It was an ordinary day at the Teigeki. Without the normal presence of the male taichou and lowly ticket-boy, Oogami Ichirou, things were a bit calmer. There weren’t the normal petty catfights of jealousy nor the tally of who was getting more points with the navy hunk. Nope, what a warm and fuzzy feeling surrounding the Teigeki!
But all that was going to change…
“Kyaa! Oogami-san is coming to visit!?” Sakura cried, face blushing and eyes watering, “Atashi… atashi wa… ureshikatta!!”
“Yaa… Oogami-han is coming back!” Korhan chuckled, pushing up her glasses, “But it’s between you and me, Sakura-han. Don’t want to get minna-han all wrapped up over it – I mean, it’ll be best if we too only knew in advance, naa??”
Sakura blushed deeper. “Demo… minna-san will all be upset with us… it doesn’t seem fair.”
Kohran shrugged. “But you know Sumire-han will be scrambling to hog Oogami-han to herself – Airisu and Kanna-han mo! We two will be forgotten and neglected.”
“Aaan?!” Sakura gasped, hands on her face, “Sou na! I want to spend time with Oogami-san too! And Kohran, you worked hard to find this information… surely, Oogami-san will…!” She dropped her head and sighed, “Iie, Oogami-san will forget about atashi-tachi… he’s always been a player!”
Kohran nodded. “Yaa, Sakura-han – that’s why just the three of us will go out and the others will not know.” But her glasses shimmered in the light. ‘Actually, it’ll just be me and Oogami-han… Sakura-han will be the test subject for my new invention… mwhahahahaha!!!’
Sakura blinked. “Eh? I just heard laughing in my head…”
”B-Bezuni!! Why don’t you get ready for Oogami-han, naa Sakura-han??”
”Hai~!” Sakura chimed, happily skipping out the door.
* * *
Sakura sat in front of her mirror, brushing her hair for the 100th time. Blushing she smiled, ‘Oogami-san’s coming to town – I’m so happy! Even though…’ The smile turned to slow rage, “He’s such a player – and a pervert… how many times did we catch him peeping into the bath?? Always playing favorites too! And what a macho, one-track minded, insensitive…’ She clutched her cheeks and sighed, ‘Wonderful guy~!’
There was a knock at the door and she quickly dropped what she was doing and rushed over. “A-ano… Kohran?”
”Naa, it’s time to go, Sakura-han!” Kohran said, grabbing her by the wrist. Demo… there’s something in the hanger I want you to see…” The mad kansai scientist dragged her down the stairs into the basement where the koubu were worked on. Already, the mound in the center of the room had started to smoke.
”Ano! What is that thing??” Sakura gasped, staring at the heap that was making a lot of noise. But Kohran shoved her toward it, the contraption opening up and trapping her inside, “KYAAA?! NANI KORE!?!?!”
Kohran pushed her glasses up, “Yossha!! Now, you stay in their why I go on my date with Oogami-han… naa, Sakura-han?” she chuckled, going for the door, but someone stood in her way, “E~to… Airisu-han??”
The little blonde, French girl clutched her teddy bear and glared at her. “Airisu overheard everything!! Kohran, hidoi! Going after Onii-chan – Oniichan is Airisu’s BOYFRIEND!!”
But this only invoked laughter in the scientist, her glasses shimmering with delight and pigtails swaying as she shook with the giggles. “Das girl crack me up yaa! Ahahahaha!!”
“MOU!!!” Airisu growled, yellow energy surrounding her. In a flash of white – the room erupted with a blast.
Moments later, Kohran dug herself out from the rubble. For some reason, she could see where the little troublemaker when and the invention didn’t look damaged. “Ha! Guess I can go to my date after all… and hopefully my results will be good. Matte ne, Sakura-han!”
* * *
Later that evening, Oogami and Kohran stood outside the Teigeki. “Aa! What fun we had!” she chimed, his coat covering her shoulders, as well as his arm, “Naa, Oogami-han??”
He smiled cordially. “Aa, the rollarcoasters were great. I always have fun when I’m with you, Kohran. I only wished that… minna could come with us. It’s too bad all of them were too busy to see me today.”
Kohran nodded. Somehow she convinced everyone else to go sightseeing in Osaka. But for some reason Airisu had managed to skip the tour group and stayed behind… also, Sakura was another problem. She had been present when Kohran was just ending her conversation with Oogami on the kinematron and was anxious to hear what was said. Of course the girl was naïve… but that didn’t mean she could lie completely to her face. Besides, she got rid of the country girl by stuffing her in her new machine.
