The story starts off with in Tochiman Inn, where Chika is seen sleeping while mumbling stuff in her sleep.
"Mmm...more...mikan please.."
Suddenly, the door to Chika's room slides open, revealing a figure hiding in the shadows. The figure slowly walks towards the sleeping Chika and walks towards the bottom of her bed. Then, in an instant, it jumps up on the bed and reveals You, who starts to beat her up while sleeping. The poor girl couldn't do anything but block and scream as the punches kept coming. Mito, woken from the noise, comes into Chika's room with an annoyed expression.
"Geez, Chika, it's 2 in the morning and I'm trying to-" Mito scolded her sister, but stopped and gasped when she sees her being attacked by the sleeping You.
"You-chan?!" She yelled, alarmed at the situation. "What are you doing?! Get off of her!"
Mito ran over to try and stop the beatdown, but ended up being punched in the face, knocking her down to the floor. Upon recovering, she sees You coming down on her with her fist raised. Using reflexes, she moved out of the way before the fist could hit her. The two sisters then grabbed on You's arms to restrain her.
"You-chan, wake up!" Chika called out to her sleeping friend, but was punched in the stomach when her arm was free, knocking her down.
"Come on, You-chan! Snap out of this!" Mito tried to shake You awake, but was headbutted on the head and Judo thrown onto Chika.
With a thud, the strength of the throw made Mito land hard on her younger sister, the latter groaning in pain. Suddenly, the two turned their heads to the sleeping You, who was charging at the two while yelling. The sisters hugged each other and scream as things cut to black.
In the morning, Dia is seen heading towards the school idol club room. As she puts her hand near the door, she hears the girls talking.
"I'm telling you, I don't know what happened!"
"Yeah, sure you don't. It's probably just a dumb prank."
Dia turns the knob and opens the door, to see all of the girls, except for You, with casts, bandages, and some with black eyes.
"It's not a prank, I swear!" You tried to tell her friends, but that didn't change their mood.
"Yeah, well, I got a few bruises ribs because of you!" Kanan spoke out angrily.
"You wouldn't stop hitting me until I pretended I was dead." Riko said and then shuddered.
"You ripped all my books, zura!" Hanamaru said as well while angrily holding one of the destroyed books.
"How did you even get in my house?!" Mari asked, confused and upset.
"I don't know. I'm sorry, guys. I didn't mean too." You apologized to her friends.
Just then, Dia spoke out and asked in a serious tone "What's going in here?"
"You-chan beat us up in her sleep last night" Chika turned to Dia while pointing at her friend.
"It's true, onee-chan." Ruby told her sister and then pointed at her bruised face. "Look what she did to me."
"I wouldn't do that! I hate senseless violence!" You tried to defend herself, but the others just glared at her. "I seriously can't remember fighting you guys. Honest!
"At this rate, we're all gonna end up in the hospital" Yoshiko said in serious tone of voice. "We've gotta do something."
"I'm sorry. We?" Dia questioned with her eyebrow raised.
"Yoshiko's right" Chika agreed "This is an Aquors problem. Everyone's gotta be on board!"
Instead of helping, Dia crossed her arms and didn't seem as if she wanted to help.
"Buu buu desu wa! Sorry, girls, but this is your problem so it's up to you to figure this out" She told the others, but this only angered them.
"Seriously?! That's your response?!" Kanan shouted in disagreement.
"Come on, onee-chan. You can't just leave us to deal with this." Ruby tried to convince her sister, but she didn't listen.
"I can, and I will. Now if you'll excuse, I have important business to attend do." Dia then leaves the room, leave the girls to still be upset.
"She's gonna get what's coming to her, zura" Hanamaru uttered as some of the others agreed with her, with You being horrified at the thought of hurting another one of her friends.
Later at night, Dia is seen sleeping in her bedroom peacefully. Unfortunately for her, that peacefulness would soon be broken when You, who is gone another sleep fighting frenzy, kicks opens her room door and charges at her while yelling. The student council president would slowly wake up from the noise, and doesn't have time to react when a fist is seen coming full force towards her face. She gasps as it would go to black again.
