@kawaii beam: oh yes, it did wonders~
@Haruka: lol sleep is such a precious thing now...
YES AN UPDATE
And a super long chapter that i've been writing for the past week!
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Chapter 9 Eri started to bob her head up and down to Café Buono’s theme song that flowed out the speakers. She slowly looked around the shop, taking in the cute sights. Mostly everything was white, including the wall, the tables, and the chairs. There were lots of decorations with ribbons and pastel-colored streamers. Three waitresses dressed in matching uniforms with different colors busily moved around the store, attending to their customers. Another thing she noticed was that for some strange reason, there seemed to be a lot of couples in the café today; a boy and a girl sat across from each other at almost every table.
The turtle looked up at the clock on the wall; it was five minutes before the promised time. Obviously, she had come way too early since she had been waiting for about 20 minutes now. Although she did fuss over her outfit, Eri found it a lot less time-consuming to pick out clothes as a boy than as a girl. She was dressed rather simply, but was still presentable. The orange-and-brown plaid collar shirt that she wore over her yellow t-shirt matched well together. She put on some baggy jeans that she had dug out of her closet with high-top sneakers. To top it off, she had made sure that her short hair was ruffled up a little rather than being combed down.
As Eri continued to explore the café with her eyes, somebody entered through the door with the soft chime of bells. It was a petit girl wearing a loose, blue shirt that slipped down at her left shoulders. She matched it well with a beige miniskirt and black boots. She had a blue ribbon headband in her long, straight hair.
“Reina!” Eri called, her right arm shooting up.
The short girl turned around and spotted the waving person. She smiled as she started to walk over to the table. Ah, that smile… Eri could feel her heart warming up with just that smile. She felt as though it was all she needed in life.
“Sorry for being late,” Reina apologized as she slipped into the chair across the turtle.
“No, you’re not late,” Eri said. “I was just early.”
A lot early… “Did you order anything yet?” Reina asked, grabbing the untouched menu on the table. “See anything you like?”
“It’s my first time here, so I’ll just have whatever you have,” Eri answered.
“Okay then,” the kitty smiled. She quickly flipped through the menu and put it down. A black-haired girl wearing a green café uniform with a plaid skirt came to the table.
“Hello,” she greeted with a sweet smile. “I’m Airi, and I’ll be your waitress for today. Are you ready to order?”
“We’ll have two servings of manju and two taro bubble tea,” Reina said, handing the menu to the server.
“I’ll be right out with that,” Airi said. She walked away into the curtain that concealed the kitchen.
“You come here often, don’t you?” Eri questioned, noticing the way her friend had swiftly ordered without even taking a clear look at the menu.
“When I have time,” Reina answered, resting her chin on her hands. “This place has a nice atmosphere to it. Everything is so innocent and cute… It makes me feel like I’m innocent and cute too.”
“You
are innocent,” Eri said, resting her elbows on the table to lean in a little closer. “And you
are cute.”
“You’re quite the sweet-talker,” Reina laughed, pleased with the compliment. “But I’m not so sure about the first part.”
“Innocent?” Eri asked. “You seem pretty pure to me, though.”
“Are you sure?” the kitty smirked, narrowing her eyes a little. “You don’t know who I was, or what I did in the past. Maybe I’ve even been in jail.”
“I could say the same thing about myself,” Eri grinned, feeling daring.
“Ah~ you’re getting good at this, pretty boy,” Reina said, giggling.
“I have to, if I want to get a word in when talking to you,” the turtle replied, liking her new sense of bravery in front of the girl she liked.
Reina laughed again as their waitress came back with a silver tray. She placed two cups of bubble tea on the table, but only one plate of manju.
“I’m terribly sorry,” the girl named Airi apologized, “but we’re currently out of the manju. We’re making more at the moment, so please bare with us.”
“Oh, one plate is fine then,” Reina said. “We can share.”
Nodding gratefully, the waitress flitted away to serve other costumers. Reina took the small fork in front of her and started to carefully cut one of the two manjus in half.
