CH: 12 THE BET BEGINS PART 2/2The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet.
-Damon Runyon“Is there anyone else in here we should be concerned about?” Kei asked slightly annoyed.
“Abe” Nakzawa bellowed “Kaori, Yaguchi” all three looked at Nakazawa expectantly. “Search the room for anymore people” all three robotically nodded and began searching. Nono, konokon and Aibon glanced at one another; they couldn’t understand how Nakazawa could hold so much power over the human beings of this record label.
“Ano” Konkon softly spoke “I can guarantee you there is no one else here” Nakazawa eyed the girl carefully. Refusing to remove her gaze off the gokkie she called the three current human hunters.
“Abe, Kaori, Yaguchi” they stopped in mid activity “sit” she commanded and at once all three did as told.
“I take it you too will be taking part in this bet?” Kei poked her tongue with her pen ready to jot down the new participants name.
“Ano nee… hai” Konkon shamefully nodded “sou desu”
“Are you sure?” Nakazawa who still starred at the girl asked “It’s not mandatory, I promise I wont hurt you if you don’t but if you do tell anyone about it…” she slammed her hand so hard on the desk that not only did everyone jump but it made Kei screw up what ever she was writing. Konkon nodded profusely.
“No,ofcoursenotNakazawa-san; Iwouldn’ttellanyoneaboutit.” she spoke so quick it was hard to keep track of that she said “I do wish to participate in the bet though” Yaguchi who had successfully kept quiet snorted sarcastically.
“What’s you’re issue?” The Ring Leader of the bet finally stopped staring at the girl and switched on to Yaguchi .
“Nothing… it’s just” Yaguchi hesitated to continue.
“Just what?” Yuko asked a bit more forceful.
“It’s always the quiet ones you know?” The mini moni quickly looked at the now crimsoned Konkon.
“Okay, enough chatter” Kei looked at all the girls who had been talking. “You there” she pointed her pen at the three teenagers that stood before her “take a seat” she pointed her pen downward. “We’re going to go over the rules & regulations! I think it would be best if we all run them by again” Nakazawa gave everyone brand new packages.
“If you open to the last page you’ll see the list of rules & regs” Nakazawa took out her reading glasses “I want you all to read them carefully and remember them.”
“Konkon, since you’re our latest entry I believe you should read them out loud” Kei suggested. Konkon looked around the table at the awaiting eyes. She found this all quite silly and weird but she understood that if things weren’t treated in such particular fashion no one would take the bet seriously.
“1: The girls involved within the wager may never know about bet.” she paused and received an approving nod from Nakazawa.
“2: To win this bet, the PIMP must profess her love to one of the wager’s candidates before her graduation date.”
“Hold on” Kaori spoke up “what if she graduates and still hasn’t chosen someone?”
“Don’t worry about it, when we reach that bridge we’ll cross it. I already have an idea of what I’ll do” Nakazawa answered. “Continue Konno”
“3: Each candidate will be told a different story as to why she should pursue the PIMP
4: Each girl will have a listener to report back the status of the relationship
5: Better(s) are allowed to encourage the PIMP to pick their candidate. You may use any means desired except for bribery, blackmail, distortion, torture and manipulation.
6: Better(s) are not allowed to sabotage others plans of encouragement.
7: If potential better(s) are found you must inform Nakazawa and appropriate measures will be taken.
8: Should we ever be discovered never answer any of the questions in Japanese. Always answer with these English words “You are mistaken”. Wait until all the betters regroup and necessary actions are decided upon.” Konkon took a deep breath and sat back down.
“Did everyone hear clearly what Konkon had to say?” Kei asked.
“Hai” everyone replied.
"No bribery, blackmail, distortion, torture and manipulation. Yuko, are you going to be able to handle these rules?" Kaori gave Yuko a sly look.
Yuko didn't need words to communicate her discontent. The one look she gave Kaori reminded the MM leader who was
HER leader.
“Good” Kei helped the conversation move along.
“Now for some good news” Nakazawa took off her glasses and hung them from the collar of her shirt. “The roster for the futsal team has been made. I added the necessary people in”
“Yuu-chan, may I see the roster?” Abe requested.
“Sure” she passed the sheet of paper over to Abe who quickly started going over it.
“Their first meeting will be in a three days. Their first game should be in a month” Nakazawa continued “I want you all to know that as of tonight the bet has started.” Every ones faces lit up with cynical smiles “that means that those who have betted for the same candidate should probably start coming up with their own strategies and what-not” the twins began to giggle their troublesome giggle and quickly look at each other, suddenly their smile ceased. They came to the shocking realization that it was going to be one of the few times that they would not conspire together.
