"Wow, you actually were right about her..." Joy exhaled as she stared at Delight standing before her. Dressed in all white, she looked as if she just floated down from the heavens to exile the Endopath. But, Joy noticed Delight's knees wobble and remembered that even though she had transformed, that didn't necessarily mean knew exactly what she was doing now. Chances of her needing some guidance were quite high and so, Joy stood up and landed on the mail box beside Delight and said,
"Just follow my lead ok?"
Delight nodded as Joy leapt up from the mail box and towards the Endopath. Once Joy leapt up, her fingers started glowing a bright yellow as she charged them with energy and held them out towards the Endopath.
"Pretty Cure, Vivacious Spark!" Joy shouted as another tri-beam of pink, yellow and orange light had flickered out from her fingertips.
Delight watched the Endopath stagger back as the attack made contact with it, her eyes wide with bewilderment as she asked quietly," Just how on Earth am I supposed to something like that?"
"Delight, just try not to think about it too hard, other-wise, your powers won't function like you want them to! Just be thoughtless like Joy!" Lulu called out from behind.
"Wow, ok thanks." Joy sighed as she pressed her fist against her forehead for a moment as she landed back onto the ground.
"So, if I applying my own logic to this, my powers can't work. I just have to believe they're here, without any solid proof of them existing..." Delight thought aloud warily before she looked up to see Joy sparring with the Endopath yet again. She seemed relentless and very unwilling to quit as she kicked to knock the Endopath to it's feet, her opponent seeming to have same objective as her. Lulu was right, Joy didn't appear to be questioning how this would have been or even question herself as to where her powers were coming from. And surely, there have to have been at some point a time where Joy didn't believe any of this was possible. So, if Joy could fight like this now,powers and all, why couldn't she?
Delight took a deep breath and pressed her eyes shut for a moment, knowing that she should've expected something like this to happen the moment she began to look for the candle. She had to help Joy, and that was exactly what she was going to do.
Delight started darting towards the Endopath, and without a single doubt, she leapt up and drove a punch straight into its face, and made it lose balance for a few moments as Delight took a second to stare at her fist in astonishment.
"Don't think, don't think." Delight reminded herself as she landed on the ground, turning to face Joy as she did this," How do we defeat it?"
"Tire it out and find a black star located somewhere on it! It could be virtually anywhere on the Endopath." Joy answered hastily as Delight set her sights back to the Endopath.
"A black star? I swear I saw something like that on it already but the question is...where?" Delight wondered to herself as she looked at the Endopath thoughtfully. The paddle-ball Endopath just continued to bounce the ball attached against itself as Delight tried to remember where she saw the black star.
"Gosh what are you waiting for? Just get rid of them already, I don't have all day!" Nijoux chimed furiously to the Endopath as took notice of it idly standing around.
Delight kept staring at the ball and suddenly, it came to her. Delight's eyes widened greatly and spun around to Joy.
"Get a hold of the ball's string and tie it around the mail box!" Delight instructed.
Though a look of question arose to Joy's face, she said nothing in response and simply nodded her head and she dashed towards the Endopath. The Endopath began to launch the ball attached to it towards Joy and Joy dodged the first two times. By the third time, she grabbed a hold of the Endopath's ball and ran with it towards the mail box and tangled it around the post. Joy was still curious to know what this was going to accomplish until she saw something peculiar on the back of the ball residing above the string.
"Look out below!" Delight suddenly shouted from above Joy as she held her hands in front of the Endopath, her fingers flickering a pale white light from them. Now Joy seemed confused once she got out of the way and watched Delight aim a beam of white light straight towards the star on the Endopath.
"What good does she think that will-?" Joy asked aloud before she impulsively shut her eyes and held her arms over her face to block the white light that had been coming from Delight's hands.
The light, though seemingly ineffective at first, was enough to erase some of the black star and cause most of what malicious energy it possessed to seep out. Once the energy had escaped from the black star, Delight glanced over Joy to find out what next to do.
Lulu spoke up almost immediately saying," All that's left is to purify it!"
