Warning: Pretty long chapter.
Chapter 13: Snakes galore 
“Ah! Here we are!” Reina stretched her hands in the air, “The zoo!”
Maki tilted her dark brown fedora hat at an angle so that her eyes had a better view, “Didn’t know it was this far… Good thing the taxi driver didn’t recognize who we were.”
“You I understand, because you have a hat on, and you tied your hair in a low ponytail, but I still have trouble figuring out why he didn’t recognize me, I mean, I have
the eyes. Don’t people usually know me by
the eyes?”
“You shouldn’t be talking, you’re wearing purple sunglasses,” Maki chuckled. “With pretty thick black frames too, so even the side view is useless if they can’t see your eyes.”
“Nonetheless, our disguise is pretty efficient, so I don’t think the press will recognize us, unless you transform and the new deadlines would be ‘
Goto Maki transformed into a new breed of snake’ or something to that effect,” Reina held a hand to her mouth to suppress a giggle.
“That’s why I’m wearing a hat and black sunglasses. That should block out sunrays easily for me.” To add to her appearance, Maki was, once again, wearing the classy brown coat with the four buttons, with black pants and dark brown high heels.
“Some fashion, who knew that such an idol has quite the bad sense.”
“That sounds odd, coming from a yankee,” Maki said, eyeing Reina’s abuse of purple in the rather casual outfit.
“Not a yankee,” Reina turned from Maki crossing her arms, and scoffed. As she turned, her necklace swung in the air and returned in front of her chest. Catching this, Maki stood next to Reina and leaned forward to turn her head back at Reina.
“I see you’re wearing the cross I bought you?” Maki smiled. Reina trudged onward, hoping to hide her blush.
“I thought Yankees don’t blush,” Maki called out.
“Am not!” Reina turned her head to look back at the cursed woman.
“So you ARE blushing!” Maki laughed.
“I am definitely not!” Reina turned her head away.
“Are you getting even more flustered?” Maki caught up with Reina.
“I am so not getting getting flustered!” Reina began running.
“Liiiiiiiies!” Maki shouted out and ran after Reina. With Maki’s powerful body, and Reina’s weakness of running, Maki easily caught up to Reina and clung to her from behind. “You shouldn’t run when it’s your weakness you know,” Maki whispered into Reina’s ear, “You never know when someone will kidnap you…” she sounded a bit intimidating… “Just kidding!” she smiled, letting go of Reina.
“They’re right when they said you were good at acting,” Reina also smiled, hoping to compensate for being flustered.
“I’ve always wanted to try a villain role, really,” Maki said as she started walking to the booth.
“Villain role, eh? I’d like to see you as a damsel in distress,” Reina smirked as she got out her wallet to pay for the ticket.
“Say what?”
“You heard me,” she smirked, paying for both. Then she walked past the stands and made it into the zoo with Maki tagging behind.
“Heeey~! You didn’t have to pay for me!” Maki tilted her fedora yet again, in hopes of being inconspicuous.
“What’s done is done, you can’t exactly take the money back you know,” Reina smiled yet again. “So anyway, I hear they got an aodaishou now!” Reina giggled in excitement. (Aodaishou = Japanese albino rat snake). “Ever saw one before?”
“No I haven’t actually,” Maki smiled and tilted her head up a little more to see where she’s walking, “though, the orochi look a bit similar, since aodaishou are like a pale light yellow with ruby eyes, and we are pale light silver with golden eyes.”
“So that means you and the aodaishou are very bright, huh? Hopefully, you two won’t be mistaken for each other if I compare, right?”
“I don’t think so, they are pale yellow, and we’re pale silver, so there’s a difference in value I guess.”
They both decided to view the other attractions before heading for the reptile exhibit. Reina immediately dragged Maki into the panda exhibit. After much squealing, Maki dragged Reina into the penguin exhibit. After much squealing from that, they decided to randomly walk around to get a feel of the zoo. Eventually, they spoke of their envy of the other members who got to see the animals up close, especially Nono and Miki.
“Alright, how about we enter the reptile house now?” Reina tugged onto Maki’s sleeve.
“You’re acting just like a cute kid!” Maki laughed, and laughed a bit more when Reina turned her head away in embarrassment, “okay, we can go.”
They both entered the Brazilian-esque doors and was immediately met with snakes slithering near the glass just to get a good look at Maki. Some of the children became frightened at the snakes’ sudden movement towards the spectators. Even some of the adults were a little uneasy with the snakes being near all of a sudden, regardless of the thick glass separating them.
“Then again…I think you should go alone…” Maki stepped backwards and opened the doors again, “it’ll cause too much of a commotion if the snakes try to bash the glass just to be near me…”
Reina frowned, not because of the snakes, but because she was going to be without Maki throughout her visit in this house. Maki caught this frown, and tried to smile again with an apologetic look. “Have fun, I’ll wait in the front,” and with that, she left.
