Title: Playthings
Author: Rann Aridorn

	"Wow, it'll be great to see Chiyo-chan again!" Tomo crowed. "I bet she 
brought us back all sorts of cool stuff from America!"
	"She's not your mom, she doesn't have to bring you back stuff," Yomi 
contested flatly, glasses taking on an opaque sheen.
	"Wow, it's been a whole month, huh?" Osaka murmured thoughtfully.
	"... It's been a -year- since Chiyo went to America to go to school, 
Osaka."
	"Oh? Has it? My. What a long month."
	"... Ugh. Anyway." Yomi glanced around. They'd gathered everyone 
together at Chiyo's house, in her old room, thanks to a mailed key. 
Herself, Tomo, Osaka, Sakaki, Kagura, even Minamo and Yukari. She felt 
like she was forgetting someone... like there was something missing from 
the background. Every time she looked at Sakaki, it seemed like she 
ought to be able to see something swooning and pink out of the corner of 
her eye. ... Eh, probably just a psychotic break brought on by too much 
time spent with Tomo.
	"Hi, everybody!" came the cheerful little chirp from the doorway, Chiyo 
standing in it with a hand raised in a wave.
	Greetings went about as one would expect, happy, energetic, and a 
little bit nuts. But finally, things began to settle down, at least 
enough for Tomo to shout, "So what'd you bring us?!", prompting Yomi to 
smack her upside the head.
	"Actually, I did bring everyone something!" Chiyo cried, seeming quite 
excited, bouncing up and down and making her pigtails bob. "Something 
really great!"
	"Ohhhhhhhhh?" everyone inquired, leaning in with curious expressions.
	Chiyo dragged a suitcase at least as large as she was over to the 
table, then opened it up and began digging about amongst the packing 
material. "When I went to America, I met a boy who'd been advanced a 
bunch of grades, just like me! And... well..." Chiyo paused in her 
search, blushing a bit.
	"AAAAA! Chiyo has an American boyfriend!" Kagura yelled, laughing.
	Sakaki blinked, glancing at Kagura, then looking at Chiyo, who was 
blushing and smiling in such a way as to provide proof of such a 
statement. Sakaki let her gaze wander upward, as she pictured Chiyo 
standing side by side with a blonde boy of the exact same stature, but 
with one cute pigtail in back instead of two on the sides. With a 
shiver, Sakaki quickly hid her blushing face behind her hands.
	"So... don't tell us," Tomo began slowly, before shooting to her feet 
and pointing accusingly. "YOU CHOPPED HIM UP AND PUT HIM IN THAT SUITCASE?!"
	Sakaki's head yanked upright, expression horrified.
	"WHAT?! Of course not!" Chiyo yelped.
	"Sit down and shut up," Yomi said with a sigh, grabbing hold of Tomo's 
shirt and yanking her back to the floor.
	Chiyo glared at Tomo for a moment more, before turning back to the 
suitcase. "His father owns toy manufacturing companies. When I met his 
family during spring break, I told a lot of stories about all of you, 
and he said they amused him so much, he wanted to give you all special 
gifts... custom toys of yourselves!"
	A general "ooooooooooooooooo" went all around.
	"As your teacher, I demand to be given my toy first!" Yukari cried, 
doing a fair Tomo impression by bolting to her feet and pointing.
	"You're not her teacher anymore," Minamo interjected Yomi-ishly, 
grabbing Yukari's shirt and yanking her back down to a seated position.
	"I've got to find them, first, I used a lot of packing material to make 
sure they'd be safe," Chiyo interjected, a little abashedly. Then she 
made an "Aha!" sound, pulling out a figure. "Here's the Yomi� action 
figure!"
	There was another little chorus of "ooooo" as Chiyo set the figure on 
the table and spent a moment getting it to stand upright. It was indeed 
Yomi, the little figure dressed in the blue summer uniform of their high 
school, complete with bookbag and a pair of little plastic glasses. 
After a moment, Yomi reached over and picked it up, pinching at one of 
the arms. "Hey, it's... squishy."
	"Yeah, they made it as a prototype for a new process they're using, 
it's supposed to be more like a real person, and be like real skin," 
Chiyo explained.
	"Heeheehee." Tomo leaned over, pulling up the Yomi�'s shirt a bit to 
bare a tummy complete with tiny navel indentation, and poking it. "Even 
Yomi's action figure has excess fat."
	A vein throbbed on Yomi's forehead.
	"Actually, they used the same process to make the Tomo� action figure," 
Chiyo continued, digging around and pulling out a miniature Tomo, this 
one dressed in the winter uniform. "But, um, there was a mistake."