Delight then returned her gaze to the Endopath, wondering how she was going to pull this off.
"You just need to concentrate!" Joy advised with Lulu nodding rapidly in agreement. Delight then stood up and exhaled a deep breath as she slowly closed her eyes in an attempt to shut out her surroundings. She tried to channel energy into her hands and slowly but surely, she felt the tips of her fingers starting to get warm with all the magic residing in them.
"Pretty Cure, Jovial Twinkle!" Delight shouted as the atmosphere around her turned pale pink in mid-sentence. The Endopath had been confronted by an array of pink, white and blue lights in an instant that had completely removed the black star on the Endopath, returning it into a normal paddle-ball.
Nijoux left without another word escaping her lips and another white charm could be found near to where the paddle-ball was. Delight went over to her neighbour's side to see to if she was alright while Joy picked up the charm.
"Something tells me we're going to have quite the collection of these soon..." Joy remarked as she held the charm up towards the light. Joy turned around to look at Delight, watching her transform back into Rumi as she awaited the little girl to wake up.
"...And now we're probably going to have to run through the whole Pretty Cure history with her." Joy said to herself before transforming back into Gogo.
When Rumi's neighbour woke up, Rumi walked her back to her place and told her she merely had a bad dream. When Rumi returned, Gogo seemed a little uneasy, fidgeting with her fingers as she prepared herself to give Rumi a little more background on this whole Pretty Cure thing. Just before Gogo was able to even begin her explanation, Rumi abruptly said,
"It's getting late, so maybe we'll save the explaining for another day."
Gogo's mouth hung open as she arched an eyebrow responding with," Are you sure? Because, I can only imagine how confused and concerned you are about-"
"-Really, it's ok for now. Um, tomorrow's Friday and we've got a long weekend so, maybe you can tell me about it after school?" Rumi offered with Gogo nodding a somewhat hesitant nod in response. Gogo was just about to walk home before a thought came to her, and forced her to ask,
"Do you think you can continue to do this with me? Like, us being a team?" Gogo asked nervously. At first, Rumi was unsure of what to say. Clearly, this all seemed like a long-term thing as of right now. Not to mention a kind of thing where she would always have to be on stand-by since these attacks appeared to happen at random. She knew declining wasn't entirely great idea since it appeared that Gogo was all by herself in this and just before she was going to tell her she wasn't sure, she looked at Gogo and saw what almost seemed like panic in her eyes as she awaited a response.
"I can't guarantee I'll always be ready for a fight, but I'll try my hardest to be of help to you." Rumi answered, a wave of relief coming over Gogo once she heard this.
"Well, I see you tomorrow. Later Rumi." Gogo said with a yawn before clamping her mouth in realization what what just she did," I meant to say-!"
"It's fine." Rumi dismissed with a chuckle," See you tomorrow Mitsugi."
The next day, after Gogo's class with Ms. Hightower, Gogo stayed after class so they could have a discussion regarding the incidents regarding the Endopaths.
"It would only get harder from here if I have to do this alone." Gogo pointed out in a tired as she stretched her arms over her desk.
"But you're not alone anymore," Ms. Hightower pointed out," You've got Takai as an ally."
"But still, she's busy, can't you tell by how uncertain she sounded last night?" Gogo asked," Third-years are always busy. They have part-time jobs or studying for entrance exams, either way, Rumi even said she might not be able to help me all the time."
"Regardless of what she said, she's still a Pretty Cure and she knows that she's one of the few people who can put an end to all these attacks." Ms. Hightower stated, causing Gogo to narrow her eyes at her as she rested her head on her folded arms.
"No she doesn't. We haven't explained anything regarding the Pretty Cure to her yet." Gogo reminded her in a somewhat snide voice.
"Well, since you seem so sure about Rumi not being able to help as much as we'd like, how about you start looking for more potential candidates?" Ms. Hightower suggested.
"How about no?" Gogo retorted as she turned her head away from Ms. Hightower.
Ms. Hightower had a look of frustration on her face as she watched Gogo laze around and said," You know, this would all be easier if you actually interacted with your classmates."
