Key:

Narration

'Speaking'

'Foreign Language (Not English)'

Thinking

Chapter 9:教師の一日！それは日ですか？ (The teachers' day out! Is it a date?)

It was a calm night, peaceful, to say the least. The stars were blanketing the night sky in a dazzling array of majestic art, the moon was full and shining in the night… not that Zhi Hui was aware of this, though.

The girl was curled up in her bed, tossing and turning under the thin blanket she usually used in the hot and humid nights that Malaysia had. Her breathing was heavy, like she was running a triathlon, though under normal circumstances, she wouldn't be having trouble with it anyway. Mumbling incoherent words feverishly as she turned to lie on her side, she kicked away her blanket as her face drew itself into a pained expression. 'No!' the raven-haired girl yelped out, shaking her head hard. 'Don't hurt him!'

Her hands grabbed at the empty air, like she was trying to pull someone. '—ng Khai!' she cried out, tossing and turning in the bed again. A sheen of perspiration coated her skin, matting her hair to her forehead. Her brow furrowed, as a faint golden glow bled out from under her hair. She released a shuddering breath through gritted teeth, wincing sharply in pain. 'No, no, no!'

The Panthalassan jerked up to a sitting position, her brown eyes having turned a dark shade of midnight blue and the intricate cross on her brow fully apparent from under her hair, the glow bleeding out from under the thick raven strands. Her eyes wide, Zhi Hui started muttering incomprehensibly, her hands reaching up to gently tug at her hair in an absent attempt to gather her attention. '—Khai is safe, he's safe, I'm safe,' she muttered, and exhaled heavily. 'And I'm nowhere near a bow and arrows. I'm not trying to kill anyone…'

With a heavy groan, she flopped back onto her bed, her eyes closing. She brought her hands up to cover her face with an unintelligible mutter as she turned in the bed, reaching blindly to get her blanket back. After a couple of moments, she sighed, sitting up as she ran her fingers through her hair. The girl narrowed her eyes and squinted at the clock placed across the room, finally giving up trying to read the numbers without her glasses.

Zhi Hui tossed the blanket aside and trudged towards the clock, swiping it from its place across the room, glancing at the face and bringing it close to her face. When she had discerned the hands of the clock well enough, she replaced the clock and returned to her bed with a sigh, lying on her back while staring blankly at the ceiling.

'It's already midnight…' she mumbled, drowsy, though her recent nightmare left her wanting to stay awake. Pulling the blanket over her face, she managed to note, 'and it's a Sunday too…' before she finally nodded off, curling up with a yawn.

The door, cracked open the slightest bit, then opened fully and Gaito stepped into the room, glancing concernedly at the girl. He pulled the chair at her desk over to the side of her bed and took a seat, and with a sigh, looked over to the clock. The older Panthalassan shook his head, and gently stroked the sleeping girl's hair. 'Goodnight, Zhi Hui,' he finally muttered with a sigh to the younger Panthalassan. 'I just hope you don't have any more nightmares.'

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls

That very morning, after Gaito had dropped Zhi Hui off at the Taekwondo centre with the girl assuring him that she could go home herself, he drove the car right over to where he knew Lucia would be, Lavena and Shusmeetha's house. Muttering to himself about the pros and cons of 'putting this off until later', he shook his head and redefined and narrowed his mental goal down to talking with Lucia. Sighing, he knocked on the door.

To his relief when he heard the footsteps from upstairs, it was Lucia who came to answer the door. Gaito released the breath he didn't know he was holding, knowing he was still rather awkward when dealing with parents, especially considering the circumstances could easily be twisted, by Zhi Hui in particular, who had a love for rather ribald humour from time to time. 'Lucia,' he finally greeted, pulling himself from his thoughts. 'I need to talk to you. In private, preferably.'

