The usually calm and quiet Kazuki household was about to experience a storm, and the eye of that storm was none other than Aoi and her equally mischievous friend, Akemi.
Akemi was notorious among their classmates for being a troublemaker with a wild imagination, and today, she had decided to spend the afternoon at Aoi's house. Without Kazuki around to keep things in check, chaos was inevitable.
"Akemi, let's try not to break anything this time, okay?" Aoi said cautiously as Akemi bounded into the living room with a bag full of mysterious items.
"Relax, Aoi!" Akemi grinned, dumping the contents onto the floor. Out spilled glitter, glue, construction paper, toy goggles, and what suspiciously looked like a bag of feathers.
"What are we even doing with all this?" Aoi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We're building a masterpiece!" Akemi declared, pulling out a sheet of paper with a crudely drawn blueprint. "A bird costume. For you!"
"For me?!" Aoi recoiled. "Why do I have to wear it?"
"Because you're the perfect size for my experiment!" Akemi said, already opening the glue bottle. "Trust me, this is going to be amazing!"
Aoi sighed but knew better than to argue. "Fine. But if you get glue in my hair again, I'm telling Onii-chan!"
"Deal!" Akemi chirped, already smearing glue on a piece of paper.
The duo worked—or rather, Akemi worked while Aoi hesitated—assembling the so-called bird costume. The living room floor was soon covered in scraps of paper, blobs of glitter, and stray feathers. Akemi's focus was intense, her tongue sticking out slightly as she meticulously glued feathers onto a cardboard vest.
"Done!" Akemi finally declared, holding up the vest with pride.
Aoi stared at it. "It looks like a chicken exploded."
"It's art!" Akemi insisted, shoving the vest into Aoi's hands. "Now, put it on!"
Reluctantly, Aoi slipped into the vest. Akemi handed her a pair of goggles with feathers glued to the sides and a headband with what could only be described as a mangled beak sticking out of it.
"You look perfect!" Akemi said, stepping back to admire her work.
"I look ridiculous," Aoi muttered, adjusting the goggles.
Before Aoi could complain further, Akemi pulled out her phone. "Time for a photoshoot!"
"Wait, what? No!" Aoi protested, but Akemi was already snapping pictures.
"Work it, Aoi! Show me your inner bird!" Akemi cheered, giggling uncontrollably.
Aoi flapped her arms halfheartedly, her face bright red. "This is so embarrassing…"
Suddenly, Akemi's eyes lit up with a new idea. "You know what this needs? Sound effects!"
Before Aoi could stop her, Akemi pulled out her phone again and played a loud, squawking bird sound. The absurdity of the moment was too much, and both girls burst into laughter, rolling on the floor.
As the giggles subsided, Aoi managed to catch her breath. "You're insane, Akemi. Onii-chan would freak out if he saw this mess."
Akemi smirked. "Good thing he's not here, huh?"
Just as she said that, there was a knock at the door.
The girls froze.
"Do you think it's him?" Aoi whispered, her eyes wide.
Akemi grinned mischievously. "Only one way to find out!"
She tiptoed to the door and peeked through the peephole. Then she turned back to Aoi with a devilish grin. "It's the delivery guy. Let's scare him!"
"What?! No way!" Aoi protested, but Akemi was already pushing her toward the door.
"Come on, Bird Queen! This is your moment!" Akemi whispered, barely containing her laughter.
Reluctantly, Aoi opened the door a crack, poking her head out with the ridiculous beak headband still on. The delivery guy blinked, clearly trying to process what he was seeing.
"Caw!" Aoi blurted, immediately regretting it.
The delivery guy handed over the package without a word and walked away quickly, muttering something about "kids these days."
As soon as the door closed, Akemi burst into uncontrollable laughter, tears streaming down her face. "That was priceless! You're a natural!"
Aoi groaned, pulling off the goggles. "I'm never listening to you again."
But even she couldn't help laughing as they looked around at the glitter-covered disaster zone they'd created.
Kazuki was going to flip when he got home. But for now, the Chaos Duo basked in their triumph, already brainstorming their next ridiculous scheme.