<<<Back to the background story6

The Background Story7

Nagi settled down in his seat, quickly pulling out his notes and a pencil. Akira was to the right of him and staring forward, Nami to the left of him, likewise ready to take notes. Anka and Lulu were following their example.

Claudia glared around the room, "We can't begin class just yet," she said coldly.

"Excuse me, but I believe you said that class beings promptly at 1PM," Akira spoke up.

"I believe you should either shut up or get out," Claudia retorted, her eyes narrowing on Akira.

"He's right," a voice from the back agreed.

Jade stumbled in, "Parking is atrocious," she remarked as she made her way to the front of the classroom.

"It's alright, dear," Claudia said soothingly as she watched Jade take her seat and fumble through her bag, further hindering the class' discussion.

"If any of us were late she would have already begun and told us 'too bad you troublesome swine'," Lulu snipped.

"I know, right?" Akira asked as he glanced over his shoulder at Lulu, turning quickly away from her, his cheeks reddened.

"Uh..." Nagi stared in disbelief at his cousin before nudging Nami with his elbow and nodding toward the abashed Akira.

"What. The. Hell?" Nami and Nagi exchanged glances before returning their gaze to Akira.

Anka chuckled, "That's a weird turn of events."

"What is?" Lulu asked, scratching her cheek with the eraser of her pencil.

"Nothing..." Anka shook her head, rolling her eyes as Claudia started class.

Claudia went through the lesson plan, droning on for nearly the entire hour of class duration. At last she finished and turned to face the class, "Now on the topic of the upcoming trip to Egypt." She said, her gaze narrowing on most of those present, "I don't want any funny business. The first innappropriate thing I see or hear... And that student will be on the first flight back home.

"There will be no 'sleepovers', no 'parties', students will not enter each other's rooms for anything. And you will all listen very closely to everything I say."

"Jeez, isn't this the fifth time this week she's said those same words?" Anka muttered.

"Yeah... It's getting repetative and annoying." Nami agreed.

"Anka, Nami." Claudia approached their desks, "Is there something you two wanted to share with the rest of the class?"

"No ma'am." They said together, averting their gazes.

"They're making fun of you." Jade said pointedly, "Maybe we shouldn't have the two of them on the trip."

"I think you may be right." Claudia smirked.

"That isn't fair!" Nami exclaimed, "We've been preparing for this trip for months, pouring as much money into it as we could!"

"Yeah!" Anka replied indignantly, "We've all been looking forward to this trip."

Claudia inspected her manicured nails boredly, "I should care, why?" She questioned sharply.

"You're our teacher, you're supposed to be giving us learning experiences, not taking them away." Nagi pointed out.

Claudia turned her glare to him, "And besides, if you want to be unfair, I can always have a chat with my father." Lulu growled, recieving a glare as well.

"I suppose if the two of you really want to go..." Claudia drawled, "You'll stay after class for the next two weeks, sorting and organizing my files, and scrubbing down every inch of this room."

---

Nagi stepped into the room a few hours after he left Nami and Anka to do Claudia's bidding. Nami sighed as she watched him approach them. "So, how much time is left?"

"We're about done today," Nami muttered.

"Yeah," Anka dropped a rag into murky water, "I'm going to kill them..." she declared.

"Okay," Nagi shrugged. "Where are they, speaking of?" he looked around the room.

"They went out to dinner," Anka rolled her eyes.

"If we didn't need the grades I'd burn the papers..." Nami muttered as she flipped through a few of Claudia's folders. "But let's finish up...I'm starved, and I am tired, sore..." Nami growled.

"Me too, sis," Anka muttered, dragging the water bucket to the small sink in the corner of the room.

"Well, your mom's cooking dinner," Nagi tried to comfort them.

---

Nami opened her dresser drawer. "Should I be in here for this?" Anka asked.

"You already know about it," Nami assured her.

"Okay, didn't want to witness my best friend's lingerie collection," Anka sighed in relief.

"Uh, hi...I'm still here," Nagi blushed.

"Here you go," Nami said as she handed Nagi her scrapbook.

Nagi accepted it, "I'm confused."