The brunette raised a brow but after several seconds, finally gave him a positive response. 'Um, okay, I guess. Just hold on for a second…' She turned and called out something in Chinese to Lavena, who, presumably answered back — he didn't really pay attention — before she turned back to him with a soft smile. 'So,' she murmured, opening the door as she retreated back into the living room for a brief pause, returning with a red purse in hand. 'How about we go out to talk?'

'Right,' he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced away from her. He had never really been able to talk to ladies without stumbling all over himself, even though a younger Zhi Hui had been laughing at him as his female peers fawned and flirted with him all throughout secondary school. Ironic, because he had explicitly created the Dark Lovers to have those exact traits towards him, that is to say, be obsessively infatuated with him to the point of total obedience.

He widened his stride, opening the door of the passenger seat and held it for Lucia, who he swore giggled lightly at the action. Closing the door lightly, he mentally grumbled at himself — his class teacher had always said that he was just too chivalrous towards the girls of his class and the mainly female teachers for his own good. Now that he thought about it, he was certain that the girls of his class were often talking about him when they thought he wasn't around, with one conversation in particular about his chivalry and why he didn't have a girlfriend with his attitude.

As he slid into the driver's seat, he vaguely caught Lucia muttering about why 'Kaito couldn't be more like him'. Briefly, he frowned at the mention of his twin, but redirected his attention to the road when Lucia looked back at him. Starting the car and slowly driving out to the road, he finally cleared his throat, and asked, 'So where did you have in mind, Lucia?'

'Well, I was thinking, if you hadn't had breakfast yet, maybe we could go to Taiping Mall and have it there.'

Gaito paused at a T-junction, giving Lucia a look he was sure the pink mermaid noticed. He hoped it didn't speak what he was thinking. Finally, he gave a nod and turned right at the junction when he was given the chance. 'Uh, sure, Lucia,' he said. I hope Zhi Hui doesn't get wind of this, he thought with a sigh. She can twist anything out of proportion, and I really don't need Donglin prying into my love life, not muttered something more about his class' English teacher and his ward, who was coincidentally the teacher's pet.

Within a good half-an-hour, they had arrived in the mall, and both were currently sitting at a table in a café, with Gaito and Lucia awkwardly staring at each other. 'So,' Gaito coughed, looking down at his cup before glancing back at the brunette. 'About the girls,' he started slowly, choosing a topic that only had the barest connection to what he really wanted to talk about.

'Hm?' Lucia blinked, taking a sip of her tea before putting her cup down and wincing. 'What about them, Gaito?'

'Well, if I remember correctly, mermaids are an all-female race, yes?' he said, speaking in a tone low enough that Lucia could hear him, but not much louder. 'And according to the "Prophecy of the Rainbow Notes",' here he made the motion of air-quotes with one hand, ' "seven hybrids with power untold" should mean that the girls have mermaid blood,' He leant forward and took another sip of his coffee, staring straight at Lucia. 'However, if I remember correctly from what you mentioned when we met, you told me the girls were half-mermaids.'

Lucia raised a brow questioningly. 'Where are you going with this, Gaito?' she asked, tilting her head to the side slightly, with a frown on her face. 'There's nothing strange about that.'

Gaito had a wry grin on his face as he continued, 'You forget that Shu Ting's family, particularly her maternal side, have been featured quite a few times in the papers. Considering that they've probably been in Malaysia for a century or so, Shu Ting shouldn't be a half mermaid.'

'Oh, that's easy to explain!' Lucia laughed softly. 'Mermaid genetics are weird in comparison to humans, considering we get drunk on soda, so that really shouldn't be hard to believe.' Leaning back in her chair, she let a smile tug at her lips as she explained the situation. 'You see, mermaid blood is more or less like a recessive gene, I think,' she paused briefly, frowning. 'I got a C in Biology, so that probably wasn't the correct example. Ah well. Mermaid genes are completely dormant within males, but in females, it eventually starts to overwrite their other blood until adulthood, when said mermaid becomes a full-blooded one.' She gave a small chuckle at the end of the sentence. 'That sometimes results in mermaids with a long line of male ancestors freaking out.'

