For once in art club, Renge and everyone else wasn't actually working hard on their projects, at all. Renge considered the notion to be excusable for the people in her grade as most of them had a mock-exam the hour before art class and it was a Thursday before a no-school Friday, not to mention the teacher they usually supervised the classroom wasn't here today and in his place was some young-looking woman who on her laptop and completely absorbed she was doing on there. Most likely playing some game considering the class was able to hear odd little sounds coming from her computer at random.
Renge rubbed her shoulders a little, noticing how tense they were. She winced at the stiff knots she ran her fingers against and began to wonder just what lead to such a predicament. Most likely, it was a mix of trying to keep up with this Pretty Cure business, her social life and school life. Though, it appeared that her school life had been suffering a bit as of lately. Renge took a small peak at the test paper inside her math binder. A fifty-nine percent, how great. She wasn't sure of exactly what she could pin the blame on; Pretty Cure or herself and her inability to focus when it came to studying for a math test. She tucked the sheet back into her binder and bashed her head against the desk from boredom.
While watching a video on his phone, from the corner of Marco's eye he could see something of a bright colour in Nao's hand. He darted his eyes to it and noticed a pale yellow mechanical pencil with bunnies on it in Nao's hand.
"Hey Nao, It's stuff like that that makes Renge call you kawaii boy." Marco declared with a small snicker, not even glancing over to the blonde boy.
"It's not my pencil." Nao debriefed indifferently as he kept his eyes glazed over his tablet, playing some game.
"Then who's is it?" Marco inquired curiously, turning off his phone.
"It's my classmate Sakurami's pencil." Nao responded, still playing his game.
"You know Chiyo?" Renge asked as her head shot up in an instant, startling the pair of them.
"Yeah, she's in my homeroom. We were working on a class project the other day..." Nao replied casually," Do you know her?"
Renge panicked for a spilt-second," Yeah we're, family friends." Technically, she wasn't lying, they just never knew they were family friends up until a couple of weeks ago. But the mention of Chiyo reminded her something. She still had to plan their sleepover. Because of the fact that Renge felt some bonding was in order between the four of them, Renge decided to host a sleepover at her place for tomorrow amongst her, Kanari, Chiyo and Yugure. But..the only person she told in the group about the sleepover was Kanari, who of course was always up for a sleepover at Renge's, though they may've had only three sleepovers together in their entire life.
The only reason Renge ended up procrastinating on inviting the other girls was because she was way too nervous about sounding clingy, which was the last thing she wanted. But, never had she took this long to ask somebody to have a sleepover with her at this short of a notice! She was slightly ashamed of herself, but she had to invite the girls really soon regardless. With a deep breath, Renge texted the girls about the sleepover and anxiously waited for their response.
Yugure responded within a matter of seconds, saying that she'd love to come over for a sleepover, much to Renge's delight. It took Chiyo about twenty minutes to respond, just when the club was dismissed. She too also said she was free tomorrow.
Renge smiled down at her phone as she walked alongside Nao to the school doors. A sleepover with her fellow Pretty Cures was just what the group needed to unwind and finally get to know each other. At least, that's what Renge believed. The thought of everyone coming together just to have a girls' night-in and just do something...normal as a group made Renge's heart leap with joy. It was times like these where she felt this undying, questionable need to cherish these moments, as if she may never have another chance to have them again.
"So, what are you doing for the weekend?" Renge asked Nao nonchalantly as she placed her folded arms behind her head.
"I'm probably going to buy that Pokemon game and try to beat by Sunday night..." Nao responded thoughtfully.
"That's only two days..." Renge remarked, an undertone of disbelief present in her voice.
"Not if I get the game on Friday morning.." Nao pointed out," Then that's makes it three days."
"Why are you so weird?" Renge questioned under her breath with a slight laugh.
'I could ask you the same thing." Nao said with a smirk before the two of them part ways. But just before that happened, Renge made sure to give Nao a hug before their little absence away from each other commenced.
"Aw, you guys are so sweet!" A voice chimed from across the hall. Both Renge and Nao reddened slightly upon hearing and recognizing the voice. Nao quickly waved goodbye to Renge and left. Kokoro then walked up to her.
"Hey Kokoro, how's it going?" Renge asked," Got any plans for this weekend?"
"Nothing really, Probably going to be one of those lazy weekends which is basically going to consist of me sleeping over at my sister's while the inside of my house gets painted. What about you? Anything fun planned?"
"Yeah, for once I actually do." Renge answered with a forced and awkward giggle," I'm having a sleepover with some of my friends tomorrow night, it's going to be great, hopefully~"
Renge then thought of something in an instant," If you want, you can come over to my place for the sleepover tomorrow night."
"I'll see if I can pull it off, alright?" Kokoro responded in an upbeat tone," I have to go meet with a friend so I'll see you later!"
Renge waved goodbye to Kokoro as she ran off in a few seconds. In the event of Kokoro being able to come, her quaint, somewhat small house was going to be quite crowded tomorrow evening. Come to think of it, this may have been the biggest sleepover she ever hosted. Renge was impressed, but at the same time, mildly nervous as her mom had only been told two friends were sleeping over. Only reason she excluded the rest was so she could actually receive approval for this whole thing. And, by the time Sanae would come home from work, it would be too late to send the extra friends home. Renge would've never thought she'd see the day when she would do something so extreme like disregard her mother's requests so soon. It seemed this final year of high-school was making her a little carefree in some ways.