"Open it," Anka whispered. "Everything will become very clear..."

"She's right," Nami admitted, her cheeks reddened.

"Okay...?" Nagi opened the scrap book, not knowing what to expect. Everybody's pictures from the seventh grade yearbook were there. "I can't believe you have all of our friends' pictures."

"It gets much better," Anka assured him.

Nagi flipped to the next page where even more photos of all of Nami's friends were, cut fitted, and decorated with many different shapes, colors and symbols. "Our eighth grade field trip...the one we went on together."

"Ah! The beach!" Anka pointed excitedly to a group picture they were all in around the bonfire.

"Skiing trip..." Nagi muttered.

"All of our amusement park trips," Anka pointed out the next page. "And then the extra curricular activities..."

"Foreign language club," Nagi said as he looked at all of the pictures that lined the page, "And Nami's journalism..."

"Here's the art club's giant mural," Anka said excitedly. "Oh! And the yearbook staff's last stitch efforts at completing the yearbook on time!"

"Fencing..." Nagi muttered, glancing up at Nami who was staring down at the ground.

"We told you about these," Anka whispered, "Nobody's supposed to know we went on that trip to watch you compete."

"Too bad our school didn't have a gymnastics team," Nami said yearningly.

"If you're talking about me, I'd be too fat to be on it," Nagi replied. "I'm nearly 200 pounds and for my height I'd have to lose like 80 pounds to compete in gymnastics."

"Really?" Anka gasped, horrified by the thought.

"Yeah and we're talking the 'fat' gymnastics there. Most gymnasts are 100 pounds or less," Nagi explained.

"Ew, stick to the muscular you, please," Nami made a face.

"Planning on it," Nagi replied as he turned the page to several pictures of the track team. "You have my best times written down, too...."

"Yup," Nami replied with a nod.

"And stuff from karate," Nagi blushed profusely as he glanced up at the just as embarrassed Nami.

"Yeah, and stuff from debate team for you there," Anka pointed out as she flipped the page.

"And special events," Nagi stared down at the pictures of them all dressed up for prom, the other formal dances they had all attended, the semi-formal dances and the ones held for school events.

"Holidays," Anka pointed to the next page as she flipped it open, "starting with Halloween."

"I can't believe you kept all of these pictures," Nagi muttered, glancing at their past costumes over the years that decorated the page. The following page was Thanksgivings they'd all shared, followed by Christmases, New Years, Valentine's Days, the summers shared and expensive illegal fireworks purchased and set off. "I mean...wow..."

"Yeah, she even has a few that I took specifically," Anka added.

"Yes, but you're the best photographer I know," Nami said sheepishly.

"Oh, wow," Nagi's face reddened when he found the photo Anka had taken of him and Nami on her birthday.

"Like that one," Anka said with a grin.

"That's the last picture in the book," Nami said slowly.

"So...notice anything?" Anka asked Nagi.

"When did you do the hearts by my pictures?" Nagi asked.

"As they were added to the book," she said sheepishly.

"He did notice..." Anka noted.

"Dinner's done," Kelly said as she entered Nami's room.

---

Nagi settled beside Nami. "So, Nami...I've been thinking..." Nagi blushed, glancing down at his hands.

"About?" Nami asked, placing a bookmark in her book.

Nagi turned onto his hip, "Us..."

"What about us?" Nami inquired playfully.

"Well, I know how we both hate childish relationships, and shallow dating..." he started, trying to hold a gaze with Nami.

"Yes, what about it?"

"Well, Nami, I love you..." Nagi started as he pulled a ring box from his pocket, "And I've been trying to talk myself out of this."

"Nagi..." Nami gasped.

"If you're as serious as I am," he placed the ring box in Nami's hand, kissing her cheek.

"I am!" Nami said quickly, "I mean I do!"

"Okay, here we go," Nagi said as he pulled another two ring boxes from his pocket.

Nami opened the case containing the diamond ring, "What are those for?" she inquired.

"My wedding ring and your wedding ring..." Nagi said softly, "and my engagement ring."

"I see you put some thought into this," Nami laughed as she slipped her engagement ring on.

