Vacation?!

  "Ah, what to do what to do..."

   Zakura stood on the balcony of her hotel room, staring out at the ocean in front of her. She managed to get a room on one of the higher floors, and the view was worth it. Normally when she had stayed in hotels in the past she never got a chance to enjoy the view, but now she has all the time in the world~

   

   Well, at least a week's worth.

   Zakura's a music idol, touring around the world, bringing joy and happiness to everyone who hears her songs. Her and her group mates had just gotten off of a tour, and for the first time in what felt like years, she had some time to herself. Time to sit back, relax and let the nice, ocean air waft over her.

   *FLASH*

   

    Now if only she could find some relaxation.

   "Sigh, another camera-chi? Why can't they just leave me alone for once..." Zakura retreated back to her room, closing the balcony blinds behind her. Even though she's off tour, that doesn't mean she stopped being famous. Fans and reporters alike have been following her around place to place, asking about her next song and when she's going on tour again, and are those your real ears or did you get them trimmed? No sense of personal space, those folks. Zakura sighs again and flops onto her bed. All she wanted was some time to herself, to enjoy the town. But it looks like she won't be getting that anytime soon.

   

   Another sigh, " I can't remember the last time I had some privacy. Seems like forever ago." She starts reminiscing about her younger days, before she became an idol. Ever since she was little she loved to sing, and always felt happy when she made others happy with her songs. Whenever she put on one of her shows, her mother would always make her a new outfit to perform in. Usually with excessive amounts of frills and ribbons. One time she put her in a bonnet with so many ribbons she could barely see out of it! The memory brought a smile to her face. It was so bad her friends couldn't even recognize her.

   "Wait, that's it!", Zakura sprang from her slump on the bed. " I know what I can do!" She ran over to the mirror on the other side of the room and looked herself over. "I just need a disguise, that way no one will know who I am. It's fool proof~", she said to no one in particular. Looking herself over, she started thinking of what she could wear. Maybe something plain? Ugh, but plain colors are so boring, she'd never be caught dead in them. Which makes them the perfect disguise! But wait, there seems to be a flaw in her plan, what is it?

   

   Zakura smacked herself in the head at her stupidity. "Gah, what am I thinking, I don't have any plain clothes to wear. I only brought cute clothes! What are you doing, Zakura..." Another sigh escaped her. She still wanted to go through with her disguise plan, but where would she get plain clothes? If she went to the shops to buy something the camera-chi stalking her would certainly see. Maybe she can find a lopo, tie a note around its neck and see if it can find someone to help her?? No, of course that wouldn't work Zakura, what are you thinking? She walked to her bed and sat on the edge. "Hm, guess I'll just stay here then. Can't really think of much else to do." Zakura was glum now. She really wanted to go out and explore the town more. But it looks like that idea is dead in the water. While she was lamenting, she heard a soft knock at her door.

   

   "Ms Shine? Are you in there?" A muffled voice asked.

   

   "Yes, hold on a second." She picked herself off the bed and walked to the door. When she opened it, she was met with a familiar site. "Heya champ! What's up?"

   Mamoru stuttered. "I-I just wanted to check up on you. I saw a camera-chi outside your window, and wanted to make sure they weren't bothering you at all."

   

   She smiled, her heart jumping a little knowing that he was concerned about her.  Mamoru was one of her bodyguards. She and her idol group have a few guards on staff at all times, but she grew to like having Mamoru around. He was always nice and helpful, even coming with her on vacation when he could have gone home. But no matter how much time they spend together he still has a hard time talking to her one on one. He was embarrassed by it, but Zakura found it adorable. "Yeah, I saw him. I wish they would just leave me alone for once. I like having some privacy too y'know." She accented this with a pout.

   

   A stern look crossed his face, "Would you like me to do something about this? I could ask the hotel staff to remove him from the premises. If he's bothering their guest that should be their top priority." She smiled gently. He might be a stammering goof most of the time, but whenever it came to her safety he became a fierce protector.

   

   "No, don't worry about it. I was just going to hang in my room all day anyway."

       

   His gaze softened, "Are you sure? It's okay to tell me if you're uncomfortable. It's my job to make sure you're always safe and happy."

   "Don't worry too much! It'll give you wrinkles, silly head." She poked at his cheek, "See, I see one right there!"

       

   Mamoru started stammering again, a blush on his cheeks. Back to his normal self now. "W-well if you're sure about it. But may I suggest something?"

   "Hm, what is it?"

   He pointed at her outfit, "Might I suggest changing your clothes if you're going to stay inside all day? If you keep the windows closed it will get hot in here, and I wouldn't want you overheating in that jumper."

