Running to the bus stop tinted Shinko's typically pale beige face a bright pink as she tried to catch the bus at the stop. If only the light hadn't turned green, if only the school wasn't this far away from the bus stop she thought to herself. If only it wasn't the weekend and the bus ran on it's regular schedule. The bus went without her and and Shinko stopped running, placing her hands on her knees to catch her breath.
"Great, now I'm going to have to wait here for half an hour!" Shinko groaned as she sat herself down on the bench next to the stop in frustration. Her heavy breathing didn't died down for a few more minutes as she waited for the bus, and she began to look off into the distance in hopes of some off-schedule bus showing up.
"But what if that off-schedule bus were to take me to another dimension?" Shinko thought aloud absently. Realizing she said this aloud, she reddened a bit and looked to see if anyone was around. She saw a familiar figure walking across the street to the bus-stop and narrowed her eyes at them.
"Is that... Nao?" Shinko wondered quietly as they walked closer to the bus stop. She blinked a few times as she tried to confirm her guess and once the figure was only a couple of feet away, she found out her guess was correct.
"Hi Nao!" Shinko greeted in a friendly voice as Nao got closer to the bus stop.
"Hey Shinko." Was all Nao said quietly as he looked to see if the bus was coming.
"Hm, I guess I should try and make conversation or something with him..." Shinko thought to herself as she looked over Nao who was paying little attention to her," So, what brings you here?"
"That's such a stupid question, pull yourself together Shinko!" She then immediately thought to herself.
"I'm going to Frozen Flurries with some of my friends." Nao answered tonelessly as he looked at the bus schedule beside the bench Shinko was sitting on.
"Oh, that's the frozen yogurt place right? That sounds like fun." Shinko commented cheerfully," I just came to the school because I wanted to rehearse my lines for the school play this weekend, only...I had forgotten my script at school. So I came all this way just to get it."
"All this way?" Nao repeated, his eyes narrowed.
"Well, I guess it's not as far as I made it sound. I live a little past Ozawa station." Shinko responded as the bus came.
The two of them got on the bus, Shinko getting on first. There weren't many seats open and there was only a pair of empty seats beside each other available in the front. Shinko chose to sit there.
"I wonder if Nao will sit beside me..." Shinko thought as she sat onto the seat. She looked over to Nao, who did end up deciding to sit beside her. Shinko seemed rather surprised at this gesture, but didn't question it considering it only made sense he would sit next to her as there were barely any seats left in the bus.
"This means I gotta start making more conversation doesn't it?" Shinko thought to herself. Normally, Shinko never fretted about making conversation with somebody. But, Nao was...a special case. They were familiar enough with each to say hello, but...Shinko wasn't too sure of what she would be able to talk about with him considering they had seldom spoke to each other in art club and their sole mutual friend was Renge. Wait a minute!
"So,do you have any clubs or anything with Renge?" Shinko asked," Oh wait, she's already in both of my clubs."
"No, I don't." Nao answered in a tone Shinko nearly registered as bitter.
"Ok. She's in my Drama and Yearbook club. It's funny, she never really struck me as an actress, but she's isn't half-bad. I remember one time when I was in middle school and Renge was a first-year in high-school she's always seemed very shy. And then her class was holding a haunted house for culture fest and she was supposed to be a scary version of Snow White, but she actually seemed scared of some of the 'guests'." Shinko replied with a giggle.
Nao smiled a small smile after Shinko told him that.
"I guess those days are behind her now. Since she's a lot less shy around people. She's also been pretty busy lately. I guess that pretty much comes with being a third-year." Shinko remarked,"Well, to me she seems busy as a couple of weeks ago she had asked our Yearbook teacher to be excused twenty minutes early as she some appointment to go to. But, then two days later, she gave me a few other kids in our Yearbook club chocolates for Valentine's day. I'm guessing that's just her being good at time management."
Nao did nothing more than nod as he listened before noticing his stop was coming up.
"I'll see you later." Nao said in a mildly awkward tone as he stood up. Shinko waved good-bye to him and off the bus he went.
He got off the bus, taking note of the fact that no one was around, giving a certain someone, or rather, something, to finally emerge from it's hiding spot.
"I wish you wouldn't do that~" A grey little creature with green eyes said to Nao as it stretched it's little arms.
"Well I wish you wouldn't come and bother me whenever you please." Nao countered in a deadpan tone as he walked to the other bus stop.
"You never considered my appearances as bothersome when you were in middle-school." The creature said to him," Back then, you enjoyed seeing me and we would always talk about video games and movies. And we used to even talk about Koko-!"
"Times have changed." Nao interrupted indifferently as he began to try and ignore the creature's presence though he knew it was inevitable.
"You also said you would give me a name, remember?" The creature reminded him.
Nao stopped walking for a moment and drew out a long sigh," You won't ever stop bothering me about that huh? Well, fine. Your name is...Haku."
Haku smiled a little after being given a name after so many years, despite only making a return to the outside world as of quite recently. Haku then hid inside Nao's hood as he saw a tall, muscular boy who seemed to be a year older than Nao coming their way. The boy bumped into Nao and Nao ended up tripping and falling due to both the boy's push and the slippery surface under him.
Nao shut his eyes and when he opened them, everything seemed a little blurry.