In the morning, Dia is seen with a black eye and some bandages on her face, while the others have even more bruises.
"OK, I stand corrected. This is an Aquors problem." Dia admitted.
"Yeah it is. Mari-chan lost two teeth last night." Chika said as she pointed to Mari, who is shown to have two front teeth missing as she speaks.
"I still don't know how she got in my house."
"And I refuse to go to sleep until someone helps my barricade my door." Yoshiko said, crossing her arms.
"You're not seriously gonna go through with it, are you?" Riko asked reluctantly.
"Hey, it's better than being in a hospital, that's for sure." Yoshiko argued back, with Ruby and Hanamaru sighing in disbelief.
"I-I'm really sorry, guys." You apologized, feeling guilty for what she did. " It's not like I want to hurt you guys."
"Well, it's obvious you can't control yourself when this happens." Dia pointed out.
"From what we can see, your sleep strenght is double, or even triple your normal strength. None of of us are safe at this rate, so all we need to do is take this situation head on." Kanan explained to You, who seemed skeptical by this.
"But what if this doesn't work. I don't want to be a sleep fighting freak for the of my life." You said worriedly, but the others were there to support her.
"You're not, You-chan. We'll make sure you never sleep fight ever again. Even if it takes forever." Chika told her friend, with the others talking in agreement.
With everyone willing to help, You smiled, feeling grateful.
"Thanks, everyone. You guys are the best."
At night, the girls are at Tochiman Inn, where You is seen tied up with rope on Chika's bed and a walkie-talkie next to the nightstand. Then, Dia's voice speaks through the walkie-talkie.
"You-san, can your hear me?"
"Loud and clear, Dia-chan." You responds back.
We then see that Dia is in a white van with the other girls, looking at some monitors.
"Good. Now we can get start-" Dia was starting to say before interrupted.
"Wait! "I understand the ropes, but what about the cameras. Nothing weird's happening, right? You questioned, feeling unsure.
"Relax. We're doing this to sleep." Dia assured You.
"We think your sleep fighting is being caused by nightmares." Riko explained.
"Right now, we're gonna figure out what you're dreaming about so we can cure you." Kanan finished.
"OK, but...but what if end up breaking out and hurting you guys again?" You asked, worried about the safety of her friends.
"Don't worry. I barricaded the door." Chika explained. "Plus, you'd have to get through Yoshiko and she's wearing an old attack suit."
Yoshiko is on the other side of the room, flexing with the attack suit while grunting.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!"
"There's no way you can get to us!" Chika yelled into the walkie-talkie with confidence, which seemed ease You's worries.
Dia then spoke. "OK, we'll get started in 3, 2, 1."
At 1, soft, lullaby-like music plays from the walkie-talkie.
"What is this st-" You began to question, but immediately fell asleep.
Then, the girls take turns watching over You. As Dia and Hanamaru the other girls sleep, while Chika and Yoshiko are seen outside, the former chasing the latter around with a bat and hitting her with it to test the suit. Kanan watches, then Mari, then Ruby, etc. Finally, Riko is watching while all the others are sleeping, but she notices something on the monitor that makes her turn to the others.
"Girls, wake up" Riko whispered to the sleeping girls. At Riko's voice, they all slowly wake up.
"Huh..? What it is, Riko-san?" Dia asked her, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"Over here. I think You-chan's dreaming" Riko said, making the other girls to look and see what she's talking about. What they see now is You struggling her sleep.
"Turn up the volume" Kanan instructs Riko, to which she does, giving the girls a listen on what You's saying.
"N-no! Get off me! Get the hell off!" You yells in her sleep, still struggling.
"What's she dreaming about-zura?" Hanamaru asks as she keeps watching.
"Whatever it is, it's intense" Mari utters.
As the girls watching, Ruby gets worried and turns to the others
"G-Girls, I don't want to worry any of you, b-but You-chan's not gonna break free from those ropes, right?"
Chika simply chuckles "Oh, don't worry, Ruby-chan. You's strong, but she's not that strong. There's no way she'll escape."