The next evening, Renge was inside her living room, heaving out a few breaths after dragging up an old queen mattress her parents no longer used from the basement. Of course, she only managed to preform this feat with Topher helping her. Renge rubbed her shoulders that felt as tense as ever and crashed onto the mattress without a single care.
"At least it'll be easy to throw this thing back into the basement." Renge thought aloud.
"I guess," Topher said as he stretched out his arms," But, you really prepared for tonight."
"Huh? Yeah, I guess so..." Renge responded as she glanced over to the table that both Renny and Topher were looking at. The table was overflowing with snacks and drinks, ranging from rainbow-chocolate chip cookies to chips and salsa. And, even though she only had three, potentially four, guests coming over tonight, she assembled a large row of red cups running down the edge of the table.
"Are you planning to eat all this food tonight?" Renny questioned incredulously as he poked one of the chip bags.
"Not all, but...we can't let most of it go to waste~" Renge answered with a mildly devious chuckle.
"You know, you never informed us on why you called this overnight meeting..." Renny pointed out, causing Renge to laugh.
"Overnight meeting? It's just a sleepover!" Renge clamored between giggles," All I want to do is spend some time with my team, considering I just met two of them a little while ago. I feel like we'll work better as a team if we get to know each other anyways."
"Will we still be able to go over some things regarding the Pretty Cure though? Because Topher and I were hoping to do so tonight." Renny inquired as he perched onto the arm of the chair next to Renge's little concession stand.
"If Kokoro doesn't show up, then yes we can go over whatever Pretty Cure stuff you want." Renge responded as she placed a pair of pillows on the queen sized bed.
"Who's going to sleep there?" Topher asked suspiciously as he watched Renge put a comforter over the mattress.
"Hopefully not Kanari." Renge answered before the three of them heard the doorbell ring," Oh, our first guest!"
Renge opened up the door, revealing Kanari in the doorway with her sleeping bag in one hand and a two-liter bottle of soda in the other.
"Speak of the devil." Renny commented as Kanari made her way into Renge's house.
"You know, it's been a while since I've used your front door.." Kanari stated as she dropped her sleeping bag at the front of the staircase leading the the upper floor of Renge's house. Today, Kanari decided to wear a pair of acid-washed jeans and an indigo tank-top under a sleeveless turquoise cardigan with a pair of dark grey studded boots.
"But what about all those Pretty Cure meetings that we've been having these last couple of weeks?" Renge questioned curiously.
"What about them?" Kanari asked in an innocent tone, implying to Renge that she had used her favourite entrance to get into Renge's room.
"Damn it mom! Keep my window closed!" Renge thought to herself before they heard the doorbell ring again.
"More guests!" Renge cried as she dashed over to the door. She opened to the door again and found Chiyo, along with Yugure standing with large bags hung over their shoulders. Chiyo was wearing her hair in a high ponytail with a pale pink blouse on underneath a tawny jacket and tights while Yugure wore a maroon sweater-vest over a long-sleeved lilac dress shirt and a white polka-dotted skirt.
"How'd you guys get here at here at the same time?" Kanari questioned in suspicion as Renge closed the door behind them.
"I texted Yugure and told her I could give her a ride." Chiyo responded as the two girls laid their bags on the floor.
"A ride...?" Renge and Kanari repeated, both girls sounding rather confused. Chiyo then held up her car keys to a now very fazed Renge and Kanari.
"Chiyo has her license." Yugure commented to the pair who continued to look at Chiyo in shock.
"So mature...!" The two of them thought.
"Uh well," Renge began after snapping herself out of shock," Now that we're mostly all here, let's take this sleepover upstairs!"
So, the girls followed Renge up to her room and all seated themselves in their designated spots, while Yugure just looked at Renge's room in awe. The anime posters were very nice as was her desk filled with all these cute little knick-knacks. Not to mention her bed was embellished with stuffed animals all around, each of them being very cute in their own way. But, what really tied the room together for Yugure was the glow in the dark stars on Renge's ceiling. Yugure had an identical set in her own room! Along with the planets as well.
"You have a very nice room..." Yugure remarked bashfully as she daintily sat herself down on Renge's bed. She then looked over to Renge to see if it was ok for her to sit there.
Renge gave her a nod of approval and said," Thanks, mom thinks I need a shelf for some of the stuff on my desk."
"A shelf would do your desk some good, considering how little room you have on it." Chiyo commented with a little scoff," I don't understand how you could be ok with it being so crowded."
"It's not crowded." Renge corrected as she stuck her tongue out to Chiyo," It's personalized."
"You think this is crowded? You should've seen it in elementary!" Kanari jeered," She was obessesed, and I mean obsessed with those little bobble-head animal toys, you know the ones right? And she had a play set in nearly every corner possible in her room!"
"Kanari, don't tell them that kinda stuff!" Renge shouted as she hid her face behind her hands in humiliation. Both Yugure and Chiyo laughed at this and shortly after, Renge awkwardly joined them.
"So, what do you usually do at sleepovers?" Yugure then asked curiously, causing everyone to look at her in surprise.
"Sorry, that wasn't a weird to ask or anything was it?" Yugure asked cautiously as held one of Renge's throw pillows in front of herself.
"No, I think we were all just under the impression that you've been to a bunch of sleepovers already..." Renge responded for everyone sheepishly.
"Me? Why me?" Yugure asked in disbelief as she pointed to herself to underline her question.
"You're kinda in the 'it' crowd.." Kanari stated to Yugure with a simple shrug.
"How am I in the it crowd?" Yugure asked as she chuckled a little.
