Shopping is an all-day mission [Yuki]

[Rinko Shiraishi]

THE ROCKS WITH HOLES ARE WARM IN MY HAND

Around the time Rinko started admiring idols was the same time she started going to Harajuku every chance she got, and now that she's an idol she unfortunately can't go as much as she used to go, at least not for purposed related to work. Event in Harajuku? Great! ...But that really left little time and energy after work to do something else.

But today was a little different, as the GEM247 members were allowed to dress themselves up for an upcoming event. Why they couldn't allow this more often, Rinko had no idea -- doesn't it show the individual appeal of each idol? Of course, they were still a group, but it just seemed nice to do more than just once in a while.

As she stood in front of Harajuku station to await her group-mate, Rinko went down her mental list of shopping options. She wasn't quite sure what style she wanted to dress for the event, but the Spring-to-almost-Summer season would inform some part of her coordinate at least. Maybe something light-coloured? Would LaForet be better to look at first or the open shops at Takeshita Dori? She'd probably let Yuki pick, even if she wasn't super familiar with the area. If Rinko was going to decide, they'd probably walk in one direction for five minutes before she changed her mind because perhaps checking the shop in the opposite direction would be better.

Today she was still wearing black and pink, but the style was more cute than cool. The weather allowed for her to wear shorts without tights, and wore a Hello Kitty printed pink surgical mask as well; not only did it help with her hay fever, she often wore it out if she didn't want to get noticed, given her celebrity status. In any case, she looked just like another teen who hung out around Harajuku on weekends, nothing much else. The only people that might recognise her would be really big fans and of course other GEM members -- speaking of which, where was Yuki now?

LAIKA OF GS!

[Yuki Minase]

Ready to Rock "Finally..." Yuki said under her breath as the train pulled in to Harajuku Station. She'd ended up missing the first train out because she got caught navigating a crowd, and the next train ended up getting delayed for a few minutes because some guys thought it'd be funny to stick their arms in the door. It didn't help that this train was super crowded, and that she was stuck standing up. It was a relief in more than one way when the doors opened and she hopped out onto the platform. She headed for the barriers initially, but hesitated. The Captain might not be happy that I'm late... Yuki thought, and quickly went to correct that. Sure, it'd make her a tiny little bit more late, but what was an extra minute for a laugh? After obtaining her solution, she exited and jogged over to where they'd agreed to meet.  It didn't take long to spot Rinko. That girl wore her hair in twintails as well, but hers were a bit wilder, in contrast to her ever-so-sensible mask. She'd never been a fan of wearing them, even though they had both hygienic and social benefits. Yuki had elected to go with a simple dark and loose  t-shirt and a cream coloured skirt with thigh-high stockings. She could go for something a bit more out-there when they started trying on some of the latest street fashions. Until then, however, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the classics. As much as she wanted to wave wildly and yell out a greeting, she restrained herself for the sake of avoiding attention. It wouldn't do well to have one of their valuable free days interrupted by fans. They were great, sure, but this was their time right now. So instead of that, she stopped jogging and did her best to try and sneak up on her. It was crowded, so there was a good chance she wouldn't be spotted, even if Rinko was looking for her. Finally, when they were close enough to hold a proper conversation, she made her presence known. "Heya!" Yuki said, a little louder and faster than one might normally greet someone. "Sorry I'm late, but it wasn't my fault." She bowed down and held out a piece of paper in her hand for Rinko to take. It was an apology from the railway for the 5 minute delay, explaining that it was due to hooligans holding it up at the station. "I promise that it wasn't me that was holdin' up the train." Yuki said with a grin, as if she were admitting to it through denial.

► It happens even in  Japan~!

