Myrtle and Me

[Moki Kagawa]

"ALL RIGHT!" Moki spoke, her eyes alight with mischief. "THIS IS IT! The championship round! If Moki Kagawa makes this shot, she becomes the world champion! The crowd is completely silent, folks! You should feel the tension in this stadium!"

She was standing in the middle of the bathroom, her back to the sinks, the doors to the toilet stalls thrown open, but she didn't seem to realize any of this. She was in her own world. Dramatically, she picked up a tomato from the sink, grasping it firmly in her hand.

"Will she succeed? We're about to find out, folks! History is in the making!"

Moki tossed the tomato stylishly over a stall door, darting quickly to see where it would land. She jumped back and hollered enthusiastically when it hit the toilet dead-on with a satisfying "clunk."

"SHE MAKES IT!" she screamed loudly, dancing and jumping around in excitement, completely oblivious to the very upset-looking ghost that had risen out of the toilet Moki had just hammered with fruit.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" moaned the ghost somewhat musically. "So you've won today, is that it, Moki? By hitting poor Myrtle with-" she paused, examining the object in her hand "-vine-ripened organic tomatoes?" She was scowling profusely.

Moki stopped her dance at an awkward place. She turned around with a very guilty look on her face. "Oh, um, hullo there Myrtle..." Her eyes fell on what was left of the rather destroyed fruit. "Well... at least I had good taste, huh? Organic... can't go wrong with organic!"

Myrtle threw the tomato across the bathroom where it hit the opposite wall with a squish. Moki's eyes widened as she shrunk against the sink as the ghost came nearer.

"So that's your game, is it? Throw vegetables at little Myrtle! Do you-" she stopped as Moki giggled nervously, pointing at the tomato that was in the process of dripping down the wall.

"Technically, that's a fruit..."

[Rita Hall]

Rita exited through the library doors. She had spent the past few hours reading a book on careers in the wizarding world. Even though she was only a fourth year, she knew that her O.W.L.'s next year would come sooner than she thought...and, considering Rita wasn't an amazing witch, she knew she'd need to work hard in order to make sure she'd do well. So far, the prospect of being a doctor was her top career choice, but she knew it'd be difficult. According to the book she read, they accepted no lower than E's in Potions, Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, and DADA at N.E.W.T. level; Rita wasn't even sure if she'd be able to get those scores on her O.W.L.'s, let alone N.E.W.T.s. Maybe I should ask Dr. Rivers about it, she thought.

She was heading toward the staircase, when all of a sudden, she stepped in something; before she even had time to realize what had happened, she had slipped and landed right in the middle of a huge puddle of what she now knew was maple syrup. "What the fuck!" she exclaimed, slightly frustrated. Who the hell would spill syrup right in the middle of the fucking hallway? she wondered. I guess I better go clean myself up. Relieved that there was at least a bathroom on this floor in which she could wash herself off and be a bit less sticky, she walked down the hallway and turned to the left, walking through the door, where she was immediately hit in the head with a tomato.

You have got to be fucking kidding me, Rita thought to herself. First the syrup and now this? Rita wasn't one to get annoyed easily...but she couldn't help but feel frustrated at the fact that, at the moment, she probably looked like a walking disaster. Looking up, she realized that not only was Moaning Myrtle here- what was she doing here, anyway? This isn't her bathroom? Rita wondered- but the only other person in here was none other than Moki, the fourth-year Slytherin girl she'd met the other day in the hospital wing.

"Oh...hey," Rita said, beginning to feel as if she should just leave and go use the bathroom in her dormitory. It didn't look as if she'd get much cleaning up done here; quite a few tomatoes had already been thrown. There was one dripping down the wall, one in the sink...Rita wasn't even sure how to react. "What's up?" she went on, temporarily forgetting that she was covered in syrup and that there was currently the remnants of a tomato in her hair.

[Moki Kagawa]

Moki used the momentary distraction of Rita's entrance to slip away from Myrtle, who had been attempting to pin her against the wall of sinks. She didn't enjoy the feeling of ghosts going through her... it was eerily cold, and besides that, just outright creepy even if she wasn't scared of it.

"Oh, hey Rita," she said, running over to her, Moaning Myrtle close behind.