"Naturally," Nagi replied as he slipped the matching engagement ring onto his finger, "I love you and want to make it perfect."

"Awe...I love you too," Nami said quickly, kissing his forehead.

Lulu and Anka opened Nami's door, walking in slowly. "Hey, if you don't entertain us, we're going to the magic shop," Lulu announced.

"What?" Nami asked.

"You know, the store where they buy all of the magical items that get us into sticky situations," Nagi explained.

"Oh. Well, we're pretty bored. Go buy something and don't ask what it does and cause a little chaos," Nami grinned.

"You're encouraging us," Anka reminded her.

"Again, bored," Nami replied.

"Alright, I just got my allowance," Lulu shrugged, pulling Anka out the door behind her.

---

"Oh... shoot..." Anka muttered, wiping the steam from the bathroom mirror as she stepped out of the shower and glaring at her hair, the natural blue had overtaken most of the black yet again, "I wish I could just get away with wearing a hat for the rest of my life..." She moaned as she quickly dried and dressed before rushing back to her room to rummage about for a hat.

Tucking her hair beneath the brim of a plain black fedora she grabbed her bag and rushed out the door, intent on a trekk up the road to the store.

Rolling onto her back, bored Nami glared up at the ceiling. She pulled her phone into her line of sight, flipping through her contacts she picked Anka's name, dialing her cell phone before putting it up to her ear. "Anka...I'm bored..." Nami groaned disdainfully into her cellphone.

"Good," Anka glared up at her hat. "I have something that will entertain us for about an hour."

"Oh?" Nami sat up, intrigued.

"Yeah, you get to dye my hair!" Anka said as she opened Nami's bedroom door.

"Already?" Nami blinked, watching her friend remove her hat.

"Yeah... Its been happening more and more often lately." Anka frowned, "I don't have a clue as to why."

"Strange... Lucky though that Lu got you a whole ton to put away for your birthday, eh?" Nami chuckled dryly.

"Definitely," Anka rummaged through her bag and brought out a box of dye, "I'm so glad my hair doesn't fry with all the dyeing..."

"Strange, too," Nami muttered. "Did you buy the good gloves?"

"Naturally," Anka said nonchalantly.

"Alright, let's get started," Nami pepped up, forgetting about her boredom.

After Nami had covered half of Anka's hair, Lulu barged into the bathroom. "There you are! I've been calling you for the past ten minutes..." closed the door after stepping into the bathroom.

"Sorry, phone's in the room," Nami muttered.

"Anka, what the hell happened to your hair?" Lulu exclaimed when she turned her attention to Anka.

"Bought something from the magic shop, had the spell reversed, but I still have to dye my hair..." Anka said quickly, tapering off at the end.

"Whoa...blue hair..." Lulu blinked a few times. "I thought you were prepping for your Halloween costume..."

"Nope, just freaky magic," Nami commented before continuing to hum.

"Well, after this, do you two want to do something?" Lulu asked.

"Like what?" Anka inquired.

"I want an awesome Halloween costume for your parents' party, Nami," explained.

"Sounds like fun," Anka and Nami chorused.

"Talk to the prince yet?" Lulu asked before blowing a bubble with her bubble gum.

"Nope," Nami replied.

"Have sex with him yet?" Lulu continued her barrage of questions.

Nami sighed, "If he and I have sex you'll be the third to know providing that his family don't have some strange way to tell."

"Promise?" Lulu whimpered, making large puppy eyes.

"Yes, I promise," Nami rolled her eyes as she continued distributing the dye through Anka's hair.

"Hey gir- whoa, Anka, whats with the hair?" Nagi asked from the open bathroom doorway.

"Er... item from the magic shop..." Anka muttered, "My hair's never going to be the same again..."

"I see..." Nagi frowned thoughtfully, "Do we have any plans today? I'm bored..."

"We're going costume shopping," Nami nodded.

"Looking for sexy costumes... Maybe you can help Nami pick something out," Lulu teased.

"I said bored, not looking to scare myself into priesthood," Nagi rebuttled.

"Awe...priesthood, I think I can find a school girl outfit," Lulu said before cracking her gum loudly.

