Work Text
She's here again...
As someone who wore a mascot costume almost every day, Misaki was used to her fair share of strange interactions. Large swaths of children kicking her in the shins, daytime drunk businessman shouting at her about wives, and the occasional 'hyper-girl-who's-loaded-that-makes-you-join-her-band'. But this situation was a bit more dire than those. Because most of the situations didn't involve a girl that Misaki could only describe as a modern sukeban, complete with a typical gangster’s getup. The situation had repeated itself a few times already; every so often she'd end up seeing a tall intimidating woman, her hair short and eyes starting serrated daggers at her. She wouldn't come any closer, wouldn't say a word, and frankly, Misaki was ok with that. No telling what a girl like that would be hiding in that skirt of hers.
Giving one last breath of fresh air before her break ended, Misaki slipped on her Michelle head, steeling her mind for the rest of the day to come. Her work was all but routine at this point: take a bunch of balloons, hand them to kids, tell the kids that Michelle loves them, and high five a few of them. But for the past while, the list has also extended to "make sure the scary staring woman doesn't catch me off guard". Walking back into the sunlight of the streets, Misaki braced in anticipation of seeing a familiar red and white jacket on the other side of the street. But like clockwork, the blonde girl was perched in her usual area, leaning herself against a wall as she stared intently at her pink bear costume. One of her hands was firmly clenched (probably in an attempt to control her rage, or something like that) and a bag with an unidentifiable object in it.
Oh great, another thing to worry about.
Cautiously keeping an eye trained on the girl as she continued with her job, Misaki went along her regular duties, hoping that the day would go about as it usually did.
Spoiler Alert: It didn’t.
“Here you goooo,” Misaki droned as she handed a little girl a balloon, “remember, Michelle loves you!” Even if her job was monotonous at times, seeing smiles on children’s faces was a sweetener to her otherwise tiring job. As she laboriously stood back up to attention, Misaki was confronted by the very thing she was absolutely dreading. With an intense scowl and a stride that a pro boxer would shy away in fear from, the strange girl came walking towards Misaki, scaring off a few children that were crowded around her.
I can’t believe this is it. I can see it now; “Breaking News: Tired-looking Teenage Girl in a Fursuit Beat Up in Broad Daylight”.
Trembling as she watched the girl approach closer and closer, Misaki debated on her plan of action. Screaming wouldn’t work well; she’d probably just stir up a bad ruckus. Could she fight back? Maybe Michelle could take a few blows for her. But what if that girl’s bag had a weapon?
“H-Hey. You.”
Oh God I’m done for.
The girl’s voice was low, brooding, and frankly, intimidating. Outstretching a shaky hand, Michelle let out her weakest ‘Hai hai, Michelle dayo’ as she offered the girl a balloon.
“No. I don’t want a balloon,” the girl mumbled, walking up to Michelle until she could see the amber of her eyes.
Does she want my wallet? I don’t have a lot of money, i ended up buying croquettes after practice yester--
Misaki felt the air pushed out of her lungs, the vision from her suit gone dark. Was she hit? Was this the end? She felt a pressure around her, squeezing tightly, the sound of her suit being squeezed tight accompanied by the sound of… crying?
“I-I love you so much… M-Michelle…”
Huh? Loves me?
“Excuse me?”
“Y-You’re even fluffier than I thought…” the girl described as she attempted to quell her tears, “I’ve wanted to hug you for so long but I was scared… ” Misaki froze in place as she attempted to put together everything that was going on in her mind. The girl, whom she thought was about to scratch a person off their hit list was… embracing her? And crying???
“E-Excuse me, miss…” Misaki cautiously started, hoping that the girl wasn’t using this as a moment to distract Misaki, “are you OK? You sound like you’re crying…”
“I-I'm OK, I just, -sniff-,” Masuki began as tears began to flow down her face, “I just love Hello Happy World so much… I even made this cake just for Michelle…”
Oh, so that's what was in the bag,
Misaki thought as she attempted to process everything that was going on,
and she's a fan of my music too… What a strange girl…
In a state of what can only be described as surprised confusion, Misaki placed a costumed hand on Masuki’s head, lightly patting as the woman continued to cry. “Uhh… umm… Michelle wouldn't like it, if you cried like this,” Misaki explained, hopefully neutralizing the situation before too many children came crowding around this strange spectacle, “c-c'mon, repeat after me, 'Happy, lucky, smile, yay’...”
“H-Happy, lucky…” Masuki mumbled, gripping the Michelle suit to a point of uncomfortability, “smile, y-- UWAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”
Sighing in defeat, Misaki gave a long breath as Masuki began to cry even harder. Amidst the whispers of people crowding around the strange sight, all Misaki could hear amidst the tears was the choked mumbling of ‘I love you Michelle' as a wet spot formed on the suit's shoulder.