   She looked down at herself. Now that he mentioned it, it did feel a little warm in her room. What was she thinking, bringing a jumper to a beach town? "Hm, I guess you're right. Maybe I'll change into my bathing suit or something."

   "B-bathing-? Are you sure about that? Don't you have other things to wear? What if you have to leave your room to get snacks? Y-you wouldn't want someone to see you in your bathing suit in a hotel!"

   "Then I can just get you to get me snacks, silly! Problem solved!"

   *Bing* A bulb popped in her head. "Hmmm... Wait a minute..." Zakura had a deep look on her face. Her hand went to her mouth as she starting looking Mamoru up and down, drawing closer to him.

   He stepped back, "I-Is there something the matter? Do I have food on my shirt?" He wipes at nothing on his chest.

   "Hey Mamoru, can you do me a faaavor~?" She asked with a sing-songy voice. That always made him melt.

   "W-what do you want, Ms Shine?"

   "Can I borrow some of your clothes?"

   "...Wh-what?!"

~~~~~

   It was such a wonderful day out. Barely a cloud in the sky, the sun shining bright, and today Zakura gets to experience all without any interruption. It took a little convincing (and a pinky promise that she'll be home before dark), but Zakura managed to get Mamoru to give her some of his clothes to wear. Admittedly they're a little bit big on her, but after rolling up the pant legs and undoing her signature hair buns, she was able to look halfway decent in the outfit. Which makes it the perfect disguise! No one would notice the idol without her signature hair buns! A theory tested and proven many times in the past.

   She stopped and took a deep breath, enjoying that fresh, ocean air. She didn't really have any idea where she was going, but she was just happy being able to go out at all. It wasn't often that she got the freedom to roam around, so she was content with just walking around all day. But it looks like her fashion sense was in high gear, since she managed to wander her way down to the markets in town. Jackpot~

   Zakura had spent a few hours by now at the market, just wandering from stall to stall looking at all the items for sale. She picked up some cute headbands and scarves for her and her friends. And a seashell necklace she thought Mamoru might like, payback for taking his clothes for a while. Before she knew it, the afternoon had quietly turned into early evening, and many of the shops were closing up for the day. The bustling crowd was now just a handful of bub-chi meandering about. Zakura was debating buying her 100th skirt when the stall owner told her that the marketplace was closing for the day. After buying the skirt (and a pair of boots to match), she followed the crowd out of the marketplace and back into the city.

   Being summer, the suns would still be in the sky for a few more hours, so Zakura decided to keep wandering around while she still had a chance. Walking up and down the roads ahead of her, she came across all sorts of bub-chi. Tall ones, small ones, even some Me-chi from around the continent were there! She was in awe at the diversity she saw. She wondered what they were all doing here. Were they on vacation like her? Did some of them live here and worked at the shops she was at? So many possibilities!

   Her daydreaming was broken when she spotted something in the corner of her eye. Hidden down a side road she saw a sign for a pet store. "Oh bubby, cute critters!" She quickly made her way to the store and looked through the window. Inside she could see different creatures from around the world inside. Flambirs, Lopos, even some Magnons in a tank in the back. The store looked to be open, so she made her way to the door and entered.

   A bell rang as she opened the door. The place was pretty packed with bub-chi of all ages. The shopkeep greeted her and asked her how her day was.

   "Oh it was wonderful!" she replied, " I haven't been on vacation in ages! It feels nice to have some free time for once"

   The shopkeep laughed at her response. He told her he wishes he could take a vacation, but the animals here probably wouldn't like it. "Feel free to take a look around. You can even pet some of them if you'd like!"

   She gasped, "Really? That's so cool, thank you!" She made her way to the pen with baby flambirs and stuck her hand in it. The yellow one seemed interested in her hand, but when it tried to get it up fell over onto its blue sibling instead. Zakura laughed and petted its head. "They're so soft~"

   Another bub-chi on the other side of the pen chuckled. "Yeah, they're pretty nice, aren't they? Too bad they like to accidentally set things on fire if you're not too careful."

   "No way, really? That sounds horrible! Why would they do that?"

   He laughed at her concern, "Well they don't mean it obviously! They're just, kinda dumb." He picked one up and held it in his arms. "They might look cute, but they're heads are as empty as a glass with a hole in the bottom."

   

   "Well, that's not very nice to say." Zakura pouted. She turned her attention to the next cage over. "I've seen these things around before. They're called changee, or something like that."

   The other chi made his way over to her, flambir still in hand "It's chagee, actually. Yeah, they're native to Metensia. You can find some of them on the beach on occasion."

