"Pleased to meet you, Miss Oumae."
Meeting a Legendary Pokémon was certainly not on Kumiko's bucket list of things to do today. Doubly so when its Trainer was apparently Reina. The Reina Kousaka, who just so happened to be her beloved as well. Left completely floored by what just came out of the Pokéball Reina threw, Kumiko could only stare at Mikatsuki in a mix of fear and reverence.
"Miss Reina, is your lover always like this?" Mikatsuki asked her Trainer out of curiosity. Observing no reaction from Kumiko, Reina wondered whether or not her beloved's mind had truly short-circuited from seeing Mikatsuki for the first time. It wasn't until Kumiko blinked that Reina breathed out a sigh of relief, though she knew this situation had only just begun.
"Uh… um… should I get down on my knees and worship you?" Kumiko nervously mumbled, causing Reina and Mikatsuki to look at each other before small laughs of mirth were heard, helping to decrease the tension. Once Kumiko began to laugh as well, she started to feel more relaxed, even though she was in the presence of a Legendary Pokémon. "I'll take that as a no, then."
"You do not need to worship me, Miss Oumae." Mikatsuki replied, slightly embarrassed by Kumiko defaulting to reverence. "While I am considered a deity by some, my powers are far weaker than quite a few of my compatriots. I am but a humble lake guardian. Or was, until I chose to join your lover on her journey."
"Chose?" Kumiko was left incredulous upon hearing that last part. Of all the people a Legendary Pokémon would pick to be their Trainer, Reina was the one. Kumiko had thought her girlfriend was special before, but this took the cake. Somehow, be it through sheer skill or determination, Reina caused a Legendary Pokémon to join her. That last part seemed unreal to Kumiko, but another look at Mikatsuki confirmed it.
"Yes, Kumiko. After I fought her to get a cure for you, Mikatsuki was so impressed by how I battled that she agreed to accompany me on my travels." Reina clarified. "To be honest, I still haven't fully processed the fact that I have a Legendary Pokémon by my side as well. Everything that happened last night seems like a dream to me, and I've only woken up to the reality of what I did just now."
"Your companions were also quite impressive when they fought by your lover's side, Miss Oumae." Mikatsuki continued. "Though it was not exactly a direct battle, I have been honored to see your companions' strength first-hand. In particular, your Zweilous managed to survive until the very end and dealt the finishing blow, something I never expected. There is no doubt you are as skilled a Trainer as your lover."
"Th… thanks?" Getting a compliment from a Legendary Pokémon would have normally seemed weird, but enough strange things had happened today to barely make it even worth a mention. Regaining her composure once again, Kumiko tried to address Mikatsuki to the best of her ability. "Um, it's a pleasure to meet you as well. I hope we can get along."
"However, I must speak with you about an urgent matter." Mikatsuki's tone suddenly became more serious. "Though I did not reveal it to Miss Reina last night, it appears your sleep was inflicted by my counterpart, also known as the Dark One. As our fates are intertwined by providence, I fear that you may encounter it again due to travelling alongside myself."
"That won't be a problem." Reina spoke up, her voice brimming with confidence. "No matter how many times we come across this 'Dark One', I'm sure your healing powers will be able to perfectly counter the nightmares it brings. After all, you brought back Kumiko from the brink of death once already. I'm sure you can do far more than that when push comes to shove."
"Thank you for having such faith in my abilities. No wonder your companions have such a high opinion of you as their Trainer." Mikatsuki seemed to be flustered at the praise Reina heaped upon her, and tried her best to take it in stride before turning to look at Kumiko. "As for you, there must have been a reason the Dark One specifically sought you out. Do you have any idea as to what it may be?"
"Um, I'm not sure, but the last thing I remember before being knocked unconscious the first time was something dark hurtling at high speed towards Reina and myself." Kumiko recounted, those memories somehow vivid in her mind despite the circumstances under which they were formed. "It seemed like a Pokémon move now that I think about it… Is the Dark One a Pokémon?"