“Konkon” Kei called out “do you know who you are going to bet for?”
“Yes, I actually had decided while in hiding” the girl gave a slight laugh.
“Who’s it gonna be?” Kei awaited the answer. The room grew silent once more.
“Mako-chan” Konkon nodded confidently.
“Yokatta~” Kaori exhaled.
“Okay, the bettings go as such:
Maki: (1) Kei-chan
Mako: (2) Konkon, Kaori
Miki: (3) Kago-chan, Yuu-chan, Nacchi
Rika: (2) Yaguchi, Tusji-chan” Kei declared out loud.
“Yup that’s the current stand” Nakazawa agreed. Suddenly a hand rested upon Nakazawa’s shoulder.
“Ano, Yuu-chan.” The baby faced first gen looked puzzled. “Mikitty’s not on the roster” she pointed towards the names.
“Fujimoto’s not on?!” she ripped the paper from Abe’s grasp. “Crap” she cussed out loud “The moment you two” she glared at the twins “decided to pull off this stunt I was about to go visit Fujimoto-san.”
As the group of betters discussed back and forth little did they know that the wager on its on accord had coincidentally decided to commence that same evening. From the moment that Nakazawa had hung up her phone, the twins and Konkon abduct the elder sisters, Miki deciding to go out with Rika and Goto upset Makoto the wager had begun.
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“With Goto-san?!?” Gaki didn’t hide her shock They were all sitting in the lobby of the large building.
“Those two haven’t really hung out in a while” Ai-chan rubbed Mako’s back.
“So basically, you’re jealous?” Reina had a bored face.
“I told you it was no big deal” Mako shyly smiled.
“No, you’re wrong… it is a big deal” Reina suddenly became passionate. She felt that she could relate to Mako’s feelings. Many times in the past she saw Abe go off with friends with a great smile on her face and she would stand there wishing she could go out with Abe and cause the exact same smile on her love’s face. Sadly, in her case she felt there was really nothing anyone could do to help her but at least in Makoto’s case she might be able to give a hand, at least when it came down to this matter. “You feel uneasy about their outing and your emotions can’t rest because in your heart you have an unanswered question” a dangerous yet engaging gleam sparked in Reina’s eyes. The gokkies couldn’t help but be drawn to it. They listened to every word that she said. “There’s only one thing that can calm your thoughts” every one leaned in closer for the answer. “Let’s go stalk them and try to eves drop in their conversation. If there is anything to worry about… I’m sure it’ll come up in their conversation”
The eldest three quietly thought through what Reina had just proposed. Gaki and Ai gave each other unsure glances.
“Let’s do it!” Mako’s eyes were now similarly gleaming just like Reina’s. Ai and Gaki had to admit to themselves that it was an infectious gleam.
“HAI!” Gaki jumped
“Osu” Ai also stood up.
“IKU ZO!” Reina pointed towards the door that she, Ai, and Gaki were now walking towards.
“Matte” Mako called from behind
‘What is she waiting for?’ they asked themselves.
“Guys, we don’t even know where they are” Mako pointed out.
“Right” Reina nodded.
“Well we can break up and look for them. Do you have any idea where they went?” Ai asked.
“Yoshizawa-sempai said she was going to stop to eat and then go home”
“Alright, me and Ai will go to the right. You and Gaki will go to the left” Reina slammed her hand in her fist.
“Ch-chotto” Gaki raised her hand in protest.
She wanted to go with Ai, not that she minded going with Makoto. She just wanted to use this moment as an opportunity to get closer. Sadly her protest went unnoticed.
“Hai! Iku” Ai-chan grabbed Reina’s hand and started walking towards the door. Gaki felt her heart squeeze when she saw that.
‘Doesn’t she want to go with me?’ were the first thoughts in her mind.
“We’ll call you if we find them… same thing goes for you two” Reina waved at them as they walked out the door.
Mako looked over at Gaki who suddenly seemed a bit blue.
“You okay?” Mako asked.
“Yeah… of course” Gaki cleared her throat.
“You sure?”
“Daijou-Daijou” Gaki grinned “Let’s go find Yoshizawa-san, nee?” Mako nodded and they both walked out the doors searching for their sempai.
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“So did you hear…..” a familiar voice floated its way into Rika Ishikawa’s ears. She lifted her head from the straw she was momentarily drinking out of, quickly glancing around in search of the familiar voice. Miki spotted Rika’s gyrating head and unconsciously proceeded to do the same thing.
‘Did something happen?’ she asked herself. Suddenly her investigation was cut short by a giggling Ishikawa.
