Sakaki found herself standing before the gate to Chiyo's parents' house, little Chiyo-chan standing next to her. It was bright and sunny, and the trees bore the bright green leaves of early summer. Birds were flying everywhere, chirping merrily, yet behind them, a large group of hissing housecats were approaching, their teeth bared. Sakaki looked nervously at the closed gate, then the approaching mass of cats, back and forth until she got dizzy from all the head movement. Then, just as the first row of cats were about to pounce on her and Chiyo-chan, both of them were pulled inside the now-open gate. The gate locked again, and Sakaki looked up from where she fell to see Chiyo's dad, in all his orange glory.
       "Hello, dad!" Chiyo greeted, before running off to the house. Chiyo's dad looked back after her with an unreadable expression on his face. Was he happy, overjoyed, or just plain relieved? As Chiyo's dad turned back to Sakaki, his face grew dark in that familiar and dreadful way. No, Chiyo's dad was none of those things—he was, for some reason, angry.
       As Sakaki trembled under his probing gaze, Chiyo's dad said, "So, you brought my little Chiyo back to me, but didn't you notice something odd about her?"
       "No—no, I didn't."
       "Her cute little pigtails are missing!"
       Of course, Sakaki didn't think about this at the time, but it was true—in a way. Chiyo's pigtails were gone, but that was only because her hair was let down. Taking another point of view, her pigtails were still there, just not in their usual form. Unfortunately, when Sakaki started to explain this to Chiyo's dad, her words fell on deaf ears.
       "I don't care what you say, or how you explain it! Facts are facts—my little Chiyo's pigtails are gone!"
       Just then, Sakaki heard a loud bark from behind her. She turned her head and saw Mr. Tadakichi—the dog, not the ambassador—barreling toward her. However, there was one thing that was odd about Mr. Tadakichi; he was now the size of a horse.
       Mr. Tadakichi picked Sakaki up by the collar of her blouse and hoisted her onto his back, then he ran away through the yard, leaving Chiyo's dad standing there, seemingly bewildered.
       They rode on for awhile until they came to a large tree. Mr. Tadakichi stopped running and lay down on his belly, allowing for Sakaki's getting off of the dog's back. Sitting by the tree reading a book was Chiyo, her hair now bound up in those familiar pigtails. Suddenly, Chiyo's dad peeked his head from behind the tree, and looked down at his daughter. The edges of his body glowed, and Sakaki took this to mean that Chiyo's dad was happy to see that her daughter's pigtails had returned. As Chiyo continued reading, and the giant Mr. Tadakichi yawned and settled into sleep, Chiyo's dad floated toward Sakaki.
       "I'm so glad to see her pigtails again!" Chiyo's dad floated closer to Sakaki and cupped his hand to her ear. "Now, do you want to know why most cats hate you?"
       "I—I'm not sure I want to know. There's not much I can do about it, right?"
       "Oh, but you must know!"
       With the fear of upsetting Chiyo's dad hanging over her head, Sakaki finally conceded. "Okay, then tell me…"
       Chiyo's dad glanced back at Mr. Tadakichi, then whispered in Sakaki's ear, "It has to do with dogs…"
       "Dogs?"
       "Haven't you found it strange that you've always gotten along so well with dogs, but regular housecats are so hostile to you?"
       Sakaki hadn't thought about it this way before, but it was true. The first cat who ever befriended her was Maya—a wild Iriomote cat—and she got along well with the large cats in the zoo, but housecats were an entirely different matter altogether.
       "So… they hate me because I get along with dogs?"
       "Yes, and you know how housecats feel about dogs!"
       Pondering this a little, Sakaki glanced over at Mr. Tadakichi. "So what kind of cat are you, Mr. Mihama?"
       Chiyo's dad's face grew dark, and as in Sakaki's previous dream, the skies quickly became blanketed with grey thunder clouds.
       "I—that is, I mean, if you don't mind my asking!"
       "That's personal information!" Chiyo's dad boomed, "But—"
       The skies cleared almost immediately and the darkness receded from Chiyo's dad's face. "But I'll tell you. I'm a—"
       "Sakaki! Wake up!"

