Himeko was still half-asleep when she woke up that morning. "Good morning, Pokota."
The silence that greeted her reminded her of what happened.
"Oh, right, the ribbon..." She walked over to her desk, and opened up a drawer. Inside of it was a ribbon. Other than a small rip, it looked as though she had just received it yesterday.
Suddenly, a box on her desk (that she somehow hadn't noticed before) opened up. Out of it rose... something. Whatever it was, it wasn't Pokota. "Aaaah, I slept like a rock-poomo. Are we at the Jewel Kingdom yet-poomo?"
Himeko froze. Not because of the strange creature. Not because Pokota had been replaced with this... thing. She had heard her sister Aiko's door open. She grabbed the thing and started shaking it.
Poomo was used to this treatment. Not that it was easy to deal with it. "Altezza - let - go - and - stop - shaking - me - we - didn't - use - Telepoomotion - to - get - here - I - just - woke - up - and -"
Himeko whispered urgently "Shut up, stop talking and be quiet! If my sister-"
There was a knock at the door. "Himeko, who are you talking to?"
Automatically, she replied "Just practicing for a play that the Drama Club's planning on doing." She then whispered to the thing "Where are you from?"
The thing whispered "The Mysterious Star-poomo" just after Aiko asked "Which one?"
Himeko, not sure if there was a play with that name already, said "The Mysterious Star." She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
She could hear her sister's excitement. "The Mysterious Star? We should bring Yumeko and Shintaro! When are you putting it on?"
"We're not even sure that we're going to do it yet."
Disappointment crept into Aiko's voice, but she did her best to hide it. "Oh, okay. Well, let me know when you're going to do it. Also, don't be late to school. Gori-sensei would have a fit if you were."
Himeko held her breath as she listened to Aiko go downstairs. When the footsteps disappeared, she let go of Poomo. "Who are you?"
By this point, Poomo knew that he wasn't speaking with Altezza. "I'm Poomo, attendant to Princesses Fine and Rein of Sunny Kingdom-poomo."
Himeko didn't know what to say to this, so she walked over to the box, stuffed him in it ("Hey! Be careful-poomo!") and started changing.
"Wh-what are you doing-poomo?"
"You look and I'll find some way to make you regret it."
It didn't take Himeko long to get dressed, but she left Poomo in the box long enough to write a message to Erika explaining the situation.
Poomo came out of the box just as Erika wrote back. "So, what should I ask first-poomo? Your name, or why the book is doing that-poomo?"
Erika's response: We know, and we're working on it. Sending the watch and the palette with Sei's Crow, Kantarou. Tell him, Sei can erase his memory later.
Himeko sighed. She just knew that it was going to be weirder than back when she was testing the Ribbon for Erika. "My name is Nonohara Himeko, and until about a year ago, I was testing a magic ribbon for a friend of mine..."
----
Himeko was running full speed towards school, as usual. She would have been on time today, if Poomo hadn't kept asking questions - or if Kantarou hadn't tried to eat his tail. With watch on wrist, and palette in pocket, though, it was like old times. And, just like her first day of her second year at Kazetachi Middle School, there was Sei Arei, also known as "Arisaka" Sei, also walking late. (It couldn't be called running, what he was doing). Since he would have been locked out, and she needed to tell him about Poomo, she decided to help him along.
This... well, it didn't end well for Sei, who was dragged by his arm past the gate, up the stairs, and into Gori-sensei's classroom. This resulted in him having bruised up and cut up legs, as well as a dislocated shoulder. AND they were still late.
"Nonohara, if you're late one more time, I'm going to have to talk with your parents. Now grab the water buckets and go stand in the hall. Arisaka, why are you here?"
"I'm going to be in Kazetachi for at least the next month. Er, can I go to the nurse's office?"
"Why?"
"Hime-chan dragged me all the way up here from outside the gate. I guess she didn't want me to be late."
"From the look of it, you made her do all the work. Nonohara, you're excused from holding the buckets. Arisaka, go to the nurse, and then the Principal. Everyone else, calm down."
Himeko grinned, and took her seat. She looked around, and saw that Daichi wasn't there. She flicked a piece of her eraser at Tetsu. "Where's Daichi" she whispered.
Tetsu shrugged and said "Dunno." A few rows up, Hibino Hikaru turned around and said "We thought he was with you, but you came in dragging Arisaka. I thought you were going to focus on Daichi." she finished slyly.
"I was. I mean, I am! Anyway, I was hoping if he and I and Arisaka could meet up somewhere to discuss things."
"Like...?"
"Well, Arisaka's house was torn down after he moved away, so he's going to need somewhere to stay." And someone to keep a leash on him, she added mentally.
(Posted Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:04)
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