“You can just have it, Reina,” Eri said. “I’m okay with just the tea.”
“No, I want you to try it,” the kitty said.
She continued on with the careful cutting until the fork broke through the chewy outer part and into the sweet inner part. She stabbed the fork through one of the half and held it out to her friend. Eri reached for the fork but Reina took it away, and then held it towards her again.
“Just eat,” she ordered, grinning.
Blushing a little at the fact that the girl she liked was feeding her, Eri slowly opened her mouth and bit half of the manju. The chewiness of the mochi dough complimented well with the sweetness of the azuki bean paste. Reina took the leftover bitten half of the manju into her own mouth, and started to chew delightfully. They two girls swallowed at the same time.
“It tastes really good,” Eri commented. “I didn’t know traditional sweets could still be… well, sweet.”
“It’s a lot healthier than modern desserts too,” Reina remarked.
Suddenly, the kitty reached out and touched Eri’s lips with her middle finger. The turtle froze as her head started to process Reina’s action. The petit girl smiled as she took the finger away and held it up to reveal some white flour on the tip of her fingers.
“You had a little something there,” she smiled. She licked off the powder with the tip of her tongue, causing the turtle to blush again.
“Um… Thanks,” she mumbled. Oh, she knew she was wrapped around her fingers…
“No worries,” Reina answered, smirking as she watched the turtle turn a slight shade of pink.
“All costumers, attention please!”
A cute voice rang through the speakers of the café as the music got cut off. Everyone turned to the source of the voice on the small stage at the far wall of the shop. A girl in a pink café uniform stood with a big smile, holding a mic. There was a taller girl next to her with long, golden hair wearing a red uniform.
“Konnichiwa, minna-san, Momoko desu~!” the short girl exclaimed, eliciting claps and cheers from the costumers. “It’s time for today’s Café Buono special contest!”
“Oh, today must be an event day!” Reina exclaimed, as Eri started to remember Risa’s words about the “weird café”. “I wonder what kind of contest they’re holding.”
“We see that a lot of you came here today with the knowledge of what contest today will be,” the cute girl continued. “But those of you who came here by chance, today’s contest is going to be a Best Couple Contest!”
Eri gasped as she started to realize why they were so many couples present at the café today: they had all come for this contest! The turtle couldn’t help but wonder if she and Reina looked like a couple right now too… she couldn’t help but worry about whether she looked like a boy. Wait… had Reina known about this contest? Did she purposely ask the turtle to meet her here? Eri looked at the shorter girl across from her; the ex-yankii’s eyes were fixed on stage, simply She probably didn’t know…
“Now, Miyabi,” the girl called Momoko said to her friend, “please explain the rules for us!”
“Here is what’s happening,” the tall girl in the red uniform started. “There will be three rounds: for the boys, then the girls, then a joint trial. Couples will be eliminated after each round into semi-final five couples, then final three couples.
“We also have prizes prepared for the final three couples!” Momoko cut in. “The first place couple will receive two free tickets to the amusement park. The second place couple will receive two tickets to the aquarium. And the third place couple will receive tickets to the movies!”
“Think you have what it takes to be the Best Couple?” Miyabi grinned. “Then come on down to the stage!”
A commotion broke out from the crowd immediately as various boyfriends and girlfriends started to get up to participate. Eri relaxed her shoulders and started to sip her bubble tea, until Reina shot up from her seat while slamming her hand down on the table.
“Reina?” Eri squeaked, taken by surprise by the kitty’s sudden action.
“Eri, the first place prize is tickets to the amusement park!” Reina squealed. “I haven’t been there in forever! Come on, let’s participate!”
Before Eri could say anything, the kitty dragged her off the chair and onto the stage. The turtle fidgeted a little, worried that people might realize she was not a boy. But nobody seemed to think the latter; after all, how many girls in the world dressed up as a guy to win the heart of the person they loved? But Eri was still nervous, also because of the fact that Reina was standing right next to her, holding her hand. She couldn’t shake off the giddy feeling of joy that they were viewed as a couple at the moment by everybody in the store.
