R-DAY PLUS 9
"Prepare for Trouble…"
The first step has to be a strong one. A simple show of Leafage will be able to provide enough cover for µ's to get into position. Once done, break the Leafage curtain and proceed with the number. Weave through the formation as it changes. At chorus, Kotori will fly above the formation and use Razor Leaf to cut the large confetti pieces falling to the stage. Continue to perform under a rain of minced confetti while Kotori performs a few neat flying tricks. End the number with Kotori throwing leaves across the stage and perch on the center's arm.
An elaborate plan, to say the least, but Murphy's Law always makes sure that no plan survives first contact intact. If anything, the plan to make the most out of what a Pokemonized Kotori can provide ends up doing more harm than good. Let µ's count the ways.
"It ruined my perfect training plan," Umi held what's left of her colored charts.
"It tore my brand new skirt, nyaaa," Rin showed her skirt peppered with tears.
"It cut my ponytail in half," Honoka shoved her lock of hair at Umi's face.
Everyone knew what's on Nico's mind following a well-placed Tackle in the gut.
Maki couldn't have summed up the situation any better. "This is getting us nowhere. We've been at this for four whole days now. I think it's about time to rethink our strategy."
"I hate to admit it," Eli said, heavy with regret. "But Maki's right. This isn't working…at all."
Wincing from the pain, Nico gave the girls the nasty piece of her mind. "Whose idea was it to try this hot mess, anyway?!"
All eyes were on Honoka, mourning the loss of some of her hair. "Don't look at me right now. I must grieve."
"You're overreacting, Honoka," Umi sighed. "You can barely notice the difference. Your hair's fine—"
"A girl's hair is her life, Umi! You should know that!" Honoka exclaimed.
"As I said, you're overreacting."
"Easy for you to say. You don't even need a ponytail."
"If you're that worried, then allow me to shave your head."
"Don't make this worse than it already is!"
Four precious days of polishing their existing choreography went down the drain. Never have the girls experienced this kind of time crunch since the making of Snow Halation. With the exception of Kotori's trainer, Hanayo, µ's started rethinking their strategy in the most chaotic argument since the making of Snow Halation.
They all had high hopes for this plan, one that wouldn't force Kotori to sit the live show out. After a closer look at Kotori's state, however, a more pressing matter came to mind.
"Kotori's looking less and less with each passing day," Nozomi broke the useless exchange of rants in a calm tone.
The gradual transformation continued with Kotori's human head sporting a stubby beak in place of her lips. In between the beak, her eyes shifted places. Her arms and legs shrank to accommodate the roundness that Hanayo loved a tad too much. From a full-sized high school girl, she shrank enough to perch on one's arm or head. And even that did little to appeal to the girls, especially her trainer.
"Will we…will we ever get our Kotori back?" Hanayo asked.
"Only the 'good' doctor can answer that," Maki replied. "But I wouldn't be surprised if he decides to stall on purpose to watch his so-called 'evolution.'"
"Enough with the negativity, already," Nico shouted. "I hate him, too. But he's the only one who can turn her back to normal."
It was supposed to be a flu shot. A simple flu shot. How could something like that go so wrong?
"Let's not dwell on that for now and focus on practice instead," Eli smiled despite wavering morale. "Kotori would be sad if we wasted our time arguing."
With a heavy heart, the girls readied for another run. Before making the first steps, however, Maki's pocket shook with the alert of one new message. Not one to miss an important text, she took out her phone. "Just a minute."
The message, literally, was just what the doctor ordered. "H-Huh?! The antidote's ready?!"
~O~
Practice continued well into the sunset but without Maki, Umi, and Kotori. The cure beckoned them to the hospital with haste, leaving the rest to put the finishing touches on their number. Umi carried Kotori with her head held high as the girls walked out of the school grounds. But a weary Maki went with her, much to Umi's concern.
"Is something wrong, Maki?" Umi asked.
Maki stopped short of the gate. "I don't like this. He said he'd have the antidote ready in a week. He's probably playing us for fools."
"Maybe he finished early?" Umi replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if he had a lab behind his clinic. He probably had everything he needed there."
"Point taken," Maki sighed. "But I still think something's fishy here."
"Why don't we hope that things will turn out for the better?"
"And if it doesn't?"
Umi returned a smile with Kotori. "Rinse and repeat," after which they headed out.
A faint hope tingled inside the cautious Maki. Not enough to change her mind, but enough to look at things from another point of view. Like a loyal wingman, she followed Umi all the way to the minute this crazy rollercoaster ride ends.
Not even the dead of night stopped the girls from paying the doctor a visit. His clinic remained the only lit window in the building's many floors. For some reason, he found solace in being the sole clinic open after hours, let alone the only open clinic on the top floor. Before long, he was now face-to-face with the girls in a tense atmosphere swirling around them. The girls kept their eyes on the doctor, especially when the latter put a pair of filled vials on the desk. The funky red hue on one vial and blue on another put the girls on edge. What kind of a pharmacist formulates drugs with vibrant colors, let alone ones for turning Pokemonized people back to normal?
After a while, he puts a third vial—clear as water—between the two. The doctor invites the girls to a game, to the latter's confusion. "Just a simple game, ladies. Pick which of the three is the antidote."
"We didn't come to play, doc," Maki said in indignation. "We came to help our friend. Now give her the antidote."
"Such temper, Ms. Nishikino," the doctor chuckled. "I only want to lighten up the mood."
Maki played her good hand too soon. "I know you're just buying time so you can watch Kotori fully evolve into whatever. And by that time, it would be too late to save her."
The girls found the doctor's calm reply, much less the long pause, unsettling. "If that's the case, then why would I go through the trouble of making an antidote? I could choose not to. It would've saved me so much time."
"My, aren't we cheeky?"
"It comes with the job. Now, choose."
"It still doesn't explain why we have to choose."
Between the two vials with the funky colors and the third normal-looking vial, common sense drew them closer to the latter. A closer look at the labels, however, decided things.
"Flu vaccine?" said Umi.
"This is no antidote," said Maki.
Then, the door behind them burst in anger, and a band of thugs poured into the room. In pairs, they restrained Umi—still holding Kotori—and Maki, now forced to watch two syringes fill up with red and blue vaccines. If the color of their hair was any indication, the vaccines were meant for them. A startling realization set in: they were about to become freaks of nature themselves.
And in doing so, the thugs would get their revenge. "Missed me?" said one with a face full of rings.
"You?" a surprised Umi recognized the familiar face. "What's going on?"
"I know," said a begrudging Maki. "It's a trap. There's no antidote."
Struggle as they might, the girls have no hope of breaking out of two locking pairs of arms. On top of that, a grimacing mad scientist approached them with two full syringes. "Don't take this against me, ladies. Think of it as your contribution to the advancement of science."
Umi's attempts to break free remained futile. "You won't get away with this!"
"Try to stay still. It'll all be over soon."
The needle loomed toward Umi's neck. Maki, unable to break free, could only watch a fellow school idol helplessly. Fortunately, Umi wouldn't go down without a fight.
At the last minute, she loosened up enough for Kotori to fly away, although not enough to break free entirely. In the process, the doctor stood at the receiving end of Kotori's Tackle, nearly knocking the syringes out of his hand. Regardless, with four of the doctor's lackeys holding her friends hostage, further resistance was pointless.
"Kotori! Find Honoka—" Umi yelled, seconds before the thugs knocked her and Maki out.
No time for hesitation. As the doctor reeled from a Tackle to the face, Kotori tackled her way out the window. Glass shards flew with her into the night sky, aware as to where she needed to go.