"Lu," Nami glared up at Lulu.

"Oh, right...dating thing..." Lulu laughed nervously. "That'll take a bit to get used to," she hung her head.

"Anyhow, I want to make my own costume...maybe just pick up some face paint or something..." Anka muttered, glancing up from her matted black hair.

"You've got a real talent for costume designing, Anka, want to help me with mine?" Nami pleaded.

"Of course I will," Anka grinned as she took a tissue to spot wipe the dye from her forehead before it stained her skin.

"What do you all want to be?" Lulu asked eagerly, her inner child shining through.

"Scary, naturally," Nami and Anka chorused.

"I want to be pretty, yet scary..." Lulu muttered.

"So be an evil fairy," Nagi suggested.

"Oh, I like that idea...do you think a costume shop would have the pieces of that?" Lulu cracked her gum before blowing a bubble with it.

"Yeah, get a wig, too. Just to make people take a second look," Nami suggested as she covered the last section of Anka's hair with dye.

"Anka, wanna help me?" Nagi spoke, his attention on Nami, "I have a few ideas, here."

"Yes, yes, after I sit here for an hour," Anka replied.

"What kinds of ideas?" Nami inquired.

"Something scary and bad ass," he shrugged. "Trying to work out which ones I could pull off."

"Interesting idea," Anka agreed, "Now what say we go sit in Nami's room and let the fumes air out in here?"

"Wise choice," Nami said as she carefully peeled the gloves off and threw them away, inspecting her fingers to make sure the dye hadn't seeped through. When she was satisfied that it hadn't she quickly washed her hands and followed the others into her room.

Anka perched carefully on the edge of the bed, "So, evil fairy for Lu, I can see a cute little gothic lolita dress, some clunky boots, maybe some ripped leggings, and of course the wings," She sighed thoughtfully, imagining the outfit she had in mind.

"You can't forget the bullwhip," Lulu quipped, "I can't be a sexy evil fairy without one of those, and by cute little gothic lolita dress do you mean-"

"I mean something that only you would wear, Lu," Anka replied with a shrug, "Naturally it would fit your personality."

"You can try me, but I don't have any ideas yet," Nami uttered as she plopped onto her bed.

"Well, do you want to buy a costume or make it?" Anka inquired.

"I don't know yet," Nami shrugged, "I haven't gone over it in my mind so no eliminations have been done."

"You can match me," Lulu offered, "you know, double trouble and all."

Nagi's cheeks reddened, "I also have no idea," Nagi muttered before clearing his throat.

"How does the grim reaper sound?" Anka asked as she turned her attention to Nagi.

"Like a mesh face?" he inquired.

"Yeah," Anka affirmed.

"Yes," Nagi agreed quickly.

"Two down, two to go," Anka frowned, giving Nami a thoughtful look as she rolled over ideas in her mind. "Goth, cute..."

"Goth and cute go with scary?" Nami questioned.

"We can pull it off," Anka smiled, "since we're awesome and all."

"Yeah, we are awesome," Nami grinned thoughtfully.

"I wanna go shopping now!" Lulu moaned, kicking her feet impatiently, "How much longer?"

"A while yet," Anka said apologetically, "I know you're excited to get your costume, but we've still got a few days until Halloween..."

"You're all still planning on coming to my party after, right?" Lulu questioned excitedly, "Daddy's setting up a haunted house in the back yard, its gonna be great!~"

"Oh man, I wouldn't miss it for the world, your family throws some awesome halloween parties," Anka replied cheerfully.

"Before Lu's party remember that we're gonna steal most of the candy my parents are giving away during their boring party with their friends," Nami muttered.

"Naturally," Anka assured her.

"Your parents do have the best candy," Nagi remarked.

"Yeah...chocolate..." Lulu said dreamily.

"Yes, and notice that our house doesn't get egged," Nami replied cheerfully.

"Well, now that I'm hungry, let's get off the topic of chocolate," Lulu snapped out of her chocolate fantasy.

"Or we can talk food to eat while costume shopping," Nagi offered.

"I'm good with anything," Nami shrugged.