"Where did my glasses go?" Nao asked as he felt around blindly for them. He felt the leg of his glasses and picked them up quickly, only to find that one of the lens had been cracked.
"I think that boy stepped on them." Haku commented as Nao looked at his glasses blankly.
"I bet he didn't even realize he stepped on them and thought he just cracked the ice..." Nao thought aloud cynically," Well, a tough looking guy bumps into a scrawny nerd and makes him trip, resulting in him having his glasses fall off his face, as if I haven't heard of that before. What a cliché."
"So are you still going to Frozen Flurries?" Haku asked him.
"Might as well." Nao said with a shrug as he delicately stowed his glasses away into his bag.
"Frozen yogurt brings me such an indescribable joy~" Renge declared as she took a gigantic spoonful from her cup.
"Renge, I'm pretty sure all foods bring you an indescribable joy." Kanari commented, her eyes narrowed as she stirred her yogurt around in her cup.
"But frozen yogurt brings me the most joy~" Renge crooned as a large smile appeared on her face before she devoured the spoonful of yogurt.
"Renge are you sure you want to pay for all of us?" Chiyo asked cautiously while poking her yogurt.
"Absolutely!" Renge declared," It's the least I can do for you guys since you did come with me to Sunshine Grill."
"I'm just glad you finally got a job." Chiyo responded with a smirk.
Renge took another large spoonful of her frozen yogurt before responding," Me too."
It had been a couple of weeks since that incident with Jika and last week, Renge saw a help wanted sign at a fast food place in the mall next door to the school. She felt like it was a long shot, trying to apply at a restaurant in the mall where there were likely dozens of students from the school that were going to apply as well. But, with the support of her friends, Renge figured that the least she could do was try.
"Hi, my name is Kotori Renge and I'm here to apply for a job. I see you've been wanting help." Renge said as she pointed to the help wanted sign shyly.
"Ah, yes we have." The woman working the register says in a friendly voice," Do you have a resume on you?"
Renge then quickly pulls out her resume from her bag and hands it to the woman while offering her most genuine smile. The woman scans over her resume in a couple of seconds then looks over to Renge. Many students had already applied to work here and she had only hired two new people as of right now and now she felt like she had found her third new employee of the week. It wasn't really like Renge had anything on her resume that made her stand out from the rest of the others, it was really just something about her that the woman liked.
"When can you start?" The woman asked her.
"As early as you want me." Renge blurts out, before realizing how embarrassingly desperate that sounded.
The woman laughed and simply said," Alright, you got the job."
Renge took a final spoonful from her cup and said," So far, I'm only in training as of right now and only working on weekends. I worked about four hours this morning and my next shift is Friday afternoon."
"That's pretty good though." Yugure commented before the girls finally took notice of a group of kids who seemed about fourteen or so crowd around a bunch of tables near the corner of the store.
"What's going on there?" Chiyo asked as the girls walked over to the groups of kids. Through the crowd, they were able to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a chessboard and two boys playing against other.
"Looks like Tomoki's finally going to beat Tadase!" One kid commentated from within the crowd. The boy on the right of the table, Tomoki, seemed rather calm as he awaited the boy on the left, Tadase, to make his move.
"You know, we can end this quite quickly if you just tip your king over." Tomoki smugly.
"Fat chance." Tadase on the left hissed as he looked at his pieces. As he looked at them, he noticed something he hadn't noticed before. He pretended to be in distress for the next few moves and then, he beat Tomoki.
Tomoki looked at the chessboard in shock and gasped out," How did you even do that?!"
"You had left your king wide open while trying to take my other pieces." Tadase answered brashly.
"You may've beat me, but I bet you'd lose to Saiko Lumi Xenon in five rounds!" Tomoki shouted as he pointed to the leader-board beside their table.
"Well, I bet you'd lose to her in three rounds!" Tadase countered.
"Saiko Lumi Xenon?" Renge repeated as the two boys began to squabble. The four of them then looked at the leader-board where the initials S.L.X were.
"She's been at the top of the board for years now." One boy remarked amongst the crowd.
"But that other guy, Ichinose has been climbing up the chart really quickly over the last few weeks..." Another boy mentioned," That guy may be a match for our Lumi."
"I what it would be like to meet this Saiko Lumi girl..." Renge mused as the girls continued to stare at the leader board.
Yugure, who had tuned out her friends for a couple of minutes now as she watched the boys take sides on who would win between Saiko Lumi Xenon and Ichinose, then said," You guys wanna meet her?"
"Well, it would be something to meet a girl who apparently has nothing better to do than beat pre-adolescent boys in chess." Kanari remarked.
Yugure then narrowed her eyes at Kanari and led the girls to the bathroom. There, Yugure went into a bathroom stall and the three of them exchanged expressions. Yugure then exited the stall in a very, very different outfit. She was nearly unrecognizable. Well, she was but the girls saw her enter the stall to know it was her.
She wore a teal and yellow striped jacket that had a checkered print on it's shoulders and an orange tank-top with eyes on it underneath. Her shorts were white and words like 'Zap!' and 'Pow!' on them with a pair of awfully bright mismatched knee socks on underneath them. But, the thing that made her nearly unrecognizable was the fact that she was wearing a cyan colour wig that went to her shoulders that had a pink bow and silver crown clipped into it along with a pair of orange hounds tooth glasses.
