Earning Stars; Chapter 4.5; The Dawn of Another Miserable Day Looms Over the Horizon! Suck the Poison From My Veins
It was the middle of the night, everyone in the Mankanshoko family was sound asleep with the sound of snoring filling the air.
All was peaceful, until the sound of a yell woke everyone up,
"What the hell!?" Ryuko yelled nearly jumping out of her skin at the sudden noise
"Is it time for breakfast?" Mako yawned tiredly, looking to the side they saw Star sitting up, breathing rather hard
"Ei-chan what's wrong?" Mako asked worriedly
"Huh? I…" she took a deep breath, "I think I just had a nightmare" she admitted seeming to calm down
"A nightmare?"
"Yeah, it was strange…" she was in this large space, it was dark, as she floated around she suddenly saw something in the distance, it was…her clothes. Even though it was weird, she could fell a fear, like it was afraid…
"Then I saw it get shredded it to pieces" she explained, "Then I woke"
'A dream like that…'
"Where is my uniform anyway?" she asked not seeing where she left it
"Oh it's hanging right next to Sen…HUH!?" when she looked at here she had hung him up it was empty,
"Senketsu!? He's gone, where?" she looked around not seeing him
"Oh…." Mako yawned, "I think mom took your uniforms to the laundry" she admitted
"L-Laundry!?" Ryuko gasped hearing that, "M-Mako don't you remember the last time Senketsu got washed?"
"Huh?" Mako hummed, "But they looked dirty…plus I'm sure they'll like having a nice hot bath!" she added happily
"RYUKO!" a scream rang out seemingly in pain
"SENKETSU!?" Ryuko called back
"What was that?" out of the door, the three could see Mako's mom
"Good morning girls!" she greeted cheerfully
"Morning mom!"
"M-Ms. Mankanshoko, Senketsu…" she stammered
"Oh don't worry dear, I was just giving your uniform a good clean and press!" she said holding the iron as Senketsu laid helpless on the iron board, but as the iron was pressed down it seemed more…elevated.
"The wrinkles…their melting away…ahhhhhhhh~"
"Senketsu doesn't look so good…", he looked like he had been spiked with some euphoria. Ei said sensing the stress and fear emitting from the clothing, which seemed rather weird to her, "Oh, Ms. Mankanshoko where's my uniform?" she asked rather…concerned, okay very concerned
"Oh, I gave a good, deep wash!" she said cheerfully, "It's drying outside right now" looking to the side she could clearly see her uniform hanging from on a close line.
'It looks okay' she noted with a sense of relief
"Don't worry, your uniform will be clean and pressed, though it might take a while, so it'll be delivered to you and Ryuko-san later on!" she said with a smile.
"Um okay…thank you" suddenly a blaring noise seemed to shock and surprise the all the members of the house,
"What was that?" Ei asked as the sirens continued to sound
"Ah!" Mako quickly shoot up, "We're late, we're late!" she repeated, "Oh no, oh no, oh no!"
"Late?"
"For school!" she said still getting dressed, a piece of toast in her mouth
"I guess it can't be helped" Ryuko yawned, "Guess it's that time again" she stretched
"Alright now, everyone have a good day at school!" Ms. Mankanshoko said, "Your lunches are prepared and waiting in the kitchen!"
"Thanks mom!" Mako said happily, "Oh no! I forgot to panic! Come on today is a big day!" she exclaimed urgently
After a really quick bath and the girls were prepared for school…well sorta, with their uniforms being laundered, Ryuko and Ei had no choice but to dress in their pj's, which Ryuko didn't seem to mind.
"Um guys…" Ei began, she was dressed in her nightgown that stopped past her knee's and decorated in many stars, big and yellow, her broom on her back "I don't know if I'm comfortable wearing my pajama's to school"
"Its fine" Ryuko said, "Doesn't really matter what you where, you probably won't learn anything anyway" she said
"Come on before we're late!" Mako said urgently as they continued their walk
"Calm down Mako" Ryuko said as they continued down the stairs, when they got off the last step,
"Wait is this?" Ei looked to see a sea of students filing down the street, more importantly, it was a sea of students filing down the street with Mako and Ryuko caught in the crowd.
