Nakazawa - Yaguchi + Fujimoto - marriage² + (anger³ x ∞) – location + Thinker² ÷ Thought³ + (Munch + Rodin ÷ 3.14) – love ≠ ☺
"Yaguchi-san!"
Nakazawa Yuuko was searching all over the building for the short girl, but she couldn't find her. Little Mari had gone AWOL.
"Yaguchi-san!" Nakazawa called out again.
She looked under a low table.
"Hmm, not there either," she muttered to herself as she walked by a window with a sweeping view of downtown Tokyo.
On the windowsill sat Fujimoto Miki, an ignored novel held open in her hands. She gazed out the window, seemingly deep in thought as her eyes focused on the cold mass of foggy winter air that had settled over the city.
"Excuse me," Nakazawa said, stopping in front of Miki to get her attention.
"Hm? Yeah?" Miki asked, looking up at the person that had interrupted her train of thought.
"Have you seen Yaguchi-san? She's about this tall," Nakazawa said, holding her hand at hip level in an exaggerated estimation of Yaguchi Mari's shortness, "with dyed blonde hair. She's wearing what I'm wearing."
"I know what she looks like," Miki said with a cross between a chuckle and a frown.
She then noticed what Nakazawa was wearing.
"Oh. You guys are filming something?"
Nakazawa looked at Miki blankly.
"No," she replied.
Miki raised an eyebrow, but she said nothing.
"So, I suppose you haven't seen her," Nakazawa said, starting to pace impatiently.
"That's right. I haven't," Miki said, placing a bookmark between the pages of her book and closing it, putting it beside her on the windowsill.
It seemed to her that things were about to get interesting. Nakazawa was acting polite, speaking to her as though she were a stranger. On top of that, the ex-leader of Morning Musume was wearing a blue police uniform.
Nakazawa checked her watch.
"She was supposed to be on duty half an hour ago. Where is she?!" she exploded, letting her voice rip through the air before quickly composing herself and taking a deep, calming breath.
"On duty?" Miki asked sceptically.
At the death glare Nakazawa shot her, Miki cowered and shut up. Only two people could make her cower like that, and Nakazawa was definitely one of them.
"Now all the daily commuters are going to be coming by and causing trouble while Yaguchi-san isn't here to help. Do you know how aggravating it is to have to deal with all you people?!" Nakazawa shrieked like a madwoman.
Miki nodded, terrified of what would happen if she did not answer in the affirmative.
"I won't cause any trouble," she whispered, eyeing the truncheon slung at Nakazawa's belt and praying that the woman didn't remember it was there.
"Nutty fathers chasing errant daughters, poor families' children causing a ruckus at the local school, drugged up pilgrims from Shikoku... They're all crazy!"
Nakazawa sat down beside Miki in a huff. Miki reached out and patted the irritated Nakazawa's shoulder.
"There there. It can't be all that bad."
Nakazawa shrugged Miki's hand off suddenly, piercing the younger girl with a frantic look.
"You can't imagine what I go through every day. It's a nightmare. I signed up for the police force, not the zoo! And now I'm over thirty and nobody wants to marry me!"
Miki winced. Nakazawa and conversations about marriage didn't bode well for anyone within a kilometre radius.
"Well, marriage isn't all it's cracked up to be," Miki said comfortingly.
Nakazawa grabbed the lapels of Miki's jacket and shoved her up against the window, staring her in the eye.
"How do you know? Are you married?!" she asked desperately, seeming to want inside information that only a married woman would provide.
"Well, uh, no," Miki admitted.
Nakazawa sighed and let go.
"See? Then how can you say that about marriage if you don't even know what it's like to be married?!"
Miki shrugged.
"Okay. Fine. It's probably the greatest, happiest thing in the world."
Nakazawa cornered her with a glare.
"Marriage does not equal happiness!" she screeched, jumping up and addressing the heavens. "A woman can be happy without marriage!"
Miki twitched in confusion. How quickly Nakazawa changed her mind.
"Um, weren't you looking for Yaguchi-san?" Miki reminded her.
"That's right! Yaguchi-san! Where are you?!" Nakazawa hollered angrily as she forgot all talk of marriage and stalked off down the hallway.
Miki sighed and slipped off the windowsill. So much for spending her afternoon break time daydreaming. She picked up her book and walked back to her dressing room. She walked right by Takahashi Ai, who was positioned right beside Miki's door.
"Hi," she greeted the serious girl, and she quickly slipped into her dressing room.
Ten seconds passed. She frowned. She hadn't gotten a reply from Ai, she realised. She opened her door again, and poked her head out. Ai was still there.
"Hi?" Miki tried again.
No reply.
In fact, there was no movement. Upon further inspection, Miki was surprised to note that Ai was standing with one foot on two tomato boxes stacked on top of each other. Her elbow was rested on her knee, and her chin was rested on her fist. It looked like she was thinking deeply.
"What are you doing?" Miki asked.
Ai did not respond.
"Hello?"
More silence.
Miki got mad.
"When people talk to you, don't ignore them!" she yelled.
Ai didn't even blink.
Miki bent down and stuck her face right into Ai's.
"I'm talking to you, Takahashi!" she said loudly.
This time Ai blinked, but she remained otherwise still, making it quite evident that she was putting a lot of effort into not moving.
"Hey! Are you alive?!" Miki jeered, poking Ai's cheek.
The corner of Ai's lip turned up in the beginnings of a smile, but she quickly clamped down on it and resumed her pensive expression.
"What are you?! A sculpture?!" Miki shouted into Ai's ear.
"You got it!"
The reply was almost too fast and too slurred to hear, but Ai definitely had mumbled something. Miki took a step back at this human Thinker.
"Psychotic freak crazy stupid idiotic irritating weird pain-in-the-ass co-workers," she growled, and she turned on her heels, storming into her dressing room and slamming the door.
Ten seconds passed by, and then twenty and then thirty. Ai peered down both ends of the hallway. Seeing that nobody was watching her, she let out a breath and stretched her arms.
Being famous works of arts was a difficult job! She was just glad that the crazy lady with purple hair hadn't been the one to poke and prod her this time. That lady was a real terror.
After this brief break, Ai got back into position, this time putting her hands on her cheeks and opening her mouth in a silent scream, a pose that she would hold until Miki came out of her dressing room... which might not be for a long, long time. She got comfy.
Topic: What Really Happened To Her (Read 27931 times)