       Sakaki groaned and opened her eyes. Much to her surprise, she found herself in a brightly-lit room, a comforter draped over her; she was also startled to find that someone had undressed her, leaving her in just socks and underwear. She had been sleeping on a futon in what looked like an old-fashioned Japanese house. Sitting next to the futon was Kagura, who was dressed in a kimono. Sakaki looked at the room, then at Kagura in the kimono, then flopped back down on the futon. Surely, she thought, she had switched from one dream to another.
       "Sakaki, what're you doing, going back to sleep? C'mon, everyone's waiting for us!"
       "Huh?" Sakaki mumbled, opening her eyes again. "You mean I'm not dreaming?"
       "What do you mean?" Kagura asked. "Oh! You mean this kimono? There's one for you as well. Hurry up and put it on! Chiyo-chan will be in here soon to tie up your sash. She's still helping the others with theirs."
       Sakaki still wasn't sure if all this was really happening, but she wasn't in a position to argue. "Uhh… okay."

       Once Kagura left, Sakaki got up and found a folded kimono on the seat of a nearby chair. Unfolding it, she was somewhat startled to see that the embroidered pattern depicted tigers in a jungle. The clothes that she had worn earlier, before she breathed in that strange gas and fell asleep, were nowhere to be seen, so Sakaki had no choice but to put the kimono on. As Kagura had previously indicated, Chiyo did arrive a little while later, and helped tie up Sakaki's sash. She was pleasantly surprised to see Chiyo, and was relieved that she was safe and sound.
       As Chiyo finished straightening out the sash, Sakaki asked, "Chiyo-chan, do you know where we are, and what's going on?"
       "This is an old house built during the Edo period, which Hikari and Osaka have moved underground. See that sky out there?" Chiyo said, pointing out the window. "It's artificial. And the chirping birds are a recording."
       "Huh…" Sakaki replied.
       "As for what's going on, well… you better have Osaka tell you that story. It's pretty crazy." Chiyo laughed, "Well, of course, I should know better than to expect anything less from Osaka!"
       Sakaki nodded. "That Hikari you mentioned… does she wear a white lab coat?"
       "Yep!" Chiyo replied. "That's her! Kagura says that she's Mr. Kimura's daughter, too, but I don't know whether to believe her or not."
       "Hmm…"
       Chiyo stepped back and came around to face Sakaki. "Well, I'm all done here. C'mon, everyone's waiting for us." Taking Sakaki's hand, Chiyo led the way out of the room and into a hallway. They walked to the end of this hall, then down some stairs to a larger room that the one they had just left. In the center of the room was a long, low table, and all of their friends—Yomi, Kagura, Tomo, and Osaka—were kneeling before it. Rice bowls, plates of cooked fish, chopsticks, and bottles of soy sauce populated the table.
       "I was hoping everyone would wait until you got down here to start eating," Yomi explained as Sakaki sat down at the empty spot next to her, "but these pigs complained that they were hungry."
       "Hey, what did you call us?" Tomo cut in, her mouth full of rice. "It's not like your stomach wasn't growling, Ms. 'I Have to Watch My Weight'!"
       "That's okay," Sakaki replied.
       "Yeah, there's nothing wrong with it," Chiyo agreed as she took the last empty place, at the short end of the table opposite Osaka. "With all that we've been through, I don't see much of a problem with breaking from formalities."
       Yomi shrugged. "Have it your way."
       Kagura finished up her last bit of food, then pushed the dishes away and placed her elbows on the edge of the table, folding her hands in front of her. She turned to her left, where Osaka was sitting.
       "So, now that we're all here, can you please tell us just what the hell is going on?"
       "Yeah!" Tomo added. "What is this place? What are you doing here? Why is Mr. Kimura's daughter here? Why did you—"
       "Okay, okay!" Osaka replied, holding up her hands. "I'll tell you guys everything! Just… one thing…"
       "What is it?" Yomi asked.
       "Just… just promise not to lau—I mean, say anything, until you hear the whole story."
       Tomo, Kagura, Yomi, Sakaki, and Chiyo all exchanged glances, wordlessly considering Osaka's request. Finally, Chiyo answered, "All right. We won't say anything, nor will we ask any questions, until you've told your story. Now, may we hear it?"
       "Sure thing." Osaka took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothin'…"