“I know what I’m looking for” Rika’s laugh settled. “But what are you looking for?” Embarrassed by the situation Miki quickly took a bite of her half eaten cake. It would give her a chance to let it blow over.
“OH! It did, AWESOME…”
Miki stopped chewing in mid-motion and looked upward. She saw that Rika again was restarting her hunt.
“Did you hear that?” Rika asked.
“Some one saying ‘OH! It did, AWESOME’? ” Miki counter questioned.
“Yeah…” Rika nodded standing up from her chair to get a better look at the faces around her. “It almost sounded like – “
“Yossy!” Miki exclaimed.
“Yeah… Like Yossy” Rika nodded.
“No… I mean yes but… no what I meant was that she’s sitting across the room” Miki’s index finger pointed towards the direction. Rika quickly glanced behind and caught sight of Yossy privately conversing with Goto. With the same momentum she turned back around and sat down crouching really low on the table. “What the f…” Miki was quickly cut off as she was pulled by collar and was forced to be crouched down with Rika.
“Shush” Rika had a serious face “Do you want them to see us?”
“Do we want them to
not see us?” Miki was uber confused and slightly annoyed. Rika’s eyes danced from side to side as she tried to come up with an explanation for her weird behavior.
“I know you don’t owe me anything” she pleadingly looked into Miki’s eyes “…. But could you please just do me this favor and lay low with me?” she bit her lip. Miki’s brain stunned; it was difficult handling this side of Rika. A frown was now etched on Fujimoto’s face. She crossed her arms glumly slumping down on the table.
“Fine” She said with a resigning attitude “But if we’re going to be looking this
stupid you better explain to me why” she stated poking the table with her finger.
“Well” Rika sighed and bit her lip once more.
“And stop looking at me with that face” the exasperation was obvious. Rika’s eyes widened in shock.
“I don’t have any other face” She truthfully stated.
Miki rolled her eyes “Forget it Ishikawa... just explain to me why we’re hiding from Yocchan and Maki?”
“You… you want the truth?” The pink loving fourth gen asked.
“No I want the lie… OFCOURSE I want the truth” The most wild of the three H!P Yankees wiped her forehead with irritation.
“Fine… but you can’t get mad” Rika demanded.
“A little late for that” Rika winced at Miki’s tone.
“I guess it can’t be helped. I’m hiding from Yossy”
“You’re avoiding Yocchan?” Miki dead panned.
Rika only nodded in embarrassment. An odd noise started to emanate from Miki. It started subtle with a few sniffs, then her vocal chords started to make quick sharp noises, her shoulders began bouncing up and down. Suddenly it started quickening in pace, Rika looked at her in awe. “Miki-chan… are you laughing?”
“Oh my God” the laughing ex-solo clamped her hand on Rika’s shoulder “You… are sooo weird” she said slightly shaking her head from side to side.
Rika, nervous about the whole situation, started a slow giggle but was quickly stopped when Fujimoto shot her a glare. “I’m really sorry” Rika looked down at the table.
“Meh… whatever” Miki too glanced down at the table
“The cakes were good” and attempt was made to smooth things over.
“Yeah they were” Miki nodded.
“Gah… I’m really sorry Miki” Rika bowed her head apologetically and accidentally slammed her forehead on the table.
“Are you ok!?!?” Miki quickly lifted Rika’s face by her chin and rubbed the offended spot.
“Itai” Rika winced. “I’m fine. That was stupid” she frowned.
“Mou, You should really be more careful” Miki scolded.
“Ano… Miki-chan”
“Nani?”
“Um… could you let go of my face?” Rika nicely asked.
“OH! Sorry” She released Rika and slightly flushed.
“It’s okay” Rika smiled as she rubbed her forehead “I should note though, deep down in side you really
are a caring person” that comment increased the yankish girl’s embarrassment. “Either way, please don’t apologies. I’m the one who should be apologiesing. I ruined our outing”
“I said whatever, no big deal”
“I know but… I sort of wanted us to bond a little. Maybe then we could start hanging out more and you would stop thinking of me as some freak” Rika frowned “I’m sure this spoiled any chances of that happening”
“You’re right” Miki looked at Rika. “You’ll always be a freak amongst freaks to me” Rika’s eyes were starting to slightly glisten; she knew there was nothing she could say. “But I think I might like to hang out with you again” Rika blinked the teary substance that was starting to swell up in her eyes away. That change of expression caused a smile on the normally cold Fujimoto. “Sometimes I need to escape my normality… who better to call than you Ishikawa” Miki smiled. Rika’s face suddenly seemed torn between a smile, frowning eyes and annoyed eyebrows. A look that amused Fujimoto very much.
