As Dia returned to the main room where the group had spent the evening hanging out after practice, she found most of the others still there. Kanan and You were playing Mikan Pong with Chika's mouth, each of them taking turns tossing a slice of fruit into the air towards the ginger at various distances. Off to the side, Mari was keeping score.
"How's Ruby-chan doing?" asked Kanan, scoring three points with her latest slice.
"I believe she'll be sleeping soundly tonight," replied Dia, confident in her older sister skills. "I told her and the other first years a bedtime story to help them fall asleep."
"Oh? What story did you tell her?"
"Little Ruby Riding Hood."
"Ehhhh?! Ruby-chan got to be the star of her own fairy tale? I wanna star in one too!" whined Mari pleadingly. She ran up to the ravenette and wrapped her in a tight hug, much to her discomfort. "Won't you make me a star, Dia?" she begged.
"Us too! Us too!" chimed in Chika and You.
"Yeah, this could be fun," said Kanan agreeably.
"No," said Dia, extricating herself from the blonde's embrace. "You all possess sufficient maturity to not need a bedtime story."
"But we want one," insisted Mari. "And besides..." She slung an arm around Dia's shoulders and leaned in to murmur into her ear. "Don't you want to show off your fun side? If you do a good enough job, maybe they'll even... call you Dia-chan~"
"I don't appreciate you appealing to that side of me," said Dia severely.
"Come on, baby, do it for the kids~" grinned Mari.
Dia looked up to find that Chika, You, and Kanan had sat down, forming a small semicircle around her and looking at her with expectant eyes.
Clicking her tongue, Dia exhaled in annoyance. "Very well. If you're all so insistent, then I suppose..." She trailed off, thinking of her next story, before finally settling on a choice. "Here's the tale of Golden Mari and the Three Bears."
Once upon a time, there lived three bears in a cottage. There was...
Dia looked over her audience's expectant faces. Three bears for three idols: Chika, You, and Kanan.
Mikan Bear, Sailor Bear, and...
"Oh, oh! Can I be a Sea Bear?" interrupted Kanan excitedly.
Dia shot her a look. "Why do you want to be a Sea Bear?"
"Because Sea Bears are strong and they give great hugs," answered the blunette matter-of-factly.
She wasn't quite sure what to say to that, but Dia continued her story.
...Sea Bear. One day, they all went out for a walk in the woods, leaving their cottage unattended.
Then along came an excitable young girl named Golden Mari. Stumbling upon their cottage, her insatiable curiosity got the better of her, and she took it upon herself to pick the lock on the door, earning herself a charge of breaking and entering.
"Wait a minute!" protested Mari, "That never happened in the original!"
"This is an adaptation, any changes are due to author interpretation via artistic license," deadpanned the storyteller.
Golden Mari found her way into the kitchen and saw the breakfast the bears' had left on the table, three delicious bowls of...
"Mikan!" interjected Chika.
Dia sighed.
Three bowls of mikan. Golden Mari first tasted Mikan Bear's mikan, putting it back and decrying it as too sweet. She then tasted Sailor Bear's mikan, also putting it back after finding it too sour. Then she tasted Sea Bear's mikan, declaring it just right and eating it all up because she was such a glutton. Her criminal record now included trespassing and burglary.
"I'm starting to feel attacked," remarked Mari wryly.
"You're imagining it," assured Dia.
Then Golden Mari wandered into the den, where she came upon three...
"Uniforms!" interrupted You.
Another sigh.
Three uniforms. Golden Mari tried on Mikan Bear's uniform, but declared it was too small. She tried on Sailor Bear's uniform, but that was too tight. Then she tried on Sea Bear's uniform and found it just right. She began to dance around in celebration at having stolen such a nice outfit, but alas, her uncoordinated flailing was too much for the fabric and the uniform ripped, unable to accommodate her girth. She could now be implicated in vandalism and destruction of property.
"I'm still feeling attacked," commented Mari with amusement.
"You're still imagining it," shot back Dia.
Golden Mari was feeling tired from her little crime spree thus far, and went to find the beds. Laying in Mikan Bear's bed, she decried it as too soft and got up. Laying in Sailor Bear's bed, she decried it as too firm and left that as well. But as she lay in Sea Bear's bed, she found it just right, falling asleep immediately. Her snores were quite loud.
Soon the three bears came back from their walk and were quite dismayed to find their cottage broken into. Going into the kitchen, they noticed what had become of their breakfast.
"Someone's been eating my mikan!" shouted Mikan Bear.
"Someone's been eating my mikan too!" cried Sailor Bear.
"Someone's been eating my mikan and has eaten it all up!" exclaimed Sea Bear.
"Truly an unforgivable crime," muttered Chika angrily.
They then went into the den and found their uniforms, no longer neatly upon their hangars.
"Someone tried on my uniform!" shouted Mikan Bear.
"Someone tried on my uniform too!" cried Sailor Bear.
"Someone tried on my uniform and ripped it to bits!" exclaimed Sea Bear.
"How dare they!" murmured You furiously.
Finally, the three bears looked upon their beds, noticing how their bedspreads were no longer made and the blankets were thrown out of order.
"Someone's been sleeping in my bed!" shouted Mikan Bear.
"Someone's been sleeping in my bed too!" cried Sailor Bear.
"Someone's been sleeping in my bed and here she is!" exclaimed Sea Bear.
"I actually wouldn't mind if I found an attractive girl sharing my bed," remarked Kanan with a flirtatious wink to Mari.
"No one said Golden Mari was attractive," rejoined Dia savagely.
And thus, Golden Mari was arrested for her crimes, and the three bears lived happily ever after. The End.
"But I don't get a happily ever after? My, what a rude storyteller!" complained Mari.
"It's okay, I'm sure they allow conjugal visits," said Kanan.
"That's appreciated, but not the point."
"Conjugal visits? What on earth are you talking about?" asked a new voice.
""Riko-chan!"" chorused Chika and You as they got up and went over to the redhead.
"Dia-san was telling us a bedtime story, Golden Mari and the Three Bears," summarized Chika. "And Kanan-chan said Golden Mari gets a happy ending too even though she got sent to prison because the prison allows conjugal visits."
Riko sweatdropped. "That's... nice?" she offered, confused.
"It was a good story," nodded You. "Chika-chan, Kanan-chan, and I got to be the three bears. It's a shame you missed it."
At that, Chika gasped. "We should have Dia-san tell us a story starring you too!" The ginger turned back to the third years. "Please Dia-san?"
The ravenette couldn't help but frown. "Another one already? You know these are supposed to be reserved for Ruby, not for all of you."
"But it wouldn't be fair to Rikocchi! We wouldn't want her to feel left out, now would we?" teased Mari.
"Yeah, come on Dia, what's one more?" asked Kanan with an easy smile.
Dia sighed. "Very well then. One more story for the night. This time, I shall tell you all the tale of the Little Mermaid."