"Yes. Just like myself, the Dark One is also a Pokémon. It is more commonly known to you humans as…"
"Battle begin!"
As she gazed at the Gym Leader's Palossand across the battlefield, Kumiko wondered whether or not sending out Mitsuke first was the best choice. Being her team's newest member, Mitsuke was the least experienced out of everyone she could have chosen, but Kumiko remained steadfast in her decision. Now that he had several battles behind him, Kumiko thought Mitsuke was capable enough to take the lead.
After their battle with Mikatsuki, Kumiko was shocked to see how exhausted and worn-out her Pokémon were upon seeing them again last night. She had expected some fatigue, especially after such an intensive battle, but not to this extent. With no exceptions, everyone looked like they were on the verge of collapsing any second.
Worried about her team's condition, Kumiko wasn't sure if she should challenge the Gym so soon after what they put themselves through. While she had initially planned to get her seventh Gym Badge the day after she arrived here in Subton City, collapsing right as she reached her destination put a dent in those plans. Combined with how tired her Pokémon were, it seemed no one was in any condition to battle.
However, in the midst of her indecision, Kumiko felt two furry sensations rub against her hand. Looking down, she saw Trip's two heads nuzzling her arm. Though Trip's two heads often disagreed with one another, both of them couldn't stand by and do nothing when he sensed Kumiko's discomfort, so he came over to comfort his Trainer. Feeling the fuzziness of Trip's fur, Kumiko couldn't resist the urge to pet him.
"Trip… are you alright? Your last battle must've really taken a toll on you." As she stroked both his heads, Kumiko heard two soft growls of affirmation come from them. "Yeah… everything's been pretty crazy these past few days. I get where you're coming from. Ahh, it feels like there's been no time to relax ever since we left the Gym at Ubmedi City…"
Continuing to find relief in Trip's softness, Kumiko was then abruptly brought back to reality as she felt something spiky lightly hit her back. Already having a hunch as to what it was, Kumiko turned her head to see Marcato standing behind her, his arm lazily stretched out. Despite him looking quite beat-up from being in the thick of battle, there was still a fire in Marcato's eyes.
"Mara-mara, mara-rac-tus!" he shouted at Kumiko. Even with the obvious language barrier between them, Kumiko instantly understood what Marcato meant. With all the effort her team members put into fighting for her sake, the best way Kumiko could repay them was to use her regained freedom as she saw fit. From what Marcato's tone implied, Kumiko had a vague idea of what he wanted her to do.
"What, you want me to challenge the Gym? But… I don't think we're ready for that. Especially when all of you are so tired…" Expressing her doubt at Marcato's 'words', Kumiko then received a reply in the form of a determined glare. Once Orpheus, Sparkle, and Mitsuke came over as well, Kumiko could tell this mood was prevalent in all her Pokémon. Though they were tired, everyone was still in the mood for a fight.
"Sludge Bomb!" Now standing in the Gym as a result of her final decision last night, Kumiko's doubts were washed away once she recalled the resolve her team showed. Even as the Gym Leader's Palossand lobbed a sphere of purple goo at Mitsuke, Kumiko was confident her team still had the strength in them to battle on. After all, they just fought a Legendary Pokémon. A Gym Leader was nothing compared to that.
"Dodge!" she shouted out. Using the latent air currents flowing around the building to his advantage, Mitsuke danced around as he floated, easily avoiding the slow-moving attack. With the Gym Leader's Palossand having no way to physically attack him, Mitsuke was essentially safe in the air as long as he stuck to using ranged moves. "Get in closer and fire an Energy Ball!"
Remembering to maintain his distance, Mitsuke swerved in for a good angle before launching an Energy Ball at the Gym Leader's Palossand, hitting it dead-on. Though it was blown back by the super-effective attack, the Gym Leader's Palossand quickly regained its composure, the amorphous nature of its body assisting it in this regard. Once the last of its components was back into place, the counterattack began.
