Erika and Anri's Adventures: A RomCom Anime

[Anri Sonohara]

Anri was having a normal day. She'd just gotten out of school and she walked home with Mikado and Kida until the three had to part ways. She really wanted to get home and change so she could go to the market. Her fridge was running low on food and she hadn't been able to go out shopping the past few days. She had managed to make scraps of leftovers into meals, but now even those were almost gone. And after the market she needed to go to the bakery and pick something up for Mikado, his birthday was in a couple days.

And after that, she wanted to go to the department store and pick up some new shirts. Her old ones were becoming quite small. She also needed to go to the hardware store and find something to fix a leaky pipe. She sighed, she was going to be busy, but she supposed she should get all of her errands done at once. She resigned herself to having a busy afternoon and evening. She wouldn't have time to check in on the chatroom today, she would barely even have time to study. Oh well, it had to be done.

She was very near home when she heard something in the bushes. She leaned over them to try and see what it was. After a minute, she figured it was just some animal and continued walking. Then she heard the rustling again. She was fully ready to ignore it and move on when something came out and grabbed her.

[unicornhunter]

When an idea possessed Erika, she didn't just think about it. She plotted.

In fact, she had been plotting for quite some time once this idea occurred to her.

It was one of those rare ideas that she didn't share with Walker, Togusa, or Kadota. She didn't have those often. But when she did, they were absolutely brilliant.

This time around, her idea revolved around one Anri Sonohara. And today was the day she was going to put her carefully laid plan into action.

So she stalked. Well, more like followed Anri on her way back to her apartment after school. Once she, Mikado, and Kida separated to go their separate ways, she knew she'd be able to make her move without any interruptions. She snuck her way into the bushes, pausing only when she realized she was making noise. She gave a silent sigh of relief when Anri didn't investigate too closely.

Then - she pounced!

She grabbed Anri's arm and pulled her into the bushes with her, quickly wrapping her arms around her, giving her a tight hug.

"Anri-chan~!" she cooed. "Big Sis Erika has come to the rescue!" She grinned brightly, much like the heroes in her shonen manga.

[Anri Sonohara]

The next thing Anri knew she was being dragged into the bushes. She made a surprised noise that came out like a squeak. She was fully prepared to fight off whoever this was, but then she heard Erika's voice and relaxed. She allowed the other girl to pull her into a hug. She found it difficult to breathe, but let Erika have her moment. Soon after, Erika let her go and Anri had a chance to recover from the bone-crushing embrace.

"Erika-san? What are you doing here?" she asked. There was no real reason for Erika to be hanging around this area unless she was buying something from the manga store. Since the store wasn't around close by, Anri didn't know why Erika would be here. And she really didn't know why the otaku would be following her by sneaking around in the bushes. She certainly was an odd person.

[unicornhunter]

Erika grinned at Anri.

"Well, I'm glad you asked!"

Erika struck a pose that looked like it was straight out of a comedy manga. Or Phoenix Wright - sometimes her gesture-references mingled together and was simply some weird combination of all sorts of things. The point was that she was super animated about whatever it was she was there for.

"It's clear that you're the Lone Female in the Golden Trio known as you, Kida-kun, and Mikapuu, and you are destined to be the Girlfriend of one of them - depends on who the main character is, really! But I haven't figured that out just yet." She tapped her chin in thought before waving her hand around, as though shooing the notion away. "Anyway! Point is - you have to show me your closet!"

Erika's grin could rival the Cheshire Cat's. No, really. It looked as though it could suddenly possess a mind of its own and remove itself from Erika's face and haunt Anri's darkest nightmares, if it so wished. Most people run away in terror at the sight of that grin.

Especially those who knew her best.

Yes. Even sometimes Walker. Though it really depended on why she was grinning.

[Anri Sonohara]

Erika struck a ridiculous pose and started babbling about...something. Most of what she spouted out when right over Anri's head. Lone female? Golden trio? Main character? She then announced something about needing to see Anri's closet.

"My closet? Why would you need to see that?" she asked, puzzled. Erika was beyond strange in Anri's eyes. It seemed like she always treated real life as if it were an anime. Then there was that grin. It sent shivers down Anri's spine. There was something eerie about it, like Erika had some sort of evil agenda.

Anri shook her silly thoughts away and dusted herself off. "I'm sorry Erika, but I actually have plans this afternoon..." she said truthfully, though she also wanted the otaku to leave her alone. It wasn't that she didn't like Erika, she did, it was just that she could be a bit...crazy sometimes, and right now Anri was not in the mood for crazy.

[unicornhunter]

Erika blinked repeatedly at Anri. It was almost as though the concept of Anri having plans of her own was a completely foreign idea to her and one that was having trouble processing on top of that. However, once the concept seemed to sink it, Erika continued to grin.

"That's not a problem! I can go with you! Then I can look at your closet."

She giggled a little, the clung onto Anri's arm and started to lead the way, even though she had no idea where Anri wanted to go.

"So what errands do you have to do?"

[Anri Sonohara]

Anri's comment about her plans had the opposite effect of what she had hoped. Now Erika was declaring that she would join Anri on her errands, and then look at her closet. She sighed, this girl wasn't going to give up.

Erika clung to Anri and started leading her in the wrong direction of where she needed to go. She managed to free herself from the otaku's grip. She decided the best way to get rid of her would be do humor her and do what she wanted, then get on with her day.

