Harry stirred from his slumber when he felt a hand shaking his shoulders. He woke up to see Mr. Kotaro looking at him. "Harry, I highly advise you cover your ears." He whispered. Harry, confused, obeyed. "TIME TO WAKE UP, SAKURA!" Kotaro banged a huge gong next to Sakura's bed. Sakura bolted upright, screaming in shock. The blankets flew off the bed and scattered themselves around the room as the singer tumbled off of the bed, falling face-first onto the floor with a tremendous THUD! Several pillows which had been launched upwards came back down and landed on her. Sakura emerged from the pile of pillows with a frantic look on her face, looking around wildly before she finally noticed a calm, but confused Harry and Kotaro, standing with a huge grin on his face. "Up and at 'em, sleeping beauty! Time to raise the dead!"
"Really Kotaro!?" Sakura exclaimed, annoyed. "You couldn'tve waited a little bit longer?"
"No." The manager flatly replied with a grin.
"That was loud... but also kinda funny." Harry admitted.
Sakura just rested her chin on the bed with a huff, pouting. "Well, come on now! Today's the day! The big performance at the theater is up and coming, and you need to get one last practice session in beforehand!" Sakura blinked, then her eyes widened. The big performance... right... On the one hand, she was thrilled, she couldn't wait! But now, she had Harry with her... Still. She'd figure this out. "I would be more than happy to play babysitter, if that's what you're worried about." Kotaro said with a small smile. Sakura gave him a surprised glance.
"R..really?" She finally managed to get out. "I never took you as that kind of person..."
"Oh, come now! We watch out for one another!" Kotaro laughed. "Harry is as much one of us as you or I! So, what do you say?"
Sakura smiled and nodded her head. "Yeah!"
"Excellent! Now, you and Harry go wait downstairs. The old gong and I have to go wake the others..." Sakura chuckled and shook her head. Kotaro could be quite strange and sometimes very obnoxious, but at the end of the day, he genuinely cared for her and each of the others, so that was good enough of her. Scooping Harry up and holding him in bother her arms, she began making her way downstairs, Harry was still a little groggy, using one of the oversized sleeves to wipe sleep out of his eyes. Sakura kissed his head and set him down at the table. She pulled out a box of cheerios from the pantry and poured them into a bowl, then poured the milk, then passed it over to Harry.
"Oh, thank you Miss Sakura." Harry said still a bit sleepily.
"You're welcome honey." Sakura smiled, pouring herself a bowl of cereal and sitting down to eat it. She could hear the faint sound of a gong being struck and angered yelling. "Well, Saki's awake now." Sakura said in slight amusement as she heard the former biker screaming at their manager. Harry giggled softly.
"Mr. Kotaro seems nice." Harry said, taking a small spoonful of cereal.
"Well, he can be a little... odd. But he's a very nice man at heart." Sakura stated. "I'm glad to hear you like him, he's going to be watching you later."
Harry looked at her curiously. "Really? Okay, but...where are you going?"
"Oh, there's a big competition at a theater nearby and the girls and I are gonna be a part of it." She patted his head. "You and Kotaro will be watching from backstage."
"So you're all gonna sing?" Harry asked, trying to put it all together.
"Yup." Sakura smiled. Harry smiled back at her.
"I think you'll be really good..." He finally said, bashfully.
Sakura gave him a warm grin. "Aww, thanks, little guy." She cooed. Saki entered the room shortly afterwards, clearly very grumpy from her rude awakening.
"Hi Miss Saki." Harry said with a tiny wave, almost immediately, the agitated ex-biker's face lit up into a small smirk.
"Hey there shortstack. Did you sleep well?" She asked.
Harry nodded his head with a smile. "The bed was really nice and warm..." He said softly. "And Miss Sakura hugged me too..."
"Heh..." Saki chuckled and messed with his hair. "Now that's a mom moment." Sakura smiled into her bowl at the comment, before turning to face her fellow Idol.
"So, you think we're ready for the show tonight?" She asked.
Saki grinned. "Is water wet? C'mon, after we worked our butts off, how can we not kill it out there?"
"K-Kill?!" Harry's eyes widened. "Why do you wanna kill?!"
"Nonononono... not like that." Sakura immediately spoke up to explain it to Harry. "It means we're gonna be the best we can. It's just an expression to say you're giving it your all."
"Oh...okay..." Harry sighed in relief. "I..i..I don't want to see someone die..." Sakura and Saki exchanged a somewhat awkward glance. Then the gong was heard again, followed by Ai's long, continuous screaming.
"If Shades keeps this up that might happen anyways..." Saki muttered under her breath. The other two turning back to their food. One by one, the gong woke up each of the other girls, ending when Tae chased Kotaro downstairs on all fours like a rabid dog due to her anger at being awakened.
"Um, is Miss Tae alright?" Harry asked, a bit confused as to why Tae was running on her hands and feet after their manager, who seemed to be a mixture of laughing and terrified.
"Yes, she's just...like this." Junko explained to Harry. "She hasn't...woken up like the rest of us." Harry was confused.
"But...She's right there..."
"She means Tae hasn't regained her humanity yet." Ai explained. "No memories or anything."
Harry tilted his head in confusion, before finally replying with a small "Huh?" Saki and Sakura looked to one another, trying to find a way to explain this to Harry, eventually the two shrugged.
"We'll try to explain it to you later kid." Saki eventually said. By now, the others had made their way into the kitchen, and Lily was quick to give Harry a hug.
