Key:

Narration

'Speaking'

'Foreign Language (Not English)'

Thinking

Stories/ Tales


Chapter 6: テコンドーは、自己防衛のためであります!光パールの目覚め! (Taekwondo is for self defense! The light pearl's awakening!)

The buzzing from her handphone filtered into Lucia' ears, hazy but recognizable in her half awake state. The brunette muttered something considerably impolite and reached over to swipe the red covered phone from the table. With a bleary glare, Lucia turned off the alarm she had set and placed her phone on the side table again before promptly falling back onto the soft pillow to sleep. A shout quickly reawakened the mermaid from her sleep. At the force of something on top of her, Lucia finally jerked fully awake.

'Lucia-nee! We'll be late!'

Shu Ting was shaking her, dressed in a white dobok, which was to say, a Taekwondo uniform, with a green belt tied around her midsection. Her sleeves were rolled up to just below her elbows and the front of her hair was held back by her customary yellow and gold pin. Under the dobok, Shu Ting was wearing a plain yellow shirt and red shorts.

'Ugh,' Lucia muttered, as the hyper girl finally got off her, bouncing on the heels of her feet on the floor beside her bed. Rubbing the last remnants of sleep from her eyes, she let out a short yawn. 'You need to relax, Shu Ting, or else you'll burn yourself out before you even get to your grading.'

'But…' Shu Ting trailed off, rubbing the back of her neck.

Lucia finally gave a soft laugh and stood from the bed, running a hand through her messy hair. Shooing the girl from her bedroom, Lucia got ready for the day ahead. Having already promised Shu Ting that she would be there for her biannual grading as always, the pink mermaid knew that it would take up the better half of the day, so along with her handphone, she also put a slim volume of a magazine into her purse.

Once she was all done for the day, she led the younger brunette out of the house and into the car, leaving Lavena in charge as per usual, the purple haired girl more than happy to have Shu Ting out of the house. Out of the corner of Lucia's eye, she saw the young girl having a panic attack as she slid into the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt. She shook her head and gave a soft sigh, hoping that Shu Ting would calm down when they reached the training centre.

Around ten minutes later, the blue car was parked in front of Shu Ting's training centre. After locking the car, Lucia ushered Shu Ting towards the centre before following herself. If the young woman had been paying attention, she would have seen the black car parked parallel to her own across the street.

As Lucia entered the centre, she couldn't help but admire the decoration, as always. The place was a simple, plain white building, but the inside, though similarly plain, held a good number of the emblems for Kukkiwon, World Taekwondo Federation, and several others. Her eyes flickered across the padded area set up for tournaments and over to where the black belts were teaching the lower levels with last minute advice for their grading. Her brown eyes suddenly swept across a familiar person leaning against the wall, and her irises widened just a fraction.

What? What is Gaito doing here? She frowned briefly, but seeing that Shu Ting was already with the others, she decided that straight up asking wouldn't hurt. Walking closer to him, she called out his name when he was within earshot. 'Gaito!'

The Panthalassan looked at her, surprise in his eyes as he closed the cover of his phone with a quick snap. 'Lucia? What are you doing here?' He ran a hand through his hair and blinked in confusion.

Lucia smiled softly as she finally walked over to his side, mentally noting the height difference between them as she clasped her hands together and gestured in the direction of the lower levels were practicing and chatting amongst themselves.

'Shu Ting's taking her grading today,' she replied with a smile, noting Gaito making a soft 'ah' in reply. 'I don't think you're the type for martial arts though,' the mermaid continued with a chuckle. 'So I'll assume that you're here because Zhi Hui is.'

The male gave a short laugh and a quick nod. 'She's over there.'

Lucia followed his line of vision and saw the raven haired girl in a similar white dobok, except that she wore a vibrant red belt. She was going through a series of complex motions in a quick, precise fashion, and Lucia could hear the sharp, clear sound of her sleeves and pants as the girl continued on with a couple of punches and a high kick.

'She's going for her black belt this time,' Gaito stated matter-of-factly, giving his ward a quick nod of his head as he leant against the wall again, a smirk on his face.

Lucia could see that he was confident she would do it, and honestly, after having witnessed her acrobatics, the mermaid had no doubts about her rate of success.