"Ryuko-san, Mako-chan!" she called seeing them get carried away, "Their being carried off!"
Luckily Ryuko had managed to turn her backpack into a makeshift raft for her and Mako
"Ah, that was close" Mako sighed in relief, "Huh? Wait? Where's Ei-chan?" she asked not seeing the blue haired girl around, "She must have gotten swept away by the crowd!" she gasped fearing her friend might have been carried away,
"What's with all these student's anyway?" she asked
"Oh Ryuko-chan don't you remember?" Mako asked
"Huh?"
"Today is No-Late Day!"
"Eh, again?" Ryuko groaned, "Didn't they learn their lesson the first time?" she said remembering this pointless day the last time it happened
"Actually there's a No-Late Day every month!" she said pulling out a calendar
"Twice a month!?"
"Twice on leap years" she added rather too happily
"I wanna go back to sleep…"
"Back with Ei, she was still on the steps trying to find her friends.
"To many students, they must have been carried upwards" she said unable to see any further, "What am I going to do now?" as she thought about what to do she suddenly felt something bump against her.
"What was that?" looking to the side she saw someone, a girl lying on the ground
'Was she the one who bumped into me' by the looks of her clothing she could tell she was a student,
"Hey, are you okay?" she asked with concern seeing the girl on the ground, as she rose up a little Ei could see some of her features, she was slender with black hair with spiky bangs and red eyes behind thin square glasses. But what concerned her more was her arm which seemed to be in a sling and bandages around her forehead and a band aid on the side of her cheek.
"Are you okay?" she asked
"I-I'm fine…" she said rather quietly,
"What happened to you?" she asked
"I'm so clumsy, I got caught in the stampede and well…" she didn't need to finish to figure out what happened
"What's with all these student's?" she asked helping the other girl up,
"Thanks" she said, "Anyway all the students are like this because it's No-Late Day"
"No-Late Day?" she gave a confused look, "What's that?"
"It's a day where students must get to school on time at exactly 8:30 A.M and not a minute after" she explained, "If they don't they'll be expelled right then and there"
"E-Expelled! What kind day is this" she questioned not liking what she was hearing
"It's terrible, the council sets up traps and obstacles for students to face, it's mostly for the No-Star students" she said with a slight cough, "Other higher students are given uniforms and easy access to arrive on time, the rest of us are on our own" she said sadly
"That's horrible" she said, "What kind of system is this?"
"We…we have to hurry" she said taking a few steps forward, shakily, "I-If we're late we'll be…oh!" she tumbled to the ground
"Ah!" Ei gasped rushing to the others side
"You need to take it easy" she said helping her up again
"I-I can't" she stammered, "I have to…to make it on time"
"If I'm late, I'll be expelled….I can't let that happen" she said weekly, "I've worked so hard….owe! owe!" she yelled holding her arm
"Don't push yourself" Ei said, "Listen if you want we can go to school together" she offered
"Ah…no, no I'll only slow you down" she groaned, "Just leave me behind I'll….owe" she wept,
"Nonsense, I wouldn't dream of leaving someone in need behind, especially if their injured" she stated, "We'll get to school together!"
"Y-You're too kind, thank you!" she thanked the other
"It's no problem" she said, "By the way I'm Ei Nova, nice to meet you" she introduced herself
"Thank you Ei, I'm Maiko Ōgure" the girl introduced herself, "I'm actually a 'friend' of Ryuko-chan and Mako-chan" she said
"Oh really!" she said rather surprised, "Well that's surprising"
"Right then, we got a ways to go" Ei said looking up towards that school which set on the hill
"We need to becarful Ei-chan" Maiko said, "The Elite Four Disciplinary Committee plans this every year inventing new traps and obstacles to stop No-Star students from reaching school" she warned,
"Really? Seriously this is one messed up day" she said, "But we still need to get to school, so we better get moving"
"I'm right behind you!" Maiko stated,
"Let's go!"
"Wait! How are we going to get through the all the students?" she said pointing out the students, Ei had to think about that.
"I have an idea" with a clip of the strap she took her broom from her back, "We can us this to get over the students!" she said
"Huh? B-But that's just a broom Ei-chan, how will that get us past the students?" she asked wearily as she watched her climb on the broom, "Simple!"