"Well, you're friends with Yukimura and his girlfriend, and half the girls on the volleyball team who somehow all happen to be really popular..." Kanari listed off with her fingers.
"Wow, I never realized Satoshi was actually considered popular, let alone myself.."Yugure remarked thoughtlessly.
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you Yugure..." Renge then began," Did you go here last year?"
"Um, yeah I did! I guess I just looked really different," Yugure chuckled awkwardly,"My hair was a lot shorter and I wore more makeup...here's a picture of me from second-year."
She held out her phone for Renge, Kanari and Chiyo to see. Renge and Kanari were struck with realization while Chiyo just squinted at the picture, trying to identify any resemblance between the girl and Yugure.
"Oh, you were that girl!" Renge responded in an unintentionally loud voice while Kanari simply darted her eyes from the picture to Yugure.
"I remember when you looked like this, I just never knew your name." Kanari stated as she kept staring at the screen while Yugure giggled uneasily.
"But, in response to your question from earlier..." Kanari began," I'm quite certain that girls do things like talk about crushes, life, gossip, and the occasional hair-braiding."
"So ladies, you may begin." Kanari declared as she released her hair from the ponytail it had originally been in.
"Wow, Renge, your hair is so long!" Yugure remarked as she began to brush Renge's hair.
"And soft..." Chiyo as she ran her hands through Renge's hair,"Is this the longest it's been?"
"Far from it actually. In elementary, it went down to my knees." Renge confessed with a forced chuckle as she adjusted her glasses.
"Hey, why won't you guys play with my hair?" Kanari asked with a pout as she glared over to the girls.
"Because it's probably dried out from all the bleach you must've doused it in." Chiyo answered flatly as she began to braid Renge's hair.
"Well it's not like Renge's hair is naturally straight!" Kanari claimed, receiving a glare from Renge," She straightens it all the time!"
"Do not!" Renge shouted back.
"Well then, what's this?" Kanari questioned in her tone of mischief as she ripped open Renge's closet, revealing a salmon pink straightener in it's box.
"Kanari, put that away!" Renge hollered as she rose up and tried to snatch the straightener away from Kanari.
"Make me!" Kanari challenged as she began to run around the room with it.
It only took a few moments for Kanari to relinquish the straightener back to Renge as trying to run around Renge's room was proven to be near impossible with four people inside coupled with it's size. Renge took it back in a huff and tossed it back into her closet relentlessly.
"It's no business of yours whether or not I straighten my hair!" Renge declared in an oddly righteous tone.
"Ooh, she's getting all fired up now..." Kanari mused flatly before whispering to Chiyo," It's so easy to get her like this, she's a fire-sign."
"And, which sign is that?" Chiyo whispered back.
"The Aries!" Renge declared as she stood on her bed," As my birthday is April ninth."
"Ooh, the ram!" Yugure exclaimed as she clapped her hands together," What signs are you guys? My birthday's on October twenty-eighth, so that makes me a Scorpio!"
"Capricorn." Kanari answered as she folded her hands behind her head.
"I don't remember the name of mine...but my birthday's June tenth.." Chiyo responded neutrally.
"That's Gemini, the twins!" Yugure chirped," So that means, all of our signs fall under a different element. Hm, what are the chances?"
"Four in sixteen?" Kanari answered, not realizing Yugure's question was a rhetorical one.
Suddenly, Renny and Topher bursted into the room, the latter now in his regular form, holding up one of the chip bags from downstairs.
"Are you girls in need of food?" Renny asked as he gestured to the bag in his talons.
"Am I ever." Kanari responded as she motioned him to bring the bag of chips over to her. He did so and shortly after, the group initiated the Pretty Cure discussion that the birds wanted to do.
"So..." Yugure began after being informed about the entire Pretty Cure story from Renny and Topher, with a little help from the girls,"...Does this mean we also have Inner Scholars?"
Topher nodded and Renny asked," Why wouldn't you girls? You're all a fine example of scholarly intellectual individuals-"
"-To some degree." Topher interrupted in a deadpan tone.
"Well, if that's the case, then are they actually of any use to us when we're transformed?" Yugure then asked.
"Not yet." Renny answered, causing Renge to look at him in question.
"Not yet? What do you mean not yet?" Renge asked in a curious manner.
"Well, soon enough, when you guys become stronger as a team, you'll all be able to release your own Inner Scholar from within you and having it out them the open can make you guys a lot more stronger in civilian form." Renny explained.
"But isn't that risky? Having them outside of us when they could be taken away at any given moment?" Chiyo probed.
"A corrupted Inner Scholar is easier to kidnap. A perfectly healthy one can't be seen by a regular human, unless they have their Inner Scholars outside of them too." Topher explained.
"Wait, normal humans can have their Inner Scholar outside of them too?" Kanari interrupted, irritating Topher a little.
Topher regained his composure," It's uncommon, but yeah, it can happen."
"Not to mention, the longer it stays out of their owner's body, the stronger it becomes. Plus, it'll help you guys achieve a better understanding of yourselves with them around by your side." Renny added.
"Our Inner Scholars..." Renge trailed off, sounding rather unsure of all of this.
"...By our sides?" Chiyo finished absently as her gaze fell to the floor. The idea of having the Inner Scholars outside of them sounded, quite odd for all of them. It was a weird concept for them to grasp, and maybe that was another reason why they had yet to make these Inner Scholars appear outside of them.
"Hm...Yugu? Or..." Kanari began to say, grabbing everyone's attention.
"What are you doing." Chiyo asked flatly, narrowing her eyes over to the white-haired girl.
