't be able to keep my promise to Miki.  My promise to never disappear.

I sat blankly for twenty minutes until my phone rang.  This time it was e-mail.

Took me five tries to send this.  Is the elevator shaft pure steel or something?  Called the front desk.  They're sending help.  Remember what floor you passed last?

My heart leapt and I started typing back, telling her I'd just noticed passing the fourteenth floor.  It took me four tries to get through and send the e-mail.  I waited patiently for a few minutes, but I heard no word back.  A few minutes turned into a few dozen minutes, and before I knew it, an hour had passed by and I hadn't heard from Miki.  A tear rolled down my face as I wallowed in my self-pity.

Fed up with waiting, I called Miki.

"...!"

I wasn't sure what she said, but she exclaimed it.

"Miki," I spoke loudly into the phone.  "I'm scared.  What's happening?"

"... ere.  They... but no... so...m, Aya."

I couldn't understand what she was trying to say.

"Miki, I'm scared," I repeated.  "What if the elevator falls?"

"Falls?" I heard her voice clearly.  "It won't fall."

I'm pretty sure she laughed, trying to comfort me.  It worked a bit.  If Miki said it wouldn't fall, it wouldn't fall.

And so the elevator gave a jolt just to prove her wrong.

I screamed louder than I'd ever screamed before in my life.

"..'s the matter?!" Miki cried into the phone, having heard.

"I'm falling!" I yelled, but she didn't hear, for before I got the sentence out, the phone cut off and I heard silence.

The elevator shook a few times, and I gripped my phone in terror, whimpering, certain that I was going to die.  I thought about my whole life.  It had been a satisfying one, but I wasn't ready to wrap it up.  I still had to hug Miki one more time and get my bank card back and yell at Shiba-chan for calling me and Miki names.

While I reminisced during the period which I assumed was the "life flashing before your eyes" period, the elevator suddenly became a whole lot brighter.  I looked up and saw an unfamiliar face poking out of the ceiling, a flashlight clenched between his teeth.

"Matsuura-san, we're here to help you," said a handsome young man that couldn't have been any older than me.

I swooned.  Perhaps it was the after-effect of thinking I was going to die and then not dying.

"Thank you," I murmured, and then I did something close to passing out.

I flopped against the wall, weak from the rush of fear that had gone through my body.  What I'd thought was the elevator falling was simply this young firefighter jumping onto the roof of the elevator.

He lowered himself into the box and helped me up.  I was limp as a rag doll, and he had to drag me onto a harness that would lift me out.  Everything passed by in a blur.  All I remembered was clinging onto this tall, muscular man, smelling his faint cologne, and thinking how he would have been way more Miki's type than mine.  Strange thoughts for me to be having, but such was the stress I was under.

The group of men sat me down on the carpeted hallway, which ended up being my own floor.  I took deep breaths of air, and then I saw a face I knew very well.

"Miki!" I tried to cry out, but it came out as an exhausted sigh.

She smiled and walked up, lowering herself down to sit beside me shoulder-to-shoulder.

"See?  You're alive," she joked, mussing up my hair.

I let out my final anxious breath and rested my head on her shoulder.

"I thought I'd never see you again," I said embarrassedly.

"Hey, no bad luck can defeat the power of this kind of promise," Miki stated with certainty, hooking her pinkie finger around mine and holding our hands up in front of my face.

I smiled, and we stood up to go back to my apartment after the fireman who had rescued me came by to tell me it was okay to leave.

"Thank you very much," I said gratefully, bowing deeply.

"Not at all," he replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his head before returning the bow.

We stood there bowing at each other shyly until Miki nudged me to remind me that we were leaving.  I gave a final smile to my saviour and then walked down the hallway to my place.  It was dark inside, but Miki had had the sense to bring the emergency flashlight out to the hallway with her, knowing we'd need it when we got back.

I hadn't even locked the door when Miki spoke out.

"You sure you and Mr. Googly Eyes don't want to go out for a romantic walk in the rain?" she asked sarcastically.

I looked at her in surprise, worried that I'd angered her.  Her face, however, was painted with an amused expression, meaning that she thought I was being silly and nothing more.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I claimed, putting on a blank expression.

She put her arm around my shoulder and pushed me into my apartment forcefully, training the beam of light in front of us.

"Sure you don't.  Drooling all over your hero like that.  Gee, have a little class and wait till I'm not around," she teased.

"I wasn't drooling," I insisted.

"Fine, but your cheeks looked a little red," she said in an unrelenting manner, patting one of my cheeks.

I twisted my head away and grumbled in exasperation.  If I was going to be teased incessantly all evening for appreciating the beauty of a human physique, I'd rather she leave now.

But not really.

"Aww, sorry," Miki said, squeezing my shoulders.

I shrugged.

"It's okay."

"How is it that you start drooling after someone else and I end up being the one doing the apologising?" she muttered.

I laughed and didn't answer that question.  I changed the subject.

"Do you think any more bad things will happen today?"

"I've ruined our luck enough times today.  I'm not going to say a word about it," was her curt response.

I laughed at her superstition, but deep inside, I agreed. 

"Let's just sit down and talk.  Nothing can happen if-" I started, but I quickly slapped my hand over my mouth before I could jinx the moment.

We walked arm-in-arm to the living room couch... and tripped over something on the floor, sending us tumbling to the ground with a painful crash.