Gogo then suddenly raised her head up and squinted at Ms. Hightower and asked in a low voice," What are you talking about?"
"You don't think I haven't noticed your behavior in class and how you never talk to anyone here during lunch?" Ms. Hightower pointed out," You didn't even know the names of those two girls from your club from the other day."
Gogo seemed a little fazed, surprised that her teacher knew that before saying," I do have a friend here at this school you know."
"Aside from Takai?" Ms. Hightower questioned, as if challenging Gogo.
Gogo nodded and motioned Ms. Hightower to follow her outside the classroom as she stood up from her desk. Gogo walked out of the class and lead Ms. Hightower in the school yard as Gogo began looking around for someone.
"She's usually out here at this time..." Gogo said as she searched around the campus, looking in every possible direction for this alleged friend. Ms. Hightower said nothing and waited for Gogo to find her friend, though doubtful that this friend actually existed.
"Ah, found her. That's my friend Yukina." Gogo said as she saw a third-year with dark blue hair in twin tails walking out from the school with another girl. Ms. Hightower looked in the direction Gogo was looking at and scoffed as she looked at the girl.
"Yukina Hashimoto? That's the student council president! Just because know her name doesn't make the two of you-!"
"Gogo!" Yukina exclaimed once she saw Gogo in the school yard as she ran towards her, with the girl she was talking to following behind awkwardly. Gogo seemed very smug as Ms. Hightower lowered her head.
"I haven't heard from you in a few days, how have you been?" Yukina asked as she smiled to Gogo. Her voice was kind and smile refused to leave her face, but it didn't feel fake in the slightest.
Though Gogo didn't sound as smug as she previously looked as she talked with Yukina, Ms. Hightower was still stunned to see that Gogo did make a friend at Nakagawa.
"The days are getting longer though and there's only a little over a month left until summer vacation. Have any plans for the break?" Yukina asked, unaware of the fact that her accomplice seemed a little impatient right now.
"No, not yet. Maybe I'll just..." Gogo trailed off, taking notice of the other girl's impatience for Yukina,"...I'm guessing you're busy this lunch."
Yukina's eyes lit up as she remembered she was running short on time as her gaze met her friend giving her an unimpressed look as she gripped a stack of papers in her hands tightly.
"Right, I had a meeting today so I'll see you around alright? Oh and by the way, this is Kai!" Yukina introduced cheerily as she waved a hand in front of the other girl, who wouldn't even give Gogo a smile as she looked over her watch. Kai just waved to her with eyes fixated on her watch before she saw Yukina walking away. Kai followed along quickly, leaving Gogo and Ms. Hightower by themselves.
"Told ya I had a friend." Gogo gloated as she pointed in the direction of Yukina. Ms. Hightower said absolutely and simply shook her head, only somewhat surprised by the fact that Gogo was being so prideful of having just one friend.
"Maybe you should start focusing on befriending Takai." Ms. Hightower pointed out as the two of them began walking back to the classroom," You're allies now, and she's coming over to your place today. Perhaps you should try and get to know her.
Gogo seemed pretty uninterested as she laced her fingers behind her back and sighed as she said," It wouldn't work. We just aren't compatible."
"Compatible? You're both Pretty Cure." Ms. Hightower reminded her flatly as the entered the school.
"Yeah but, that's it. There's nothing else to bond us." Gogo thought aloud as she remembered how Rumi would light up in front of a camera, spewing out all her tips and tricks in regards to cosmetics. Though at school she was just as reclusive as Gogo. Unlike Gogo however, Rumi was a mysterious reclusive since despite being quiet, she seemed alluring in a way. Gogo could tell as whenever Rumi walked by herself, or even around Gogo, a few eyes would be drawn towards her, curious of her next move.
Gogo on the other hand, didn't often find people gravitate towards her because of how quiet she was. If anything, she was just treated as a backgrounder.
Looking out the window in class, Gogo thought to herself," I'm kinda just the NPC of everyone's lives."