"Hi little bro!" The young zombie said excitedly. "How you feeling today?" Harry tilted his head.
"B-Better..."
"Oh, that's right!" Ai remembered. "Let's take a look at your injuries..." She carefully checked under the sweater. To Ai's shock, most of them were completly gone. There were a few scars left she sadly assumed would never fully heal, but most of his body had healed. Sure he was still far too skinny, but this was a MASSIVE improvement. "Oh wow... Yugiri, your home remedy is incredible..." The black haired zombie breathed. Surprised, Yugiri approached and peeked beneath the sweater.
"I...I feel I cannot take credit for such rapid healing, Lady Ai..." Harry looked down, and then his eyes widened in shock. He had done it again!
"It..it's the freaky stuff..." He mumbled, beginning to squirm in Lily's arms.
"No. No it's not freaky at all." Sakura said as she took the boy back from Lily. "It's not freaky. It's a miracle!"
"Re..really?" Harry asked in awe. "But..but I always got hurt whenever I accidentally used it..."
"That's because you were living with terrible, evil people." Sakura explained.
"Right... they were bad..." Harry finally said, nodding in agreement. Sakura hated seeing Harry in this condition, she didn't even know the whole story, but if they could begin to get him to believe he wasn't a freak, then that was something.
She watched him finish his breakfast, then picked him up and cuddled him against her bosom. "Now why don't you come watch us practice?"
"Um. I don't want to get in your way..." He mumbled.
"Nonsense! We'd love to have you! Right girls?" Sakura asked chipperly. The others were still waking up but did their best to smile over at Harry, Tae managing to give a moan in agreement.
Harry hesitated before finally nodding his head. "Okay... I'll come watch you dance..." And so Harry found himself sitting on the side of the room, watching the seven idols do their thing. His eyes were huge with wonder, and Sakura felt like her heart was going to burst. She saw nothing but pure adoration in his emerald eyes, as the idols rehearsed song after song, Harry remained silent and still as a statue, watching them practice.
When they stopped their dance routine, Harry clapped his tiny hands together with a big, beaming smile and Saki grinned. "Reminds me of that girl that watched us at the park, eh?"
"Oh yeah." Ai mused. "Man, we really seem to be popular with kids, don't we?" Saki rolled her eyes and chuckled at her friend's remark.
"Well, either way, we're all set for that big show tonight!" She rose her fist in the air. "YEAH!" Tae threw her fist up and roared, imitating her leader.
"Yay." Harry said quietly, imitating Saki.
"Alright girls! We're gonna be FABULOUS tonight!" Kotaro declared. "This is gonna be our best show yet!"
"You say that every show." Sakura remarked.
"And each show is better than the last!" The girls smiled at this. They knew they were ever improving, but hearing it from their manager made it fully click that they were getting better by the day.
"So, the concert isn't until tonight... what are we gonna do till then?" Lily finally asked. The others looked to one another, as if quietly asking each other for a suggestion.
"We could put on our makeup and go hit the town." Saki said with a grin.
"Oh yeah! Harry still needs some new clothes..."
"I..I do?" Harry asked, surprised.
"Of course silly! You can't wear that sweater everywhere!" Sakura laughed.
"But... I like this sweater..."
"Well, you can still wear it, but you need to have other options. Come on, let's go and buy you some cute little outfits, okay?"
"Okay." Harry said, being picked up by Sakura. "I'll work hard to pay you back..."
"No honey, you don't need to do that." Sakura shook her head, a bit sadly. "All little boys need clothes."
"Okay..." Harry mumbled softly as he snuggled in close.
"Ooh! We GOTTA get him some cute pajamas!" Exclaimed Lily. "A little onsie so we can stay up late at night and have fun, some casual clothes for when we go to Tori's..."
"Lily can be quite excitable, can't she?" Junko asked with a smirk, seeing the youngest member continue to rattle off a long list.
"Yes, she can." Yugiri nodded. "But I think it will have a positive effect on young Harry in the long run."
Sakura giggled and put a hand over the youngest idol's mouth. "We'll do that, Lily, but settle down for now, okay?" Lily pouted but nodded her head.
Soon, the girls had all donned their makeup, making them seem like regular people to the outside world, and they piled into their van and drove off towards town. As they drove, Junko looked over to Sakura.
"Hey, Sakura?" She asked. "Would it be okay if I held him?" Sakura blinked, then gave the white haired girl a smile. She looked down at Harry, who hesitated before nodding, and she handed the boy over. "Hi there little guy." Junko said in a sweet tone. "My, are you adorable?"
"Um, thank you Miss Junko." Harry finally replied. "Y..you're really pretty..."
Junko's face turned red at that comment. "Oh, thank you..." She said with a smile. "I like to think so as well..."
"Well, I think you are." Harry replied, giving the girl a hug, Junko hugged Harry back and kissed the top of his tiny head.
"Thank you dear." She grinned.
The rest of the drive was spent in a comfortable silence. Junko found herself enjoying holding Harry. He was like a little teddy bear. Harry found the white-haired woman to be very comfortable, and there was a very calming presence about her. He liked her, he still liked Miss Sakura best, but Miss Junko was a very nice lady as well. He liked all of them... They were all so nice to him... He felt he didn't fully deserve to be around them... But he was so glad he was. Sakura loved seeing Harry so happy, and she felt confident that her friends would be there to help her and him with whatever life threw their way. To Sakura, the others weren't her friends, they were her (and Harry's) family.