As I lay there half under Miki and groaning in pain, I thought that it would be rather nice to be struck by lightning, because it couldn't possibly hurt more than all the pain I'd gone through on that terrible, no good day.

[Mikan]

I laughed out loud till I had tears in my eyes. Yeti Felt, my oh my.

Well, now I have a new fear of elevators to go with my fear of stairs. Living on the 4th floor this is going to cause some problems. Perhaps I should just absail from now on...ANYWAY!

I can imagine Aya being stuck in an elevator. And after I comment like that one would usually say "it seems like something she'd do" But that follow up doesnt fit here, does it..

Oh well...

Talk about a shit pie of a day, eh.

[orangesocks]

Chapter 5
....
Shibata and Rika clucked sympathetically.

Birds.

Chapter 6
...
"It's okay," Miki replied cutely, giving me a pat on the shoulder.  "If I didn't have an Aya around to talk to, I'd go loopy, too."

Aww, I thought happily.

So...Adorable-y...cute...! 

Chapter 7
...
If I fell from a twenty-storey building, I'd survive the impact by virtue of Miki's belief in me.
...
The same went the other way around.  I invested all my energy and feelings into supporting her.  Initially by breaking down her tough barriers bit-by-bit and then coaxing that soft part of her out.  Reassuring her that soft was the new strong.

I really liked the line, "reassuring her that soft was the new strong." I can't exactly put it into words why... It was just so...damn good!

Phew, Ayaya's whole trip to the grocery store and then getting stuck in the elevator was worrisome, especially after the whole 'death talk.' Thank goodness for Miki! Lovely that they managed to pull through the totally crap day together. 

I can't believe it's almost the end, though! NOOOOOooo!!!   

I should probably say this later instead of now, but it's been a pleasure reading your fic, OTN1, that's for sure!

[JFC]

.8 - Wrong Number

I went to the convenience store and bought some food, but as I was leaving, a big, burly man in a long overcoat bumped into me and my bag went flying into the street, where a passing truck immediately flattened it.  I almost started to cry.  Almost.

Holy geez man, where's the emergency?   

I went over to the ATM and put my bank card in, going through the boring procedure of taking out money.  However, when it was time for the machine to spew out my cash, my card was spit back out with a message on the screen

INCORRECT PASSWORD

BAH! Stupid storm must've shorted out the networks somehow.  Aya's PIN code was probably lost and/or corrupted in the network.

I got into the elevator and sighed, standing in front of the full-length mirror that covered one of the walls.  I fixed my hair as best as I could, thinking about my action plan.  I decided it was Miki's turn to go outside.  She had money.  She could go and buy something to eat.

I was in the process of inspecting my eyes, noting that I only had one more floor to go, when suddenly the elevator jolted, the lights cut out, and I was plunged into complete darkness.

Aw man. Now the elevator's busted? Let's hope she can at least call Miki so she doesn't worry. Elevators are notorious for being hell on cell phone signal strength.

Almost done.  I you guys are happy that you got much more than 10 chapters.  Haha.  One more to go after this, which will bring it to a total of double what the thread title claims.

Oh don't worry, we are.


.9 - Bad Connection

Time to panic.

I began to hyperventilate, my mind becoming foggy, my brain floating on a hazy cloud.  I was on the verge of passing out when I pictured Miki standing above me, hands on her hips and yelling at me to get a grip.  I imagined her slapping me hard on the cheek.  I focused on this image and slowly brought myself out of my panic attack, re-learning how to breathe properly

Miki proves to be "useful" in the most unique and unexpected ways.

I went over to the panel on the wall and opened the little box marked "Open in case of emergency".  There were instructions written on the inside of the little door.

...

I looked around the small phone box for a switch of some sort that maybe they'd forgotten to write about, but there was none there.  I did come across a small sticker label, and I inspected it for a clue.

"'This unit should be inspected every six months,'" I mumbled as I read aloud.

I squinted my eyes to see the smaller print under the warning.

"Last inspected on the third month of 2002."

Dammit.   

Of course!  I had my cell phone! 

...

I hit speed dial and called her up.

"Hi," she drawled.

"Miki, I'm trapped in the elevator!" I shrieked.

There was a silence.

"..ya... ou repeat that?  I... what you sai..."

No.  There was not going to be weak transmission.

Gawdammit I knew that would happen. 

"Get me help!!" I yelled.

"Yeti felt?!" she yelled back in confusion.

Miki-misunderstanding is just as cute and Miki-having strange dreams. 

If the elevator fell, I'd die.  If the air ran out, I would die.  If I was stuck here for four days without water, I would die.  Maybe I wouldn't be able to keep my promise to Miki.  My promise to never disappear.

...

"Miki," I spoke loudly into the phone.  "I'm scared.  What's happening?"

Don't think like that Aya! 

While I reminisced during the period which I assumed was the "life flashing before your eyes" period, the elevator suddenly became a whole lot brighter.  I looked up and saw an unfamiliar face poking out of the ceiling, a flashlight clenched between his teeth.

"Matsuura-san, we're here to help you," said a handsome young man that couldn't have been any older than me.

...

What I'd thought was the elevator falling was simply this young firefighter jumping onto the roof of the elevator.

HOORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!! Aya's been saved!!!

I smiled, and we stood up to go back to my apartment after the fireman who had rescued me came by to tell me it was okay to leave.