Gaito chuckled at that as well, picturing one of the six girls running around, panicking in the very stereotypical way often pictured in animations. He leant back in his chair, almost distracted from what he wanted to talk about. Almost. 'That would be amusing to see.' He wouldn't deny that he had his fair share of enjoyment out of seeing others' discomfort, especially when he put the pressure on his class for their homework and assignments; he wasn't called the 'Devil Teacher' by the forty students for nothing, after all.

'Wait,' Lucia frowned briefly. 'You said Zhi Hui was a full-blooded Panthalassan, right? Then how does she fit into the prophecy?'

He shrugged, he honestly had no answer for this. 'Maybe she has some other blood from one side of her family, though her parents are probably unaware of that.' Draining his coffee, he looked directly at Lucia, finally deciding to voice out the entire problem. 'Lucia,' he started slowly, placing the cup down. 'The truth is that I need to talk to you about Zhi Hui.'

Lucia blinked in surprise and set her cup down. 'Zhi Hui?' Brows knitted together, she frowned in concern. 'What's wrong? And why do you need to talk with me?'

'Well…' Gaito sighed heavily. 'The first thing you need to know when it comes to Panthalassans is that we sometimes have very prophetic dreams.'

'Lavena's been having those,' Lucia cut in with a frown. 'They're always things she doesn't understand, though.'

Gaito shook his head, continuing. 'No, it's different. Dreams like those are about major events in the future, and they always come true.' He glanced at her face and was prompted to continue. 'You remember the last battle, yes?' Rhetorical as that question was, both teachers fell into silence for a while as the memories resurfaced from over ten years ago.

'Well, when I was around, say, twelve or so, I began having these dreams that vividly played out the events of said time, right down to each little detail,' he deadpanned. Hearing the small 'oh my' from Lucia, he continued, 'Zhi Hui's been having recent night terrors, and she wakes up screaming and muttering to herself that she's not going to kill someone.' With a relatively grim smile, he released a small sigh and stared at the mermaid. 'Considering these dreams might come true, I'm worried about what's going on inside her head.

'And as to why I came to you? Well,' he paused to glance out of the café for a brief second to gather his thoughts, which had started to wander as he spoke with Lucia, some odd reason. He just felt like he wanted to prolong the talk for as long as he could. Mentally filing those thoughts away for later consideration, he shook his head and turned back to the brunette mermaid. 'You are the school's counsellor, after all, and they say that pink mermaids are usually more empathic than their counterparts.' And I like spending time with you — wait, what?

Unaware of his thoughts, Lucia frowned, drumming her fingers on the tabletop. 'Maybe she's just under pressure, it's her UPSR year, after all.' She hummed briefly before her eyes twinkled with amusement. 'I can't really tell unless I know what's going on, it could be just a dream where she's thinking that she's hunting for all we know!' she joked in a light tone.

'Yeah,' Gaito mumbled. 'Maybe.' He doubted that was the situation, but he certainly hoped it was true — Zhi Hui dreaming about killing people would turn out to be bad. Very bad.

'How about you just lay off on the homework?' Lucia gently suggested. 'You do know that the students of 6M would appreciate it, right?'

He frowned. 'It's their UPSR year. If they don't understand the material before the trial exams, they're going to fail — hold on,' he muttered. His eyes narrowed as he glanced at the stage in the centre of the mall, which, coincidentally enough, was close to the café. Something seemed off…

A man in a white tuxedo, complete with a top hat and cane stepped onto the stage. He had a black ponytail and wore a black bat-shaped mask, and looked suspiciously familiar to the first glance…

Oh, that's what. Gaito frowned. Signalling the waiter over, he paid the bill and grabbed Lucia by the wrist, motioning her out of the café.