Unfortunately for Chika, her statement seems to be proven wrong. In her sleep struggle, You puts all of her strength into escaping, which actually starts to break the ropes. Eventually, with a yell, she somehow breaks free.
"Uuuuuhhhh...maybe I was wrong..." Chika said worried as looks back at the monitor.
"You think?" Yoshiko questions sarcastically.
Back with You, who is now gone on another sleep fighting rampage. She gets off the bed and starts destroying the cameras.
"I'MMA TURN YOUR FACE INTO A SQUASHED TOMATO!" You screams as she throws a camera at another one on the wall, causing it to go static. The girls can only watch in surprise and shock as one-by-one, each camera is destroyed by the attacks of the sleeping You. All of the screen of the monitor are now static, except for one, which flicks on and off between static and normal.
"Girls, look" Mari points to the flickering camera, which is moving in random directions.
"Where Yo-" Riko started to ask, but a loud bang stops and scares her as well as the other girls.
They look towards the direction Tochiman Inn, where the girls see two things: Chika's room door busted down and most importantly, You, still in sleep-fighting mode, making her way towards the van.
"You're on, Yoshiko" Chika looks at Yoshiko, who is visibly frightened.
"Guys, wait, I change my mind! Don't make me-" Yoshiko tries to back out, but without warning, Chika pushes her out and locks the van door.
"You guys, let me in!" Yoshiko banged on the door, and seeing You still advancing towards her only freaked her out even more. "PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, LET ME-" She was then interrupted by You grabbing her the back of the suit, dragging her close, and going to town on her.
The rest of the girls watch from the van as the brutal beat down happens. They can all hear and see You's hard hit connecting to Yoshiko's body and face as the latter screams in fear and pain.
"NOT THE FACE!"
"We're sorry, Yoshiko." Chika apologized to her still-being-beat-up friend as she shielded her eyes away.
"THE SUIT'S NOT WORKING!"
As the beatdown continues, the attack suit gets torn off and thrown at the van. As much as the the girls want to help their friend, they're all equally afraid of getting tangled into another sleep beating.
In the morning, the girls are all back at Tochiman Inn. Yoshiko is laying on the couch, dazed and in a lot of pain from last night's beating. She holds an ice pack to close to her head to ease the pain.
"Hey, sorry that had to happen to you, zura." Hanamaru comforted the beaten up blue-haired, but then smiled, trying to be optimistic. "But, at least you're still alive"
She only received a pained groan from her. Meanwhile, the other girls are discussing different methods.
"OK, so that failed horribly." Chika stated the obvious, looking at the other girls. "Any got a Plan B?"
"Plan B is to say Bye-Bye, You Watanabe"
All of the girls, except Yoshiko, turned their heads to You's voice, where they see her holding two bags.
"Y-You-chan, what are you doing?" Chika asked worriedly, looking at the bags in her friend's hand.
You sighed, feeling a pit in her stomach as she delivers the news. "I'm sorry, but I can't stand seeing you guys hurt, especially by me, so I'm leaving forever. I don't know where, but I know it'll be somewhere far away.."
The girls are shocked at the news. They all stand up and try to convince to You to change her mind. Even Yoshiko, despite her pain, tried to help if she didn't stand up.
"You-san, please, you can't give up!"
"This can't be how it ends!"
"Let us help you!"
"We just started!"
"GUYS!" You shouted out in frustration, silencing everyone. She sighed again, calming down before speaking again.
"Look, I'm sorry, I really am, but I can't do this, Ok. We've tried, but failed, and I'm not gonna risk the safety of my friends and family anymore."
"You-chan..." Chika uttered in sadness, looking close to tears.
"Goodbye, girls. I love you all."
You turns and make her way towards the words. The girls all know the minute You leaves, it's over. She's never gonna change her mind and this seems to the end...but then...
"You guys!"
The girls turn their attention to the voice, which is seen to be Riko coming out of Chika's room with some news.
"What's going on, Riko?" Kanan asked her.