"Well, now I see why you call yourself Psycho Lumi Xenon." Kanari remarked as Yugure struck a pose that seemed to say, "Ta-da!".
"...Why?" Was all Renge could say, looking at Yugure with utmost confusion.
"Well, it all started a couple of years ago..." Yugure began as she shut her eyes.
When I was in middle school, this place had just opened up and while it did generate and respectably-sized crowd, there was one thing about it that made it stand out from the rest of the stores that had opened that year. They were holding chess tournaments and each year, they would give out prizes to the champion monthly. That prize being a thirty-dollar gift card to Frozen Flurries. In all honestly, I'm not actually that crazy about frozen yogurt. However, I'm obsessed with mochi, one of the toppings that are available in the parlour. So, I decided to play in the tournaments to win the gift cards and was taught by Minato how to play chess. I got amazingly good over a couple of months and soon, I was rising up the leader-board under the name Saiko Lumi Xenon.
"I've been placing first in these competitions for years now and I'm pretty well known around here. Like a celebrity." Yugure gloated.
"But why the disguise?" Chiyo eventually asked with a look of disgust on her face, her eyes feeling as if they were ready to bleed from all the awfully bright colours of Yugure's outfit.
"I wouldn't be recognized in public as the girl who creams fourteen year-old boys in chess at a yogurt parlour!" Yugure scoffed as she awkwardly ran a hand through her wig.
"Fair enough..." Chiyo responded, her eyes narrowed as Yugure led them out of the bathroom.
Before the girls returned to the parlour, they were halted by Yugure, who stood against the wall as she listened in on a conversation outside the parlour.
"No way, Ichinose's here!" One boy shouted amongst the clamor of other voices.
"Sorry kids, I don't play beginners. I wouldn't want to crush your spirits this early in your chess careers. I'm here for Saiko Lumi Xenon!" A voice that sounded a few years older than the other kids announced.
"Well here she is!" Yugure declared as she stepped out into the open, with her hands on her hips.
"In the flesh, the Saiko Lumi Xenon has been here this entire time?" The boy who appeared to be Ichinose gasped. He had very dark hair and wore a biker jacket along with shades and ripped jeans. He appeared to be about sixteen, maybe seventeen but either way, he looked so out of place in this parlour populated by tweenage boys.
Just then, a group of kids Renge recognized very well entered the parlour, though they went unnoticed by most of the people inside the parlour. Entering through the glass doors were Kokoro, Ushio and Nao.
Renge felt her heart race as she saw Nao and kept her gaze down, though she really wanted to greet Kokoro and not appear as rude or anything. She also wouldn't have minded to take a better at Nao, who didn't have his glasses on today.
"Saiko Lumi Xenon! How would you like to have a match with me?" Ichinose challenged as he crossed his arms gallantly.
"It would be my pleasure." Lumi said with a smirk," However, we need at least two more competitors if we want to play as a tournament. I don't do single matches."
"Hm..." Ichinose sounded as he tried searching for other competitors within the room. The kids behind Lumi looked at him eagerly and Ichinose quickly waved a dismissive hand towards them saying," They aren't yet ready for a tournament with the pros. You there!"
Ichinose pointed at Nao, though he only startled Kokoro and Ushio as he did so," Do you know how to play chess?"
Nao rolled his eyes, with a cocky smile appearing on his face," Do I know how to play chess? Is Mario a plumber?"
"One more person..." Lumi reported before turning to face the girls," Kana! Can you play chess?"
"Do cats have whiskers?" Kanari responded with a snicker," Let's beat these dudes into next week!"
The girls high-fived and then Ichinose declared," To make sure these two are worthy of competing against us, they have to play a match against the best players that aren't us here!"
"The best players are probably... Atsumu and Tadase!" One boy calculated.
Nao and Kanari then went up against Atsumu and Tadase respectively, with Nao winning his match despite squinting at the board for more than half of it and Kanari losing hers.
"I should've asked you can you play chess well?" Lumi groaned as she placed her hand over her forehead while Kanari hung her head in shame after being defeated by a thirteen year boy.
"Does that mean Tadase will be in the competition?" Atsumu asked as Tadase looked towards him with eager eyes.
"Only if...Saiko Lumi Xenon is unable to find another person to play in our tournament. Someone, who again, is a newcomer and can defeat Tadase." Ichinose answered before pointing to 'Lumi'," Saiko Lumi Xenon! You have one hour to find another competitor!"
"Wha-? But she's the best I could find..." Lumi sighed," Fine. I'll see what I can do."
Renge then whispered to Kokoro and Ushio as Lumi tried to think of someone else who could play in their competition.
"Can you guys play chess?" Renge asked them in a low voice.
"Sorry, I can't." Kokoro said sheepishly.
"I can play it's just I'm not all that good." Ushio replied candidly while Renge groaned a little before an idea came to her.
"Not that wouldn't be such a bad idea." Renge said to herself while she grabbed Kanari and Lumi's arms as she ran out of the parlour.
"Chiyo, keep watch of them!" Renge cried as she left the parlour with the girls.
"Them?" Chiyo repeated before realizing Renge had left her bag that had Renny and Topher inside," Oh, them..."