Later after school, Gogo seemed extra stressed as she carried a large textbook in her hands, her bag already being filled to it's capacity. She yawned a somewhat large yawn as she walked out of the school. She awaited Rumi by the school gates and watched as group of students walked past her. Few seemed excited for this weekend, she even heard one group of kids chat about going to a karaoke bar. But, most students in her grade appeared to have been seeming just as tired as her, or evidently stressed as they walked past the school doors.
"Mr. Hisakawa's so mean! Making us have a mock exam next week! He's crazier than Hightower!" One boy exasperated as he frantically was looking over the pages in his textbook. He was walking alongside a girl and she said reassuringly," I'm sure it won't be that bad, it's mostly trigonometry right?"
"Yeah, but our class also has a history test on Tuesday, so in short...we're really screwed." The boy griped.
As the pair walked past Gogo, she looked at the textbook in her hand, it being the same one the boy was studying from as she wondered to herself," Maybe I could get a head start on studying now since trig's my weakest subject in Math."
Just before she opened the book, she heard a voice call out to her and she jumped in an instant.
"Sorry to scare you Mitsugi." Hanami chuckled as she walked up to Gogo, Michi following behind her," Have anything planned this weekend?"
"I guess not." Michi interrupted as she noticed the textbook in Gogo's hands. Gogo smiled sheepishly and found herself unable to even formulate a response as she held the textbook tighter.
"Unfortunately...nope." Gogo replied awkwardly as she kept her gaze onto the book.
"That's too bad, well, I hope you have a good weekend anyways!" Hanami stated as she waved goodbye before walking off with Michi.
"Cripes that was weird, for a second it felt like stomach was going to knot up." Gogo thought to herself in embarrassment as she lowered her head.
As Hanami and Michi began walking down the street home, Michi suddenly asked Hanami," Why do you keep trying to talk to her, she isn't interested in making friends with you. You know that right?"
"Michi, everyone needs a friend. Wouldn't you agree?" Hanami asked innocently as they continued to walk.
Hanami seemed rather firm in her decision, not saying another word in regards to the subject as she walked ahead. Michi didn't want to say anything more, being worried that doing so might have angered Hanami.
"Mitsugi, are you ready to go?" Rumi asked as she approached Gogo with Gogo nodding swiftly in return," Is that bunny from yesterday at your place?"
"Nope, she just got here." Gogo answered as she opened her bag slightly, revealing a very squished Lulu.
"Oh, so she tags along with you to school to look for danger?" Rumi asked as she knelt down slightly to Lulu, waving hello.
Gogo bit back a laugh and looked away from Rumi saying," Sure, let's go with that."
Rumi frowned slightly at the sight of Lulu's discomfort and suggested," She could stay in my bag if you'd like."
Immediately and without a second thought, Gogo took Lulu out form the bag, nearly saying," Just take her." as she did. Rumi smiled toward Lulu and gently put her inside of the bag.
The two of them began walking in complete silence, with both parties tempted to say something every now and then, but they kept getting compelled not to. Many things had come across both Gogo and Rumi's minds, it was just the whole conversation thing that made them not want to go through with it. Few times though, they caught each other staring at the other and dropped their gaze in a near instant, leaving the walk as silence as ever.
"She must think I don't like her. It's no surprise though..." Gogo and Rumi thought to themselves, continuing to keep their gaze on the sidewalk,"...I'm not even trying."
Before they even realized it, they had reached Gogo's home. Lulu actually had to whisper that they had reached her place as Gogo looked up, alerted as she was in front of her house. Gogo cleared her throat and announced to Rumi," Welcome to my house."
Rumi chuckled lightly, though Gogo didn't seem to understand why as she opened the door as she called out," Mom, I'm home!"
Though she didn't receive any response from her mother and instead her one of her brothers reply to her instead.
"Mom's not coming home until midnight!" Satoru shouted back, causing Gogo to wear a look of suspicion on her face as she entered the living room, with Rumi following behind awkwardly.
"Says who?" Gogo questioned as she walked into the living room, finding Satoru, Ryu and Reo all crowded in front of the tv playing a video game.
