The lights turned off one by one as night fell on the Ohara vacation villa, the idols of Aqours settling down after a fun and eventful training camp in an impressive manor amidst the serene mountains of the countryside. The clouds parted overhead and the twinkling of stars shone down from the heavens, the perfect ending to a wonderful day.
Given that the girls were all staying in one of Mari's places, it was natural that they all had their own individual rooms, each of them as overwhelmingly luxurious as could be. But even laying in the lap of luxury wasn't a cure-all to the anxiousness of sleeping in a new place, and it was for this reason that Dia decided to check in on her dear Ruby, to do her part as a big sister to make sure the redhead could peacefully sleep.
"Onee-chan? Will you tell me a bedtime story?"
As she prepared to leave her little sister alone for the night, Dia blinked in surprise, turning back to Ruby to see an imploring gaze on her face as she fidgeted nervously under unfamiliar blankets.
Dia hummed in consideration. It had been quite some time since she'd last done such a thing for Ruby. In fact, she'd thought the redhead had outgrown such things years ago when she started sleeping in her own room. But then again, it wasn't every day that she slept in a fancy western-style bedroom at one of Mari's vacation houses after an exciting but eventful day of idol training.
A small bit of childhood comfort would do wonders to alleviate her anxiousness.
A warm smile made its way to Dia's face as she pulled up a chair. "Very well," she acknowledged, much to Ruby's delight. As she took in the sight of her adorable little sister, she thought of the perfect story to ease her into slumber.
"This is the tale of Little Ruby Riding Hood," prefaced the ravenette.
As Ruby lay in her bed, eyes blinking brightly in anticipation, Dia began to speak.
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Ruby who lived in a village near the forest. Whenever she went out, Ruby wore a red riding cloak, so everyone in the village called her Little Ruby Riding Hood.
One morning, Little Ruby Riding Hood asked her mother if she could go to visit her grandmother as it had been awhile since they'd seen each other.
"That's a good idea," her mother said. So they packed a nice basket for Little Ruby Riding Hood to take to her grandmother.
When the basket was ready, the little girl put on her red cloak and kissed her mother goodbye.
"Remember, go straight to Grandma's house," her mother cautioned. "Don't dawdle along the way and please don't talk to strangers! The woods are dangerous."
"Don't worry, okaa-san," said Little Ruby Riding Hood, "I'll be careful."
But when Little Ruby Riding Hood noticed some lovely flowers in the woods, she forgot her promise to her mother. The flowers were so vibrant and colorful that she felt like she had to collect some. Taking the loveliest flowers she could find, she stopped to enjoy the rest of what the forest had to offer. She watched the butterflies flit about for awhile, listened to the frogs as they croaked out a melody, and then picked a few more flowers to turn into a crown.
Little Ruby Riding Hood was enjoying the warm summer day so much that she didn't notice a dark shadow approaching out of the forest behind her...
And that's when she encountered...!
"A fallen angel!" cried a new voice.
"Pigi!" cried Ruby and Dia in unison as they whirled to face the interloper.
"Aha! Truly you mortals are correct in fearing the dark countenance of Yohane the Fallen!" extolled Yoshiko as she posed dramatically. "Truly this is but the first step on my path of ascension- GEH!"
Yoshiko went down as Hanamaru chopped her head. "Don't scare Ruby-chan," she scolded. Her adorable smile was laced with an undercurrent of menace, promising misery should the blunette not comply.
"Y-Yes Zuramaru, I'm sorry Zuramaru," apologized Yoshiko as she held her aching head with her hands.
"Good. Anyway, what's going on here zura?"
"Before Yoshiko-san so rudely interrupted me, I was telling Ruby a bedtime story. A fairy tale, to be precise," explained Dia.
"Ooh! A story! Can we hear too zura?" asked Hanamaru excitedly as she snuck under the covers to Ruby's left.
"Yeah, let us join!" echoed Yoshiko as she clambered in on Ruby's right.
"That would be fine. I'm telling her the story of Little Ruby Riding Hood, and we've just gotten to the part where she encounters the wolf."
"Eh?! Wolves are boring! Make it a fallen angel!" protested Yoshiko.
"There will be no fallen angels in my story!" snapped Dia.
