Live a Little - Kochan special #63
To Live a Little
Part Two: Fujiko Special #63
The door to the Curses and Cures swung shut silently, since Scarf kept the door well oiled. Not that Silk or Fujiko cared or noticed. They were already gone.
Sitting on the kitchen table was a note in Silk's handwriting, written in Chinese for the house's inhabitants.
"Epiphany. Living a little.
No worries. Back tomorrow. Maybe.
Love, Me."
Next to the note were the shattered remains of a glass heart figurine Alex had gotten her the previous month. A few pieces had traces of blood on them.
At Ko-chan Studios, Fujiko was putting the final touches on her answering machine. "Hi. I'm unavailable for a while so please leave a message. If it's you, Aunt Mikara, I'm on a 63 with a friend. A female friend. I haven't eloped or anything like that. I'll call you back when I can. Love Ya."
Once finished with that, Ko-chan went underneath her desk and grabbed a pile of yen and stuck it into her purse. She also pulled out a white bag and shook it. Inside, it made a sound like there were marbles in it. Fujiko listened intently for a second and then smiled. "I can't forget these. It's the most important part. We'll need them at the train station.
"Indeed. Can't just leave these things to human decisions. We might not make the right one." Silk nodded, and they took off for the station.
On the way, Fujiko picked up a newspaper, just in case the travel section had something that was interesting in the direction they were going in, whatever direction that was. When they reached the train station, Fujiko turned to Silk and held the bag towards her.
"Okay, Silk, pick one."
Reaching into the bag, Silk pulled out a mah jong piece and read it. "South it is." she smiled, replacing the tile in the bag, they went to the ticket machines and purchased tickets on the train that went the furthest south, which left in ten minutes. They grabbed some sack lunches from a vendor and were on the train a good 15 seconds before it left the platform. "What now?" Silk ask Fujiko.
The redhead looked at Silk and simply said "I don't know at this point. Whatever we feel, I suppose. A true 63 is done by feeling, not by planning. That's why I asked for a train with lots of stops, in case we see something before the end of the line. I do think I know why you're crashing, though. If you want to hear it."
******
Back at Curses and Cures
Happosai had just climbed into the kitchen window, he was going to pay a surprise visit to his favorite student, Silk. He helped himself to some food in the fridge before he sat down at the table and noticed the broken Statuette and the note.
He recognized the crushed glass as the figurine that Alex and given Silk a month ago, he also noticed the blood on it.
"Kami-Sama, What have you done, Silk-Chan?!" Happosai looked extremely worried. Even more so when he noticed the note was written in Chinese. "Grrrr I can't read a word of Chinese!"
He went in search of someone to translate the note for him.
While Happosai was running, he literally bumped into Alex, who was on his way to Cures and Curse from work. "Hey Happi, what's the hurry?"
Happosai stopped dead in his tracks. "Alex, my boy!" he held out Silk's note. "Tell me that you can read Chinese!"
Alex merely nodded as he took the note. "Of course. Can't everyone?" He read the note to himself, and said, "It seems she decided to go out for a while and enjoy herself. Why are you so worked up?"
"Because THAT," said Keisuke, appearing behind Alex and snatching the note out of his hand. "Is totally uncharacteristic of the Silk we all know." Keisuke glanced at the note. "Uh oh. Just what exactly does she mean by 'maybe'?"
Perfume walked up the stairs from her room. She had heard the entire conversation and had to come up. "True it is uncharacteristic of her to leave like this, but not totally out of the ordinary. She probably just needed a little break. We all know that Silk-Chan can take care of herself." The pink Haired amazon became thoughtful for a second.
"I sure hope she's alright, I think she should have told us first." She was already missing her friend.
Alex frowned at Keisuke. "Well, she's not in trouble, as far as I can tell. She's somewhere south of here." Then the 'maybe' statement registered in his mind. "Perhaps an investigation IS in order..."
"I don't think we should go to extremes right now, but if she's gone any longer, you may be right." Keisuke said.
Happi's panic became even more evident. "You guys just don't understand! Alex should at least. C'mere!" He lead the others to the kitchen while writing a note of his own.
"I found Silk's note next to this." He pointed toward the shattered figurine with the blood drops on it. "Silk may be in some serious danger."
He handed the note to Alex. -- You know Silk's background as well as I, boy. She's a danger to herself right now, I think.--
Silk and Keisuke had quite a few heart to heart conversations since he moved into Curses and Cures. He knew a lot about her as well as she knew of him, but this was Greek to him. "Okay," he said willingly. "I don't have a clue what this means. Can one of you explain, please?" he asked Happosai and Alex.
