RENREN AND SHU-CHAN'S FRIENDLY EDUCATIONAL ADVENTURES

Episode two: Toshihiko

Today's episode begins where last episode left off; Shu-chan and Renren were sitting around in their cozy clubhouse couch. Between them, however, was a tall pile of letters.

Renren took a deep breath. "W-Welcome back to… Shu-chan and Renren's… Friendly Educational Adventures!"

"As you can see, we've gotten a lot of friendly and encouraging letters from fans of our humble show!" said Shu-chan proudly, patting the pile of letters.

"Open one, Shu-chan!" said Renren excitedly.

"Will do, Renren!" said Shu-chan. It was obvious that the whole thing was planned since all the letters were opened and he picked the one on top of the whole pile. "This one looks promising!"

"What's it say?" Renren gasped.

"Dear Renren and Shu-chan, I love your show," Kano read. He looked up and smiled at the camera. "Why thank you! I'm sure our show loves you too!" He continued reading. "I have a problem that needs solving. You see, I just so happen to have frighteningly large lips, and my teammates like to make fun of me for it."

Renren gasped again. "No way!"

Shu-chan sighed. "Bullies. They never realize that everyone is perfect just the way they are." He paused, then continued reading. "I'm thinking maybe I should make fun of them back because roughly half of the people on my team have really big noses, unless you guys have a better idea? Please, Renren and Shu-chan! I need you! Love, Toshihiko Maekawa, Tosei."

Shu-chan and Renren gasped in unison.

"No, that is… NOT how you're supposed to… solve this!" Renren said.

"That's right!" Shu-chan declared. "Come, Renren! We must pay Toshihiko a visit and help him solve his problem correctly before something terrifying happens!"

"OKAY, SHU-CHAN!" yelled Renren.

So Renren and Shu-chan ran off AS FAST AS THEY COULD over to the Maekawa residence before a horrible accident happened! They knocked on the door, and Toshihiko himself opened.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Renren and Shu-chan yelled upon seeing his horrible lips. "Oh, um… You must be Toshihiko! It's so nice to meet you!"

"Could it be?" Toshihiko gasped. "Renren and Shu-chan?"

"That's us, all right!" said Shu-chan proudly as he high-fived Renren and shooting stars shot by in the background. "You needed our assistance?"

"Not needed, NEED!" said Toshihiko, wiping a tear away from the corner of his eye. "You read my letter, didn't you? Because I don't really feel like repeating myself…"

"We read it out loud and clear," said Shu-chan, patting Toshihiko's back and offering him a handkerchief.

"Thanks," said Toshihiko, violently blowing his nose. He tried to hand the handkerchief back to Shu-chan, but naturally, he refused.

"You can keep it!" he said nobly.

"So, your… team!" Renren tried to change the subject. "Tosei! When my team… played against you, you all seemed like… NICE PEOPLE!"

"Yeah, I guess we are pretty nice," said Toshihiko. "But not nice enough, apparently!"

"Do you have a picture of your team?" Shu-chan inquired. "I don't really know anything about them, and I'm sure our viewers would love to see them!"

"I sure do," said Toshihiko as he pulled out a large Tosei group picture from his pocket, shoving it up to the camera, giving the viewers a good look at it for a few seconds before Shu-chan snatched it.

"Wow… a lot of your teammates really DO have big noses! Not that it matters or anything, of course!" he quickly added.

"Yes!" Renren agreed. "If we all looked the same, the world would be so boring!"

"Does that mean my hideous lips are okay too…?" Toshihiko asked.

"IT DOES!" Shu-chan and Renren yelled in unison.

"Wow, I feel so much better now!" Toshihiko sparkled. "I'm not sure it's going to stop my teammates from making fun of me, though…"

"It WILL!" said Shu-chan in a determined fashion. "We'll make sure of it! Why don't we pay your whole team a visit right now?"

Toshihiko looked very nervous at first, but a few friendly pats on the back from Shu-chan and Renren lifted his spirits. "Yes, let's do it!"

