Chapter 54: Ensemble: Trip to Suzuran City by warelander

''We're off, I'm so excited! WE'RE GOING TO SUZURAN!'' Amitie's energetic aura could be felt from even farther away.

The blonde girl waggled around excitedly in the train cabin she sat in. Next to her was her cousin Silvana, who clearly enjoyed seeing her like this. To the right of Silvana meanwhile sat Rafisol, quietly holding onto the comfort Blaffie plush she brought along for the ride.

''It's been too long since I've seen Pupuru.'' Arle mused to herself, sitting right across from her sister.

''Maybe you should try to hit her up via video chat more often?'' Silvana suggested, gritting her teeth at trying to be friendly towards Arle.

The things she did to keep peace around her little cousin.

''I should, when I have time for that, thanks Silv.''

Silvana gave an awkward thumbs up, feeling like she was dying inside. It was at that point, perhaps to distract herself from it, that she turned her attention to Rafisol. Without a word, she put a hand on her younger friend's shoulder, who jolted a little, but returned the gesture with a meek smile.

Neither of the two said anything, but a silent understanding between the girls could be felt just by looking at them. In a lot of ways, Arle had to admit she was envious of that,

It was then that she shifted to see her own companion for this trip. Sig sat right next to her, leaning next to the window frame in a relaxed manner.

''Thanks again for coming along, Sig. I'm sure our cousin and her friends will love you and Rafisol.'' She told him in an affectionate tone of voice.

''No prob. Kinda glad Lag was busy so I could jump in. Glad to hang out with you.'' He replied casually as usual, with a hint of sheepishness.

''...Wait''

All four other teens in the cabin turned their attention to Amitie, who looked confused, with an eyebrow raised and a finger on her chin, trying to be contemplative.

''So he's just busy? You and Lagnus aren't broken up?'' She asked innocently, genuinely curious and unsure.

Arle tried to downplay it, but she was rather irritated by the suggestion.

''No? We aren't. Why does everyone assume at any point that we aren't together?'' She asked in thinly veiled annoyance.

Sig and Amitie preferred to not comment further on it.

Rafisol wanted to stay quietly in her corner anyways. Making her Blaffie react to the stuff he sees on the side of the road.

Silvana had some choice words to answer Arle's questions but chose to keep them to herself. This was already going to be a long ride for her.

Two hours later, at the crowded train station of Suzuran City, the train containing the five Primp students was about to arrive. In the midst of the large crowd of people were two girls, one holding up a welcome sign in front of her and the other adjusting the ribbon on her horn.

''How do I look? I want to be presentable when your cousins and their friends arrive.''

Viri
A Curious Young Devil

The green-haired girl shifted around, looking in a small hand mirror to look herself over.

''You're looking fine, Viri, calm down. This isn't anything formal.''

Pupuru
Suzuran's Peppy Every Girl

Pupuru reached over with her hand to gently hold Viri by her arm, trying to calm her down. Viri did indeed allow herself to ease up a little, visibly cooling off.

''I know. It's just exciting to finally meet them. They've never been to visit here before.'' The winged girl explained, now fully calm.

''I do get that. Maybe you could come along next time me and the family visit Primp City.'' Pupuru suggested.

The green-haired devil bit her lip. ''I uhm, am not one for travelling, but we'll se-'' Before Viri could even finish her sentence, the announcement had come.

The train they were waiting for had arrived.

As loudly as one would expect, the train screeched on its breaks to allow its passengers to exit. It was hard for the two girls to make out anyone in particular. A single specific person to look for was sure to blend into the masses of people, almost shoving each other around while taking their leave.

Eventually, though, Pupuru spotted a familiar red beanie. Even without seeing the rest of the person it belonged to it was clear who it was.

''Amitie!'' The girl called out in excitement, tossing her welcome sign to the side without even noticing.

''Pupuru!'' The blonde responded in kind, rushing to her cousin's side.

The two girls' happiness was quickly demonstrated by cheerful shrieking that could be heard all over the train stations. All other friends and relatives involved looked quietly at the scene, happy to see such a joyful reunion.