"Thank you very much," I said gratefully, bowing deeply.

"Not at all," he replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his head before returning the bow.

We stood there bowing at each other shyly until Miki nudged me to remind me that we were leaving.  I gave a final smile to my saviour and then walked down the hallway to my place.

He must obviously know who it was that he just rescued. Considering how physically close he had to hold her to help her get out, it's no wonder he's gone all gaga. 

"Do you think any more bad things will happen today?"

"I've ruined our luck enough times today.  I'm not going to say a word about it," was her curt response.

I laughed at her superstition, but deep inside, I agreed.

This seems to  be a fairly common superstition, doesn't it? If you don't dwell on having bad luck, you don't. If you DO think you're going to have bad luck, you probably do.

Almost seems like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"Let's just sit down and talk.  Nothing can happen if-" I started, but I quickly slapped my hand over my mouth before I could jinx the moment.

DON'T SAY IT!!! 

We walked arm-in-arm to the living room couch... and tripped over something on the floor, sending us tumbling to the ground with a painful crash.

As I lay there half under Miki and groaning in pain, I thought that it would be rather nice to be struck by lightning, because it couldn't possibly hurt more than all the pain I'd gone through on that terrible, no good day.

Ugh. Too late. 

At least she ended up with Miki on top of her. 

[rndmnwierd]

That's hysterical! Poor Aya, but it's so funny!

[OTN1]

Ahhh, thank you for reading/tolerating/commenting!  Here's the final tale.


1.0 - Finale

"Oops," Miki mumbled.  "Sorry again."

The vibration from her voice was pleasant against my back.  Maybe being struck by lightening wouldn't be such a great thing compared to this.  We slowly untangled our limbs and stood up.  I looked down to see what we'd tripped on.

It was clothing.  Not just any clothing, but brand new clothing that I'd bought the previous weekend.  In the dark, I could see the unorganised pile of my precious clothing, tossed to the floor carelessly and with no love.  I clenched my fist.

"What did you do to my clothes?" I asked, unable to keep the anger out of my tone.

"I got bored waiting for you so I decided to try on your new stuff," Miki said with a nonchalant shrug, as if there was nothing wrong.  "I thought we were okay with that."

"I'm okay with you wearing my clothes, but not throwing them on the floor like that!" I exclaimed, pointing to the mess on the floor. "Not when they're brand new!!"

"I was going to put them away, but you called and started freaking out about the elevator."

The sensible thing would have been to take this valid excuse and quell my anger with it, but I was beyond sense.  I'd had a bad day, and having had one of my most expensive skirts completely ruined by a ham-fisted waiter, I was feeling violently protective of my personal items.

"I was gone for two hours!" I cried.  "You couldn't have possibly been monstrously busy that entire time.  You could've at least put them neatly on my bed!"

"But I was nervous, Aya," she said, her eyebrows knitting together in sadness.  "After you called, I was downstairs with the landlord and then up here with the firemen the whole time.  Sorry."

No matter how many times I did the same thing over and over again, I never learned.  I would assume that Miki was being sloppy and selfish, when in fact she was thinking of anyone but herself.  In this case, she'd been so worried about me being trapped in an elevator that she hadn't been able to return and sit still in my apartment even though there was nothing much she could do to help out.  I guess I hadn't thought of that possibility because she'd sounded so calm on the phone.  Again, something she'd done for me to keep me relaxed.

I winced and looked at her apologetically.

"I'm a horrible, horrible person," I reprimanded myself.  "Sorry for yelling at you."

She looked less hurt after my apology

"I'll put them away now," she said, bending down to start collecting the pile.

To hell with clothes, I thought.

I pulled Miki back up and made her drop what she'd gathered.

"Forget it.  Let's just sit down and wait for this day to end," I smiled.

We made it to the couch without incident, and sat down beside each other.

"Oh, did you leave our dinner in the elevator?" Miki asked.

In all the excitement of the past few hours, I hadn't been able to explain my convenience store adventure, so I quickly recounted the events.  She started to laugh when I mentioned that a truck had run over my first attempt at buying dinner.  When she laughed about my bank card being swallowed up, I threatened her with the fact that it was her turn to go out and scavenge for food.

"But you wouldn't send me out there now, would you?  After all the bad things we've been through today?  Maybe the truck won't just run over dinner next time," she pouted.

I instantly changed my mind, and gripped her wrist.

"You're not going out there.  We'll make do with that bag of frozen vegetables I've got in my freezer," I said determinedly.

I heard no complaint from her, and we went to the kitchen together to see what we could do.

It didn't occur to us until we opened the freezer that without power, we would have to wait for the vegetables to defrost at room temperature.  That would take far too long, but we both tried to put on optimistic fronts as we emptied the contents of the bag into a bowl.  That done, we scoured the cupboards for anything we could eat without having to cook.  We came across a package of seaweed that I'd forgotten about and one rice cracker.  The seaweed had passed its expiration date and we decided not to try our luck, remembering a certain cookie-baking incident we had been involved in years ago.  The rice cracker, however, was perfect, if not for the fact that it was half the area of the palm of my hand.  I took a bite of it and then handed the rest to Miki, who finished it off.

Giving up on the vegetables, we went back to the couch and sat down, leaning back together.  My cell phone informed us that it was half past eight.

"You know, that drama is on right now," Miki reminded me.