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls

Lucia jumped a little as she quickly followed Gaito out of the café, silently wondering what he was doing. Suddenly, he stopped, facing the stage, and Lucia naturally led her line of vision over to what he was glaring at. A frown crossed her lips, and she muttered, 'Lady Bat?' Her brow furrowed together, she pressed her lips together into a thin line. Not again.

Lady Bat was apparently acting out the role of a magician this time, as he swept off his hat and tapped it with the end of the white and black cane, producing a cloud of bats instead of the expected flock of doves, which arranged themselves into a heart-shaped mass. Bowing theatrically to the amassed crowd, a tap of the stereotypical cane summoned a spinning disco ball in the middle of the air. Almost instantaneously, the lights seemed to dim, and Lucia heard Gaito mutter a curse word under his breath.

The mermaid held back a wince at the profanity, but she agreed with him. She had hoped that the day would be peaceful, after all. Changing her focal point from the disco ball to the disguised demon, she scowled as she realized what the incognito cross-dresser was doing. 'Hold on,' she said to Gaito, in a soft tone that was barely heard over the crowd cheering at the demon's illusions. 'We need to get out of here before he sings.'

'What? Why?' Though she ignored the questions, Gaito still followed her as she dashed to the escalators and practically ran up them. 'Lucia!' he hissed. 'Slow down!'

When she was properly on the second floor, she frowned a bit before she nodded — they should be far enough. 'I have no idea what Lady Bat wants to do with the crowd,' she said to the Panthalassan as he reached her side, 'but he's probably going to try to hypnotize them. This is probably far enough out of the range of the song, so we shouldn't be affected.'

Right as she finished, Gaito winced and took a discreet step back. 'Sure,' he muttered with a scowl at the sound. 'So what do you propose?'

Lucia smiled at him, fingering her necklace as she glanced down at the stage. The soft pink glow from the pearl inside her shell locket didn't go unnoticed by the two. The mermaid clicked the locket open, and for a brief second, the pearl pulsed brightly, blinding the two. 'Well, what other option is there?' she quipped. 'As always, I transform, sing, break the trance, and we end the day with an encore.' She shrugged nonchalantly. 'It's how Hanon, Rina, and I always did it.'

Suddenly, she fell silent, the mere mention of the two names bringing up unpleasant memories. And considering said memories were about the two basically calling the guards on her as she tried to flee, she considered that she had a right to do so. A hand on her shoulder startled her out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see Gaito offering her a rather sympathetic expression.

Their eyes meeting, she finally shook her head and clasped her locket. 'Right.' She glanced down at the pink shell. 'Pink Pearl Voice!' When the transformation ended, thankfully not drawing any attention at all due to Lady Bat's performance having sent all of the patrons into a trance, the blonde warily eyed the masked demon from the second level, frowning as she thought of a way to interrupt the song without getting caught in the demon's control.

Without having to voice her thought to Gaito, the Panthalassan already seemed to have an idea of what she needed. 'Hold on, Lucia. I think I can take care of this,' he clarified to her as he gestured in the direction of the stage below. 'The disco ball should be the problem,' he explained with a thoughtful look as the spinning ball pulsed suddenly with light. 'I suspect that it's what Bat is using to channel his powers through, so I'll find a way to disrupt or, preferably, dismantle it, and once it's gone, you interrupt and sing before he can.' The teacher gave the mermaid a small grin. 'Sound simple enough?'

Lucia had to hold back a snort. Hypothetical guesses were beyond her, but the mermaid had a feeling that he was right. The flash of light from the disco ball made her a little light headed, but glancing down at the disguised demon, she noted that he seemed a little smug. I hope he's not going to try and get to the girls, she frowned. And if he's still after me, well, I'm sure I can show him what's what. The mermaid shot the Panthalassan one last glance and noted him sketching invisible diagrams in the air, looking like he was making quick calculations.

