The rest of the week went by uneventfully, and before long it was Tuesday. Hikaru got dressed in her usual red school uniform and headed towards the door, to find her eldest brother waiting for her.
"You have a choice to make today." he said, and when Hikaru opened her mouth to say something, he raised his hand and held up his index finger, and she stopped, "Now I'm not going to force you to do anything, however let me say this: For every choice that is made, there is a consequence. Weather it's good or bad depends on the choice that has been made. Go now and make your choice, but remember, you have to also accept the consequences that comes with that choice." Hikaru threw her arms around her brother.
"Thank you." She said, "Thank you for the advice. I'll heed every word." And with that, she left for Tokyo tower.
When Hikaru got to Tokyo Tower, she looked around for anybody that she either knew or thought looked suspicions. She recognized a blue haired girl, who was wearing a blue school uniform, staring out the window.
"Umi!" She shouted as she ran up to her friend. Umi turned around in just enough time to not be blindsided as Hikaru threw her arms around Umi.
"You're as energetic as always." Umi said, prying herself off of Hikaru, "It's not like we haven't seen each other in years. What are you doing here, anyways?"
"You mean you didn't write the letter?" Hiharu asked, as she went into chibi mode and put her index finger up to her mouth.
"No." Umi replied, as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a letter identical to the one that Hikaru received, "I thought you did. I mean, it's all typed, with no signature. I figured you were up to something, so I came to find out what it was." Hikaru shook her head, and pulled out her own copy of the letter. The two were conversing over the mystery when they herd a giggle.
"You girls are too predictable." Came a very familiar female voice. Hikaru and Umi turned to the direction of the voice and saw a girl with blond hair, green eyes with glasses, wearing a green school uniform standing next to them.
"Fuu!" The two girls exclaimed in excitement. "So you're the one who wrote the letter." Umi said.
"Yup." Fuu said, "I knew that you would suspect Hikaru, and that Hikaru would be too curious to pass it up." She then turned to Hikaru and said, " You know it was curiosity that killed the cat."
"So." Hikaru said (With her cat ears poking out), "I'm not a cat, so it doesn't matter."
"What does matter," Umi said, "is why you had us come here TEN MINUITS before school starts."
"Well, do you know what today is?" Fuu asked.
"Tuesday!" Hikaru shouted (With her cat ears still poking out). Fuu let out a chuckle and shook her head.
"Today marks four years since we were first summoned to Cephiro."
"Yeah, so what." Umi said, "We could have came here after school, now we're going to be late."
"We're not going to school today." Fuu told her friends. "At least I'm not."
"WHAT!?" the other two shouted, "Why not?" Hikaru asked.
"Because, I took a trip to America this past summer, to better understand their culture." Fuu replied.
"What does America have to do with you wanting us three to skip school today?" Umi demanded.
"All the high schools have this 'tradition' where one day out of the year, all of the seniors of that school skips." Fuu said, "They call it 'Senior Skip Day'. And since we're all seniors, I found it appropriate that today we three have our 'Senior Skip Day'."
"And you want to spend the whole day in Cephiro!" Hikaru said excitedly.
"That would be nice." Fuu said, as she turned to the window, "We've been away for too long."
"But still, even if we do go back. When we returned, it would be at the exact time that we left." Umi protested.
"So you don't want to go back?" Hikaru asked.
"No. I mean yes. I mean…" Umi replied. "I mean we could have done this AFTER school."
"But that would have defeated the whole purpose of Senior Skip Day." Fuu said, turning back to Umi.
"Come on Umi." Hikaru said, as she gave Umi the good old puppy dog look, "It'll be fun." Umi sighed.
"I guess." She said resentfully, "Somebody has to make sure you stay out of trouble."
"Speaking of trouble." Fuu said, as she pointed to a group of girls, all wearing the same red school uniform as Hikaru was, "I think it's time to go." So the three girls ran in the opposite direction as the group of school girls. They ran until they thought they were safe, but they were wrong, because the moment they stopped they saw a group of school girls wearing a green uniform. When they turned around , they found that they were surrounded, because they were right in the face of a group of, you guessed it, school girls wearing a blue uniform. They did the only thing they could do, they ducked into the bar, which was only a few footsteps away.
"I think somebody knew that we were skipping school today." Fuu said, as the three tried to catch their breath.
"Yeah let me guess, they're all in Social Studies." Umi said.
"Can we go to Cephiro now?" Hikaru asked, "I mean it has been-"
"Four years," Hiharu was interrupted by the local news that was being shown on a TV hanging on the wall in the corner, "has passed since the mysterious disappearance of the two American brothers, Steven and Walter Oxfurth. Search parties have proven unsuccessful. The only clue, this weird sign that has been burnt into the ground where the two were sighted last." The TV showed a pictured of the yard, in which they lived, that had what looked like the Jewish star of David inside a hollow circle. The three girls recognized the symbol as the summoning circle used in Cephiro.
"You don't think that they were summoned with us, do you?" Hikaru asked.
"No way." Umi said, " There was only two of them. Besides if they were, then why didn't we see them the last two times that we went?"
"Because we were too busy with Cephiro's Pillar problem to worry about anything, or anybody else." Fuu answered.
"So what, you all know that back then the only person that could have summoned people to Cephiro was the Pillar, Princess Emeraude." Umi pointed out.
"Maybe she did summon them as backup in case we failed." Hikaru said.
"If that was true, then they would have been transported back to this world when Emeraude died." Fuu said.
"Look, I can't just sit here, when there could be innocent people out there that need my help." Hikaru said.
"Ok, let's say they were in Cephiro, how to you plan to bring them back to this world." Umi asked Hikaru.
"I don't care how you girls do it." came a voice. The three girls looked up to find the bartender looking dead at then, "Just as long as you do it out of my bar. NO MINERS ALLOWED!" And with that they were kicked out.
"I want to go back." Hikaru said, as she went up to the window. "I want to go back to Cephiro. I want to find those lost boys, and lead them home. I don't know how I'll do it, but I will."
"You're right, Hikaru." Umi said, as she walked up to the window next to Hikaru, "If they are stuck in Cephiro, then they need a way out."
"Right." Fuu said, joining her friends, "So let's start our Senior Skip Day." And with that, a blinding light hit the tower, and engulfed the three girls. A few seconds later they were gone.