“The first trial will be a test of strength for the boyfriends!” Momoko announced. “Your mission is to run a lap around the block as fast as you can and try to get within the top five. There is a mid checkpoint, where you’ll receive a stamp from Airi, so you can’t take shortcuts!”
“Now that everyone knows the rules, let’s all head outside!” Miyabi yelled.
Before Eri could fully comprehend the exact situation, she found herself being pushed along with the large crowd of couples towards the exit. The atmosphere was at its highest tension with excitement. Before she could be separated from the turtle in the midst of the commotion, Reina linked her arms with Eri’s and pressed herself tightly against the “boy”. Eri couldn’t help but blush a little as the ex-yankii just smiled.
Soon enough, all the boyfriends participating in the Best Couple Contest were lined up by the door, getting ready to run. Their girlfriends and other bystanders cheered loudly. Eri nervously eyed the other guys, who glanced at her and smirked or scoffed.
“Watch out, little guy,” a buff teenager said next to the turtle. “You just might get stepped on.”
Eri shivered at those words. She was actually a pretty fast runner between the other girls in her school… but would she be able to outrun all these guys? She inhaled and exhaled a couple times to steady her breath as her heart pounded wildly.
“All boyfriends ready?” Momoko called, holding up a pink flag in her hand. “On your mark… get set…”
As the turtle started to concentrate, she heard a single voice that stood out from the rest of the yelling.
“Eri, GANBARE!” Reina cheered. “YOU CAN DO IT!”
“GO!”
The pink flag waved in the air as Eri perked up. Just that small encouragement was enough to get her going; anything for the girl she loved, right?
Eri didn’t hold back one bit; she sent her legs in a fast cycle of motion at full speed, easily passing at least half the other boys. They had more muscle were stronger, but she was lighter and faster. The turtle quickly dashed around the corner, not doing her nickname justice. At a certain point, she could make out a girl in a green café uniform, standing in the sidewalk while holding up a stamp. A couple guys in front of her stopped to get their hand stamped. Eri did the same.
“There you go!” the black-haired girl said, stamping the café’s logo onto the turtle’s hand. “Now head to the finish line, Kareshi-kun!”
Eri mumbled a quick thank you and continued running. Beads of sweat started to trickle down the side of her face. She could feel the drops of perspiration down her back and on her stomach. The chest binding that she was wearing felt heavy and sticky as she started to breathe harder. She needed to run faster. She had to win!
Remembering the voice of a certain kitten, Eri picked up the pace and passed by a couple of other guys. Soon enough, she saw the finish line where Momoko and Miyabi were standing on either side. The cheer of the crowds awaited her and the other contestants. The turtle ran as fast as she could, shutting her eyes tightly, before she felt herself coming into a semi-circle of people and collapsed to the ground. A loud cheer erupted from the audience.
“Great job, Fifth place-san! You just made the cut!” a cute voice congratulated.
“Wait, Momo, he doesn’t look so good!” the other waitress said. “Someone get him a water bottle!”
Eri continued to breathe heavily has her eyes fluttered open and close. Every breath she took scratched her dry throat, causing her to wheeze. Her muscles felt paralyzed with exhaustion as she tried to differentiate oxygen from the other types of gases in the atmosphere.
Suddenly, a cool sensation started to fall down on her head. The turtle immediately looked up with a loud yelp as her face was met with cold water. Desperate for a drink, Eri opened her mouth wide to let in whatever liquid she could have, whether it was through her mouth or her nose. When the waterfall disappeared, Eri coughed a little bit before looking up to the person who had just rewarded her.
“Impressive, pretty boy,” Reina laughed as she threw down the empty bottle of water and immediately started to open another one. She crouched down and held the plastic bottle out to the turtle, who immediately took it and started to chug it down. “Woah, slow down there. Nobody wants to steal your water.”
As soon as those words were said, Eri choked on the cold drink and started to cough. Reina just laughed and reached out to reorganize Eri’s messy, wet hair. But the turtle backed away a little.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to touch me right now,” she said in a hoarse voice. “I’m all sweaty anyway…”
“You think I care about things like that?” Reina smirked.