Once the cheering toned down, Arle and Silvana took their turns to greet Pupuru, both also glad to see their cousin again.

It was at that moment that Viri caught wind that two other teens were standing right there.

''And you must be Arle, Silvana, and Amitie's friends. Nice to mee-!'' Viri suddenly froze up as she took a better look at the boy and girl in front of her.

Sig and Rafisol were equally puzzled at the reaction, though a look at her eyes made it clear she was looking at Sig.

The boy wasn't sure what would have caused that reaction, nothing was off about his appearance or at least he thought so.

Then it hit him.

She hadn't seen him before, she no doubt noticed his red hand may have freaked her out. He's just so used to interacting with people who know about his hand it didn't cross his mind.

Uncomfortable to have made someone feel uneasy like this, he struggled to find the words to explain himself.

''It's…uhm, not tha-''

''Oh! Hi there too! Nice to meet'cha-...!'' Pupuru cut Sig off, only to end up with the exact same reaction as her green-haired devil friend.

Now THAT didn't do anything to make him feel any better about it.

This time, the Nadja and Rose cousins also took note of the Suzuran girls' reactions and had a similar thought.

''It's nothing to be worried about, it's not infectious and he's not a criminal either. He's fine.'' Silvana clarified, snapping the two girls out of their funk.

''Huh? Oh! No, it's fine, I'm sorry! Nice to meet you, I'm Pupuru!''

''I'm Viri Princess, just call me Viri though! Also so sorry about that!''

Both girls took Sig's red claw-like hand and shook it with two of their own, trying to overcompensate for their conduct just now.

''...I'm Sig… and it's fine.'' The blue-haired, red-armed boy told them. Just wanting for the awkwardness of the moment to pass.

Luckily for him, the girls understood, letting go of him to greet Rafisol now, only to shake her Blaffie's paws instead.

Not that Rafisol minded though.

''Weeeeell anyways. Any idea of where we wanna go?'' Arle attempted to steer things into a different direction. Clearly the wisest choice, as Pupuru perked up immediately.

''Yes! We already reserved a spot at our Smile Curry, let's go!''

And with that, Arle and Silvana were instantly won over, the thought of some good curry being very alluring indeed.

Without any more need for words, Arle, Silvana, and Pupuru stormed off in their equal hunger for curry, forcing Amitie, Sig, Rafisol and, Viri to give chase.

They sure were cousins alright.

Meanwhile, at Smile Curry sat a pink-haired girl and a boy with blue hair, both waiting, counting the minutes until their friends would arrive.

The boy stared at his phone for a brief moment before turning to the girl next to him, who was glancing over the menu cards.

''Think they're gonna be here soon?'' The male teen asked, getting the attention of his friend.

''Shouldn't take long. The moment Pupuru remembers we're gonna have curry, she'll storm here before you know it.''

''Heh, true.'' The boy said with a grin, one that was shared by his friend, they both knew her all too well.

''Gonna go to the bathroom real quick before they're here. Won't be long.'' The blue-haired lad got off his seat, with the girl giving him a quick goodbye wave.

Before the pink-haired lass could even resume glancing over the menu to pass some time, she already heard a group of fast footsteps approaching. There was no doubt who that could be.

Indeed, a very familiar girl led a group of mostly human teenagers into the restaurant, stopping close to her table.

''Here we are! The best curry restaurant in the entire city!'' Pupuru proudly presented, taking some time to get out of her curry fever to look at her friend at the table.

''Hey there!'' The taller girl at the table waved at Pupuru.

Lilica
Book-Reading Bosom Buddy

''Lilica!'' The shorter girl's face beamed in excitement of reuniting with the pink-haired lass.

The rest of the group was quick to enter the scene as well, Sig, Rafisol, Amitie, and Viri were not quite as fast as the curry radar cousins, but they were there.

And gasping for air from all the running, which was not lost on the other girls.

''Whoops! Sorry about that!'' Arle rubbed the back of her head in slight embarrassment.