"Thinking of Yugure's nickname..." Kanari responded as she stroked her chin in thought as Yugure's cheeks flushed red.
"M-my nickname?" Yugure stammered in flustered tone as she clenched the pillow in her hands even tighter.
"Yeah, see...Chiyo's is ChiChi-chan, Topher's just Toph, or Tofu when he's being annoying, and now...what shall Yugure's be?" Kanari wondered as the pair she aforementioned flashed annoyed glares over to her. Kanari thought long and hard, with the occasional smirk and devious grin appearing on her face. Finally, she slammed her hand on Renge's desk as Yugure's nickname came to her.
"How's Yugu-rin?" Kanari asked, awaiting Yugure's approval, not that she really needed it, as she looked up to face the violet hair girl.
Yugure beamed," I think it's really cute! But, does Renge have a nickname?"
"Oh she used to, but then once this whole Pretty Cure thing began, it sorta became a little troublesome to use shortly after..." Kanari explained sheepishly with a giggle.
"What was it?" Yugure questioned curiously as the others began to start their own conversation.
"Watch this." Kanari instructed briefly before cupping her hands over her mouth," Ren!"
Both Renge and Renny spun their heads around to face Kanari. Yugure giggled slightly upon watching the two of them look at Kanari attentively as she proved her point. The girls then began to do those typical things that Kanari listed earlier inevitably and they all had fun in doing so. Talking about things like dream houses, perfect dates and life after high-school were the topics that the group seemed to be really enthusiastic about.
As the girls began to talk about after high-school, some tension amongst the girls began to rise.
"As nice as it sounds to get out of high-school..." Yugure began with her eyes downcast,"...Realizing that it'll become a reality soon is a bit intimidating."
Kanari nodded in agreement and Renge looked over to Chiyo saying," You're lucky. You still have another year of high-school left. But I bet you're dying to get this high-school stuff over with already so you can head out into the real world."
"And knowing Chiyo, she's probably going to do something practical like become an accountant or a teacher." Kanari mused, now laying on Renge's bed.
"Are you kidding me?" Chiyo questioned skeptically as she arched an eyebrow," I want to be a movie director."
Everyone then looked at Chiyo with surprise, the girl now reddening madly as all eyes were on her. After exasperating out a large sigh, Chiyo then said,
"It's just a dream really and if things don't work out, then teaching is going to be my fall back choice."
"Ooh, interesting choice for your fall-back. But I never would have expected you to have an interest in filming." Kanari remarked casually," I too have a fall-back choice, but it's not something I'm too proud of..."
"Kanari, don't even think about it!" Renge demanded as her face turned bright red.
"What, work at Mizumoto Meadow?" Kanari snickered, knowing her statement sounded very ambiguous, which was just what she wanted. Renge groaned and she slapped her hand against her forehead.
"So what about you my little bird, any fall-back choices?" Kanari questioned as she leaned up against the wall beside Renge's bed.
Renge sighed and fell her heart sink for a second before responding shyly," I'm thinking about Journalism."
"That's sounds interesting!" Yugure exclaimed as she urged Renge to say more.
"Yeah, I figure since I like writing and stuff, Journalism might be a good fit..the most sensible fit anyways.." Renge remarked with shaky snicker," I don't have many practical talents.."
"Being practical is boring." Kanari stated as she waved a hand in dismissal.
"But being practical will pay the bills." Chiyo pointed out firmly as she crossed her arms.
"Ok then, Miss Director. But who's to say being impractical won't?" Kanari countered. Before Chiyo could answer, the girls heard a group of voices all shouting downstairs as the front door was opened. Renge listened closely to see if she could recognize any of these voices while the others remained frozen in position.
"Who could that be?" Yugure asked quietly, before Renge signaled her to be quiet. Renge pressed her ear against her door and slowly opened it, seeing if that would help her hear the voices from downstairs. After doing so, Renge groaned, now figuring who had entered her home and marched downstairs with a rather irritated look on her face.
"Hikaru, why are you home so late?" Renge asked impatiently as she stomped down the stairs.
Standing in the living room was her brother, accompanied by two of his old friends that Renge recognized from their old school. The boys were taller than him and they stood behind Hikaru awkwardly while the two initiated their argument.
"It's only five-thirty will you relax?" Hikaru said, sounding greatly irritated by his sister's undying concern as he crossed his arms.
"Well, please try not to let that happen again, it's not fair to not tell me where you are and expect me to just be unaffected by being worried." Renge declared," And is that my hat?"
Renge glowered to the bucket hat with a comic strip panel design on it atop of Hikaru's head and snatched it away from him.
"Ew, now it smells like you.." Renge hissed in absolute disgust as she tossed her beloved hat onto the nearby chair.
"Hikaru, you have a penny board?" One of the boys,Kazuki asked as he held up Renge's board that had been laying by the door way the entire time.
"It Renge's but she never rides it."Hikaru answered flatly, gesturing Kazuki to put the board down.
"That's because I've only had some practice with it!" Renge defended with a pout.
"Hey, can we some chips Hikaru?" The other boy, Keiji asked Hikaru as he sat down next to the table Renge set up.
"Fine, but not too many! You'll get a stomachache! And those are for my sleepover guests.." Renge responded hastily as she took a bowl from the kitchen and pour a small handful into it for Keiji. Keiji and Hikaru's other friend Kazuki exchanged looks of confusion to each other as Renge poured out the chips.
Hikaru then repeated, sounding as confused as his friends looked," Sleepover guests?"