	"Mistake?" Tomo blinked and leaned over to look at her miniature 
version. "Looks okay to me. Kinda shinier than Yomi's, but I've got a 
shiny personality!"
	"Well. ... It's shinier because they made it out of the same stuff they 
make super-bounce balls out of." Chiyo turned and hurled the Tomo� 
figure against the wall. It ricocheted off and went flying towards the 
other wall, and proceeded to bounce around the room for a full two 
minutes, people ducking and taking cover, until the figure finally 
flopped onto the table and rolled to a sitting position.
	"... That's not a mistake, that's authenticity," Yomi muttered, setting 
her own action figure back down on the table. To everyone's great 
surprise, the Yomi� figure's hand raised and solidly connected with the 
back of the Tomo�'s head with an audible little *thwack*.
	"They're possessed!" Osaka squealed.
	"Eheh. Um, no. He did try to make them accurate to what I described," 
Chiyo explained, abashed, rubbing the back of her head. "... There's a 
magnet in the Tomo�'s head, and one in the Yomi�'s hand."
	Yomi, at this point, was curled up on the floor laughing, while Tomo 
was still flush with the absolute coolness of her figure being a 
bouncing dervish of death.
	"There was a little mistake with the Osaka figure, too," Chiyo said 
sadly, drawing out what looked like a somewhat more traditional action 
figure with hard plastic skin, though it did have a cloth winter uniform.
	"What's wrong with it?" Osaka inquired, leaning forward.
	"They used joints that were too loose in the limbs." Chiyo set the 
Osaka� figure down on the table, where it promptly collapsed into a 
sprawl on its back.
	"... Authenticity," Yomi repeated.
	Osaka blinked, then simply leaned over and started trying to arrange 
her figure into something at least vaguely upright. "C'mon, little me, 
get it together, get it together..."
	"Oh! Here's the Kagura� figure!" Chiyo exulted, pulling the dark tan 
figure out and passing it over to its model-sake.
	"Hey, that's pretty cool," Kagura observed, tugging at the figure's 
summer uniform. "Hey, she's got a swimsuit on under the uniform! Neat! 
Huh? What's this button?" Blinking, Kagura touched the little button 
just below the Kagura� figure's neck. The figure's left hand immediately 
snapped downward in a chopping motion. Kagura, and the entire room, were 
absolutely silent for a moment... before the athletic girl let out a 
howl of delight. "I HAVE KUNG-FU ACTION!"
	"Well, it was a mechanism they used in some of their other toys, but I 
thought you'd like it," Chiyo said with pride.
	Laughing excitedly, Kagura leaned her figure in and pressed the button, 
the Kagura� figure's hand impacting solidly atop that of the Osaka�'s 
and sending it toppling back over again, prompting Osaka to take on a 
horrified expression. Kagura moved her toy over to the Yomi� and Tomo� 
and began pressing the button repeatedly. "Hya! Hya! Hya!"
	"Hey! Stop beating us up!" Yomi protested, snatching her figure up from 
the table, the magnetic pull of the figures exceeded and causing the 
Tomo� figure to tumble to the floor and bounce a few times.
	"Um," Chiyo murmured, then quickly moved on, digging around in the case 
some more. "Oh. Here's the one that he made of me." Blushing, Chiyo set 
the figure down on the table, everyone leaning in for a good look. 
Sakaki once again began trembling and blushing. It was a... MINIATURE 
Chiyo-chan!
	"Hey, what's with its legs?" Yukari peered critically at the figure. 
"It looks kind of like it's got rickets or something."
	"Oh, that's just because the Chiyo� doll comes with a Mr. Tadakichi�!" 
Chiyo smiled brightly, placing the white plastic dog next to her own 
figure. "And just like I could when I was smaller," Chiyo continued, 
picking up the doll version of herself, before clicking it into place 
atop the Mr. Tadakichi� figure. Sakaki's eyes were close to being as 
wide as dinner plates.
	"Neeeeat," Tomo murmured.
	Chiyo beamed, then set the figures back down, before reaching under the 
Mr. Tadakichi� and flipping a small switch. The miniature mount 
immediately began walking forward, the Chiyo� figure swaying lightly on 
its back. Then the Mr. Tadakichi� paused to give several small barks and 
wag its tail. A sound of awe made its way around the group, with Sakaki 
sitting in the background, swaying back and forth, looking like she was 
in serious danger of fainting.
	Switching off the Mr. Tadakichi�, Chiyo reached back into the suitcase. 
