Shino had no idea whether this ‘Yukako’ person was a serious threat or a complete oddjob; judging by her robes and actions he was leaning towards the latter. “’Bare to the world?’ Do you have some sort of odd obsession with removing people’s clothes?” he asked incredulously.
“My only obsession is to watch you regret the day you ever set foot upon the same campus as Yukako Yasukawa. The fact that you’re too stupid to quiver in fear now will only make your eventual realization of your peril that much more spectacular to watch!”
“Um… speaking of removing people’s clothes, would someone mind DOING SOMETHING ABOUT OUR UNIFORMS?!” Toshiko shouted at the two competitors, interrupting their verbal dual. Her cry was punctuated by a small, tearing sound as a seam near Tomoko’s chest started to give way. The smaller, bespectacled girl winced and turned away from gathering crowd.
“Oh, sorry, j-just give me a second,” said a first year girl who rushed up to the affected pair with a detergent box of some sort in her hand. “Close your eyes and mouths please,” she said, ripping open one corner of the product. After taking half a second to confirm Toshiko and Tomoko had followed her instructions, the girl liberally showered the pair with a cloud of powder she shook from its container.
“Just what did that do?” Shino demanded as his two schoolmates coughed up a storm.
Yukako’s cat that caught the mouse smile never faded. “The powder Eri-san doused your not-so-secret admirers with dilutes the shrinking agent. Their uniforms will now shrink at 1/20th the speed they were before.”
“Admirers?!” Toshiko raged. “If you don’t fix our uniforms right now, there will be ‘not-so-secret’ fist heading to your face in about five seconds!”
“Again, with the physical threats,” Yumako mused as though thinking to herself. “Even the brutish girl must realize she needs my help if she doesn’t want her assets bared before her beloved Shino; the four-eyed know-it-all will point it out to her if she’s truly clueless.” Indeed, the word ‘beloved’ had been enough for Toshiko to throw logic to the wind and rear back, only to have Tomoko weakly try to hold her back for both their sakes.
“…and surely,” Yumako’s train of thought continued, “the despicable villain realizes by now that the actual repair of the uniforms is necessary insurance, to guarantee he remains in the game until his inevitable defeat!”
“Yeah, didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out,” Shino concurred, scratching his head. “I want your word though that win or lose, you and your fashion friends will fix what you’ve done to Tomoko-san and Toshiko-san.”
“You have my word,” she promised, adding, “even though the thought of giving anything of value to such a despicable waste of humanity fills her with disgust.”
“Alright, let’s get this game underway.”
A procession of students made their way from the school gates to an outdoor picnic table that Yumako had chosen for the site of her battle. A beach towel with a metal loop sewn in one corner laid on one of the sitting benches. A long chain was fastened to the loop and securely locked on the other end around one of the bars holding up the table. Given that Yumako’s trap had resulted in two victims instead of the one intended, Eri had managed to find a second, normal beach towel without a tether attached.
“You can have the new one,” Tomoko offered to Toshiko. “I’m not worried about Shino defaulting; Yumako doesn’t know what she’s gotten herself into.”
Toshiko simply rolled her eyes at Tomoko’s noble gesture and firmly pressed the towel without a leash into Tomoko’s arms. “At this point, it doesn’t matter whether she beats Shino or not. Neither one of us asked for this, and I haven’t heard her even think about apologizing.”
“Nope, pretty clear that thought hasn’t run through her head at all,” Tomoko chuckled despite herself as she wrapped the towel around herself. The pressure from the contracting uniform had diminished drastically the moment Eri bathed her in powder, but a fraction of it’s strength was still present and unrelenting. “After all, she lets us know everything else she’s thinking the moment she thinks it.”
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you a joke is funnier when you don’t explain it?” Toshiko asked her, but with a sympathetic smile. She also now had her towel around her over her uniform, but the chain made it clear she wouldn’t be able to wear it very far. “My point is, even if she isn’t sorry now, I intend to make certain she is quite sorry for this trap of hers very soon.”
“While the two love-deluded fools chatter to themselves, the contestants take their seats for their long-fated battle. Yumako chooses the opposite side of the bench from the one that has the excellent view of Shino’s supporters’ current discomfort, naturally,” the robed girl clarified, as she took her seat.
“Naturally,” Shino replied, settling into the bored yet confident persona that rattled so many of his opponents in the past. “I’ve never had a play-by-play announcer at one of my games before.” His eyes flashed. “This should be interesting.”
Tue Jan 31 08:45:17 2012
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