"Yeah, I'm having my sleepover tonight, didn't mom tell you?" Renge asked as she closed the bag she was pouring Keiji's chips from.
"I thought your sleepover was tomorrow." Hikaru asked in a somewhat tense manner.
"No...It would be stupid to have the sleepover when mom's home anyways..." Renge pointed out as she walked over to Hikaru," I hope this isn't going to be a problem."
"It won't be once you cancel your sleepover, because I'm having mine tonight." Hikaru declared as he gestured over to his guests.
Renge looked over towards her towering brother in sheer disgust and doubt. She hadn't once been informed about his sleepover so why was he telling her to cancel hers now when her guests were here first? The both of them knew very well that their house was unfit to have this many people for a sleepover so of course, it was going to have to be one or the other. Or one group get casted away into their cold, eerie basement.
"Hikaru, my guests' are already here. So, it'd be better off if you postpone your sleepover for some other time." Renge suggested, her blood beginning to boil as she glared up to Hikaru. Her brother glared back looking quite frustrated and said while raising his voice,
"Well my guests are already here too! Plus, it's going to be harder for them to get home anyways, they'd have to bus it for an hour! And, I don't see any of your guests!" Hikaru pointed out viciously.
"Renge, is everything ok down there?" Yugure asked as the girls came downstairs. Renge smirked as the girls entered the living room, and glanced over to her corrected brother.
"Sorry, man. But it's about time your guests head home." Renge crooned as she batted her eyelashes.
Hikaru shook his head stubbornly and walked over to a table in the corner of the room where the phone was. Hikaru had a devious grin on his face and gave Renge a look that said to her, 'Your move'. He dialed a number and sat on the chair next to the table as Renge looked at the phone pretending to be unfazed by his action. The pair of them waited patiently as the phone rang while everyone else in the room appeared to be unsure of just what was going on.
"What's he doing?" Chiyo whispered into Renge's ear.
"Calling mom." Renge answered as she narrowed her eyes at her brother.
At Mizumoto Meadow, Sanae had just finished giving an order to a table of two. A very cute pair who appeared to be on some sort of date as they both looked at each with the most affectionate looks in their eyes. A pair like this was seldom ever here at Mizumoto Meadow, so seeing the two made Sanae's heart flutter. Something she thought her heart had forgotten how to do. She then noticed a table that had just arrived and she quickly zipped over to them.
"Hi, welcome to Mizumoto Meadow, what can I get for you?" Sanae asked as upbeat as ever to the group. The group consisted of what appeared to be a family of a single father and three girls. Sanae recognized this family with ease, as it was the family of one of her coworkers.
"I'll take the usual with extra ketchup please." The father ordered, not even taking a glance at the menu and just fixing his gaze on Sanae," Girls, what would you like?"
"Wow, I don't think I ever got the pleasure of meeting your daughters Takuya," Sanae remarked as she wrote down his order," I'm Sanae by the way girls. And I'm pretty sure your mom's going to be off in about a half-hour."
"We know." The eldest daughter, who looked no older than fifteen answered,"I'll just have the soup of the day. By the way, I'm Yuna."
"I'll take a chicken sandwich!" The middle daughter who seemed to be about twelve ordered," And my name's Remi."
"I want chicken nuggets and fries!" The youngest daughter ordered," And I'm Kiyomi!"
"Ok, so the usual for Takuya, Soup of the day for Yuna, chicken sandwich for Remi and chicken nuggets with fries for Kiyoko right?" Sanae repeated as she looked to the group for confirmation.
Everyone except for Kiyomi nodded in approval. Kiyomi pouted a little and corrected Sanae.
"It's Kiyomi, not Kiyoko." Kiyomi corrected softly.
"Oh, right. Sorry about that, Kiyomi." Sanae apologized, the words leaving a bad taste in her mouth after she said them.
"Sanae, you've got a caller!" One of the woman from the kitchen called out.
"I'm coming!" Sanae shouted as she dashed over to the kitchen, handing one of the chefs the order before she went into the staff's break room where the telephone was located.
"Hello?" Sanae said into the phone.
"Mom, how could you not tell me Hikaru was going to have a sleepover today?" Renge shouted into the phone furiously.
"What? His sleepover isn't until next week..." Sanae responded, sounding a little confusion by Renge's accusation.
"Well, what are his friends doing here?" Renge asked with her question being followed by a 'hi Miss Sanae' from Keiji.
Sanae sat there for a moment in silence, quite unsure herself of just what she could do about this predicament. She then took a deep breath and finally said,
"Take one of the old heaters from the shed and put it in the basement."
"Sounds good to me." Renge declared as she nodded in approval.
"I don't think so, unless your group sleeps in the basement." Hikaru proposed angrily as he pointed a finger to Renge.
"I brought the mattress up from the basement so I think it's only fair that my guests get the living room!" Renge shouted.
"No way, the basement's still going to be cold even with the heater!" Hikaru claimed.
"Then you two will just have to flip a coin to see who's group stays!" Sanae yelled from over the phone," I'll be home around eleven. Hopefully you two will settle your argument by then."
Sanae hung up the phone and the group was left to decide what they were going to do.
Kanari broke the silence asking," So what are you going to-?"
"Go get a coin." Renge responded before Hikaru walked into the kitchen to grab a coin from their coin tray. Hikaru held out the coin and then he said,
"I'm picking heads."
Renge shrugged and so Hikaru flipped the coin. Everyone fell completely silence as the coin was launched in the air, with all of them staring at it expectantly. Hikaru swiftly caught the coin and revealed it to be facing tails.