Renge, Kanari and Yugure then took the bus and headed to Renge's house, where a potential competitor awaited them. Renge opened the door of her house to find her brother walking down the steps of the stairs, still in his pajamas and not yet realizing Renge had brought along company.
"How was work?" Hikaru asked, sounding rather uninterested as he walked down the steps, moments away from seeing Kanari and Yugure in his door way," Renge! Why didn't you text me that you were having friends over? I would've changed or something!"
"Changed into what? A less whiny brother?" Renge questioned flatly before she did her explaining," How would you like to compete in a chess tournament?"
"Can Hikaru play chess? Yugure asked, sounding a little timid as she asked that while examining Hikaru. Before Hikaru answered her, Renge stomped into the kitchen to retrieve something from the cabinet. When she returned a few moments later, she held a handful of chess medals in one hand and waved them a little in Yugure's face.
"Do these nerd medals answer your question?" Renge asked with a small scoff as she awkwardly placed her elbow on her brother's shoulder," No matter how well Ichinose or Nao may play, they probably can't compare to Hikaru!"
"Wow, you're some ex." Yugure remarked, before clamping her mouth shut her hands, feeling like an indecent person for letting such a comment slip out.
"I don't really think Renge wants to see Nao suffer but rather...she loves seeing her brother win." Kanari explained sheepishly as Renge began to laugh in triumph, despite Hikaru not yet giving an answer.
"So what do you say? Will you do it?" Yugure asked him, coming very close to begging him. Hikaru seemed interested, but not interested enough to want to play as his sister just let him be seen in his pajamas by her friends. But then he looked at Renge and found himself wishing he hadn't made eye contact with her just then. Her eyes had a malicious look to them, as if they were threatening him. He then wondered what she would've been able to do to blackmail him.
"Didn't do my homework yet...forgot to do the dishes...left the tv on all night..." Hikaru thought to himself, becoming quite distressed now.
"Ok, I'll do it." Hikaru answered," Just let me change my clothes. By the way, how long is this match going to take? And where is it?"
"Maybe a half hour at Frozen Flurries." Renge estimated as Hikaru climbed the steps to his room.
"Frozen Flurries? You mean that yogurt place?" Hikaru asked, sounding a tad unimpressed as he squinted his eyes at her.
Chiyo was getting a little bored sitting and waiting for the girls to come back and was quietly conversing with the birds inside Renge's bag.
"Honestly, I don't see why they have to play against Ichinose so badly today..." Chiyo sighed. She felt like she was being held prisoner on the one weekend that she didn't have to work on. The kids continued to play chess against each other, in hopes that Ichinose would notice them while Nao played against himself with Ichinose looking out for the girls in the parking lot through the glass door.
"Chess is a game of wits, maybe Acumen could be inside Ichinose." Topher suggested.
"Maybe but..." Chiyo trailed off as she glanced over to Ichinose, who fists were against the glass door with his head hung down.
"Hurry up and come so I can claim your title Saiko Lumi Xenon!" Ichinose cried, sounding unusually passionate.
"...He seems a little weird." Chiyo finished before Kokoro and Ushio, who were staying just because, came over to Chiyo.
"It's strange how that Saiko Lumi girl seems to be an idol here yet the boys claim that they never see her out in public, huh Sakurami?" Kokoro asked as she and Ushio sat down beside her.
"I keep telling you Kokoro, Chiyo's just fine and, yeah, it is quite odd that the boys haven't ever seen her public. But with an appearance like that, they probably aren't lying or anything..." Chiyo answered with a forced laugh.
Kokoro then gasped as she caught a glimpse of something orange and green peering out from Renge's bag," You brought them!"
"Uh-oh." Was all Chiyo said before Kokoro peered into the bag and waved at Renny and Topher," Hey guys! You remember me right?"
Renny and Topher exchanged glances and waved to her awkwardly.
"Wait, what did she bring?" Ushio asked as he looked into Renge's bag, with Chiyo feeling as if her heart was about to drop. Ushio saw Renny and Topher and the two birds looked at him, appearing to petrified and unsure of what to do.
"Guys, it's ok. Ushio's really really good at keeping secrets, I swear!" Kokoro claimed as she tried gesturing them to come out. They looked at Chiyo, who wasn't sure of what they could do and simply shrugged.
Reluctantly, Renny and Topher walked out of the bag, much to Ushio's surprise. Chiyo was already beginning to feel as if this was a bad idea, but she decided to go with the flow as Ushio's facial expressions were becoming quite amusing to her.
"Just where the hell did Renge get these?" Ushio gawked while Kokoro urged him to lower his voice while Chiyo just arched an eyebrow towards him, wondering how he knew that this was Renge's bag.
" I've seen her with this Mellow Kitty bag before." Ushio explained before turning his attention back to Renny and Topher," So, are these like actual birds? Cause, they really don't look like your average bird."
Renny and Topher were about to correct him, but Chiyo sent them a glare that said not to and kept their mouths shut.
"So, what are they like some remote control toys?" Ushio guessed as he continued to look at the birds.
Chiyo tried desperately to think of a response while Kokoro simply said," They're special birds."
Darting her eyes to Kokoro suspiciously, Chiyo didn't say a word. She then stared at Ushio to see what his response was going to be. Admittingly, Kokoro's tone was persuasive enough in the sense that just hearing it made it clear that she didn't want any further questions asked regarding the birds origins or species.