"Well, there's Sushi, Chinese, Thai, Pizza..." Anka rattled off some of the local restaurants. "What do you guys think?"

"I think somebody needs to make Chinese food on pizza work," Nami glared down at her growling stomach.

"Mmmm, the idea of teriyaki pizza is just absolutely tantalizing," Anka murmured hungrily.

"I can always talk to daddy later..." Lulu hinted in amusement.

"Do you really think that anybody besides us would really be into that sort of thing?" Nami mused.

"Maybe," Lulu said, "Never know until we try."

"Can we stop talking about food unless we're ordering and eating right now?" Anka pleaded.

"I'm with Anka on this one," Nagi chuckled.

---

"Thank you, thank you," Lulu clapped excitedly as her pizza was added to the table.

The waiter stared down at the Chinese food that sat before Anka, the tacos that were before Nami and the Thai food that was before Nagi before turning to Lulu. "You can't agree on a restaurant?" he guessed, scratching his head.

"You must be new here," Anka smiled.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Well, we all share, eating a little of everything we're craving," Nami explained.

"Yes, it doesn't save money, but it does make lunch agreeable," Nagi commented.

"Interesting concept," The waiter nodded with a faint smile.

"Lets dig in!" Anka said hungrily as she picked up her chopsticks.

"I'm going to have to work out all weekend to make up for this..." Lulu muttered as she grabbed a slice of pizza.

"Don't worry about your weight so much, Lu, your body is fine," Nami said, lifting a taco.

"I'm starving..." Nagi grumbled as he hefted a fork into his grasp.

"If I stopped worrying about my appearance I wouldn't be as beautiful as I've worked towards," Lulu quipped, "Its taken a lot of hard work to get to this point and I won't give up."

"Uh, what about natural beauty?" Nami asked.

"Not everybody is as lucky as you," Lulu replied before taking a bite of pizza.

Nami blushed sinking into her seat. "Thanks..." she muttered.

"Well, off of the topic of beauty, which costume shop should we go to?" Anka asked.

"All of them," Nagi shrugged.

"Okay, first," Anka corrected herself.

"Jest Fun and Games?" Nagi offered.

"Oh," Lulu cut in, swallowing a bite, "they have the best accessories!"

"Okay, Jest is first," Nami remarked as she stabbed a few pieces of meat with her fork.

"Maybe I'll get some ideas as to what to make myself while we're there," Anka replied thoughtfully as she delved hungrily into her teriyaki chicken.

"You don't need a shop to give you ideas," Nami commented, "Your own unique designs always rock."

"Thanks," Anka grinned.

"Mind if I steal a taco now, Nami?" Nagi questioned.

Lulu snickered, "You know... that can be taken in quite a few directions," She said.

"Lu, not now," Anka muttered, "We're trying to eat here, I don't want to lose my appetite..."

"But, sweetie, that is all about appetite," Lulu said while humming happily.

"Lu!" Nagi growled, his cheeks reddening.

"What?" Lulu asked innocently as she took a piece of chicken wrapping it in the remainder of her pizza.

"Lu, no sex at the table," Nami muttered.

"What about on the table?" Lulu questioned.

"So long as I'm not eating on it I don't care," Nagi said anxiously.

"So long as I'm nowhere around and neither see nor hear of it," Anka put in.

"I'm with the two of them," Nami nodded quickly as she passed a taco to Nagi.

"Where's the fun in that?" Lulu pouted.

"The fun is that we no longer have to hear about your crazy sex life," Anka replied.

"But that's not fun," Lulu sniffled.

"You should just turn your sex life into smut novels," Nami remarked as she began stabbing the random bits of taco condiments that had fallen onto her plate.

"Oh, now there's an idea," Lulu said eagerly.

"Good, we're going shopping and solving what Lulu can do with her life. I feel like we're making progress," Anka commented.

"Yes, now, what are we going to do next month on the trip?" Nagi asked.

"Good point!" Lulu cut in, "Mile high club!"

"Errr...that's the spirit?" Nami asked nervously.

