Description: Rapid Repair - a shop for all your costume repair needs! A little tear in a costume brings Alexis face to face with one of her favorite fighters. How does she handle it? With a lot of squee, a lot of silly fangirlishness, and an admission that she's actually got an R.Mika mock-up costume. That's not all that's in this action packed segment though! Watch for quick getaways, sharks and even dressing room scene (though not really)!
Can she make it? Oh! The shop is closing soon, and there's a tear in some of her costumes. Simple repair work she could likely do on her own, but for a costume like /this/? Not a chance! She's muck it up! She'd get the thread wrong, or sew the leg ruffle to the arm, or /something/.
There's only one shop in Southtown that she's willing to use, too. The same one that repairs her gymnastics leotards when they need work. Running down the crowded streets of the outdoor mall, a blur of pink and white flying behind her she comes to the Rapid Repair shop and skids to a halt just outside the door.
"C'mon, c'mon! Be open! Please still be open!"
Good news! The shop is open, even though the sign very clearly says 'Closed!' The front door is unlocked, the lights are on, and there's even some girl with blond pigtails standing at the counter talking to the clerk! The sign must have gotten turned around by mistake, even though Rapid Repair closes uncommonly early due to it being a family run business. Old people like their afternoon naps.
Inside, the suspiciously familiar Japanese girl bounces up and down on the balls of her feet, gripping the counter. "Oh, you don't understand! I have to have my uniform ready for tomorrow! I have to train in it! Can't you..." the old lady behind the counter grunts, waving her hand dismissively as she waddles into the back room with something blue and white slung over her arm, leaving Mika Nanakawa standing there, dejected.
Facefault.
The sign says 'CLOSED'! What's she going to do now-- ohlook... people inside! Alexis bangs on the glass a few times, then decides to try the door despite the signage. Doesn't hurt, right?
Well, maybe it might if they've got a load of hammers waiting to drop on unsuspecting people that are trying to sneak in minutes before closing... but thankfully they don't.
The bell overhead dingles, and she slips around the door. "Hiiii!," she chirps at the clerk, waving around her very obvious R.Mika costume. "I got a tear in it, think it can be fi--"
Blink.
Blink.
Eyerub.
"OH WOW, NO WAY! You're... this is... EEEEE!" Rushing up to the pigtailed girl at the counter, Alexis tilts her head back and forth. Then she flips around behind the girl, bobbing her head up and down. Then she shrieks girlishly. "THIS IS SO COOL! OHMIGAWD! You're RAINBOW MIKA, aren't you? I mean, those pigtails are pretty unmistakable, but it's hard to tell without the costume...."
Mika is kind of low-key, wearing a pair of black exercise shorts and SEIJYUN gym tee shirt (tied in a knot just below her bust, because if she lets it hang off of her it makes her look fat!) but a blonde Japanese girl with giant pigtails and her figure is kind of hard to hide no matter what, especially with all those appearances on the Japanese pro-wrestling circuits. Even when she turns around, the lack of a mask should hide her identity like Batman or something, but it just doesn't work that way.
The wrestling girl's eyes go wide as suddenly there's screaming and shouting right in front of her. This is supposed to happen! Mika's supposed to be prepared for this! But it really hasn't happened before, especially not with a young girl instead of a mid-twenties guy wearing a sweaty shirt and carrying a camera!
"Hi!" Mika says on reflex, smiling as well. "I guess I am!" Well, she is.
%b
It's a good thing Alexis doesn't look like a mid-twenties guy wearing a gross sweaty shirt and trying to snap a picture. She may be as insane of a fan as that, but at least she looks good doing it!
"You're like, the best female wrestler ever 'round these parts! This is just... ohmigawd... I can't believe it..." Giggling, the gymnast flails the costume about. "I'm a fan!" 'cuz that's not the stupidest thing to say /ever/. "I mean, it's like... well I look up to you!"
At least she hasn't done the fan-squee of 'i can has autograph' yet.
Usually, in these situations, Yoko Harmageddon guides the encounter by helpfully grunting things like 'shake hand' and 'sign autograph'. Without her wise words, Mika is completely lost. She widens her smile, equal parts excited and mortified to have a fan standing right in front of her. What do you say in a situation like this?!
Mika glances down, a habit whenever she's thinking too hard, and in the process glimpses the pink costume the other girl is clutching. "Oh, uhm, is that what you're here to fix? The clerk just left!"