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls

Zhi Hui threw a punch, finishing up the final part of the Taeguk and returned to her starting position, turning around on the balls of her feet. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she swept the light sheen of perspiration from her brow with the back of her hand. Her spectacles being adjusted quickly, the twelve-year-old carelessly threw a glance in her guardian's direction, stopping with a raised brow when she saw someone there with him. Lucia-sama? She frowned briefly; what was the mermaid doing here?

'I can't do it! I forgot my Taeguk! Oh, I'm going to fail for sure!'

Zhi Hui spun around, narrowly missing the backswing that Miao Ting, one of her peers taking the grading with her, was doing. Looking past the older red belt, she saw Shu Ting pacing in a circle as she frantically muttered to herself. Excusing herself from the spar they were going to do, she strode off in the younger girl's direction.

'Shu Ting.' She closed the distance between them and put a steady hand on the girl's shoulder, making the brunette jump with not a small shriek. Stifling a smirk, she crossed her arms over her chest and waited patiently for the green belt to regain her wits. 'I can see that you're panicking. Need some help?'

After a couple of blinks, the shorter girl finally registered what she was saying and nervously scratched the back of her head with a nervous laugh. 'Yeah,' she finally mumbled. 'I kinda forgot my Taeguk.' At the red belt's raised brow, she hastily raised her hands up in defence, muttering about how the black belt had only taught half of it to the green belts.

Zhi Hui shook her head, knowing which black belt it was. 'You're supposed to be doing Taeguk Four, right?' she asked with a raised brow, silently cursing the black belts for being busy with teaching the basics, especially since Say Teik could have come in handy for this, having participated in not a few competitions nationwide. At Shu Ting's nod, she rolled her eyes. 'Then come on, I know how to do that.'

Shu Ting followed behind her and for the next couple of minutes, they went over the stances and the first half of the moves needed to perform the Taeguk. The brunette was nervous, particularly so when she was kicking and punching, and her hands kept faltering before they would reach an invisible mark midair. There was also a very conspicuous lack of sound as she struck at the empty air.

Zhi Hui shook her head and stopped the younger girl just as she was going to punch at the air. She adjusted Shu Ting's grip and ordered her to throw her punch. When she did so, Zhi Hui readjusted her hand and offered a slight titbit of advice to the younger girl, who, by now, was simply listening intently as she imparted knowledge that might be helpful in her grading.

After a few more minutes, Zhi Hui finally looked satisfied with Shu Ting's punches and kicks, giving her a quick nod before continuing with the rest of the 'lesson'. Before she could get halfway through though, a black belt — a black belt with a long black ponytail, despite being male — called for the green belts to gather into a group. Once Shu Ting heard it, the girl looked panicked, but quickly excused herself and ran with the other green belts towards the black belt.

Zhi Hui frowned; the black belt was giving off an aura that made her think of the demons. The raven haired girl was dragged off by Miao Ting to spar now that she was free, but her mind remained on the odd black belt, even as she sidestepped a punch, catching it with her arms in an 'x' formation, pulling it downwards and tugging the girl's arm towards her and pulling her torso downwards at the same time, allowing her to mimic a takedown by using an elbow to the head and kicking — pushing, really — the back of the other's knee.

Their spar done, Zhi Hui's eyes widened as she suddenly recalled 'Rani'. With that in mind, she was finally able to piece things together and understand why the black belt gave her a bad vibe. Looking around, the raven haired girl couldn't see the green belts at all, and she quickly came to the conclusion that the black belt must have taken them to one of the rooms that the higher levels used for sparring. Muttering curses under her breath, she excused herself and ran out of the room to find which one that the demon in disguise had taken the green belts.

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls

Lucia stared at Gaito briefly as he did the same, both having lost anymore to say to each other after their last exchange. Her brown eyes finally moving to stare at her feet, Lucia decided to clear her throat and attempt at a casual conversation.

'So, uh, why is Zhi Hui learning self defence? Given her acrobatic skills, she should be able to get herself out of trouble easily,' Lucia slowly stated, trying to calculate what to say next.

Gaito paused a bit and gave her a brief look before he seemed to contemplate something, tapping at his chin before he finally replied to her question with a shrug. 'Zhi Hui is very unusual,' he deadpanned. 'She's made enough enemies in her time at school and out of it, and whatever she does in her spare time is obviously not enough for her, I guess.'

'Oh, okay?' Lucia raised a brow quizzically, stretching out the first syllable of the last word.

The Panthalassan chuckled at her before he finally decided to elaborate. 'She's made an enemy out of Liew Siew Yan,' he simply stated. 'I have no idea how, nor do I know why. They simply hate each other.'