---

Lulu rolled onto her stomach and began kicking her feet into the air. She fingered the sentence she was about to read before glancing up at Anka. "What do we do if we walk in on Nami and Nagi?"

Anka glanced up from the novel she was reading. "What?"

"You know...sex..." Lulu muttered.

"What makes you think they're having sex?" Anka sighed, bookmarking the page she was reading.

"Because they've been dying to since they were twelve," Lulu reasoned.

Nami jumped into her bedroom, continuously hopping around, waving her passport. "It came! It came!" she cheered excitedly.

Glad for the change of topic, Anka jumped up happily, "That's great! One step closer to actually being on this trip... I wonder if mine came yet?" She pondered.

"Can we tone the bubble down a little?" Lulu questioned with an amused grin, "You're making me dizzy watching you hop around the room like that."

"Sorry," Nami said as she stopped hopping. "Oh, we should find out if yours came, Anka! What do you say?"

"I should, but I don't know. That would mean going home..." Anka frowned.

"Say Nami, what do you want us to do if we walk in on you and Nagi having sex?" Lulu asked.

Anka sighed, "I thought we were off of this..."

Nami blinked. "That was random."

"No, that was what the conversation was about before you came in with your passport," Lulu replied. "But what do you want us to do?"

"Walk right back out," Nami muttered self-consciously.

"Noted," Lulu said before returning her attention to the magazine she was reading.

"We weren't talking about it, you brought it up and in came Nami," Anka replied, "Maybe we should go see if my passport came..."

"Can it wait a few? This is a really juicy story," Lulu said distractedly.

"So does everyone have their passports yet?" Nagi asked, entering the room and holding his up.

"I do," Nami replied, "It just came today."

"Mine too," Nagi nodded.

"I've had mine for years," Lulu replied without glancing up from her magazine, "Daddy's always taking me on trips out of the country."

"Mine... might be waiting for me back home," Anka said, "We were just debating my heading over there to check."

"Let's hope it's there. Our other classmates already have theirs," Nami said thoughtfully.

"Indeed," Lulu muttered.

"You're not even trying to contribute anymore, are you?" Anka asked.

"Yeah, good job," Lulu responded.

"Alright, let's get going if we're going. I really need something to do that will keep me away from home," Nagi said eagerly.

"Why, what's at home?" Nami asked.

"My grandparents," Nagi sighed.

"Awe, who hates their grandparents?" Anka frowned.

"They're related to me, Anka. Normal grandparents aren't hated. They're loved..." Nagi answered.

"I almost want to see 2 old people talking about sex and sexual energies and aligning the chakras..." Nami said as she placed a thoughtful finger to her lip.

"What about old people sex?" Lulu asked, staring at her three friends, awaiting a response.

"Really, Lu?" Nagi shuddered in disgust.

"Nami said almost in wanting to hear about them talk about sex, but none of us cares to hear about it young or old, from them or you," Anka replied blankly, standing, "Lets go see about that passport and maybe order take-out and party the afternoon away?"

"Thank you!" Nagi cheered as he began playing with his car keys. He began flipping them around, whistling as he started toward the steps.

"Come on, Lu," Nami said as she slipped her shoes on. "We're getting takeout!"

"I'm on a diet," Lulu complained.

"We know," Anka said as she slipped her coat on. "You're always on a diet."

Lulu sighed, rolling up her magazine and tossing it into her oversized purse. "I suppose we can go," she said to the empty room. "Can't even wait for me..." she grumbled as she stomped down the steps.

"Oh, cheer up, Lu," Anka said, poking her playfully in the side, "We're going to have fun and get drunk, two of your favorite things."

"What kind of fun?" Lulu asked playfully.

"The kind of fun that doesn't involve what you're thinking," Anka replied as she closed the door, "We should walk... The weather's great and its only a few blocks."

"But I have an awesome car..." Nagi whimpered.

"Yes, we know, dear. That's why I'm agreeing with Anka," Lulu ruffled Nagi's hair as she passed him.

"We haven't walked anywhere in a while," Nami shrugged. "What do you say?" she turned to Nagi.

"Fine, I guess..." Nagi hung his head.