"See you guys next week." Renge snickered as she walked over to open the door for Keiji and Kazuki.
"No, this isn't over yet!" Hikaru declared as he stood in front of the doorway to block his friends from leaving," I have something else who we can determine who gets to have their sleepover tonight!"
Chiyo then reminded him flatly,"But you already los-"
"-Bring it on!" Renge interrupted as she pumped a fist into the air, surprising her guests greatly.
"Who ever can reach the corner store by the train station first gets to have their sleepover tonight!" Hikaru declared.
"Ooh, that sounds like a real challenge! You're on!" Renge declared as she opened the door, with Hikaru, Keiji and Kazuki all bolting out in an instant.
Yugure then tried running out the door as well,"Renge, what are we waiting for? We gotta go-!"
"Easy tiger." Kanari said to the violet-haired girl as she put a hand on her shoulder in order to stop her.
"Hehe, that was too easy.." Renge remarked as a near devilish smile appeared on her face. Yugure looked at her friends, seeming quite confused as to what they were plotting right now. So, she prompted them to explain by wearing a look of confusion on her face.
"We're going to run to the corner store with them." Renge declared as she closed the door quietly.
"But aren't we going to lose if we don't?" Yugure asked, still seeming as confused as ever.
"They're out of the house, so it really doesn't matter whether or not we lose.." Renge pointed out.
"Wait, but what about when they come back after realizing we didn't run with them?" Chiyo questioned.
Renge then held up a pair of keys that had been laying haplessly by the doorstep the entire time," I wouldn't be so worried about that."
Hikaru led his friends to the back route that led to the corner store. The path itself however, wasn't as comfortable to walk as the regular one. Though, it was quicker this way, if you didn't mind the lack of a physical road and bushes just about everywhere. Hikaru hadn't gone down this path in such a long time, so it was a surprise to him that he remembered it when he did.
The boys lungs began to burn after a short while, which felt strange for them. Usually they would never tire out this quickly. But maybe it was because running on an uneven terrain, coupled with trying to smack an endless mass of bushes out of their way that they lost steam already.
"I thought that corner store was like three blocks away.." Kazuki panted as the group took a pause to catch their breath.
"It is..." Hikaru responded, causing Keiji to shout in an incredulous tone,
"Well how it's taking us so long to get there?!"
"Maybe we just miss the exit out of this route.." Hikaru suggested as they all looked up to the very grey sky.
"It looks like a storm's setting up..." Kazuki observed warily," Maybe it's about time we head back."
"Nope, not happening.." Hikaru declared as he began to run again.
"Come on, we can always have the sleepover some other time.." Kazuki stated in a nonchalant voice, forcing Hikaru to stop running again.
" We actually can't..." Hikaru countered," Because, the both of you are always so busy with high-school so...who knows if we can for this again without one of guys being unable to make it?"
"It seems like a storm's about to come..." Yugure noted as she looked out the window of the living room. The group was now playing some dancing game on Renge's Wii and Kanari was failing miserably at the game while Renge and Chiyo were neck in neck.
Renge walked over to the window to look up at the sky with Yugure. It was indeed very, very grey and it appeared as if the sky was nothing more than just one giant cloud at the moment. Renge looked at the sky feeling a little regretful about kicking Hikaru out and now, she felt this undying need to do something about it.
"Let's go look for them." Renge declared as she got up from the couch she was sitting on with Yugure and led the girls outside. The girls followed along and everyone, including Renny and Topher were outside in the doorway of Renge's house.
"They shouldn't be that hard to find, assuming they just ran to the convenience store." Chiyo declared, receiving a look of disagreement from Renge.
"Something tells me he tried taking a detour..." Renge thought aloud,"..So, if that's the case, we should split up into two groups. Kanari, you, Yugure and Topher will look on the main road while me, Chiyo and Renny try looking through the alternate route."
"Got it." Kanari affirmed as she led Yugure and Topher to the main road. Renge then went back into the house to grab her keys and caught a glance of her board. Going by board would be faster, but, she could get hurt considering how inexperienced she was. But...time was of the essence. The thought of being unable to find Hikaru and his friends made Renge's heart sink. So she ended up taking the board with her and her hat as she ran out of the house.
"Follow me." Renge stated imperatively as she put on her hat.
Riding the board was indeed exhilarating but of course Renge, being the cautious person she was, only rode it on the sidewalk so when they reached a road, she stopped herself, picked up the board and jogged across the road. And, by the time they arrived at the rocky, unstable pathway that was Hikaru's potential detour, Renge decided to stop riding for a little while until they were met with a physical sidewalk again.
"Wow, we made in really good time.." Renge announced in surprise as she looked at her phone. She then looked around for Chiyo and Renny, who weren't anywhere to be found.
"Oops..." Renge said as she realized she must've gone too fast for them. She then tried calling Hikaru on his phone and waited patiently for him answer, but all she got was his answering machine. She sent about a hundred texts to him and still, nothing.
"That brat must've left his phone in the house!" Renge grimaced as Chiyo and Renny caught up to her.
"No sign of him yet huh?" Chiyo asked as she placed her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. Renge shook her head, casting her eyes down dismally.
"Don't worry, we'll find him." Chiyo reassuring as she placed a hand on Renge's shoulder.
Renge nodded in agreement and the group continued to search for Hikaru and his group.
Meanwhile, Kanari and Yugure were running back and forth across the main road in search of Hikaru, already reaching the convenience store and unable to find any of the boys. Yugure was making sure to check every spot possible along the road while Kanari was checking the inside of the convenience store.