Back with Ryuko and Mako, the two girls had just gotten through another check point
"We made it Ryuko-chan" Mako said in relief, "I didn't think we make it past the alligators, they really switched it up this time"
"Yeah, it's so great" she said sarcastically, punching away the robotic alligator breaking a few gears, "We need to get going, we still got a ways to go" Ryuko said, "So let's get…"
"HEY GUYS!"
"Did you here that?" Mako said
"Yeah but where?"
"Up here!" looking up the girls gasp seeing something coming or rather flying towards them
"Look Ryuko-chan it's…"
"EI-CHAN!?" the blue haired girl was flying towards them on Calcifer her broom and partner so to say.
"Ryuko-chan! Mako-chan! I finally found you!" she waived happily
"She's flying! I didn't know she could do that" Mako said shocked and surprised
"Well I'll be, she's just full of surprises"
"Hey, I ran into one of your friend!" she said
"Hi Ryuko-chan, Mako-chan!" a voice greeted, appearing from behind Ei shocking the two girls
"Ryuko-chan it's…!"
"Maiko Ougure! What's she's doing up there!?" Ryuko demanded not happy seeing the other girl, she hadn't seen here since the late No-Late Day when she pretended to be hurt only to gain their trust so she could steal Senketsu!
"Why is Ei-chan helping her!?"
"She probably doesn't know about her" Ryuko said
"We need to warn her before she stabs us in the back!" Mako said urgently, suddenly the two began yelling and screaming upwards for Ei not to trust Maiko.
"Huh?" Ei-chan looking seeing the two waiving and shouting something, "What did they say? I can't hear them" Ei said, Maiko looked down and saw this, scowling already knowing what they were trying to do.
"I'm going to do down there, they're seem worried" Ei said
"Huh!? Wait you can't do that!" Maiko said
"Why not?" Ei questioned
"Well…uh, I…it wouldn't be safe" she explained nervously
"Safe?"
"Ei-chan get away from her!"
"She's evil! She's with the Student Council Trap Division! She's trying to trick you!" Ryuko yelled upwards
"What did she say? A trap?"
"Ah? Yeah she was saying…trap, becarful of the tricks and traps" Maiko said, "They're really dangerous, you never know what's going to pop out!"
"Oh? That makes sense…I guess" she seemed to buy it, "Don't worry guys I'll becarful!" she yelled back down to reinsure the others.
"She can't hear us!"
"This is bad, Maiko is going to get Ei hurt!" Mako cried worriedly
"Damn her!" Ryuko yelled
"What are they saying now?" Ei asked seeing Ryuko yell again
"Oh their saying…go on…we'll catch up with you later" she translated falsely
'This is perfect! After my last failure I was quickly expelled from the ranks of the committee and the school. But now that I've convinced this naive fool to trust me and once I get her and the others expelled I will be welcomed back with great admiration and respect and soon all Honnoji Academy will bow to me as their empress!' she thought wickedly, 'According to the deal she mad with Gamagori, she would gain her re-entry if she spied on Ei-chan and made her late!'
"We'll we better get going, don't want to be late!"
"But what about Ryuko-chan and Mako-chan?" Ei said, "We should all go together" she said
"True but…..ah!" she yelled holding her side
"Maiko-chan are you alright?" she asked urgently
"M-My arm I…!" she tensed clutching, with a press of a hidden but the floor under the two girls began to rumble,
"What now!?" suddenly the floor popped up like a spring and propelled the girls upwards
"What the hell is this!?" Ryuko yelled
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Mako screamed
"Ah! Ryuko-san, Mako-chan!" Ei gasped seeing her friends get propelled upwards
"They must have tripped a trap!"
"Hang on Maiko-chan!" Ei warned, with a click she moved her broom and soared after her friends
"Ah!" Mako screamed, "Huh? Look Ryuko-chan it's Ei-chan we're saved!" Mako yelled with glee
"Hold on guys!" she called, with some good maneuvering she was able to catch Mako who landed behind Maiko.
"You okay Mako-chan?" Ei asked
"I think so" Mako sighed in relief, "But Ryuko-chan still flying away!"
