Daybreak

Seven - Ai

How exactly girls, who were cursed to be birds in daylight, were going to fight against unwanted neighbors, was a good question to ask. The fact that they lost human consciousness while they were birds, did not help.

"That's it," Ri exclaimed, dropping her arms to her sides. "We have to do it at night."

"Do what, exactly?" Mako twirled her dark hair around her forefinger. She'd been twirling her hair ever since it grew out of that bob. It now hung to her waist, the dark strands hugging her round figure.

"Boo!" Sakura made a face. "Scare the intruders away like this, I guess," she rolled her eyes.

"Ai? What do you think?" Still twirling the strands of her hair around her finger, Mako took Sakura's joke seriously and turned towards Ai who was now like their leader.

Ai nodded her head thoughtfully. "Sure... maybe..."

Kaori furrowed her brows. "But it's risky."

Momo shivered, her senses in agreement. All the girls exchanged a grave face. They would have to somehow scare the people living in the red-bricked house during the night, which meant exposing themselves and risking discovery. They hadn't spoken to another human being besides each other in four years.

A knot formed in Ai's throat, but she choked it down and continued to form her thoughts out-loud. "Like Sakura said, we have to scare them." Ai grabbed a stray stick and scraped 'fears' into a dirt patch. "We'll be like ghosts. Luckily, it's not so far from the truth since the people in this town already think we're dead. If the newcomers know this, then we're lucky."

Ri grinned, clapping her fist into her empty palm in delight. "Oh! Like we've come alive!"

"Umm," Nana shook her head. "I think we're supposed to be ghosts haunting our graves."

Mako leaned forwards. "So, the plan?"

Ai tapped on the ground where she scraped in 'fears' and had drawn a line. "Yes, we'll start with a list of fears."

"Ugh, bugs." Sakura spoke immediately, hands resting lightly on her hips. "They're gross!"

"I bet you eat plenty as a bird." Kaori smirked.

Sakura held up a hand. "No."

"Okay," Ai scratched in 'bugs' beneath the banner of 'fears'. "What else is there?"

"Dogs?" Ri said at the same time Momo suggested, "The fear of discovery?"

"Dogs!?" Sakura exclaimed. "Who in their right mind would be afraid of cute, loyal beans?"

Ri blushed. "They have teeth."

"We have teeth," Sakura sighed.

Ai continued taking notes.

The list soon grew long and a plan began its formation to haunt their new neighbors on the following night. The sun appeared over the horizon, and when Ai and the girls opened their eyes again, it was time.

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Ai crouched behind a row of towering hydrangeas and held up three fingers. "On the count of three-"

THUNK.

Six girls spun their heads towards Kaori. "Sorry." Kaori whispered, arm out in an obvious show that she'd worked out of line to throw a stone.

"Go, go, go!" Ai pushed at Nana in front of her who was startled off balance and fell over the fence into a bed of tulips instead of jumping soundlessly as planned. The other girls followed suit, throwing stones at the windows and slowly circling the house at all sides.