Duran-kun and Kiyo-chan's Omake Theater!
(featuring the Sugiura family pet)
The stunning red-haired beauty looked out at the scene of chaos. In her soul she could feel the screams of the people, their desperate pleas for salvation rising on the cold autumn wind.
"When evil oppresses the land and causes the human spirit to shrink back in terror..."
She stepped forward boldly in dynamic pose.
"A beautiful maiden appears with a fighting spirit in her heart! For love, justice, and friendship she will do what no other will dare! She is—the HiME of Wind, Midori Sugiura!"
The eyes of the multitude stare up, a desperate hope long thought snuffed out kindled anew in their depths.
"Though the foe is great, it cannot prevail against the steely claws of—Gakuten O!"
Silence reigned for a good twenty seconds except for dry, withered leaves rustling in the breeze.
"Here, boy," Midori sighed. Gakuten O lifted his needle-like head away from an interesting gopher hole and obediently trotted over to his mistress's side. She scratched him behind the base of his long, whip-like crest, then resumed her pose.
"The ground shakes as his wheels rush past—Gakuten O!"
She thrust her hand out before her. Now on cue, Gakuten O launched himself off the porch, his haunches and hind legs transforming into a chariot-like structure. It was too bad, Midori thought, that the CHILD was no longer at his original size, especially on mornings when she was late to work, though he at least could be a champion of justice spreading happiness by giving the neighborhood children rides.
Now, though, he rushed directly into battle with the forces of evil once again, eyes blazing with the desire to overcome his foe.
Silver and gold shine in the sunlight, a brilliant light that drives the shadows from the people's spirits!
Midori thrust her hand outward.
"Sweep them all from your path! Tornado!"
Gakuten O stopped in his tracks and leaned to his left so that his right wheel was raised slightly off the ground. It began to spin freely, whirring at fantastic speed, and blasted forth a swirling cannon of wind. Using his left wheel as a pivot, Gakuten O spun in an arc, whipping the high-pressure windstream across the yard to cover the full arc.
"Another triumph for the champions of justice, the HiME of Wind and Gakuten O!"
Behind Midori, the screen door squeaked on its hinges as Youko came out to see what was going on. The nurse still wore her bathrobe and fuzzy slippers, with a mug of coffee in her hand that had the silhouette of a shapely girl and the legend, "Chemists always get a reaction."
"Geez, Midori, what's all the racket?"
Bleary eyes surveyed the situation. She could see every square inch of the crisped brown grass the first frosts had left of her front lawn. To all sides of it, strewn across her northerly neighbor's driveway, out in the street, and in her southerly neighbor's yard, was a definite arc-shape of dead leaves that had been forcibly evicted from Youko's property. She surveyed the damage, took a deep breath, picked the morning paper off the front stoop, and nailed Midori over the head with it.
"Ow!"
"I know you agreed to help out with the household chores in exchange for me letting you stay here while you're apartment-hunting," Youko said, "but getting me in bad with the neighborhood association doesn't count as help."
"Geez, Youko, I—"
"There's a rake and garbage bags in the garage."
She turned around and went back into the house.
Midori looked at Gakuten O, then pumped her fist in the air.
"As one enemy falls, another reveals itself! The work of a champion of justice is never done! Onward to our next challenge, Gakuten O!"
~X X X~
A/N: I admit it; I love the official romanization of Midori's CHILD's name; given that he's part lion, part chariot, and part thing-with-pointy-beak...and flies!...a wacky spelling just suits him!