 

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF BTN AND GS

[Rinko Shiraishi]

THE ROCKS WITH HOLES ARE WARM IN MY HAND

Rinko nodded in acknowledgement (but not before flinching in surprise) to the other GEM member as she announced her presence, then looked at the apology, read it over, then waved her hand dismissively. "Nah, it's cool. At least it wasn't by like twenty minutes or something. I've waited for people longer. Plus the trains are finicky, right? Anyway, I'm surprised you don't have cuter paper, actually." She would have said something like GEM247 is supposed to be full of cute people; aren't you one of them too? but she obviously couldn't say that out here at risk of being overheard. Rinko put the paper away in her bag (from a fukubukuro purchase: MA*RS, black with a shocking pink accent print, large bow on the left) and sighed. Instead of being annoyed at Yuki's lateness, Rinko looked at her team mate up and down, squinting so she could barely see through her thickly-designed fake eyelashes.

"You should apologise for your outfit, though. You know it's the weekend in Harajuku, right?" It's true, not everyone dressed up for Harajuku just because they were hanging out there, but hey, Yuki could have made a better effort. Hiding the fact that she was an idol wasn't even an excuse when so many people dressed up in various alternative fashion styles in this district anyway!

Still, she laughed. "Well, that's fine, because we're in just the right place to fix that! Do you know what kind of coordinate you want to wear? We're really close to Laforet, so I think we should start there." Rinko started walking in the direction of the shopping complex before pausing abruptly, remembering something. "Oh, wait. I forgot, how familiar are you with the shops here? Because if you wanna go somewhere specific first, let's just go there." She was okay with that, especially since she didn't even know what she wanted to wear yet. It'll come to her once she actually sees something she likes and would fit with the close-to-summer event.

"And like, I'm not gonna lie to you, I get stuff at Daiso too and wear them when we can. I think it's nice because it's more accessible to fans. Plus it's like the same thing other stores have but way cheaper!" It seemed arrogant to assume that fans were going to want to dress like her, but she used to do that sort of thing before she was an idol, so she knew others were doing it too.

LAIKA OF GS!

[Yuki Minase]

Ready to Rock "Haha, sorry, sorry~!" Yuki said as she bowed casually to Rinko. "I figured that something simple at the start of the day, and something out there at the end, so there'd be, like, lots of contrast! 'Oh, look how ordinary Yuki-chan was, but now look at her! We made the right call!' That sort of thing." She imitated one of their managers as she said this, and did a pretty good job. It wasn't just for fun, either - it was her way of sneaking in a little practice for voicework, too. Even if she wasn't doing anything right now, that didn't mean that she shouldn't get used to practising her vocals. "And the paper's just what they had... hey, d'you think we could get a deal with the railways to have GEM late notes? Each member could have their own quote or something on there apologising for whoever's late!" Since they were all privatised, they might very well compete against each other for exclusive rights... although maybe such an idea would have negative connotations. That's what marketing is for, though! Despite her words sounding a little mean, she knew that Rinko was just teasing a little for fun. The younger idol was looking forward to seeing just what it was she'd end up wearing by the end of the day. Unfortunately she wasn't as fashion minded as Rinko was. Cosplay, yes, she was great at that. Otherwise, not so much. She hoped that this would be a good learning experience.  It looked like the choice on where to go would be up to her, given the leader's indecision. She briefly thought about her financial situation, and if there was anything coming out soon that she wanted. Yuki was hardly the most highly paid idol out there, but in her age group in general? Even though her grandmother made her save some of it for Coming of Age Day, she had a lot of disposable income. "Let's check out Laforet. I'm feelin' a little fancy today!" She couldn't think of anything else she might want in the coming weeks, and besides, she was with Rinko. If she set her budget a little higher, she was bound to end up walking away with something great, given her fashion sense.

► It needs to happen!

 

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF BTN AND GS

[Rinko Shiraishi]

THE ROCKS WITH HOLES ARE WARM IN MY HAND

Rinko laughed. "Well, I guess if you wanna wear what you buy immediately. That's kinda weird, kinda like, those movies where the person doesn't have any nice clothes to wear so they go shopping and they look nice right afterwards." She nodded at her own statement. "You know, like Pretty Woman." Except that lady had more money at her disposal, and Rinko had to save her money for a while if she wanted nice clothes! "Nice clothes" meaning "brand name" though, of course. It mattered!