"Anything?" Yugure called out as Kanari walked out of the store with a white plastic bag slung over her forearm. Kanari shook her head and Yugure moaned, upset that they had to continue their search here when they were clearly nowhere to be found.
"Maybe they went back to the house, did you text Renge?" Kanari asked as she took out a box of sour watermelon slices from her bag.
"One of our groups would've saw them by then, and Renge would've texted me if that was the case." Yugure responded with a shrug.
Renge and Chiyo were close to reaching the exit that would lead to main road where the convenience would be across from. Renge exasperated a gigantic sigh and stopped riding her board again, placing on the ground and sitting on it frustratingly.
"How come we haven't found them yet?" Renge shouted as she hung her head backwards.
"Maybe they didn't come this way, maybe they did end up taking the main road." Renny suggested sounding only somewhat hopeful.
"But...Kanari would've texted me by now.." Renge pointed out, checking her phone if she received any texts from Kanari.
"Excuse me, what are you kids doing out here at this late hour?" A voice asked them. It sounded as if it belonged to some man in his forties and appearing before them was just that. He had a dog alongside him and a somewhat concerned look on his face as he looked at the girls.
"We're looking for my brother and his friends.." Renge explained timidly with a forced smile.
"Were there three of them? Around, fifteen or so?" The man asked.
"Yes! Have you seen them?" Renge questioned as she immediately stood up from off her board.
"Yeah, they were a little further up the path, but I can't assure that they'll still be there, they looked like they were looking for something..." The man remarked, with Renge groaning in response.
"Your dog seems very...alert." Chiyo remarked tonelessly as she watched the dog look around it's surroundings.
"Yeah, he's got an amazing nose, really good at finding things." The man declared, all of them now having an idea after he said that," Maybe he can find your brother! Do you have anything on you that smells like him?"
"Um, I don't think so..." Renge answered as she hung her head in disappointment, only to be shook almost violently by Chiyo. Chiyo pointed to her head and Renge lit up as she took it off in realization.
"Here!" Renge said as she held out the hat to the man's dog, who began to smell the hat.
"Think you can find him Buster?" The man asked his dog as he knelt down. Buster then began to lead the group in search of the boys. The group wasn't actually that far at all thankfully, but once they found Hikaru's group, a certain someone from Temptation appeared.
"Isn't that grand? You're all together and now..." Rishi said as he leapt down from a nearby tree, extracting the man's Inner Scholar in the process. He then snatched Renge's board away from her and turned it into a Delinquous.
"Delinquous!" Renge's monsterfied board bellowed.
"My...my board..." Renge said desolately as she watched her board morph into a Delinquous. She shook her head and snapped back to her senses, spinning her head to her brother's group.
"We gotta get out of here ok?" Renge declared, with Hikaru nodding vigorously in approval. Renge was about to lead them out but then somehow Rishi knocked the boys out cold in an instant.
"Your move, Pretty Cure." Rishi jeered as he narrowed his eyes at Renge and Chiyo.
Renge held out her pen and Chiyo followed suit, the two of them shouting out: Pretty Cure, study session!
"The subject of awe-striking writing and powerful empathy, Cure Literature!" Literature introduced.
"The subject of generations past with tales that are sure to last, Cure History!" History introduced.
The Delinquous stared down the Cures and immediately darted up to them shortly after. History jumped up while Literature slid down between the Delinquous' legs to avoid contact with it. The Delinquous then spun around to face the girls.
"That was a little too close for comfort.." Literature noted, with History nodding in agreement.
History then called out, "Legacy Tem-!"
"Not so fast!" Literature interrupted as she held her arm out in front of History," You aren't using that attack just yet. You're going to need to recharge and there's only two of us here right now."
History sighed a soft sigh," Fine, Archaic Blaze!"
History set the Delinquous alight and it stood in place as it burned. But this time, the flames died out and now it began to chase after the girls. Literature ran at a break neck pace and suddenly help Cure History yelp from behind her.
"History!" Literature cried as she watched her fellow Cure dangle in the hands of the Delinquous.
"Now what shall you do?" Rishi asked, as he reached for a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Literature gritted her teeth, figuring now what about time she used that move she was intending to save for a little later.
"Poetic Jurisdiction!" She shouted as she leapt up and aimed her attack towards the Delinquous' arm. It shook around a bit and dropped History and then Literature attack again.
"Pretty Cure, Assassinating Diamante!" She shouted as the pale red diamond appeared and engulfed the Delinquous within it. The Delinquous was suffering from within the diamond and once the diamond disappeared, it looked rather defeated. But it still managed to swing an arm in the direction of Literature who was caught off-guard.
"Pretty Cure, Clear-cut Equalizer!" Literature heard a pair of shout from behind her, followed by a blast of green and blue energy appearing and smacking the Delinquous flat onto it's back.
Literature spun around and saw Cure Science and Cure Arithmetic standing in a tree behind her.
"Told ya they would find them." Arithmetic said to Science as the two leapt down from the tree.
The Delinquous stood up again and this time it tried cornering the girls into the edge of the so-called road that was right beside a lake.
"It's going to take a little more than this to try and corner us.." Literature declared as she held her hand out to preform an attack, but then realized, she was fully recharged yet. And so, the Delinquous then swooped down and picked her up in an instant, holding her with a most deadly vice grip.
"Lit!" Arithmetic called out from below as the Cures exchanged looks amongst themselves, trying to figure out what to do.