A pained expression crossed Happi's face. He and Alex were the only two that knew Silk's secret. A secret Happi had promised to take to his grave.
"I can't explain Keisuke. Alex is the only other one who knows why I'm worried."
"And I'm not telling," Alex added as he began to lift into the air. "I think I'll do some quick recon and see what I can find out. If there's trouble, I'll send word back." That said, Alex jetted off, towards the last place he had sensed Silk.
No matter how much he didn't want to be, Keisuke was a little jealous of the close relationship everyone seemed to have with each other. When he first arrived in Nerima, he tried to isolate himself, not really wanting to be apart of everybody else's affairs, but there was something about the community that just made him want to get involved. Silk was his friend, too, and it really angered him that they couldn't tell him what was going on. "Fine." he said to Happosai, not even bothering to respond to Alex's added two-cent remark that gave him a little bit of third grade nostalgia. "But she's my friend too and I think I have a right to know if something is wrong." With that, he turned around and headed to his room. "I'm going to bed."
Just by the way Happi and Alex were acting Perfume knew something was seriously wrong. For the first time ever she was really worried about her friend's safety. Also by the way the two were avoiding the questions about the secret they weren't going to tell her either.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Not much really, Perfume-Sweetie" Happosai responded in a soft voice. "Let Alex do his scouting first."
"I'm sorry, Keisuke." Happosai apologized loud enough for the retreating
fighter to hear him. "It's a matter of honor, I can't reveal Silk's secret."
He stopped and turned around to look at Happosai. "No, I understand. But if anything is wrong, I would like to help. Thank you." he said, slightly bowing to Happosai, before heading back to his room.
With nothing else to do, Perfume made a pot of coffee while she waited and worried about her best friend.
------
"I assume I'll be crashing at your place, since hotels are expensive and I want to shop."? Silk grinned at Fujiko, then frowned. Alex had just used their mental link to locate her. "Hang on." she said to her travelling companion and she concentrated for a moment, breaking the link between Alex and herself, blocking him from finding her. --Sorry, Alex, but I don't want you finding me-- she sent before she cut the connection, not waiting for an answer.
Fujiko grinned. "Of course, I got a three bedroom place. You are more than welcome to crash there. As I was saying earlier, it's just a matter of re-finding your primal self. You zenned too much is all. Fortunately, modern Japan still has a way for women to find the primal self is a shopping spree."
Fujiko leaned back in her seat and looked at Silk thoughtfully. "That and there's another theory about changing energies." She stared and looked at just how Silk looked the same day in and day out. "You know, we need to make some alterations on how you look as soon as possible. Is there a restroom on the train or do we need to get off the train at the next station?"
"Shopping." Silk's eyes lit up. She remembered the Hong Kong expeditions. hours of pure chaos and fun. "Next stop." the train announcer obligingly called the next stop, Akihabara. "Come on!" Silk pulled Fujiko towards the exit and out into the crowded station.
Fujiko and Silk got off the train and headed to the restroom. Fujiko told Silk to close her eyes. When Silk started to protest, Fujiko reassured her that whatever she did wouldn't be permanent. Silk reluctantly agreed and Fujiko's hands quickly went to work. A few minutes later she was done, and told Silk to go ahead and look in the mirror.
The sight which greet was surprising to say the least. First thing Silk noticed was her braid was now gone and replaced by just long straight hair. Long, straight, BLUE hair. Her shirt was cut shorter to expose her stomach. On her shirt was also the word "Nerima" and some paint spots that resembled cat prints. "Don't worry about the hair, the dye will come off the next time you take a shower."
Continuing her look down, Silk discovered that she now had a blue rose painted around her tummy. Her pants were also shortened. "Same thing goes for the rose."
Fujiko grinned, obviously quite proud of her little work. She didn't know quite what Silk would think, but Fujiko had thought at least a little bit. "You have to admit that no one's gonna recognize you in that getup." she giggled. "Okay, my turn." she said as she handed Silk the scissors and let Silk know where the dyes and paints were. Fujiko then walked into the stall and shut her eyes.
Silk was not without a sense of humor. She pulled out the paints and set to work. Fujiko opened her eyes to a shirt that read "Call me Honey, Honey". Her short shorts and now sleeveless shirt were bright tie dye, and her spiked hair matched perfectly. Her arms were painted with anime characters doing the tai Chi. She had the kanji for 'strange' directly above her exposed belly button, and the phrase, 'Don't you wish you had the guts?' on the headband Silk had tied around her forehead. Silk had an identical one holding her hair out of her face. "What do you think?"
