R-DAY PLUS 3
"Animalia"
Rain-heavy clouds began to blot out a perfect day for a picnic—or in this case, practice. Drop after drop, with sudden gusts blowing, the only window in the club room shuddered. It cowered before the fury known as Mother Nature. Behind walls and thick curtains, the weather bothered the nine none.
In the darkness, a single lamp seared every immoral cell in the bastard's face. The heat forced all his pores open and drops of sweat poured out along with his deceit, betrayal, and guilt to name a few. He shook at the glare of the nine demanding nothing less of his cooperation. They had as many questions for him as the raindrops falling right now—and so did I. The evidence favored us: a bird-like creature fluttering around the room without a care in the world.
"This isn't film noir, girls," Maki sighed. "Turn that thing off and turn the room lights on."
The red-haired pragmatist voiced her opinion, only for the rest to turn a deaf ear. Instead, the lamp pressed even closer to the bastard's face, drying up all his sweat and leaving traces of ill will all over. We all couldn't believe it. We finally have his back against the wall now.
"And for goodness sake, Honoka!" yelled Maki. "Stop narrating like some legendary detective!"
"Aww, you're no fun at all, Maki," Honoka replied.
"Don't be such a party pooper, Maki," Rin held the lamp steady. "This is the only time we get to use this old club room lamp, nya."
"As if his wrinkles can't get any prunier," Maki retorted. "Turn that thing off, Rin!"
Rin flicked the lamp switch off. "Okay, okay. Geez."
The red-haired pragmatist ("Oh, come on!" said Maki off-screen) slammed her hand on the table. Along with a borderline-yandere glare, she made her serious business known to the man.
"Listen here, you," Maki began. "I refuse to allow someone with questionable ethics ruin the name of Nishikino Hospital. We want answers and we want them now. What did you do to Kotori?"
Dr. Nakano chuckled in his seat, bound by rope held at both ends by Umi and Nozomi. "It's simple, really. I turned her into a Pokémon."
"We can see that," Eli replied. "We'd like to know how."
"Wouldn't you like to know," Dr. Nakano sneered at the girls. "Are you agents for Team Rocket?"
Everyone turned to the group's resident authority on Pokémon, Hanayo, who sighed. "Team Rocket is an evil organization bent on stealing others Pokémon and also conducting experiments on them,"
"You're the one to talk, criminal," Maki retorted. "Do you know who you're talking to right now?"
"You made that quite clear a few minutes ago, Ms. Nishikino," the doctor sneered.
"Then tell us how to return Kotori back to normal."
"And why should I?"
"Why should you?"
"Why backtrack to the obsolete levels of human evolution? Why desire the status quo when a better future is within our grasp? You're all fools to deny my contribution to the advancement of humanity as a whole. I merely give humans the ability to become stronger and smarter, both necessary in this changing world."
"Now you're just spouting nonsense—"
"You're school idols, right? Can you imagine performing for longer hours minus the fatigue? Don't you want to mesmerize the genre with dances once-thought impossible to the average human? You of all people must constantly adapt, lest risk growing staler than days-old bread. This power could give you all these…and more."
Needless to say, the doctor's brief speech inspired not one soul in the club room. If anything, it only inspired awkward gazes at each other because of a rationale too deep to take in. Although promises of enhanced stamina and fluid movement appeared as tempting offers, they were overshadowed.
Maki, however, heard him word for word. Her angry vein popped forth. "Your idea of evolution is to turn all of us into animals? I can't believe someone like you is working in my family's hospital!"
"What's wrong? We're ALL animals," the doctor jeered at the girls. He still had the nerve to do so. He still held all the cards.
An enraged Honoka stepped in, nearly shoving Maki. "I say let the police handle him."
"We don't exactly have a strong case against him," Umi replied. "Other than Kotori the bird, we don't have a lot of other evidence."
"Umi's right," Eli added. "The police will only laugh at our story. They may even see Kotori as a freak and apprehend her on sight."
"But we can't just let Kotori stay like this," Honoka argued.
"I hate it, too, Honoka," Umi replied. "But if we are to help Kotori, we need this man's cooperation."
Reason prevailed the moment Honoka backed off in disgust, more so when the doctor bargained for an uneasy alliance. "If you're that adamant about denying, then fine. I can make an antidote." He got their attention faster than he could drag the girls on a wild goose chase on the roof earlier.
"An antidote, nya?" Rin asked in reply.
"The formula has matured faster than I expected, but it's now showing signs of slowing down," the doctor explained. "Give me a week to create the antidote."
Every word coming out of the mad doctor's mouth may as well be total bull. But for all their anxiety in trusting such a man with saving Kotori, the girls had no say in the matter. It hit them: none of the girls knows how to fiddle with chemicals and thingamajigs. Dr. Nakano still held all of the cards, not to mention the aces hidden in his sleeves. How he would put them in play was anyone's guess.
"Why a week?" asked a begrudging Maki.
"You can't rush science, Ms. Nishikino," Dr. Nakano said. "You should be glad that the antidote won't take as much time as the formula. All I need is a strand of your friend's hair and I'll be on my way."
"After all this, why should we trust you?"
"Simple. Only I know how."
Few were fans for antagonists that made sense, and µ's as a whole weren't one of them. The girls all turned to their de facto leader, Honoka, for a decision. Eli delivered the question as the rest tuned in: "What should we do, Honoka?"
Honoka's attention darted between a sad-looking Kotori looking back at her and the doctor's smug begging for a knuckle sandwich. Then, she faced everyone, carrying perhaps the biggest decision of her life. "Kotori's our friend. We have to save her."
"And risk Love Live?!" Nico objected.
"AND risk Love Live!" Honoka yelled.
In the end, everyone knew who really won in this little powwow. "Wise decision, girls. You have my word."
Well, that was depressing.