Yukari had just gotten a package from the mail, and she was having trouble opening it.
"Mother, it cannot be that hard to open a box," said Miyuki, who then had some trouble with it herself.
Nonetheless, it was soon open, and Yukari took out the contents.
"Candles?" said Miyuki.
"Not just any candles," said Yukari. "There are special aromatherapy candles. The people who make these claim that having them in the room while lit will help make you smarter."
"I find that difficult to believe." Miyuki headed out the door. "I'm heading out to the Hiiragi shrine."
"See you when you get back." Yukari watched as her daughter left.
Yukari looked through the directions for using the Smarten-Up candles. [A/N: Some people will believe anything.] First she placed the four candles on the living room table, one at each corner. As soon as they were in place, she used a match to light them. Then, the booklet said, she was to stay as close to the candles as possible while they did their work.
Half an hour passed, and Yukari didn't feel any smarter. She took a closer look at the candles to see if she might've done something wrong. She then decided to have Miyuki help her later.
So she began putting out the candles. When she got to the last one, though, she bumped the table, causing the candle to fall off. She picked it up off the floor and put it out, then place it back where it was.
She was about to go to the kitchen when her leg suddenly felt hot. She looked down and saw her skirt was on fire: it must've happened when the candle fell on it.
She tried beating one the flames with her hands, but it had no effect. She tried remembering what she learned about fire safety, but her mind chose the worst possible time to go blank.
Worse yet, with her husband away on business, and her daughter visiting friends, she was by herself.
With the flames no spreading to her shirt, Yukari could only think of one thing. She ran out the door, obviously not taking the time to close it behind her. There was only one place she could think to go right now.
Meanwhile Minami was bored. She had planned on spending the day with Yutaka, only for the latter to call and say she was too sick to come over. She was thinking that maybe she could head over to the Izumi residence instead, except Yutaka might not feel up to having company.
Just then, the door buzzer went nuts. She went over to press the intercom button. "Who is it?"
"HELP! I'M ON FIRE!" replied a familar voice.
She was just about to dismiss this as a juvinile prank when she saw Miyuki's mother just outside the gate, halfway engulfed in flames.
Minami briefly froze, before giving herself a hard slap in order to regain her senses. She ran over to a nearby rug and picked it up. She then ran outside to aid Mrs. Takara.
[A/N: I haven't quite figured out where this story should go next, so if you have any ideas feel free to speak up.]