Fujiko took one look at herself and just busted out laughing. Silk had got her back very nicely indeed. "Let's go shopping." she said between fits of giggling. "NOW we are gonna need some new clothes. By the way, I plan on walking to the Ginza just like this. Care to join me?"
"Who wrote the headbands, dearie?" Silk asked as they moved out of the bathroom and into the Akihabara. A crowded downtown district known for the electronic marvels found in it's shops. "I brought my checkbook. My funds are high. Laptop!" Silk pulled Fujiko into a computer store and proceeded to haggle at length with the clerk over the price of the computer she wanted. The bargaining went in Silk's favor, largely, she suspected, because the clerk kept eyeing her outfit or lack thereof.
Fujiko, for her part, really didn't want a computer. However, as Silk continued to barter, Fujiko found herself a new addiction, Tetris. When Silk was finished, Fujiko went up to the clerk. "Hiya Handsome, I want the same thing she's got unless you can show me something....better" she said in a playfully flirtatious tone. Fujiko's hands were folded together and while the eyes went into puppy dog mode, the sides of her arms pressed against her breasts, allowing the clerk to see more cleavage.
The clerk really didn't give Fujiko a better deal than Silk, but the poor clerk became extremely and clumsy while he was racing to give Fujiko what she wanted. Fujiko purchased the computer and thanked the clerk while making sure to call him things like "sweetie" and "gorgeous." When Silk and Fujiko walked out with their respective computers, Fujiko gave Silk a big grin. "Oh yes. This suit is definitely a keeper."
Silk grinned, "You know you really didn't need that nice a computer just for Tetris." they started walking down the street when the clouds overhead suddenly burst, instantly soaking both of them, smearing the painted rose and chibis painted on their skin, and half washing out their hair. Silk reached into her bag and pulled out a BIG umbrella. but the damage was already done. she put the umbrella back. there was no point. After a moment it slowed to a steady downpour. "To the ginza?" Silk laughed, blue rainwater dripping down her face.
"Hai." Fujiko said. "Tie-dye paints and make-up don't mix."
Silk looked around, the area seemed familiar for some reason. She realized when she heard a familiar voice call to her from beneath a standard issue black umbrella, "Silk, is that you?" a very startled sounding Japanese twenty something in a business suit called from several yards away.
Grinning widely, Silk pulled Fujiko towards the waiting young man. "Yeah, It's me." she grinned, "This is Fujiko Tamamiru, artist and shopping expert. Fujiko, Kazu Kisaku, Corporation bigwig and top notch cat burglar." she introduced her new friend to her old.
"Terrorizing the shopping District, Ladies?" Kazu asked with a smile.
"Pleasure to meet you." Fujiko bowed. "We're just about to start. Know of any good steals?" she asked with a wink.
"Many, but since you're shopping for clothes not files, I wouldn't be much use to you." he grinned, "By all means, the shopping district needs to be shook up a little." he dug around for a moment in his pockets, "Here, have dinner on me." he handed Silk a card for a nice restaurant uptown, "And so you can afford the dress code." he handed her another card. "I missed your birthday last year, so don't worry about it. Just try to remember to give it back, ok?" he gave Silk a small hug, smiled, waved and then disappeared into the crowd of people once again.
Silk blinked a few times as her old friend disappeared, "That boy spent to much time with the Americans." she decided, then looked down at the cards in her hand. "The fool."
Fujiko looked at the card and eyes bugged out when she saw just exactly where they now had reservations to. Fujiko nodded, "He may be a fool, but he's a fool with good taste." Fujiko continued with awe in her voice "Daaaammmmn. Who's butt did he have to kiss to get these?"
"No one's. His dad owns a rather large corp." Silk explained, pocketing the cards. "Let's go, we've only got two and a half hours to find decent clothes." Silk dragged Fujiko towards the nearest source of nice clothing.
---------
Alex, in the meantime was more than a bit upset at the sudden rainstorm that popped up as he was landing at there he had sensed Silk last. The rain soaked him, and as an added irritant, washed away the scent trail as well. "Just great..." he said under his breath as he sent a message back to Happi, alerting him to the situation. --Happi, I lost her trail at the train station. This rainstorm washed away anything I could pick up, and she's still hiding her signature from me.--
-- This is not good-- Happi sent back to Alex, --I'll try to summon a spirit to divine where she is at. Come back as soon as possible.--
He then turned to Perfume. "Perfume-Sweetie, Start drawing a summoning circle, I'll rely on supernatural tracking to find her."
Happi's actions had Perfume so worried about Silk that she didn't even think to argue with the old hentai. She quickly gathered her summoning materials and began working on the circle that Happi had taught her and Silk to make.