"After this we're getting pizza, right?" Lulu asked.

"Pizza sounds good," Nami commented.

"What happened to the diet?" Anka teased.

"Pizza is a well-balanced food that is good for you," Lulu announced.

"Haha, sure thing," Anka chuckled as they began walking, "Pizza and chocolate ice cream then?"

"Mmm, sounds yummy to me," Nami agreed.

It wasn't long before they came across Anka's house, "I'll be just a minute," She said to the others, slipping quietly inside in search of the mail.

She found a stack sitting precariously on the edge of the kitchen table, though nothing was addressed to her, "Strange..." She frowned, "I would have thought for sure that my passport would be in today since Nami's arrived... Maybe not though..." Still thoughtful she headed back for the door. She stepped outside, making a beeline for the mailbox. She opened it up, despite the position of the red flag. "Nothing..." she sighed.

"Don't worry, we'll stay home with you if you can't go," Lulu said sincerely.

"Yeah, it's just some dumb trip to an excavation site," Nami waved her hand dismissively.

"Exactly," Nagi nodded. "Let's work on getting some pizza," he suggested, rubbing his hands together anxiously.

"That sounds like a plan," Lulu said enthusiastically. "Come on, honey," Lulu said as she twined fingers with Anka.

"No, it should be here any day now," Anka replied, "And if it doesn't come in time, you all will most definitely NOT refrain from going on this trip and taking lots of pictures and bringing stories back for me, understood?"

"It wouldn't be the same without all of us being there," Nami replied, "We'd be miserable without you there."

"You may still have time to go reapply for a passport or let them know it never came before the trip as it is," Nagi said, "So lets keep our minds off it and enjoy a delicious meal and getting drunk."

"Since when does our prince enjoy alcohol?" Lulu raised an eyebrow.

"I don't, but you three do," he replied. "I'll have fun listening to you all slur and attempt to keep your balance."

"When do we slur?" Nami asked. "I've never heard any of us slur."

"That's probably because we sound right in our heads," Anka answered.

"Yeah, I hadn't thought about that..." Nami admitted.

"So pizza toppings..." Lulu began to brainstorm.

"Mushrooms," Nami said dreamily.

"Extra cheese," Nagi added.

"Gotta have pepperoni..." Anka murmured.

"Anchovies..." Lulu said happily.

"Uh...ew..." Nagi, Nami and Anka all chorused.

"What?" Lulu asked.

"Anchovies..." Nami shuddered.

"Ham and pineapple..." Anka said quickly, "We should get a small hawaiian..."

"Whats wrong with anchovies?" Lulu demanded.

"They're disgusting," Nagi replied, "How can you stand them?"

"Here we go..." Anka sighed.

"They're fish," Lulu replied. "How do you not like fish?"

"Because I have taste buds..." Nagi made a face.

"Small Hawaiian sounds good," Nami shuddered. "Let's leave them to argue," she suggested as she started walking at a quicker pace.

"Right about now I'm agreeing with you," Anka commented as she joined Nami ahead of the other two.

"Should we go ahead and order without them, knowing their preferences and all?" Nami asked as they slipped into the shop.

Peering outside to see the pair still bickering up the street Anka sighed and nodded, "May as well, this could be a while."

"That bad?" Nami asked in surprise.

"Seems so, they didn't even noticed we went on ahead," Anka replied, "Though maybe the argument steered away from anchovies... Nagi doesn't usually get too serious arguing about food."

"Lu, I don't care if I turn 18 in a month or not. You are not sending pictures of me in to Playgirl," Nagi said firmly.

"Oh, come on. It's not like Nami will mind sharing," Lulu replied.

"No argument you can ever make will cause me to change my mind," he said firmly.

"Oh, please?" Lulu whined. "I'll give Nami the copies..."

"If I wanted Nami to have naked pictures of me I'd give them to her myself," he responded.

"Really?" Lulu smirked. "I'll just have Nami send them in then," she said as she turned around. "They're not there..." she said in awe.

"Then where'd they go?" Nagi asked, looking around to make certain.

"How's it looking out there?" Nami asked as their pizzas were set on the counter.