Abruptly, Ushio then asked," Well, can they do any tricks or something?"
"Tricks?" Chiyo repeated her breath while looking over to Renny and Topher. Could they do anything that was worth being called a trick that wasn't talking or writing down excessive notes regarding Temptation?
Renny then began to gesture to a chess-board with his head and Chiyo was quick to catch on as she brought a board over to the table in a matter of seconds.
"They can play chess." Chiyo stated, as she laid the chessboard down in front of them. She positioned the board in a way so that the birds would be obscured by her back as they played to not draw any more attention to them.
"Really? Now that I wanna see!" Ushio exclaimed as Topher went to one side of the board while Renny went to the other.
"Sweet, we avoided a major crisis." Chiyo thought to herself, though she was still feeling incredibly tense.
Nao was looking at the board, having just won against himself yet again and was now beginning to mentally assign his friends to pieces in the game.
"Ushio would probably be a knight, and Kokoro would be a bishop..." Nao thought to himself as he stared at the board head laying on his folded arms," Sakurami seems like she would be rook and I guess Marco would be a rook too. So, what does that make Renge?"
Slowly and absent-mindedly, he picked up the queen piece.
"The strongest piece..." He thought to himself as he rotated the piece in his hands, looking at it carefully while thinking about that time at the aquarium.
Coming to his senses, he dropped the piece and stared at it as it rolled around.
"What am I thinking?" Nao said under his breath as he let the piece fall off the table," Renge shouldn't be stuck with a king like myself. Screw it, I'm no king."
His focus then came to the front row of the team," I'm nothing more than a sacrificial pawn."
Renge, Kanari, Saiko Lumi Xenon and Hikaru then bursted through the door entrances and Lumi declared," We're ready for this tournament!"
"Finally!" Ichinose shouted before striking a finger in the direction of the man behind the register," You there! Decide who will verse who!"
"But wait, he hasn't even gone against anyone to prove his abilities!" Kanari pointed out as she poked at Hikaru.
"No need, I know who this man is. Kotori Hikaru! It's been a while hasn't it?" Ichinose said as he pointed to Hikaru.
Hikaru stared at Ichinose for a couple of moments blankly before asking," Do I know you...?" Renge held back a giggle while Ichinose stood there, dumbfounded and waiting for Hikaru to recognize him.
Hikaru blinked another few moments and finally said," Catholic school division chess tournament of 2010 right? Wait, no...we've already played against each other too. You were the idiot who kept wasting time and throwing me off by writing down notes while you played!"
"So you do remember!" Ichinose retorted, sounding a little irritated by Hikaru's last comment," But, my note taking days have past. I've enhanced my memory to memorize every single move I make to make sure that I never falter in any way."
"What a weirdo." Kanari muttered under her breath, Renge giggling again before Ichinose took notice of them.
"Silence young girls!" Ichinose demanded," Now, lets the games begin."
For the first round, Hikaru went against Ichinose while Lumi went against Nao.
"He's pretty good, but...his fate's been sealed." Lumi thought to herself as she made her move. Nao was looking down at the board intently and made his move after a couple of moments. After he did this, he stared at Lumi while she contemplated her next move.
"What's with her outfit?" Nao thought to himself as he scrutinized the opponent.
Hikaru took a deep breath as he made his next move, moving his knight. After he did this, he looked at Ichinose who glowered down at the board in determination,looking at the board from every angle possible.
"I may've been able to beat this guy a few years ago but...can I pull off another win against him now?" Hikaru thought to himself. Ichinose had definitely improved since their elementary days and now he was on par with Hikaru. Back then, Ichinose did put up a good match against him, but one wrong move cost him his win.
He just then noticed Ichinose had made his move and now it Hikaru's turn again. He looked at the board and try to see just what Ichinose was trying to plan.
Meanwhile, Temptasia was sitting at a table in another room of her castle, tinkering away at a pocket watch. She hummed a little as she did this and paid no attention to Zephora as she walked into the room.
Finally, Temptasia put the pocket watch aside and beamed to Zephora saying," Good afternoon, how are you?"
"I'm fine." Zephora responded briefly before stating her purpose as to why she came to see Temptasia,"I need to know, why was it so important that the all scepters couldn't be activated? You said these Mega-Delinquouses only get stronger after every battle, so I fail to see how this is a-"
"Those scepters have a strange magic. Strange in the sense that when used as one, they can...find things, things that we need." Temptasia explained slowly.
"Things like the book right?" Zephora questioned in a somewhat flat tone," But wouldn't that be a good thing? If anything, that makes our job easier."
"When the book is in search of the light from the scepters, it has this habit of burning away anything 'evil' in sight. Making us unable to touch it." Temptasia responded," I don't want to have to pull out another one of you guys, so if anything, you all need to keep those Pretty Cure separated from now."
"Right. So, does that mean when those girls use their scepters together as one, the book will appear?" Zephora asked.
Temptasia rolled her eyes and placed her fist under her cheek saying," That book does whenever it wants. It might show up, it might not. But, the risk is too great and we can't even come close to it under those conditions without being obliterated or something. What we need is someone, or something to lure out the book, like a mole from the human world. But, the question is...who could we use?"