She hurried to the floor below and hid behind the crowd, her blue eyes on Gaito as the man continued to stand there, arms crossed. After a few more seconds, the mermaid saw a small spark of dark purple and black coalesce in his hands, and it expanded slightly before he took a step back. She guessed that he was taking aim, because not three seconds later, a sphere of crackling electricity hurtled down through the air and crashed into the spinning disco ball, shattering it and sending shards flying all over the stage.

'W-what?!' Bat's exclamation reached her ears as the blonde saw the amassed crowd slowly sink to the ground, unconscious. She looked up to the stage, and saw Lady Bat glaring down at her.

'You! The Pink Pearl Princess! I should have known!' the cross-dresser shrieked in annoyance. After taking a few breaths though, he had composed himself once more, and the demon whipped off his mask, and dropped his disguise of a stage magician. He lifted into the air, violet eyes burning in anger as he crossed his arms over his chest. 'But that doesn't matter now!' he declared. 'Experience my song, and fall into my trap!'

Lucia brought her microphone up, but it seemed like she was just a little too late, because Lady Bat already had a head start. The pink mermaid cursed herself for waiting when she should have hit the demon with her song the first thing she could.

The moment that the suspiciously swaying wind escapes from its confinement

I'll make you forget many things along with your pure devoted love

Let us engrave a new time into the black world of darkness

It is okay not to worry about someone else and hurt your own fragile heart

'Gah!'

Lucia's eyes snapped back into focus and the blond mermaid shook her head to clear her muddled thoughts. The shout from Bat as he stumbled forward in midair had effectively cut his song in half. Gripping her microphone, Lucia found herself looking at the second floor, where she spotted Gaito giving her what looked like a thumbs up from the edge. She nodded to herself, there was no time to dawdle now.

Not even giving Bat another second to rest, she raised her microphone. 'For interrupting my day off, I'll give you the full Pichi Pitch treatment!' she taunted the demon, who now looked like he was still disoriented. 'Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!' Her pearl, inset in her microphone, glowed a bright pink, and Lucia suddenly found herself singing an unfamiliar song. Though… it felt like it was one of her songs.

Gliding on the azure waves like a small white coloured yacht made from origami

Leaving everything to the calming wind, where will I go? As I become closer to a place...

Even though you are so close to me, I still can't touch your feelings for me

I want to make you believe in the truth between us and confirm it for me

Lucia looked up at Gaito and she saw him smiling as he leant on the railing. The mermaid felt a warm feeling burst in her heart, and she allowed herself a short smile back up at him. She gave a short wave and noticed that the crowd was slowly getting to their feet again. Her smile widened.

I can open my treasure box for you with my key, if you can become gentler

Your impatient feelings will change into courage and then I can tell you my true feelings

I will love you forever

She closed her eyes and hummed the tune to the song as she finished it. The impromptu cheering of the crowd made her blue eyes snap open as she declared the same taunt that she always did after defeating the demons. 'How about an encore?' Though, Lady Bat was nowhere to be seen, this time around, and she was standing on the stage, surrounded by the Live Stage glow. When had he disappeared, and when had she moved to the stage?

'Encore! Encore!'

Lucia looked at the cheering crowd, and for a split second, she felt like she was fourteen again, singing at the New Year's concert with Hanon and Rina having made up after a nasty spat. Then she actually took into consideration what the crowd was cheering about. Well, she mused. If it's an encore they want… She smiled brightly.

Gathering the feeling of the familiar song from Aqua Regina, she imbued her microphone with the same lovely feeling, and a brief glow sparked from her pearl. 'Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!'

Starlight!

If you can gather more light from the stars

Then I believe that you can thoroughly change this world

Super Love Songs. What a nostalgic memory from nearly a decade ago. Lucia could practically hear Hanon and Rina's voices singing with her, and she was sure that the way her pearl shone had something to do with it. One hand clasping her locket, she continued her song.