Lucia frowned. Students hating each other was pretty common, but from the tone of his voice and the way that he had emphasised the last sentence, she was sure that it was far more than simple rivalry. She made a mental note to talk to Zhi Hui later on about this at school and was coming up with reasons that the two might be locked in a rivalry when Gaito continued to talk.

'Though it might be that she actually wants to prove that she can be better than a boy,' Gaito mused. 'Her family is more than a little traditional, and from the way I've heard her talk about it, it seems like she wants to show that she's better than the rest of her male relatives. '

So her family's one of those who think that boys are better than girls. Lucia winced briefly. The families that thought that way were the hardest to deal with at parent-teacher conferences, and the female students more usually than not displayed low self-esteem, while most, if not all, of the male students were either spoiled brats or bullies at worst.

'Of course,' Gaito muttered. 'I've tried to use her test scores as a way to prove that, but her parents never listen to me.' He shook his head with a sigh. 'I think that she's already given that up by now, considering how she treats this as a competition or a sport rather than a method of self-defence.'

Musing over what he had said, Lucia couldn't help but think, Zhi Hui has the kind of traditional family that favours boys, poor girl. At least Gaito sympathizes with her; I couldn't imagine what it would be like if I was in her place, with no one behind me. 'Thanks.' Ignoring the quizzical look he gave her at the statement, she subconsciously started to compare Gaito with the almost self-absorbed person he had been nearly a dozen years ago.

He had changed, that was certain, though he still had some of the same traits that he once had, he had changed much, for the better too. His smirk had remained constant, as had the way he carried himself, though there was a conspicuous lack of the near condescending air he used to have. There were subtler, slighter changes to his personality, or so she could assume from how little she had actually known him before. She hadn't really thought he was the kind of person who could associate with children, but his chosen profession was teaching at a primary school, and that meant dealing with hyper kids all day. And then there was the more evident changes, like his now black hair as compared to the light silver-gray tone, though she supposed that it would certainly be odd if he still had that hair colour in Malaysia, where black was the predominant colour.

She had become so engrossed in her thoughts that Gaito's voice calling her name made her literally jump in surprise. 'I-I'm sorry, what did you say?' she quickly asked, trying to gather her wits again.

He held back a chuckle at her over the top reaction and repeated what he had presumably been saying while she had been lost in her own thoughts. 'I said, "What are you thinking about?" You seemed like you were a bit lost there.'

Lucia felt a light blush dust her face as she allowed herself a short laugh. 'It was nothing special; just how things have changed. You've changed,' she mumbled, her eyes staring up at his gray irises. Absently, she began to play with the strap of her handbag, adjusting it constantly.

To her surprise, Gaito began to laugh softly. 'Of course I've changed; it's not likely that you'd stay the same forever. Besides,' he finally added, his laughter slowly dying down. 'You've changed as well.' Briefly, his eyes seemed to be scanning her form, and a smirk formed on his face. 'A lot, in fact,' he added with a grin.

The brunette mermaid felt her blush spread further and darken slightly at the not-so-subtle compliment to her figure. 'You know,' she finally muttered, trying her best to put on a false, playful scowl. 'That was uncalled for, but thanks anyway.'

The only response she got was a laugh from the Panthalassan.

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls

Zhi Hui's bare feet pounded against the cement floor, thankfully not making much noise as she sprinted to find where the demon had taken the group of green belts. Her head snapped to the left, looking through the screen of a door on the side and she shook her head, continuing on. It was already the third door down the corridor that she had checked, and she was already having a very bad feeling.

Finally, her senses alerted her to a familiar aura — one that was accompanied by the feeling of emotional drainage, strangely enough — in the room to her right, along with the oddly catchy tune that left her ears ringing. Wincing lightly, she looked through the screen and saw the familiar red glow that signified a demon's attack. Thought so.

Noting the glow was centred just in front of the door, the red belt took several steps back before launching herself forth to perform a jumping side kick. Taking three steps forth, she sprang up on the third step to let her right leg stretch out, toes curled up so that the balls of her feet collided with the door, which she knew from personal experience was one that couldn't be locked, and could easily be opened by pushing it from the outside. True to her expectations, the door opened inwards with a loud sound of something, or someone, hitting the wall.

The red aura was instantly dispelled and it appeared to her that whatever spell had somehow been previously cast by the demon had been lifted, all the green belts inside suddenly jumping in fright.