"Because of how she's held, we can't even try and attack it's arm without hitting her..." Science observed warily as the three of them stared at Literature in the Delinquous' grasp.
"We can just try and knock it down again.." Arithmetic whispered to the girls, keeping her eyes on the Delinquous. The Delinquous stood in place, looking as still as a statue.
"...It seems really resolute right now, I'm not sure if our attacks our going to do anything..." History commented in an unsure voice," But I guess it's at least worth a shot."
The three Cures tried to attack, but their efforts were fruitless, resulting in them needlessly tiring themselves out trying to rescue Literature. As her fellow Cures attacked, she watched the Delinquous while in grasp, beginning to feel like she was in the hands of an inanimate object. Literature watched her friends with sorrow as they continued to attack the Delinquous. She wanted to tell them that they could just stop, this obviously wasn't getting them anywhere. But then, what else could they do?
Literature then reminded herself that she always could've done something herself, despite being imprisoned by the Delinquous. She had been relying a little too much on others lately, and while it was ok at times, she figured had crossed that line between ok and unreasonable. She then came up with an idea, realizing that she was for the most part fully charged now. It was a little risky and incredibly dangerous, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She flashed the girls an expression that she hoped could be read as 'Stop attacking!' and the girls thankfully caught on.
She then took a deep breath and shouted," Pretty Cure, Assassinating Diamante!"
Her hands had been forced to be wrapped over her legs to entire time, so instead of a diamond being projected to the Delinquous, she instead was the target of her own attack. She fought against the urge to scream as volts of energy were getting blasted through her, enough to make the Delinquous drop her as it was getting hurt too, but not to her degree.
She dropped onto the ground and got up staggering, her whole body shaking from that attack. She looked over her shoulder to see how the Delinquous was holding up and found it on the ground, shaking as well.
"Now to finish things up." Literature declared, her heart still jolting from the shock.
"Pretty Cure, Language of Justice!" She cried as the atmosphere around them turned red. The Delinquous was purified instantly and the man's auburn Inner Scholar returned back to him and Rishi was nowhere to be found.
Literature stood on one knee, wondering if she'd be able to walk all the way home from here. Normally, she would never consider the walk to be so treacherous, but in her current condition, just the thought of it was killing her. She then decided to stand up swiftly but before she dropped to the ground, Arithmetic and Science grabbed hold of her.
"You've done enough for the day. " Arithmetic declared as they de-transformed, Chiyo waking up the boys.
When the group arrived at the doorsteps of the house, Renge faced Hikaru saying,
"I guess...you can have the living room and we'll take the basement."
"No, 'cuz I just thought of something." Hikaru said, " We can ask mom if we can use her room since it's big enough, plus it has two single beds and she can sleep in the guest room."
"So, none of us will take the basement?" Renge asked, with Hikaru nodding in return," Now that sounds like a plan."
The boys ran upstairs and Renge went to get her sleeping bag and some extra pillows, leaving the girls, along with Renny and Topher in the living room.
"Hey, I've been wanting to ask you two something..." Chiyo began as she stole a glance of Renny and Topher, who looked at her in a somewhat anxious manner.
"You two live with Renge here, so I've been wondering..." Chiyo stated,"...Have either of you developed a crush on her?"
Renny and Topher looked at each other and just laughed with the latter simply saying," Nah, she's kinda like a little sister to us."
"A little sister?" Kanari repeated, reminding herself that the pair of birds were older than all of them.
"Plus she has Nao." Renny mentioned.
"Nao?" Yugure repeated, seeming rather puzzled," Who's that?"
"Renge's partner." Chiyo answered, leaving Yugure seeming unusually surprised upon hearing this.
"Alright, I got the pillows right here!" Renge declared as she ran down the stairs.
Kanari took a pillow and koala hugged it as she took a Playstation controller from the table, turning the console on.
"Now, let's see what kinda games Hikaru's got on this thing..." Kanari declared as the Playstation turned on," If there are any fighting games here, I'm going against you Tofu."
"You say that as if you're going to win." Topher sneered as he picked up the other controller on the table.
Renge suddenly heard a knock on the door and raced up to the door in an instant.
"Just who could that be?" Renge wondered as she opened the door, revealing Kokoro in the doorway.
"I hope I'm not too late.." Kokoro said sheepishly as she stood in the doorway.
"No, not at all!" Renge reassured," Come right in!"
"Sorry I'm a little late, I was trying to finish a project up for class." Kokoro apologized as she entered Renge's home.
"No, it's ok! The sleepover's just getting started anyways!" Renge declared as she closed the door behind Kokoro.
She led Kokoro inside and let her take off her shoes, unexpectedly leading her into quite the spectacle. In her living room was Kanari and Topher, fighting over a game and shouting at the top of their lungs with Yugure and Renny respectively cheering for them.
"Come on Kanari you got this!" Yugure cheered violently as Kanari mashed buttons relentlessly.
"You're going down Arithmetic!" Topher screamed as his character was beating up Kanari's.
"Finish her!" Renny shouted as Topher hit the buttons against the controller with his wings without missing a beat.
"You're toast Toph!" Kanari screamed triumphantly as her character was inches away from knocking out Topher's.
"Guys!" Renge called out, mouth agape in shock of what the group let transpire in front of Kokoro, who simply stood there in astonishment and absolute confusion.
"What?" They all shouted impatiently as they looked over to Renge and Kokoro. They all fell silent as their gaze fell to Kokoro, everyone now unsure of what to do.
Calmly, Renge ended up saying as she briskly led Kokoro to the couch," Allow me to do some explaining..."