"She's too far out!"
"We won't be able to catch her in time!" Maiko said
'Please let this work' focusing a blue energy formed around her hand,
"Spell of Hesitation; Make Ryuko stop!" reaching her hand out Ryuko began to slow down, before completely coming to a halt and floating in mid-air.
"Huh?W-What's happening!?" Ryuko said rather worried and shocked and a bit uneasy
"Ryuko-chan stopped falling!"
"Now we can go save her" Ei said as they now floated next to Ryuko,
"Guys!"
"Don't worry we'll pull you in and…"
"Ahh! M-My...!"
"Maiko-chan what's wrong?" Ei asked worried
"It's my…my…owe, it hurts! It hurts!" she cried and began flailing around making the broom wobbly
"D-Don't do that! Please stop Calcifer can't handle this kind of….!"
'Snap!'
"Weight…" the broom suddenly snapped sending the girls plummeting to the ground
"Not again! We're gonna to crash into the ground!"
"Damn it, Ogure you sneaky bitch!" Ryuko growled at the girl
"What are we gonna do!" Mako cried as they continued to fall to the ground, quickly reaching into her gown, she rambled finding her book, she quickly flipped through the pages,
"Ei this is no time to be reading!" Ryuko stated
'No time to find the right page, I'll have to improvise'
"Hold on everyone!" Ei said summoning another blue glow around her hand this time a star made of marking appearing on her palm,
"I hope this work!" she yelled with a flash of light, the girls hit the bottom, but instead of hitting hard concrete they landed in something liquid and cold.
Ei was the first to pop up, they had all managed to land in a large bowl of ice cream!
"It worked" she sighed in relief, "Is everyone okay?" she asked
Ryuko popped up next, "I think so, where did all this come from?" she questioned seeing the large bowl of ice cream
"Yeah Ice Cream! So delicious and cool!" Mako cheered digging into the sweet treat, not caring where it came from.
"Well this was unexpected, I was actually trying to do a defense spell, but got a dessert spell" she giggled at the minor mistake
"At any rate we didn't get splattered to the ground, no thanks to someone!" she yelled looking at Maiko who had just wedged herself from out of a strawberry scoop.
"Ryuko-san don't blame Maiko-chan, she was in pain from her injuries" Ei defended
"Pft, don't be fools, Maiko is tricking you"
"Huh, tricking?"
"Yeah, she uses that in need, sappy, hurt student act to gain sympathy, but really she's nothing but a spy for the Student Council!" she revealed
"Maiko-chan, is that true?" she questioned seeing the girl looking nervous
"I-I mean…well…" she stammered
"It's true" Mako piped in still eating ice cream, "She tricked me and Ryuko last and then she tried to steal Senketsu!"
"She's a shameless, prideful, back stabbing liar! Who will do anything for power!"
"Maiko-chan?" as if she was waiting for an answer, only saw her head slump in defeat
"It's true…" she admitted as Ei gave a silent gasp
"I…I did a lot of bad things, horrible things" she said, "I tricked students and people who trust me, but you have to understand I had no choice!"
"The way the school is run, under the boot of Lady Satsuki and her Council, I believed I couldn't trust anyone. I wasn't strong enough to gain a star uniform, so selfishly I used trickery in order to gain a little protection, safety to make a better life for myself" she wept sadly
"It's true I hurt Ryuko-san, Mako-san, and even tried to steal Senketsu, but after that failure I was thrown away like trash, expelled from the school!"
"I was forced to beg like a worm in order to be let back in, so sad…"
"Oh brother" Ryuko huffed, but Mako and Ei seemed to be buying into the sympathetic story
"After that I, Maiko Ogure, vowed to make amends for my misdeeds by working to help the No-Star students who I was forced to betray!" she declared
"And the 'broken' arm and bandages?" Ryuko questioned
"Unfortunately this is not fake, I was trampled by other students" she admitted
"Oh!"
"That's so sad" Ei wept
"So sad! So sad!" Mako agreed
"Your tears are wasted on someone like me, I've done too much wrong and hurt to many people" Maiko refused their sympathy, "Please just, go on without me, you'll be better off!"