"Listen for yourself." Ryu declared as he pointed to the phone with his eyes still glued to the tv screen. Hesitantly, Gogo walked over to the phone and listened to answering machine.
"Hey guys, your father and I aren't going to be home until around eleven-thirty, maybe later, so Gogo's making dinner. And don't make a mess of the living-room today, we have guests coming over tomorrow! See you soon." Ayami's voice relayed from the machine.
"Do you know where Saori is?" Reo asked as the three of them continued to play their game.
"Beats me." Gogo answered flatly before she felt her phone vibrate from inside her pocket. She retrieved her phone from out of her pocket and found a text from Saori reading,
"I'll be back from campus tomorrow there was just a big part of this group project that had to be done, ok?"
"Oh, gosh..." Gogo said under her breath, cringing down at the text on her phone," So now I'm stuck with these brats for the rest of the night..."
Just then, the three boys spun around simultaneously and only then noticed they had a visitor today. In a matter of seconds they all scrambled towards Rumi and stared at her in curiously, with Satoru coming close to touching her hand though Gogo put herself in front of them before they could.
"This is a guest, so treat her like one and not a rag-doll." Gogo instructed sternly, with Rumi offering the boys a kind smile as she sat on the loveseat nearest to the five of them.
"Are you Gogo's friend?" Reo asked curiously as Rumi fidgeted with the pleats of her skirt.
"Um, yes I am." Rumi answered in a somewhat nervous tone as she tried making eye contact with the boys.
They continued to probe her with more and more questions and Gogo soon remembered why Rumi was here in the first place and quickly attempted to shoo the boys away from Rumi so the two of them could get down to business.
"But Gogo, today's the day you said you would help us on the level in our game." Satoru reminded her as he held out the video game controller.
"What leve-? Oh, yeah that's right, but...couldn't we save it for later? Me and Rumi have to work on some stuff." Gogo stated as she slowly inched towards the staircase with Rumi.
"But, the faster you beat the level, the faster we can beat the game." Reo pointed out with the two other brothers nodding in agreement.
Gogo rolled her eyes, knowing that any more attempts out of this would've been futile as she said," You guys sure drive a hard bargain sometimes, but fine, let's get this over with. Um, you can stay in my room for a little bit, if you want."
Rumi nodded attentively and walked up the stairs, before realizing she didn't know where exactly her room was.
"Second door from the right!" She heard Gogo shout from downstairs. Rumi then went to the room and took in her surroundings, surprised that Gogo had such a colourful and bright room. The warm shades of orange were pleasing to look at, as well as Gogo's yellow and magenta comforter that had a flowery print to it. The room itself seemed plain for the most part, with a few posters of inspirational quotes and beaches, though there was one thing that caught Rumi's eye. From the corner of Rumi's eye, she saw something of neon colours all condensed into something and she walked towards to it, figuring out that it was a lava lamp. Rumi stared at it for longer than an average person would as the lamp rested on Gogo's writing desk with Rumi perched on the chair in front of it.
"Um, Rumi? Would you like to start talking about the Pretty Cure now?" Lulu asked from inside Rumi's bag. Rumi was snapped back to Earth and looked over to Lulu as she nodded her head, walking towards the bed where Lulu was.
As Rumi sat on the bed, Lulu waited for her to begin asking questions, but instead Rumi simply said,
"I'm like...a chosen one, yes?" as she opened up the locket and revealed the holographic castle. Lulu was rather surprised that Rumi had been curious enough to open the locket herself, but she couldn't blame her as the whole Pretty Cure thing and what was going on was still a mystery to her.
"Yeah, something like that." Lulu answered as she looked at Rumi's locket suspiciously before explaining herself," The people of your world, and my world Euphorium, are in danger of losing something very important to them."
"What is it?" Rumi interrogated as she slowly closed the locket.
"Your happiness." Lulu answered, appearing to be a little confused as she looked at the expression on Rumi's face. It was calmer than she had expected it to be.
"Aren't we always in danger of losing our happiness, no matter what we face?" Rumi asked quietly.
