It didn't take long before the scoreboard worked its magic. On stage, Oogami had started to feel kind of funky...
'Aaag! I'm too distracted to do all this janitorial stuff!!' he cried inwardly, as he threw aside the mop and clutched at his head, 'What is this feeling inside... Why does this face keep coming to me...?!'
~ O - GA - MI - SA - N~! ~
"Masaka... it can't be..." he uttered, moving his hand to his eyes.
A bright smile and a slim figure in a pink dress kept flashing in his mind.
~ O - GA - MI - SA - N~! ~
"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!" Oogami exclaimed, tearfully falling to his knees. "I'M IN LOVE WITH...!!!!" Before he could finish that thought, one of the light fixtures fell on him. "Uug!" Zonked out, Oogami dreamt about his new Love.
Both Maria and Kanna heard the cry. They then clanged their glasses together. "Yoshi! It actually worked!" Kanna noted, "No more worries from now on!"
"What do you mean?" Kaede stood on the opposite side of the counter with a couple of boxes, "What are you two up to?"
"Oh!" Maria went over to help her unload the new stock. "Kaede-san, we've solved all your problems! You don't have to worry about Oogami-taichou chasing you ever again."
Kaede blushed and stared at the floor. "Demo... Watashi wa... Oogami-kun no koto..."
"EH?!?" Maria and Kanna backed away in shock. Kaede just clasped her hands together and gazed off into space with starry eyes. The two girls fell over each other with sweat beads on their faces. 'Masaka... Kaede-san...?!?!?'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"A-Ano!! Jiru-san~!" Kurisu had caught up to the energetic girl leading a group of gangsters to the rescue. "Shouldn't we notify the Teigeki? I mean, about Kaede-san's condition... Don't you think it's
a bit dangerous?"
"She got hit on the head with a frozen fish!" Jiru replied, "It happens a lot, but don't worry. I'm sure it'll wear out on its own."
"I sure hope so..." he sighed, pushing along their bike, "Hey, do you think these gangsters actually know where Sakura-san is?" They looked over at the trio, who were doing their odd dance moves down the street. "They seem... a bit... weird..."
"Sou desu ne! But they were the last ones to have seen Sakura-san and they were very determined to save her. I think they're good guys."
"EHH!??!" Dandy and crew stopped and surrounded them. "W-What did you say??!"
Kurisu nervously looked back and forth while Jiru was clueless. "Aa, that you're 'good guys'!"
"NANI!?!?!??" said the angry shadowy figures hovering over them, "We're BAD GUYS!!"
Kurisu then asked, "So if you're 'bad guys', why do you want to save Sakura-san??"
Dandy clasped his hands together, his eyes very starry. "Datte... Sakura-san ga... DAISUKI!!!"
"Eh?!? Honto ni!?!?" Jiru gasped, "KYAAAA!! I would have never known!"
Nishimura sighed and covered his face. "Boss really likes that cute young-looking girl... It's really scandalous and inconvenient..."
"Sou da ne..." Takeda sighed, "We're always going out of our way to do something for that Neechan. And somehow we never end up with the credit - not even free tickets to a show!"
Dandy clenched his fists. "That's because that guy Oogami always takes the credit! And then it's 'Oogami-san, you're so wonderful!' AAAAAAARGGGG!!!"
While Kurisu cringed in fear, Jiru smiled happily. "What rage! How very healthy!"
"Oh, arigatou..." he replied, bashfully rubbing his head, "I tend to work on it every once and a while. That's why I'm the most feared gangster in all of Ginza! I'm so DANDY~!!!"
Takeda and Nishmura sighed, "Sure you are..."
"Now let's go save Sakura-san!!" Dandy said, pointing over to a building not so far. "Look! That's the bastard's car... They must be in there!!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Inside the apartment, Kazuhiro had tied Sakura and Kikunojou together. They sat on the floor while he sat in a chair by the phone. "Why aren't they calling me back?? Don't they want you two to live??"