Even if the depths of the seas stop me

The winds ahead do not even faze me

But only if you swear not to let go

Of my hand!

The crowd was cheering even harder, and Lucia suddenly felt the urge to look up. She glanced towards the second floor, and she realized that Gaito was watching her from the opposite side of where he had been standing previously.

He gave her a short wave and resumed leaning on the railing as she sang. And though Lucia couldn't see it clearly, she swore he was grinning.

Our dreams can begin in a Super Live!

On a stage made out of light and shadows

We will convey love with our Super Songs!

And give you some courage in our song of love

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls

Gaito walked along Lake Garden with Lucia right beside him. He spared the sun a quick glance and saw that it was already halfway set, dying the sky the same sunset red and orange it always was. Sparing a smile at the constant beauty of the sunset he turned his attention back to Lucia. Just in time too, as the brunette appeared as she wanted to ask him a question.

'Say, Gaito,' Lucia started absently. 'You wouldn't have happened to have a history in basketball in school, would you?'

He chuckled. 'Oh no,' he denied quickly. 'I was actually part of the javelin team. I took part in the extracurricular archery team too, but that wasn't included in my school report card.' Gaito grinned at the pink mermaid for a brief second. 'Not that it mattered, anyway. Having a history with bows and arrows doesn't exactly help when you're applying for a position as a teacher.'

Lucia burst into soft laughter when he was done talking. 'I just can't picture you holding a bow and arrow.' She shook her head, still fighting back a giggle. 'You always struck me as a more of a sword person.'

The Panthalassan snorted and ran a hand through his hair. 'You have no idea how hard a sword is to handle, Lucia. Fighting with one isn't as easy as it's shown in the movies, you know.' He would know; the scar from an accident when he was much, much younger was as much of proof as it was a reminder that sword fighting definitely wasn't for him.

Lucia chuckled at bit at his statement. 'I guess so. But really? You were in the archery team?' The slight disbelief in her voice made it clear that she didn't believe that he could do it.

He shrugged. 'You're talking to the three-time champion, Lucia.' Between only attending the practices and club meetings from his fourth year to his last in secondary school, he reckoned he had gotten quite the grounding, considering that he had overtaken the previous champion with quite a lot of points.

Lucia raised a brow. 'Really now?' she teased lightly. 'Although,' she paused briefly to smile at him. 'Thanks for interrupting Bat for me.'

Gaito only smiled at the mermaid. That's twice for me, nil for the bat. He held back a snicker at the thought. 'That second song…' he trailed off as they headed back towards his car. 'I still remember it from, what was it again? Ten or eleven years ago?'

'Eleven.' Lucia sighed. 'I'll be twenty six in July, so that was eleven years ago, nearly twelve.'

Both were silent for a while as they each recalled their memories of that particular day. A tension hung in the air between them, so thick that you could probably sever it with a butcher's knife. 'Time passes quickly, doesn't it?' Gaito muttered, breaking the silence between them with one sentence. 'I mean,' he continued when he found that she was looking at him again. 'It's nearly been a dozen years since the day we first met, and now we're both — '

'Lucia-nee!'

Gaito frowned, being cut off the simultaneous chorus of Lucia's name by six voices. Both parties glanced to the front, and found that the six girls, each wearing a colour of the rainbow on them, except for red, were running towards them.

One of them, Shu Qing, ran up to Lucia first, holding a golden trophy in one hand, shaped like a microphone. The other five soon followed, and it quickly became apparent that all but one of them, Lavhanya, were put of breath. After letting the girls catch their breath for a couple of seconds, Shu Qing started bouncing on her heels excitedly, her blue hair flying into the air.

'Look! I got my pearl! I got my pearl!' she exclaimed in the softest voice she could without actually lowering her voice enough for it to simply be an enthusiastic statement. 'Oh, and I won the singing competition too, but I got my pearl!' she cheered.

