Greedy Chapter 9

# Chapter Nine - "Are You Lost?"

### Erika

    "Are you lost?" A small voice chirruped from inside the room in front of which I found myself standing, having left myself clearly visible through the crack of the door. Not purposefully. I have to be somewhere, and a few steps in either direction didn't seem to matter at the moment.

    I nodded my head. Technically - if we're being technical - I'm not exactly lost. I know exactly where I am. I'm in the I MY ME building on the west side of Tokyo, on the third floor, in the westerly facing side of the building, just a small distance past the large open space that houses a little kitchen and a bunch of tables, in front of a room with a partially opened door. So technically - again, if we're being technical - I'm not lost. You can't be lost if you know exactly where you are. What I am, more accurately, is discombobulated. Perhaps shaken, confused, or maybe even a little bit dazed by my encounter with Eimi-not-chan. But I'm not lost. I simply don't know where I'm supposed to be going right this second, which is much closer to being *aimless*. But I had a feeling that the voice wasn't being all that technical, and that '*yes*' was a far more accurate answer than '*no*' if you took that into account.

    "Where are you headed? Maybe we can help?" The door to the room swung open the rest of the way, revealing a tiny girl - though less tiny than I am - with pale green hair and bright orange flannel pajamas. It took a moment to comprehend exactly who I was seeing. Not because her hair was so uniquely hued - my own has been, after all, a calculatedly adorable shade of fuchsia nearly my entire life - but because in all the pictures on her website and all of the posters her hair is always put up in buns. Nearly always two, though in one picture with Song-sama's friend she wore only a single bump, having swapped her style with her group mate Dam-Bi-sama.

    I answered her as best I could, given that I didn't actually know specifically where I was headed and, possibly, wasn't actually headed anywhere in particular, in case onee-san was mad at me for running off. Or for kicking her friend… "I'm not sure where I'm headed... You're Chiyo Watanabe."

    "You recognize me?" The girl acted surprised, as though she wasn't used to being recognized yet.

    "Who is it?" Asked a second voice from within the room.

    "I think it's a fan! She knows who I am!"

    Peeking around Chiyo-chan, the petite girl deeper inside the room - who actually is nearly as tiny as I am - was equally recognizable by her distinctive hair.

    "You shouldn't let fans into the dorm…"

    "I didn't! She was already here." She turned to me and asked, "Are you an idol too, or are you visiting someone?"

    "Both. I came to visit my Nee-san."

    "R-Really? Who is she? Maybe we can help you find her."

    "My beloved Nee-san is Rinko Hanazawa. I believe you know her."

    Watanabe-chan looked confused. From inside the room I heard movement, and Mitsuboshi-chan soon appeared at the door as well.

    "Rinko is your sister?" The verdant girl sounded shocked.

    "That doesn't sound right…"

    "Yup. It's true. We're very close. I'm her beloved wittle sister."

    "I knew she had a sister, but Junko said she was a twin. Wait… you look familiar…" The white-haired girl looked through me, probably trying to recall where she may have seen me before.

    "Maybe Nee-san showed you a picture of me? She does love me very much."

    "No… But you're really familiar… Aren't you in movies?"

    "Mostly TV shows and commercials, actually. Though I've been in some movies. Did you watch *We Switched Bodies and Now I'm My Own Little Sister*?" Both idols stared at me blankly.

    Nobody ever recognizes me from that one…

    "You're the milk girl!"

    "And a vampire…"

    "That's me. My name is Erika-chan. It's a pleasure to meet both of you. You're my favorite idols."

    "Thank you! It's always wonderful to meet a fan! Especially a really famous one! I can't believe the chocolate milk girl knows who we are!"

    "But… Why are you here? In the dorm…"

    "To visit Rinko-neesan. We have a playdate for video games."

    Something about this still seemed to confuse them for some reason, but they moved past it. "If you're here for game night then you want Dam-Bi's room. It's on the first floor. We're going too soon, so we can show you the way if you want."

    "Thank you, Chiyo-chan. I would appreciate that. Um… B-But… E-Eimi isn't going to be there, is she?" My voice trembled just a little bit. Celebrities I could handle, but ***that girl…***

    "You can just call me Chiyo. And this is Kanon!"

    "Eimi hasn't come to game night before, so she probably won't be there. I don't think she plays games… She's kind of stuffy…" Kanon-chan spoke warmly and politely, even though it was about you know who. "Don't worry. She's not big on group activities…"

    "Yeah, it can get a little crowded, and Eimi says that we never give her enough space."