"J-Jaa... you're not going to really kill us, are you??" Sakura stammered. He didn't reply, but kept on smoking. Sakura frowned towards the floor. 'If only I had my sword... I'd rip his head open... sigh!'
Meanwhile, Kiku was in tears. "Oniisan, I beg of you!! P-Please don't do anything to me!! If you have any urges, go for Sakura-san!! I-I'm saving myself for my darling Oogami-san!"
"EH?!?" Sakura angrily scooted Kiku into the wall, "Don't you dare propose such things! If this guy comes near me, I'll...!!"
"You are just jealous...!" Kiku cried, retailed by pushing Sakura into the opposite wall, "Oogami-san will come save me, just wait and see!"
"I don't care if Oogami-san comes save us - I just want to get out of here and go home!!!"
Kazu looked very amused as he watched the two repeatedly ram each other into the wall. He then got up and started to come towards them. The two girls stopped their quibbling and looked up in fear. "Now that you mention it, I am getting a little lonely..."
"KYAAAAAAAA!!" they tearfully exclaimed, "Leave me alone! Take her!!!"
Kazu ignored their shrieks and knelt down to untie one of them. Sakura watched with fear as Kiku was helped off the dusty ground. 'I can't watch!!' Sakura cried inwardly and turned away. 'Poor Kiku-san... Somebody... please help...!'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
'Eh?' Oogami lifted his head. 'I just heard a voice right now... It seems... She's in trouble... My loved one is in trouble!!'
Meanwhile, Sumire and Kohran had entered the theater, looking for him. "Chuui~! Kohran-san has something to talk to you about! Ara, there you are!"
"No time to talk," Oogami said, handing Sumire the mop, "I must go rescue my Ichiban girl from trouble!!"
"Ichiban girl...? Chotto matte! You stay away from Kaede-san!! Kohran-san, hold down his arms!!!"
"CHIGAU! CHIGAU YO!!!" Oogami cried as the two girls glomped on him, trying to restrain him to the floor, "Kaede-san ja nai!! It's not Kaede-san!! I don't like her!!!"
There was a sound like glass breaking. Kaede stood at the end of the aisle, looking pale. 'What is this feeling... Is it... heartache...?'
"Ka-Kaede-san..." Maria stammered, she and Kanna nervously checking on her. "D-Daijoubu yo??"
Kaede just dramatically fell to the floor, looking depressed as the tears came rolling down. 'I was rejected... big time...'
"Nan ya na??" Kohran exclaimed, "What is going on?!? Who is Oogami-han's ichiban girl then??!"
Oogami just started screaming and tore himself away from the girls. When he charged for the door, Gontaro popped up and stood in his way. "I won't let you go near Ojousama...!!" But Oogami just ran over him. "Uggg..."
"Taichou sure seems determined..." Kanna noted, "Yossha! Looks like we solved this dilemma!"
"However," Maria pointed over to the rejected Kaede, "What do we do about her??"
"And what do we do about the striking Musume??" Sumire asked.
"ONE AT A TIME!!!" Kanna exclaimed, "All right, let's go see Yoneda-ojisan about this!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
But Yoneda was already busy with him own problems. "Look, she'll be here any moment! I promise!!" he exclaimed, practically hiding under
his desk, "I sent Kayama to go get her!"
"WHERE?!?! WHEN!?!?!?!" boomed the old lady.
"I-I don't know...!!"
"Okaasama," Shinguji Wakana noted, "Perhaps we should be patient. The more we hassle the poor lieutenant, the more we will not be able to find out what we came to find out."
"Eh?" Yoneda blinked and turned towards her. "What did you want to know??"
"We wanted to know if Sakura-san was telling the truth when she said she was happy to accept the marriage match..."
"NANI!?!?" Kanna had kicked the door down, she and the other girls barging in. "We heard everything!! You can't marry Sakura away!"
Maria took out her gun. "We won't let you, so don't even think about it!"
While Obaasama raged, Wakana calmly replied, "Sakura-san said she was happy to do such a service to her family. She also seemed fond of the boy."
