@maikeatoot: well i got one HUGE update? does that count as a mega update???
@risa_ai: LOL that is some MASSIVE quoting there
@yellow: teeheehee i hope you'll enjoy this update!
@Kuji: lol I'm actually still not sure what i'm exactly doing with Junjun but... yah
@kawaii beam: yee~ thank you~ (i did have a safe trip btw)
@arisa03: lol my tumblr is like, abandoned now
@sakura_drop_: oooh JunJun is your fav? why? (honest curious question, i was just wondering what it was about the character made it attractive)
@MsSmigge: lol cuz TakaGaki is like godgiven
TADAIMAAAA~~~~~
That was a LONG trip. I got back five days ago, and i have SO jetlagged (still am. I was SO sure i had insomnia)
at one point, my plane made an "emergency landing" cuz someone got sick and they had to get the paramedic on the plane but it's all cool~
I bought LOTS of clothes in both Korea and Japan and I of course visited the official H!P shop in shibuya~ and i bought pics of Gaki-san, Sayu, Reina, and they gave me a Eripon polaroid for free
Best vacation ever.
and now i am BACK giving you THIS
non-proofread chapter!
hope you enjoy~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 13 – “Many fought for Juliet’s hand” Ever since the day her monster of a stepsister moved in to her two-bedroom apartment in Tokyo, Takahashi Ai had lived an unchanging daily schedule. It was her job to wake up early, fix Sayumi’s breakfast, go to work, deal with snobby costumers and their diva ways, and now, go straight to her second job and clean her part of the building until every corner sparkled. It was a tough lifestyle but Ai had gotten used to it. She had years of muscle and stamina built up, thanks to all the rotten chores that her stepmother had made her do ever since her father passed away.
So it definitely came as a surprise to Ai when she woke up one morning to a clanking sound from the kitchen. Nobody else was supposed to be awake yet; the monkey was always the first one up. Could it be that a burglar has sneaked his way in somehow?
Ai groggily sat up in her bed and tried her hardest to listen for more noises coming through the thin walls of her bedroom. But instead of hearing more sounds, her nose was alerted instead when the scent of something burning started to spread. Still not fully awake, the monkey made a face as she tried to fathom what could possibly be burning in the kitchen so early in the morning when suddenly, a loud alarm blared throughout the entire house. Ai felt her body go on automatic as she jumped out of bed and rushed of her room at lightning speed, knowing at this point that something was, indeed, terribly wrong. She turned into the kitchen where black smoke was filling up the area, surrounding her stepsister who was waving her arms around frantically in an attempt to fan the smoke away.
“Open the windows!” Ai yelled over the loud beeps, ending her order with a nasty cough.
The bunny did as she was told (for once) while the older sibling rushed towards her, into the smoke. She quickly removed the burnt frying pan from the stove and onto a wire cooling rack and switched off the fire. Apparently, Sayumi was feeling especially generous that morning because she was the one who rushed towards the fire alarm controller on the living room wall and shut it off to cease the blaring siren, instead of leaving most of the dirty work to her sister as usual.
Determining that the worst was over, Ai felt her body go limp from lack of rest. Her sleep had only been interrupted for a couple of minutes but to someone as busy as Takahashi Ai, every second was precious when it came to relaxing. As the smoke started to finally clear out, the exhausted monkey caught sight of the fidgeting bunny a couple feet away from her, avoiding eye contact. Ai opened the mouth to speak but then she realized that she had no idea where to start.
“…Sayu…”
“Un…?”
“… Why was the kitchen on fire just now?”
Oh, great question, Ai. Now you’re going to get her on another rampage— “It wasn't my fault!”
There we go. “I… All I did was just turn the stove on!” Sayumi claimed. “And then it just burst in flames by itself! It wasn’t my fault!”
“Sayu… You know that this apartment is old and sometimes, we need to be gentle with things,” Ai sighed tiredly. “When you turn on the stove, you need to let it heat up to the lower setting first before you turn up the heat. You can’t immediately switch it onto the highest level…”
“W-well… how was I supposed to know that?” the bunny snapped. “I don’t ever use the kitchen!”
“Yeah, I know you don’t…” Then, Ai blinked a couple times as she slowly came to a realization, her sleepy eyes refocusing on her sister. “Now that you mention it, why were you in the kitchen?”