“Thanks” she said in a low voice “I think”
“Your welcome” Miki winked. “WHOA look at Maki passing a move on Yocchan” Rika cautiously turned her head just on time to catch Goto’s hand on Yossy’s thighs. Quickly a mixture of anger and jealousy began to boil up in the deepest depths of her mind. An animalistic instinct to shout and throw something at them started flirting its way into Rika’s logic. She glanced away before her mind decided to act upon its uncharacteristic suggestion.
“We should go” Rika said in a low growl. This newly developed attitude surprised Miki.
“Is everything fine?” Rika glanced back at the yomaki pair only to be hit with the slight relief of seeing Maki’s hand withdraw it self from Yossy’s thigh. “Why are you glaring at them?” Miki, who was still completely caught off guard by this side of Ishikawa, asked.
“I’m not glaring” the Princess of the bet snapped her eyes away from the pair.
“Listen, I know a glare when I see one, and you were glaring” A sly expression fixed itself on the short haired girl.
“Maybe we should leave” Rika started packing her stuff when something caught the corner of her eye. She lifted her gaze and looked outside the store window. There, hiding in between two bushes were two faces she knew very well. “Gaki?” She narrowed her eyes to focus better on the other face “MAKO!?!”
_______________
“Didn’t I say we’d find them?” Gaki grinned at her friend.
“Yes you did. As payment I’ll buy you any pastry you want” Mako thanked.
“Yasashii! But damn…” Gaki frowned.
“What?” Mako took out her phone and text the eldest of the gokkies.
“I wish there was away to hear what they were saying”
“Mmm… me too” The Charmer scratched an itchy patch on her face.
“Maybe once Ai-chan gets here she and Reina can go on in and say hello”
“True, Reina does get along very well with Goto”
"I'm sure they'll do it" Gaki nodded.
“Gaki, what bushes are we hiding in again?”
“The ones in front of the left window”
_______________
“No need to get moody” Yossy slid her chair closer to Goto and shoved her playfully “Here, you can tell me in my ear so no one else can hear” she gave a silly grin to Goto. Unable to ignore the grin on Yossy’s face she smiled back “Good, you’re prettier when you smile” Yossy complimented “Are you finally gonna tell me what happened between you and Abe-san?”
“I’m not sure you’d like me after wards” Goto sadly stated. It was a change of mood Yossy hadn’t expected. Yossy lifted her hand to brush Goto’s head when unexpectedly they were greeted.
“Cheez! Yoshizawa-san, Goto-san” Reina walked in with her hands deep in her pockets. She scanned around and grabbed the nearest chair. She flipped it so that the back rest faced her front side. She straddled the chair and hugged the back rest while resting her chin on top of the table. She had uninvitedly joined Goto and Yossy at the table. Goto angrily looked at Reina but quickly returned to normal. Behind Reina an embarrassed Ai-chan walked up to the table.
“We apologies for the interruption” she slightly bowed. She looked around for a spare chair. Finally caught sight of one across the room, she walked up to the couple who were currently inhabiting the table. “I’m sorry do you mind…if…I…I…I” Ai-chan entered a cycle of stuttering when she realized the couple inhabiting the table were none other than Miki Fujimito and Rika Ishikawa. Miki lifted her index finger to her lips motioning to be quiet. Rika waved her hands giving permission to the stunned Takahashi to take the chair and leave. Deciding that it was more important to speak with Yoshizawa than stare blankly at Miki and Rika she dropped the chair where it was and walked empty handed to the table.
“What happen?” Yossy asked the chair-less Ai.
“They’re waiting for someone” Ai informed.
“Who cares, you can share with me” Reina helpfully suggested.