“Hm… it’s late.” Oogami noted, staring up at the theater, “I don’t think I could find any other places to stay for the night… you don’t think it’s any trouble if I stay at the Teigeki? I’ll use my old room…”
Kohran’s glasses shimmered. “Honki ya?! Saa – come on in, Oogami-han! We can play together in my room!!” she chimed, dragging him by the arm inside. ‘Of course this time, I’m not talking about Hanafuda… mwhahaahah!!’
“Eh??” Oogami uttered, “I thought I just heard laughing…”
”Yaaa! It’s nothing!!” she exclaimed, suddenly remembering, “Aa! Stay here, Oogami-han! I got to go check something! I’ll be right back!” With that she ran down the stairs.
“Hmmm…” Oogami uttered, staring around the lobby. It had been already a long time. He wondered how the other Hanagumi were. And he wondered if they would be happy as Kohran if they saw him. He had especially wanted to talk to Yoneda – about a transfer back. Peace had been restored in Paris… but still they wouldn’t release him. Maybe because everyone was still a bit green. He sighed, military life getting him down.
“A-ano!” said a little familiar voice. He lifted his head and stared towards the hallway. He could see a small shadow peering from the corner. “Oogami…san…?”
”D-dare?” he gasped, coming closer. “Airisu??” The shadow quickly backed away and ran down the hall. “Matte!! Don’t run away!! It’s me, Oogami!” he called, coming after her. She quickly escaped into Yoneda’s office and locked the door. He stopped at the door and knocked, “Doushi da? What’s wrong? Airisu, is that you??”
”… a-atashi…atashi wa…” the little voice uttered from the other side, “Oogami-san… I don’t know what happened to me…”
”Eh??” he cried, recognizing the voice, ‘Isn’t that Sakura-kun?? Demo…!’ He against knocked against the door, then pressed his ear against it, “Sakura-kun! What’s wrong!? Tell me!!”
Slowly the door creaked opened. He stared into the dark room, but saw no one. After a moment, he finally looked down and saw a young girl in front of him, standing as tall to his waist. “O…Oogami-san…” she uttered tearfully.
“SAKURA-KUN!?!”
* * *
In the basement, Kohran was steering past the rubble to see the results of her invention. ‘I wonder what happened! Eeheehee! So excited! If my calculations are right… Sakura-han should be a bit wiser. This machine increases brain energy and hopefully makes the owner of the brain more intuitive. Saa! Let’s see!’
But when she opened the door, she saw nobody. “Eh?! Did she evaporate?!?” Sadness filled her eyes, “A victim to science! Gomen naa, Sakura-han!!”
”JOTTO~!” snapped a voice from behind. Kohran slowly turned around and saw a shadow about the same height as her. Blinking she didn’t recognize the pretty person, but for some reason she felt she knew her. “Kohran – how dare you! Going on a date with Onii-chan!?!!”
At this line, a crack creased across her glasses. “Masaka!!”
”MOU!! ONII-CHAN IS AIRUSU’S BOYFRIEND!!!!”
With that, another explosion shook the basement.
* * *
“Kyaaaaaa!!!” Sakura screamed, trembling with fear. She thought it was thunder and her childhood terror was tormenting her again. Oogami knelt down and pulled her close. She blushed extremely red. “Oogami-san…”
“Daijoubu, Sakura-kun.” he uttered, “I won’t let the Kami-sama take your soul.”
Sakura frowned. He was talking to her as though she was a child. Well, she was in a child form, but that wasn’t her fault. Her spirit sword, Harataka, being too heavy to carry – she left it downstairs. Her clothes too – she was able to find something that fit her in the dressing room. One of Airisu’s kimono. Speaking of which, where was Airisu??
Oogami lifted her up off the ground and began to carry her, her holding onto his neck. She was much shorter than Airisu was, and more wide-eyed. She couldn’t believe Oogami was carrying her. She must have been light because he was barely using any effort at all, either that he was really strong. “A-ano… where are we going??”
”I’ve seen strange things before… but never like this. Demo, it’s late. We should rest and handle this in the morning.” he explained, “Besides… ore…anata… eto…” He blushed. “There was something I wanted to speak to you about…”
”Nani?”
”Let’s wait till we get upstairs.”