Sayumi’s eyes popped wide open as her mouth started to open and close repeatedly as if she was trying to formulate the right words. “I… I was… um…” Unable to find a suitable excuse, she suddenly yelled in an angry tone. “What, am I not allowed to be in my own kitchen?! Just because I don’t go in there often, it doesn’t mean I’m banned from going in there or something!”
“No, no, no, no, of course you’re not,” Ai said quickly. “It’s just that… well, you know, it’s a rarity to see you up in the morning so early… before me… in the kitchen… burning food…”
“I… woke up because I was hungry,” the bunny mumbled, casting her eyes away. “I must not have eaten enough dinner last night.”
“So… you tried to make yourself breakfast,” Ai said, smacking her lips dryly.
“Yes.”
“Specifically, an omelette.” The older sister nodded to the rolled up egg product on the frying pan.
“Exactly.”
Ai’s face tightened a little as she looked at her younger sibling with doubtful eyes. “Sayu, you hate omelettes.”
“I-I know…” The bunny started to chew on her lips as she nervously twiddled her fingers. “But… you like them.”
The older girl’s eyes grew wide as she looked at the omelette and then back at her sister. “You… made this… for me?”
“W-w-well, I mean, I didn’t want to eat alone!” Sayumi stuttered, keeping her chin up in the air. “I was gonna wake you up when my toast was done so I would have company while I eat. Don’t think so highly of yourself, mou!”
The spoiled stepsister quickly strutted to the kitchen table and sat down in her chair with her arms crossed and head held high, trying to hide her reddened face from her older sibling. Ai just stared for a while, still unable to believe that the bunny would cook for her, much less do anything for her benefit. She caught sight of the slices of bread that was still sitting in the toaster and touched it. The bread was crispy but cold; it had been long since the toast was done and ready to be eaten. But omelettes took more time to cook.
Smiling, Ai pushed the toaster lever back down and set the level to the lowest setting so that the toast would just be reheated and not burnt. Then, she took out two plates from the cupboard and scooped the half-burnt omelette on to one of them. When the bread popped out of the toaster in no time, Ai scooped those on to the other plate and grabbed some utensils from the dish rack. She then waltzed to the dining table and placed the food in front of her sister and herself. Sayumi stared at her in disbelief.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I am about to eat breakfast with my younger sister,” Ai replied, starting to cut the omelette with a knife.
“Baka, you can’t eat that!” the bunny protested. “It’s all burnt; you’ll get sick! You should just throw it away—”
“How can I throw away something that my beloved sister worked so hard on?” Ai said, grinning. “I’m going to finish every last bite; you watch me.”
“But—”
Before Sayumi could put up more of a fight, Ai popped a slice of the omelette into her mouth and started to chew. The bunny swallowed hard and watched her sister nervously. She felt like she should somehow make her Onee-chan spit out the darn thing before she could damage her health but another part of her desperately desired to know if she enjoyed her food or not. After all the effort she had put in on making the omelette, she sincerely wanted a good response.
“H-how is it, Onee-chan…?” Sayumi asked quietly.
Ai chewed some more before she swallowed the food. She blinked a couple times as she slowly put her utensils down. “Sayu… did you really make this?”
“I… I might’ve messed up the proportions a bit…”
“Well you must’ve done something right,” Ai said, slowly grinning, “because this tastes absolutely delicious!”
“Hontou ni?!” Sayumi gasped, unconsciously slamming her hands down on the table. “Hontou, hontou?!”
“Un!” Ai laughed. “It’s only burnt a little on the outside, the inside is delicious! The cheese really melts in my mouth!” The woman forked another piece and put it in her mouth as she sighed in satisfaction. “Oishii na~”
Sayumi blushed a little as she smiled happily. Then, as her mind popped back into reality, she crossed her arms across her chest again and leaned back in her chair nonchalantly. “W-well, I guess if burnt food suits your taste buds… it’s better for you to eat it rather than throw it away.”
“Then it’s okay if I finish this, right?” Ai beamed. “Arigatou, Sayu!”
