(A/N: Concerning the German in the previous chapter, the sentences aren't quite correct. What they were going for was, "These idiots have no idea what we're talking about!" "It's pathetic, isn't it?" I believe Osaka should have said, "Diese Dummköpfe verstehen nicht um wir sprechen!" while Kazuki replied, "Es ist pathetisch! Ist es nicht?")

It was a rare overcast day in the triumph of summer. The sun pressed furiously into the cloud cover, turning the sky an almost bright pearly gray and burning itself a great white spot that was hard to even look at. The wind flowed cooler today, almost bitterly, over Kaori as she wended her way home.

Sakaki walked along next to her, silent as ever. She didn't question their course; the truth was, neither of them was taking the most straightforward route home, nor had either spoken since they'd left the school building. It seemed that time to think was the order of the day.

"Ms. Sakaki?" Kaori asked timidly.

"Mm?"

"You don't think it's… weird… do you?"

Sakaki seemed unable to look at her or even reply for a few seconds. "Unusual, maybe," she finally managed. It was obvious she was working hard to avoid saying anything hurtful; Kaori could see the smoke. Warmed, she let her friend off the hook. "Look, it's that cat again!"

Sakaki's gaze snapped to the right and sure enough, the demon kitty sat on a low wall, washing himself. Drawn like an iron filing to a magnet, she slid inevitably towards another band-aid.

Kaori smiled to herself, reflecting that as sharp as Sakaki was in most arenas, she was hopelessly dense when it came to matters of the heart. What this could mean for the two of them, though, was uncertain. How would Tall, Dark and Beautiful decide to react to her devotion, anyway? How should she?

CHOMP!

"Ow," Sakaki said fatalistically.

Kaori coughed. It would help, first, to refrain from laughing…

It's always an unpleasant spectacle to watch a friend get chewed out by their parents, especially if you would've gotten three cheers for the same performance. This semester, Koyomi Mizuhara had slipped a little below her usual impeccable standard and failed to reach the honor roll. Of course, her marks would still have turned the Bonkuras (and most other students) green with envy.

If Tomo had made the Honor Roll, the reward from her stunned parents would have been stupendous. Dinner out, perhaps, and a bit of spending money. A new video game? Not out of the question. When Yomi made the Honor Roll, her reward was simple: she didn't get screamed at for five minutes straight.

And the excuse for her lapse, that an extracurricular lab project she was doing with Mr. Ogawa was taking some of her attention and it was only natural that her grades would suffer a little, didn't hold even a bead of water. There was no excuse. There was no defense. All that was left to Yomi was to slowly wilt under her mother's verbal barrage.

When Mrs. Mizuhara had finally spent herself and stalked off to make the promised hearty (and fattening) meal, Mr. Mizuhara rose and put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. He was a short, balding, heavyset man whose genes probably accounted for most of her weight troubles. "For, uh, what it's worth…" he said, "I say you did great." He then left to placate his wife.

Yomi's guests, expecting to enjoy her mother's cooking and not to see her mother cook her, sat by uncomfortably. Osaka and Sandra wore identical stupefied expressions, and even Tomo was a little cowed. She'd never experienced Mrs. Mizuhara as anything other than a kindly lady that gave her lots of food and she could be super nice around so that she would say, "Why can't you be more like your friend Tomo?" and really piss Yomi off.

"Well… that's something, isn't it?" Sandra ventured once Mr. Mizuhara had left.

"He always says that," Yomi replied tonelessly. She still looked a little wilted, but she was a tough girl; it came with the territory of being Tomo's best friend/punching bag. "Damn. And I still have a lot of work to do with Mr. Ogawa…"

"C'mon, Yomi," Tomo chided, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her a bit. And then a bit more. "It's summer! Can't you stop thinking about school for five seconds? Man, it'd almost be better if you started whining about your waistline again…"

"Shut up," Yomi grumbled.

"Seriously!" Keeping her hands on her friend's shoulders, Tomo turned sharply to address the others. ("Erk!") "Have either of you heard this broad say more'n two words about anything other than school in the past, say, month?"