"My errands can wait...what exactly is it you wanted to do?" she asked, a little afraid of the answer. She couldn't really think of any reason Erika would want to see her closet, unless...

Anri quickly reasoned out that Erika planned to take her shopping. For clothes.

She did need some new shirts, but the thought of shopping with Erika was...kind of frightening.

[unicornhunter]

Erika pouted mightily when Anri managed to escape her grip, but she brigthened up considerably when Anri asked her what it was she wanted exactly.

Taking Anri's hands into hers, Erika's eyes glinted.

"It's simple, really!" She then put an arm around Anri's shoulders and pointed up to the horizon, as though whatever she wanted to do was actually up there. But really she was just posing like they did in anime.

Perhaps Anri could tell that Erika was really, really hyper today, even more so than usual.

"I'm going to take you shopping! And perhaps treat you to lunch, depends how long we're out!" She patted Anri on the chest, just avoiding inappropriate boob-grabbing, but not because she didn't want to. No, that was simply not how it was done when the Big Sister character takes the Protagonist under her wing for a session of I'll Help You Achieve Your Goals manga pages. "You're cute as you are now, but imagine how cute you'll be once you're dressed up a bit! Mikapuu won't be able to take his eyes off you!"

Her grin widened, her and Anri's faces only centimeters apart.

[Anri Sonohara]

With her eagerness and ridiculously over-the-top poses, Erika managed to get a small grin out of Anri. She was initially going to try and talk her way out of this little escapade, but it would be no use. Anri had learned that once Erika set her mind to something, she was going to get it done, one way or another.

She pulled herself out of Erika's surprisingly tight grip.

"Alright Erika, that sounds..." she searched for the right word, and finally settled on "fun." This trip did have to potential to be enjoyable, it was just that Erika was so hyper at the moment, Anri didn't know what to expect.

She sighed, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. Getting to know Erika might actually be a good experience. Maybe she would finally be able to understand how Erika's mind worked.

But Erika's comment about Mikado took her off-guard. Did Anri want him to notice her? She wasn't sure about that, Mikado was a friend and nothing more...at least for the moment.

"Where are we going?" she asked, trying to distract herself from her train of thought.

[unicornhunter]

Erika grinned at her, glad that she was now properly cooperating. She took hold of her hand and led the way, though wasn't pulling as hard as she had been. "I was thinking we could go by Sunshine 60, peruse the shops there, see what catches our fancy!" There was also a manga shop there; she had told Walker that she'd pick up that new manga he wanted to check out while she was out, and who knew, maybe there'd be something that Anri liked there, too. They sold trinkets and stuff in addition to manga. Oh, maybe they'd have hair clips that would look cute on her!

"So how have things been with Mikapuu and Kida-kun?" Erika asked, turning around and walking backwards, seemingly unconcerned about running into people. She was fully expecting some kind of dramatic love story. She knew that Kida was dating Saki, but she also knew that Kida was a flirt and probably hadn't told Mikado and Anri about Saki, at least not yet. And she could tell that Mikado really liked Anri - and probably also really liked Kida as well - and it just seemed to her to be one big love triangle, and she was eager to learn more about it.

[Anri Sonohara]

"I'm not sure anything will 'catch my fancy'," Anri said with a simple shrug. It was not often that she went out clothes shopping and she didn't really have a particular style she liked. Buying clothes was usually based on how expensive they were and if they fit across her chest. (That had always been a big issue with buying shirts, and she didn't expect the problem to solve itself anytime soon.)

Then Erika asked about Mikado and Masaomi. The twinkle in her eyes suggested she was digging for some sort of exciting story, and probably a love story at that.

"Things have been good...we're all friends," she emphasized, she really didn't want Erika to get the wrong idea.

[unicornhunter]

Erika laughed and continued to lead the way. "Right, right, friends. I totally get it." But that didn't stop her mischievous grin. "But surely you have a crush on someone?"

It was then that something occurred to her, and she came to an abrupt halt. "Oh! Are you hungry at all, Anri-chan? We can get something to eat while we're out, if you are! I have plenty of money today!"

She had sold quite a bit of jewelry to make this excursion possible. She had been pretty excited about it, and she was even more excited for what she's be able to buy Anri to doll her up a little!

[Anri Sonohara]

Anri couldn't help but blush when asked if she had a crush on someone. What other reaction could she have when asked that so suddenly? She hoped Erika didn't read it the wrong way. It's not like Erika was right...after all, Anri was incapable of love. At least that's what she liked to tell herself. It was safer that way.

"I guess I am a little hungry," she admitted. She hadn't gotten a chance to eat anything before Erika ambushed her earlier, mostly because she just didn't have much food stocked in her house.

"I can pay for myself, though," she added.

[unicornhunter]

"All right! Suit yourself! But I am treating you to something while we're out together." She gave Anri a wink, then started to lead the way. "Fast food or Russia Sushi?"

She had a bit of a skip in her step. Mostly she was just so excited to finally get to talk to Anri on a one-on-one basis! Perfect for getting juicy facts and gossip!

[Anri Sonohara]

Anri wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible, not that she hated Erika's company, it was just that this little excursion hadn't been in her plans for the day. She would've much rather had time to prepare.

"Fast food," she said, "I'd like to try something different." She also wanted to minimize the chances of anyone else they knew running into them and joining this trip. She could probably handle Erika when she was alone, but if they ran into Walker, there'd be no way to know what would happen. She really didn't want to be dragged along to any anime shops. They'd be out for much longer if that happened.