"Well if you say so" Ryuko said, "Come on guys!"
"Ryuko-chan we can't just leave her!" Mako said
"Of course we can, this is probably just another trick"
"But Ryuko-san, she's hurt and she sounds remorseful" Ei defended
"Eh? What's wrong with you two! She's faking it!" Ryuko argued, "She seems remorseful, but soon she'll lead into a trap of boiling oil or a lake of piranha!"
"Look out!" all three girls gasp as they were suddenly pushed sending them falling to the ground
"See I told you! She's huh….?" As she was accusing the other, they all gasped seeing Maiko on the ground, a thin, long needle sticking out of her
"Ahhhh!"
"Maiko-chan!"
"She's hit!"
"W-What the hell!?" all three girls rushed to her side
"Maiko, what happened?"
"I….I saw the arrows….coming toward you guys she mumbled weakly, "I….I couldn't….let you…get hurt"
"All that from a needle?"
Looking closely Ei gave a gaspe,
"This is bad, very, very bad" Ei said carefully pulling out the needle
"What's wrong?" Ryuko questioned
"This isn't just a needle" she explained, "This is a Scorpion Tip!"
"Eh? What the heck is that?"
"It's a very rare, but deadly weapon" Ei explained, "While thin, a single needle carries enough poison in it of that of a hundred Scorpions. It's very dangerous and deadly!"
"Deadly!" Mako yelled
"Wait so Maiko she could…"
"I don't think so…it looks like she only got a small dosage" she said looking closely at the needle, "But even so she'll be paralyzed. We have to get her an antidote or…." she paused
"Or what?"
"Or we might be having a funeral by the end of the day" she said silently
"Damn it!" Ryuko growled, even if she didn't like the girl, she didn't want her to die, "Where can we find an antidote?"
"Well…." She said looking through her book, "According to my book there are two antidotes, the first one is an intricate mixture of specific herbs"
"Okay, what's the second antidote?"
"Um….according to this the other remedy is for someone to suck the poison out of the entry wound" as she finished reading a silence came over the group.
"Um….suck the poison out of…" all three looked at the wounded area and then back at each other
"Well it was nice knowing her" Ryuko said, "Sorry Maiko looks like this is the end"
"Wait, I think I might have these ingredients in my locker back at the school" Ei said
"Then we need to hurry and get to school! Really! Really fast before we're late and get expelled!" Mako exclaimed urgently, "Oh and Maiko dies" she said seeing the girl begin to foam and mumble of the ground
"Alright then we need to make a full sprint towards the school!" Ryuko declared
"But how, Calcifer can't fly and we don't have our uniforms" Ei said, "Plus there's only….an hour to go ad there's so many traps left!"
"Whatever! We don't have time to think, we just have to make a dash for it!" she stated seriously, "Alright full speed to the school!"
"Right!"
"But first! Excuse me~" slipping off for a second, the two watched as Mako cleaned of a huge bowl of ice cream in a little under a minute, "Okay let's go! I'm full of fuel!" she declared
"Let's go!" and they were off, passed check point, after check point dodging the intricate and mostly ridiculous trap. They had arrived at the 998 check point, labored and tired.
"So tired!" Mako whined
"How much time do we have left?"
"About 15 minutes left" Mako said looking at her watch
"Then let's move, we're wasting time" she groaned staggering, she wouldn't admit it but she was tired, having to carry dead weight on her back.
"Ryuko-chan? Are you okay?"
"Fine…let's keep moving"
'This is bad, everyone's warn out, we need to get moving'
"What are we going to do now?" it seemed hopeless
"Gus! Gus!"
"Did you guys here that?"
"Look it's" Mako pointed as something came towards them
"It's Guts!" the little pug stopped with a skid
"What are you doing here boy?" Mako asked when suddenly she noticed something in his mouth, "Is that? It's Ei's uniform!" she said showing them the newly laundered uniform
"My uniform!"
"Mom must have sent Gus to deliver"
"Good boy! Good boy!" Mako praised the small pug, while Ei changed into her uniform
"Wow it feels so fresh" she said noting the clean feeling
"Alright let's get moving, we're running out of time, we still have to get through the second distract!"