*****

       I've been having these dreams for years about… a pair of amazing devices. They could make you fly, but if you weren't careful, they could also control your mind, and if you take them off the wrong way, they'll kill you! Anyway, after I transferred to a university here in Osaka, I took some classes on engineering and mechanics—you know, classes where you learn about machines and how to build stuff. I graduated a couple years later, but I wasn't able to find a job anywhere! I applied to Sony, Matsushita, Tobisha, and other companies, but nobody was hiring inventors who were straight out of college. So, I fell back on my old goal and became a teacher at an elementary school in Osaka. But I never gave up my dream of making the flying devices a reality.
       One day, while I was visiting my relatives in Tokyo, I saw a girl on the train who was wearing a uniform of an elite high school. This guy tried to lift her skirt, and she turned around and smacked him hard. I mean, I've seen guys look up girls' skirts before, but I never saw a girl fight back the way she did! She got off at the same stop that I did, and I saw she had a distressed look on her face, so I went up to her and asked if she was okay.
       "Yeah," she said, "I'm fine. I just hate perverts like that, always peeking up my skirt! Why does the school have to make the uniform's skirts so short?"
       I replied, "Maybe it's to keep the male teachers awake. You know, give 'em something to concentrate on during the boring parts of teaching a class."
       She gave me a weird look at that point, then said, "And what do you know about male teachers, huh?"
       I said, "Well, I'm a teacher myself, but I teach elementary school. The guys there are more likely to look at the girl teachers than their students…"
       The girl gave me another weird look and said, "I certainly hope so!"
       I continued, "…but then again, when I was in high school, I had this one teacher who gave all of us girls the creeps. He always wanted us to come to class in our swimsuits or gym shorts."
       There must've been something about what I said, because then the girl asked, "I'm just curious, but what was your teacher's name?"
       Now it was my turn to be confused, since her school uniform looked nothing like ours did. "Mr. Kimura," I answered, "but unless he changed schools, I don't think you would know him. Don't tell me there's another teacher like him out there!"
       "No, no…" she said, "I know about Mr. Kimura, but not because I have class with him. It's because… well, you see… he's my dad."
       I gasped, then stood back and got a better look at this girl. I remembered the picture Mr. Kimura showed us all those years ago, of him with his wife and daughter, and when I looked at the girl once again, I could see the resemblance between her and the girl in the picture. There was no doubt about it—I was talking to Mr. Kimura's daughter!
       The girl, who told me that her name was Hikari, told me about how much she couldn't stand her dad, acting like such a pervert all the time, but pointed out that he was kind at heart, which really freaked me out. She said that she wished there was something she could do to help high school girls like her have to deal with guys always staring at them, since she was so sick of it. For some reason, that's when I mentioned the idea I'd had for a long time, about the flying devices. I said that she could use 'em to escape from the perverts whenever she wanted! She really liked this idea, and gave me her cell phone number, so we could discuss it later. She came up here during her last summer vacation and has been up here ever since.