"Well, she…" Sandra started.

"Sandra! I was being rhetorical!" Tomo said sharply.

"Yeah, she was being rhetorical!" Osaka echoed, expression vaguely severe.

"Oh…" Sandra subsided in confusion.

"At least I think about school at all," Yomi snapped, crossing her arms. Life had fully returned to her features, along with a healthy flush. It seemed that Tomo's needling had done her a world of good even as it raised her blood pressure. "At least I…!"

"Am gonna grow up to be a lonely old biddy with seventy cats!" Tomo laughed.

"What?" Yomi grabbed Tomo's collar and raised her fist. "You're lucky there are witnesses here or I'd…"

"Hm?" Osaka's expression was mild, but it was easy to see she was grinning on the inside. "What is it you'd do to her if nobody was watching?"

Yomi was speechless. "Uh…"

"Ha ha! Good catch, comrade!" Tomo crowed. "There's no escape, Yom-!" then the other half of the space cadet's implication hit her. "HEY! You take that back!"

More baffled than ever, Sandra gave up on following their conversation and just tried to enjoy the show. She was beginning to think that all Earth girls (and, come to think of it, most of the boys) were irredeemably insane. It didn't help her confusion when Mrs. Mizuhara returned happily with word that dinner was ready, just as if she hadn't bawled her daughter out good in front of the lot of them.

"What're you doing with Ogawa that's so important anyway?" Tomo asked as they started towards the dining room.

"Oh, it's…" Yomi started to answer out of reflex, then looked at her suspiciously. "Why the hell are you interested?" (Fortunately, Mrs. Mizuhara's sharp ears didn't quite catch her swearing; Yomi was in enough trouble already.)

"Hmph. Well, I'm hurt, Yomi. Aren't I allowed to show a little wholesome interest in what you're up to?"

"No. Your interest is never wholesome."

"Ogawa… he's the young guy that talked to us when we were in the Godzilla shelter, right?" Tomo looked at her friend sideways and laughed when she nodded. "Ha! I knew it! Yomi, you rogue, I didn't think you had it in you!"

"I'm lost," Sandra said pathetically.

"It's just the second door on…" Osaka giggled when the American covered her eyes. "Sorry. Y'get used to them…" she considered. "Nah, y'never get used to 'em. Or me."

"I figured," Sandra sighed.

Later that night, they lounged about the living room again, sluggish and happy from a heavy, western-style meal that even recently would have thrown Yomi into a crazed, guilty panic and kicked off a new diet right then and there. And believe you me, a sluggish Tomo is a bizarre sight. She looked as if she was trying to caper and leap about as usual, only with a thirty-pound lead weight in her stomach.

"So what is it you and Ogawa-chan do, then, huh? Here's what I think you- ack!"

Without even stirring from her chair, Yomi tripped her in one sure move, taking the wildcat idiot down before she could start her famed Making-Out impression. "If you must know," Yomi said tiredly, hands resting on her belly, "He's experimenting with a new substance called micro-oxygen, and needs an extra pair of hands."

Tomo's eyes glazed slightly. "Micro…?"

"Sounds kinky," Osaka commented distantly. There followed the long, incredibly awkward, 'e-e-e-e-er…' sort of pause that only Osaka could bring to pass. Into this silence stabbed the piercing, rude sound of a telephone ringing.

Yomi answered swiftly; Tomo occasionally beat her to the phone and these incidents were always embarrassing. "Hello? Oh, hey, Chiyo-chan… yeah, tomorrow morning's the last before… what? Why not?… What do you mean?… I'm sorry, I can't-" she flinched. "Okay. Yeah… no, no, it's all right. I won't go… I know you mean well, and… okay. See you tomorrow. Right. Bye."

Tomo leapt upon her as she hung up. "What was that about?"

"Looks like I'll have to postpone my meeting with Mr. Ogawa…" Yomi shook her head wonderingly. "I've never heard her so upset."