"Wait, what about that beacon Delinquous Vice had created? Can't that lure out the book?" Zephora pointed out.
"That thing's been malfunctioning ever since that one encounter at that hideaway. Not too sure as to why though.." Temptasia answered with a sigh," Today, I want all of you to go alright? Now could you be a dear and inform the boys for me?"
"Of course." Zephora replied as she walked out the room to round up the remaining two denizens.
"You idiot, that Delinquous was destroyed and Vice just made a new one so that you wouldn't get suspicious." Zephora thought to herself.
"I can't believe this..."Hikaru thought as he looked at the board, feeling his insides contort within him," It's just like our last match years ago."
Before making his next move, Hikaru quickly looked over to Ichinose to see if he had noticed how close Hikaru was to winning. Hikaru flinched as he saw Ichinose's expression, crestfallen over realizing that Hikaru was moments away from victory again.
"Shoot! He's caught on. Now I can't even try and make a different move because he'll know I'm throwing the match." Hikaru said in his head. With a deep breath, Hikaru moved his one of his pieces and trapped Ichinose's king.
"Checkmate." Hikaru said neutrally. He knew he was supposed to lose against him so that Yugure could play him but how could he let him do that when Ichinose hadn't even noticed his plan?
"No!" Ichinose shouted as he stood up, his face in his hands and back turned to Hikaru. The remaining young boys that had stayed looked at the defeated Ichinose in bewilderment, never having seen him like this.
"Checkmate." Lumi said as she trapped Nao's king. Nao looked closely at the board, though it sorta hurt him to do so and his green eyes grew large in surprise. He said nothing and stood up as he shook Lumi's hand.
"Good game." Nao said tonelessly as he shook her hand.
Lumi beamed, " You too."
Nobody had noticed Lumi's win because they were still too busy looking at Ichinose in astonishment.
"Ichinose...lost?" One boy said," It wasn't even Lumi he lost to..."
"Such a shame when an arrogant fool gets hit by reality." Zephora said as she, Vice and Rishi appeared into the room. She snapped her fingers and a chrome-coloured crumpled sphere appeared in her palm.
"Run amok, Delinquous!" Zephora called out as she removed Ichinose's Inner Scholar from him and fused it with an empty frozen yogurt cup.
"Delinquous!" The monstrous cup of yogurt roared.
"Your turn." She said to Rishi before she waved good-bye and disappeared, with the Delinquous following after her.
"Wait, where's it going?" Renge said quietly as the rest of the girls tried getting everyone to leave the parlour.
Rishi then appeared before Lumi and looked at her carefully, mouth lifting in a half-smile as he asked her," Do I know you?"
Lumi's pupils shrunk in fear and distress as she tried to response, sputtering out in a strange voice," Nope, absolutely not at all!"
"So, you're not Cure Science?" Rishi asked with a chuckle, with Lumi looking down awkwardly at the ground, unsure of how to respond.
Before they could get everyone out, Rishi took Tadase's Inner Scholar from within him and fused it to a rook piece while saying," Run amok, Delinquous."
"You two stay here and fight this Delinquous!" Renge instructed," Me and Kanari will go look for the other one."
Lumi and Chiyo nodded as their teammates ran outside in search of the other Delinquous, taking out their pens shortly after.
"Pretty Cure, study session!" Lumi and Chiyo shouted in unison.
"The subject of generations past with that are sure to last, Cure History!" History announced.
"The subject of experiments and endless discoveries, Cure Science!" Science announced.
The two of them took a step back cautiously as the Delinquous readied itself to charge towards them. The Delinquous dashed over to the girls, who ducked and ran for cover behind the cash register's circular counter.
The Delinquous then stared at the Cures who were peering over the top of the counter, the Cures taking note of the fact that the Delinquous was glowing a strange indigo colour.
"What's it doing?" History questioned quietly as she and Science slowly stood up from behind the counter.
"Watch out!" Science shouted as she pulled History back under the counter with her. All the normal sized chess pieces that were on the other tables were being thrown to the girls.
"But...who threw them?" Science wondered aloud as History got up from under the counter again and stood on top of it.
"Doesn't matter, either way they're not going to stand in our way!" History declared as she held her hands out to summon her scepter.
"Show yourself! Everlasting Scepter!" History cried out as her scepter appear in her hands," Now shape shift! Everlasting staff!"
History held the staff in her hands and held it up high, shouting," Pretty Cure, Storming Legend!"
A storm of lightning appeared from her scepter and all of the pieces fell to the ground immediately. She and Science then left their little hiding spot and went to face the Delinquous head on.
Zephora and her Delinquous could be found in the parking lot of Frozen Flurries, along with Literature and Arithmetic who were currently fighting against the Delinquous. Arithmetic was too busy throwing a dozens punches a second to even notice the Delinquous trying to charge up a strange beam in it's free hand. And just before it shot the beam, Literature stood in front of Arithmetic, holding out her scepter and shouting,
"Pretty Cure, enchantress whirlwind!"
She was able to knock the Delinquous off of it's feet for about a few moments, then it stood up and leapt up high.
Literature sighed as looked up at the Delinquous before urging Arithmetic to jump up with her. Arithmetic jumped up behind the Delinquous sent it whirling away to Literature who was about to use her scepter again, but was grabbed by the leg as the Delinquous began to fall.