"Onee-chan, can we make it a fallen angel?" asked Ruby innocently. "It sounds so much more interesting with a different character!"
Faced with her little sister's request, Dia was helpless to resist. "...fine. It was a fallen angel. Ahem. As I was saying..."
A few minutes later, Little Ruby Riding Hood knocked on the door of her grandmother's house. The fallen angel jumped into bed. "Who is it?" she called in a sinister voice.
"It's me, Little Ruby Riding Hood."
"Oh how lovely! Do come in, my dear," entreated the fallen angel.
When Little Ruby Riding Hood entered the little cottage, she could scarcely recognize her grandmother.
"Grandmother! Your voice sounds so odd. Is something the matter?" she asked.
"Oh, I just have a cold," squeaked the fallen angel innocently.
"But Grandmother! What big wings you have," said Little Ruby Riding Hood as she edged closer to the bed.
"The better to cuddle you with, my dear," replied the fallen angel.
"But Grandmother! What big claws you have," said Little Ruby Riding Hood, edging closer still.
"The better to protect you with, my dear," replied the fallen angel.
"But Grandmother! What big... um..."
It was at this point that Dia ran out of things for a fallen angel to have that were big. She hummed in thought.
"Magic circles!" prompted Yoshiko.
Dia sent her a judgmental stare but accepted the input.
"What big magic circles you have," said Little Ruby Riding Hood, her voice quivering slightly.
"The better to curse you with, my dear!" roared the fallen angel. She leapt out of the bed and began to chase little Ruby.
Almost too late, Little Ruby Riding Hood realized that the person in the bed was not her Grandmother, but a treacherous fallen angel.
She ran across the room and out the door into the forest, shouting, "Help! Fallen angel!" as loudly as she could.
Thankfully, there was someone nearby who heard her cries for help and came rushing as quickly as possible. Out of the woods stepped..."
"A miner!" cried Hanamaru suddenly.
"Wha-! A miner?! Why?!"
"I wanna be in this story too, zura," pouted Hanamaru. "And I didn't get a woodsman's axe with my spelunking equipment!"
"You didn't get a pickaxe either," pointed out Yoshiko, "That's an ice pick."
"Close enough, zura."
"Ahem," growled Dia. "As I was saying..."
A miner who was mining ore nearby heard her cry and ran towards the cottage as fast as she could.
She grabbed the fallen angel and made her release the poor Grandmother from her interdimensional prison. The Grandmother was a bit disoriented by her brief stint in hell, but still in one piece. "Oh Grandma, I was so scared!" sobbed Little Ruby Riding Hood, "I'll never speak to strangers or dawdle in the forest again."
"There, there, child. You've learned an important lesson. Thank goodness you shouted loud enough for this kind miner to hear you!"
The miner held up her pickaxe triumphantly before swinging it down to disembowel the fallen angel-
"Hey! Why do I get disemboweled?!" cried Yoshiko.
"Because that's how the story goes," said Dia matter-of-factly. "You wanted to replace the wolf with a fallen angel, so the fallen angel now suffers the wolf's fate."
"Onee-chan, I don't want the fallen angel to be hurt either," said Ruby innocently. "Can she get a happy ending too?"
Dia sighed. "Oh very well. The fallen angel apologized and promised not to hurt anyone else. Little Ruby Riding Hood, the fallen angel, and the miner all became the best of friends and lived happily ever after. The End."
"Yay!" cheered the first years as they clapped.
Dia sighed softly in satisfaction. "Alright, I think that's enough for one night." She leaned in and patted Ruby's head, following suit with Hanamaru and Yoshiko. "Good night Ruby, Hanamaru-san, Yoshiko-san."
The ravenette stood and walked over to the door, flipping the light switch before leaving with a smile.
Several seconds passed in silence before Ruby switched on her bedside lamp. "So, three-way make out session?"
"Hell yes!"
.
.
.
Omake:
It was at this point that Dia ran out of things for a fallen angel to have that were big. She hummed in thought.
"Magic circles!" prompted Yoshiko.
Dia sent her a judgmental stare. "No."
"Aww..."
"It's okay zura," comforted Hanamaru. She reached over and washi-washi'd Yoshiko's chest. "I like your magic circles just fine."