This time, she reached out both hands and secured Eri’s face in between her palms. She tapped her forehead against the turtle’s, making Eri’s eyes grow wide and her cheeks blush.
“I’m proud of you, Eri,” she grinned. “Since we’re in the Top 5 to move on to the next round, I’ll do my best for you too. Okay?”
“Ha… Yeah… um… okay,” Eri mumbled, unable to form coherent words. Reina’s beautiful face was just too close; the faint scent of flowers wafted around her nose. It was hard for Eri to believe that she could be this close to such a cute girl… and it was unbelievable how it just felt so right.
** ** **
“We present to you your Top 5 couples!”
A loud cheer came from the audience as well as lots of clapping. The five couples smiled as they clung onto each other’s lover. Eri’s cheeks stayed a pink as she constantly felt overly aware of the kitty dangling on her left arm.
After the running competition, all but five couples were eliminated from the contest. The runners were given more water and some time to rest before they were asked to stand on stage again for the next round. All the audience members sat in the tables and booths; there were even more people watching than before, for the first round race had convinced them to stick around the café to see the final results of the contest.
“It is time to start the second round!” Momoko announced through the microphone. “This time, it will be a trial for the girlfriends. No matter what anyone says, the most important thing for a girl is to have their own charm to appeal. So that is your mission; each girl will come up and stand in front of the center mic stand and say or do something to lure in the hearts of all the males sitting in the café!”
“Whether you’re the cute type or the mature type, make sure to show all of your character!” Miyabi added on.
“So let us start!” Momoko exclaimed. “First girlfriend, please come to the center!”
And so, each girl came up to the microphone and said a little something. One tried to act cute by pronouncing every word like a baby. Another tried to talk dirty, which kind of worked on the males but gained the hatred of the females in the audience. All throughout the other girls’ trials, Eri couldn’t help but continue to wonder what Reina was going to do to appeal herself.
“You’re up next,” the turtle whispered. “Are you ready?”
“Uh… just give me a minute,” Reina mumbled, looking panicked. “I’m thinking…”
Eri looked at the kitty in confusion as the petit girl tightened her grip around the “boy’s” arm. Of course the ex-yankii was worried. She didn’t know how to be cute, or mature. She had never really tried to appeal herself as a girl before… And now she had to carry out this mission in front of the entire café.
“And now, the final girlfriend!” Miyabi announced. “Please come forward!”
Reina swallowed hard as she released herself from her turtle friend. She slowly walked up to the microphone and looked around. Everybody was staring at her, as if to analyze her. Feeling nervous, Reina just said the first thing that came to her mind, completely releasing her true character.
“Whatcha y’all lookin’ at?!” she growled, in some sort of dialect. All the eyes in the audience popped wide open at the sudden harsh words. Eri raised an eyebrow, confused. Reina gasped, realizing what she had just said. She quickly acted to cover up her mistake. “No, I was just kidding! Mite…” She placed her hands together slightly under her chin and tried to look as innocent as possible. The crowd was silent for a while, before they broke out into loud cheering and whistling.
“Wow, a tsundere concept!” Momoko squealed. “That was impressive, Kanojo Number 5!”
“Uh… yeah… that was it… tsundere…” Reina mumbled, laughing nervously. Well, it wasn’t what she was exactly going for, but it seemed to have a good effect.
The ex-yankii quickly sidestepped out of the spotlight and back to her “boyfriend’s” side. She linked her arms with Eri’s again and looked up.
“How was that?” she whispered.
“… Don’t do that in public again,” Eri mumbled, keeping her head down.
“Why not?” Reina asked, raising an eyebrow. “Was it that bad?”
“No! It was… it was cute but… just don’t do it in public again…”
All those people are looking at you now with different eyes. I don’t like that! “Okay, I won’t do it again,” Reina promised. She didn’t really care too much about what Eri’s reasoning was. She didn’t really want to do such an embarrassing thing in public again anyway.
** ** **
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Momoko announced, “these are your Top 3 Couples!”
