Yukari and IA trailed after Iroha, who had decided to join them. Yukari felt rather drained. Their energetic new companion chattered nonstop, mainly about Hello Kitty. She pointed out any Sanrio merchandise she saw in the shop windows and explained how other fans saw it, what her own opinion on it was, how it was compared to other products, and how she'd use it if she got it. After the stores displaying Hello Kitty products started decreasing, Iroha started talking about her Hello Kitty room.
"And I got the cutest Hello Kitty rug, too! It's round and fluffy, with a red border, and the inside is all white. Except there's an adorable picture in the middle. You'd like it, Yukari! It's a picture of Hello Kitty giving My Melody a little yellow flower. It's so cute!" Iroha continued as the girls reached the candy store. Automatic doors whirred open, admitting them to a huge, white-tiled room filled with candy aisles, machines, and dispensers. Yukari smelled a sweet, fruity fragrance drifting through the air.
"So," IA said when Iroha paused to catch her breath. "We have a little less than an hour to find Miki here! Since this place is so big, I think we should split up and look in different places. What do you think?"
"That sounds like a good idea," Iroha answered cheerfully. She glanced around and pointed at a section full of crackers and cookies. "I'll go over there." She bounced away without waiting for an answer. IA looked at Yukari inquiringly.
Yukari shrugged. "It's a good idea."
IA flicked her long hair over her shoulder. "I'll head that way." She indicated a jumble of candy machines on the other side of the store. "Where are you going to go?"
"I don't know," Yukari replied. "I'll just look around, I guess." IA nodded and started off toward the candy machines. Yukari stayed where she was. The store was huge, and Miki could be anywhere. If she was Miki, where would she go?
Yukari remembered that Miki loved sweet things. The sweeter it was, the better it was. She wouldn't touch sour food with a ten foot pole. Thinking of this, Yukari decided that the sweetest flavor she could think of was cherry.
Yukari went up to the nearest salesperson. "Excuse me," she said. "Do you know where I can find cherry candy?"
"Cherry, huh? There's a lot of it in Aisle 9."
"Thank you." Yukari passed by rows of shelves, tipping her head back to count the numbers hanging from the ceiling. Aisle 9's number was decorated with little roses. Its shelves were stocked with chocolate and cherry sweets. Peering through the customers browsing the shelves, Yukari spied a familiar curl of red hair sticking up at the very end of the aisle.
Miki seemed intensely focused on rummaging through the packages before her. Yukari came and stood next to her unnoticed. She had one large bag of candy in each hand, and was frowning, apparently trying to decide which to take. Yukari examined the labels over her shoulder. Both cost the same, were cherry flavored, and were sickeningly sweet.
"I think maybe you should choose that one," Yukari suggested, indicating the slightly less syrupy-looking package. Miki gave a little gasp.
"Yukari? Why are you here? Wait a minute, do you know what the time is?"
Yukari turned on her phone. Miki read the number off the screen.
"It's already past 4?" Miki exclaimed loudly. Shoppers turned to stare. Yukari blushed red with embarrassment.
"You never showed up at lunch, so IA and I had to go look for you," Yukari explained, glad that her back was turned to the rest of the aisle. "She's in the candy machines. We have to go now."
"Huh? What? Now? But my candy…" Miki fumbled with the two packages and dropped one. Yukari took advantage of her confusion to drag her, protesting the whole time, away from the chocolates and cherries.
Yukari and Miki picked up Iroha, then went to search for IA. They found her in a very bad mood. It seemed that for the entire time, she had been bottling up her frustration. Now she unleashed it in a burst of anger. "So you mean to say," she ground out, "that you didn't meet up with us because you wanted to buy candy? And you've been here the whole afternoon?" Her blue eyes burned into Miki's red ones. "We were looking everywhere for you!" Iroha nodded sagely, hiding a bag of Hello Kitty crackers behind her back.
Miki held up her hands placatingly, but as she still clutched the package of cherry candy, it only made IA angrier. "It's not like that," Miki stammered.
"Then why?" IA put her hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows.
"I didn't have anything for tonight," Miki admitted. "I thought that I might be able to buy something instead of showing up at the party with nothing." She peeked out from behind the candy. "I'm sorry!"
"We would have helped you!" IA scolded. "Miki, next time this happens, at least leave your cell phone on, okay?" Miki made a little noise of recognition and put down the candy, searching all her pockets for her phone.
"I can't believe I left it at home," Miki said, shaking her head. She looked so astounded that Yukari couldn't stop herself from letting out a little puff of laughter.
"What? Why are you laughing?" Miki spun to face Yukari. Somehow, she appeared even more flabbergasted. IA's hard expression wavered. She struggled with herself, but she ended up cracking a smile. She sighed.
"Whatever. Let's go home. There's less than an hour to get ready." IA turned to Iroha, whose mouth was full of Hello Kitty. "If you want, Iroha, you can come to our house." Iroha made a muffled noise that Yukari interpreted as "Okay."
Miki went to pay for her cherry candy at the checkout line while IA tapped her foot impatiently. As Miki finished up, IA seemed to explode with energy. "Alright! Now we really, really have to go!" Yukari let herself be herded with Iroha and Miki as IA towed them all away.
Note: I think the next part will be the last part.