"Whu-- oh!" Aheh. Alexis blushes, trying to hide the costume behind her back. It'd be hard to explain why she's got a Rainbow Mika costume sized specifically for her smaller frame, wouldn't it? "Yeah! It's okay though, I don't need it right away or anything. These guys usually do my gymnastics uniforms so I just /know/ they'll do a good job with this."
Pausing, she peeks behind the counter for the clerk.
"Oh, oh! Do you get your costume fixed here? Is that why you're not wearing it? That's... that's so /cool/!"
"Sometimes!" Mika chirps, eager to talk about something that doesn't involve how cool she is because it's very hard to brag about your ultimate power when you're not wearing a ridiculous costume and standing in the middle of a stadium, oddly enough. "There's another place we go but I forgot where it is, because Ms. Harmageddon is... oh, well..." the wrestler trails off, tapping her chin.
Suddenly, she asks: "Your school as pink and white gym uniforms? Where do you go?"
"This?" Flailing the costume around a little more, Alexis clears her throat. "Oh... ah... no!" Sweatdrop. "This is a costume I wore for something or other and it's like, got a tear in it and I really want it fixed since it's... well, kind'a special!" Not for fighting though, nope! No way, no how! This girl doesn't look like a fighter at all, just an innocent little fangirl. ^-^
"I didn't know you went to Seijyun though! I thought you were in Russia, training or something like that!" Why would R.Mika be in Russia? Well, 'cuz! It makes sense in Lexi's mind at any rate.
"Russia? Oh, uhm, I haven't ever been to Russia! I would like to go someday." Oh yes she would. Then she can meet Zangief and thank him for all the inspiration he's given her, and then maybe he'd invite her back to his place for a relaxing soak in his hot tub and...
Mika suddenly shakes her head, clearing her throat as her cheeks redden. "My trainer paid my tuition to Seijyun so I can learn traditional feminine virtues," Mika answers completely seriously, standing there dressed as she is waiting for her pro-wrestling costume to be fixed so she can go run on a beach with a monster truck tire tied around her waist. This is probably occuring to her, because the Japanese girl glances down and rubs the back of her head sheepishly. "I'm actually supposed to be wearing my frilly uniform and not the gym clothes."
"Oh." Crestfallen, Alexis tilts her head. She could've sworn that... well now she just feels silly for dressing like that over there! "You should go! It's nice. Really cold though," she says, bobbling her head twice in a very stoutly manner.
"Feminine virtues?" Peridot eyes boggle a bit, and the little gymnast giggles. "Oh, I think they're overrated," states Miss Teen Southtown. "Or well, they can be in some instances!" Shrug. "I don't think your uniform looks bad at all. And you're not in school, right? So why worry about a frilly uniform?"
Speaking of frilly uniforms, one of the unmistakable ruffles from the costume she's carrying peeks out from behind her, unbeknownst to the girl.
"Seijyun is a boarding school and we're supposed to wear them all the time!" Mika says, almost defensively, mostly because she appreciates just how much money it cost to put her there and would very much like for it to be worth the yen value attached. "But it's not very flattering."
Purely out of curiosity, considering how much Alexis seems to be obsessed with the costume she's hiding, Mika edges over slightly, leaning to the side to get a better look. She spots a characteristic heart. "Is... is that one of my outfits?" She squints.
"I know, I know, but they gotta let you be yourselves at /some/ point, right?" Alexis gets the whole part about being trained to be a lady. Been there, done that, bought the shirt. Her mother's been drilling it into her for such a long time that she's just happy to have the freedom of her parents being in Tokyo and not /here/. "Pacific is a boarding school too, but I don't like wearing my uniform /all/ the time. I mean, how would you swim in a uniform?"
Then she's caught.
"ACK! No! I mean, yes, but not /yours/, I swear!" Fangirl, yes. Crazed stalker... well... debatable. "It's a costume! I got it to wear to this... thing. 'sides, yours is usually blue isn't it? I mean, the one I've seen you in is blue..."
"I wear a pink one sometimes," Mika states matter-of-factly as she reaches out and snags the other side of the costume, pulling it up so it's drawn flat between them. The wrestling quasi-star glances back and forth from it to Alexis. "Well, this does seem like it's smaller, but it's hard to tell." Considering the whole spandex deal.
The Japanese girl purses her lips and gives Alexis another bemused look. "Did you get it off of e-bay? I've had a few costumes stolen!" The stories involved are not long or complicated but they are creepy.