Damnit!  The drama we'd been following for two months now was supposed to be airing and we still had no power.  There'd been a cliff-hanger ending in the latest episode, and we'd been waiting urgently for the new episode to air.  So much for relieving our curiosity tonight.

"Miki, I just want to go to sleep and wake up in a world where bad things don't happen," I groaned, flipping onto my back and resting my head in her lap.

Surprisingly, she didn't start to play with my hair.  She just stared forward in a daze.

"Miki?" I asked.

She didn't respond.

"Mikiiii," I sang out, but she didn't seem to hear my voice.

I pinched her leg and she gave a start.

"Oh!"

"You were lost in space," I sniffed.

"Ahh," she said, a little impish smile working its way into the corners of her lips.  "I was just thinking about those hot firemen."

I slapped her stomach.  Not hard, of course, but enough to remind her who I was.

"Oh, come on.  I let you get away with it.  Give me a break," she snorted.

She knew exactly what she was doing.  She knew that I would react like that and she thrived on my extra-jealous need to keep what was mine.  Not that Miki was "mine".  She was her own person.  Kind of like how you didn't own a cat.  A cat owned you.  Miki was a bit like that.

"Fine.  They're probably still in the building.  Why don't we go and find them, choose our favourites, and get out of each other's hair already?" I snipped.

"Fine," she said with a shrug.

But neither of us moved.  We were all talk, no action.  We sat in silence for a good five minutes before I spoke up.

"What should we do now?" I asked.

I wanted to eat dinner, take a bath, watch television, read, study German, knit a sweater, do arts and crafts, bake bread... I wanted to do some things I'd never wanted to do before in my life, yet the fact that I wasn't able to do them filled me with the need to do them.

"We can just sit here and talk," Miki said, all previous humour dropped from her voice, replaced by a tranquil, mature air.

So I waited for her to bring up a topic, but she didn't.  I had nothing to say either, so we sat there in the most awkward silence we'd ever had since the true meaning of the word "awkward" had completely stopped applying to us.

"Um..." she mumbled after a few painful minutes.  "Have we got nothing to say to each other?"

"Well, um..."

But I could think of nothing.  The one time we tried to make conversation, it wouldn't happen.  It was just one of those things.  It was like those times when we had nothing to say to each other all day, but then once one o'clock in the morning rolled around, you couldn't shut us up.  Our conversation could not be forced.

"How about some music?" Miki suggested, and I clapped my hands together in delight.

She got up to get her music player and then came back.  She hooked it up to a small pair of battery-operated speakers, and soon, the music was flowing.  We assumed our previous positions and listened, commenting occasionally on what we heard.

About fifteen minutes passed like this until suddenly, in the middle of Kumi-chan's latest single, the batteries died.  We didn't even bother to comment on it.  We just looked at each other, rolled our eyes, and that was that.  There was nothing more we could do.

"It's been such a miserable day," Miki mumbled, her hand playing with my hair.

"Mmm," I agreed sleepily.

I started to drift off.

"Maybe tomorrow it'll all be back to normal."

"Mmm..."

And that's all I remember.  I drifted off to sleep.

Some time later, I awoke from an unpleasant dream about being chased by an oversized can of beer and a giant bowl of pistachios.  When I opened my eyes, I saw Miki leaning back on the couch sleeping.  I watched her, trying to clear my mind of my bizarre dream.  She looked more peaceful than usual.

I reached my hand down and grabbed my cell phone to check the time.  Much to my pleasurable shock, it was eleven-forty.  We'd slept for a few hours.  I decided to try and fall asleep again.  Maybe this was it.  Maybe when I fell back asleep again, we'd drift into the joyful morning of the next day and out of the bad luck of this day.

But it was still today, and twenty minutes was plenty of time for something to go wrong.

What would that something be?  What else could it be but physical pain?  Miki punched me.  In the upper arm.  Hard.  It was sudden and unexpected.  One minute I was watching her innocent and relaxed expression, the next her fist came flying at me with no warning, her face screwed up in a strange expression of concentration before quickly reverting to its pacified state.

I let out a string of expletives that would have had my ancestors rolling in their graves if they could have heard me, and I grabbed my arm in pain.  It felt like a meat cleaver had just hacked into my arm and was still stuck there, being pulled on by an unwitting butcher.

"Miki," I gasped in pain.  "My arm..."

She didn't wake up.  In fact, she hit me a second time, this time in the hand that was clutching my first injury.  I cried out in pain, and that woke her up.

"Aya?" she asked groggily.

"My god, Miki!  I can't sleep in the same room as you.  You always beat me up!"

"What...?" she asked me, rubbing her knuckles and then looking at them with a frown, no doubt wondering why they smarted.

"You just punched me twice.  It hurts."

She put on her puppy dog face and I refused to let it get to me.  I wouldn't let it get to me.  It couldn't.  It had no way.  It... it... melted me.

"I'm sorry, Aya-chan," she said softly, patting my hand and arm in a gentle manner.

"It's okay," I said.

Miki had been there for me all day, so I guess she deserved to not be yelled at for actions she couldn't control.  But just this once!

I sat up and showed her the time on my phone.

"Say, do you have any candles?" she asked out of the blue.

Of course!  We could light candles and have some light.  Maybe we could read a magazine.  Even just seeing each other properly would be nice.  I was about to say that that was a perfect idea, but I shook my head.  Candles would lead to no good.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we burned the place down if we lit a candle.  Let's just rough it out."