    "Mostly because it's funny to watch her freak out when we start crowding her…"

    "We were gonna leave soon anyway though. Did you bring pajamas? Everyone usually wears something comfy to game night."

    "N-No… Nee-san didn't mention that I should bring anything specific." Of course, I had packed pajamas, and they are adorable. They're a onesie that looks like a red panda, only pink, with attached gloves that look like paws and a big comfy hood with little panda ears. But that was when I just thought I was going to be sleeping over with Nee-san, not with two of the cutest tiny idols of Interlunium, and it suddenly felt like what I packed would be embarrassing to wear in front of Chiyo-chan and Kanon-chan. That's the kind of thing little girls wear, and I don't want to seem like a little kid to my favorite idols…

    "Do you wanna borrow a pair of pajamas? I have a bunch that are really comfy! I got them after our first song did really well! They're from Shimamura!"

    "I have some shorts and t-shirts that would fit you if you'd prefer…"

    "Cuz you and Kanon both wear size cute-and-tiny! I bet all her stuff would fit you!'

    I gave a half-certain "yes" and was pulled into Chiyo-chan and Kanon-chan's room, the door closing loudly behind me. Their room was messy. Very messy. It didn't seem dirty though. It just looked like very little care had been put into thinking through where things should be, which I found disappointing, as my own room is neatly organized and arranged for optimal efficiency. An orange bookbag was dropped carelessly near the center of the linoleum floor, a few books and loose papers surrounding it. Instead of being put away in the closet, clothes were piled into baskets placed with no discernable logic. I briefly wondered then what may be in the closets if all of their clothes were out here, but they're idols, and there are two of them, so it is possible that they just own so many articles of clothing that they've overflowed into their bedroom, and that the most expensive and delicate garments were safely put away.

    This is assuming that both of them actually live here together.

    On one hand, there seem to be far too many things present in duplicate to explain away as simple redundancy. On the other, there are also too many things that seem lacking if the room is lived in by both of the idols. There are plenty of shoes by the door, but they exist as one large pile, mingled together nonsensically unless the girls share the exact same size. There's only a single bed in the room, covered in a veritable nest of blankets and pillows, and the boxes and clothes poking out from underneath made it clear that if they have a futon for one of them then it isn't hiding there. Maybe that's what's in the closet? Or, they are both tiny like me. If they're best friends - or even sisters like me and Rinko-neesan - then they may share a bed to save space. It is big enough that I'd bet all three of us could even fit in it snuggly but effectively.

    C-Could they be…

    Are my two favorite idols secretly…

    Though I didn't move a muscle outwardly, a gigantic sigh coursed through my heart.

    Are my two favorite idols actually yuri?!

    *I nearly swooned at the thought.*

    They even share only a single desk, explaining the homework on the floor, but it's covered almost entirely with small paperback books, loose papers, and a large cage for… for…

    "Momo-sama?!"

    I ran to the cage - which was quick, because it was barely six steps away - and peered inside. There was a tiny blue wheel in the center. All sorts of fluffy piles of wood chips and scraps of fabric covered the bottom, and a large blue plastic bowl was full of Momo's food. She even has a big glass bottle full of water for when she's thirsty and a big loop of clear, colorful plastic that runs from one side of the cage, over the top, and back into the other. But try as hard as I may I couldn't see hair nor whisker of the tiny ball of peach fuzz.

    Tiny giggles came from behind me. "Momo doesn't like to be in her cage too long, so she's with me. See?" Chiyo-chan reached a hand gently into her pajamas' breast pocket and pulled it back out holding an angelic little bundle of happiness. She held her out, now on both hands, and I leaned in to get a closer look at my oshi. Momo-sama had the same idea, stretching out past Chiyo-chan's fingertips and touching my nose as she sniffed at me. I watched cross-eyed as she tickled my nose with her tiny pink snout.

    "She likes you!" Chiyo-chan exclaimed with glee. "Momo's a very good judge of people. Do you want to be my partner for *Capsule Girls*?"

    I was awestruck. I don't think I've ever been awestruck before. I've been around famous people since the day I was born. I've been a famous person myself since not long after that. Models, artists, actors, idols, singers, dancers… all of them had one thing in common. One very important thing.

    Absolutely none of them had ever been a hamster.

    "Do you have any pajamas that are pink? We should match if we're going to be a team."

\_\_\_\_

# Chapter Navigation

* Next Chapter
* Previous Chapter
* Back to Contents