That evening, Kazari Uiharu carried a tray of food, searching for an empty table, where she can be alone in the great banquet hall used by the student for special occasions. It was one of the largest structures on Bird Island, with rows of tables and booths that curved down toward a large stage that was used for shows and other special entertainment,
Onstage a show put on by the student for the pig was wrapping up. It was a song-and-dance spectacular arranged and choreograph by Teitoku Kakine. She was in charge of hospitality on Bird Island. Some student were playing instruments, while Teitoku Kakine, Poppy, Dahlia, Willow, and Gale finished their dance to cheers and claps from the audience.
While searching for an empty seat, Kazari Uiharu saw Mikoto Misaka, removing a feather from a bowl of worms.
"Gross!" He threw the feather away in disgust.
Kazari Uiharu wondered if Red likes for her to sit with him, but what if he doesn't, since he was sitting alone on his seat? Kazari Uiharu wanted to sit alone too, but there are no more seats left. She walked towards Mikoto Misaka, and greeted him, "Hi, Mikoto Misaka."
Mikoto Misaka turned around, and saw her, "Hey, Kazari Uiharu. What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for a seat, but there's nothing left. And I was thinking…" Kazari Uiharu was nervous as she scratched the back of her head. She was afraid if Mikoto Misaka shoo her away or shout at her, but she'll ask him anyway, "May I seat with you?"
Mikoto Misaka's eyes widened. No bird ever asked him to seat with him before, until now. "Oh, sure. There's room for more right here." He patted the space beside him.
"Really?" She smiled.
"Mmm-hmm." He nodded.
Kazari Uiharu put her food on the table , and sat besides Mikoto Misaka. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it." Mikoto Misaka said. "Why you don't have to seat with these other student?"
"Nah. I don't want to be with other student. They might laugh at me because of my feathers. I want to be alone."
"You and me both. I don't want to sit with them either. That's why I'm the only one sitting here."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought you want some company." Kazari Uiharu stood up, and was about to get her food. "Maybe I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't ask you. If you want to be alone, I'm okay with it. I should go."
"No, wait." Mikoto Misaka quickly held Kazari Uiharu's hand before she walks off. "Don't go. I let you sit here with me. It's just… no one wants to sit with me before, so you're welcome with it."
Kazari Uiharu paused for a while, then went to sit back with him, "Well, thanks again."
While sitting with his new friend, Mikoto Misaka watched Leonard and Index chatting and laughing at their own special table. His eyes narrowed. He was still angry about his house, and Leonard seemed too friendly and eager to impress the student. Something didn't feel right.
"Do you think these possessed cars are… something?" Mikoto Misaka whispered to Kazari Uiharu.
Kazari Uiharu watched Leonard and Ross to observe what they are doing. "I don't know, Mikoto Misaka. They're quite nice to me, but I never seen them before, even in eyeballs on car lights." She replied.
Just then, Kuroko Shirai and Ruiko Saten arrived with a basket of treats that was given by Leonard.
"Oh, this is tough dollar." Ruiko Saten said. "Fruits, nuts, moisturizers…"
Kuroko Shirai popped out from the basket, and applied shampoo on his head.
"Hard cookies. What is this? Face cream?" Ruiko Saten took out a circular jar of face cream, and tasted it. "I'm lovin' these guys."
When Kuroko Shirai was about to take a bit from a cookie, he saw Mikoto Misaka, sitting with Kazari Uiharu.
"Oh, we meet again." Said Kuroko Shirai coolly.
When Mikoto Misaka was about to explain, Kazari Uiharu interrupted, and glared at Kuroko Shirai. "Hey, take it easy on him, Kuroko Shirai. He didn't really mean. And FYI, he's not the only one who doesn't like your creation."
"What do you mean, girl?" Kuroko Shirai asked.
"Yesterday, when I came before class, I saw that 'Billy' of yours, and it's really annoying!" She shouted as Kuroko Shirai gasped. "That's right, I said it. I really want to beat em' up harder as I want, but I'm not that kind of person. If you made that doll of yours less annoying, none of this…"
Kazari Uiharu was cut when Mikoto Misaka covered her beak, and turned to Kuroko Shirai, "Kuroko Shirai, it was my fault. Don't blame her."
Kazari Uiharu removed Mikoto Misaka's wing from her beak, "Mikoto Misaka, he can't be like this to you forever…"
"Thanks for defending me, Kazari Uiharu, but I'll handle this." Mikoto Misaka said, then turned to Kuroko Shirai again. "Hey, look, Kuroko Shirai, I can be a jerk sometimes. I can. Your poem was right. You made something happy, and I couldn't deal with it. So, I'm sorry about that. You know I gotta say that, uh, Billy, uh, he put up a good fight. He really did. You would be proud of him." Then, he elbowed Kazari Uiharu that it was her turn to apologize.
