Legal Disclaimer is on chapter 1... this chapter marks the formation of the Cosplay Group.
The Group is Formed
By Dale Speer and Angela Brown
The next day, Dale and Ami were talking plans. "I know my parents trust me to be safe while I traveled," Dale said, "so I wonder if your parents would trust me to keep you safe as we travel over to Seattle for Sakuracon." "Oh," Ami replied, "that will be awesome!"
While the 2 freshman were discussing plans, a new student teacher was in the shadows listening to every word. Once the 2 girls finished their conversation, the older woman left the shadows and headed to the home ec room, to tell the student teacher there what she heard. Walking down the hallways, Janice also overheard the 2 and wondered what they were up to- and went to seek out her best friend Maria.
Maria was sitting in her favorite room in the entire school, the Home Economics room. The student teacher, Ms. Sandra Brown, was at the desk apparently busy. A moment later, Sandra was called to the outside of the room by the 1st student teacher, who had been listening to Ami and Dale's conversation. Sandra then left the room, leaving Maria alone- and a few minutes later, Janice walked in and sat next to her friend.
"You wouldn't believe what I heard a couple of freshmen talking about," she told Maria. "And what is that?" Maria asked her friend as she sewed a shirt.
"They were talking about going to something called Sakurakon," Janice told her. "Never heard of it," Maria said.
Meanwhile, outside the classroom, Sandra and the other teacher, her sister Angela, were speaking of the exact same thing. "Dale-chan and Ami-chan were talking of cosplaying over at Sakurakon." Angela informed her older sister. "That's interesting," Sandra replied, "Perhaps we can mentor them in cosplay- and in anime as well." Angela grinned. "My thoughts exactly, onee-chan. How about trying to start up a cosplay club?" she proposed.
"Having just a cosplay club would be a good idea," Sandra replied, "But it wouldn't meet district requirements... but a club about Japanese Culture would fit the bill wonderfully, and mask the cosplay group." "You're so smart, onee-chan." Angela said. "Aren't I always?" Sandra replied, "But now, let's find out where Dale and Ami live."
"I can do that." Angela said. "I have a free period coming up." "And I've got a couple of more classes to finish up," Sandra added, "I don't have a class for the final hour of the day." "Then let's get to it then." Angela said, then hugged her sister. "Ja matte ne onee-chan!" "Ja ne, onii-chan," Sandra replied before going back into her classroom.
Walking back in, Sandra noticed Maria was still there, sewing on the blouse she had since the beginning of the previous hour. "Don't you have any other classes, Maria?" she asked. "No, Ms. Brown." Maria replied. "I have free period til last period today."
"Want to be my T.A. for the next 2 hours?" Sandra then asked her. Maria's face brightened. "Really? I'd LOVE to!!" she said happily. Getting out a change of schedule form, Sandra then filled and signed it before sending Maria to the office with it. "Soon as you're back," she said, "come over to the cooking lab." "Yes ma'am!" Maria said, and rushed to the main office to turn it in. As soon as the change had been made in her schedule, the sophmore then headed back to the home ec room and went straight back to the cooking lab where Sandra had a half a classroom of kids. "Always remember," she lectured, "Whenever you're handling any kind of meat, wash your hands as soon as you're finished." She then assigned to them the pot roast they had before them, having it finished by the end of the period. Maria was respectful and stayed in the back of the room and watched as her fellow students began the day's project.
Sandra walked down to the girls' locker room where her older sister was finishing up the day's notes on her classes. "So how was the end of the day, onii-chan?" she asked once in the doorway. "Wasn't too bad." Angela replied. "Need to order more yoga blocks for the kids though. The ones here are a bit old. How were your classes?" she asked.
"Got me a new T.A. for my final 2 classes," Sandra replied, "And surprisingly, the various pot roasts I gave my senior cooking class were very good tasting." "With you as a teacher, I'm not surprised." Angela said truthfully. "Who is this new T.A. of yours?" "Maria Stanton," the younger sister replied, "She's one of my top sophomore students in both classrooms."
"That's awesome. Oh, here." Angela said, and handed Sandra the sheet of paper. "Ami and Dale's addresses." Taking a look over the address, she noticed they lived in between them. "Quite an advantage for us," she replied as she heard a basketball bouncing on the gym floor, "I wonder who's doing some practicing?" "Let's go check." Angela replied, and got up from her desk.
On the gym floor, Dale and Ami were having a fun game of one on one when the teachers approached them. "Good afternoon, teachers," they said simultaneously. Angela smiled as she said, "Good afternoon, Dale-chan. Ami-chan." "So you like playing basketball?" Sandra asked, getting a nod from Dale as a reply. "Have you thought of trying out for the team?" Angela asked her. "No, ma'am," Dale replied, "It's because of my hobbies that I only shoot hoops for the fun of it." "And what are these hobbies?" the teacher asked the freshman.
