I'm sure many of you may have noticed that this updates every Saturday. Well, it may have to go on hiatus soon. D:
And, no, Hikari's accent isn't supposed to necessarily sound real.
The limelight lit up to reveal Thomas in the ring.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen…" the camera panned to reveal that the stands were empty. It was only practice. It was all a formality; Thomas had performed this routine a thousand times, and there was no way he'd screw up now. He practiced only to make sure he'd remembered the routine. "Without further ado, put your hands together for Yuniko the giraffe!"
Another spotlight switched on for the animal, but instead, as it lit up, it showed that Yuniko was not there.
"Oh, no… it's happened again! I must contact Akari!"
Cue opening theme.
-
Akari was humming a tune, chopping vegetables and watching her son slave out in the field.
"Sometimes, I wonder if maybe I'm too hard on him," she said to herself. "But it's tough love. I'm getting him ready for when he's out on his own."
There was a knock on the door.
"Hm? I'm not expecting company…" she said, putting her knife down. Looking out the window, she noticed that, at the sight of their mysterious visitor, Zack had abandoned his work and ran in horror. Akari sighed. She'd catch him later; for now, the visitor.
Akari was swiftly glomped when she opened the door.
"Oh, Akari!" her sister cried, on top of her. "I jus' cain't take it, anymore!" Akari blinked.
"Hikari?" She said. "I thought you wouldn't be here for another week." Hikari burst into tears.
"I jus' cain't help it! I couldn't stand living with that woman fer even another hour!" She cried. Akari twitched.
"Well, okay, hush, it's alright. Um, Zack just left," she said this with contempt. "And Kyona's at school. I think she mentioned she'd be hanging out with Matt, afterward…" Akari trailed off. "Anyway, you can sleep with me in my room. You don't have a problem with that, do you? We have the exact same DNA, after all." Hikari made a face reminiscent of a baby.
"Yer too kind, Akari. And old hag like doesn't deserve a sister like you," Akari rolled her eyes.
"Uh… j-just get off of me, please," Akari said. Hikari complied. Akari led her to and sat her down on the couch. "Now, tell me everything." Hikari burst; it was the request she was waiting for.
"Well, first of all, I'm thirty-six and still not married, I cain't hold down a job, my friends all make fun of me behind my back—I've heard 'em as I walk into a room—and Takeru's wife is always makin' fun o' me! She says things like 'Oh, Hikari, you're still not married? That's pathetic! Ha ha ha!' and 'Hikari, I can set you up with one of my exes, if you want!' I jus' cain't stand her! And, o' course, she acts like such an angel around Takeru, so he never believes me about her. Love is such a powerful thing…" Hikari sighed. Akari patted her hand.
"There, there, it's not so bad. You just stay here as long as you want," she said, although she was feeling very awkward. "You just sit here and cry all you want. I'll, uh… I'm going to go find my son." Hikari sobbed into the armrest next to her as Akari stood and left.
-
"Now, class," Gill said, meanwhile. "In first grade, you had an assignment to write an essay about your future career. I know, because I assigned it. Now, I want you to write the same assignment, but make it at least three pages long. I expect you to have an in-depth knowledge of what you want to do in the future. The assignment is due Friday." The class set to work, each with a topic in mind. Except for Kyona, who sat, awkwardly, in her corner. She glanced around the room; next to her, Heath was most certainly detailing his future as an adventurer. In front of her, Vivian was probably writing her plans as future dicta—err, mayor. Kyona sank into her desk. In first grade, she had wanted to be a farmer, like her mother. Now, she had realized that she hated doing farm work. All she really wanted to do was be a magical girl, and she had to accept the fact that she couldn't do that forever. Looking around the room, she noticed that Matt seemed to be just as indecisive as she was. Then she sweatdropped, noticing that he had really just fallen asleep.
Kyona stared at her blank paper, inwardly demanding that the essay start writing itself. Then Gill announced that it was time for lunch.
"Pudding~ pudding~ pudding~ the~ world~ needs~ more~ pudding~" Dakota sang, stuffing her face. Meanwhile, Lucy had nothing but a thermos.
"What's that, Lucy? Soup?" Angie inquired, opening her own neat lunchbox.
"Nah, it's coffee," Lucy responded, happily, unscrewing the lid of the thermos.
"Nooo! She'll kill us all!" Roy cried, not unreasonably, trying to wrestle the container out of her hand. Lucy, seeing a challenge, fought back, and with their combined efforts, the entire contents spilled out, splashing Kyona with the hot, black liquid. Kyona said nothing, apparently in shock.
"Oww! You idiots!" She finally shrieked, as a delayed reaction.
"Come on," Vivian said, taking her by the hand. "You can borrow one of my spare uniforms. My house is much closer than yours." Kyona sniffed, following her like a little child that just had a tantrum.
-
Vivian led Kyona to her bright, fancy room. Kyona simply stood there, feeling a little bitter, as Vivian searched through her closet.
The blond finally pulled out a sailor outfit identical to the one she was wearing.
"I hope this fits," she remarked, handing it to Kyona.
"Might be a bit tight around the bust…" Kyona murmured. Vivian glared at her.
"Do not bite the hand that feeds you," Vivian commanded. Kyona pulled off her wet clothes, dropping them in an untidy pile that made Vivian sick. With Kyona's stomach exposed, Vivian noticed a hideous burn scar just about Kyona's belly button. "Oh, my! That was some hot coffee!" She exclaimed, kneeling down and pointing to it. Kyona paused and looked down to see what she was talking about.