She nodded in understanding.

Twenty minutes until the day ended.

Miki leaned back into me, and all I could do was hold her and pray that a meteorite didn't strike us down where we lay.

Five minutes passed.  Miki shifted in my arms and reached for my phone.  She checked the weather, and all it said was that it would be storming until well into the morning.  Depressed, I took the phone out of her hand and put it on the ground.

"Do you think if we set our clocks ahead fifteen minutes, we'll trick this nasty streak of bad luck into thinking we've started a new day?"

I laughed into the nape of her neck and hugged her tightly.

"No," I said, inhaling that lovely Miki scent of hers.  "But let's do something to make those fifteen minutes pass by more quickly."

She giggled in delight and turned around to face me and push me into the couch.

"When the lights go off, you turn so bad," she told me, kissing my neck.

"It's your fault," I muttered, pushing her up...

... and tipping her off of me by accident.  She fell onto the floor, right on top of my cell phone.  For a moment, we froze.  I looked down at her and she looked up at me.  Then we began to laugh.  For five straight minutes, we laughed and laughed and laughed.

And then there were only ten minutes left until the next day.  We didn't move, but I reached my hand down to grab hers.

"If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?" I asked her, starting up our game.

"Hmmm," she thought.  "First of all, I'd bring you with me.  I think I'd take us to Peru."

"Why Peru?" I asked in surprise.

What was in Peru?

"'Cause the person controlling our bad luck wouldn't think to look for us there!"

Aww.  How sweet.

"What about you?" she asked back.

My turn.  I took my time to think of a good answer.

"I'd take you with me, of course," I started.

"You'd better!" she harrumphed.

"And I'd take us to New Zealand because it's already tomorrow there."

She squeezed my hand.

We waited out those last seven minutes.

I contemplated our day as a whole and tried to come to some sort of conclusion until her digital watch beeped to signal that it was midnight.  A new day had begun.  After the last beep of her watch, Miki pulled me down off the couch gently, and she hugged me as I shifted my weight and tried not to squash her like a pancake.

"Finally," she mumbled, putting a hand at the back of my head and pulling me to her.

"Finally," I echoed.

Twenty-four hours of bad luck had revealed something to me, and that was our will to persevere.  No matter how bad it got, we still stuck together.  No matter what, when it was all said and done, we just wanted to be with one another.  We'd ultimately won.  In fact, the whole day, we'd been winning.  Numerous bad things had happened, but at the end of it we were standing beside each other.

The power didn't come back on until later the next morning when the sun had risen and we were fast asleep.  The rest of the night we spent on the floor and then up on the couch when that got painful.  It was pleasant and satisfying.  We made up for our terrible, horrible, no good, very rainy day with a wonderful, fantastic, supremely good, very sexy night.

If all bad days ended like this, I thought, I wouldn't mind having more of them.

Of course, that was an opinion I held before we had our terrible, horrible, no good, very rainy week some time later.  The terrible, horrible, no good, very rainy day paled in comparison.

But that’s a story for another day.

The (happy!) End

[JFC]

1.0 - Finale

I looked down to see what we'd tripped on.

It was clothing.  Not just any clothing, but brand new clothing that I'd bought the previous weekend.  In the dark, I could see the unorganised pile of my precious clothing, tossed to the floor carelessly and with no love.  I clenched my fist.

"What did you do to my clothes?" I asked, unable to keep the anger out of my tone.

"I got bored waiting for you so I decided to try on your new stuff," Miki said with a nonchalant shrug, as if there was nothing wrong.

Yet anther example of how Aya's neatness and Miki's "Miki-ness" clash and drive each other bonkers.

"I was going to put them away, but you called and started freaking out about the elevator."

One can only speculate.

"But I was nervous, Aya," she said, her eyebrows knitting together in sadness.  "After you called, I was downstairs with the landlord and then up here with the firemen the whole time.  Sorry."

...

 I would assume that Miki was being sloppy and selfish, when in fact she was thinking of anyone but herself.  In this case, she'd been so worried about me being trapped in an elevator that she hadn't been able to return and sit still in my apartment even though there was nothing much she could do to help out.

Awwwwwwww...

remembering a certain cookie-baking incident we had been involved in years ago. 

Ah, memories of AyaxMiki domestic bliss. 

"Ahh," she said, a little impish smile working its way into the corners of her lips.  "I was just thinking about those hot firemen."

...

"Fine.  They're probably still in the building.  Why don't we go and find them, choose our favourites, and get out of each other's hair already?" I snipped.

They can't be serious, can they? 

"How about some music?" Miki suggested, and I clapped my hands together in delight.

She got up to get her music player and then came back. 

...

About fifteen minutes passed like this until suddenly, in the middle of Kumi-chan's latest single, the batteries died.

Naturally.

Some time later, I awoke from an unpleasant dream about being chased by an oversized can of beer and a giant bowl of pistachios.

Looks like Miki's passed on her habit of having strange dreams to Aya. 

Miki punched me.  In the upper arm.  Hard.  It was sudden and unexpected.  One minute I was watching her innocent and relaxed expression, the next her fist came flying at me with no warning, her face screwed up in a strange expression of concentration before quickly reverting to its pacified state.

Speaking of dreams...what the hell?

"Say, do you have any candles?" she asked out of the blue.

