note: I don't actually know Yakitake! Japan. I just used "yakitake" because it popped into my head, and I learned that it meant "freshly baked" XD also, did I just imagine the nickname "Misa-chi"? I think that just came from my head o,0
anyway, this is for my friend's birthday. Happy birthday, Lily!
From eight in the morning, Hinata knew it was going to be a good day.
One, two, three… five… There was an even number of sesame seeds on his breakfast bun! You always wanted an even number, because then everyone'd have a partner and no one would be lonely. Plus, if you stared at the seeds from exactly the right angle, they looked like the shape of an elephant! It was going to be a great day. What was going to happen? Was Amakata-sensei going to show up to school in an elephant costume? He hoped so.
Elephants were amazing. They had friends, and remembered things just as well as humans, and sprayed water with their noses… Hinata tried to do that with his milk once, but he ended up snorting and coughing all over his lunch. Sensei was so worried, she made him go to the nurse and miss story time! But Misa-chi tried to tell him the story he had missed, so it was okay.
Hinata went to school, stomping his feet like an elephant. He walked in the door, trying to make a grand entrance like Hamburger-san from Yakitake Rangers.
"Hamburger-san is here, the superior defender! For all the food that's yummy and tender!"
Misa-chi quickly stood up and pulled him to his seat. She probably didn't want him to reveal his secret identity too soon… what if Asparagus-san found out and came to defeat him? Hinata wasn't prepared to do battle yet! What if Asparagus-san came in the middle of Amakata-sensei's lesson? He turned to the front. Amakata-sensei wasn't wearing an elephant costume. But she was wearing a bumblebee costume!
"Misa-chi, Misa-chi, look! Sensei's wearing a bumblebee costume! She's so prepared."
"That's just a yellow and black striped sweater, You-kun. And pay attention, Sensei's talking!"
Hinata spent the rest of class drawing Hamburger-san riding an elephant all over his Japanese exercises. Hamburger-san didn't need grammar to vanquish the bad guys, so Hinata wouldn't either. He could defeat all the Eggplant-tachi and Tomato-tachi even if he forgot his verb endings! Misa-chi disagreed.
"All the great heroes need discipline and honor to beat the bad guys, You-kun. Just look at Kenshin-san. When someone asks him to help them, he does it without complaining! So if his sensei told him to do grammar exercises, he would finish them in five minutes, then go and save an old lady's kitten from falling off the roof!"
"So cool…" Hinata wanted to be like Kenshin-san someday. But he wanted to be like Hamburger-san first! Kenshin-san could wait; he was a nice guy.
"It's my turn to clean the blackboards after school today, so you don't need to wait for me. Just go home. If you don't do your homework, I won't let you have any of my cake!"
"But Misa-chi…" How could he get through the day without any cake? The cakes from the school raffle were so good: strawberry, chocolate, mango…
"And that's final!" Misa-chi pushed him down the hallway, before turning around and walking back into the classroom. She checked to make sure he was leaving, and went to help Sensei clean the boards.
The sesame seeds had said it would be a good day, but if Misa-chi wasn't there, how could he have fun? Misa-chi would be missing out! Hinata decided he should wait, so that she could share the good day with him. He could stand by the front door of the school, where she would definitely come out when she was done. Most of the other children were gone already, except for one little girl who was standing… by the front door! Hey, that was his spot!
Hinata glared at her for obstructing the way of friendship and justice. She had been tugging on one of her pigtails and staring calmly towards the sky.
"In the name of sweet and yummy food, do not impede the path of the Yakitake Rangers!" Oh, that was good! It sounded just like Hamburger-san.
The girl stared back at him.
Had he forgotten to wipe his mouth and left a few bun crumbs on his face again? Misa-chi had scolded him for that last time, but she was smiling, so he knew she wasn't mad. But no defender of justice could save the world when his face wasn't clean. Hinata's mother said so.
"…" The girl stared at him.
"…" He stared back. What was going on?
"Mochi-kun," she said.
"Eh?"
"You're all soft and squishy-looking. So you're Mochi-kun." She indicated a soft, round shape with her hands as she talked.
"Mochi? But I want to be Hamburger-san!" Hamburger-san was the best Ranger.
"No. You're not there yet." She patted him on the head. But he was taller! Why should he be the only one with a nickname?
"Well, then you're Dango-chan!" Oh, now Hinata was hungry… he wanted some dango.
"Why?" The girl cocked her head, staring at him some more.