"Fire a Sludge Bomb at the ground!" Using the 'turret' on its right side like a mortar, the Gym Leader's Palossand shot out another sphere of poisonous matter. However, rather than directly aim it at Mitsuke, the Sludge Bomb was angled so that it impacted the ground. Exploding once it struck its target, the Sludge Bomb's remnants splattered upwards, with a few blobs managing to strike Mitsuke.
Feeling frustrated that the Gym Leader already had such a good counter planned, Kumiko didn't want to be sent back to square one again. That would result in her fighting a protracted battle, and Kumiko suspected something of that nature was what the Gym Leader wanted. As playing into his hands would only spell doom for Mitsuke and her, Kumiko had to think of another way out.
Mitsuke had easily evaded the first Sludge Bomb, but struggled to avoid the second. That was obviously because of their respective spread, which would certainly be a hassle to work around. While the small droplets of poison did less damage individually, them being extra super-effective on Mitsuke meant that even the smallest amount getting onto him did a sizable amount of damage.
"Tailwind!" Ultimately, Kumiko decided to play by Mitsuke's strengths. Since he wasn't a Pokémon who could take many hits, the best option for Mitsuke was to dodge everything coming his way. With the Tailwind blowing behind him effectively doubling his speed, Mitsuke was now fast enough to slip past even the tightest concentrated spread of Sludge Bomb particles.
"Use Energy Ball repeatedly!" Weaving himself in all directions, Mitsuke used his increased mobility to lob Energy Balls from all directions, bombarding the Gym Leader's Palossand without any fear of retribution. This rapid barrage was too much to handle even for its quasi-regenerative abilities, and the Gym Leader's Palossand eventually couldn't keep its body coherent enough to keep fighting.
"Palossand is unable to battle." the referee announced, determining any further damage would more than just incapacitate the Gym Leader's Palossand. As she watched from the sidelines, Reina agreed as well. However, what surprised her the most was how quickly Kumiko wiped out the Gym Leader's Palossand. Just by using Mitsuke's agility and raw power to their fullest extent, Kumiko had swiftly ended this battle.
Was this display of strength what Mikatsuki had meant when she praised Kumiko's Pokémon? Wondering if Kumiko would continue to keep Mitsuke on the battlefield as the Gym Leader sent out his Golurk next, Reina had no idea about what her beloved would do next. Seeing as his performance had been nothing short of stellar, keeping Mitsuke would definitely still be viable.
However, Kumiko instead decided to do the unexpected again, but it wasn't without reason. Recalling Mitsuke, the next Pokéball she threw out was soon revealed to be Trip's. As if by instinct, his two heads began to snap at each other immediately after emerging, causing Kumiko to facepalm at Trip's petty antics. Despite all this hassle on the surface, Reina had a clear idea of what Kumiko's plan was.
As Trip was a Dark-type, he was naturally resistant to a Golurk's Ghost-type, and his moves would do super-effective damage. Though Mitsuke's Grass-type moves would be equally as effective, switching to Trip also guaranteed a defensive advantage for Kumiko as well. Seeing how even being sideswiped had hurt Mitsuke by quite a fair amount, Reina knew Kumiko didn't want a repeat of that again.
"Phantom Force!" With the Gym Leader's Golurk disappearing below the ground, it now became a waiting game for Kumiko and Trip. Having no idea when or where it would pop up, Kumiko had to be on her guard at all times. One wrong move here would mean surrendering any advantage she had to the Gym Leader, more than she already had by virtue of Trip not attacking first.
"Ice Punch!" In an instant, the Gym Leader's Golurk re-emerged from the ground before readying its fist, which began to glow a cool blue. In that instant, Kumiko swore time slowed down to a crawl for her. Though she was prepared for anything, she was still genuinely surprised by how quickly that attack came. Thankfully, she already had an effective strategy in mind.