"I was checking out the footage from last night and...well, you all have to see this"
It cuts to Chika's laptop screen, where instead is a video of an ostrich kicking a guy in the nads and falling over. The girls, except for Riko and You, laugh the non-serious footage.
"Ok, Chika-chan. You showed us your funny video, now do you mind moving so I can show what I was talking about?" Riko spoke in annoyance, but Chika didn't seem to listen.
"Hold on! Just one more video! It's a good one!" She pleaded, which only annoyed Riko even more.
Seeing that her friend wasn't gonna budge, she gave her a hard death glare with one of her hands balled into a lightly shaking fist.
"Chika-chan...move...now."
"O-Ok.." Terrified, Chika puts her hands up in surrender and moved out the way. Riko went in and show the footage, which is being rewound weirdly.
"Uhhh...I don't think rewound footage is supposed to look like that." Yoshiko said in uneasy tone.
"Must be a technical glitch." Kanan guessed as she tried to get a good look.
Dia was getting a good look, but had a gut feeling something was off. "No. I don't think so." She then turned to Riko. "Riko-san, try to zoom in for us."
Riko nodded and zoom in to You's face, it full of terror as sweat is seen on it.
"Wait. What's that? Off You-chan's sweat?" Chika asked, pointing to one of You's sweatdrops.
"Hold on." Riko zoomed into the sweatdrops to get a better look. We see three unknown pixalated creatures. This makes Riko enhance the resolutions, and the girls all get to see what they are.
The creatures are shown to be small, cute looking aliens with smiles on their faces. Despite their cuteness, the girls can't help, but feel disturbed.
"Freaky"
"Oh my.."
"W-What are those things?" Ruby asked in fear.
"The camera must've picked up some remnets of her dreams." Kanan answered as the other looked at You, who looked terrified.
"Do you recognize these things, You-chan?" Dia questioned her, making her even more terrified, but she decided it's best not to keep her feelings bottled up.
"Y-Yeah.." She said with a sigh before continuing. "It was long time ago."
(One story later cuz I'm lazy lol. In short, You babysat a baby who liked a show named the Huggstables, creatures who like to hug people until they plode into glitter. The show left You traumatized, hence why she's a sleep fighter)
"It was awful. Everytime I tried to change the show, the baby would start crying. So, I had to endure it all." You started to explain, disturbance in her voice. "All eight seasons. 257 episodes, back-to-back. By the time the parents came home, I was reduced to nothing, but a crying mess in a shape of a curled-up ball..."
"Oh, jeez. You-chan, I didn't know It was that bad." Chika said, feeling bad for what her friend had to endure.
"That must be what's causing your nightmares, zura." Hanamaru theoried as she rubbed her chin, figuring out the problem.
"B-But how do I get them all out of my head?! I can't keep living like this!" You panicked, but luckily for her, Kanan had an idea.
She turned to Mari and asked her something. "Hey, Mari. You still have that dream catcher I let you borrow when you had those dancing pineapple dreams?"
"Oh, yeah, I do!" She told her with a smile on her face. "They sing now, so it's not as bad."
"OK. I have a plan. Everyone follow me."
It then cuts to the girls in the living room of Tochiman Inn, holding a huge dream catcher big enough for everyone to hold on. To the left of them and the only one not holding on was You, who is sleeping and tied up.
"Ok, girls. When I give the word, tilt the dream catcher towards You to draw our her nightmares." Kanan instructs the other girls.
"How nice!" Mari exclaimed in excitement before whispering to Riko. "I usually miss this part since I'm asleep."
We then a look inside You's dream, where she is seen in a nursery-like environment.
"Hello?" She called out as she began exploring the place. "Anyone here? Where am I?"
Just then, the sound of a door jiggling snaps You out of her thoughts. She look to said door and when it opens, she sees the very thing she fears the most: A Huggstabble.
"Oh god no.." You utter in fear, backing away slightly.
"Do you want a hug?" The Huggstabble asked her before turning to the door and calling some other people. "Come on, fwiends! She wants a hug!"
With that, more Huggstables come out and make their way their way towards You. Without a second to waste, she runs away from them, but doesn't get far. Two Huggstables tackled her to a hugs as other surround her.
"NO! GET OFF ME, YOU FREAKS!" You cried out in terror, but that didn't stop the onslaught of Huggstables coming.
Back in the real world, You is now freaking out, thrashing around and screaming in panic and desperation.
"She looks like she's in pain.." Ruby looked at her friend's frantic movement in sadness, feeling bad.
"DO IT NOW, GUYS!" Kanan shouted. At her word, the girls tilt the dream catcher towards You.
A pink light makes it's way towards You as the dream catcher is still facing her. Once the pink light hits her, not only does she calm down, but the Huggstables start to come out of her body and into the catcher.
"It's working!" Yoshiko cheered as more and more Huggstables got sucked into the catcher.
But, there's a problem. There seem to be to many Huggstables for the dream catcher to handle. As the Huggstables keep coming, some of them don't go into dream catcher.
"Why are there so many?!" Kanan asked, struggling with the amount of Huggstables.
"She watched 8 seasons worth, remember?" Chika reminded her.
More and more Huggstables came out of our You's mind and into the dream catcher, the catcher itself struggling to keep up with the amount coming up. But, just as things couldn't get worse, the dream catcher finally gives way, leaving many Huggstables free.
"Aw crap..." Kanan cursed under her breath, realising her plan failed.
It was then that the Huggstables started to making their way to the girls, giggling with their arms open. With determination, however, the girls decided to fight back. Chika and Yoshiko were taking out Huggstables with ease using punches and kicks. Hanamaru grabbed one that was clinging onto her and threw it against the wall. Ruby was surrounded by Huggstables and was frightened, until the surrounding Huggstables met by the fists of Dia, her protective instincts for her younger sister kicking in. Kanan was able to take out two small crowds of Huggstables before running out of the living room. Even with fighting back, the girls are finding this difficult, the sheer number of Huggstables right now overwhelming. After some time of holding them off, Kanan comes in with a duffel bag and throws it to the middle of the room.
"EVERYONE GRAB A WEAPON!" She tells the other, all of them doing so.
"Woooooaaaah..." Chika looked in amazement as she scanned her weapon, which was a dream catcher racket. "Let's test this baby out!"
So, she charges at some Huggstables, using her racket to catch some of them with ease. Dia, who is using a dream-catcher bow and arrow, fires an arrow at a Huggstable that pins in to a wall. Then, a small dream-catcher pops out of the end of the arrow and sucks in it. As the rest of the girls grab their weapons, Yoshiko couldn't help but wonder something as she knelt near the duffel bag.
"Uhhh...Kanan, why on earth do you have these things?" She questioned curiously, holding a dream-catcher slingshot.
"Well, when you're friends with people like Mari, you're bound to hear pretty bizarre dreams." Kanan told her bluntly, then grabbed her own weapon. "Now less talking, more capturing!"
And so, the girls used their weapons for support. Mari shoots and traps two Huggstables with a dream-catcher gun. Some Huggstables try to go for You, who is still tied up and unconscious, but Hanamaru was there in time to trap there in her own dream-catcher racket. As Dia goes to fire an arrow at some more Huggstables, one of them hugs her from behind. Acting quick, Riko uses a dream-catcher dart, inserting it into the blowpipe and blowing it towards the Huggstable, trapping it. Chika is still trapping Huggstables in her dream-catcher racket, but as she hits one of them, it only comes off as a hit.
"Crud! Mine's full!" Chika shouted in annoyance and worry.
Her troubles only worsened when she saw more Huggstables coming her way, chanting the word "Hugs". Even if it's full, Chika readies herself to attack, but then, a dream-catcher captures all of them. She turns and sees Mari with her dream-catcher gun, laughing.
"Y'know, they don't call me gunslinger Mari for nothing." Mari joked, letting out another laugh before a Huggstable tackled her to a hug.
Yoshiko and Riko were fast to help their friend. Yoshiko pulls Mari from behind while Riko prys the Huggstable off of her. She then holds it up for Yoshiko to capture it with the help of her slingshot. All the girls, except You for obvious reasons, regroup, panting.