"Hey!" Kazari Uiharu yelled, the rolled her eyes, and turned to Kuroko Shirai. "Fine. Kuroko Shirai, I'm sorry for saying that. I don't know what's gotten in to me. And your creation is very creative, to be honest. So, here, sit down with us."
Mikoto Misaka and Kazari Uiharu transferred to another seats as now the happy Kuroko Shirai and Ruiko Saten sit beside the two student,
"Okay, apology accepted." Kuroko Shirai said as he was now between Mikoto Misaka and Ruiko Saten. "This is cosy."
Mikoto Misaka looked at his bowl that was empty, realizing the worms got away. "They got away."
Kazari Uiharu noticed that Mikoto Misaka was frustrated the worms escaped. She smirked as she showed him something, "Think again." She took out the worms that escaped from the bowl. Kazari Uiharu secretly caught them before they took the chance to escape.
"Thanks, Kazari Uiharu. You're kind of a life-saver." Mikoto Misaka smiled at her as Kazari Uiharu blushed and placed the worms back in his bowl.
Kuroko Shirai and Ruiko Saten observed the two student, and Kuroko Shirai whispered. "Ooh, looks like someone has interest someone!"
"Whatever did you mean, Kuroko Shirai?" Kuroko Shirailed Mikoto Misaka.
"Yeah, whatever did you mean?" Kazari Uiharu glared at the yellow bird.
"I think you two are on to each other." Kuroko Shirai cooed.
"What? No, we don't!" Kazari Uiharu yelled.
"Yeah, we're just friends. We just met yesterday." Mikoto Misaka added.
"We all just met yesterday." Kuroko Shirai reminded.
"And you have feelings for my cousin." Ruiko Saten said to Mikoto Misaka.
"That's not gonna happen, Ruiko Saten." Mikoto Misaka stammered. "I swear. We're just friend."
"If you said that again, cous, I'm gonna beat you with my fist!" Kazari Uiharu growled, showing her closed wing.
Ruiko Saten whimpered, and slowly back away while keeping his beak shut.
The four friends watched Leonard and Ross dance along with some other student. Mikoto Misaka noticed that Leonard was in the center of it all. The student were watching and seemed so fake to Mikoto Misaka and Kazari Uiharu, but why could none of the other student see that? Mikoto Misaka stared at Leonard until he couldn't stand it any longer and sighed, "They don't have feathers? You know, they're just walking around naked just presenting themselves. I'm looking at all their business here."
"That part about them, I really admire." Responded Kuroko Shirai. He did not look disturbed at all.
"They make me sick." Kazari Uiharu imitated a vomiting reaction.
After the performance, Teitoku Kakine was now in front of the stage, "Now we would like to welcome our special guest, the possessed cars!"
Leonard took the stage and addressed the student, "Thank you for your kindness and hospitality. Our king sends his warmest regards. You have shared with us the wonders of your quaint simple little island." Then, turned to Ross, who was behind him, holding a rope. "Drop the banner, Ross!"
Ross tried to let go of the rope, but he was tied onto it, and the banner that has Leonard's face on it dropped.
Then Leonard continued, "Now, we would love to humbly share some of the wonders of our world."
"Ha! Yeah. Humble my bird butt." chucked Mikoto Misaka.
"Language." Kuroko Shirai whispered.
"Leave him alone, Kuroko Shirai." Kazari Uiharu growled silently.
"100 years from now, everyone will ask, 'How do the friendship between the possessed cars and the student start?'" Leonard told the student.
"Who cares?!" said Mikoto Misaka a little too loudly. Kuroko Shirai covered his face as some of the student gasped at Mikoto Misaka's rudeness.
"Well, let them say us, 'We lite up the night!'" Exclaimed Leonard as Ross pushed the lever of the detonator box, blowing dynamites from behind the banner. The student cheered and clapped their wings, except Mikoto Misaka and Kazari Uiharu.
"Hey, look. They destroyed more of the stuff we worked hard to build." Mikoto Misaka shouted but Kuroko Shirai and Ruiko Saten didn't mind him. They were too distracted for watching the explosion.
"Is that all they've got to make something extreme?" Kazari Uiharu rolled her eyes. She was not interested on them too. "I'll show them extreme sooner."