Silvana went to check on Rafisol, who gave her a look that just screamed ''I'm fine, but never do that again.'' While the others kept panting to themselves. Silvana promised.

Lilica couldn't help but to chuckle a little, she could picture her friend storming ahead well enough.

''Glad to finally meet you all. My name's Lilica and I've been friends with Pupuru since childhood.'' She introduced herself in a proper manner, just shy of taking a little bow. "It's nice meeting you all since we've kept missing each other all this time."

''Heh, yeah… Howdy! The name's Arle! I'm Pupuru's cousin.''

''I'm Silvana. Her other cousin.''

''Amitie! Cousin number two! Because these two are twins~'' Amitie pulled Arle and Silvana together by the shoulders without warning.

''...Rafisol.''

Sig hesitated a little to step forward. He had a hunch what was probably gonna happen. Viri took note of this and, still feeling bad for earlier, gently took him by his arm to get him to move forward along with her.

Lilica was visibly surprised when finally getting a proper look at the boy, though Viri gave her subtle signals to snap out of that and greet him properly. With a gentle smile, she extended her hand to Sig, not acting weird or surprised anymore like Sig feared.

Progress.

''I'm Sig. Glad to meet you.'' He said, genuinely grateful to have a normal introduction this time.

''Likewise! Sorry for being a bit surprised. You just re-''

''Hey guys. Everyone here?''

Suddenly, the voice of another boy entered the scene. Everyone turned to see him. Pupuru, Lilica, and Viri not phased at all, but looked to gauge the Primp teens' reactions and indeed, all of them couldn't believe what they saw. (Except for Rafisol, she did not care, but pretended her Blaffie did.)

Gis
What up, bitches?

The very familiar looking boy looked around, seeing what probably were Pupuru's cousins and some friends.

Nothing out of the ordinary to him. Plenty nice looking girls and….a boy that looked just like him.

Equally mesmerized, the two boys stepped towards each other, hardly believing what they saw. They had different outfits and one had wilder and darker hair than the other, but beyond that, they were nearly identical. Both even had the same red-colored anomalies, though flipped in what side they are.

''Huh. That's surprising.'' Gis said openly interested, putting a hand on his hip.

''Really is.'' Sig agreed.

''So that's why you reacted like this.'' Silvana figured.

All of the Suzuran girls nodded.

''Yeah, we weren't disgusted if you were worried about that. And hey, look at it like this.'' Pupuru walked up to the boys, particularly her own half of the combo. ''If one of you breaks you got spare parts to borrow from each other.'' Pupuru tried to lighten up the mood.

The sentiment came across, even if it didn't bring much laughter out. The Suzuran boy calmly looked at his Primp counterpart, who looked more relaxed about it himself.

''I'm Gis. Lookin' good.'' He said casually while giving off a complimentary aura.

''And I'm Sig. Hey there.'' Sig reached out his normal hand, which Gis returned… when he made Sig shake with his red hand so Gis could shake it with his red hand. They couldn't see it, but they knew the other smiled on the inside.

All the girls went to give their greetings to Gis and soon after they were gathered on their shared table, ready to dig into the restaurant's famed Curry Special.

Arle, Pupuru and Silvana wasted no time getting to it, practically zoning out as if they were collectively on cloud nine.

''They're family alright.'' Lilica thought to herself with a small giggle, before turning to Amitie and Rafisol, who were on the other side of the table.

''Pupuru mentions you a lot Amitie. Nice to finally see you.''

''Aww, same~ I always wanted to meet you guys too!''

Rafisol didn't say anything, preferring to secure her Blaffie was shielded from any possible curry droppings.

''I heard of you as well, Rafisol.''

The quiet girl suddenly felt herself almost jump off her seat. She really wasn't sure what to make of that.

''...You did?'' She meekly asked.

''Pupuru mentioned that Silvana talks about you a lot, like, a LOT a lot.''

Rafisol felt her face heat up drastically, though she did make some attempt to hide it, whether she succeeded or not was up to interpretation.