"Hm! Maybe we should pass the message along to manager-san," Rinko agreed in a joking tone, "except, you know. I wouldn't even have one, because I'm never late!!" She emphasised the last statement so much, you could hear the second exclamation mark in her voice. It definitely wasn't in anger though, and it was certainly still a joke, which she made obviously when she laughed afterwards.

Yuki was clearly lucky here, because Rinko liked to shop, and was pretty good at it, having years of experience at Harajuku and Shibuya on various budgets. Her mom worked at a department store, after all! What kind of daughter would she be if she couldn't shop well? And it didn't even have to be clothes or fashion-related at all. She knew a bunch of great spots for eating, too! Such was the skills of a girl who used to hang out around the trendy streets as many weekends and days off as she could.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Okay, let's go!" Rinko announced to her audience of one before marching on to the shopping building. "I wanna wear sweet lolita, I think. Or something light. But even if there's something that doesn't fit with the look, I think I'll buy it for later." But if she does go for a lolita outfit, one dress alone could easily make up around a quarter of her month's pay...was that bad? She'd still need to get matching accessories...if she found a sale in another shop she liked the next week, she'd be kicking herself for it. Oh well, this was for idol work, and she had to do it!

Even if nobody was forcing her to buy some high-brand lolita outfit...

Though they obviously knew at least the basics of what the marketing team did, it was still kinda funny seeing their faces on the trucks that drove around Harajuku and Akihabara. Rinko wished she could take a photo with the Photoshopped version of herself, but it couldn't be worth the effort, not on a casual day with all these people around. She could easily see the huge poster under the building's name was of a solo singer modelling the newest brand this time; maybe one day, GEM247 could be on that massive poster, and not just on the smaller (but still fairly big) posters around the other sides of the building. Maybe it would only be of her or maybe only Sayaka, but maybe the group could cut a deal with the company! That would be amazing publicity, though it wasn't like the country at least heard of their group's name before.

When they arrived in front of the big open glass doors, Rinko bowed dramatically, her arms pointing to the interior of the building. "After you," she said in accented English, though she tried her best to copy the people in the movies. "Shopping now!"

LAIKA OF GS!

[Yuki Minase]

Ready to Rock "Yeah, I know, I always wanted to do that." She couldn't think of the name of what had started it... or maybe defined it, but Yuki knew that it was something that happened in fiction. Recreating or enacting things like that appealed to her, since it was a way to liven up her life and also find out why they were a thing... or why they didn't happen in real life, depending on what it was. This could turn out to be one of those things that was impractical or just annoying. After all, you might end up buying things that aren't part of a complete ensemble, and Rinko would not accept someone half dressed one way, half another. She could be quite the handful, but you got used to it. Yuki laughed. "I'll just have to fill in for you, then. I've already thought of a quote! 'I'm sorry, but Ricchan didn't show up, which is worse than being late.' It would reassure those who receive it because they will realise that there are much worse things than being delayed." Of course, now that she said that, Yuki would have to pay attention to dear leader. If she was late for one thing, even if it was by a second, she would definitely remind her of this. Rinko's mention of sweet lolita was actually a pretty good segue for her into some clothes that she was interested in, but didn't have. Gothic lolita seemed pretty cool to her, although she hadn't had the chance to actually buy any clothes related to it. She thought that today would work well for taking the plunge. After all, she was with the fashionista of GEM, who would most likely be able to help her get into it. She did have to admit that she was a little jealous that the other girl was better at English than she was. Sure, it wasn't essential or anything, and she was hardly the best, but it would certainly be nice to be completely fluent. It would open up new things to her. So, she'd just have to work on it! "San kyuu!" Yuki said in thanks as she went on ahead. "Oh," she continued, reverting to Japanese, "I was thinking of getting some gothic lolita clothes. D'you think that'd suit me?" She was sure she could count on Rinko for advice.

► 3! 9! 39! 3-9!  Thirty nine!

 

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF BTN AND GS