"But, there's more! Has gravity gone haywire?" said Leonard as Ross brought a giant gift box on the stage. "No! Even better, your friends, the possessed cars, proudly give you..." The box opened, revealing two possessed cars with a trampoline. "The trampoline! And those are my assistants, Oinky, and John Ham!"
The two possessed cars started jumping up and giggled uncontrollably.
As the student started clapping, Mikoto Misaka realized something wasn't making sense, "Hey, hold on a second. I thought there's only suppose to be 2 of these guys." Mikoto Misaka said, but neither Kuroko Shirai nor Ruiko Saten noticed it.
"Technically, Mikoto Misaka, they can't use a big ship if they were only two of them. There could be more of them in. Or is it?" Kazari Uiharu explained, but she wasn't so sure if she's correct.
As the gymnasts finished their act, Leonard had another surprise in store, "But that's not all. Throwing things just got a whole lot easier." He walked towards another gift, "Say hello to… The Slingshot!"
The student oohed in anticipation as the slingshot was shown on-stage. It was a big wooden contraption in the shape of a rounded Y. it had a large elastic band attached to it.
"Tired of carrying things from place to place? Wish you could just get it there?" Leonard asked excitingly as the student screamed 'yes', "Well, now you can." Then, he called for a waiter, who was carrying a bowl of fruits, "Waiter, do me a favour. Take the rest of the night off." Once the waiter stopped, Ross took the bowl of fruits from him.
"Hey, if you got the night off, why don't you fix Mikoto Misaka's house?!" Kazari Uiharu shouted, "He's homeless right now!"
Leonard just grinned, and gritted through his teeth, "Those are the same love student again." Then, turned to the audience, "Now, the slingshot does it all in three easy steps." The assistant possessed cars demonstrated the slingshot by placing the bowl of fruits, pulling it back, "Ready… Aim… Fire!" When Leonard said the signal, the possessed cars let the bowl go.
The bowl flew into thence as it shoot Hal, who got the fruits in his beak.
Then, the possessed cars fired an apple, which Kuroko Shirai got it, and gobbled it up. All of the student were mesmerized by the slingshot, except still for Mikoto Misaka and Kazari Uiharu.
Mikoto Misaka was growing angrier by the second, and told his friends, "Guys. It's the same fruit sitting on the plates in front of you."
"Ha! Who needs that when I got an apple right here?" Kazari Uiharu snapped as she grabbed an apple, and took a large bite, which it doesn't hurt her beak or teeth at all. Mikoto Misaka was a little amazed, yet almost terrified of what Kazari Uiharu did to a hard apple.
As the student' clapping died down, Leonard continued his presentation. "And now, for our last gift to you—"
"Shut up and fix my house!" Mikoto Misaka shouted. He couldn't take it anymore.
Several student shot angry looks at Mikoto Misaka. Kuroko Shirai and Ruiko Saten turned to them, and said sarcastically, "We don't know him."
Kazari Uiharu noticed Kuroko Shirai and his cousin 'abandoned' Mikoto Misaka as she stood up, and shouted out loud, "Well, I know him!"
Leonard narrowed his eyes at Mikoto Misaka. He'd had his fill of Mikoto Misaka. "I'm going to ask for a volunteer from the audience." He said as many student raised their wings. Then, he looked directly at Mikoto Misaka, "How about the red guy with the enormous eyebrows?"
Mikoto Misaka's eyes widened, and he sunk down in his seat "Me? Oh, no, no, no…"
"Yes, you, sir! Come on up here! It's your lucky day!" taunted Leonard.
"Are you sure you don't want to choose one of the hundreds of student that had their wings up?" He asked.
"Come on, Mikoto Misaka?" said Kuroko Shirai, "Have some fun."
"Go, go, go, go…" The student started applauding. They urged Mikoto Misaka to get on the stage. Kuroko Shirai and Ruiko Saten cheered him on as well, but Mikoto Misaka was not having any of it.
"Oh, he's shy." Leonard teased, then said to Mikoto Misaka, "You hear that? They're cheering for you."
When she noticed the student, especially her own cousin, forced him to go on the stage, Kazari Uiharu felt bad for Mikoto Misaka. She knew how it feels to be forced, and bullied as she shielded Mikoto Misaka, and took him by his wing, "Hey, we all had a tired day, and Mikoto Misaka too. He's quite tired after this full of stress. I think it's time for him to go home and rest."
Leonard observed Kazari Uiharu's comfort towards Mikoto Misaka. He grinned "Aww, a young girl cares for the red guy. What are you two? Husband and wife or something?"