"This is more like...losing your happiness forever. Well, your ability to feel happiness..." Lulu explained," My world, would run on happiness and all that happiness was cultivated into the flames of Everlasting Cheer, which are currently missing. Well, two of them aren't at least."
Rumi pulled out the Candle of Solace from her bag and stared at it for a few moments, the candle taking on the form of a twisted branch with a blue orb resting in it's center like Gogo's did.
"So, how did you know that I was the next Pretty Cure?" Rumi asked as she put the candle back into her bag," Was it because the candle was in my front yard?"
"Actually, no." Lulu answered, with Rumi looking rather suspicious in return," We saw your necklace and because many are unable to crank one out, we knew you'd be the next Pretty Cure. It was just luck that the candle was in your backyard."
Rumi seem to ponder on this for a few moments before delivering a reply to Lulu," But, I saw another girl from school with a locket like mine."
"Yeah, you mean Gogo, right?" Lulu questioned, with Rumi shaking her head in response.
"No, this was a different girl...I was even there when she got it from the machine. But, I don't remember what she looked like." Rumi confessed, feeling bad of being little to no help for Lulu," But, I'm sure our paths shall cross soon enough."
"Let's hope so..." Lulu responded quietly," So, before I explain anything more, are there questions you have now?"
"How did Gogo find her candle?" Rumi asked abruptly, catching Lulu off-guard since she really wasn't expecting that. At first, Lulu wasn't sure it she should've disclosed this information to Rumi first, knowing that Gogo herself had no idea how she got the candle. But then again, Gogo had yet to ask her about it. Rumi seemed much more curious than Gogo surprisingly and Lulu wasn't entirely sure if this was a good thing but, there didn't appear to be much harm in answering this unexpected question. But how to explain herself so that she wouldn't appear to hiding something, now that was the issue.
Taking a deep breath, Lulu debriefed," I didn't originally come here to search for the Pretty Cure. I came on my own terms and for my own reasons. Anyways, the ruler of Euphorium, Queen Aurelie had contacted me, knowing I was already here and explained everything that had happened to Euphorium during my absence. So, she requested I search for the Pretty Cure and I took up her offer. She had also told me that the candles would either be found by the Pretty Cure or me."
"Why you?" Rumi asked inquisitively, before realizing how rude her question sounded as she put a hand over her mouth shyly.
Lulu shrugged replying with," She wouldn't tell me. I guess she has her reasons though."
Rumi was silent for a few long moments, registering this information before she asked," And Gogo was the one to crank out her own locket from the machine right?"
Narrowing her eyes as she wondered just what Rumi was getting at, Lulu simply answered with," Nope. Me again."
Rumi slammed her hands onto the bedspread, inches away from Lulu and startled her a great amount as she jumped back in alarm. Rumi's green eyes were wide open as she stared at Lulu who was wondering just what on earth was currently going on in Rumi's head.
"Lulu, don't you understand?" Rumi interrogated, with Lulu only looking at her awkwardly as she waited for Rumi to finish her sentence," You're the next Pretty Cure!"
Lulu bursted out into laughter and nearly fell backwards as she held her stomach, saying in between her laughs," How old do you think I am?"
"Hm, I'm not sure what human years are in translation to bunny years..." Rumi replied as she started counting on her fingers.
"I'm not an actual bunny and, my time to awaken as a Pretty Cure has long past. I must be genetically mutated in some way or form that the gachapon machines and candles have some sort of method of knowing that I'm not a Pretty Cure but rather...working with them." Lulu suggested as she put her hands on her hips.
"Like a symbiotic relationship?" Rumi asked thoughtfully, with just the thought of it sending shivers down Lulu's spine," Or, maybe it's just fate."
Lulu kept quiet and merely nodded in agreement at the idea as Rumi continued to speak," Fate that brought the three of us together, fate that brought two left-handed girls to become Pretty Cure."
It was surprising to see how much Rumi paid attention to detail, causing Lulu to remark," You never struck me as one who would pay close attention to things like that."
"Oh I notice a lot, like how Gogo may be left-handed, but she slings her bag over her right shoulder and how you seem to switch the sides on where you wear your adorable cupcake clip!" Rumi exclaimed, causing Lulu to blush a little bit.