"Let! Go!" Literature screamed as she tried to extract her leg from the Delinquous' clutch.
"Pretty Cure, Imperial Dendrite!" Arithmetic shouted as she directed her scepter in front of the Delinquous. The Delinquous let go of her and Arithmetic caught her instantly and threw her up again.
Literature shrieked as she began to fall again,"Just what do you think you're-?!"
"Geometric frenzy!" Arithmetic shouted as she created a large blue two-dimension beneath herself, with Literature falling onto it.
"That's what I think I'm doing." Arithmetic responded as the two went back down to face the Delinquous.
The two landed on their feet and looked around for the Delinquous who was nowhere to be found.
"Where could it be?" Literature asked as she and Arithmetic looked around for it.
"Watch out!" Arithmetic shouted, but it was too late, the Delinquous had already trapped them within itself lying on the ground upside down.
"Great, now what?" Arithmetic barked as she and Literature stood back to back.
Literature looked around the interior of the Delinquous and a plan came to her quickly. She smiled an unusually mischievous smile and said to Arithmetic,
"Just follow my lead."
Science was trying to fend off the Delinquous on her own as History had just been thrown into one of the yogurt dispensers, still trying to recover from the collision. Science's scepter was out and currently transformed into the Wondrous Caduceus, which was being held in front of herself for defense.
Usually, this wouldn't have even scared Science to be facing off a Delinquous on her own, at least not at this point. But, there's was something about this Delinquous that was just so much more...malicious than the ones before it. Why was that? Each Delinquous was the same, so this one couldn't have been any different than the one before it. Science kept telling herself that but it wasn't doing her much good. Science then bumped into a frozen yogurt dispenser and found herself cornered.
"Hey, rookie! Over here!" History shouted as she began to throw waffle bowls at the Delinquous. The Cure clad in yellow was successful in drawing attention to herself and the Delinquous began to storm over to her. When she ran out of waffle bowls, she started throwing frosted animal cookies and then when those were finished she reached for a tong and flung a helping of jelly beans in it's face.
"Cure History!" Science screamed before she threw another helping of jelly beans at the Delinquous.
"What?" History exasperated impatiently as she held the tong full of jelly beans in her right hand.
"Whatever you do, please don't throw the mochi!" Science begged, causing History to groan just before she threw the tong of jelly-beans at the Delinquous.
The Delinquous appeared to have had enough of this and shook the jelly beans off of itself and charged over to History. History held her scepter in front of herself after retrieving it from inside her sash and shouted,
"Pretty Cure, Archaic tremor!"
The Delinquous lost it's balance and fell to it's feet while taking down a table with it. As it stood up, it scooped up a handful of the fallen chess pieces next to itself and threw them at Science and History.
Science and History ducked quickly while standing on the counter where all the toppings were and Science summoned her scepter again.
"Pretty Cure, Galactic mirage!" Science shouted as she pointed her scepter towards the Delinquous, shooting out a giant an enormous splash of water from it. The Delinquous was about to slip and fall, but, it manage to stay on it's feet this time.
Science appeared to be greatly frustrated and shouted out," You guys always ruin everything! Be it a volleyball tournament, a cute date, or even a damn chess match! Ichinose didn't deserve to have his Inner Scholar corrupted by the likes of you!"
"It's not like we did all the corrupting." Rishi said in his defense with a light-hearted chuckle," He met us half-way. If anything, he had it coming, playing against something he didn't stand a chance against."
The Delinquous threw a couple more pieces at Science and History, with the former swatting them away with her caduceus.
"You may think that..." Science began as she reverted her caduceus back into it's scepter form," But I think you're terribly mistaken! Chess isn't just a game of wits, it's a game of growth and it mirrors life itself. After all, it's not our victories that we learn from but rather..."
Science blasted a mass of small violet stars and lavender little planets towards the Delinquous, leaping upwards and snapping her fingers, causing the stars to burst apart in front of the Delinquous.
"...Our mistakes!"
The Delinquous fell to it's feet again and just as it did so, the other Delinquous and Zephora bursted into the parlour, the red and blue Cures being held by the Delinquous. The Delinquous seemed rather beaten up though as there was much wear to it's exterior and what appeared appeared to be a few holes burned into it.
The Delinquous threw the two Cures on the ground and Zephora glowered down at them saying," Burning my Delinquous from the inside out, such insolent girls."
Literature and Arithmetic scurried to their feet while Zephora turned her head over to Rishi and said," We need to fuse them now."
Rishi said nothing and simply delivered a small sigh as a form of a response, before turning to Vice and saying," You know what to do."
Vice waved his hand over to the two Delinquouses, who appeared to be frozen in place because of his gesture. He looked at them carefully and commanded," Conjoin."
The two Delinquouses became one and now the Delinquous was even bigger than before. The Delinquous also seemed to be a bit more energetic now and was dashing up to the Cures now, ready to obliterate them.
The four of them jumped up high and Literature landed a kick into it, trying to decide what could be done to defeat this Delinquous.
The Delinquous got up immediately and swung Arithmetic into the wall while trying to fend off History and Science, summoning storms of lightning and tides of water upon it.