“Oh greaaat, alone again,” Reina sighed. When she looked, most of the snakes returned to their position before Maki came. The bystanders were whispering curious questions as to why the slithering reptiles moved so suddenly, yet retreated. Reina wished she could say that the person she was with attracted snakes, but figured it wouldn’t be a smart thing to say.
The snake exhibits in the house was practically a maze. There were so many display glasses that Reina was sure she needed a map and a pencil to trace her whereabouts. Passing the reptiles from Africa, she came across an intersection. To the left, there were American snakes, to the right, were the Southern American snakes, and up straight were the Asian snakes.
“Ah ha! Maybe that’s where they’re holding the Aodaishou!” Reina clapped her hands and walked along the displays.
As she finally came to where the aodaishou was being held, she found that the aforementioned snake was surprisingly not in hiding, but was near the glass, coiled lazily. What Reina and Maki discussed about it was true. It was a pale light yellow, and it had beautiful dark piercing ruby eyes. “Very pretty…” Reina marveled.
What Reina found amusing was a kid trying to speak to the snake, opting to get the snake to do something. Next to the kid, the woman leaning on the railing in front of the glass turned her head and spoke in a rather familiar language, which caused the snake to look at the kid.
The little boy became a little frightened, but fascinated in the snake, before finally, being called away by his father.
“Huh…?” Reina scratched her head. That woman spoke in a language reminiscent of the time Maki talked to the snake in the park. “Is she another…? Then again, isn’t she…?”
That haircut was unmistakable. That bob-cut could be recognized by any H!P member, Reina went up to the woman, and leaned over carefully as to not attract the woman’s attention. Glasses. The woman wore glasses.
“Murata-san?” Reina poked the woman. The glasses-wearing Melon Kinenbi member turned her head and widened her eyes in surprised.
“Ah, Reina-chan?” Megumi asked, “Couldn’t recognize you in your abuse of purple yankee fashion,” she immediately said in a sarcastic voice.
“Just a random meeting and you still use sarcasm?” Reina raised a brow and gave a brief chuckle.
“Ah…” Megumi turned to look back at the snake, “I can not help it, part of my nature,” she said in a rather plain and bored voice.
“So, are you cursed too?”
Megumi looked at Reina again, “Ah…I wonder if I’m cursed indeed…” she said in the same bored tone.
“Well, I guess you are, you got the Aodaishou to look at the kid, right?” Reina turned her attention from the newly discovered cursed member to the aforementioned snake behind the glass, still looking lazy.
“Yeah, Chikane was wondering when the kid will stop bothering her, so I gave a suggestion and she followed.”
“Chikane is her name? How cute.”
“Yeah, she told me her name too, makes you wonder how smart snakes really are, right? They can really understand humans.”
“Which makes me wonder, did the snakes rush you when you first entered?”
“Nah, they were sleeping, so I got off easily,” Megumi continued showing her stoic expression, “Ah… Winter is coming soon…”
“It’s a very troublesome season for you all, as I could imagine,” Reina readjusted her sunglasses. “Anyway, I came for what I wanted, to see the Aodaishou. Going to get going now, Maki is waiting for me.”
“Ah… Gottsuan?” Megumi perked up, “I think I better get going too, since I was here for about two hours. I’ll walk with you.”
“Alright then,” Reina said, and then walked. “But since you were here for two hours, I trust you can find your way out easier than I can?”
“Hmm…” Megumi paused and stared blankly for awhile. “I can.”
“…What a long pause…” Reina feared that Megumi might not know.
Megumi lead the way, and true to her doubtful words, she and Reina reached the entrance once again. Megumi pushed the Brazilian doors opened, and a brief gust of really cold air blew in…
Poof!Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap! Reina panicked. Maki also saw from the bench outside and tried rushing to her. Thankfully, no one else saw Megumi transform. Reina went and picked up Megumi’s clothes and glasses, and was about to pick up Megumi-hebi too, when some one else shouted out, “Ah! Someone get the rogue snake!” and ran after zoo officials.
Another zoo official came and saw the unique pale-silver snake with the character for 3, 三, on its forehead. “Is that a new undiscovered breed of snake?!” and ran after.
Reina, Maki, and Megumi felt like their panic encased their bodies in ice. As the zoo official got closer, Megumi turned to slither away—and slithered straight into a wall. “I’m so blind without my glasses!” she pouted, before trying to slither in a different direction, towards the zoo official.
“Oh no!” Maki and Reina shouted in unison. Reina panicked on the spot, trying to figure out what to do. Maki, meanwhile, was racing the zoo official, and exceeding the official’s speed by a landslide. She quickly picked up Megumi, and got hold of Reina’s hand and ran away. The zoo official apparently called up more people, because now there was a flock of people after the three Hello!Project members.
“This better not be on the news!” Reina huffed, trying to keep up with Maki’s speed.
“It’ll be worse if they find out who we are!” Maki panted, letting Megumi coil tightly around her right arm while Maki held onto her fedora hat with the same hand, and holding Reina’s hand with her left.