'Alright!' she ordered, tone sharp in her usual way, which she knew usually made kids listen to her. The fact that there were older teens in the group barely occurred to her as she snapped at them. 'Get out of here right now!' Subtly, her fingers weaved a slight spell, gently nudging their memories to regard the situation as irrelevant. She inwardly winced, hoping that it worked; her spells were never really effective when done to the masses, they were almost useless, even, if she didn't have enough time to make sure that each had their memory properly modified, which she didn't, not right now.

The green belts rushed out at a more direct prompting from her, which involved her mentioning that they were late for their grading. Her eyes suddenly landed on Shu Ting, who was at the very back of the room, and somehow had not awakened from the trance yet. The raven haired girl cursed and dashed forward to grab the younger girl's wrist.

The door suddenly slammed shut once she left her position at the doorway, and the bespectacled girl cursed again. She whirred around to see the black belt from earlier, though now he had a more questionable appearance that made it obvious he was a demon.

The demon's ponytailed hair was still there, though it held a crimson tint to the dark shade it had. His eyes were violet, with cat-like pupils, and he had a pair of fangs, bared in his irritated snarl. Oddly, he was wearing a white, frilled shirt and a short skirt, along with high-heeled boots, for some reason. Still, the black, leathery bat wings he had were very eye-catching, and lent themselves well to the vampire-like air he projected.

Granted, Zhi Hui snorted mentally to herself, standing in front of Shu Ting. He doesn't look like the Dracula type, and I certainly hope he doesn't sparkle when he's under sunlight… Inwardly, the girl shuddered at the Twilight vampire description. Collecting her thoughts, she found her voce again. 'So, what do you want with Shu Ting? I certainly hope it's not to lead you to the Pink Pearl Princess though — your little friends tried that, and they failed, if you didn't get the memo,' she mocked, trying her best to put her 'sardonic' tone into the sentence.

The demon sneered, his wings stretching outward, revealing an impressive wingspan of around three meters or so. 'Great,' he griped, his voice unusually effeminate for someone who was supposedly male, at least, from what the raven haired girl had gleaned from her guardian. 'You. I was hoping this was going to be an easy job, but no, you just have to show up and — ow!'

During the short few seconds that he had been using to start a lengthy rant, the Panthalassan had lightly shoved the younger brunette aside and was now holding the demon in a rather painful-looking grip, with one of his arms twisted and forcibly held behind his back. Applying a little more force, she used a sharp jab to the area behind his knee and changed her hold so that his arm was now bent at the back of his head. From experience, she knew that this manoeuvre would definitely result in a take-down, and true to her expectations, the demon was pressed down, before she took advantage of her grip on his wrist to toss him into a wall, just like she had done to 'Rani'.

Lady Bat, she presumed his name was from her memories and some snippets of info she had gleaned from Lucia during the one time that the mermaid had been in her class, hit the wall with an 'oof', his wings bent at a painful looking angle and his face scrunched in pain. He tried to get up directly after hitting the wall, but instantly fell back after losing his balance, wincing loudly.

At the same time, Shu Ting's dull eyes snapped back to life, the brown eyes suddenly regaining clarity as she stumbled forth on her feet unsteadily. She took a step back and was instantly caught by the wrist by the older girl, quickly shoved behind the bespectacled red belt as she spluttered out a string of incoherent words before forming a sentence. 'Ugh,' she managed. 'My head.'

Zhi Hui made a non-committal sound, her eyes narrowed as she focused solely on the effeminate demon still regaining his bearings. She didn't have a good grasp on what he could do just yet, and she wasn't just about to charge in blindly, unlike what she had done last time. Holding back a wince at the humiliating memory, she muttered lowly to her younger friend, ' Glad to see you're back, kiddo.'

Behind her, Shu Ting scowled briefly at the light teasing lilt in her tone. The girl suddenly yelled out a warning to the raven-haired girl in front of her as she carefully backed up.

Zhi Hui held back a sneer from her face as Bat threw a punch at her. She parried the attack to the side and brought her knee up in a cheat tactic. Satisfied, she watched as the demon stumbled back, any doubts she might have had about his masculinity gone as he whimpered in pain. Preparing herself in case he wanted to attack again, she put together a mocking sentence, 'So you're actually male, huh? I couldn't tell, not from the girly skirt and hair ribbon. And are you actually wearing heels?'