"Usou ya!" Kohran exclaimed, "Sakura-han would have told us about this!"
"She told me she was looking very forward to being someone's wife... and very forward to her... wedding night..."
"Now we know you're lying!" Maria exclaimed, "Because Sakura-kun would never think about such nasty things!"
There was a great pause. They all turned towards Sumire, who was nervously hiding behind her fan. "Oh ho ho... I might have... said a few things to Sakura-san... Oh ho ho... She's a bit... well... gullible... but hey... It was funny to see her reaction... Oho...ho..."
"NAN DA YO?!?" Kanna snapped, grabbing her over and giving her a good shake, "OI TEME!! This is all your fault!!"
"Unhand me, Kanna-san! Don't you know it's rude to grab people's kimonos!"
While those two argued and Maria tried to break it up, Kohran went over to the two Shinguji, "I beg of you... please don't take Sakura-han away from us! She is a crucial part of our team!! And I like to do experiments on her!!"
"Eh?" Wakana blinked, but quickly shook her head. "I'm sorry, it's already too late. We've already made the deal with the other family. It's a promise we cannot go back on, for the sake of the Shinguji reputation."
Obaasama lost all control and scared the hell out of everyone. "SAKURA IS GETTING MARRIED AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!"
"KYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Yoneda yelped, covering his head and he hid under the desk, 'Get these scary people out of here!!'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Meanwhile, Kayama was walking down the street. "Yooooohoooooo~! Sakura-kun~!!! Doko~! Doko~!" he sung, looking back and forth. "Maa na,
I can't seem to find her anywhere..."
He stopped by a vender to buy some steamed meat buns. 'She'll come home on her own. Sakura-kun is a big girl! Besides, I'll bring everyone some snacks and they'll forget all this stress...'
A big gust of wind suddenly knocked him over. Oogami was sprinting down the street. 'Daijoubu!! I'm coming to save you!! My only true love!!'
Kayama got up, holding onto the bag of meat buns with one in his mouth. 'Oogami genki da na...' He then cheerfully turned back to the Teigeki.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Special Alert!! -> Adventure in Notre Dame!
One sunny day in Paris...
"RENII!!!" Iris cried, dragging the girl down the street, "It's Reni's fault! Now Iris-tachi is lost in this huge city!"
Reni just sat down on a bench and sighed, "Iris, Jeanpaul... let's just take a break. I'm tired from all this running around."
Suddenly it started pouring. "KYAA! We've got to get indoors quick! The acid rain will kill us!! Oh the pollution!!"
"Hai hai…" Reni then pulled her into the cathedral. "How about this place? It's dry and…" They looked around. "It's kind of quiet…"
"It's creepy in here!!!! Iris kowaii yo!!!" Iris cried, grabbing onto poor Reni's arm.
"A-Ano…" Erica, who just happened to be there, spotted them and walked over. "It's you two from the Tokyo Kagekidan! KYAAA!!! I'm so happy!" She then stopped, because everyone was looking at them. "A-Actually we shouldn't be so loud. This is the house of God."
"Eh? Honto ni??" Iris asked, now glomping onto the nun, "Can we meet Kamisama??!"
"A-Actually…" Erica scratched her head, "I-I'm not sure where God is right now… It's an awfully big house…"
Reni pointed up. "Perhaps he's in the bell tower. I hear lots of noise coming from there."
Erica went pale. "N-N-Non! We mustn't go up there… The priests said it was… HAUNTED!"
DON DON DON! A dramatic interlude followed as the trio made an assortment of shocked faces. When the music was over, the three went back to normal.
"See, we can't go up there. It's forbidden to everyone." Erica noted.
"But what is it haunted by?" Reni asked, "We're not afraid of ghosts."
"Iris is afraid!!"
Erica replied, "They say there's a person living up there… No one has actually seen him, but…"
"Must be God. Let's go." Reni said, dragging Iris along.
"HOLD ON!!!" Erica cried, running after them, "I can't let you go by yourselves!"
"IRIS IS SCARED!!!"
To be continued…