"Crunch down on its two fists!" Using both his heads to reach out, Trip clamped his jaws shut right as the Gym Leader's Golurk was about to strike him. The frosted forearms quickly wreaked their havoc on him, but Trip nevertheless continued to cling on, resulting in a game of tug-of-war. Both sides locked in a stalemate, neither party seemed to have any sort of advantage.
"Use Phantom Force again!" Upon hearing its Trainer's orders, the Gym Leader's Golurk turned intangible again before dropping into the ground, leaving Trip snapping at the air. Not wanting a repeat of what happened last time, Kumiko freneticly scanned the area surrounding Trip, judging which angle their opponent would emerge from. However, that was only the first of her problems.
Kumiko hadn't expected the Gym Leader's Golurk to know Ice Punch, which was super-effective against a Dragon-type like Trip. Having him use Crunch to stop the Gym Leader's Golurk from attacking was definitely a sound tactic in most scenarios, but the chill got to Trip far more than the attack's physical impact. While Kumiko already had a counter in mind, it still hinged on being as lucky as she was earlier.
Was there any way she could predict where the Gym Leader's Golurk was going to emerge from? Probably not. But could she pull Trip out of the situation he would soon find himself in? Definitely. Kumiko reasoned that Trip would be fine as long as the Gym Leader's Golurk wouldn't appear from under Trip… Wait. That was his one weak point, so naturally…
"Trip, roll over!" Kumiko urgently called out. Almost immediately after Trip vacated his current position, the Gym Leader's Golurk popped out of the ground, fist gleaming a cool blue. With her gambit paying off, Kumiko gained an advantage against the Gym Leader, something she had been sorely needing since this battle began. "Now, use Fire Fang in one mouth and Crunch with the other!"
Though both his heads immediately understood what Kumiko wanted him to do, Trip bickered with himself about which head was going to use what attack, almost leaving Kumiko exasperated. Ultimately, the two heads managed to reach a consensus in time, and Trip charged towards the Gym Leader's Golurk at full speed.
While the head using Fire Fang bit down on the Ice Punch-encased fist to neutralize it, the other head used Crunch to deal super-effective damage simultaneously. This deadly combination of counters was enough to cause the Gym Leader's Golurk to kneel before it ultimately collapsed on the floor in defeat.
"Golurk is unable to battle." the referee announced. As Trip would have taken a sizable amount of damage from the Ice Punches he endured, Reina reasoned that Kumiko would switch him out for someone else. Sure enough, her hunch was quickly proved right. Once the Gym Leader sent out his Quagsire next, Kumiko swapped Trip out for Marcato, who seemed eager for the chance to battle from how he acted. As Marcato was a Grass-type, Reina assumed this battle would end quickly for Kumiko.
"Ice Punch!" the Gym Leader called out. Lumbering forwards in Marcato's direction, the Gym Leader's Quagsire having yet another super-effective attack made Kumiko realize just how underprepared she was when coming into battle. All this time, she had relied on raw power and hard-hitting super-effective moves to win battles, but that was clearly not enough to win battles at this higher level.
"Use Second Valve, then dodge!" Rapidly materializing twin balls of light on the flowers above his head, Marcato reabsorbed them right before evading the Gym Leader's Quagsire in the nick of time. Thinking about what to do next, Kumiko then spotted the Gym Leader's Quagsire changing direction as it continued to head towards Marcato. This was not good.
Since Quagsire was a dual Water and Ground-type, there was a reasonable chance Kumiko could have Marcato take it down with one well-placed Solar Beam. However, the hardest part was finding an opportune moment to strike. Though Marcato was blindingly fast right now, this burst of speed would eventually wear off in a short amount of time, and the Gym Leader's Quagsire was able to change direction quickly.
All this meant Kumiko had to find an opening for Marcato before the Gym Leader's Quagsire got to him. Even with his speed, Marcato's gap with his opponent never stayed wide for long, as the movements of the Gym Leader's Quagsire were far too efficient. Rather than blindly darting around the battlefield like Marcato, the Gym Leader's Quagsire waited until its target's momentum ran out before its pursuit began.