A bad-luck day + fire? Questionable...

"Do you think if we set our clocks ahead fifteen minutes, we'll trick this nasty streak of bad luck into thinking we've started a new day?"

I laughed into the nape of her neck and hugged her tightly.

"No," I said, inhaling that lovely Miki scent of hers.  "But let's do something to make those fifteen minutes pass by more quickly."

Naughty, naughty Aya! 

"It's your fault," I muttered, pushing her up...

... and tipping her off of me by accident.  She fell onto the floor, right on top of my cell phone. 

Anyone wanna bet she broke Aya's phone in the fall?

Twenty-four hours of bad luck had revealed something to me, and that was our will to persevere.  No matter how bad it got, we still stuck together.  No matter what, when it was all said and done, we just wanted to be with one another.  We'd ultimately won.  In fact, the whole day, we'd been winning.  Numerous bad things had happened, but at the end of it we were standing beside each other.

And THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is why GAM RULEZ!!!

[rndmnwierd]

We didn't even bother to comment on it.  We just looked at each other, rolled our eyes, and that was that.  There was nothing more we could do.

QFW
I laughed through the whole chapter. God, that kinda luck sucks. And yet.... So awesome!

[iacus]

Of course that whole wonderful/horrible day is slightly ruined because that creep from WNTBD was probably watching them the whole time.

[OTN1]

Naughty, naughty Aya! 

Naughty Aya is good, yes.

Shame on you, Iacus, for mentioning that in a pointless, plotless thread!  I promise you that the Terrible Day story happens in a world of alive Mikis and Ayas, no creepy Takashi stalkers, and no extended mourning trips to Italy.

I'm kind of looking forward to being able to throw some more junk into this thread.  It'll make a nice recycle bin.  I get feedback and kind words.  Hahaha!  Thank you all again for reading and putting up with my repetitive repetitiveness.

[iacus]

Shame on you, Iacus, for mentioning that in a pointless, plotless thread!  I promise you that the Terrible Day story happens in a world of alive Mikis and Ayas, no creepy Takashi stalkers, and no extended mourning trips to Italy.

Yeah sorry about that, I was feeling a little pessimistic when I typed that out. However, a quick re-read of Aya's no good, horrible, and even a little bit shitty, day(I can't remember what the actual name of the story is) made me feel a lot better! 

Edit:I just checked and I didn't even get close with the name. And here I thought I had a good memory.

[nkca_]

the blah blah horrible day was just awesome... i couldn't stop laughing, thought i would like to hear about the blah blah awesome night they had after

[OTN1]

The awesome night after?  That's for your imaginations. Hahaha.

Kei-Br brought this out in me.

The story is not related to any other story I have written.

Chapter 11

"Awww, look!  He's so cute!" Miki squealed, pointing enthusiastically at something behind a cage.

Aya sighed under her umbrella.  Going to Ueno Zoo had been her own idea, but she was starting to regret it.  Miki took animals entirely too seriously, and she had planned out a precise route around the entire zoo so that they wouldn't miss a single animal.  They'd been at the small zoo for over an hour and they'd covered less than half of the park.  It had started to pour rain just when they had entered the zoo, yet Miki had insisted that they continue with their plan and make no changes.  Aya just wanted to go home, take off her shoes, and rest in the dryness of her living room.  She'd had enough of dumb animals, not to mention she was miffed by Miki completely neglecting her for a bunch of smelly beasts.

Reluctantly, Aya looked over to what Miki was pointing at.  Gorillas.  She suppressed a groan and covered up her ennui with a smile.

"Cute," she commented.

Miki, of course, ignored her and walked up to the cage in wonder, crouching down to inspect something more closely.  Aya took a few steps forward to see what had captivated Miki's attention this time.  She saw a baby gorilla sitting by the cage.  He looked lonely, and Aya wondered where his mother was.  She looked around and saw an adult gorilla sleeping nearby.  Maybe that was the mother.  Maybe she'd fallen asleep and her little baby had wandered away.

When she got closer, she could hear Miki whispering quiet things to the little baby.

"Don't worry.  Mom'll pick you up soon.  Don't be scared."

On the one hand, Aya rolled her eyes.  Talking to gorillas as if they could understand a human language?  Silly and pointless.  Miki may as well save her breath and energy for other things.

However, on the other hand, it was touching.  Miki's defences were completely lowered as she spoke softly from the heart, her compassion for a lonely living creature giving her a lovable air.  It was the kind of behaviour Aya appreciated seeing in her because it was a pure expression.

In the end, the other hand won.  Aya crouched down beside Miki and listened to the comforting monologue coming from the girl.  After a few moments, she tapped Miki out of her trance.

"Come on.  The rest of the animals are waiting for you."

She smiled happily, said goodbye to Gorilla-chan, and they headed out of the foul-smelling area.  Aya let Miki take the lead, following her along the carefully planned path.  They reached a cave-like structure and walked in, no longer needing their umbrellas.  Aya knew that it would take a lot of persuading to get Miki to leave this one.  This was one of her favourites.  And lucky her.  The cave was empty.  The heavy rain had kept most normal people away.

"Look," Miki whispered reverently, pointing to a large beast in the cage.

Aya looked and saw a panda.  A dirty, smelly, regular panda.  It was cute, but not her favourite animal.

I'm cuter than him, she thought smugly.