“D-don’t thank me,” the younger sister mumbled. “You’re the weird one for liking ruined food…”
Ai just laughed quietly at her sister’s tsundere attitude and joyfully turned her attention back to her omelette. Sayumi tore a piece of the toast and started to nibble at it as she watched her older sister scarf down her breakfast. A smile spread across the bunny’s lips again, an unimaginable amount of happiness taking over her heart. This was good. She was doing well so far. At this rate, she would be able to win over what she wants. She will prove to Eri that her concern was for nothing. She knew where her rightful place was and she would do anything to take it from that Risa girl. This was only the start.
** ** **
“Shimizu, please say aloud the directions that were given to you for this assignment.”
“To make 10 different sketches of summer designs, Shachou.”
“Then why, if I may ask, are the hair styles in your sketches done better than the actual clothes?”
Miyabi quietly snorted a laughter while Saki turned bright red and scrunched up her body as if she wanted to disappear. Junjun cleared her throat to stop the blond girl from laughing further as Risa bit down on her lip and stole glances at the president, who was eyeing the youngest intern curiously.
“I’m sorry, Natsuyaki, did I miss something, by chance?” Reina asked, putting down the portfolio on the table.
“It’s nothing, Shachou,” Miyabi said quickly, hiding a smile. “I just… I found it kind of funny that Captain unconsciously focused more on the hair designs than the clothing designs. It’s just very characteristic of her.”
“Hm,” the kitten remarked, uninterested. “I see we don’t share the same type of humor, Natsuyaki.”
That shut the girl right up as she cleared her throat and held her tongue. Saki kicked her friend under the table in retribution for speaking out while Risa fidgeted nervously in her seat. Even Junjun seemed a little bit uncomfortable by the excessive coldness that was being displayed by her boss today. Ever since this meeting to check the portfolios of the interns had started, Reina had been rather brutal with the comments. Mind you, she only uttered facts. However, she had been especially nitpicky this morning, holding far too harsh a standard for mere interns. Risa could only imagine why. Just about a week ago, the president seemed perfectly fine. Had something happened during the past couple days she hadn’t seen Shachou?
“Well, I suppose that does it for today,” Reina sighed, closing the final portfolio and setting it aside for Junjun to take. “Your next assignment is to do the same exact thing.”
“The same exact thing?” Risa repeated.
“Yes,” Reina answered. “But this time… do better.”
Miyabi’s mouth popped open but she immediately closed it. Saki sighed shakily as though shivers had run up her spine. Risa pursed her lips tightly and nodded to herself.
“Other than this assignment, we’ll be putting a new plan in motion starting today,” Junjun announced. “Tanaka Shachou wishes to personally analyze each of your characters and visions. So, each of you will accompany Shachou on her weekly public market scoping and offer your opinion on various topics. We’ll go in age order so… I guess that means you’re up first, Niigaki.”
Risa looked up as she swiftly stood up. “H-hai…”
“I’ll call for a car so you can leave immediately, Shachou,” Junjun said.
“No need, Jun,” Reina interjected. “I feel like driving today. We’ll take my personal car.”
“As you wish.”
“Niigaki.”
Risa saw her boss motion for her with her fingers as she exited the conference room. The bean rushed to gather her stuff as she quickly followed behind, deeming herself quite unlucky to be chosen to accompany the kitten on one of her bad days.
The president refused to decrease her speed as she continued to walk in front of the struggling bean at all times. Soon enough, they were in the president’s glossy sports car and driving down the road. Risa nervously glanced at her boss who seemed to be fully engrossed in her driving. She didn’t want to irritate the stern kitten but she also wanted to know if something was the matter. Ever since their previous conversation, Risa had deemed Tanaka Reina a rather fine person who had a soft spot, just like any other human being. If she was being this cold and stressed, there must be a good reason.
“Ano… Shachou?”
“What?”
“Um… did something happen… maybe?”
“You’re gonna have to be more specific than that, Niigaki,” Reina said, revealing no emotion. “A lot of things happen every day.”
“Well, I mean,” Risa rephrased, “I just thought that you seem rather… upset today. About something. And I was just wondering if you would… maybe… like to talk about it?”
Reina laughed dryly. “Me? Upset? You insult me, Niigaki. If I was someone who was easily put off by inconsequential things, I would not be able to do my job, would I? After all, my occupation is quite demanding.”