"I'm a huge fan of Japanese animation," Dale replied, "and I maintain websites I built on some of my favorite shows and movies." "Then perhaps you two would like to be the founding members of the Nihon Club." Angela suggested. When asked what that was by Ami, Sandra replied, "The Nihon Club is an idea we have for introducing Japanese culture to the high school. It has limited approval by the school district, and now we're getting members together."
"Should we do it, Ami?" Dale asked her friend. "Definitely a good way to get to know anime! I'm all for it!" Ami said enthusiastically.
"My older sister overheard you talking in the hallway," Sandra added, "when you were making plans to attend Sakurakon. What were you planning on doing there?" "We were thinking of making costumes for it." Ami replied. "Let me guess," Sandra replied, "Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury?" "Hai, Ms. Sandra," Ami said.
"Let's change the venue for this to our home, onii-chan," Sandra replied with a wink to her sister. "Onii-chan?" Dale asked. "Yes," Angela explained, "It means older sister. Would either of your parents mind if you came over to our place?"
Dale got her cellphone out of her backpack and dialed her home- and once she was done 5 minutes later, said, "They don't mind if we're with teachers for some extra-curricular activities." "How about you Ami-chan?" Angela asked. Ami, however, was just hanging up her cell phone. "They said I could, seeing as how you two are teachers." "Then let's get going!" Sandra replied. So the 2 sisters whisked Dale and Ami into their car and headed straight towards their 2 story home.
"Wow," was all Dale had to say... and once inside, Sandra got them some tea before the sisters went upstairs. "We want to dress up in costume?" Angela asked her sister. Nodding, Sandra said, "Our favorite characters should be the ones we introduce to them." "Hai!" Angela said, and pulled both their costumes out of the closet, going back for the accessories. 10 minutes later, the sisters were back with their guests dressed in costumes of their favorite characters. For Angela, it was Sailor Jupiter while Sandra dressed as Sailor Venus.
"Wow," Dale said, "I never believed you 2 were into costuming as well." "It's a little hobby of ours." Angela said with a smile.
Since her home was just a few doors away, Dale politely excused herself and ran down there, changing into her PGSM costume. Ami took after Dale and ran to her home. She changed into her SuperSailor Mercury outfit and ran back to Sandra and Angela's.
When she walked back, Janice saw her as Sailor Moon and did a double-take. "If that's Dale," she said to herself, "that is one heck of a nice costume!" Ami was able to return to their teacher's house with no one seeing her.
And once back in the presence of their teachers, Dale was smiling like her character while in the costume. "Now I've got to admit," Sandra replied, "those are some very nice costumes." "Hai, I agree with you onee-chan." Angela commented. "We definitely have our president and vice-president of the Nihon Club."
On Friday, Dale and Ami were walking around to the different bulletin boards with notices of the new club for posting on them. The notices announced an organizational meeting for next Friday during the lunch hour, and for those attending to brown-bag their lunches for it. "Wow," Dale said as they were back with their teacher-advisors, "I would never believe so many people would ask about the new club." "I agree." Ami said. "Never thought there was this much interest in the school." Angela commented.
The day of the meeting drew quite a crowd in the home economics classroom as the teachers outlined what the Nihon Club was about. "We came here from the University of Washington," Sandra said to them, "where we were surrounded by those interested in Japanese culture. If you were to go there now, you students would be in for a culture shock if someone were to talk about some aspect without you knowing about it, so this group will lessen that shock when you do go." Sandra then pointed to a raised hand, and the Senior girl stood up and asked, "How steep is the Japanese culture over in the Seattle Area?"
"As an example, let me point out that one of THE most popular America anime conventions is held there every year." Angela pointed out. "It's called Sakurakon. It's a gathering of anime fans and those who immerse themselves in Japanese culture."
Once the meeting was over with, students went to the 2 advisors and signed up for the new organization- and when it was done, the teachers combined the lists and tallied them up. "Over 150 students," Sandra said, "That's quite a club." "Not bad if we say so ourselves." Angela said. "And, of course, we do." "This is gonna be fun!" Ami commented. "So when do we have our first meeting?" Dale asked.
"Next Friday," Sandra replied, "And we should bring some anime for us to watch... speaking of which, how did you become interested in anime, Dale?" "Our family has a cable internet account with a WiFi router," Dale replied, "And I was visiting a friend's internet site on my notebook computer that told about her hobby of anime- and I did my homework on it. Needless to say I'm hooked on Shoujo anime- and that was why I did the costume when I saw some sites about it." "Awesome." Angela said. "What about you, Ami-chan?" "Dale showed it to me, and got me hooked." the young woman responded.
Once school was done for the day, the 4 met in the home ec cooking lab. "I just called my parents," Dale said, "And they said I could spend the weekend with you 2." "Same here." Ami added. "Perhaps we should go watch some anime." Angela suggested until a knock came at the door of the classroom, and in stepped Janice and Maria. "We had some questions of you," Janice said of the 4, "That is, if you wouldn't mind."