"Ah ha! She found out about their tempestuous love-affair!" Tomo cried, leaping into the air. Yomi's fist caught her in the nose before she even landed.

The sun came out the next day, as they all knew it must. It was the first proper day of Summer Vacation, after all, and the day they would set out for Chiyo-chan's summer home. They filtered in one-by-one, minds full of happy visions: the ocean, the sun, fireworks, sand castles, dolphins, komodo dragons (Sandra had been listening to Osaka again), and, most of all…

"WATERMELONS!" Tomo howled. "It's gonna be a citrus apocalypse!"

"Um, watermelons aren't citrus," Chiyo corrected diffidently.

"A vermiform apocalypse, then!"

"That's your appendix…"

"Well, goddammit, it's gonna be an apocalypse of something!"

The girls stood in a rough circle in the shade of the veranda, duffel bags or packs slung over shoulders or lying by their feet. The only exception was Sakaki, who sat against a tree nearby with Mr. Tadakichi resting alongside, blissfully scratching him behind his ears. Nobody went over to her; she seemed to have thrown up a psychic force-field of some kind.

"Are you okay, Chiyo?" Sandra asked.

The smaller girl turned to her in surprise. Truth be told, she did look a little worn out and bent slightly more than necessary under the weight of the duffel on her shoulder. "Oh, it's nothing important, Ms. Sandra," she assured, smiling, "My father and I just had a… falling-out, that's all."

Sandra blinked. She tried to imagine polite little Chiyo-chan having a falling-out with anyone, and it came out something like, "Um, father? I'm very sorry, but… YOU'RE A BIG FAT IDIOT!" She snorted a laugh and turned away swiftly. It was odd, though… was everyone in the world getting yelled at lately?

"It'll be great to swim in the ocean again," Kagura was saying excitedly to Osaka, "It's like nothing else!"

"Watch out so ya don't rust," Osaka cautioned.

"What…?"

"You once said you were made of steel or somethin'."

"I was being, uh, rhetorical."

"Lotta that goin' around…"

Tomo took an imaginary mike, threw out her chest and cast a hand towards Kaori. "And joining us for the first time… KAORI!"

"What about me?" Sandra asked.

"You don't count!" Tomo barked. "Don't ask, I don't know why!"

It was then that the estate's gates opened to admit two cars. One was a sensible little vehicle, fairly cheap but well maintained, and commanded by Ms. Kurosawa, a conscientious, careful and considerate driver. It oozed peace and safety. The other, however…

Was the YUKARIMOBILE!

It was a fusion of human and machine more terrible than anything Todd McFarlane ever designed: the psychotic, diabolical brainwave of Ms. Yukari directing a half-ton dented, dinged, scratched and scorched (…the hell?) chassis at speeds that stuntmen fear and pedestrians flee! Even King Ghidora would have been unnerved to see this harbinger of terror racing towards his feet, so was it any wonder that Chiyo went pale at the sight of it?

"All right, guys," Yomi said gravely. "This is for your lives! Rock, paper…"

But Chiyo was somehow already in Ms. Kurosawa's car. It hadn't even stopped yet.

"Whoa, she's talented!" Tomo cheered, "I'll bet she could jack a car right out of under you!"

"What on X… uh, Earth is that?" Sandra yelped.

"It's my ride!" Yukari called, disembarking. "Pretty classy, isn't it?"

"Um…" Sandra turned back to the circle. "Sorry, I can't ride in that vehicle on the grounds that I am a complete wuss."

"Doesn't work like that," Yomi gritted, holding out her fist mercilessly. "Rock…"

Thoughtful, Kagura looked over at the still-panicked Chiyo and recalled the small girl's composure as she lay pinned on a street in Sendai, waiting for a Frontier missile to fall on her head or a gravity beam to obliterate her. As the teachers drew near, Kagura pointed towards Yukari. "You should be very proud," she commended. "Huh… or totally ashamed. I'm not sure which."

"I know which one she'll choose," Nyamo muttered.

KABOOM! CRASHHHHH!