"But Ryuko-chan, last time all the people had machine guns and were firing at us!" Mako cried remembering all the bullets and using that cool gun.
"No choice, come on!" she said as the they moved toward the second district
"So far, so good let's keep moving and…" she spoke too soon as bullets began raining from the sky, the three flailed dodging the bullets.
"Run for it!" as they ran through the streets dodging bullets and setting of mine fields, Ei managed to create a barrier to keep them safe.
"Damn it so close" Ryuko cursed
"I…I don't know how long I can hold this for!" Ei stammered feeling tired from all the running
"Hold on Ei-chan!"
"If you drop the barrier we'll get shot" Ryuko added
"But I…" she struggled, she could feel her energy draining as she tried to hold up the shield
'This is bad, I only have so much energy left, even this barrier is taking more out of me. It's already starting to weaken…' she pushed herself to keep the barrier up
'My friends…Ryuko, Mako, Calcifer, even Maiko…there all counting on me…I…'
"Can you hear a resonance stronger than words now?"
"I can't let my friends down!" with a flash and twinkle of star lights emitted from Ei, surrounding them all. The barrier broke as something jetted upwards like a cyclone out of the light,
"Death Fiber Resonance; Nagaraboshi Jet!" her uniform had changed, the bottom half looked like the two jet propulsions with blue energy emitting from the bottom and what looked like two sets of wings, two on each side projected from her back with a couple of pieces of armor added and three star marks on her arm. Though now more of her middle half was showing,
"Look at that Ryuko-chan!" Mako pointed upwards
"Her uniform transformed to flight mode!"
'Nagarboshi Jet', With a quick turn downwards Ei now hovered next to the others
"Ei-chan you look so cool!" Mako awed
"Thanks Mako-chan, come on we have to get going!" she said
"Right, but we need to hurry, we only have minutes left" Ryuko said, looking around she spotted a car, "I got an idea" she said
After some adjustments, they all climbed into the car,
"Ready?"
"Let's go!" with a pulse they were off, using her new jets they were rocketing through the condo area zooming past everyone and everything.
"Wow so fast!" the force of the backlash from the jets left cracks and uprooting
"You guys okay?" Ei asked
"Yeah we're fine, let's keep going!"
"Right!" with another push they burst out of the condo district and were now headed upwards, the school in sight
"Mako how much time do we have left?" Ryuko asked
"About one minute before we're all expelled!"
"Not if I can help it!" Ei stated and increased speed, lifting the car into the air
"We're flying!" Mako cheered
"We might actually have a good shoot at this!"
'I won't let them down, I won't!' with determination she jetted forwarded toward the school
"30 seconds!"
In class, Mr. Mikisugi was taking attendance, "Alright, now then Mako Mankanshoko?" he called dryly, "Mako? Mako Mankanshoko?" looking around he didn't see the student
"Hm, I guess she's…" he was about to check her absent when suddenly the wall burst in sending the students flying back. In the rubble was what was left of the wall and a damaged car, the doors creaked open revealing the three students.
Mako, Ryuko, and Ei staggered to their seats which seemed unscathed by the sudden wreck.
"Hm, Mako Mankanshoko?"
"Here!" she said before laying down for her usual nap
"Ryuko Matoi?"
"Here?" she said bluntly leaning back exhausted
"Ei Nova?"
"Present" Ei said raising her hand, before falling back on the desk
"Alright then, if everyone will turn their books to chapter 20, we we're discussing…"
"Good job, Ei" Ryuko managed tired
"Thanks…" she said with a slight smile, it was finally over, they had survived No-Late Day….barely…
The End…
"Wait!" Mako interrupted
"What's wrong now, Mako?" Ryuko groaned
"We forgot about Maiko!" she said
"Oh right…" she remembered, "She's still in the car" as they went to the wreckage of the car, they noticed the girl wasn't inside
"She's gone"
"Think she fell out?"
"Who knows, we'll deal with it after class" Ryuko groaned popping her back
"But the poison and…" she stopped, "I'm too tired to feel worried, I need a nap" Ei sighed, "I'm so tired…" and with a thump she collapsed to the ground.
"Ei-chan!?"
The End
Next Time; Ei's Sick Day and a Foxy Mother