“I-I guess so…” the bean mumbled, immediately backing away from the kitten’s cold response. Hey, if her boss said she was wrong, then she was wrong. But Risa still could not help but be bothered by the young fashionista’s changed attitude.
A moment of awkward silence ensued before the kitten spoke up again. “Rather than worrying about me, I would worry about yourself more, Niigaki.”
Risa wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion. “… Hai?”
“Apparently, a couple nights ago, you were found taking an unauthorized ‘break’ with another employee?” Reina elaborated. “According to Junjun’s report, that is.”
“Oh.” The bean’s body stiffened as she felt guilt and uneasiness swallowing her up. “Y-yes, it’s… it’s true…”
“I really hope that you won’t be found being so irresponsible next time,” Reina continued. “And the janitor that you were found with… what was her name? Taki… Take…”
“It’s Takahashi Ai,” Risa instantly corrected as she turned her head towards her employer, a little too assertively. “Her name is Takahashi Ai.”
“… Right. Takahashi Ai.” Reina forced a natural, professional smile but she could not help her fingers tightening around the steering wheel at the mention of the name. “You two being lazy together like that doesn’t look too good for her either.”
“Please don’t penalize her!” Risa pleaded, worry filling her eyes. “It was my fault, I… I left my post first and interrupted her. I shouldn’t have done such a thing and I’m sorry. So please… don’t punish her for something I did.”
Reina’s face stiffened as her teeth clenched together tightly. “You… you’re quite close with Takahashi, aren’t you?”
“Close…” Risa’s mind flashed back to the night a couple days ago when they had held hands together; the smallest contact that only made them want more. She smiled a little, lowering her head. “I suppose you can say that… we’re close. She’s a good friend. A very good… friend.”
Suddenly, the car screeched as it came to a rough halt, throwing the bean’s body forward and back again by the seatbelt. As Risa recovered from the shock, she saw that her boss at gotten out of the car and walked around to open the passenger seat door for her. Although she had classy manners, as usual, something about the girl was definitely off today. The bean quickly undid her seatbelt and got out of the car, not wanting to keep her employer waiting.
As Reina closed the door, she said in smooth and controlled voice, “I’m glad you’re making friends within the company, Niigaki. But… sometimes it’s wiser to make good connections as well, if you know what I mean. Get to know people who are in the same industry as you.”
“Oh.” Risa blinked a couple times while the kitten strutted forward to enter the first store that they were going to explore. Realizing that Ai was merely a night janitor to Tanaka Shachou, Risa spoke up as she followed her boss into the building, “Well, you know, actually, Ai-chan is—”
“Irasshaimase!”
The bean turned to the familiar chorus of voices that greeted them into the store. She had been so preoccupied with the peculiar conversation with Reina that she had not even noticed which store they had entered. And the particular store that they were to investigate first and foremost was the ever so familiar Tresor.
And when one certain store clerk who was dressed fashionably in tight jeans, a jacket, and a hat raised her head, her eyes immediately connected with Risa’s. Connected, like magnets, unable to escape each other even if they tried.
** ** **
“No. Way.” Eri exhaled sharply in disbelief. “There is just no way! Are we talking about the same Michishige Sayumi here?”
“Yes, Eri,” Ai grinned while folding a shirt. “My younger sister, Michishige Sayumi.”
“The same Sayumi with the poison tongue?”
“Yes, the same Sayumi with the poison tongue.”
“The same Sayumi with the black character?”
“Yes, the same Sayumi with the black character.”
“The same Sayumi with the—”
“Oh for the love of god, Eri!” Ai moaned. “Yes, yes, yes! We are talking about the very same Michishige Sayumi! And that Michishige Sayumi made breakfast for me this morning!”
“… Did I miss something?” Eri said, wrinkling her eyebrows. “Is the world ending tomorrow or something?”
“Come on, Eri, be nice,” Ai chuckled. “Sayu isn’t all that bad, I’m always telling you. She’s a sweet girl on the inside.”
“Yeah, sweet like alcohol, if you know what I mean,” Eri remarked. “When you’re drinking it, you feel great. But the next morning, it comes back up because you just can’t hold it down—”
“Okay, let’s not get graphic here!” Ai interrupted, making a face. “Point is, Sayu is trying to be nicer, I think. We should not only be giving her a chance, but also be her biggest supporters as her friends.”