* * *
Meanwhile in the basement, Kohran had passed out from the explosion. Airisu finally found Jean-Paul in the rubble and went for the door. “Now to find Onii-chan!!” she stated, grinning, “Especially in Airisu’s new form! Onii-chan will not be able to resist! Nee, Jyan-Paru!”
The bear just stared at her.
“Airisu is coming! Just you wait, Onii-chaan! Kyahahaha!”
* * *
Oogami closed the door to his room. He slowly turned around and saw Sakura sitting in his chair, her legs nowhere near touching the ground. She had shrunk into a child and he found it very strange… but it was still Sakura in there and that was all that mattered.
“Eto…” he uttered, rubbing his head, “Sakura-kun, it’s good to see you again… I mean, even if you look so different. Demo… there’s something important we have to talk about.”
”Eeh?” she asked, blinking, “Nan desu ka, Oogami-san?” He just walked over and knelt in front of her, gazing up at her with serious eyes, “O-Oogami-san??”
“Sakura-kun, tell me the honest truth,” he said with a smile, “Do you know if Kaede-san is single?” Sakura face-faulted. “I mean, I heard she and that idiot, Kayama, were together for a while… but it’s been what a year. Surely, she’s realized her mistake and dumped him by now. Sou, is she???”
Sakura lifted her tearful face. “Oogami-san!! BAKA!!!” she cried, clobbering him on the head. She jumped from the chair and scurried for the door. But then another explosion was heard. Thinking it was again thunder, Sakura went into hysterics. “Kyaaaaa!!! Kami-sama, don’t take my soul – onegaishimasu!!!” she screamed, clutched her head as she fell to the ground.
“Sakura-kun!!” Oogami cried, rushing over and gathering her up in his arms, “Daijoubu! I’m here!”
Sakura blushed. ‘Oogami-san!’ Then frowned. ‘He’s treating me like a child again…’
* * *
Just as Airisu was about to exit the basement – Kohran had appeared with her steam-powered weapons. “We’ll see whose boyfriend Oogami-han will be yaa? Take dat!!!”
The teleknetic girl teleported from the blast then started up her powers – an exchange of attacks coming from all ranges. In the war-zone, Kohran maneuvered around, through bombs and steam missiles at her opponent. The two had divided the basement into two – in the middle, a ‘no man’s zone’ – though very dangerous, was the perfect place to attack.
Crawling from her brackets, which were made by broken furniture, Kohran got as close as she could, throwing a couple smoke bombs at the Frenchie. Detained in coughs and wheezes, Airisu was vulnerable for an attack. “Saaa! Get her!!!” Kohran chimed, all of her robots coming at her at once.
“KYAAAAAAAA!!!” Airisu screamed, another explosion going off. It took a moment for the smoke to clear. Black and blue, Airisu turned to her friend, wearing Yoneda’s commander hat, “Nee, Jyan-Paru… what shall we do?? The enemy is too strong! At this rate… Airisu will lose Onii-chan!!”
The bear just stared at her.
“Aa! Good idea, Jyan-Paru!! It’s the only way!!!” Airisu chimed, getting up happily, then turning back towards the warzone. “Nee! KO – RA - N!! Come get Airisu!!!”
All of a sudden, a koubu came crashing in through the wall. Kohran’s voice was heard through the intercom. “Maa maa, you got guys coming at me, especially in this new model of koubu! Haaaa!! You in for it now ya!”
Airisu was concentrating all her strength, to the point of her eyes scrunching and veins popping. Everything in the room lifted off the ground, all the funiture and rumble… then in a split second all of it went surging to the koubu, “WAAAAAAA!!!!!! EE-RIS SPESHIIARU!!!!!!”
There was a scream… and then darkness.
* * *
“Nee, Kohran… Kohran!” The voice woke the Kansai girl. She was lying in the medical room, all her wounds healed. She still felt a bit daze. Airisu smiled, hugging Jean-Paul. “Yokkata! Airisu is so glad you’re okay!”
Kohran smiled. “You were a worthy opponent, Airisu-han… demo, just how did you get all grown-up??”
”Airisu… wakarinai. Demo, Airisu … ureshikatta! If only Onii-chan could see!!” she cried happily, squeezing the stuffing out of Jean-Paul, “Demo nee, Sakura also got affected… she turned into a little child!”