"Uh uh! M'not allowed to use eBay!" Alexis shakes her head vehemently. "I had it made special, just for me!" Okay, that's said a bit proudly, but she doesn't want to be accused of having a stolen item! "I'm not a creepy stalker, I swear!" Man, what is it with people and thinking she's a stalker? Didn't Sakura think that at first too?
"It's like... a tribute costume! 'cuz you're my favorite female fighter."
Mika lets her side of the costume drop, boggling at the idea that someone bought Rainbow Mika merchandise even when none exists but nevertheless flattered in an awkward way. She stubs the floor with her toe shyly. "Me? Really?" Most people go for the gold and say Chun-li or Athena or whatever, you know, someone capable of blowing up a small third world country over a weekend.
"Thank you!" is all the pigtailed girl can think to say, bowing girlishly to try to put some of that overpriced Seijyun schooling to work. For whatever reason, this reminds her of the money she's spending on getting her own costume fixed, prompting her to look over her shoulder at the empty counterspace. "Say, uhm, what's wrong with your uniform, anyway?"
Alexis can be rather awkward at times, and when she gets going with the fangirl glee, it's one of those times. Rubbing the back of her neck, she's about to respond, then she gets asked a question that draws her attention away from the first set of questions. "It's got a tear in the sleevey-part. Nothing major, but I'm terrified of trying to sew the material myself. I tried once with a gymnastics leotard and wound up with this whole zig-zaggy mess of material and couldn't wear it anymore."
Without even thinking that she's doing it, her hand reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small autograph book and a pink sparkly pen. "Oh, say... you wouldn't uhmm... that is... can I have your autograph? My friend Vanka will /totally/ not believe I ran into you if I don't get it... she /never/ believes me. I swear she should like, get out more or something, but she's even shier than I am!"
Yuh huh, right. 'cuz Alexis is shy.
Mika wriggles her nose as she follows Alexis' hands with her eyes, wondering how she managed to fit that autograph book in her pants. "Oh, an autograph? Well, it's the least I can do for a fan like you!" She graciously takes the pen and signs 'Rainbow Mika Nanakawa' with a pretty flourish, dotting the i's with hearts and turning the o into one big heart, and finishing it all off with a little cartoon Mika head with a thumbs-up next to it, generally making it the most girly signature ever.
While signing it and doodling the mini-Mika (which takes a very short amount of time, actually, since she's practiced), the Japanese girl looks up. "You know, that's just a little rip, I can probably fix it back at my dorm. Would you... would you do me a big favor and let me borrow it?! Ms. Harmageddon demands I must practice in my uniform and mine is completely torn up!" She had to fight off a shark while swimming, no biggie.
It's a little autograph book! A teeny one she carries with her everywhere! In a town like this, you never know who you'll run into, so it's best to be prepared! "OHHHH! Thank you so much! This is /so/ cool," she states again, this time though she actually jumps up and down a little bit. Spying the signature, she blink-blinks then giggles. "That's the best one I've ever gotten! You put a lot of work into it!"
The request that comes next has her jaw dropping to the ground, and leaves Alexis quite dazed. "Wha-what?!! You really wanna borrow my mock-up costume? Seriously?" Her peridots are extremely wide again, now almost twinkling with little anime stars in them. "Oh, sure! I mean... wow!" Pause. "Lemme just... when you're done with the autograph I'll..." She waits for Mika to be done, then flips the book around and scribbles off her name and her cellular number. "Just gimme a call when you're done borrowing it. I think the costume is the right size'n' all but it might be a bit tight in the..." She motions to her chest area and offers a sheepish grin. What? She's a gymnast for crying out loud!
Mika glances down self-consciously. She's more concerned with the size of her butt than anything, but thinks it very nice of Alexis to ignore that. "There's a changing area right over there, we can see if it will fit!" the Japanese girl says, full of eagerness now that she has a solution to not having to do eighty extra laps with Yoko tomorrow morning. "We're about the same height, anyway!"
Nod-nodding, Alexis hands the costume over. "Yep! We are! And the material should stretch enough to not be a problem..." She hopes. It is lycra or whatever, but she's not sure how much extra give it'll have. "I'll wait here, since I'm pretty sure you're not gonna need help putting the costume on or anything." Mental-facepalm. Did she really just say /that/?