With Second Valve's limit slowly being reached, Kumiko was now pitted in a race against time to attack. The longer she hesitated, the higher the possibility Marcato would be victim to the imminent Ice Punch. As he wasn't a Pokémon who could take many hits, there was a fair chance the Ice Punch would knock Marcato out in one hit. In short, this battle all depended on who managed to strike first.
Scanning the battlefield again, Kumiko then saw something which could possibly help her. As the Gym Leader's Quagsire had a layer of slime around its body, the fluid was constantly dripping down whenever it ran, coating the floor around it. This resulted in the ground becoming increasingly slippery, though it seemed that no one else aside from her noticed it. This could work to her advantage.
"Continue to dodge!" Not knowing whether the Gym Leader had a counter for this, Kumiko deliberately kept her order to Marcato vague. If the Gym Leader figured out what her plan was, then it couldn't be put into action. Thankfully, everyone was none the wiser, and the perfect chance appeared in front of Kumiko's eyes. By sheer dumb luck, the Gym Leader's Quagsire eventually tripped on a slime puddle shortly after.
"Now, Solar Beam!" Instantly understanding what Kumiko's gambit all this time had been, Marcato quickly condensed the solar energy circulating throughout his body into a sphere before firing it out. Right as it got up, the Gym Leader's Quagsire was hit smack-dab in the face, with Solar Beam's extra super-effectiveness against it proving to be truly decisive.
"Quagsire is unable to battle." the referee announced. Three down, two to go. To Reina's surprise, Kumiko looked like she was having an easier time than she did in her own Gym battle. Reina initially suspected this was because Kumiko's Pokémon had more moves which were super-effective against Ground-types than her, but she innately knew this was only part of the story. Kumiko had also become much stronger as well.
It was only with the help of Kumiko's Pokémon that Reina managed to defeat Mikatsuki in the first place, and that was only possible because of their Trainer's efforts. As much as she would've liked to think that wasn't the case, Reina found it impossible not to admit Kumiko's abilities as a Trainer were catching up, matching, and sometimes exceeding her own. However, the Gym battles weren't over yet.
The next matchup proved to be a surprising one. In response to the Gym Leader sending out his Mamoswine, Kumiko had opted to switch out Marcato for Sparkle. On paper, this was a bad matchup, as any Electric-type moves Sparkle could use had no effect on the Ground-type Mamoswine. To make matters worse, Mega Evolving Sparkle meant that her additional Dragon-type would fall victim to Mamoswine's Ice-type.
Now this was where Reina had complete confidence in Kumiko to succeed. Despite not having a single clue what her beloved was planning, Reina knew there was a reason Kumiko would've chosen Sparkle to fight here. As the familiar glow of Mega Evolution shone throughout the battlefield, Reina was slowly starting to get an idea why, and it had to do with the TM Kumiko asked her for yesterday night.
"Sparkle, Focus Blast!" Hearing Kumiko call out that move's name, Reina's theory was proven correct. Ground-types often also had another type which was weak to Fighting-type moves such as Ice or Steel, so packing a Fighting-type move like Focus Blast was certainly a viable option. The sheer power Sparkle's Mega Evolution gave her resulted in the already strong move becoming even deadlier.
"Use Earthquake!" Even though Sparkle's Focus Blast slammed into its face head-on, the Gym Leader's Mamoswine immediately pounded its front legs on the floor in response, causing the ground to rupture. Still recovering from the recoil of her Focus Blast, Sparkle had no time to dodge or block the incoming quake, and soon fell victim when it reached her feet.
"Now, Icicle Crash!" With its Trainer wanting to go for a decisive blow and end this quickly, the Gym Leader's Mamoswine braced itself before its twin tusks glowed a chilling blue. As it charged forward straight at Sparkle, Kumiko knew this would be the end if she didn't do anything to prevent it. She had something up her sleeve which was possibly an option, but it was risky. Nevertheless, Kumiko still had to try.