"Hm. Let's see... oh! Here it is, the biggest set!" She seemed to pause, 
however, a shudder running through her, as if about to touch something 
not entirely pleasant. Then her jaw jutted out a little as she 
apparently firmed her resolve, forcing her expression into a happy one 
as she pulled out a fair-sized toy car, complete with a Minamo in the 
driver's seat and a Yukari behind the wheel. The entire group went 
silent, staring at the pock marks, dents, and crumpled areas all 
detailed into the plastic of the miniature vehicle.
	"It's... it's..." Kagura stared for a moment, before finally managing 
to finish. "... The Yukari Car�."
	"Uh-huh!" Chiyo nodded. Then she blinked, tilting the vehicle. "Oh no! 
It got damaged during the flight!"
	Yukari, who had been starting to look very annoyed, suddenly blinked. 
"Oh? So that's it! You weren't really maligning my driving to the 
Americans! It's just travel damage!"
	"Huh?" Chiyo blinked, then shook her head. "No, only this scratch on 
the roof is from traveling, it must have brushed against the zipper on 
the inside." For added emphasis, she pointed at the tiny mark in the 
toy's paint.
	"..." Yukari's eyebrow twitched. Then, with a shriek, she launched 
herself at the toy, apparently in a mad bid to destroy the insult to 
her... "honor". Minamo quickly tackled her to the floor, Yomi moving to 
help her hold the thrashing, kicking, and howling English teacher down.
	Once order had been restored, mostly by Minamo's promise to take Yukari 
out and pay for drinks after they left, Chiyo chuckled nervously. "Well, 
that leaves Miss Sakaki's toy." She turned around to dig in the 
suitcase, pausing to give her tall friend a somewhat plaintive look. 
"Please don't be disappointed."
	"Hm?" Sakaki blinked.
	Chiyo slowly drew something out from the bag.
	The group leeeeeeeeeeeeeaned in, blinking curious eyes.
	"It's... not an action figure."
	"It's a -plushie-!"
	Sakaki herself was staring, her cheeks pink. Chiyo set the plush, about 
the size of someone's hand laid flat, on the tabletop, allowing it to be 
seen. It was a rather chibi version of Sakaki in her winter uniform, 
rendered with a rather unreadable expression that was, due to its 
proportions, extremely adorable.
	"The order for the Miss Sakaki� figure got sent to the wrong 
manufacturer," Chiyo explained, disappointment overlaying her words.
	Sakaki was starting to tremble, her face flushed a deep maroon. She bit 
her lower lip, unable to think of anything to say. There she was, on the 
tabletop, and... and... she was -cute-! She didn't know how it could 
possibly BE any better.
	Until suddenly Maya, who had been sleeping under the table through all 
of this, poked his head out, sniffing curiously. Everyone blinked and 
turned to look at him as he walked out and then hopped up onto the 
tabletop. He sauntered past all the other toys, and bent down to sniff 
at the Sakaki plushie. Then he wrapped himself around it, front legs 
tugging the toy close to his chest, his nose pressed against it, and 
closed his eyes, purring loudly.
	"My boyfriend's dad owns a company that makes pet toys, too, the Miss 
Sakaki� plans got interpreted as a catnip toy."
	There was a loud thud. Sakaki had fainted.



Epilogue:

	After everyone had gone home that night, taking their presents (and the 
figures' accessories that hadn't been shown right away) with them, Chiyo 
sat up, arranging her own set of the toys on a shelf. She smiled as she 
looked at the toys, the whole group together again, never to be 
separated... unless one of them fell off the shelf and got lost.
	Chiyo basked in the glow of this little bit of eternal connection for 
several moments, then blinked. She tapped a finger against her chin. 
Something seemed to be missing. She couldn't quite nail down what it 
was, but there did seem to be something slightly lacking about the 
little group.
	After a minute, she shrugged. 'I probably just forgot one of the 
accessories back in my room in America, I'll find it when I go back.' 
Smiling, she gave the group of toys a last little wave goodnight, then 
turned and went to bed.
	Meanwhile, somewhere in downtown Tokyo...
	"Hello Kitty massagers. Hello Kitty massagers. These are a limited 
quantity, they're not making them anymore," the street vendor hocked 
without enthusiasm. Kaorin sighed, letting her head droop, the bright 
pink paper hat on her head slipping down a little. 'I gotta find a 
better job.'

-End


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