*****

       Osaka took a deep breath and took a sip of tea. "So, that's my story."
       "I still don't get it," Tomo said. The others all nodded to Tomo's statement.
       "What do you mean, you don't get it? I told you why I was here, and what we were workin' on!"
       Quietly, Chiyo replied, "No Osaka, you've still left out a couple of things. Like why you wanted me kidnapped…"
       "I think…" Sakaki started, "I think it had to do with the pigtails you used to wear all the time, Chiyo-chan."
       "Huh? What do you mean?"
       Sakaki blushed slightly as all eyes fell on her. How was she going to explain this? "Yesterday, I saw Osaka attach two things to the side of her head and start to fly around the room. I didn't think about it at the time, but they bore a strong resemblance to Chiyo-chan's old pigtails.
       "Hey, yeah!" Tomo said. "They did, didn't they?" Turning to Osaka, she raised an eyebrow and asked, "Say, those dreams of yours wouldn't have happened to be about Chiyo-chan flying, using her wings as pigtails?"
       Chiyo stared at Tomo in astonishment; then, realizing that perhaps she was on to something, looked over at Osaka, her own eyebrows askew. Yomi, Sakaki, and Kagura all followed Chiyo's lead.
       Osaka was flustered at being put on the spot like this. There was nothing else she could do; she had to confirm the true nature of her dreams.
       "Yes, yes! I did dream about Chiyo-chan flying! She would zoom overhead, and once, she even took off her pigtails and held them out to me, saying that I should try them on! And she always flew so gracefully whenever she wore them!" Half-expecting her friends to burst out laughing upon this admission, Osaka folded her arms on the table and lowered her head upon them, face down. However, instead of laughing, Osaka's friends simply stared at her.
       "You know…" Sakaki said, her eyes traveling the wall beyond Osaka, staring into space, "that's not as crazy as it sounds…."
       "I must admit, I've had some pretty weird dreams before," Yomi added, "but I never thought to base an invention off of one of them!"
       "Well, maybe it's just because you can't see the genius in Ayumu's idea!"
       Yomi, Sakaki, Chiyo, Kagura, and Tomo all turned their heads in the direction of the voice. It was Hikari Kimura, leaning against the doorjamb with one hand on her hips.
       "Genius?" Tomo shot back. "More like weirdness! I mean, seriously, flying pigtails?"
       "Of course! Can't you imagine the looks on a guy's face when a girl that they're drooling at suddenly flies off, right before he could grope her?"
       Kagura countered with, "Well, I heard that you're more the type to sock one to a guy rather than just run away!"
       "That may be true, but not all girls can fight back like I can! I'm simply looking out for my weaker sisters!"
       Yomi sighed wearily. "I don't know, it seems like you went through a lot of trouble to carry out this plan of yours… this whole underground lair, the hired thugs to kidnap Chiyo-chan…"
       "Was kidnapping her even necessary?" Sakaki mused.
       "Absolutely!" Hikari replied defiantly. "How else were we to be sure that we'd be making the pigtails the right length, and to the proper dimensions?"
       Chiyo, who had been speechless ever since Osaka detailed the true nature of her dreams, said, "But why couldn't you have just contacted me, and asked me to participate in your making of this invention. It would've certainly saved me quite a few headaches!"
       Osaka pumped her fist into the air. "The thrill of the chase, of course!"
       "Besides," added Hikari, "we couldn't have afforded the chance of you turning us down. This invention of ours had to be made! But no matter… all that's in the past. The Kasuka-Kimura Portable Emergency Pigtails are ready for their first real test flight! And all of you are joining me!"
       Yomi, Sakaki, Chiyo, Kagura, and Tomo all stared at the determined—but obviously a touch off her rocker—Hikari Kimura. In the silence of the room, Osaka's snoring could only just now be heard.