"Dragon Pulse!" On the surface, this was an extremely impractical move for attacking, as it was resisted by the Ice-type of the Gym Leader's Mamoswine. However, that was not why Kumiko chose to use it in the first place. The powerful jet of draconic energy pressed against itself while Sparkle breathed it out, resulting in a rocket-like effect which sent her careening backwards.
Despite the lack of control this unorthodox application of Dragon Pulse offered, it still provided a way for Sparkle to quickly escape the Gym Leader's Mamoswine. Being abruptly launched in the reverse direction at high speed, Sparkle was then slammed into the ground, bouncing up a bit before lying down. Thankfully, this was only a small price to pay for avoiding an instant defeat.
Now that the distance between Sparkle and the Gym Leader's Mamoswine had increased, it was safe for her to attack again. The only problem was that Sparkle was only one hit away from fainting, and Focus Blast was notoriously inaccurate. In fact, using Focus Blast right off the bat had been a gamble to take down the Gym Leader's Mamoswine in one shot, and that failing left Kumiko in this situation.
With the Gym Leader's Mamoswine finally managing to halt itself, it was only a matter of time before an Icicle Crash would slam into Sparkle. The window of opportunity for Kumiko to act was rapidly closing, but she needed to make sure Sparkle had a clear shot before telling her what to do. A missed attack would leave Sparkle a sitting Ducklett, ready to be knocked out.
"Focus Blast!" Right as the Gym Leader's Mamoswine began stampeding towards her, Sparkle let loose another burst of vitality. Unable to stop itself in time or react differently, the Gym Leader's Mamoswine tried to block the attack with its tusks, but its attempt ultimately ended up in failure. Thrown back by the Focus Blast, only the wall managed to block the Gym Leader's Mamoswine from being launched further.
"Mamoswine is unable to battle." As Kumiko recalled Sparkle back into her Pokéball, it was then that Reina realized all her Pokémon save one were at low health. While Kumiko could send out someone she used before, the chances of them being quickly knocked out were too high for that to be viable. This meant the only option left for Kumiko was to send out her final team member who hadn't yet seen battle.
"Orpheus, let's raise hell!" In response to the Gym Leader sending out his Excadrill, it was Orpheus who emerged on the other side of the battlefield. Just as expected. Reina reasoned there was no way Kumiko could lose here, seeing as the odds were stacked in her favour. Still, nothing was certain until the cards were finally down. After all, whatever outcome would only lay ahead.
"Drill Run!" Without any prior warning, the Gym Leader's Excadrill concealed itself in its drill form before burrowing underground. Similar to Golurk before it, this now became a guessing game for Kumiko as she waited to see where the Gym Leader's Excadrill would pop up. However, unlike that time, she had something which could even the odds in her favour.
"Orpheus, Bulldoze!" His blade-arms glowing a soil-like brown, Orpheus slammed them into the floor, causing the already fractured ground to crack even more. As the earth shook beneath his feet, something popped out from beneath, soon revealing itself to be the Gym Leader's Excadrill. With its underground protection abruptly removed, the Gym Leader's Excadrill had no choice but to keep pressing on.
Returning to its drill form in midair, a loud whirr could be heard as the Gym Leader's Excadrill rapidly propelled its way towards Orpheus, who tried to block with his blade-arms. When it looked like a stalemate was beginning to form, a quick command from Kumiko telling him to use Fire Punch helped Orpheus win this deadlock, causing the Gym Leader's Excadrill to leap away in pain.
If Orpheus had undergone Mega Evolution, Kumiko was sure she would have already knocked out the Gym Leader's Excadrill here and now, but that opportunity had long since passed. Having Mega Evolved Sparkle earlier, Kumiko knew her body wouldn't be able to handle the strain of doing that for the second time in a row. That had been a risky gamble back then, but it had now snowballed into a strategic blunder.