And so, all three of them joined hands and skipped off to the Tosei clubhouse, where all the Tosei players conveniently enough just so happened to be currently hanging out.

"You're late, Toshihiko!" yelled Keisuke. "Did you trip and fall and puncture your enormous lips or what?"

"HA HA HA HA HA!!" laughed Tosei.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" yelled Renren and Shu-chan as they jumped out between Toshihiko and the rest of Tosei.

"It's Nishiura's pitcher!" gasped Kazuki. "And… some other guy!"

"It's Shu-chan and Renren!" Junta exclaimed. "I watch their show all the time, even though this is only the second episode!"

"Really, Junta?" said Kazuki. "We must watch it together sometime!"

"Yes, we must!" Junta agreed. "And you must join us, Rio!"

"You guys… shut up," Rio whined.

"So what brings you here anyway, Renren and Shu-chan?" asked Jin excitedly.

"We're here to discuss a little miscommunication you've apparently had with Toshihiko here!" said Shu-chan as he and Renren went over and stood on either side of Toshihiko, placing their hands on his shoulders supportively.

"What miscommunication?" asked everyone on Tosei in unison.

Renren pointed accusingly at them. "We hear you've been… making fun of his… lips!"

"Oh, that," chuckled Tosei.

"This is not a laughing matter!" said Shu-chan seriously, which immediately shut Tosei up.

"I think it's pretty funny," said Keisuke. "I mean, look at him!"

"No, look at YOURSELVES!" Shu-chan nearly yelled. He pointed dramatically at everyone on Tosei whose noses were bigger than average. Said people just so happened to be standing next to each other for some reason or another.

"Yeah?" said Jin. "None of us have big stupid lips."

"That's because we're all different!" said Shu-chan nobly. "While some people's lips are bigger than average, other people have really big noses."

The big-nosed people looked at each other uneasily.

"Your point is…?" Shingo led.

"You all cry yourselves to sleep every night, don't you?" Shu-chan looked them all in the eye. "You're all horribly insecure and take it out on poor defenseless Toshihiko, DON'T YOU!?!?"

EVERYONE on Tosei, not just the big-nosed players, looked at each other, then fell down on their knees and started sobbing all at the same time. "IT'S TRUE!!!" they wailed. "WE ARE SO INSECURE!!!"

"There, there!" said Renren as he and Shu-chan went over to them and patted them all on the back. "Everything is going to be okay now!"

"Really?" sniffed Tosei.

"Do you realize what you've been doing is wrong?" Shu-chan asked.

"YES!" Tosei yelled. "We're all special in our own special ways! We'll never make fun of Toshihiko again!"

"OH YOU GUYS!" Toshihiko yelled, running over to his teammates. They all proceeded to share an enormous group hug.

Shu-chan turned to Renren. "I think our work here is done."

The scene faded out and then in again, revealing Shu-chan and Renren sitting around back in the clubhouse.

"Wow!" Renren exclaimed. "It feels really good to know we helped a whole team out today!"

"That's right!" Shu-chan nodded. "More importantly, what did we all learn?"

"That we're all beautiful no matter what!" said Renren, holding a hand over his heart.

"UNTIL NEXT TIME!!" Renren and Shu-chan bellowed. The scene faded out and the credits rolled.

THE END.

***

BEHIND THE SCENES…

"Good job… everyone!" yelled Mihashi.

"I'm not sure if I liked this episode," said Kazuki sadly. "I mean… it made our lovable team look completely broken!"

"Just keep telling yourself, it's only a TV show," said Junta, patting his best friend's back.

"Do you guys really think my lips look big, though?" Toshihiko asked.

"Um… did any new letters arrive yet?" asked Tosei in unison, trying to change the subject.

"UH HUH!" yelled Tajima as he came running in right there with a wheelbarrow full of letters in front of him.

"Neat!" said Kano. "Come on, Ren! Let's go read them and prepare ourselves for our NEXT episode!"

"OKAY!" said Mihashi as everyone ran off. The end for real!