   "Oh yeah! I remember seeing them on the beach. There was a whole lot of them when we were there." She pressed her face to the glass to get a closer look. "They're actually pretty cute."

   He rested his left arm against the chagee cage, holding the flambir in the other as it looked around confused. "Well, not as cute as you at least." He said with a smile.

   Zakura snorted, trying to hide her laughter.

   

   "What, too forward?"

   "Just a teeny bit."

   "Alright, alright, I can fix this, watch!" He made a show of turning around back to where he stood in front of the flambir pen, then turning back and walking up to her. "Why hello there, dear stranger. I couldn't help but notice you on the other side of the room and thought I'd come by to say how absolutely stunning you are."

   Zakura covered her mouth, but the giggles were still pouring out. The bub-chi in front of her frowned in confusion.

   

   "What, what's so funny?"

   She pointed at his arm,  "He's trying to set your sleeve on fire."

   

   The other chi looked down and saw the flambir in his arms burping out fire, singeing his sleeve and almost catching it on fire. "AH! Stupid bird, stop that!" He took the flambir and dropped it back in its pen. It fell on its side with a fwump and just stayed there, burping up more fire as it tried to flap its wings upside down. Zakura was hunched over, laughing so hard she was crying. He sighed at the sight of her and asked, "Come on, it wasn't that funny, was it?"

   She slowly stood up straight, wiping tears from her eyes, "No, no that was absolutely the best thing I've seen all day. Thank you so much for that wonderful memory. I shall cherish it forever."

   "You don't have to rub it in you know. I kinda really liked this shirt..." He said with a pout, looking at his sleeve for any more signs of damage. His face just made her burst into giggles again. He smirked at her, "You're really just a barrel of laughs, aren't you?"

   

   She couldn't help herself anymore and just kept on giggling, which in turn made him start giggling at her reaction as well. Soon enough the two were just standing there, laughing at nothing like it was the funniest thing in the world. Eventually, the two managed to stop, and they slowly started putting themselves back together. After finishing, the stranger-chi held out his hand.

   

   "The name's Arin. What's yours, or should I just call you 'giggle fits' instead?"

   She couldn't help but chuckle at that one, "The name Zaku... Zamu. My name is Zamu." She took his hand and shook it. "So what are you doing here, Arin? Do you normally let yourself get set on fire, or was just a ploy to impress me?"

   "Wha-no! I do not go around setting myself on fire thank you! At least not for just anyone." He said with a wink. "But it seemed to have done the trick. It did get you to talk to me, which I consider a positive."

   "Guess you could say he made a good wingman for you, huh?" Zakura snorted out a laugh at her pun.

   "Oh haha, really funny. A real comedian aren't ya?"

   "Only on the weekends~!"

   He shook his head and chuckled, "So what's a pretty little chi like you doing in a place like this? Don't have pet shops where you're from?"

   "Hmm, not really." She looked over at the chagees. "I grew up on a small Jellia, so I never really saw other animals till I left and traveled to a continent."

   "Oh darn, really? I don't think I've ever met someone who grew up on a Jellia. What's it like? Is it bouncy, cuz they look really bouncy."

   "Haha, of course not! If they were bouncy no one would build on them! No, they're actually pretty stable." She started walking around the shop some more, him following her as well. "Ours was a pretty small one. It only had about 4 houses on it. Not much to do in such a small area in the middle of the ocean, you know?"

   "Jeez, I couldn't imagine. And here I thought growing up in this town was boring."

   "Boring? This is a resort town! How could it possibly be boring?"

   "It's only fun to you 'cuz you're only here for a few days. You live here your whole life? You've seen everything there is to see. Thing's get same-y so fast. But with all the tourist coming around they tend to keep things a lil fresh, so I guess it ain't so bad."

   "Hm, I guess that could get kinda boring."

   "So, what does a pretty-chi like you do for fun? What are you into like, reading or sewing, or swimming or something like that?"

   "Well, would reading music count? And I can sew cute clothes really well!"

   "Heh, I guess that kinda counts for something. So I'm guessing you're into music then?"

   "Oh of course!" She said a little louder than intended, "I absolutely adore music! I want to make the whole world joyful with music, it's been my dream since childhood, since birth!"

   Ahaha, well okay then. Joy to the world with music. That sounds like a totally acceptable goal."

   She glared at him, "What, do you think I can't do it?"

   He backed up a bit at her sudden change in attitude, "No, no, of course not! I'm just saying that it's not really all that obtainable, y'know? I mean you can't make everyone happy, it's just common sense."

   "Are you calling me daft? How rude!" She started walking towards him, backing him against a wall and getting up in his face, "I'll have you know that my life goal is a COMPLETELY obtainable one! Just because you're a cynical butt doesn't mean that everyone else in the world is!"

