The next day, Cerise and Peppermint got up and went to school on their mothers' old brooms. On the way, Cerise smiled and said, "I sort of want you to become Queen, Peppermint-chan. You have a great personality like Mama…I mean, Queen Chocolat." Peppermint blushed and giggled, "Thanks, Cerise! I would be happy for you if you won, too!"
At school, Peppermint remained unpopular with the boys. Cerise was still very popular for her shy, quiet personality. They did not collect any hearts until break, when Peppermint found a noisy green parrot under her desk! Commotion blanketed the entire class. Only Cerise was scared. Peppermint was fascinated. "Cool!" she shouted, smiling. The parrot flew around the room and landed in Cerise's hair. Scared, Cerise squealed. Some orange hearts popped up! Peppermint helped her untangle the bird from her hair. Cerise smiled slightly. "It's so cute!" she whispered, stroking its feathers. Some orange hearts in the room turned pink! Cerise looked apologetically at Peppermint and said, "I have no choice, Peppermint-chan." She put two hands to her magenta and lime pendant and said, "Sugar sugar rune! Ceri rune!" She twirled around. A magenta and lime cape appeared on her. On her blonde, shoulder-length hair appeared a witch's hat. On the magenta dress appeared a lime green belt with a heart on it. "Wand!" she said. A glowing wand shot out of the ground, and Cerise caught it. "Please pick up, hearts!" Five orange and three pink hearts flew into Cerise's heart pendant. Her school outfit appeared again. Cerise whispered happily, "I took them." Peppermint released the bird outside.
At lunch, Cerise bumped into a boy named Masumo Sato, and he spilled his curry on her. He got her some napkins and apologized, and his heart turned from the pee heart of surprise to the orange heart of infatuation.
At gym class, she tripped and fell while running her laps and cried. Two boys helped her get up, and they gave her two more orange hearts.
After school, all she did was smile sweetly when four boys started to talk to her, and they popped out orange hearts for her.
While the girls were flying home, Peppermint laughed, "Cerise, I never saw your beat in picking up hearts…well, after Robin!" Cerise smiled sweetly and said, "You're amazing, Peppermint-chan. I love your enthusiasm and spirit!"
At home, Cerise said, "We have arrived, Robin-sensei." No reply. Peppermint tossed her backpack on the couch and flopped on the space next to it. "Robin?" she hollered. No reply. "Guess he's at a concert," Peppermint shrugged.
Cerise sat on the couch next to her friend. "Peppermint-chan," she said. "We can gather familiars, right?" Peppermint said, "Let's do it! Sugar sugar rune! Peppe rune!" An opal hat covered her black hair streaked with blonde. An indigo and opal cape and dress with an indigo sash appeared on her. "Wand!" she shouted, catching her wand. Cerise said, "Sugar sugar rune, Ceri Rune!" Her witch outfit appeared. "Wand!" she said, catching the wand. "Our familiars, appear!" In a poof, a parrot and a guinea pig appeared!
The parrot flew on Peppermint's shoulder, and the guinea pig leapt on Cerise's. Cerise delightedly exclaimed, "Cute!" The guinea pig bowed, taking her cute little purple hat off. "How do you do, Cerise-chama? My name is Muffin-dechu. Nice to meet-chu! Oh, you mustn't bother yourself with hooligans like Peppermi-AAA!" Peppermint had blasted some bubbles with her magic wand at Muffin in anger for calling her a hooligan. Cerise said, "Please don't do that, Peppermint-chan!" Muffin just said, "Chu!" in disgust.
Peppermint examined the parrot. "Hey! You're the one I found under my desk!" she said. The parrot said, "That's right-squawk. Man, did I drag myself out of my nap to come here. Oh, and I'm Prince-squawk."
Cerise said, "Thanks for helping me get hearts, Prince!" He said, "Oh, no problem. But Peppermint's going to win, eh?" Muffin laughed, "Chuchuchuchuchu! Cerise-chama will surely become Queen-dechu! And what's with that awkward-or should I say squawkward-squawk?"
The girls couldn't help laughing at that one.
Prince squawked, "What's with that chu-chu? It sounds like a train."
Once again, the girls couldn't help laughing at that one.
"It does not-dechu!"
"It does too-squawk!"
"Well, you asked for it-dechu," said Muffin.
"Bring it on-squawk!" retorted Prince.
Cerise and Peppermint looked at each other. Peppermint smiled and said, "Now now now…who will win, little children?"
That totally made Muffin angry. She started screaming, "AAAH! I am NOT a little kid-dechu! I am a BIG LADY! You're the little-"Muffin continued to shake her little magenta-and-white umbrella and scream. Her brown-and-white fur stood on end. Everyone laughed.
In a big POOF! Robin appeared. Once again, tons of hearts fell from the sky. The girls were impressed. Robin flashed a smile and winked. "I see that you Mademoiselles have gathered familiars?" he said coolly. Cerise's eyes sparkled as she dreamily said, "They're so cute!" Peppermint laughed awkwardly and said, "I wouldn't call them 'cute,' but they…are…interesting, ahohohoho!" She scratched her head.
"Peppermint-chan," said Cerise. "We better run along for homework." The girls went to their rooms to do their homework. Cerise diligently did her work and checked it, but in her room, Peppermint just said, "Hmmm…I'm too lazy…oh yeah! Sugar sugar rune, Peppe rune!" The indigo and opal witch dress appeared, and Peppermint grabbed her wand with her gloved hand. Peppermint pointed the diamond tip at her homework papers. "Answers…appear!" The papers filled themselves out with the correct answers! "Amazing!" thought Peppermint as she packed all the homework assignments up. Cerise was still working, so in the meanwhile, Peppermint thought of ways to catch up with ecure to be at Cerise's level.
After she finished planning, Peppermint started rehearsing. "Plan one: appearance change!" she said. After curling the edges of her Uncle Saule's black hair with her mother's blonde streaks, she shouted, "Sugar sugar rune, Peppe rune!" she grabbed a wand. "Doll with the reactions of a human boy, appear!"
A male rag doll with a Moegi Gakuen uniform appeared. Peppermint looked it in the eye. "Like my hair?" she asked with a slightly creepy smile. The doll giggled uncertainly and hid behind her bed. Peppermint sighed. "Plan two: lose weight!" She looked down at herself. What would make her look slimmer…that was it! Longer socks! She magically lengthened the knee-length black socks she always wore to school. "Prince!" she called. "Get your feathery butt to my room!"
The parrot came. Peppermint tried on her Moegi uniform with the thigh-length socks. "How do I look, Prince?" she asked, smiling uncomfortably. "You look no slimmer," he said. Peppermint shook her fist. "Ya better not say that again! Ya wanna make somethin' of it?" He squawked loudly, "NO!" and flew out of the room.
"Plan three: Cry more-"Then, a voice in the kitchen called, "Peppermint-chan!"
Peppermint sped to the kitchen. Cerise had finished her homework and cooked rice and squash curry for dinner. For dessert, she had cooked a batch of delicious cinnamon cookies. "Looks great!" said Peppermint, helping herself to a plate of rice and curry. "DELICIOUS!" she exclaimed.
The girls and Robin finished eating. Cerise started to smile shyly and looked at Peppermint. "What is it, Cerise?" asked Peppermint. Cerise pulled a little box of Spice Dragons out of her pocket. Spice Dragons were Peppermint's favorite Magical world candy. They were soft and sweet, yet spicy, like cinnamon. When you put them in your mouth, they put your mouth on fake flames that were like cotton candy. Cerise put one in her mouth and offered the box to her friend. "Thanks, Cerise!" said Peppermint, stuffing a candy in her mouth. The girls chewed. "Yummy!" said Peppermint. Cerise's and Peppermint's mouths caught on fake flames! They laughed and lapped up the sweet flames.
"I bought them in the Magic World Mail Order Catalog," said Cerise, and she laughed as she licked a flame off her chin. Muffin tore the head off a Spice Dragon and put it in her mouth. After she licked the candy flames up, she shook her head. "Hmph! Poor Cerise-chama spent a whole 300 ecure or simple pleasures for that bratty Peppermint-dechu," she sniffed.
Peppermint was angry. "Sorry, Cerise!" she said. Cerise smiled and said, "It's only 300-" But Peppermint stormed off. "I must go on a journey of self-discovery!" she snapped as she stormed off to her room.
In her room, Peppermint said, "I wanna go to the Magic World!" Then she remembered. On her recent eleventh birthday, her mother had given her a children's spell book. Peppermint smiled. She pulled the book out of her bookshelf and leafed through the pages. She smiled. "Sugar sugar rune, Peppe rune! Moon door, open!" She flew through the moon door in the sky. Where she entered, there was a scary-looking, tall palace guard. He said gruffly, "Peppermint Mieux, I suppose. You are disqualified from the Queen Exam for coming to the Magic World without permission.
Peppermint froze still in alarm and terror. She was DISQUALIFIED?