"Your friend here was just pelting me with tomatoes, that's what up!" Myrtle weeped mournfully, fixing very convincing sad eyes on Rita.

Moki's eyes widened, looking at the Hufflepuff girl. She grinned, shrugging guiltily. "Okay, okay! I just... is it SO weird to want to play a game of Tomato Hoops in a seemingly deserted bathroom? I mean, really! It's not like I comment on what you all do in your bathrooms, why'd ya have to ruin my party, Myrtle? I just won the world championship, too... you didn't even congratulate me!" She pouted.

"Why'd you have to throw THAT at me?" Myrtle pointed accusingly at the still sliding tomato. "All I wanted was a little peace and quiet and a break from the loneliness of my regular bathroom! And what do I get? Tomatoes, LOBBED AT MY HEAD!" She wailed miserably.

Moki looked crestfallen. She turned to Rita, noticing that her blonde hair was tainted with the red of... tomato juice. A guilty smile crept across her face. "Heh... sorry about that..." she said, motioning to the juicy fruit. Hehe. Juicyfruit. That gum was yummy. "I'll help you get cleaned up," she said quickly, running over to the sink. "Hey... what the hell happened to you? You're all covered in... is that maple syrup?"

[Rita Hall]

Rita didn't know how to react to Moki and Myrtle's exchange. On one hand, she felt a bit sorry for Myrtle; she knew it must be frustrating to have things thrown at her, especially since she was sure many students were amused by the prospect of throwing things at a ghost and watching the items go right through them. On the other hand, though, Myrtle's constant wailing and negative attitude was far from appealing, and despite being a pretty patient person, Rita had sometimes longed to find a way to shut her up.

"Um...maybe you should return back to your usual bathroom?" Rita suggested to Myrtle. "Not that I'm advocating her tomato-throwing or anything...but if you don't want to be hit by tomatoes, why don't you just leave?" Rita wasn't sure if her statement had come across as mean or not- it was the truth, though. Although Rita had been less than happy to be hit by a tomato, she wouldn't stand there and continue to be attacked if someone was throwing things at her. Not to mention that Myrtle's argument seemed somewhat flawed...searching for peace and quiet in an attempt to find loneliness? Then again, it was Myrtle who was talking...logic had never seemed to be one of her strengths.

"Thanks," Rita said gratefully to Moki, who had offered to help her clean up. She followed her fellow fourth year over to one of the sinks- which, fortunately, hadn't been pelted with a tomato- and turned on the faucet, eager to wash the sticky syrup off her hands and the tomato juice out of her hair. "Oh...yeah" she said, when Moki questioned her about the syrup. "There's a huge puddle of it in the hallway, and I fell right into it. I didn't even notice it until I stepped in it...and by that time, I'd already slipped and fallen. I guess today's just not my day," she said, shaking her head, partially because she knew she was a mess and partially at the complete ridiculousness of her situation.

[Moki Kagawa]

"Hey!" Moki said indignantly. "It wasn't like I was TRYING to throw tomatoes at her! I was just trying to hit the toilets, and she happened to be hiding in one! It's not like I could tell, y'know? I'll show you - but let's get you cleaned up first."

Moki laughed at Rita's explanation for her stickiness. "What the hell was maple syrup doing in the middle of the hallway?" She paused, then considered her question. "Well... Peeves..."

She helped Rita wash off most of the syrup, then grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the end of the stalls. "Myrtle, if you don't want to be hit, stay back," she warned. Myrtle sobbed woefully.

"Okay." Moki flicked her wand and a new stack of tomatoes appeared next to her. "Here's how you play. You start here. Stalls are open, but you can't look at your target. Stand near the door and aim for the toilet bowl with the tomato. If you hit it, you move onto the next stall - but you keep standing where you are, you don't move, ok? It gets harder as you go. And if you run out of tomatoes, you lose. Wanna try?"

[Rita Hall]

"Oh, well...if it was an accident, and she apologized, then there's no reason for you to be upset with her, Myrtle...unless she kept throwing them at you....then I don't know...." Rita was at a loss of what to say in order to try to resolve the conflict between them. Fortunately, their argument seemed to come to a temporary halt as Moki helped her wash the syrup off of her. Of course...Peeves, Rita thought, enlightened by Moki's explanation. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought about that herself; pouring maple syrup in the hallway was an act typical of the poltergeist. She was surprised, though, that he hadn't been around to laugh at her when it happened. I guess I was lucky in that sense, she thought.

