R-DAY PLUS 2

"One Eighty"

Hanayo couldn't be pulled away from the club room's computer for one second. As her fellow first-years moved some idol materials from place to place, she glued her eyes—and may as well her soul while at it—to the screen and whatever it was showing her. The stream of clear drool rolling down to her chin only made her look more stupid. It didn't seem to be about school idol groups because she knew better not to slobber over her interests in life.

"Hanayo, don't just sit there. Help us move some of these things," Maki called.

Rin pulled out a box from the shelf, almost dropping it after realizing just how much gravity wanted to do so. "Whoa!" she shuddered at the sheer weight of the universe in the box. "What's in this box? It's super heavy, nya."

The close call forced Maki away from Hanayo's inattention. "Hey Rin, be careful with that!"

With Maki holding the other end, the two girls carried the box to the other side. But gravity could be a persistent bastard at times. It had its way and dropped the box, hitting Maki and Rin's feet with the weight of a power hammer. Not just the hammering part but the whole bloody unit on their feet. No need to wonder where the bloodcurdling shriek came from.

Despite this, Hanayo didn't give a flying feather.

Nico entered the club room just in time to see the casualties of a simple cleanup. "What happened to you two?" she raised a brow. But as she recognized the box that claimed victory, she changed her tone and hurried to it. "Hey! Be careful with that!"

"I assume you know what's inside, Nico," Maki said.

"You bet I know what's inside," Nico shouted. "They're weights given to me by a school idol group in freaking Nagano."

That explains the loud ring of steel that came after the impact. The more Maki tried making sense of two plus two, the more her head hurt. "Why would a school idol group give you weights?"

"I don't know," Nico shrugged. "They just did. It would be rude of me to turn them down."

"More importantly," Maki continued. "Just what kind of school idol group gives out weights?"

The million-yen answer would have to take a backseat for the meantime. More of their fellow idols entered the club room, namely Kotori who seemed chirpier than yesterday. The sun must be giving her that lively but eerie vibe.

"Good day, everyone," she smiled.

And again, Hanayo didn't give a flying feather.

"There you are, Kotori," Nico put her hands on her waist. "Where are the others?"

"Eli and Nozomi are just wrapping up student council work," Kotori said. "Umi has archery practice. As for Honoka, well…"

"Getting her butt handed on a silver platter, I presume," Nico sneered.

"If you put it that way…"

"I swear. That girl's gonna be the end of us unless she pulls herself together."

With nothing worthwhile to do while waiting for the rest, they gathered behind Hanayo in a pile of curious cats. Maybe it wouldn't hurt for these cats to look at what has gotten their friend charmed since booting up the computer. So just what has Hanayo's soul? A video of their ill-fated rooftop live show that went viral? A tidal wave of cats constantly brushing up the screen but could never reach Hanayo? A never-ending image of oranges?

Worse: a picture of a little, round owl. Too round, apparently.

"Oh! Mokuroh!" exclaimed Rin.

"A Moku-what now?" asked Maki.

"A Mokuroh," Rin continued. "It's one of the three starter Pokémon for the upcoming Sun and Moon games. Part-flying, part-grass."

"This impossibly-perfect roundness is…a Pokémon?" Maki replied.

Hanayo finally snapped out of her trance. Her sudden "OF COURSE!" caught everyone by surprise, even more when she began pouring her heart out for all things Pokémon. "Mokuroh's dual typing makes it a force to be reckoned with against many types, namely grass and fighting types. It takes in sunlight in the day so that it can operate for long hours at night. It can learn powerful moves such as Razor Leaf, but its Overgrow ability increases the power of grass-type moves when its HP decreases to a third of the max—"

"We get it, we get it. You're a living Pokédex," Maki said.

"Aww, it's so cute," Kotori said. "Look at that roundness. I wanna cuddle him when I sleep."

"I know, right?" Hanayo shrieked. "I can look at its roundness all day long and wish it was real. Oh, I wish all Pokémon were real."

Nico raised a rather good question in all this. "Hold on. Don't they call it a Rowlet?"

"Its name is Mokuroh," Hanayo insisted.

"Really?" Nico wondered. "I could've sworn they—"

Hanayo quickly got up from her seat and glared at Nico at point blank. "IT'S MOKUROH!"

"Fine, fine," Nico mumbled after an uneasy pause. "Mokuroh it is."

"I'm glad we're in agreement," Hanayo smiled (may contain trace amounts of yandere).

The rest of the idols arrived in one neat package. After a quick change of clothes, the girls wasted no time heading to their practice grounds. Honoka took the lead, vowing to turn her distraught for her uptight teachers into the necessary effort in the upcoming live show. Umi followed, telling Honoka to get serious about homework first. The idle chatter of the rest of the girls got mixed in, filling the hall with their usual randomness, the things that made µ's…µ's.

Kotori and Maki were the last to leave, but Maki realized she was missing something. "Oh, I forgot something in the locker. Um, Kotori?"

Kotori stopped short of the doorway. Then, in a scene straight out of horror movies, her head did a full one-eighty, to Maki's shock. The skin of her neck twisted with her head, yet not a hint of pain hit her. "Something wrong, Maki?"

Maki barely kept her face straight. Who in anyone's right mind wouldn't? Kotori just defied human physiology in front of a would-be doctor. "I…I forgot something. I'll…catch…up."

"Okay," Kotori smiled, maintaining her one-eighty. "Don't take too long." She went out the door first, her head snapping back to normal before anyone could see her full-on neck-snapping mode.

Alone in the club room, a stunned, pale Maki refused to move an inch. "I…I should probably cut back on the evening tea for now."

R-Day Plus 2. Subject gained the ability to turn her head up to 180 degrees without inflicting serious injury on its joints and ligaments. Suffice to say, this is beyond the qualifications of normal for human beings. The maturity of the serum falls within projected parameters, with physiological characteristics developing as early as 48 hours after administration.