Normally, she wouldn't hit out at a guy's masculinity, but she honestly had no idea what would get him unhinged with anger. Carefully, she watched his shoulders and tried to predict how he would attack. Seeing his shoulders slant back, she quickly took a step forty five degrees to the front, narrowly missing his kick. Releasing a sigh of relief, she whirled around on her instincts as a punch flew towards her stomach.

The girl was hit directly by the strong punch and she was thrown back several inches, making her gasp for air. Zhi Hui finally straightened after a few short seconds of regaining her breath, wincing sharply as she tried to distract herself from the unexpected pain of the punch. Okay, Zhi Hui finally shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. I shouldn't have underestimated his strength. That hurt, big time.

'Guess it's my fault,' she muttered, falling back into her ever dependable stance, hands held up to protect from anymore attacks. She lunged instantly, bringing her knee up before switching to her other leg with a jump and turning her body so that her foot hit his head with more force than was perceivably necessary. Before he could find a suitable response, she turned three hundred and sixty degrees before she landed another kick to his head, though she hit his jaw instead of the temple. Once her foot touched the ground anew, she quickly switched her stance so that her right foot was now in front of the left in a wide stance.

Bat snarled, baring his fangs irritably as he stormed forth again, his wings taking him airborne. He instantly summoned a headset from limbo and a dark red mist started to surround him. The music echoed in the room and the demon started to regain his bearings again.

Zhi Hui winced sharply and clapped her hands over her ears, trying to filter out the sound of the demon's song. Her hands faintly started to shake as pain filled her mind, setting whatever part of her mind responsible for signals alight with the unfamiliar pain, similar to yet different from Alala's high-pitched singing. Before she could register anything more, he started to sing.

More beautiful than a blood red rose, more seductive than the midnight moon

If you want that precious life of yours returned, then force yourself to bloom in this hand

The door to the world of darkness will now open once again

Now, you can just leave everything to your cruel fate, and be reborn once again

Zhi Hui hissed lowly in pain, her mind going blank as she tried to force the pain away. Needless to say, it didn't work. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she drew her breath in between gritted teeth in order to stop herself from screaming. She tried to divert her attention away, and briefly cracked her eyes open.

She saw Shu Ting standing barely a couple of meters away, but her eyes were now blank and dull again, and the girl knew that whatever effect the demon's song had, it was working differently on her. Stifling another scream, she winced sharply as another spear of pain stabbed through her head.

Close those heavy eyelids of yours in the black night, now you may find the midnight masquerade

Now slip into the eternal darkness. Come now, my dear! There is no reason to be afraid

And be there for all of eternity

Zhi Hui finally collapsed to her knees, hands now trying desperately to hold herself up as she breathed heavily, shoulders shaking as the song echoed in her head, leaving her unable to think clearly or even think at all. Trying to lift her head, she eventually gave up and resumed her considerable useless attempts to filter out the song. I hate being useless, the bespectacled girl barely managed the thought as the song sent another wave of pain crashing right into her.

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls

Shu Ting was snapped out of the song-induced trance, for the second time that day, but this time from a sharp, ear-piercing scream. She jolted, and briefly, the sound of the scream and the music she could faintly register was completely blocked out, replaced by a soft, gentle voice that sounded oddly similar to the voice she had sometimes heard in her dreams.

Time is of the essence, my dear, as I can't hold his song off forever. Take your pearl, and show those wings of darkness that your pearl's light always triumphs.

Shu Ting looked around, confusion imprinted on her features. Vaguely, she recalled Shusmeetha, Lavhanya, Yi Phing and Lavena talking about something like this when they got their pearls. A blindingly bright burst of light blasted from around her neck, but somehow she still wasn't blinded by the glow. She could barely make out the hint of a necklace, complete with a familiarly shaped pendant materialize out of nowhere.

When the light finally faded, the brunette was fascinated to see the yellow and sunshine shell necklace around her neck. The locket clicked open when she touched it, and three words found their way into her thoughts. Knowing what to do, she called out the words that she knew belonged to her transformation phrase. 'Light Pearl Voice!'

Another burst of light enveloped Shu Ting as her hair lengthening dramatically, the ends of her hair straightening out, and a headband shimmered into place. Light separated into coloured fragments before dissolving into two bright yellow streams of light, which morphed into the form of the new idol's dress.

She reached out as two ribbons of sunshine stretched over to her and they snaked up her arms, turning into her gloves with a burst of rainbow coloured specks. A blanket of glowing yellow covered her left arm and materialized into a cut-off sleeve. She twirled gracefully, kicking her left leg into the air as her boots coalesced from specks of light.