The chase seemed forever, but it cut off as soon as Maki took a sharp turn and went into the Girls’ bathroom.
“For me, because I was outside the majority of the time, the temperature changed while I was out there so I didn’t transform, but you…” Maki let her hand drooped down so that Megumi could slither down, “You should be more aware of temperature changes when you’re in a building trying to exit.”
“Ah… My apologies,” Megumi bowed her snake head, before heading under the furthest bathroom stall from the door. Maki looked under the stalls to make sure no one else was here, and sure enough, no one was truly there asides from them.
“So what brought you to the zoo?” Reina asked, holding Megumi’s clothes neatly in her hands.
“Like you, I wanted to see the Aodaishou. You are aware that they can bring good luck to peoples’ houses, ne?”
“But you live in the apartment with us…” Maki sighed.
“…Since Reina-chan wanted to see it too… Double the meeting, double the luck, ne?”
“But the apartment doesn’t really need luck, nothing’s wrong with it,” Maki confirmed.
“Ah…But it’s okay to strengthen its luck…”
“Apartments don’t need luck, we’re the ones who need it, people,” Maki sighed.
A familiar tune of Mi Da Ra Matenrou ringed in the air. Recognizing it as Megumi’s cellphone, Reina pulled it out of Megumi’s pants pocket and looked at the ID on it. “Oh! It’s Ootani-san!”
Poof! Megumi walked out of the stall naked, “I’ll answer it…”
“Don’t walk around naked, it’s indecent,” Maki raised a brow.
“Ah…But it has an air of freedom to it, you know?”
“Don’t say ‘Ah…’ so creepily, it’s like an old man,” Maki turned her head away.
“Ah…” Megumi held her stoic expression again, “that one was to anger you.”
Reina could hear Maki hissing at Megumi, and smiled. She handed the phone to Megumi and she answered.
“Yes? Ah… I see… Of course… Haha, again? I’ll be there in as soon as possible. See you soon,” Megumi hung up with a chuckle. “I have things to attend to,” she grabbed her glasses and placed them on. “Oh how I miss my sight!” she smiled. “It was very unpleasant running into the wall at full force…” she rubbed her head.
“I can imagine,” Reina gave Megumi her clothes. The Melon Kinenbi member turned her back on them both to enter the stall yet again to put on her clothes. As she walked, Reina saw the 3 winged tattoos at her shoulder blades, and left mid-back.
Eventually, she came out again fully dressed. “See you whenever,” and she left.
“What…was that all about?” Maki clasped a hand to her forehead.
“Well, it has been an amusing day, yes?” Reina motioned for Maki to exit the restroom.
“I guess, running from zoo officials, what should we answer?”
When they both got out, they found officials interrogating Megumi, asking her about ‘a suspicious yankee and a very well-endowed suspicious woman’ to which Megumi could only go, “Ah…I’m sorry, why not look into the bathroom yourself?” To which Maki and Reina quickly took a different direction so that they wouldn’t be found.
As they headed for the exit of the zoo, Reina found a crepe stand, to which Maki immediately bolted towards, in order to pay for both.
“Heh, revenge?” Reina smiled before walking towards Maki and the crepe stand.
“I would like a banana crepe please,” Maki said to the crepe stand person, “what would you like?” she said to Reina, careful not to use her name.
“I think I’ll take chocolate,” she smiled.
Maki paid for both and Reina stood waiting for the crepes with her.
“I can taste it now…” Reina licked her lips.
“Same here,” Maki smiled.
- - - - - - -
“Seems like a very nice day today…So many people out and about,” Yossie stood at the balcony railing, gripping it with both of her hands and looking out into the busy world below.
“So troublesome…” the person next to Yossie mumbled. She was in her usual pose, dangling her arm over the railing again.
“Don’t overwork yourself and become sick again,” Yossie chuckled.
“Very funny,” the other person retorted, “Seeing how sick I’m feeling already…”
Yossie sat on a chair and allowed the sun’s rays to embrace her, “Shame summer’s coming to an end.”
“Good, summer is troublesome as well… Too many foolish people that time of year… And so unbearably hot…”
“Even so, I think…” Yossie began, but drifted off in a smile that is becoming her trademark all of a sudden—narrowing her eyes and smiling a rather scheming smile.
“Feh, summer… Stupid foolish people being so merry… So irritating… They think they’re so over confident…” The woman shifted her head a bit further, looking at Yossie, “What are you smiling about? Do you have a problem with what I say…?”
“Problem?” Yossie mused, “My dear Ojou-sama, I would
never consider questioning your motives.”
Ooohhh. What now? :] Why is Yossie acting so suspicious all of a sudden? Who is the head? Give me my ten+ reviews and The next chapter of this 'epic' will air! <3
Topic: Our Cursed Gift [Chapter 47: Our Final Promise][COMPLETE] (Read 160344 times)