“… She really is working hard, isn’t she…” Eri murmured. “You just don’t know when to give up, Sayumin…”
“Huh?”
Ai cocked her head to the side in confusion. But before she could further inquire the turtle, the doors of the store opened with the chime of a bell. The two immediately turned towards the door and bowed, yelling out the usual greeting. But when Ai lifted her head, she immediately caught sight of the face that hadn’t left her mind since the last time she had seen it. But more alarmingly, a petit woman with a formidable aura stood beside her, staring knives with her eyes.
“Tanaka Shachou…”
“Ara, if it isn’t Takahashi?” Reina said in an even tone. “What brings you here so early in the morning?”
“I work here, ma’am,” Ai answered curtly. “This is my day job.”
“So it is.” The president smiled amusingly. “How unusual for such a fashionable store clerk to also be working such a lowly job as a janitor…”
“It was a necessary action I had to take to survive,” Ai replied, not phasing the slightest bit. “But rather than speak of my private matters, may I know the reason for your visit to Tresor, Tanaka Shachou?”
“Ah, of course.” Reina wrapped one arm around her employee who had been quietly standing by her side until now. Her hands gently rested on the bean’s shoulder while Risa gasped softly at the sudden contact. “Niigaki here and I were just on a little… adventure, you could say. Do you mind if we have a look around? As costumers, of course.”
“You are more than welcome to do so, Okyaku-sama.”
All heads turned towards the woman who had just spoken up for the first time since the two women’s entrance. Eri walked forward until she was a step in front of Ai and bowed at a perfect 45 degree angle to Reina and Risa.
“Please excuse my worker, Okyaku-sama,” she said, smiling brightly. “All Tresor employees are required to call our shoppers Okyaku-sama and nothing else, in order to stress the idea that all costumers are of equal standing in this store. Every last client is precious to us, you see. From this point on, I will make sure that you are addressed as only Okyaku-sama: nothing more, nothing less.”
Risa’s eyes grew wide while Ai watched Tanaka Reina’s face harden. She had to guiltily admit to herself that she was happy that the turtle had stood up for her like that. It was undeniable that everyone in the room understood the true meaning of Eri’s words: no hotshot fashionista was going to strut into her shop and pull a diva move. As long as they were in this store, Tanaka Reina was just Tanaka Reina, an “Okyaku-sama”, just like anybody else. “Tanaka Shachou” would have to back off until she was out on the streets again because in Tresor, Takahashi Ai was Kamei Eri’s employee, not Tanaka Reina’s.
“Now, if I may make a suggestion, Okyaku-sama,” Eri continued in a clear and preppy voice, referring to her right, “you can start looking around from this side. If you need any assistance, my employee here will be available to help you.”
Reina clenched her teeth and revealed a tight smile, refusing to let herself boil over. She had never been talked to in such a manner before. As offensive as it was, she had to admire the girl’s guts and professionalism. “Thank you very much. I’ll gladly follow your suggestion.”
The kitten turned to the direction that the turtle had referred to and waved Risa over, to which the bean responded immediately. Ai turned her head to look at her friend, her eyes showing a mixture of gratitude and uncertainty. Eri smiled, not a hint of worry in her expression, and just patted the older girl’s arm as a comforting gesture. As the turtle lazily made her way back to the counter, Ai noticed that Risa was staring at her. The bean was obviously troubled because of the previous tense moment, the “silent war” that had occurred. Deciding that she was going to have to be the brave one, Ai grinned as though nothing had happened and walked towards the two visitors to “assist” them, as Eri had aforementioned. Risa eyed the older girl warily, reluctant to drop her suspicions, but did seem a bit relieved that Ai seemed very cool about the situation.
“Niigaki, are you listening?”
“H-hai?!”
Risa quickly turned her attention to the young president who was holding up a cute summer dress. “I asked, what can you tell me about this dress?”
The bean breathed in deeply and let it out to calm herself. Although she wasn’t in the Bijou company building, she was still in the middle of working a job. She had to focus. “Well… those summer dresses are quite popular these days… Bijou also has a collection ready… Um, I guess it’s better for the waist band to be higher up so the wearer’s legs look longer and her figure becomes slimmer…”
“Okay, good enough,” Reina interrupted, putting the dress back on the rack. “I’ll take that as your warm-up answer.” She looked around a little bit and then pulled out a simple white dress. “Talk to me.”