Kohran rubbed her chin, “My invention wasn’t made to do that naaaa… dakara, I don’t know how this happened… tabun… Aa! Sou da!! It must’ve been from when you used your powers – Airisu! It caused some strange reaction and you and Sakura-han got age switched or something like that… Hen ya…”
“Sou ne…” Airisu uttered, “Then Airisu knows how to reverse this! Demo ne, Airisu has something to do first! Sore ja!” she chimed, skipping out the door happily.
Kohran face-faulted, “Maa maa, this would’ve been a cool invention if I hadn’t messed up!” She then paused to push up her glasses, feeling still a little sore from the explosions, “E-to… what exactly happened with Oogami-han? I thought we were going to play in my room??”
* * *
Oogami sat at the edge of the bed, watching Sakura sleep. She had finally calmed down and was exhausted, falling asleep on the spot. “Is this… how you treat Airisu…?” she uttered as she was dozing off, he was covering her with blanket, “… I now understand how she feels… if only…”
But she wasn’t able to finish, her voice lost in slumber. Oogami decided to rest his eyes, carefully leaning his head down into the soft pillow. All of a sudden he heard the clicking of the doorknob turning. Opening his sleepy eyes, he gazed over and saw the door open, light surrounding a tall figure. There was a beautiful girl in his doorway.
“E…to… sore wa…?!”
The girl smiled. “Onii-chan…” she whispered, walking over to him, hands folded in front of her, “Onii-chan… what a dream come true…”
”Aa, honto ni!” he gasped, still trapped in a trance as he gazed at her, “So… beautiful…!!”
”Kihihihi…” she giggled, blushing deeply. She then stopped at the foot of the bed, lifting his face with her hand, “Onii-chan, a request.”
”Nan da?” he uttered, “Anything you like, Ojou-san…”
”KI - SU.” she replied, leaning over. Their lips made contact and a sweet kiss was shared. The girl drew away, smiling, “Arigatou, Onii-chan…”
”Matte!” he cried, as she backed away towards the door, “Don’t go! Ojou-san!! MATTEE!!” But then she disappeared from sight and Oogami started to feel sleepy again. He fell back into bed, dreaming about the beautiful girl.
Outside in the hallway, Airisu hugged Jean-Paul tightly. “Ureshii!!”
* * *
It was already dawn… and surely soon the others would be returning. Kohran was scrambling in the basement panicking over the giant destruction they had caused. “Aaaaaan?! What are we gonna do?!?!” she screamed, hands in her hair.
“Daijoubu! Leave it to Airisu!!” Airisu said, with a swirl of yellow sparkle, sent the room back to normal. Kohran let out a sigh of relief. Then Airisu destroyed her invention. “YATTA!!!”
”AAAAN!? Why’d you do that for?!?”
”It’s that stupid things fault anyhow!” Airisu replied, “Now you know the price of going behind Airisu’s back to get Onii-chan! After all, Airisu is Onii-chan’s ichi-ban girl. Nyaa nyaa!”
”Ho ho! Sou da sou da! I lose to you!” Kohran chimed, “Demo, you can’t stay like that forever. I mean… Airisu, you’ll miss out on how fun it is to grow up.”
”Sou ne. Demo, Airisu already had her ‘bit of happiness’. Airisu will be okay to return as a child. Sore kara…” She lifted her arms in the air, Jean-Paul lifting up too and multiplying, “EERIS – SUPECIARU – JYAN PARU!!!”
The healing magic reversed the strange affects to her body and she was back to a child. Upstairs, they could hear the others entering the Teigeki. They both relaxed for the moment. Then, Kohran lifted her head, “Eto… what about Sakura-han??”
* * *
Sakura opened her eyes. “Hm?” She saw Oogami’s sleeping face. “Eh?” She realized she was wearing a tight skimpy kimono. “EEEEEH?!?!” Her scream was heard all over the Teigeki, including the waking Oogami.
“Heh? Nan de… eto… S-sa-sa-sa-sakuraaaaa-kun?!?”
Apparently, when she changed back into her normal form, the clothing didn’t fit her anymore and she ended up as she was. She grabbed the sheets and kicked Oogami away. Just then the door opened.
“SCANDAL!!!!” Yuri exclaimed, pointing at them, “Yahooo! Atarashi Teigeki Uwasa!! I get the credit!! Scandal! Scandal~!”
Behind her, Airisu was growling, ready to explode, “MOU!!! SAKURAAAAA!!!! ONII-CHAN IS AIRISU’S BOYFRIEND!!!!!”