"Eh-heh, no, I'll probably be fine," Mika assures Alexis, eagerly taking her salvation from Harmageddon's impending Harshageddon and trotting off to the fitting area. It takes more than a little thumping and hopping around from the sound of it as Mika has never really gotten used to her completely ridiculous show-off costume, and trying to put one on that's smaller is raising the difficulty from Recruit to Veteran.
Eventually, after some annoyed squeaks and mumbles, Mika stumbles out with her gym stuff over her arm, wearing everything but her mask. She's not a small girl in any particular measurement thanks to either fat or an abundance of muscle, and wearing Alexis' skinny outfit only works because they're both five-five. "Fits well, I think," Mika offers, trying to adjust the back of it with all the frills.
"It's uhh..." Well it somehow manages to fit, which she supposes is a miracle. Alexis tilts her head, frowning a little. "Not complete! You need a mask or something!" As she puts away the autograph booklet, she reaches into her other pocket and pulls out a pink piece of ribbon. It's not a perfect color match, and it's definitely not a mask (there are no holes for eyes). It's actually a really, really long ribbon.
A hand taps a bell on the counter, *ding-ding*, and she waits for the clerk to peek her head out before asking, "Canni borrow a pair of scissors please? I need to fix my ribbon and that's not something you guys take care of..."
After a disgruntled grumble at being distracted from the task at hand, the gymnast scores some scissors. While she might not be able to sew, she's got leet scissor skills being that she makes scrapbooks of all her favorite fighters and stuff. With a few quick snips and adjustments, she hands a third of the ribbon over to Mika with, now new and improved with eye holes! "There! You can use that, it should work anyway. I mean, it's not perfect but it's useable!"
Mika waits patiently while Alexis somehow manages to get the clerk's attention, fiddling around with scissors and turning a piece of ribbon into an acceptable mask. She kinda pegged where the other girl was going with things immediately, but seeing the eyeholes cut out so skillfully is still a sight! The wrestler graciously bows again to score imaginary Seijyun points, just as the front window of the store breaks open in a shower of glass as an electric golfcart flies through it.
The super-absorber shock systems cause the tiny vehicle to bounce crazily as it lands on the storefront floor, its driver stomping on the breaks and drifting impressively to a stop. Its operator happens to be a ridiculously huge woman who is equal parts musclebound and fat. She looks terrifying. "MIKA," the woman bellows. "WHY ARE YOU OUT SO LATE?! DID YOU DESTROY YOUR COSTUME FIGHTING THOSE BULL SHARKS YESTERDAY?! YOU KNOW WHAT THE PUNISHMENT--"
Mika is suddenly wearing her jury-rigged mask as if it had teleported onto her face. "Ms. Harmageddon! I have my uniform! Bull sharks are of no concern to Harmageddon-style super wrestling!"
Yoko Harmageddon nods slowly rubbing her chin where her beard would be if she were a man, which is still a possibility. "Yes, I will have to speak to the local zoos to see if they have any other kinds of sharks you can fight. But now you must sleep so tomorrow I can break you of your foolish habits! RUN AFTER ME OR PERISH!"
Harmageddon stomps her foot on the gas, peeling out and crashing through the doors of the shop. Mika gives Alexis a helpless look and then jogs off after her coach.
Glass. Is. EVERYWHERE!
Reflexively, Alexis ducks her head behind her arms to protect her face from any stray shards that might fly all the way over to the counter. One small piece nicks her arm, and she's grateful for her quick thinking. It wouldn't do for the new Miss Teen Southtown to get marred up right away!
The last little tinkle of the glass shatters to the floor, and she finally breaks her arms apart to peek at what the commotion is. What she gets is a golfcart, a HUGE screaming woman, and something about bull sharks. Wait... what?!? Her pretty little costume is going to become shark foo-- oh, good no... but other sharks?
'course, this leaves Alexis just standing there, jaw dropped slightly, mouth gaping, eyes wide and unblinking. It's not until the golfcart is rushing away that she thinks to blink and then offer a small wave to /the/ Rainbow Mika.
"Oh wow," she says to herself in afterthought, "that was singularly one of the most /awesome/ things to happen this week... and well, the oddest."
The clerk comes back out to see all the shattered glass and her eyes narrow upon the only one remaining in the shop. "Who's going to clean this up?!"
"Uhh... er... I will, but m'not paying for it! I didn't do it!" And with a broom and dustpan thrust at her, she gets to work.
Log created on 16:45:54 07/31/2008 by Alexis, and last modified on 19:05:13 07/31/2008.