   He held up his hands between them, "Alright! Alright, sorry! I didn't mean to offend you, honest!"

   "Well, it's too late for that." She crossed her arms, stepping back from him slightly. "You'd think with all the tourist you try to chat up you'd be better at talking to them." She quickly turned on her heel and headed for the door. He chased behind her.

   "Wait, wait! I'm sorry about what I said, okay? Can we just forget this and make amends? Hey, come look at this lico over here, it colors almost match yours!" As he said this he grabbed her arm to turn her back towards him. When she did, she slapped his hand off of her and yelled.

   "What on chigon is wrong with you!? First, you insult my dreams and then you have the nerve to grab me? You should be ashamed of yourself! I never want to see your face again!" She turned back around and started making her way to the door again.

   "W-wait, please I'm sorry!" he said with panic in his voice. He quickly made his way to the Lico cage and picked one up, then ran up in front of her and held the poor lico up to her face. "Look, see? This one's pink and blue, just like you! Isn't cute and adorable? I bet it would love being your pet!"

   "I don't want it, and I don't want to talk to you anymore, get away from me!" She pushed him aside again and made it out the door. She turned down the road she came and started walking as fast as she could out of there, to annoyed to do anything else. But as she made it down the road she could still hear him chasing after her, trying to get her attention.

   "Please, Zamu! Give me another chance, I'm sorry!"

   "I don't care! Leave me alone!" She yelled back. Tears started forming in her eyes, and not from joy like before. It was already getting dark, and she was getting scared. She started walking faster and faster, too scared to notice anything around her when he managed to catch up to her and get in front of her, stopping her in her tracks.

   "Please, Zamu, just give me another chance. It was an honest mistake, I didn't mean it" the lico in his arms squirmed. She just stared at him, too scared to say anything. There wasn't anyone around, and she didn't know what to do. When he started walking towards her, she would walk back just as much, until she found a wall behind her. Now she was beyond scared. In her panic, she almost didn't hear a voice calling out from the end of the road until it was too late.

   "Miss Shine, Miss Shine!! Are you alright?!" She quickly looked to her left where the voice came from. Her guardian angel Mamoru was there, running down the road as fast as he could. Arin turned to look where her head was pointed and flinched back away from her. Mamoru might have been a gentle soul, but a small bub-chi he was not. And when it came to protecting his clients, nothing could stop the walking boulder from him and his client. Seeing this massive bolder of a chi come running at him must have scared him silly, because as quickly as he managed to catch up with her, Arin was running twice as fast in the opposite direction, away from Mamoru charging down the road.

   Zakura fell to her knees when she saw him run away. He scared her so much, she thought he was going to get her. She felt tears running down her eyes again, this time flowing freely all the way down her face. Mamoru quickly made it and knelt in front of her.

   "Miss Shine!! Are you alright?! You're crying, did that bub-chi hurt you?!" The panic in his voice was haunting, but she couldn't respond to him. She just dug her head into his shoulder and kept crying. Not knowing what to do, Mamoru placed a hand on her head and rubbed her head. "Shhh, don't worry, I'm here now. I promise I won't let anything happen to you."

   She sniffled, her voice cracking from crying, "H-how did you find me?"

   "Ah," He paused, before saying in a soft voice, "I-I may have been following you all day. I was worried that someone might spot you and ruin your cover. I didn't want a mob of people to surround you and leave you vulnerable."

   Zakura laughed lightly at this. It was just like him to waste his day watching over her for no reason. "Thanks, Mamoru. It's always nice to have you by my side. Even when I don't know you're there."

   "Ah, well-" he started stammering, the red in his cheeks showing up again, "It's my job as your bodyguard to keep you safe! How could I stay at the hotel knowing you're out here and unprotected?"

   She loved it when he said such things. Always watching out for her even when she didn't know she needed it. She knew he would go to the ends of the world for her. She pulled him into a hug and held him close. "Mamoru, please don't leave my side. Never ever, okay?"

   He smiled, and hugged her back, "Of course, Miss Shine. I'd never dream of leaving you."

   She knew he meant it, and she loved that it was true. "Hey Mamoru, can we go back to the hotel now, I think I'm done playing dress up now."

   He chuckled, "Of course, Miss. Why don't you grab some ice cream on our way back?"

   She shot up at the mention of ice cream, "I want strawberry fudge!"

   "Aha, of course. You can have all the fudge you want."

   "I don't want all the fudge, I only want some of it." she pouted.

   "Of course, Miss Shine, of course."