"I don't know! You just are." What did she mean, saying he was all soft and squishy-looking, anyway?
"Then at least be more respectful, if you're going to give me a name for no reason." She patted him on the head again.
"…Yes, Dango-dono." This girl was sort of bossy, like Misa-chi. Maybe if he went along, she would give him sweets, like his best friend!
The girl smiled at him. She looked kind of like Misa-chi, except Misa-chi didn't wear her hair in pigtails. Also, this girl smiled a lot more cheerfully than Misa-chi usually did.
"I'm hungry…" His stomach growled. Misa-chi didn't really mean it when she said that she wouldn't give him any cake, right? If he did all his homework, he might miss Yakitake Rangers at five o'clock!
"Cake?" The girl pulled a mango cake out of her backpack. It had the school sticker on its wrapping, so it was from the school raffle.
"Oh, lucky! You won one of the raffle prizes?" He had entered the raffle, too, but he didn't get anything.
"No." Dango-dono shook her head, smiling slightly.
"Eh?" Where did she get the cake?
"I won all of them."
Just how much luck did she have?
The cake was delicious. Neither of them had a spoon, so he ate it carefully, holding it by the wrapper. No proper defender of justice worth his sugar would ever go out in public with crumbs on his face. Even if they were scrumptious mango cake crumbs… He hoped Misa-chi would bring a strawberry cake tomorrow. But strawberry was her favorite, so it wouldn't be nice to eat all of it. What would he do? And where was Misa-chi?
"Misa-chi sure is late…" He crumpled up the wrapper and placed it in the trash can. If he threw it and missed, Misa-chi would be mad at him for littering the schoolyard.
Dango-dono thought about his words, looking at the windows of the school thoughtfully.
"Maybe the Vitamin Brigade captured her," she answered, staring down the hallway.
"Oh no!" The Vitamin Brigade was the scourge of all tasty foods. If they got a hold of you, they'd definitely drain all of the sweetness and goodness out of you! Only Hamburger-san could hold them off long enough for innocent Cookie-tachi to escape. Misa-chi was in trouble!
Dango-dono frowned silently, turning away from the door. Was she scared? Hinata knew that the Vitamin Brigade was very hard to defeat, but with the power of the mango cake that was still in him, he could do anything! Besides, Misa-chi would definitely give him some of her cake tomorrow if he saved her.
Hinata grabbed his companion's hand.
"Don't worry, Dango-dono! I will definitely protect Misa-chi, no matter what!"
She smiled at him again, gripping his hand.
"Well then, we must make haste, my valiant Mochi-kun!" Dango-dono was revived!
"Aw, I can't even reach Hamburger level with that hero line?" He'd thought his line was worthy of at least a Cookie level hero.
"The time is not yet ripe, Mochi-kun." Dango-dono tugged at his hand. "Shall we be going?"
"Yeah!" Hinata set off down the hallway, pulling his Dango-dono along behind him. It wouldn't be fair to make her face the Vitamin Brigade by herself, so he'd go first. The classrooms were empty now, so it was the perfect time for the Brigade to strike. They'd better hurry. They passed the first-year classroom, the second-year… the lights were on in the last room at the end of the hallway.
"Never fear, yummy Mochi-kun is here! And Dango-dono too!" They burst through the door dramatically.
Misa-chi blinked at them. Eh? Where were the bad guys? Amakata-sensei looked at them in surprise, her hand with the blackboard eraser hovering by the board. Oh, Sensei's awesome bumblebee costume must have scared the bad guys away! Sensei always said to come prepared. She was ready for the Vitamin Brigade before they came! Sensei was so smart.
"Hey! I told you to wait at the front door, didn't I? What if I couldn't find you when I was finished? And You-kun, why are you still at school?" Misa-chi looked mad.
"Eh, but Misa-chi—" He waved his arms frantically. They were the saviors of the day! It was too soon to go home and do homework.
"Go home! Now!" Misa-chi motioned towards the door with a stern face.
"Hai, kaichou!" With a snappy salute, Dango-dono turned on her heel and began to march out the door.
"Don't call me that! Suzuna, come back here!" Misa-chi ran after her, pulling on her backpack.
Dango-dono looked back at him. "Let's go, Mochi-kun! If we work hard, someday you might even be like Hamburger-san!" She ignored Misa-chi following her, yelling to slow down in the hallway.
"Eh? Really?!"
Hinata knew it was going to be a good day! Maybe they'd even get to see an elephant on their way home!
"Suzuna! You-kun! Slow down!"