Gaito raised a brow at the strange choice of priorities that the girl had but chose not to comment on it further. 'So, Lucia, I guess this is it for today?' Why was he sounding so disappointed again?

'Huh?' Lucia blinked a couple of times before fully registering what he was saying. 'Oh yes! I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I guess I'll be leaving with the girls then. I'll see you tomorrow?' she asked, her tone making it seem like a question when they both knew that they would; their seats were just opposite each other, after all.

'Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow.' And with a quick, cordial nod to the six girls, he turned and walked off. As he did so though, he pulled his phone out and sent a quick message through Whatsapp to Lucia. He smiled, pocketing his phone once it was done. And this day was just perfect.

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls

Zhi Hui looked up from her tablet, stopping her snickers from reading the infamous 'My Immortal' spill out. That Tara sure is a funny one, she mused with a grin still on her face as she looked over to the door, where Gaito was stepping in. She pressed the tips of her fingers together and smirked at her guardian as he gave her a glance. 'Enjoy your date with Lucia-sama?' she quipped, taking extra care to pronounce the last few words especially clearly.

At that exact moment, she felt like pulling out her phone to snap a picture of her guardian's face, especially with the not-so-faint flush at the mention of the pink mermaid's name. She snickered to herself. Oh, this is just priceless!

Gaito cleared his throat and took the time to gather his wits before he spoke to her again. 'And how did you know about that?'

Zhi Hui's grin widened. Least he didn't protest the notion of it. 'Oh, it's nothing. Madam Donglin was just passing through Lake Garden and she asked me about and I quote, "When did the two of them get together?" over WeChat.' At the frown on his face though, she quickly added, 'Don't worry, I told her that the two of you were probably just discussing the recent problems you have with the class. Nothing to worry about.'

Actually, she had said, 'They're not together just yet, but I'll bet they do before the end of this year. How much are the other teachers betting on it?', but he didn't have to know that.

'Right.' His tone was quite dry.

She could tell he didn't believe her, and that just made her snicker even more. Picking up her tablet and preparing to enter her room, she paused just outside the door. 'Say, Gaito-sama?'

He looked up from opening an exercise book from her class. 'What is it, Zhi Hui?'

'Do you, oh, I don't know, have, say, feelings for Lucia-sama?'

He was silent for a while. And just before she entered her room, deciding that he wasn't going to give her an answer that night, he spoke again. 'Yes.'

And I win part one! She smirked. 'Good to know. Now for some well deserved rest from Lanhua's little mess this afternoon…' Boy was she going to enjoy winning the staff bet!

End Chapter

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

Shu Qing wakes up to the alarm.

Voice-over (Shu Qing): Today's the day!

Alala twirls her baton on stage, lifting herself into the air and crossing her arms over her chest.

Voice-over (Alala): Are you coming out or not, mermaids?

Shu Qing sings to the crowd and they cheer. Alala turns around, and Shu Qing transforms

Voice-over (Shu Qing): As the pretty idol soldier of cool justice, I'll punish you on the behalf of the seven seas!

Voice-over (The girls): Jikai, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, Kyōfu no kōgeki o jōen! Kōri no shinju no mezame! (Next time, on Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pearls, Stage fright attacks! The ice pearl's awakening!)

Lavena pauses on the stairs.

Voice-over (Lavena): Lucia-nee... do you have... feelings for him?

Obviously, yes, otherwise I wouldn't have put it in the pairings. I'm a diehard Gaito/Lucia fan, mainly because I just hate Kaito. I ship Mikeru/Lucia and Rihito/Lucia too, but nothing gets my heart pumping in glee more than seeing Kaito getting his just desserts, or reading Gaito/Lucia fanfiction. I'm just weird like that. I ran out of preview quotes to show, so I just settled on Shu Qing's In The Name Of The Moon Speech with minor edits.

The next chapter marks the end of the first arc, and after that we'll have a small special in April, after which I'll continue with the second arc, which means more character development, yay!