Monday: April 26th, 2004

He could sense it... something was going to happen. He just didn't know what. Takashi looked at Shigeru, who once again had that look in his eyes: That look that just screamed "I'm going to get Satoshi, and anyone around me is going to help me do it." Sure, Takashi hadn't seen it a whole lot, but he had seen it often enough to know what was going to be trouble...

Deito Shimu
Episode 4: Meriko vs. Meriko?!

Takashi blinked a few times before responding to the statement given.

"The school's doing a what?" Shigeru repeated it, once more.

"A popularity contest after school on Saturday. There'll be a section for each year, separated into boys and girls. I expect you to help me get Sanagouchi-san to win the girl's section for our year." Takashi blinked again, before pointing out two major  flaws in that plan.

"...Isn't it a little early to be having a popularity contest? We haven't even been in school for a month yet... Besides, wouldn't it make more sense to just beat Yamakoshi-san in the boys popularity contest for our year?"

"It's not that simple! He decided not to join the thing because he's too busy doing Yamataka-san's PR stuff for the contest." Takashi paused a moment before interpreting things.

"Ok... So you have to enter to be able to win a popularity contest? Doesn't that seem kind of stupid?"

"Not when it gives me an opportunity to defeat that self-righteous Yamakoshi!"

"And... why do I have to help?"

"You owe me. That lunch you're eating right now was paid for by me. Not to mention everything you ate on the weekend..."

"Hey! I told you I'd pay you back on Tuesday!" Takashi's response was quickly thrown away by Shigeru, who chose this moment to throw away his meal.

"I don't want you to give me the money back! I want to use up the time I spent earning that money, working for me!" Takashi stared at Shigeru incredulously for a few minutes, before sighing and giving in.

"So, what do you want me to do?"

"Well, your first job is to get Sanagouchi Meriko to enter the popularity contest." There was a brief pause, wherein the two didn't even eat anything.

"...She hasn't even joined and you decided you're going to make her win." Shigeru's response was almost instantanious, as though there was no doubt in his mind whatsoever.

"Of course! It's a matter of pride! I shall not lose to that holier than thou idiot, and I'll use the most introverted person I know of to do it! My success shall ensure..." Shigeru suddenly trailed off, before stopping completely. Takashi, recognising the opening, began to press him.

"What will this do, Gawa-san? You're not plotting to do anything weird to Sanagouchi-san, are you?" Shigeru looked offended as soon as Takashi finished saying it.

"Of course not! Why would I want to? I have only her best interests and Yamakoshi's worst interests at heart! We will win, and that will allow me to once again show him who is better in real life!"

Takashi sighed again, and let Shigeru live in his own little world, asking the simple question on his mind:

"And... what exactly am I supposed to do?"

"Oh, it's easy! Just spend time with her, I'll get most of the advertising ready. You might want to try lunch: She seems to eat alone under normal circumstances, and if all goes wrong, I expect you to sacrifice your after-school activities for this. Ja. (1)"

"Hey, wait Gawa-san! What do you mean by advertising..." He sighed once more, noting that Shigeru was already gone.

"Now what am I going to do for lunch today..."

And so, at lunch that day, Meriko Sanagouchi had the burden of someone hovering over her shoulder, looking like he was about to drool on the food from all the salivation caused by being surrounded by food that was beyond his reach. She moved her lunch off to the side, and spoke to him.

"Taka-cha... Memuro-san, if you're that hungry, just have my meal." Takashi's response was to look towards her with tear-filled, strangely grateful eyes, somehow reminding Sanagouchi of a puppy dog.

"Do you really mean that, Sanagouchi-san?"

"Of course. I wouldn't offer it if I didn't want you to..." Before she even finished her sentence, Takashi started off a sentence of his own.

"I accept your kindness! Itadakimasu!" And promptly began eating Sanagouchi's meal, causing her to sigh.

"You're supposed to reject it two times before accepting it..." She muttered beneath her breath, wondering why Takashi didn't know one of those basic unwritten rules of culture.