“Thanks” Reina shifted to side and made space for her senior. Suddenly the room became very very quiet, but everyone’s thoughts were very very noisy. Had a mind reader been in the room at that moment they’d probably leave from a massive head-ache. A girls thoughts, much less those from H!P, were hardly ever coherent. Everyone’s current thoughts went as such:
Mako’s was
‘Nooo! What are they doing? They weren’t supposed to join them. They were suppose to eve’s drop 
’Gaki’s was
'Why in the world didn’t she take the spare chair? Why is she sharing that chair with Reina… and why is she smiling while she shares that chair with Reina 
' ?Rika’s was
'Now I’ll never be able to leave 
' Miki’s was
'I guess it was a good idea to ask Rika to eat here. Something weird is going down and I have front row seats to it 
…. hm man I want meat…. Hmmm Rika has nice meat on her back side. Maybe I’ll grope Ishikawa on the way to her house 
' Reina’s was
'Did I hear Abe’s name be mention 
?… I really need to stop obsessing over her 
…*silence*…who am I kidding that’s impossible 
' Ai-chan’s was
'k… it’s weird enough to run into Miki and Rika here… but it’s even weirder that they are here together!........ hmm…..hm….hmmm…. so if E = mc squared then what is the decimal of pi?........ Why are Goto-san and Yoshizawa-san looking at me 
?….. WHAT ARE GOTO-SAN AND YOSHIZAWA-SAN DOING HERE ?!?... OH RIGHT I’m here so I can listen in on their conversation 
. But wait…. How am I suppose to do that if I interrupted it and am now a part of it 
… doesn’t that change the whole dynamic of their conversation? Great…. Thanks a lot Reina! Wow Goto-san looks really good today'Yossy’s was
'Oh how nice, Reina and Ai-chan coincidentally and innocently walked in and joined us. What a pleasant surprise 
'Goto’s was
' Reina… Reina… Reina…. I like you, you’re a nice kid. But under that innocent expression I know what you really are and I know what you really want. What the?! Is Ai-chan checking me out?…. maybe I should…no… I must stay focused, I’m here for Yossy and only Yossy'Abruptly a cell phone’s chime threw most of them out of their private thoughts. It was Takahashi’s phone, she had just received a text from Makoto.
“Look at the time” Goto hastily stood up. “It’s time to get going” she turned and looked down at Yossy. “Do you mind walking me home, Yocchan?” She asked.
“I wish I could” Yossy started getting up from the chair “but I really do need to get home.” She shyly declined.
“That’s okay… if you want I can walk you?” Reina happily suggested. It seemed she was full of suggestions that day. Though the underaged yankii had chosen Abe to be her one true love, the person she admired the most and wished to be like them was Maki Goto.
“I don’t think….” Maki stopped in mid sentence.
‘Think this through Goto! It just might be a good idea to have her come with you’ she maliciously thought “….that’s such a bad idea Tanaka-chan” she finished her sentence. “What about you Ai-chan?” Goto asked.
“Oh I live by here… so no problem”
“Well you can at least walk me to the side walk, nee~ Yocchan?” Maki playfully pouted.
“Of course” the Pimp smiled. All four stood up, they were being closely observed by four foreign pairs of eyes.
Yossy opened the door and the other three piled up out side. They all stood in a tight circle where they said their good byes and best wishes before parting. Then, as Yossy turned to leave, a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her backwards. She collided into a warm body and suddenly felt to warm lips lightly peck her cheek. When her eyes finally focused she saw Maki Goto pulling away from the kiss and giving her a quick wink. “Next time, I’ll tell you all about Nacchi and me” she elegantly turned around and started walking towards her house.
“What did you say about Abe-sempai?” one could hear Reina’s questions as she followed Goto close behind.
As Yossy stood there slightly dumbfounded by Maki’s actions, the Charmer and Princess felt something break in them. No it wasn’t their heart… it was their tolerance. It was the drop that over filled the cup, the last straw, the breaking point; they weren’t going to give Yossy up with out fight anymore.
On the switch side of it all Fujimoto was having a small internal battle. She wasn’t nearly as affected by it as Makoto and Rika, but she did feel a slight hit to her ego. Yossy was beginning to be one of her primary assault targets… would she really just let her go that easily?
“I think we should go” was the phrase used both by Rika and Mako to their respective company.
“Sure, just let me pay for this” Miki stood up and walked up to the cashier. Coincidently, out side in the bushes Gaki said something similar.
“Sure, just let me go get Ai-chan” Gaki stood up walked up to Takahashi.
It was pretty clear…The bet had begun.
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A/N: Alright I have a few things to address.
FIRST OF ALL, GEEEENKI DEEEESU KAAAA!?! *puts hand to ear & awaits response*
I hope you all really liked this chapter. I think it's probably my personal favorite chapter of the story so far and even though I had a lot of fun writing it... it was a lot of hard work too. So with that said I would like to know what you all thought of it! *hopes to see comments*
The last thing i would like to address is an issue that was brought to my attention via P.M.
Someone PMed me (you know who you are) asking me why i hardly ever comment back to my comments. I'd like to apologies to anyone else who's asked themselves that b4.... the reason is that i'm not as creative as some of the other authors in this or other forums when it comes down to responding back to comments. Though I'll begin to make an effort to answer back to the comments made.
Topic: Tears, Kisses, Cowards and The Brave (CH: 14 OBSERVATION) (Read 43387 times)