Because she had been overly optimistic about Sparkle's power during her previous battle, Kumiko lost the chance for a quick win this time around. No. Scratch that. She had lost the chance for quick wins both times. Sparkle's Electric typing was naturally a disadvantage in a Ground-type Gym, which had led to her almost fainting when Kumiko's gambit failed to pay off.
Conversely, Orpheus' Fighting-type would've also been super-effective against the Ice typing of the Gym Leader's Mamoswine. By having an easy defeat basically handed to her, Kumiko could've carried the momentum onward to this battle, ensuring a higher chance of victory. This was now an unfortunate squandered opportunity, but Kumiko had to press on nevertheless.
Both sides staring each other down at this critical juncture, Kumiko felt she was only a few steps away from victory, but she needed something to assure that. The tide of battle could turn at any time, and Kumiko did not want to be on the losing end. Raising her left hand up in a thinking gesture, Kumiko then felt something jangle around her wrist. Right… the Z-Power Ring. That could work.
No longer needing to wonder what she could do, Kumiko slipped her Fightinium Z into the Z-Power Ring. Feeling her body moving in strange ways, Kumiko thrust her hand out at Orpheus once that ended. Fueled with energy from her, Orpheus extended his blade-arms before rushing towards the Gym Leader's Excadrill and maniacally slashing it, performing an all-out pummeling that left it completely exhausted.
"Excadrill is unable to battle. The challenger emerges victorious!" the referee announced. Recalling Orpheus once her win was confirmed, Kumiko looked over at where Reina had been watching her, with her beloved shooting her a glance of congratulations in response. After receiving that confidence booster, Kumiko headed over to get her Gym Badge.
"Congratulations on winning! For beating your seventh Gym, you get the Locrian…" Abruptly cut off by a slow clapping sound coming across from the challenger's end of the battlefield, the Gym Leader was completely taken aback by the person who just interrupted him. However, Kumiko and Reina were both on the verge of internally groaning as they slowly realized who it was.
"Bravo! Bravissimo!" Asuka's bright, brassy voice rang out from the applause's source. Dramatically walking towards Kumiko and Reina as she continued her clapping, Asuka remained undeterred even with all the stares directed at her. "That was an excellent battle! Winning with such an impressive finisher? Simply a plus ultra performance! As expected of my darling little kouhai Oumae-chan!"
While her eyes were naturally drawn towards Asuka's overtly in-your-face presence, it was the second person accompanying her who shocked Reina the most. Standing beside Asuka as they approached together, the warmth Kaori exuded was so powerful that Reina was surprised at how she didn't notice it earlier.
"It's been a while, Miss Reina." Kaori politely greeted her. Considering the circumstances in which they last parted ways, Reina found Kaori's tender words too gentle, seeming like nothing had happened between them. Though Reina was unsure how to respond, it was Kumiko who was left the most confused by how everything turned out, especially when the third person appeared.
"Hey, Kumiko. We've got a lot to catch up on." Mamiko smiled as she addressed her younger sister. Her tone of voice was positive, but a look of concern could be seen in Mamiko's eyes. Did she somehow learn about the coma incident? That wasn't out of the question, and would explain why Kaori and Asuka were here. Still, what exactly they were here for remained a mystery.
"Umm, hi, sis." Not wanting to ghost her sister, Kumiko blurted out a few quick words in response. With the three older women smiling at her, Kumiko was at a loss at what to do next. Ultimately, she knew an answer to this unexpected situation was needed if anything was to be done, so Kumiko decided to take the initiative and ask. "Why are you here?"
"Good question. Simply put, we're going to break you two up." Asuka replied.
A/N: Apologies for the late upload today. I had a few things to get done.
With that out of the way... ah, Asuka. Always the bringer of chaos. Wonder what she's got in store for Kumiko and Reina? Stay tuned when the final chapter of To Be A Solister's second saga drops on March 31st!
After that... well, let's just say the story will end by the third saga.