"Of course we don't mind!" Angela said cheerfully. "Ask away." "A week ago yesterday," Janice said, "I was looking out my bedroom window when I saw Dale run by in a costume. I've never seen that character before, and am wondering who she is."
"She's Sailor Moon," Dale replied, "Don't tell me you haven't seen the series before." Maria shakes her head. "Never heard of her. Or any series by that name. What's the storyline?" she asks. "The characters are all girls, except for a guy and 2 cats," Dale replied, "They're all in junior high school, and all are reborn princesses from a thousand years before." "Wow," Janice replied, "That's got to be an amazing story. Can you tell us more?"
"I got an even better idea," Sandra suggested, "Why don't we go to our house and watch the series in Japanese." "I have no problem heading over there." Maria says. "My parents let me stay out til dusk. I'm anxious to see the series." "Same here," Janice offered.
So the 6 girls got into Sandra's SUV and drove over to their home where they had a marathon of anime- and Janice getting interested in the characters. Maria as well was showing an avid interest in anime. She couldn't wait to get her allowance to buy some of her own.
"Have you found some favorite characters of your own, girls?" Sandra asked of Janice and Maria. "Well I like Sailor Mars," Janice replied, "It's a cool thing, having psychic powers outside being in costume." "I actually like Pluto." Maria replied. "Watching over everyone from a distance to keep them safe without letting them know about it."
It was then that Dale let the 2 new girls in on a secret- that her and Ami were actually getting a cosplay group going, and were looking for others. Maria's eyes widened as she asked, "Cosplay?" "It means 'Costume Play' in Japanese," Dale explained, "And it's the coolest thing to come to the United States since anime started airing here."
"So that's what Dale was doing when Janice saw her?" Maria asked. "She sure was." Angela then said. "Would you two like to try it out?" "I wouldn't mind," Janice said once her mind soaked in everything, "In fact, my parents wanted me to do something productive since junior high- when I started building up my allowance." "And I just want to get out of the house," Maria said, "So I'm in." So they started made plans for their first cosplay when there came another knock at the door- and who should it be but Dale's older sister, Bobbie.
"I heard Dale was down here from our mother," she said, "And wanted to spend time with her once I got home from college." You couldn't hide the joy on her face when Dale leaped into her sister's arms and hugged her. Bobbie was 4 years older than Dale, and attended Washington State University in Pullman. A Nursing major, she was finishing up her core courses before transfering up to the Spokane Campus to begin her nursing classes. Once introductions were over with, Sandra asked her how she got into anime.
"It was Dale who did that," Bobbie replied, "as I watched Sailor Moon through the crack in her door. Needless to say I was into it from then- and in love with Sailor Uranus, as I'm into track." "We're starting a cosplay group," Ami commented to Dale's sister, "Would you like to be our Uranus?"
"I would be few and far between for meetings," Bobbie replied, "But I would love to be part of your cosplay group." "Now all we need are a Saturn, a Chibi-Moon, and a Neptune. Oh, and can't forget a Tuxedo Kamen!" Angela said happily. "I think our Nihon Club will provide those for us," Sandra replied, "Once we get them into watching the series." "Yes," Dale replied. "So maybe we should bring the series with us to the next meeting," Maria suggested. "I agree, Maria-chan," Sandra replied.
"One question begs to be asked," Dale said, "What are we going to call our cosplay group?"
"SpokAnime?" Ami suggested. "Now that fits every element of a name," Janice said, "We live in Spokane and we're fans of anime- even us newcomers." "All in favor of SpokAnime say 'Aye'." Angela said with a smile.
A simultaneous "Aye!" came from all of the gathered members, who then giggled at it. "We ought to order some pizza in in celebration of the formation of SpokAnime!" Angela suggested. "And what should I do with my sewing room?" Dale asked- and she replied that it was a converted bedroom upstairs in their house after a questioning look from Bobbie. It was then that they heard the bellow of a horn just outside the house- and when Dale went to look, there was her mother behind the wheel of a Class A Motor Home with a girl friend beside her- and a glistening flying toward her as she caught the house keys.
"You're more than welcome to keep the house and everything in it," she shouted as she stepped on the gas and pulled away. "Now what do I do with my life?" Dale wondered as she stepped inside and Angela frowned. "That wasn't right." she said after witnessing the event from a window.
"Well one thing's for certain," Bobbie said, "I'm going to have to come home and be your guardian for a while." "No, Bobbie," Sandra replied, "You need to finish what you started. Me and Angela will be her company until as such time as you come back." "We'd love to have you be with us, Dale-chan." Angela added alongside her sister.
"I'd do it if I were you, Dale," Janice replied, "You need the companionship until Bobbie returns." "Can't do better than 2 fellow otakus, Dale." Ami replied. "Then I guess I'm your companion," Dale told the 2 sisters, who then smothered her in a big hug.
"Welcome to the family, Dale-chan!" Angela said after hugging her.
TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT STORY...