Literature then looked down at her scepter in hand and looked at the girls, holding it tighter as she did so.
"If we want to purify a Delinquous of this size, we need to work together." Literature said to herself quietly while she gripped her scepter tightly.
The Delinquous was just about to swing at History and Science, but Literature attacked it from the back, striking an arrow into it.
"Guys, we have to purify this thing as one." Literature declared as she stood in front of them.
"Could we really do that?" History asked with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
"We've done it before." Literature reminded her.
The girls nodded and Literature said aloud while closing her eyes briefly,"As my journey to find myself begins, I call upon my scholar within!"
Lia then appeared instantly and just then, a large bright golden key with a heart on it's top emerged from within her.
"What's this?" Literature asked cautiously as she looked at the key in her hand. Lia then pointed to the bottom of the scepter and Literature found a keyhole under it.
"How come I've never noticed that?" Literature asked herself as she placed the key into the scepter's keyhole. The scepter then made a clicking sound and was now glowing a vibrant pale pink light. Literature looked over towards the girls and gestured them to do the same.
They followed suit as instructed to and now all they're scepters were glowing brightly.
"This isn't looking good..." Zephora said as she looked over to the Delinquous, still on the floor with the arrow in it's back," Stand up! Go, they're going to try and destroy you!"
The Delinquous scrambled up to it's feet upon Zephora's demand and tried to fight back as it darted over to the the girls. The girls dodged it's attacks and sent it flying into the yogurt dispensers, leaving it defeated.
"With ardency!" Literature shouted as she held her scepter up high.
"With precision!" Arithmetic shouted, following suit.
"With justice!" History shouted.
"With wonder!" Science shouted.
The Cures and the Delinquous were then surrounding by a pale white light that was blinding to everyone outside it.
"Pretty Cure, Scholastic examination!" The Cures cried out in unison. The Delinquous was purified, much to Zephora's apparent discontent and the two Inner Scholars returned to Ichinose and Tadase.
Zephora looked around the room madly, as if something was about to come and strike them, but nothing appeared. Her quick breathing was slowing down as everything returned to normal.
"Let's get out of here." Zephora decreed as she disappeared.
"Agreed." Rishi said as he and Vice vanished with her.
Lumi then walked up to Ichinose, who was sitting at a table trying to collect himself and remember just what on earth had happened to him. All he was able to remember was fainting and then, nothing. No one told him about being taken out of the parlour with his arms being slung around Hikaru and Ushio's shoulders and no one was sure if he had remembered the match as he said nothing regarding it.
"Ah, that's right." Ichinose began after a long sigh," I lost to him again."
"Um, if it's makes you feel better, I'd be honored to play you just for fun." Lumi said as she knelt down in front of him.
"No need, Lumi Xenon. I am not yet worthy to face such a strong player like yourself." Ichinose declared," But that doesn't mean I'll never be able to! You guys!"
The fourteen year old boys that remained in the parlour were startled by Ichinose's shout and looked over to him worriedly.
"Today, you have witnessed your idol lose to a newcomer, making the same mistake he made years ago. But, this loss is only firing me up now, motivating me to better myself to beat Kotori Hikaru and someday, Saiko Lumi Xenon! So kids, don't let defeat drag you down! Learn from your mistakes and turn those feelings from defeat into ambition!"
That speech of his really did hype of those kids and now they were all cheering for Ichinose, despite his loss.
"Someday, Saiko Lumi Xenon, I'll claim victory over you!" Ichinose declared passionately.
"We'll see about that." Lumi smirked.
"Saiko Lumi Xenon?!" Rishi repeated, laughing wholeheartedly at the alias," What were you thinking?"
Yugure narrowed her eyes at him, pouting as she said," I made it up when I was thirteen ok?"
Rishi's laughter died down and he looked over to Yugure, with a small smile on his face, saying," Well, I guess it just shows how far you're willing to go to get what you want."
"I guess..." Yugure replied quietly, placing her gaze on her nearby pillow. It was night now, her parents were on a business trip this weekend and she was left home alone. Well, home alone with Rishi who showed up unexpectedly again. He actually had been doing this a little bit more frequently lately and the more time she spent with him, the better she got to know him. She was beginning to see him less like an enemy and more like a...well, she considered him to be in that in between stage of acquaintance and friend.
"So..." Yugure began uneasily in a cautious voice as she tried to slowly make eye contact with Rishi,"...What happened to Jika?"
"Yugure, you know I'm in no position to tell you. It doesn't concern us." Rishi reminded her.
He then drew out a long breath and then said," But, if it was Cure Science forcing me to tell or something, I'd tell her I haven't the slightest clue. Anyways, I should get going. I'll see you some other time ok?"
"Later." Yugure responded, still thinking about Jika now after she brought her up.
When Rishi left, Yugure sat on her bed with arms folded on her window-sill.
"I shouldn't keep doing this. I could get in so much trouble if I was found out..." Yugure said to her quietly, her eyes downcast," I guess sometimes, we need to decide for ourselves on what we should act upon; what we know or what we feel."
Rishi could be seen standing by Yugure's front gate, lighting up a cigarette and looking down to the light with his mind elsewhere.
"No doubt about it now..." Rishi said to himself as he took notice of his heart beating at an achingly quick rate," She's the cause of this."