She brought her leg down and her microphone dropped straight into her hands. Bringing it closer to her, she spun and fell into a Sailor Moon inspired pose, declaring enthusiastically, 'As the Agent of Light and Justice, I am the protector of those who are in need! On behalf of the seven seas, I'll punish you!'

She faintly heard the song start to return, pounding lightly at her eardrums. Before she fell prey to the song again, she declared the same catchphrase that her friends had used, loudly. 'Pichi Pichi Pitch, Live Start!'

In my lovely dreams, all of us were together
We were protected by the shining stars

Her song had cut through the winged demon's, and now she could actually see Zhi Hui shakily get to her feet, looking at her with her eyes slightly wider than usual, and the demon looked surprised and mildly horrified, for some reason. She guessed that it was because she was transformed.

I didn't worry much when we were the best of friends
We used to talk casually amongst us, though
There was a moment when I was only worried about you
I want to become more beautiful, right now

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls

Zhi Hui held back a low mutter of 'really?' as she got to her feet, still shaking the after-effects, the painful after-effects, of the song out of her mind. She suppressed a low groan at the considerably cheesy, though admittedly different introduction speech, but she was still inwardly thankful for the timely intervention. Picking up her black rimmed spectacles, which had somehow managed to fall to the ground, she gave them a once over for any signs of having been broken by the fall and put them on.

Turning her eyes to Shu Ting, she noted quietly that the eleven-year-old was gliding from side to side smoothly and was taking full advantage of the music to dance to a quick beat. She turned back to Bat, and found the effeminate demon clutching at his head, complaining about Shu Ting in rapid Japanese, so much that the bespectacled twelve-year-old only caught parts of his barely coherent screaming.

When I fall in love, there will be something that changes
I will close my eyes, and make sure of it
I hugged you tight, and my still-beating heart pounded
I want to tell you about this feeling

Spinning around in a fashion that would've benefitted a backswing, Shu Ting twirled her microphone before she cheered in a rather cheeky manner, 'How about an encore?'

Zhi Hui could tell that Bat wasn't very happy about that. He dissolved into a swarm of bats without another sound, but the red belt knew for certain that he would be back next time with some sort of scheme that was even crazier than, say, masquerading as a stage magician in public and then revealing himself as who he was in a half-baked attempt to draw out Lucia. Honestly, the raven haired girl wouldn't find it weird even if he waltzed into her school cross-dressed and declared that he was their new teacher, and that was actually saying something.

'Yes! I did it!'

Zhi Hui's wandering thoughts were pulled back to Shu Ting, who was still in her transformed state. The younger girl was cheering herself for getting her pearl and was quite literally jumping about like a hyperactive monkey. Still, despite the fact that she was moving surprisingly fast, Zhi Hui could still manage to get a good look at her.

The girl's bounding was causing her long blond hair, which was surprisingly cut straight at the end, in contrast to her usual, slightly curved out style in her human form. Her bangs were being held back by a golden yellow headband, making a nice match with her golden brown eyes.

Her dress was similarly styled to the others, though it was more like Lavena's dress in that it lacked the curly trim, though it was a halter top instead of Lavena's single strap, and the area around her neck was a bright, golden collar-like part, with the rest of the dress being mainly a more subdued, paler sunshine yellow. Unlike Lavena's long, floor brushing dress, the blonde's actually had a waistline, from where the skirt turned into a faded shade of yellow from the seam.

Surprisingly enough, the dress only had one sleeve, well, one conventional sleeve. It left her shoulders bare with a short, somewhat ruffled sleeve ending at mid-upper section of her right arm. The left arm had a detached sleeve that reached her wrist, held there by a slightly golden-bronze strap, coloured a light ecru.

Her gloves were mismatched, elbow length on the right side and wrist length on the left, following the pattern of asymmetric designs that the others' conformed to, somewhat, though it was much more prominent with hers. Both gloves were a shade of vanilla, as were her boots, which had gold trim, though oddly no ruffled cloth surrounding her calves.

Noting that the girl was still gushing over how unexpectedly cute her dress was, Zhi Hui cleared her throat, making it a point so that the girl heard her. 'Shu Ting?' When it was obvious that the girl hadn't let her voice sink in, she strode over, clapped her hand onto the shorter girl's shoulder and said her name again, only slightly louder.