Lightning danced and flickered above the thick, brooding clouds, peppering the dark ground and heaving waves with rapid-fire bursts of light. It hadn't started to rain yet, but a fresh smell in the swiftly growing breeze promised it. At first, the summer home was a warm, bright haven against the advancing elements, but before long their power started to flicker intermittently.

"Gonna be a big one," Kagura commented idly, dropping her feet lightly on the coffee table.

"Man, this sucks!" Tomo stalked back and forth in front of them, still in her swimsuit, hitting them with flecks of water with every forceful move. "We were having fun!"

"We still can," Yomi reminded. "Be reasonable. We had a full day already anyway."

"And I've got just the thing!" Yukari announced proudly, coming down the stairs. There was a large paper bag over her shoulder. Her fellow educator sat bolt upright. "Oh, no. No, you did not…!" Nyamo rushed over and jerked the bag down, revealing the neck of a bottle of sake. "For God's sake, Yukari, they're minors!"

Mood instantly improved, Tomo moved over to take part in the ruckus, leaving behind her a much quieter sitting room. "It's actually kind of nice, isn't it?" Chiyo commented as the wind outside rose an octave. There was a faraway look in her eyes and an odd little smile on her lips. Flickering lightning played over her face, and for an instant she achieved almost Osakan levels of creepiness.

"You could learn to enjoy it," Kaori agreed. A peal of thunder produced a momentary lull in the Battle for Yukari's Sake. "I remember you used to be terrified of thunder.""That's right, I was…" Chiyo looked down. "Things happened, I guess."

Why does she look like this? Yomi wondered uneasily, So… weary?

"Ms. Osaka, isn't this the perfect time for one of your horror…?" The prodigy blinked anxiously, suddenly herself again. "Er… does anybody know where Ms. Osaka is?"

Osaka would have been proud that she caused an 'e-e-e-er…' without even being present. After a brief search, Sakaki stood, walked to the window and nodded with a confirmed suspicion. "The beach," she said tersely, "I'll go."

"Ms. Sakaki? Um, be… be careful!" Chiyo felt like an idiot for worrying but wasn't able to help it. They were all beginning to get the feeling that there was something apart from ionization in the air.

"Yeah," Sakaki nodded with a very slight, gentle-and-yet-oh-so-badass smile. Steeling herself, the towering girl set out into the teal evening and howling wind. Her passing left them in silence, except for the weirdly distant-sounding argument between their guardians and the frighteningly immediate-sounding wind. The power stuttered again, then at long last gave up the ghost.

"I'm sorry," Sandra finally asked into the darkness, "But why is everybody so tense?"

"Shit if we know," Kagura answered easily, then stretched out and seemed to fall asleep. Sitting next to her, though, Yomi could see that her limbs were still tensed. Something's wrong…

Sakaki walked swiftly down the short path to the beach, nearing a tiny dark spot that she'd assumed to be Osaka. Sure enough, the delicate girl sat hugging her knees and gazing into the roiling clouds, rocking slightly every now and then. "Osaka?" Sakaki crouched next to her, hair flailing and whipping about. "What are you doing out here?"

"Jus' thinkin' about ridin' dolphins again, I guess," Osaka answered with a soft giggle. "I don't know."

"You should come inside."

"Why? It's nice out here." Thunder cackled sharply right above them. For not the first time, Sakaki caught herself wondering if her friend was even human. "Can ya smell it in the air? Past the rain? You can too, can't ya?"

Sakaki swallowed. "Osaka…?"

"I'll be along," she said spaciously, "Don't worry about me."

Rain started to fall over the water with a gentle hissing sound. As Sakaki stood there and watched the leading edge of the rainstorm rush towards them, all at once, she felt palpably menaced; the completely ridiculous but undeniable feeling that something was coming for them. She took Osaka's arm. "Let's go," came out a little more sharply than she meant.