A loud applause elicited from the crowd, congratulating the final three girls and boys. The first couple was a teenage couple, just like the turtle and the kitten (except for the fact that they were probably really going out and one of them was really a boy…). The second couple seemed little older, maybe college students. And the third couple was none other than Eri(ku) and Reina.
“Now the final trial will be given!” Miyabi announced. “This round will be judged by Momoko, Airi, and myself as well as the audience members! It will determine which prize goes to which couple!”
“Your trial,” Airi started, smiling, “is to kiss each other!”
A wave of excited murmurs and whistling spread through the crowd. The first couple blushed a little while the elder second couple just smiled. The last (fake) couple gasped as their eyes grew wide.
“It doesn’t matter who initiates the kiss,” Momoko explained, “but it must be on the lips! Your mission is to show a “Loving Kiss”; that’s your theme!”
“Let us feel the sweetness of your love,” Miyabi grinned. “You need to take all of us to the place that only exists between you two!”
“Yume no sekai e tsurettete~” Airi sang dreamily.
“So without further ado,” Momoko announced, “the first couple please!”
The two teenagers stepped up to the middle of the stage and faced each other. Neither of them seemed too sure of what to do. They both blushed as they met eyes. The guy said something about not being able to kiss her in public, that it was too embarrassing.
All the while, Eri could only silently think about what she and Reina were going to do. Would they really be able to kiss? Would Reina mind? Eri herself certainly didn’t mind, that was one fact. Would they be able to fake it somehow? But it was on the lips… And worst of all, Reina still didn’t know that Eri was a girl. Would it be wrong to kiss her when Reina still didn’t know one of the most important things about her?
A loud squeal broke Eri out of her thoughts. She focused on the young couple in the middle of the stage; the girl had daringly pulled her boyfriend’s collar to herself and pecked him on the lips. The crowd was practically melting from the young lovers’ cuteness.
“That was adorable!” Momoko squealed, practically jumping up and down. “Next couple please~!”
The two college students boldly stepped up to center stage as Eri became preoccupied with her own thoughts again. What should she do? She was the “guy” at the moment, so she would be the one to initiate the kiss, right? But then again, Reina wasn’t the type of girl to wait around; she was the type to take matters into her own hand. But they weren’t even going out…
“EXCUSE ME!” Miyabi shouted, making Eri jump back into reality again. “That’s enough, please step down!”
The two “mature” lovers had started off with a sweet kiss which satisfied the audience enough. But their interaction had started to grow and they had eventually started to make out in a non-PG way on stage. As Miyabi and Airi pulled them away from the spotlight, along with the groans from the crowd, Momoko quickly spoke into her microphone.
“Our final couple, please take the stage!” she said, trying to sound perky.
Eri and Reina slowly staggered towards the center. They both turned to face each other; Reina’s face was expressionless as she looked up at the “boy”. Eri’s face was tilted down towards the kitty but her eyes were flickering from left to right, not sure of what to do.
Why isn’t she saying anything? Eri thought, biting her bottom lip.
Does she mind if we kiss? Or is she expecting me to already know that we shouldn’t kiss? “Um… please carry out the trial swiftly,” Miyabi said, laughing shakily.
You know what? Eri thought, clenching her teeth.
This is a contest, and Reina wants to win! And if she wants to win, then I’m going to kiss her, no matter what her reaction is going to be! And this may be my one and only chance to kiss her… With that decision, the turtle placed her hand under the petit girl’s chin and tilted her head up, allowing Reina’s eyes to widen. She placed her hand gently on the kitty’s shoulder and leaned in closer to her face. The flowery scent of the shorter girl wafted around her nose. As Eri slowly started to close her eyes, she noticed that Reina’s eyes were already closed, giving her the signal to go.
… This isn’t right, Eri thought suddenly, frowning a little.