"Finally!" The two of them heard Gogo shout from downstairs, causing the both of them to jump before hearing praise for Gogo from her brothers. Rumi walked over to the doorway and looked over to the stairs and turned back to Lulu saying,
"Maybe I'll just tell her I'll take my leave now." Rumi declared to Lulu just before she walked out of the room.
"Ok, I might head home too since I've got a ton of papers to grade." Lulu stated as she stretched her arms out, leaving Rumi with a puzzled look on her face as she wondered just what Lulu was talking about.
Rumi walked downstairs and found Gogo lying on the couch, taking deep breaths in and out with her eyes shut as her brothers were playing their game. Gogo seemed exhausted after beating that level, and while Rumi found it bewildering to see her get so drained from just playing a game, she acted as if it made sense to her that Gogo would've been tired from working so hard at pressing some buttons on a controller. At least, that's all playing video games appeared to be in Rumi's mind.
"Mitsugi?" Rumi said in a quiet voice in hopes that she wouldn't startle Gogo," I think I'll head home now."
Gogo opened one eye and before she could even think of responding, one of the boys opened their mouth, their eyes still on the screen of course as they said," I thought she was here to help you study."
Gogo crimsoned fiercely within a matter of moments and shot up from the couch, trying to dispel the idea as she clamored," I don't want you to have to stay longer than you wish and I didn't even say anything like that and-!"
"Sure you did, you said after this you're getting your friend to help you because she looks smart." Ryu muttered in a voice loud enough for both Rumi and Gogo to hear, causing Gogo to redden even more.
"I said no such thing!" Gogo claimed as she stood up, though the boys weren't paying much attention to her. She looked over sheepishly towards Rumi and saw that she didn't appear to be as uninterested in the idea as she expected.
Rumi then asked her," Would you like me to help you study?"
Gogo lowered her gaze, staring at her shoes as she tried to come to a decision on just what to say. Having a third-year help her would've been really great but, keeping someone like Rumi here against her will...it just didn't sit well with Gogo. So she sighed softly and responded keeping her gaze on the ground.
"Only if you'd be ok with it. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble with your parents or anything for staying out late..." Gogo stated in a voice that was just so soft and bashful, it almost sounded foreign to the trio of brothers behind her.
"It's fine. As long as I call my dad and tell him where I am, I should be alright to stay a little longer." Rumi explained in a reassuring voice as she took out her phone. Gogo then went upstairs to her room to spread her books out on her desk where she found her usual studying place preoccupied by someone else.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" Gogo asked in irritation as she saw Ms. Hightower with a stack of papers on her writing desk. Ms. Hightower then looked up from the desk as Gogo waited for a response.
"I have to hand these back, along with the essays from from last week to you guys on Tuesday like I promised, so I might as well start working on it now." Ms. Hightower stated in her defense as she returned to grading the papers, though Gogo still didn't seem fine with this.
"Yeah, but like that?" Gogo questioned as she leaned against the doorway, her arms crossed.
"It's hard holding a red ball-point pen in my other form. Plus, the pages are a whole lot harder to grade in that form too..." Ms. Hightower reasoned," I have to hold that pen as if it was a pool noodle and then I have to walk around the page just to mark it. And it's even worse if the assignment is double-sided!"
"Ok, fine. Just don't let my brothers see you." Gogo requested as she was about to go back downstairs to get Rumi. But Rumi was already at the top of the staircase.
"I can stay for a little longer, so I guess we can start studying?" Rumi asked as she walked into Gogo's room. Gogo nodded and as Rumi's eyes met Ms. Hightower, she nearly jumped and stared at her for a rather long time.
"Um, Mitsugi, what is Ms. Hightower doing in your house?" Rumi whispered to Gogo while waving towards Ms. Hightower in an uneasy manner, with Ms. Hightower waving back looking somewhat concern.
"She's the rabbit." Gogo answered tonelessly, not even looking Ms. Hightower as Rumi looked at Ms. Hightower in disbelief.