"If ya say so," Osaka replied, not seeming to care one way or the other. They were pretty well doused before they made it indoors, much to Tomo's hilarity. Ever the concerned host, Chiyo offered them towels, and they changed into pajamas to settle down for the night. A big, purple doom that made Osaka's report card look like a gnat crouched outside in the rain, working the windowframes with its claws. (Again, metaphorically.)

It surely didn't keep most of them from sleeping, though. Especially in the case their vigilant and exemplary guardians, who sank so far into a sake-induced coma (having solved their dispute the only way they knew how) that they didn't stir even when thunder shook the house to its foundation and rain hammered down like a torrent of ball-bearings.

Tomo slept uneasily, partially wakened by every flash of lightening. At one point she sensed Osaka settling onto the floor next to her, smelling the wind and rain on her clothes. Y'little doofus, her addled mind managed before Morpheus overtook her once more, What could you have to do out there?

The next morning was a pea-soup fog. It rolled over the water in gray immensity, bringing with it an awesome, heavy silence that stilled even the Bonkura's enthusiasm. The night's disquiet was utterly forgotten; the teacher's hangovers were more pressing by far.

"Your fault," Yukari croaked for the fifth time.

"Whatever," Nyamo replied, pressing a bag of cool water to her forehead. The icepacks were gone with the freezer; power had not yet returned.

"Ha! I win!" Yukari bleated.

"You win," Nyamo moaned.

Osaka sat out on the beach almost right where she'd been, humming tunelessly. She didn't notice as Chiyo came up behind her and sat down lotus-style. "What are you up to, Ms. Osaka?" she asked, disgustingly chipper. It might have been foggy and silent, but it was still morning, and she was still the ultimate morning person.

"Eh," Osaka replied, "Waitin' for Sandra."

"Oh, she's out here too?" Chiyo looked around, but the fog was impenetrable.

"Lookin' for the Komodo Dragons'd be my guess. I'd kinda feel like a heel if I wasn' out here with 'er."

"But, um, why don't you just tell her…?"

"I don't feel that bad…" Osaka smirked. "You shouldn't, neither. She's findin' all kinds of interestin' stuff. Maybe I'll tell 'er when she gets bored or threatens me with a knife."

"A knife…?"

"Shut up, Tomo!" The house's door crashed open and Yomi emerged, yelling over her shoulder. "Go play in traffic or something!"

"Say hi to Ogawa-chan for meeee…!" Tomo called after.

"God! Stupid little--!" Yomi stormed past them and chucked a rock into the water. "She's such an immature--! Why the hell do I put up with her?"

Osaka didn't miss a beat. "I 'spect it's the hedgehog's dilemma."

"Huh? The closer you get to someone the more you hurt them? What does that have to do with anyth--?"

Yomi's aggravated question was interrupted by a scream. It came from down the beach, rendered ghostly and muffled by the fog. Yomi realized that it wasn't stark, 'oh-my-God-I'm-gonna-die' terror so much as sudden shock, but she was running towards it before her ears stopped ringing all the same.

Like lightning, the whole group (even their zombified teachers) gathered around Sandra where she stood, white as a sheet, ankle-deep in the water and staring into a pale wall of fog. She slowly held out a shaky hand to halt the tide of questions and pointed up at the cloud bank. "Wait," she said blankly, "Wait for it to clear again…"

"What is this, some kind of j… oh… oh, shit," Yukari's arms fell limply to her sides.

"What's goin' on?" Osaka asked, finally joining them.

The retreating fog answered her, slowly revealing a colossal tower of something a few hundred yards from the shore. "What the f…?" Kagura caught her breath as the thinning mist revealed it in its entirety.

A gigantic blue rose! From a broad base, its slender stem twisted and bent its way up to a great, elegant ruffled head of blue petals. Two fat, pointed petals hung loose and swayed gently, along with mighty fronds the size of sails down the length of its body. A forest of vines that reminded Chiyo uncomfortably of tentacles hung from its neck and the bases of the fronds.

"S…see?" Sandra finally quavered.

"That does it," Yukari said positively, "No more sake for me."

Nyamo laughed.