We aren’t even going out and I’m supposed to be the guy here. What if this is her first kiss? Reina would be sacrificing such a precious moment for a stupid contest, and to a guy who isn’t even her boyfriend. I’m not going to be the selfish one. With that, Eri leaned in closer until she placed a gentle kiss, right at the corner of Reina’s lips. The audience let out a groan of dissatisfaction, as they had been looking forward to an actual lip-lock. The turtle backed away as the kitty opened her eyes again, looking surprised.
“I’m sorry, the rules are that you have to kiss her on the lips…” Momoko said into her microphone.
“Give me that,” Eri ordered, snatching the mic from Miyabi’s hand. “I’m sorry for breaking the rule, everyone. But the truth is, we haven’t been going out for very long.”
Yeah, zero days and zero minutes. “And I didn’t want to kiss my girlfriend in front of all these people when I wasn’t sure if we were even comfortable kissing at all. I won’t do anything that Reina will regret.”
A wave of “aw”s and chuckling traveled through the audience. The three café waitresses smiled as Airi broke out into a line of, “Anata no koe ni tsuiteyuku~” from the same song she had sang before. Eri looked down at the shorter girl who was blushing a little; she immediately dropped her head down to the floor and attached herself to Eri’s right arm, eliciting another satisfied murmur from the crowd.
“Well, I think that certainly shows the potential of being the Best Couple,” Momoko giggled. “But unfortunately, rules are rules, so…”
“Couple #1 will be the Best Couple!” Airi announced. “Followed by Couple #3 and Couple #2!”
The two teenage lovers blushed as the girl covered her mouth. The college students started to mumble about the public not knowing true expressions for love. Eri smiled a little and looked down at Reina next to her, who still refused to show her face that was now bright red.
** ** **
“Two aquarium tickets,” Reina said, holding up two strips of paper up into the sky. “They’re not amusement park tickets, but they’re still cool enough.”
She whirled around and started to walk backwards in order to face Eri. The turtle had a sad smile. The two teenagers were now on their way back to their respective homes. Eri had a box of cake in one hand from Risa’s request.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t get first place,” She sighed. “I know how much you wanted to go to the amusement park.”
“It’s okay,” Reina grinned. “I still got something good out of it.”
She winked which caused the turtle to slightly blush. What could Reina mean by that? Was she talking about the non-lip-lock kiss from before?
“But it is a shame,” the kitty sighed. “We could’ve gotten first place…”
She stopped in her tracks and walked back to stand right in front of Eri, who had to tilted her back a little because the short girl was so close. Reina smiled and put her index finger on her own lips.
“You know,” she started, “you could’ve just kissed me right here. I wouldn’t have minded.”
“… Really?” Eri asked, raising both her eyebrows.
I wish she hadn’t told me that… now I’m kind of regretting it… “Why, do you regret it now?” Reina smirked, reading the turtle’s mind. “Then shall I give you one more chance?”
The petit girl reached out and secured Eri’s face between her hands. She craned her neck up to make their noses touch; Eri’s eyes widened as her cheeks grew hotter. Reina leaned and closer and closer and suddenly blew a puff of air onto the turtle’s lips, causing her breath to hitch. The kitty smirked.
“Just kidding,” she whispered. She quickly turned around and skittered down the street. She waved as she looked back. “Mata ne!”
As Reina disappeared around the corner, Eri stood frozen at her spot, unable to even blink. She could still feel the petit girl’s breathe on her face and the softness of her hands on her cheeks… And back at the café, Eri had thought that she was in charge for once because of the way Reina had blushed. But the kitty had completely turned the tables with this teasing of hers.
Well, there’s always next time… right?
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Just a couple notes:
*Eri's outfit is based off the Namidacchi costume from the PikaPika tour.
*Reina's outfit is based off fromt the MoMusu 2010 FC event, except for the hair
*Buono girls' outfit is from the performance of "Koucha ga Oishii Mise"
*The Manju is something Reina ate on Bijo Houdan.
*Reina's line from her trial is what she said from Mujack (I forgot the exact lines though)
I hope this is enough to bring this thread back to life
Topic: Chigatte mo Iin da yo! ~Mainly TanaKame, TakaGaki~ [FINALE - Ch. 93 - (1/30)] (Read 409642 times)