"What was that, Sanagouchi-san?" Takashi queried of her, before heading right back to the meal, consuming it with all the speed he could. Sanagouchi shook her head.

"No, it's nothing at all." She said, letting Takashi finish off the food.

Once the meal ended, Takashi made a sigh of contentment. Sanagouchi handled things like she was a hostess, and asked Takashi the traditional Japanese dinner conversation.

"Did it taste good?" One can guess how Takashi responded to that, but to prevent inaccurate guesses, we'll tell what it was.

"It was delicious! This is the best food I've ever tasted!" He paused a minute before continuing. "You made this yourself, didn't you?" Sanagouchi paused for a moment, then asked Takashi the obvious.

"How... did you know I made this?" Takashi's answer was almost immediate.

"Who else could have made it?" As Sanagouchi seemed to prepare a rebuttal, Takashi continued. "The hands that made this were focussed heavily on the food, as though they truly felt the way the food wanted to be, and gave themselves their own unique shape in the hands of one... who has an extremely close hand size to yourself. Do you know anyone with the exact same size of hand and fingers as yourself?" Meriko stopped what she was saying, and Takashi continued to finish off her meal. Fortunately, she had eaten enough to keep herself satiated, always making more food than she needed, as there was always the possibility of some random hungry person asking for food.

Once Takashi finished eating her meal, he spoke to her.

"Thanks again for letting me have your lunch... it was the best meal I've ever tasted. Way better than any of those fancy restaurants." Quickly changing the topic, he continued speaking to her. "What do you do for an after-school club anyways?" Sanagouchi replied nervously:

"Ah... Art..." Upon hearing this, Takashi jumped up, fast enough to get Sanaguochi to quickly pull backwards as Takashi excitedly spoke to her.

"Really?!! You do art?! As in, you draw?! Do you draw people?! Can you model for me?!" While Takashi continued to loudly question her, she continued backing away from him, which in turn caused him to approach upon her, whilst she tried to muster a response, as the entire area turned to watch the spectacle.

"Umm... I guess so long as it isn't anything perverse..."

"Really?! You'll model for me?! That's great! You're perfect for it! Absolutely perfect! I'll see you in the art room after school!" With that, Takashi happily rushed out of the area, leaving Sanagouchi in shock as he took off. From the sidelines, Ra began her own usual routine when something strange happened:

"2000 yen. She's taking off as soon as school ends." Some nearby male answered her call.

"You're on. She's one of those girls who'd do whatever someone tells her to if she's threatened enough. I say she's going to the art room after school." And so, Ra Nagase was satisfied. Oh yes, once again she would be making money off of everyone else's stupidity.

It was half an hour after school ended that Takashi finally gave up, sighing as he exited the school.

"Maybe I came off too strong... but it'd be great to finally have gotten some work done... But it can't happen without models... and voice actresses... and scenes..." He sighed once more, before shouting at the heavens.

"Why don't you give me some sort of scene I can use already?!! Just give me something to work with here!" At that exact moment, a Tennis ball barelled into his head, causing him to fall over in pain, which was followed by Ra, who began speaking to him.

"So, you thought you could skip school before your after-school activity's done without even going to it for a minute, did you? Noone can get away with such a vile act. In the name of love, justice and hope, you have been punished by the Tennis ball!" with that, she walked off, and held her hand open, as a random male placed money in her hand. Afterwards, she quickly went to her own court, and continued playing Tennis, whilst the males discussed her.

"Come on, Tanaka, you didn't actually expect to win against her, did you?"

"But... what were the chances of her smacking some deserving target over the head with a Tennis ball, then going into a cheesy speech off of those magical girl cartoons in under five minutes?" With that, the other one slapped him on the shoulder.

"You don't mess with Nagase. She's a demoness. From what I hear, she's never lost a bet in her life."

(1): Ja: Short for... ja ne, sore ja, other possible combinations I don't know about. Basically, it's bye, but by the way it's used it's more or less a "see ya".