       With Hikari leading the way, one by one the seven women filed out of the house into a cavernous hallway. From there, they walked until they reached the large room with the computers and metal tables. While passing through on their way to the spiral staircase, Tomo happened to notice Lupin and Jigen, each sleeping on a table, with various parts of them bandaged and in casts.
       They walked up the staircase and into the hallway of the unkempt house. From there, they walked outside. It was already early afternoon, and, as it was Sunday, people of all ages were out enjoying the bright, sunny weather. Once they left the house, Yomi began digging around in her purse for her cell phone; she wanted to call her cameraman and P.A. and let them know that she was safe. Unfortunately, she came up empty handed. Behind her, Tomo asked, "What's wrong, Yomi?"
       "I can't find my cell phone," Yomi complained.
       Hikari looked back over her shoulder. "I took it from you. I couldn't have you calling the cops when I wasn't looking, after all."
       "But there are people who're probably worried about me," replied Yomi. "I came up here with my camera crew, and neither one of them knew that I was going to be away for this long."
       Hikari paused in her tracks. "Wait… did you say 'camera crew'?"
       Yomi nodded, then, catching herself, clapped a hand over her mouth.
       "No, no, it's okay. It's just that a filming of this first test flight is something that I didn't think of." Hikari dug around in her own satchel and drew out a silver flip phone. "This one's yours, right? Here, call your camera crew."
       Hikari tossed the phone back to Yomi, who looked it over as the group resumed their walk. It was not her phone—she didn't remember ever having a Necoconeco cell phone strap, for one thing—but she wasn't about to complain. She flipped open the phone and started dialing, but was having trouble doing so.
       "Geez, I've never used this type of model before," Yomi grumbled under her breath. Directly in front of her, Sakaki said, "Just press the black button in the upper left hand corner, dial the phone number, then press that button again."
       Yomi took Sakaki's suggestion and used it, finding that it worked. As she waited for her cameraman to pick up on the other end, she said, "Thanks Sakaki. This wouldn't happen to be your phone, would it?"
       Sakaki remained silent, and if she ever did plan on replying, she didn't get a chance, because Yomi's cameraman soon picked up on the other end.

       After about twenty minutes of walking, Hikari finally stopped, and indicated that the others do the same. They were in a park near one of Osaka's shopping districts, and there were many more people here than they first saw upon leaving the house, including plenty of young men. "The perfect testing ground for my invention!" Hikari announced. "Now, when's that camera crew getting here?"
       "There they are now," Yomi deadpanned, having spotted her co-workers walking toward them from another end of the park. "Just give them a minute or two to set up, and you should be good to go."
       "Excellent!" Hikari replied, rubbing her hands together much like a clichéd mad scientist. "Now, I don't want this broadcast or anything, just videotaped. After all, something might go wrong with this test flight, and it wouldn't reflect very well on me if such a thing were to be shown live."
       "I wasn't going to have them shoot live footage anyway," Yomi replied, "since it wouldn't reflect very well on me."
       Hikari didn't seem to hear this last statement, as the cameraman and production assistant arrived on the scene and immediately went up to Yomi and asked if she was okay. Yomi said she was and, without going too much into detail, told them what was going on and gave them their filming instructions. Once the camera was set up, Hikari stepped in front of the lens and declared, "Now, watch and see, everyone!"
       With Osaka's assistance, Hikari attached the two motorized 'pigtails' to either side of her head and drew off her lab coat, so she was just wearing her preppy schoolgirl uniform. All around her, the young men in the park paused in what they were doing and stared.
       Speaking into the lens, Hikari introduced herself, then dragged Osaka before the camera and introduced her. Hikari then launched into a brief explanation of her project, then activated the pigtails.
       They flapped, and Hikari's feet rose from the ground, steadily moving higher and further away. She reveled in this successful launch, but soon became horrified as she noticed the group of young men who had come closer, clustering around the point where she first lifted off.
       Then, she heard a voice. It was faint at first, but soon grew louder, and it called, "Hikari! Hikari!"
       Back on the ground, Mr, Kimura arrived on the scene, running past Chiyo, Yomi, and the others and into the throng of young men. As he started pushing them away—and they started pushing him back—he yelled, "Hikari, what are you doing up there! Come down here this instant!"
       "No, I won't! This is my great new invention intended to prevent all boys everywhere to stop harassing us high school girls, and I need to do a couple of more tests to make sure it works properly!"
       "But Hikari," Mr. Kimura replied, "all the boys down here are looking up your skirt! They can see your panties!"
       Upon hearing her dad say this, Hikari pushed the hem of her skirt between her legs and bit her lower lip. She tried to maintain her composure, but found herself holding her breath instead. Finally, she couldn't take it any longer.
       "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIGHHHH!" she yelled, zooming up into the sky. She shot past the treetops and into the blue, until those left on the ground could see her no longer.

---

Written November 2004 | Copyright 2004, Reeve.

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