“Eto…” Risa mumbled, distracted by the mere fact that a certain someone was standing right behind her, watching. “I suppose that one’s more of what you would call a ‘base’ dress… It’s meant to be simple so that you can add other accessories and pieces on top of it—”
“What would you add to it?” Reina cut in.
“Me?” Risa blinked, taken aback by the sudden question. “I… I guess I would wear this denim jacket that I have at home…? Um, maybe open-toed heels or sandals…”
“Do you like this dress?”
“… I… I guess so…?” Risa quickly bit down on her lips and opened her mouth again as if to reset her switch. “I mean, in some way, this dress is much more interesting than the flowery one, right? The summer dress is just the dress itself but this white one… it can become anything you want. It can change every single day. One dress, multiple outfits. So I suppose that means I do like the white one… a lot.”
“Better,” Reina commented, the corners of her lips curving up slightly. “Well, I’ve seen a lot of summer dresses but I haven’t seen these in any collection…” She checked the back neckline of the dress. Unable to find what she was looking for, the kitten looked up at Ai and frowned. “There’s no tag.”
“That’s because all the clothes here are made personally by Kamei-san,” Ai answered. “If you look closely, you’ll find the word ‘Tresor’ stitched in by the neckline.”
“Personally made?” Reina repeated, her eyes showing disbelief. “So… this shop doesn’t import anything? From any brand?”
“That is correct,” Ai nodded. “We’re more of a clothing boutique than a shop; we create what we wish to create at any time we want.”
“So that’s why everything here is one-size…” the fashionista murmured. “That must be terribly inconvenient.”
The older woman stiffened a little at this. “Why do you say that?”
“Well, suppose you receive a certain costumer who does not apply to the one-size-for-all rule,” Reina said matter-of-factly. “Also, in a small shop like this that doesn’t sell any brands, it’s difficult to accommodate to each costumer’s style. It’d be much more beneficial and efficient for them to visit a real clothing store. Wouldn’t you agree, Niigaki?”
“… I-I… um…”
“Well, when it comes to sizes,” Ai interjected, a determined look on her face, “we do take private orders to resize the clothes for those costumers. And if I may, I believe that a small boutique like Tresor is actually much better at accommodating to each costumer’s style. We don’t have a set collection or plan in producing clothes. We create what we want and what the costumers want, when they want it. That is what attracts costumers. Right, Gaki-san?”
“W-well, I…”
“But realistically speaking, Takahashi-san,” Reina shot back, a fake smile plastered on her face, “a company like Bijou is also economically better off than somewhere like Tresor. We’d be able to give
that costumer exactly what she wants. We are capable of making her happy. Isn’t that true?”
Ai felt her fingers automatically curling into a fist. “Just because we are small, it does not mean the quality of our products are any less exquisite than other companies. We do our best with what we have and we still manage to satisfy
that costumer, or at least we’d like to think so. If we don’t have the resources to make the costumer happy, we’ll personally sacrifice our own to satisfy her. And we
don’t give up.”
Silence took over the shop as Reina and Ai glowered at each other, neither of them refusing to break the eye contact. Risa stood between them, nervously glancing one way and the other, unsure of exactly what was going on. But the person who understood precisely what was going on stood a couple feet away, leaning on the counter. Eri had a curious smile spread across her lips, thoroughly impressed by her friend’s newfound courage.
Not bad, Ai-chan… This girl really must be something for you to get that far out of your comfort zone. “Well,” Reina finally said, regaining her composure, “I see that we’re not going to agree any time soon. But the truth is bound to be revealed soon enough… right?”
“Of course,” Ai agreed. “Hopefully, very soon.”
“Yes, hopefully,” Reina concurred, a sweet mask covering her true face. “I think we’re done here for today, Niigaki. We should get a move on.”
Risa wordlessly nodded to her boss’ order, all the while keeping her eyes on Ai’s stiffened form. Reina finally turned away from Ai but instead of heading towards the exit, she grabbed the white dress that she had previously discussed with her employee. “But before we leave…” she mumbled, and headed towards the check-out counter. She handed the dress over to Eri. “I’d like to buy this dress please.”