A few minutes later, Alex-griffin walked back into the shop, soaked to the bone. "You guys had any luck?"
"Not yet", Happosai replied. He had found Silk's address book with it in one hand and the cordless phone in the other he was trying to see if anyone she knew might know her whereabouts.
"Perfume has to finish the summoning circle first." Going down the list he knew she wasn't with Alex or at the hospital. The next name was one that Happi didn't recognize, Kazu.
"Let's start with this one." He dialed the number for the young CEO's cell phone.
The young man in question answered his phone from where he sat at a coffee shop munching on spice cake and reading a Shonen Sunday manga. He checked the caller ID. Silk's shop? "Hello, this is Kazu Kisaku. I take it you're looking for Silk?"
"Yes!" Happosai answered him, sounding way to early. "I'm Happosai-Sensai, one of Silk's instructors. I'm trying to find her, it's important."
Kazu shifted in his seat, "Well, I wish I could tell you where she is, but I can't since I don't know. I can tell you that she was alright when I saw her half an hour ago. And I would also say that trying to find her would only infuriate her at this point, so I would lay off and let her come back on her own, you understand?"
"As long as she is alright, that's all I am concerned about. Thank you for your time. " Happosai clicked the phone off.
"I talked to someone named Kazu. He said he had just seen Silk a little while ago and she was quite safe. I guess I just jumped the gun a little bit."
Perfume managed a small smile. "As long as your sure that Silk-Chan is alright, I'll trust your judgement."
-----
Fujiko and Silk wandered into the ginza. At first, the two received strange looks and were virtually ignored. This was until Fujiko loudly and with no subtly at all screamed "Let's see how much money I have" and started pulling out lots of large bills. As if by magic, Fujiko and Silk were now surrounded by sales clerks.
"Yes. My friend and I would like to try on all the dresses over there on your back wall, starting with the five strapless black dresses you have on sale." Fujiko politely said to the clerks.
The clerks went quickly to the chosen dresses. Fujiko turned to Silk "and there on sale, too. This WAS a good idea." Of course, Happosai, Perfume, Keisuke, Alex, and Scarf had another opinion of Fujiko's actions.
Silk and Fujiko tried on dress after dress, laughing and talking the whole time. Silk finally settled for a deep blue strapless with a split halfway up her thigh. She carried out two other dresses, one a gorgeous shade of crimson silk with a subtle leaf pattern woven into the top, the other a fairly plain off the shoulders black, but a bag of accessories could easily spice it up to anyone's standards.
Fujiko decided on a dark violet Chinese style dress with gold trim. True, it might have been a dress out of Shampoo's closet, but it still looked very good on the redhead. The fact it was on sale made it look very good to Fujiko. She grabbed a light violet purse and some purple gloves to complete the ensemble. It may not have been what Fujiko normally wore or was expected to wear, but the artist had enough fashion sense to pull it off, spectacularly.
After choosing some appropriate clothes, the pair took off for one of the most exclusive restaurants in the Ginza, thanks to Kazu's card, treated like minor royalty, and had a grand old time. They went dancing for several hours afterwards. Silk couldn't remember the specifics, just the motion and laughter. She hadn't had such a good time in years, it seemed.
It was early in the morning before they sought the subway back to Fujiko's shop. It never occurred to Silk to call her shop. It never really occurred to her that the others might be worried.
It did occur to Fujiko though. She had gone through enough of these to know that somebody was going to be upset. Fujiko gave no outward signs of it, though. She was making sure that her friend had a good time. Fujiko had made mental notes about what she needed to do. A talk with Scarf was key. Maybe a phone call as well, to Aunt Mikara at least and possibly Curses and Cures when Silk was asleep. Other thoughts went through Fujiko's head as well.
"Silk, If you don't mind, I've taken a look at Alex and I wondering, just in what in the hell did you ever see in him?" Fujiko asked.
Silk considered for a moment as she unbraided her hair in preparation for going to bed. "At first it was the fun. he was more exciting, more interesting to be around. And he helped me when I needed help. But it was like he expected to continue needing that same help. He expected me to lean on him all the time, and I don't need to. Alex didn't understand that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and every time I tried he saw it as saying that he wasn't able to help, that he was to weak to 'protect' me. Which he resented as a blow to his ego. So, it went from being a healthy and mutually helpful relationship to a trap. he probably doesn't even realize what's been going on. he's not what you'd call deep." she finished unbraiding her hair and took a brush to the knee length mass. "I don't know about you, but I'm tired. I'll talk to you in the morning. Oyasumi." she turned and walked into one of Fujiko's guestrooms, seeking the warmth of the futon and falling asleep almost instantly.
To Live a Little Part 3: