"Wait, stop!" Hana screams, knocking the turtle off me. I gratefully stand up. Finally! Someone actually complied with my request!
"Don't tell it your real name!" Hana says loudly. "We don't want…Koyashi…to find out that you are the one who…stole his…laptop!"
What the hell? I look at Mitsuki. She looks equally mystified. I decide to say something. "Hana, what-"
"Koyashi may have installed some bugs and video cameras around here!" Hana stutters. She desperately rolls her eyes around the room, obviously trying to tell us something. "Bugs! Listening devices! Video cameras! The works!" She forces a smile upon her face. "Koyashi's a clever man, I tell you! Trying to hide his laptop in the form of a turtle!"
Oh! I see what she's trying to tell us now. The room is bugged! And the fact that we're spies has to be kept secret. Oh shit. If the room is bugged, then…the hallway probably was too! Oh man! I probably blew our cover. And now…Hana is trying to save our butts. Plus…our laptop…is probably THE TURTLE! Oh my GOD!
I sneak a look at Mitsuki, who looks back at me. I wink at her, and she smiles at me. Oh, we're going to have serious fun with this. Hana wants us to ACT.
"Oh, don't call him 'clever' in front of me!" I scowl. "That man! After jilting me…after toying with my emotions that way!" I fling my head back and raise my hand to my forehead. With my eyes closed, I say, "That man deserves everything he's going to get."
Mitsuki says gleefully, rubbing her hands together, "We're going to make that jerk regret he was ever born."
Hana smiles gratefully, and lets us continue to fabricate the story.
"Yes!" I say dramatically. "I gave him my love; and he scorned me. That traitor, that scoundrel, that recreant was going out behind my back with a horrible, ugly bi-"
"Eh-hem." Mitsuki clears her throat meaningfully, shooting a dirty glare at me. I grin at her sheepishly, realizing I've gone too far, being too caught up in the moment.
"Oh, I apologize, my dear friend!" I run to Mitsuki and catch her hands up in mine. "My dear, beautiful friend! I did not mean to treat you so." Mitsuki's cheeks have turned pink, and she's shaking in my arms. I'm shaking as well, not believing how such corny things are spilling out of my mouth.
"How can I call you that when you have done so much to assist me? You, who is my best friend! Without you I could not have infiltrated Koyashi Industries; after I found out he was cheating on me of course; and stolen Koyashi's most important laptop! Of course it cannot be your fault that Koyashi, my lecherous, rich ex-boyfriend, was so aroused when you stepped into the ballroom that he dropped me in the midst of a dip in the dance!"
We cannot help it; Mitsuki, Hana and I all burst into spontaneous laughter. We're rolling on the floor, gasping for breath. "You guys!" Hana yells, panting for breath. "You messed up the scene!"
"I'm sorry, Hana!" I giggle. "But that was just too funny! How can you expect me, of all people, to be able to keep a straight face while saying that?"
After one more burst of laughter, Hana makes a serious face. "Alright you guys, let's finish rehearsing the rest of the scene." I think she has more she wants to tell us. "Oh, Karin!" she says dramatically, scooping the turtle up in her arms. "I know you want your revenge. But we cannot do it here; not in the midst of the territory occupied by the enemy. They might catch us soon!"
"But where do you suggest, Hana?" Mitsuki asks.
"Yes. Where?" I ask eagerly too.
"Somewhere, far away from here." Hana wiggles her eyebrows at us, wanting to make sure we understood her as much as possible. "We need to hack into…his bank account as soon as possible. Tomorrow if possible! Is that not what you want the most?"
"…Yes, of course." I say solemnly. "When all his money is gone…money being his...first and foremost love in the world…he will know how I felt when he cheated on me with my own best friend."
"Scene ENDED!" Mitsuki says abruptly. Hana and I smile triumphantly. We have made it across this complicated barrier.
"Yes!" I pump my fist in the air. "You guys…WE ROCK!"
Mitsuki decides she needs to put a damper on my excitement. "Not to burst your bubble or anything, but since we don't go to…Koizumi Koichi High School anymore, we don't exactly have to rehearse this play anymore…"
My fist stops halfway in the air. "Oh yeah. I forgot."
Hana shrugs. "Oh well. It was fun anyway. I kind of like the idea of being a spy out for revenge."
Mitsuki breathes a sigh of relief. "Finally. We can stop all these rehearsals. I'm so tired of this STUPID play. I absolutely HATED my part, and I HATED my lines!"
"I bet you HATED your costume even more." I tease her. Hiding a smile, Mitsuki fakes a shudder.
"This turtle is absolutely so cute." Hana hugs the turtle tight, giving me and Mitsuki a cautionary look. "I'm so glad that our classmates allowed us to take it with us. I'm going to keep on taking care of it, all right?"
"Yeah, sure. I really wanted to take care of a hard fake turtle." Mitsuki says sarcastically, putting extra emphasis on the 'fake.'
"Okay." I yawn a real yawn. "I'm tired." I startle and my body gives a jerk. "Shit."
"Karin?" Hana says, shooting me a questionable look. "What's wrong?"
"I forgot about my homework."
"Damn!" Mitsuki swears. "I did too!"
Hana gasps. "Me three!"
"Good night, you guys!" I'm already out of the room, running frantically to my own room. I sneak a peek at my watch as I unlock the door of my room. "Thank God it's only seven…"
"forty-five…" My eyes close tiredly.
I quickly flick on the light switch, looking over my room quickly. It looks almost exactly like Hana's room, except the color scheme is different, being a dark shade of red, and instead of oak, the main wood is mahogany. I swing my backpack under my mahogany desk, slam out my textbooks, and hurriedly take out my pencils and several sheets of paper. I flip open my first textbook, and begin to scribble furiously on the paper.
The next morning, I wake up groggily to the sound of my alarm clock. I'm so sleepy…I groan…I kick off the blanket…and I flop off the bed. On the floor, I hiss, "Ouch! Sorry, floor."
I look at the clock…and my eyes bug out. "Egad! Thirty minutes until cafeteria stops serving breakfast!" Wait…did I just say "egad?" I scramble to the bathroom, grabbing my uniform on the way there. After changing my clothes and brushing my teeth and hair in record time, I sling my backpack over my shoulder and rush out, almost forgetting to lock my door.
I knock on Mitsuki's door and yell, "Mitsuki! Are you awake? We're going to be late!"
I hear absolutely nothing, except a loud thump. I hide a smile as I walk over to Hana's door and do the same thing. "Coming!" I hear her yell. In about seven more minutes, Hana and Mitsuki are out of their rooms, backpacks slung over their shoulders. "Quickly, let's get breakfast." Hana smiles at us.
When we walk through the cafeteria doors, I am amazed again. The room is extremely large, which of course it has to be in order to house the whole student and teacher population at Alice Academy. Hana, Mitsuki, and I get in a long line that was moving rapidly. While we waited, we discussed some homework problems that were assigned, and before we knew it, it was Mitsuki's turn to get breakfast.
I grimace, although I hope nobody notices. The entire kitchen staff is made up of those pink robots too. Why don't they just make us robot teachers as well? I wouldn't mind there being robot students either…
The robot says, "Your ID card please."
"ID?" Mitsuki looks back at Hana and me. "Okay…" She fishes around in her backpack for her ID, which had its own wallet-like covering. The robot takes it delicately from her hand…
And sticks it into her mouth. Mitsuki and Hana honestly don't look that surprised, and while I shouldn't have been surprised, the sight of something important going down something's throat is EXTREMELY disconcerting. First our room keys, now our ID cards? What doesn't go into these robots' mouths?
The robot says, "Processing. Please wait." Finally, with a ding! Mitsuki's ID card is back, although I don't really want to know where the card exited the robot. Wrinkling her nose slightly, she gingerly takes her card back from the robot.
"Which set would you like today? Set A or Set B?" The robot inquires exquisitely.
"Um…" Mitsuki is at a loss for words. "Set B?"
The robot zooms off to the kitchens…and comes back with a gourmet meal. Wow. I mean serious WOW. All of our eyes pop out, even the people behind me in the line. THIS…is the special star's breakfast. I'm sure excited about lunch and dinner.
On Mitsuki's plate, there are three courses. She had chosen pancakes as her main course, and what delectable-looking pancakes they are. Soft, fluffy, and tan, the pancakes stand tall and proud on her plate, along with two other dishes, one with two pieces of delicious, crunchy toast, the other with mixed fruits. Next to her plate of pancakes, there are assorted little cups of syrup, and a tiny square of unsalted butter. Beside all of that, an empty cup sits, ready to be filled with any drink Mitsuki desires.
The girl in front of Mitsuki, who had stayed behind to watch when she saw the special star on our collars, is gaping in awe. I sneak a peek at her collar. Single star. She looks balefully down at her own breakfast, which consists of only one wormy-looking pancake and two pieces of untoasted, white bread. Inside, I feel a bit of pity for all the single stars of the Academy.
Hana and I look at each other. "You know what? I feel like pancakes." I remark.
"Yeah, me too." Hana replies, and hands her ID card to the pink robot.
Once we all have our breakfasts and drinks, we search around for a place to sit. As we walk around, looking for an empty area so we could all sit together, a shout reaches my ears.
"Mitsuki-chan! Over here! Bring your friends too!" Misaki is waving to us from her table, where she sits with Tsubasa and another guy with glasses that's also in our class. I never was told his name.
"Good morning, Misaki-san." Mitsuki says civilly, placing her tray down beside Misaki. Hana follows suit, and I'm left sitting on the edge of the seat.
"Um, hello?" Tsubasa waves his hand in front of himself. "How about me and Megane over here?" Mitsuki completely ignores him, picking up her knife and beginning to cut her pancakes.
"You aren't important enough to be recognized by Mitsuki-chan." Misaki says to him nastily. She turns to Mitsuki. "Wow, nice breakfast. Special star, huh? Like Natsume-kun." Mitsuki nods, continuing on with her breakfast silently. Hana and I follow suit, although I break the silence with a murmured "Itadakimasu." We eat silently for a couple of minutes, my brain recording this new information about that scary kid with the same Alice as me.
"Are you guys always this quiet during meals?" Tsubasa observes.
"Wow, nice job. You can so totally tell they're being real party animals right now." Misaki says sarcastically. The guy named Megane snickers a little bit, earning himself a glare from Tsubasa.
Since Hana and Mitsuki don't seem like they want to talk at all, I decide to reply. "Well, yes, we're usually this quiet. If you talk while you're eating, there's a greater chance you'll spray food on the person you're talking to. And who would want that to happen?"
Tsubasa opened his mouth to reply, but closed it. "That's true, actually." He admitted.
I stand from my seat. "I'm done. Please excuse me." Every except Mitsuki and Hana go wide eyed.
"You're done already?" Tsubasa asks in amazement.
Then, Mitsuki stands up with me. "You're done too?" Misaki asks, surprised, looking down at her half-finished breakfast.
"It's almost time for class to start." She replies, checking her watch. "So we should get going soon."
"All right, I'll be done in a minute." Misaki starts speed eating. Mitsuki cracks a thin smile as she settles down to wait. Hana's partner, Yuri, finds her and whisks her away to class, Hana having strange blotches of pink on her cheeks and looking explicably happy to be holding Yuri's hand.
Tsubasa and Megane tease Misaki before she can put her breakfast in her mouth, causing her to yell some insults at them, then Mitsuki interrupts, telling her to finish eating already. Feeling like the third wheel, I get up and begin to walk away. It's a good thing to see Mitsuki and Hana making new friends, but sometimes it can get lonely as well.
"Hey Karin! Where are you going?" Everyone's heads turn at Tsubasa's outburst, and Mitsuki looks at me unemotionally.
"To class." I say vaguely. "Maybe I'll find Hayate-kun there." And I turn away.