Miki ignored Aya's cuteness and focused solely on that of the panda's.  It was unusually restless that day, pacing along its cage until jumping up onto a ledge that had been installed as a resting spot.  The panda curled up on it.

"So... cute..." Miki uttered.

Aya sighed and walked out of the cave, leaving Miki to appreciate the holy bear on her own.  She wouldn't even notice Aya's absence.  The bored girl opened her umbrella and puttered around at the entrance, wondering how she could speed up time so that they could leave before long.

It hadn't been five minutes when Aya, who was leaning against a dry post that was partially covered from the rain by a makeshift roof, heard a strange creaking sound.  At first she thought she was imagining things, but when she heard Miki's voice and words, she panicked.

"What are you doing, you idiot?!" Aya hissed as she threw her umbrella down and ran into the cave.

"Miki!" she yelled out in a harsh, commanding tone.

There was no answer.  She got to the panda cage, and sure enough, Miki was inside the cage approaching the panda slowly, calling out words that terrified Aya.

"Come here for a hug, Panda-chan!"

Aya looked to the left and saw an open door that she somehow hadn't noticed before.  She cursed the zoo staff for stupidly putting an unlocked, unattended, easily accessible door right beside a dangerous animal's cage.  The door opening was what had made the creaking noise.

She walked quickly to the glass and tapped on it.

"Miki, get out of there," she ordered quietly, not wanting to raise her voice in fear of aggravating the panda.

Miki either didn't hear or didn't pay attention to Aya.  She kept walking towards the bear that was still perched on its ledge, looking asleep.

"Panda-chan," Miki sang out.

The panda stirred.

"Miki!" Aya snapped angrily.

She clenched her fists, feeling desperate and helpless.  If Miki wouldn't listen to her, she'd have to run in after her and drag her back, even though that meant both their lives would be in danger.

The next series of events happened so quickly that they barely registered in Aya's brain.

The panda jerked up and stood to its feet.  Miki stopped walking and looked up at it.  The panda jumped down and headed towards Miki, making a strange growling sound at the back of its throat.  Miki smiled as the panda got closer.  It then jumped up onto its hind legs and smothered her with a bear hug.  She laughed and hugged it back, and Aya watched in shock.

I can't believe it.  It actually hugged her, she thought.

Still surprised and unable react, Aya watched the hug, which looked straight out of a movie.  A farfetched movie about a girl raised by pandas in a remote bamboo forest of China.

But the hug went on for too long.  The panda squeezed more and more tightly, and Aya could start to see Miki squirming uncomfortably.  She tried to push the panda away, but it wouldn't let go.

Oh fu... Aya thought, her stomach falling and feeling ill.

"Miki!" she yelled, and she ran to the door, keeping her eyes on the two inside the cage.

Miki was now struggling openly, her face screwed up in pain as the panda's arms crushed her.

"Stop!!"

Aya ran into the cage just as the panda threw a limp Miki down to the ground and turned around.

"Your turn," it seemed to growl as it crawled on all fours.

Aya started to back away, eyeing Miki in terror.  She was on the floor, her eyes closed, and it didn't look like she was breathing.

Before she could turn to run, the panda pounced on her and smothered her with another of its deathly hugs.  Aya struggled valiantly, trying to hit the panda off of her, but it was far too strong, and soon, she began to grow faint with shock and lack of oxygen.  Her vision began to tunnel, her hearing going, and the last thing she could remember was seeing Miki on the floor behind Panda-chan.  Then her eyesight - as well as her breathing - failed.  She was shrouded in darkness.

"AH!" Aya yelled, jerking up with a jolt. 

She was still by the dry post, her umbrella now hanging so that half of her was exposed to the rain.  She was breathing hard, her heart racing faster than it had any right to.

"Oh my..." she muttered under her breath.

What a horrid dream she'd had.  Being crushed to death by a panda because Miki had been stupid enough to go into the wild animal's cage?  It wasn't at the top of her list of ways to die.  But Miki would never do anything that stupid.  Ever.

Right? Aya found herself questioning just how far Miki would go to be beside a "cute" animal.

She froze in terror and then bolted from her position, dropping her umbrella and running into the cave.

"Miki-chan!" she yelled as she careened down the hall and turned the corner.

There in the cage was the panda.

And there in front of the glass window was Miki, crouching down and watching the panda.  There was no door on this side of the cage.

"Yeah?" she asked without looking up.

Aya let out a sigh of relief.  She stalked over to Miki and grabbed her upper arm, hauling her up.

"What are you-?" Miki started.

"We're getting out of here," Aya insisted as relief spread through her body.

Of course Miki wasn't stupid enough to pull a stunt like that.

But all the same, it was best to cut this zoo trip close before her daydream turned into a prophetic vision.

"But I want to-"

"No, no more 'I want to'.  Let's listen to what I want to do," Aya interrupted her as she began to walk, dragging herself and Miki out into the rain without her umbrella.

"What do you want to do?" Miki asked with an incredulous tone, as if she'd thought Aya had had the same obsessive interest in the zoo as herself.

"I want to go home and relax.  It's a bad day to be out.  I want a foot massage.  I want to drink tea.  I want to watch TV.  And I want you alive and well and beside me."

Miki fumbled for her umbrella and opened it up over the two of them.

"Uh... okay," she stuttered, surprised at Aya's abruptness.