"They look confused," Anka said, satisfied, "Which means they just realized we weren't there with them."

"Meaning that they've probably forgotten what they were arguing about when they realized we were gone," Nami nodded as she and Anka each grabbed a few boxes and headed back out into the street.

"Here you are," Nami said as she passed Nagi's pizza to him.

"And here you go, Lu," Anka said, passing Lulu the anchovy covered pizza.

"You two didn't have your wallets..." Nagi said in awe.

"Yeah, so?" Nami shrugged.

"So how'd you pay?" Nagi asked.

"We're girls. We never need money," Nami replied.

"Wait, what?" Lulu asked. "You're saying that you two used your damn good looks to get something for free?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter," Nami chuckled.

"Yeah, they're called coupons," Anka rolled her eyes.

"Coupons that covered the whole pizzas?" Lulu asked in surprise.

"You ever do the extracurricular reading for school?" Anka asked dryly, "The more you do the better stuff you get."

"Yeah, we're working our way up to amusement park tickets," Nami nodded, "And considering we've got an endless source of books with the libraries... Well, looks like we might just get 'em."

"I have a few coupons of my own..." Nagi said sheepishly, "They've been piling up on my dresser..."

"Too much work," Lulu shrugged, "Unless its an audio book or a movie adaption... I don't really want to read it if I don't have too."

"We know. You were even complaining about Lord of the Rings because the books were as long as the movies," Nami commented.

"At least they cast a few hotties in it," Lulu said as she fanned herself.

"Anyhow, let's get back, find something to watch while we eat and enjoy the weekend," Anka suggested.

"Here, here!" Nami said enthusiastically.

"I'm starved..." Nagi said agreeably, pulling out a slice of hot pizza as they walked and tearing into it.

"Can't wait until we get back for that?" Lulu quirked a brow.

"There'll be plenty left by the time we get to the house," Nagi shrugged.

"What're we gonna watch?" Nami asked.

"I'm sure we'll find some thriller or other," Anka replied, "There's usually something good on when we want to watch it."

"Yeah, that's always a nice convenience," Lulu remarked. "I actually didn't have to call the cable company and tell them my dad's name for that to happen..."

"You would do that?" Nami asked. She shook her head correcting herself. "That's right, it's you we're talking about."

Nami walked into the living room, kicking her shoes off, setting her pizza on the coffee table and tossing her coat onto the coat rack. "Where's the remote?" she asked as she scanned the room.

"Check the couch," Anka suggested as she plunged her hand into the cushions.

"Anything?" Lulu asked anxiously.

"No..." Anka frowned. "If it's not on the table and not on the television and not in the couch..." she glanced around, "where could it be?"

"So...we can't watch TV?" Lulu asked.

"I'm afraid not..." Nami said solemnly.

Nagi picked up the remote. "It was on the back of the couch."

"Weird... I didn't see it..." Anka shook her head, flopping down into a corner of the couch with her pizza, "Oh well... Least we can watch something now."

"Drinks?" Nami asked.

"Got any wine coolers to start?" Anka glanced over at her.

"We've always got plenty," Nami nodded, "Lu, Nagi?"

"Wine cooler for me, low calorie if you've got it," Lulu sighed as she opened her pizza, sitting next to Anka who immediately dove for the other corner as the thick stench of Lulu's anchovies pervaded the room.

Nami grabbed the fleece throw from the back of the couch, spreading it out on the floor. She was attempting to avoid the smell of anchovies at all costs so she was preparing to camp out on the floor.

She watched Nagi follow her example. She left for a few minutes, returning with everybody's requested beverages. She placed them all on the coffee table. "Here we are," she said, grabbing a wine cooler and her box of pizza.

"Awesome," Anka grinned, grabbing a wine cooler. "So what do we want to watch?"

"Slasher flick," Lulu said, looking through the list of movies.

"Lets see... Partying college kids, high school students, or somewhere in between who all die save one or two who manage to save the day..." Nagi said dryly, "Which could be more interesting?"

"They're all the same. May as well close your eyes and pick one," Anka replied with a shrug, "Psycho immortal killers all around."




the background story8