Rita was barely able to get out a "thank you," as soon as the two girls had cleaned off all the syrup, when Moki grabbed her arm and pulled her down the row of stalls. Startled, it was all Rita could do to keep up with the other girl and not trip as she was dragged along the way. She listened intently as Moki described the rules of her tomato game, asking her if she wanted to try it out. "I guess I'll give it a try..." Rita said, somewhat hesitant to fling the squishy vegetables- or were they fruits, she was never sure- due to the fact that part of one of them was still maintaining its residence in her hair. Maybe this'll be fun, she thought. Picking up a tomato, Rita threw it at the toilet; at least, that's where she tried to aim for...instead, it ended up hitting the ceiling. "Um....sorry, I don't have very good aim," she admitted to Moki, as she looked up at the tomato juice now dripping from the ceiling.

[Moki Kagawa]

Moki burst out laughing as Rita's tomato hit the ceiling with a satisfying smack.

"I don't have very good aim..." "That's okay," Moki said between giggles. "Messing up is pretty much half the fun, at least in my opinion. I mean, no matter what happens, you still get to throw tomatoes, which is epic." She picked one up and flung it across the room at nothing in particular, the vegetable/fruit exploding on impact, causing the already distressed Myrtle to wail once again.

"Good grief, Myrtle!" she said to the ghost. "If you don't like it, no one's making you stay! That wasn't even near your general direction!"

Myrtle made a face at her. "With aim like hers, you can HARDLY blame me! And as for YOU," she said, jabbing Moki in the chest with a very icy finger (Moki shivered very audibly), "YOU'VE already made it QUITE clear that you have no problem hitting me!"

"I told you, that was an accident!" said the Slytherin girl, an angry glare appearing on her face. "What do you want from me?"

"I JUST wanted a little COMPANY!" emphasized Myrtle with a sob.

Moki blinked. "Well, you got it, didn't you? Rita and I are here! I mean, it's not my fault I didn't know you were in the toilet down there. This is the fourth-floor bathroom. Yours is two floors below; I just wanted to play a game!" Her eyes narrowed. "Hey, Myrtle, that's an idea....... you wanna play?"

Myrtle floated over to where Moki stood. "YOU wanna play with ME?" she asked, her voice a squeaky moan.

"Ah, hell, why not? You can't have any worse aim than Rita..."

Myrtle's grin was sadistic. "On the contrary, Moki... my aim is QUITE good..."

Moki did NOT like the look on Myrtle's face as the ghost picked up a tomato.

[Rita Hall]

Rita sighed, slightly exasperated, as Moki and Myrtle began to argue yet again. She didn't understand why the two of them felt the need to fight constantly; it seemed as if the slightest thing set them off. Looking back and forth from the ghost to the girl, Rita wished there was something she could do to stop their bitter exchange of words, but was at a loss of any actual ideas. We get it, okay?! she wanted to say to them. Moki didn't mean to hit you, you just wanted company but now you're not happy yet you're still hanging around...just stop your fucking complaining already! Not wanting to get involved in their fight, however, the blonde girl just stood there as Moki tried to explain to Myrtle for what seemed like the twelve millionth time that she had just wanted to play a game in the bathroom and hadn't wanted to hit her. Maybe I should just go back to my dormitory, Rita thought, feeling as if she was getting nowhere by standing here as the other two continued arguing.

"Ah, hell, why not? You can't have any worse aim than Rita..." Moki said to Myrtle, after inviting her, somewhat tauntingly, to play the game with her as well. "Hey," Rita protested, but her tone was only halfhearted; she knew Moki was right. Her terrible aim was the primary reason Rita had never attempted to take up Quidditch- she'd tried to learn how to play in her second year, but she'd kept throwing the Quaffle too far and it'd ended up flying out of bounds off the field nearly every time, not to mention the countless amount of times in which she'd narrowly missed being hit by Bludgers.