"You're kidding me, right?" Rumi asked as if begging Gogo to tell her what she wanted to hear rather than truthfully answer her question.
Gogo shook her head and just then, Ms. Hightower disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving Lulu in her spot. Rumi looked at her in utter shock with her mouth agape as she gawked at the bunny standing on Gogo's computer chair.
"Well, I think I deserve a break and a nice hot London Fog~" Lulu declared as she laid on Gogo's computer chair.
Rumi stared at Lulu, still evidently unsettled by the sight and shook her head as she decided," Let's get to work on your studying now."
The two then started studying and Gogo showed Rumi and Lulu all the things she was having difficulty in. Since it was Math, Lulu was literally no help and returned to her grading once she transformed back into Ms. Hightower. Rumi was actually quite resourceful and helpful when it came to Math, though she claimed she cared too much for the subject. Maybe it was her calming tone that helped Gogo diminish herself of her stress and got her to clear her mind to get a better understanding of the subject at hand. It didn't feel condescending like it did with her teacher when studying with Rumi or even headache-inducing.
"It isn't just memorizing SOHCAHTOA, it just grasping the idea really." Rumi stated neutrally," Since if you don't know how to do it..."
"SOHCAHTOA won't be much help." Gogo finished sheepishly," Ok, makes enough sense. So then...what is your favourite subject?"
Rumi closed the book for a moment, but kept one finger in between the pages they were working from and answered," Probably History."
"Cool." Gogo commented stiffly, before the two of them started studying again.
"She's not as intimidating as before..." Gogo thought to herself as Rumi continued to help her study. Before today, she was still majorly uncomfortable around Rumi despite the fact that she was a Pretty Cure just like her. Knowing that Rumi was just a normal girl who happened to be two years older than her somewhat put her at ease.
"By the way," Rumi began as they nearly ended their study session," That lamp is really pretty."
Gogo turned her head over and saw the lava lamp sitting at her desktop and said," Thanks, it was a present from my sister. Do you like lava lamps?"
Rumi nodded her head, walking close towards it to get a better look at it," They're very interesting. I should get going though."
The two of them walked downstairs after Rumi collected her things for her departure and just before then, Gogo's brothers all confronted her at the door, the trio wearing displeased looks on their faces.
"When are we going to have dinner?" Reo asked, resulting in Gogo looking at them blankly before realizing she had yet to start making dinner at this late hour.
"Um..." Gogo trailed off unsurely, a vacant look in her eye as she tried to decide on what she could prepare.
"Can we have those instant ramen noodles, please?" Ryu pleaded with his hands folded in front of his chest. Then the three of them all start begging for the instant noodles.
"Nope, those things are gross and full of salt, we'll just have to find something else." Gogo concluded, with a wave of "Aws" coming from her brothers.
Rumi then spoke up after putting on her shoes and said," You know, you can always find other things to put into the ramen bowls to make it taste better, I'll have to show you my own "recipe" another time. Well, I'll see you next week ok Mitsugi?"
"Yeah, later I guess. Have a good night, Takai." Gogo stated, just before she was going to tend to her brothers as Rumi. But, Rumi stayed for an extra moment and looked at Gogo somewhat awkwardly, as if preparing herself to say something.
"You call me Rumi." Rumi declared kindly with a small smile before waving good-bye swiftly and walking out.
Gogo waved back, seeming to be zoned out so hard that one of her brothers had to snap her back to earth.
"Oh shoot! I forgot to tell her she could call me Gogo in return..." Gogo lamented with a sigh as she closed the door, returning her attention to her brothers as she started to dial a number on her phone," Guess we'll just have pizza tonight. But, you can't tell mom and dad about this, got it?"
The boys seemed ecstatic and nodded their heads vigorously as Gogo held the phone up to her ear. Gogo smiled a little, knowing that she wasn't going to need to stress telling the boys to keep a secret, since they'd do anything pizza.
"We're similar, but different...like two of the same card but belonging to different suits." Gogo thought as the phone started to ring," Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge, maybe Rumi and I will become better friends than I thought..."