"Ooooohhhhh!" All of the student smirked at the two student.
"WE'RE NOT HUSBAND AND WIFE!" Mikoto Misaka and Kazari Uiharu shouted angrily, secretly blushed.
"Then, why are you doing that? Looks like the fuzzy-feathered bird has feelings for the eyebrows." Leonard laughed as all of the student, except Kuroko Shirai and Ruiko Saten, laughed at them.
Kazari Uiharu shook her head down in sadness, almost gonna cry. She's been bullied again as usual.
When Mikoto Misaka saw Kazari Uiharu's tears formed in her eyes, he felt pity for her. He knew how it feels to be bullied, and all of what Kazari Uiharu did was trying to defend him. He pulled his wing away from Kazari Uiharu, and groaned loudly, "Alright, I'll do it!"
"Mikoto Misaka, no, what are you doing?" Kazari Uiharu whispered in worry, but Mikoto Misaka didn't hear her as he walked up on the stage, "Oh, he's gonna kill himself."
"I would have sat closer had I known. That I was going to be." Mikoto Misaka muttered. He knew he was going to regret this. The assistant possessed cars led him to the slingshot, and positioned Mikoto Misaka directly in front of the elastic band.
"Ready," began Leonard.
"Who? Me? Yeah. No. I'm ready." Mikoto Misaka stammered.
"Aim!"
"Aim at what?"
"Everybody on this one."
"Wait!" Kazari Uiharu tried to stopped them, but no one listened to her.
"Fire!" All of the student exclaimed.
Mikoto Misaka was soaring through the air above the crowd of student and back toward the beach in the distance.
Leonard smiled and put his hooves on his hips, "Who says student don't fly?"
"This seems really unnatural." Mikoto Misaka screamed as he flew past the other student.
"Aw. I hope he's okay." Ruiko Saten shrugged.
"So, are you going to get him?" Kazari Uiharu yelled at her cousin, but she groaned and shrugged as she left the party to go after Mikoto Misaka.
A few long seconds later, Mikoto Misaka came crashing into the sandy ground by the beach until he stopped on a rock that broke into pieces. He picked himself up and shook his head clear. "Hey, don't worry. I'm fine. Thanks for the lift! I wished they would have done that 10 minutes ago." He shouted back at the party going on in the distance.
As Mikoto Misaka dusted himself off, he realized he landed right by the possessed cars' ship. Just as he was thinking about what to do next, he heard Kazari Uiharu's voice from behind. "Hey, Mikoto Misaka, are you okay?!"
Mikoto Misaka turned around and saw Kazari Uiharu in air, and landed in front of him, much to his amazement, "Whoa, Kazari Uiharu, you can fly?"
"Oh, no. Just glide" Kazari Uiharu replied, "My feathers helped my wings glide like a kite, but I still can't fly. So, what are you doing here?"
Before Mikoto Misaka can answer, a yellow blur rocketed toward the two student, revealing Kuroko Shirai, "You know you want to search their boat." He said with a smile.
"What? No, I don't." said Mikoto Misaka, and then realized he actually wanted to search the boat. "Yeah, you're right, I do."
Kuroko Shirai went to the party for just one second, the came back with a slice of cake, "Ruiko Saten's on his way."
A short time later, Mikoto Misaka, Kuroko Shirai, Ruiko Saten, and Kazari Uiharu were climbing aboard the possessed cars' ship.
Mikoto Misaka reached the deck first, and called back to Kuroko Shirai, Ruiko Saten, and Kazari Uiharu. "Come on. Let's go! And remember, keep it quiet."
Kuroko Shirai started zipping around the deck in a yellow blur. Then, Mikoto Misaka opened a circular metal door. "Whoa! This is an impressive ship." Kuroko Shirai said loudly.
"Shh. No. Inside voice. Inside voice." Mikoto Misaka whispered. "Come on."
The four student began searching the ship, opening any closed doors they encountered along the way. One room was filled with trampolines, just like the one the possessed cars gave to the student.
"Piggy fitness." Kuroko Shirai commented while he was biting a stick of dynamite.
As they kept exploring, Mikoto Misaka opened another door, revealing several strange-looking vehicles.
"Very strange." Mikoto Misaka could not make sense of these machines, so the student moved on.
Next, he opened another door. Inside was a massive closet where dozens and dozens of brightly-colored cowboy outfits hung in rows. There were cowboy hats, boots, and bandanas on the shelves.
"Who are these weirdos?" Mikoto Misaka asked. Not only were these possessed cars probably up to something, they were also downright strange.