Next to her sat Sig, who looked around uncertain if he should say it, but at this point, he may as well.

''Did Arle…or anyone else mention me.?'' He innocently asked.

''I don't think I ever heard of one of them mentioning you. Sorry.'' Lilica gave him an apologetic look, trying to let him down gently.

''Ah.'' Sig tried to come off as nonchalant about it, but was clearly a little disappointed.

''You alright?''

Sig found himself looking at Gis, who sat across the other side of the table.

''I'm fine.'' He tried to brush it off as quickly as possible.

Now instead, he was once again drawn to how much he and the other boy looked alike.

''Y'know. Never thought someone else has this too.'' Sig raised his red arm to emphasize what he meant.

''Same. Kinda cool though. Makes me feel not alone about it.'' Gis openly admitted.

Sig responded with a nod. He didn't even think of that, but it made sense.

''Yeah. Not alone.'' He echoed the sentiment, a warmth building up inside of him, a surprising sense of comfort.

''And I don't mind either. You two are both total dreamboats~'' Viri gushed out loud, her hands together in an adoring motion.

Sig's eyes widened and Rafisol and Amitie also gave some very surprised looks.

Arle, Pupuru, and Silvana were too busy with their curry to notice.

''Don't think too much about it. She means it well, just not like that.'' Lilica explained, still vague, but the nod from Gis confirmed at least he knew what it meant.

Viri for her part kept grinning, seemingly not even noticing what she said and how everyone reacted.

The rest of the meal went without any big happenings. Curry was eaten and nice conversations were had. After a point, even Arle, Silvana, and Pupuru escaped their curry trance to join in.

Before any of them even knew it, they were already standing back on the train station in the afternoon.

''I really wish you could stay for at least a whole day.'' Pupuru lamented.

''I know! We never see each other! …Stupid school'' Amitie muttered as if she needed more reasons to find school draining.

Silvana stepped closer to her shorter out-of-town cousin, ready to embrace her.

''You can all come visit us too, y'know. I'm sure you'd like Primp.'' She said, hugging Pupuru, equally sad that they had to part again already.

''Silv's right, you can come any time.'' Arle agreed.

''I'd really love to~'' Lilica was happy to consider the offer.

Viri silently nodded in support of her friend.

Now was time for the teens to exchange their goodbyes. Many handshakes and hugs were to be had, though Rafisol preferred to let her Blaffie do the shaking yet again.

Gis approached Sig, showing his phone screen. Displayed on it was his contact info.

''Take a pic to stay in contact. Just in case you wanna.'' He told him, but without wanting to give the impression he wanted to force it onto him.

Thankfully, Sig was receptive to it. He instead just typed the phone number in right away and started typing some more. Suddenly, Gis felt his own phone vibrating. It was from a new number.

''Here's my number.''

The boys gave each other a mutual grin. There was a silent understanding they both wanted this.

Before he could even look, Sig was also quickly greeted with a card just out of his sight. Another phone number with doodled on hearts and clovers surrounding it.

''We can also talk anytime if you want~'' Viri had her arms behind her back, with a wide grin on her face.

Sig looked over to Gis, remembering Lilica's advice to not think much of it. Smiling, he gave her a thankful gesture and saved her number too.

And with that, the Primp teens gave their final goodbye waves as they boarded the train back to their home city.

Pupuru, Lilica, Gis, and Viri waved goodbye right back and remained at the station to watch the train leave their line of sight.

All four of them exchanged looks, thinking the same thing.

Their next meeting could not come soon enough.

Authors' Notes:

HUSK: The temp title of this chapter was: Gis time at last baybeeh. He's been a long time coming. He's the product of pretending mirrored Sig sprites are a different character.

WARE: This was something we have been looking forward to for a long time. Not just the introduction of Gis, but also bringing in Suzuran, Pupuru & Lilica from Sorcery Saga, and Viri from Puyo Puyo Quest Arcade. We have not seen the last of them and I am excited to finally have them in the fic.