"On the contrary, Moki... my aim is QUITE good..." Rita had never seen the ghost look quite so....evil before. The look of cruel amusement on her transparent face seemed so out of place that it was hard for Rita to believe it was even real- until, of course, she picked up the tomato, aiming straight for Moki. Rita didn't know what she should do- yelling at Moki to move out of the way seemed futile, since there wasn't really much she could do to avoid being hit. Myrtle's face was filled with glee as she held the tomato in her hand, and just a second later, she threw it at the Slytherin girl.

Before she even realized what she was doing, Rita had jumped in front of Moki, obstructing the path of the tomato, which hit her right in the middle of her shirt, causing juice and seeds to fly everywhere. What the hell did I just do? Rita wondered, not really understanding why she had prevented the other girl from getting hit, especially since they'd only met each other once before today. Whatever, what's done is done, she said to herself. Looking up at Myrtle, who seemed even more shocked than Rita at what had happened, she said, "Look, I know you weren't happy about being hit, and I understand it must be hard with students throwing things at you all the time. Still...Moki hadn't meant to hit you; she didn't even realize you were there, and she even apologized to you. Can't you just let it go?" Not bothering to wait and see Myrtle's reaction, Rita went to examine the state of her shirt in the mirror- completely covered in tomato juice. Oh, well...it was in pretty bad shape already; there's no sense in starting to worry about it now, she figured.

[Moki Kagawa]

Myrtle threw a nasty look in Moki's direction before floating miserably through the bathroom wall, wailing with despair.

The Slytherin girl didn't even notice her leave - she was dumbstruck, her mouth hanging open and her eyes following Rita, who was examining herself in the mirror.

"Why... did you do that?" Moki asked her, coming back to her senses. "That was so... I dunno.... NICE! Like seriously, Rita, I mean not that I don't appreciate it, 'cause I do-" her eyes lingered on Rita's tomato-splattered shirt "-believe me, I do. But you didn't have to do that, y'know? I probably deserved it... I get in too much trouble for my own good..." she trailed off and walked over to the sink to where the other girl was standing. "Thanks," she said with a smile.

[Rita Hall]

"Why... did you do that? That was so... I dunno.... NICE!" Rita laughed softly to herself as Moki continued to ramble appreciatively, telling her how grateful she was. "I- well- I don't know," she said. God, what a fucking lame answer, she thought, but it was the truth. She honestly had no idea what had compelled her to jump in front of the other girl; after all, she hadn't been involved in the conflict at all, and there was no reason why she'd need to end up getting hit by a second tomato today, in addition to the syrup she'd fallen in. "I guess...I just didn't want you to get hit. I mean, you hitting Myrtle was an accident...it wasn't fair for her to hit you on purpose," she continued. Turning on the faucets, she took some soap and attempted to clean her shirt off; although she was somewhat successful, she knew this shirt would still be in need of a major wash.

"Oh....you're welcome," she replied, realizing that Moki had thanked her. At least Myrtle had gone now, meaning that the conflict between her and Moki had come to an end, at least for the moment. Still, Rita no longer had a desire to play tomato hoops with the other girl...she'd gotten into enough of a mess during her time in this bathroom; ironically, she'd originally come in here to clean herself up. "I- I think I'm going to go back to my room now," she spoke up. "Not that I don't want to hang out or anything...it's just that, well, I'm kind of a mess, as you can see," she said, "and I think it'd be better if I went and took a shower, and changed into something clean. We could hang out later, though, if you want," she added.

[Moki Kagawa]

Moki eyed the state of Rita's shirt. "Yeah... that sounds like a plan," she said, meaning the girl's intention to clean herself up. "If you want to hang later, I'm down! I mean if you are... looks like you've had a bit of a bad day, I'd totally understand if you just want to chill out by yourself." She flicked her wand over the stack of tomatoes, making them disappear, then bit her lip, looking around at the bathroom. "Cleaning spell... cleaning spell.... why don't I know a cleaning spell?" She shrugged. "Ah, well. As long as Filch hasn't found us by now, I'm probably in the clear." Moki shook her head. "I have my theories about that man... wasn't he about 85 when Harry Potter went to school here?" she questioned. "That was ages ago; I seriously think the man died one day, never realized it, and kept on around here. As for the cat-" she laughed "-no doubt about it, that thing is possessed by demons."