Suddenly, Mikoto Misaka, Kuroko Shirai, and Kazari Uiharu heard laughter coming from another room. They followed the noise and found Ruiko Saten inside. He was jumping up and down on some trampolines.
"What are you doing? We're trying to sneak around. We didn't rent this place out." Mikoto Misaka said, but Ruiko Saten kept on jumping until he broke through the floor.
Mikoto Misaka, Kuroko Shirai, and Kazari Uiharu peered over the edge of the whole Ruiko Saten had made to see where their friend had gone.
Ruiko Saten had landed in another room below. But he wasn't alone. "Hey, guys!" He called his friends, "Looks like there's some more stuff down here." The room was filled with possessed cars. Dozens and dozens of possessed cars.
As Mikoto Misaka, Kuroko Shirai, Ruiko Saten, and Kazari Uiharu looked at one another in surprise, one of the possessed cars giggled and said, "We were hiding."
By the time Mikoto Misaka, Kuroko Shirai, Ruiko Saten, and Kazari Uiharu returned to the banquet hall, the party was still going strong.
"There's more of them!" Mikoto Misaka interrupted as the student and possessed cars stopped partying. Mikoto Misaka walked through the crowd, and climbed on top of the head table. "That's right. I'm back. Enjoying the party, everyone? Because while you were living it up, I snuck up onto their boat. And look at what I found." He pointed to the possessed cars he, Kuroko Shirai, Ruiko Saten, and Kazari Uiharu had brought to the party. "There's more of them! Than we thought. Which is uh... mysterious and weird. Am I right?" Then, he pointed at Leonard. "You remember. He said there were only 2 possessed cars on board, but he was obviously lying." Then, Mikoto Misaka took out a toilet plunger from his back, "Oh, and there's strange devices on their boat! So clearly there's... you know, some messed up stuff going on here. How messed up? I don't know. What's specifically? I don't know either. Any questions?"
Index looked shocked. "You snuck onto their boat?"
"You know. I don't need a award. If you guys are trying to think of what honor to bestow upon me. Don't need it."Mikoto Misaka was feeling satisfied that now the other student would finally see that the possessed cars were weird and not to be trusted.
As the student began to boo loudly, Mikoto Misaka kept talking. "Yeah, boo them. You're booing them or me?! Oh, it's me." He slowly stepped-off the table.
"Perhaps, I can explain." Leonard began to explain, pointing at his fellow possessed cars, "You see, my cousins are simple folk. Watch…" He started singing the alphabet song, "A,B,C…," But there's no respond. "Nothing. See, nothing. I didn't want to risk their lives until I found out that the... the new world was safe. We were gonna put on
a cowboy show for you."
One of the possessed cars took out a cowboy hat, and put it on, "Let her go, boys! Yee-haw!"
When the possessed cars started to play a song, the student cheered happily, well, of course, except for Mikoto Misaka and Kazari Uiharu.
Then, Leonard stopped the possessed cars from playing the song, and continue his speech, "That was Pigleand. But perhaps, it wasn't meant to be. I believe that student and possessed cars are meant to be friends. But if we crossed boundaries that were not meant to be crossed..." Leonard choked up before he could finish his thought, and then began to cry.
The student felt pity for Leonard as they almost cry as well, while Kazari Uiharu rolled her eyes with her wings crossed, never believed that it was a 'cry'.
"Mr. Mikoto Misaka, you shamed not only yourself, but our entire community." Index shouted coldly.
"Oh, I think you messed up there. You said 'shamed' when you meant 'saved', right?" asked Mikoto Misaka.
"I sent you to treatment to deal with your problems." Said the judge. "Clearly, more treatment is required!"
"No!" shouted Mikoto Misaka, Shiage Hamazura, and Kazari Uiharu at the same time.
"Do not trouble our honored guests again!" yelled the judge, then he turned to Leonard and put his wing on the pig's back, "My friends, we would love
to see your cowboy show."
"Thank you." Choked Leonard through his tears. "Thank you so much." He snapped his finger to let the possessed cars play the song 'Friends' and continuing the party.
Index and the other student turned away from Mikoto Misaka. They rejoined the part with the possessed cars who had returned to the stage. They had put on their cowboy outfits and were ready to start the show. The entire village, aside from Kuroko Shirai, Ruiko Saten, and Kazari Uiharu, had turned their backs on Mikoto Misaka.
"Whatever. Don't listen to me!" Mikoto Misaka shouted as he walked off angrily out of the party. He got his wish-none of the student were listening to him. This made him even angrier.