“Of course,
Okyaku-sama,” Eri said sweetly, taking private pleasure in watching the kitten flinch at her title. “That’ll be 2500 yen.”
Reina took out her wallet and handed the turtle a credit card. After a quick swiping, wrapping, and bagging, Risa found her boss approaching her side again. The president held out the shopping bag to her employee.
“It’s yours,” she said. “Take it.”
Risa’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, no, no, no, Shachou, I couldn’t, I—”
“You said you like it,” Reina said, a hint of laughter in her voice. “So I bought it for you. It’s yours.”
“Shachou… I-I can’t just accept—”
“You really do have a problem with just doing what your boss tells you, don’t you, Niigaki?” Reina remarked, narrowing her eyes threateningly although her tone revealed her obvious playfulness. “Just think of it as a gift and take it. Please.”
Risa looked at the bag and up at her boss again; her eyes were much softer and welcoming than they were this morning during the meeting. Something told the bean that accepting this “gift” would be of more help to Tanaka Reina than to herself. So for the kitten’s sake, Risa graciously accepted the dress.
“Arigatou gozaimasu, Shachou,” she thanked, bowing. “I’ll make sure to take good care of it.”
“I know you will,” Reina replied, revealing a bright smile. That smile. It was the smile that no one had the good fortunes to witness, yet Risa had already seen it once before on the day she first went to work at Bijou Company. Why she had been allowed to see that smile multiple times while others have never caught a glimpse of it, she did not know. But being a fully grown 23-year-old, Risa wasn’t blind. What if maybe… just maybe… Tanaka Reina was… towards her…?
“Well then,” the president started, turning towards the storeowner, “thank you for allowing us to look around… Kamei-san, was it? And of course, Takahashi-san, for your services.”
“Our pleasure,” Eri giggled. “Please come visit again…
Okyaku-sama!”
Reina flinched again ever so slightly before moving on towards the exit. Ai had to bite down on her lips to stop herself from laughing and appreciating her friend’s wittiness.
The kitten left the store with a jingle of the bells and Risa was right behind her. But at the last moment, the bean turned around and dashed towards Ai and stopped, seeming to forget the words that she had been rehearsing in her head for a while. She wanted to make sure that her friend was okay, that she wasn’t offended in any way, and that there may be no… “misunderstandings”. Unfortunately, her brain was in such rush to make sure that she caught up to her boss in time that she couldn’t exactly spit out all her thoughts in an orderly fashion.
“I…” Risa mumbled, “ano… I’ll see you tonight?”
Ai chuckled. “Well, actually… I’m not working tonight. It’s Saturday.”
“Oh, right!” Risa prattled at top-speed, laughing nervously. “Right, right, right, of course, of course, I-I-I completely forgot about that, um—”
“And since I’m not working tonight,” Ai continued, cutting into Risa’s chain of incoherent words, “I have some free time left… Maybe we can get tea or something later?”
A huge grin slowly appeared on Risa’s face. “Tea… sounds great.”
“I’ll call you,” Ai smiled.
“Yes!” Risa laughed awkwardly again. “Yes, yes, yes, please, call me, do call me, I’ll just, um—I gotta go.”
Flashing one more bright smile with red blush staining her cheeks, Risa twirled around and pranced out of the boutique. Ai just simply laughed to herself, finding the bean rather cute today as she lost her usual mature composure. But she knew that wasn’t the only thing that was different today.
“You’ve changed.”
Ai smiled and whirled around to face her friend who was grinning from ear to ear. “Who, me?”
“Yes, you!” Eri laughed. “You just seem more… confident. Empowered. Ready.”
“I think I am all of that today,” Ai shrugged, beaming. “I don’t know why, I’m just… I feel like I want to become stronger. I want to work for it.”
“That’s the spirit!” Eri cheered. “You just remember that I’m always here to help you too, if you ever need me.”
“Believe me, I haven’t forgotten,” Ai laughed. “Arigatou, Eri.”
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ugh that turned out SO much longer than i planned for... OH WELL.
i need to get the story moving faster! ragskjfowjer;owiej
Topic: Juliet and Cinderella ~ [UPDATE - Chapter 22 - (10/28)] (Read 82081 times)