Miki started to become distracted a few times, but Aya kept a firm hold on the girl's arm and forcibly led her out of the zoo, out of the park, and towards the train station.  Once safely on a semi-crowded train that would take them to Aya's place, Aya lowered her voice and faced Miki.

"You'd never try to hug a panda, would you?" she asked seriously.

Miki burst out laughing, attracting some unwanted stares from various commuters in the car.  She toned it down.

"Only if I was stupid!"

Aya sighed in relief.

"Good.  Pandas are dangerous.  No matter how cute they look, you shouldn't go into their cages and mess around with them.  They can crush you to death with one 'hug'.  Squeeze the breath right out of you and turn your ribs to dust."

Miki studied Aya.  The girl didn't look sick or delirious, she didn't seem to be asleep, and she certainly wasn't joking. 

"I associate with the most morbid of girls," Miki muttered under her breath.

Chagrined, Aya's eye twitched slightly.  She stayed silent and stared off into the crowd as she held onto a handle to keep from tipping over.

"But I liiiike her," Miki sang in a cute, hushed tone so that nobody else could hear.

Aya didn't look back at her, but the corner of her lips twitched upwards and formed a tiny smile.  Miki crushed to death versus Miki, the most adorably annoying person in the world?  There was certainly no comparison.  The former was unacceptable.  The latter won hands down.

[rndmnwierd]

Lawl.

[JFC]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MORE FLUFF!!!

Aya sighed under her umbrella.  Going to Ueno Zoo had been her own idea, but she was starting to regret it.  Miki took animals entirely too seriously, and she had planned out a precise route around the entire zoo so that they wouldn't miss a single animal.  They'd been at the small zoo for over an hour and they'd covered less than half of the park.

Aya expecting Miki to not go all mushy around a bunch of animals is like Miki expecting Aya to be able to hurry up when she gets changed and stuff. Not gonna happen.

It had started to pour rain just when they had entered the zoo, yet Miki had insisted that they continue with their plan and make no changes.  Aya just wanted to go home, take off her shoes, and rest in the dryness of her living room.  She'd had enough of dumb animals, not to mention she was miffed by Miki completely neglecting her for a bunch of smelly beasts.

It's probably more the weather that's bringing Aya down than Miki's going googly for the animals.

Miki may as well save her breath and energy for other things.

It's too easy to make that sound pervvy. 

Aya looked and saw a panda.  A dirty, smelly, regular panda.  It was cute, but not her favourite animal.

I'm cuter than him, she thought smugly.

No argument here.

Reina probably makes a cuter panda too. 

It hadn't been five minutes when Aya, who was leaning against a dry post that was partially covered from the rain by a makeshift roof, heard a strange creaking sound.  At first she thought she was imagining things, but when she heard Miki's voice and words, she panicked.

...

She got to the panda cage, and sure enough, Miki was inside the cage approaching the panda slowly, calling out words that terrified Aya.

"Come here for a hug, Panda-chan!"

Aya looked to the left and saw an open door that she somehow hadn't noticed before.  She cursed the zoo staff for stupidly putting an unlocked, unattended, easily accessible door right beside a dangerous animal's cage.  The door opening was what had made the creaking noise.

Oh crap. Miki's normally the straight-thinking one, but around animals the logical side of her brain takes a vacation I think. Unlocked door + zoo animal + Miki alone = Miki going in for a hug. Now if the animal is small, no problem, but this is a freakin' panda!

Gotta admit though, picturing Miki going "Panda-chan" is damn cute. 

But the hug went on for too long.  The panda squeezed more and more tightly, and Aya could start to see Miki squirming uncomfortably.  She tried to push the panda away, but it wouldn't let go.

Oh fu... Aya thought, her stomach falling and feeling ill.

Miki, undoubtedly, is thinking the same thing. 

"Stop!!"

Aya ran into the cage just as the panda threw a limp Miki down to the ground and turned around.

"Your turn," it seemed to growl as it crawled on all fours.

Oh fu...

"AH!" Aya yelled, jerking up with a jolt.

She was still by the dry post, her umbrella now hanging so that half of her was exposed to the rain.  She was breathing hard, her heart racing faster than it had any right to.

"Oh my..." she muttered under her breath.

What a horrid dream she'd had.  Being crushed to death by a panda because Miki had been stupid enough to go into the wild animal's cage?  It wasn't at the top of her list of ways to die.  But Miki would never do anything that stupid.  Ever.

Just a dream? Yokataaaaaaa

Wait, then how long as she been standing there, waiting for Miki?

"You'd never try to hug a panda, would you?" she asked seriously.

Miki burst out laughing, attracting some unwanted stares from various commuters in the car.  She toned it down.

"Only if I was stupid!"

Miki's reaction to Aya's question =

"I associate with the most morbid of girls," Miki muttered under her breath.

Chagrined, Aya's eye twitched slightly.  She stayed silent and stared off into the crowd as she held onto a handle to keep from tipping over.

"But I liiiike her," Miki sang in a cute, hushed tone so that nobody else could hear.

Being a fluff chapter, I have to say this at least once:

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!   

Aya didn't look back at her, but the corner of her lips twitched upwards and formed a tiny smile.  Miki crushed to death versus Miki, the most adorably annoying person in the world?  There was certainly no comparison.  The former was unacceptable.  The latter won hands down.

Damn right it does. After all, one can't be adorably annoying without being "adorable" first.