Shu Ting jumped, and once she had registered that she was talking to her, immediately whirred around to face the older girl. She laughed nervously, playing with the locket around her neck absently as she gave the bespectacled girl a goofy grin of sorts.

Zhi Hui raised a brow questioningly, but didn't question her further, instead, she chose to glance at her watch and point out the time. 'It's been twenty minutes tops, Shu Ting.' Zhi Hui crossed her arms over her chest and gave a quick nod at the door. 'Shouldn't you be going?'

At the reminder, Shu Ting was just about to make a mad dash to the door, but the older girl was both faster and stronger than her, and quickly pulled her back before she could run off. When the blonde looked questioningly at her, the girl merely coughed conspicuously and tapped at her collarbone. Shu Ting's face instantly flushed red in embarrassment, suddenly realizing that she was still in the yellow dress, and promptly released her transformation in an unusually bright shower of yellow sparks.

Zhi Hui stifled a snicker and she strolled leisurely out of the room, Shu Ting dashing past her and running frantically back to the main room. Zhi Hui chose not to mention to Shu Ting that the examiner was running late today and would only arrive at eleven ten, which was just two minutes ago, and thus would just be getting ready for the grading.

After around half an hour, the examiner had run through the white and yellow belts, which meant it was now time for Shu Ting to take her grading. Zhi Hui enjoyed herself fairly much as she watched the green belts stumble during the free sparring session and hid a chuckle with the clearing of her throat when Shu Ting's high kick missed her opponent by a mile. Eventually though, the green belts were done, and were followed by the blue belts, and finally the red belts.

By the time, most had already gone home; Shu Ting was one of the few who were watching as the red belts took their grading, and she had actually cheered when Zhi Hui landed a light blow with a jumping kick to her opponent's head, earning herself a satisfied look in return as the older girl exchanged blows with her opponent.

Finally, the red belts finished their syllabus with breaking wooden boards. For some reason, Zhi Hui was placed at the end of the list, but she really didn't mind. Easily, the board split cleanly into two halves when she threw a convincing punch at it. Another joined its predecessor when she delivered a precise kick to the wood, breaking it apart. The examiner went over the results and announced to the red belts that they had all passed their test, resulting in quite the cheering from the onlookers as well as the ten red belts.

Zhi Hui carelessly tossed the boards in her hand as she crossed to the other side of the centre with Shu Ting, both engaged in a simplified conversation, that was, for the most part, simply Shu Ting asking her about how she broke the boards. The older girl pointed out that theoretically, the younger girl could do it too, and managed to conveniently leave out the fact that she had higher than average, probably considered superhuman strength. Suddenly, she paused, making the younger girl suddenly crash into her as she allowed herself a chuckle.

Shu Ting, obviously curious as to what she was so amused by, asked her, and she jerked her thumb in the direction of their guardians talking casually about nothing in particular. An idea sprung to life in the Panthalassan's mind, and she nudged Shu Ting, quietly muttering in her ear to get her to try and see what her powers actually were. The girl managed to produce a small sphere of pure light, and Zhi Hui instructed her to send it over to the direction of the two adults, which she managed.

Both instantly glanced over to them when the sphere of light finally lost shape, bursting into a considerably complex star shape. The two martial arts practitioners couldn't help but laugh at their expense, as well as what they had obviously missed, just because they were talking to each other.

End Chapter


Sneak peak of the next chapter (done in canon format):

Lavena stands up, smiling brightly at the girls. She looks excited.

Voice-over (Lavena): We're going to Taiping Sentral!

Zhi Hui blanches at the statement, dropping a Rubik's cube.

Voice-over (Zhi Hui): At least we're not going shopping...

The girls surround Zhi Hui and shove a pile of clothes into her hands.

Voice-over (Zhi Hui): Oh no, I am not wearing those!

Voice-over (The girls): Pretty please?

Voice-over (All): Jikai, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, Yasumi no hi! Jikan wa, shoppingumōru ni iku tame ni! (Next time, on Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, A day off! Time to go to the mall!)

Zhi Hui shoves the clothes back and crossed her arms over her chest.

Voice-over (Zhi Hui): No!

Lavena's song is the first opening of the series, Taiyou no Rakuen ~Promised Land~. The recurring pattern here is that I've been using the opening and ending songs of the series. I hope you already knew that, though if you didn't, it was very obvious, and I can't believe you missed that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Read and review, constructive criticism is always welcome!