"Oh, no. That's been there since I was a kid. Zack—"
"ZACK did that!?" Vivian interrupted, in horror. Kyona nodded.
"He had just discovered his God powers… and he didn't know it would hurt so much… he was just a kid. Well, I don't mind it, anymore, since I saw this one anime—" Kyona stopped, because Vivian clearly wasn't listening. She was too busy being horrified that Zack would do such a thing.
"Well, we can work through it…" the blond mumbled, lost in thought.
"Uh, Vivian?" Kyona, done changing, poked her.
"Right. Let's go back to the classroom. Lunch should be over by now."
-
Hikari sat on the couch, no longer crying, but downcast.
There was a knock on the door.
"Who it it?" She asked, poking her head out the door.
"Akari!" Theodore cried. "… Oh, you got a haircut." The door flew open.
"I ain't Akari!" Hikari screeched. "She's out right now. What d'you want?" Theodore frowned.
"Well, my giraffe went missing and—" Hikari's eyes lit up.
"A missin' animal? Well, shoot, I could help you out with that!" Hikari ran into the house, slamming the door in Theodore's face. Theodore simply stood there, confused. Two minutes later, Hikari emerged, with Akari's orange animal whistle in her hand. She darted away, forgetting about the unfortunate ringmaster, who still stood there, confused.
-
"Give it back, Matt!" Kyona yelled, grabbing for her red pen. Matt was holding it away from her with one hand and holding her back with the other, smirking playfully all the while.
Finally, Kyona tackled him, desperately.
Hikari walked by and did a double-take at them.
"Wah! Love is such a powerful thing!" The brunette woman cried. "And young love is the most beautiful type of love!" Then she ran off.
Kyona sprang up at once.
"This isn't love!" She called after. Matt sat up.
"Was that… your Aunt Hikari?" He asked, puzzled. He'd seen pictures of her, but never heard her speak. Kyona pouted.
"I thought she wouldn't be here for another week…" she murmured.
"What's with her accent? I thought your mom was from Tokyo," Matt said. Kyona sighed again.
"She uses a fake accent because she thinks it will attract guys," she explained. Unexpectedly, she pounced on him again. "Now, give me back my pen!" Matt laughed, still holding it away from her.
-
"Zack!" Akari called out, wandering through Tam-Tam Forest. "Come out here! I know you're here! Your father told me so!" But Akari soon reached the witch's house at the end of the forest, with no hint of Zack.
-
Meanwhile, on top of Mount Ignis, the Harvest God and his son were having a picnic, dining on shining apples and shining grapes.
"You do realize she'll kill us both when she discovers the deception, right?" Ignis said, between bites of apple. Zack shrugged.
"Yeah, but at least I'm dragging you down with me this time," Zack replied. Ignis scowled.
"Whatever she does to me, her punishment for you will be—triple chores! And less breaks! And no MP3 player for one season! You should be ashamed of yourself, young man!" Zack cocked an eyebrow; then, with a sudden realization, turned his head around, cautiously.
Akari stood there, thoroughly unamused.
-
Kyona chased Matt down the dock at the harbor.
"I'm going to push you in the water!" She warned, angrily. Matt simply laughed at the threat.
Kyona snatched Matt's straw hat from where it was tied around his shoulders. He stopped, abruptly, and turned around to see Kyona, dangling it over the water.
"You can't do that! That was a gift from my dad!" Matt cried.
"Well, that pen was a gift from my dad!" Kyona shot back. "At least, I think it was…" she added, under her breath.
"Give me my hate back!" Matt demanded, rushing at her.
"Give me my pen back!" Kyona demanded back, holding the hat away from him.
A struggle ensued, in which Kyona looked at the lighthouse enough to notice Hikari, passed out and injured, leaning against the structure.
Kyona abandoned the boy and his hat and rushed to her aunt's side. Matt, who had noticed the scene soon after Kyona, followed, panicked, and held the woman up.
Hikari managed to wake up.
"Evil… giraffe…" she said, weakly, and passed out again.
The pair wordlessly carried her to the clinic, and Kyona dashed out as quickly as they had come.
-
Running down the street, Kyona pulled Gary out of her backpack.
"Garmoni Mine District!" the little harvest sprite quickly declared, and was promptly stuffed back in.
-
Kyona crossed the bridge and halted at the site of Yuniko terrorizing the residents. Magical Eggu-kun was making futile attempts to fight with the monster, which hardly noticed her.
Kyona fumbled through her pockets and remembered that Matt still had her pen. She mentally slapped herself and turned around to run back to the clinic.
Just then, Akari teleported to the district and saw what was happening.
She whistled and Yuniko turned to look at her.
"Here, Yuniko! Hungry? I got this nice, yummy, good herb fish for you!" The woman said, holding the dish for the giraffe to see.
The giraffe paused, sniffed, turned back to her normal, happy self, and pranced over to the woman to accept the gift.
"That was extremely convenient." Kyona remarked, in shock.
-
The audience clapped as Yuniko just barely caught the third ring.
"Thank you, ladies and gentleman! Now, join me in welcoming Glyph the hippo!" Theodore announced.
-
"So, what was the point of that?" The mysterious woman asked, in annoyance.
"Just keeping them busy," the man explained. "If I allow them to be idle, they'll have time to question things, rather than worry about the next monster attack."
Next Time: Feelings of Rabu expressed!