"I-I think that's all of them..." Chika claimed exhausted, hoping it was all over, but unfortunately, it's not...
A large shadow suddenly casts over the girls, making them turn to the source. They all see a giant, pink Huggstable, who is assumed to be the leader or mother of Huggstables.
"Want a huuuuug?!" The pink Huggstables' voice was a mix of normal and demonic.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand, I was wrong yet again..." Chika spoke with unease as she stared up at the Hugstabble.
The girls fired their dream catchers in an attempt to capture it, but it showed to be useless, as the catchers bounce off like nothing due to it's size.
"Damn it. It's too big." Yoshiko complained.
"And we're out of dream catchers.." Riko added, a hint of unease in her voice.
"No, girls. They're still one left we haven't used." Kanan informed, before start to run outside. "Everyone follow me outside!"
The rest of the girls nod and all follow Kanan outside. It then cuts to them in Mari's van, with Kanan being the driver, Mari in the passengers seat, and the rest of the girls in the back.
"Be careful, Kanan-chan. I just got her all shiny." Mari warned her friend.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it, Mari." She replied unenthusiatically.
"Uhhhh, Kanan?" Chika spoke up, eyeing a small dream catcher dangling in the car. "Don't take this as me judging you, but I don't think we'll take down that big Huggstable with a dream catcher that small."
"That's not the dream catcher I was talking about, but you'll find out when the time comes."
Kanan continues to drive the van towards the leader and is aiming for a ramp up ahead.
"Ugh, I thought I told those girls to get rid of that ramp yesterday!" Dia pointed out in anger as she looked at the ramp.
"Well, for this, you're gonna be glad they didn't. EVERYONE HOLD ON TIGHT!!" Kanan said, determination blazing in her eyes.
Kanan then stepped on the gas, making the van accelerate towards the ramp. Once the distance between the ramp and the van closed it, the latter soar the air, showing that the dream catcher they needed was under the cart, and it was huge. Kanan, you fricking genius! On time, the Hugstabble leader bursts through the front of the inn, but it was easily captured just as quick and it bursts through. The van lands on the floor and comes to a stop. All the girls then get out of the it to celebrate.
"Dang, that was awesome, Kanan!" Chika praised, her eyes sparkling.
"Where'd you get the time to do something like that-zura?" Hanamaru asked, curious.
"Look, girls, I know what happened was cool, but we have someone we gotta check up on."
She told the others, turning her head to the inn, where You, who is still sleeping, can be seen in plain view due to the comically large hole in the front of the inn.
They all walk through the hole and go to their sleeping friend, who just so happened to wake up.
"Eh? Whu?" You groggily uttered in confusion as the Dia and Kanan untied her ropes.
"You feel any better, You-chan?" Chika asked.
"Yeah, but...I have the strangest dream." You then looked at Chika. "You were in it."
Then to Mari. "You were in it."
Then to Riko. "You were in it."
Then to Kanan. "You were in it."
Then to Ruby. "You were in it."
Then to Hanamaru. "You were in it."
Then to Dia. "You were in it."
But when she turned to Yoshiko... "Sorry, Yoshiko-chan. I didn't see you."
"HEY!!!"
"Sounds like you're cured, You-san." Dia declared with a smile.
"Yeah, I could tell. I really don't know how to thanks you all. You guys are really the best friends I could ask for." You said, thankful that her friends helped her.
"It's no problem at all, You-chan, but..." Chika then let out a yawn as she was speaking before continuing. "Seeing as how we don't have a sleep fighter on our hands anymore, I think it's time we all go home and get a good night's sleep."
The others chattered in agreement, but then, Mari spoke up.
"But before we do, group hug everyone?" She offered with her arms out and a cute smile.
Given the recent situation, however, everyone backed up in unease.
"Nah, we're good, Mari. Thanks." Chika declined politely.
"Yeah. I think we've dealt with enough hugs for tonight." Dia bluntly stated.
Then, everyone started laughing like it was a 90s sitcom. It was a crazy day and night, but at the end, the girls all succesfully cured their friend..
THE END
