What Makes A Coin Beautiful

Chapter Two: Penny for your thoughts?

C/N and their father figures walked inside the mall, with One Direction holding their hand, one finger for each member. It was truly a sight to behold. Such a beautiful display of parental love.

"One Direction, where are we going? I don't recall there being any kind of shoe polishing business place in this mall. And I know this mall like no-one does." C/N asked.

"Don't you worry your little head- err, your eyes? We're gonna make you a shoe polisher in no time, but you can't do that on an empty stomach!" One Direction smiled at them. "And we know just the place."

C/N frowned. This mall really only had fast food stores as far as restaurants went... and the only place with proper tables had a really bad reputation for some reason. They really didn't want to spend their first meal with their fathers at a shabby Burger King! Or whatever it is that people eat in America. Is this story set in America? Where does One Direction live? The worldbuilding in this fic is really mediocre, honestly. We should fire the author

As they all walked towards the exact restaurant they feared they'd have to go to, a janitor suddenly tripped and had his entire bucket of disgusting slop fall on One Direction's shoes.

"Oh... I'm incredibly sorry..." the janitor lied. He cursed every god he could think of under his breath as he started slowly cleaning the mess he'd made, hissing every time a drop of slop didn't get absorbed by his incredibly dirty sponge as soon as it touched the floor. It was a pitiful scene.

"It's no problem, Mister Janitor Guy...." One Direction scratched their necks. They turned around and talked to C/N. "Aw, shucks... Our shoes are all dirty now...". They looked incredibly distressed.

C/N stared at their shoes in shock. "How could... How could something so horrible happen to someone so kind!?! I can't imagine the pain you're in... I..." they started sobbing uncontrollably.

"Oh no! Come here, kiddo, we're okay!" One Direction hugged them as fast as they could. "Our shoes just need a bit of polishing..."

"When I was little... The other kids always made fun of me because I'm silver. They'd throw all sorts of things at my shoes. It's why I love shoe polishing so much..." They kept sobbing. "I... I wish everyone's shoes would be polished. All the time. I don't want to ever see another soul wearing unpolished shoes."

"We'd be happy if you polished our shoes, C/N." One Direction smiled.

C/N wiped away their tears. "Yes. I'll do it. I don't want anyone to suffer again."

a.n.: brb im looking up how to polish shoes for ghis bit

C/N took their iconic gloves off and swapped them for a pair of latex ones, so professional-looking that the aforementioned janitor couldn't help but feel jealousy over their quality compared to the ones he had to wear by contract. They took out a bottle of isopropyl alcohol from their bag, an ice cube, and a cotton shining cloth. They put all these items on the floor as they emptied their usually tidy bag, looking for their prized shoe polish. It seemed as though it had gotten lost amongst the endless supply of unopened gachapons they carried everywhere...

"Wow, C/N, that's a lot of unopened gachapons." One Direction commented.

"I can never bring myself to break their seals..." They replied, still digging through the bag. A single gachapon fell out of the bag, and rolled on the floor until One Direction picked it up.

"Careful, C/N! We almost lost this one." They handed the gachapon back to the coin. "You know... Change can be scary sometimes, but if you keep everything sealed up... You might miss out on something important."

"Like what?" C/N finally took the shoe polish out of the bag. Another gachapon rolled out.

"Like..." The fathers picked the gachapon up again. "A fish ring?" They laughed nervously.

C/N let out a sarcastic chuckle, one that only an angsty teenager could produce. "I get the point... I'm ready to polish your shoes, can you hold your feet out one at a time?"

"We can't." One Direction said. "We're a hivemind. We all do the same thing at the same time."

"But in the music videos..."

"That's in the past. We'll never be able to perform again like this..." They looked sad. "It's been a rough couple of years."

"Wait, years? How did this happen in the first place?" C/N asked, finding a way to start polishing the shoes despite the group's coordination problem.

"It's really not a pleasant memory... You see, we were about to enter a battle of the bands with our biggest competitors, but as we walked backstage to get things ready a cloaked figure appeared, and..." They shed a tear in unison. "They took a staff out from under their vest and said... TRY TO HARMONIZE LIKE THIS, FOOLS!! And when we woke up, we were stuck like this."

C/N gasped. "That's terrible! Do you know who it could have been?"

"We have our suspicions... That rival band has been prospering ever since we had to retire, so obviously we thought it might have been their fault, but... None of the members seem like powerful enough sorcerers to cast a spell like that. Or any kind of spell."

The young coin shook their head. "One Direction, they could have just hired someone to do that for them."

"Oh. That doesn't narrow the suspect list down at all." They made an indescribable face.

"Yes it does! There must be some kind of list that catalogues the kind of sorcerers that can cast that kind of spell. We should try getting your individuality back!"

The retired singers smiled. "We knew adopting you was a good idea..."

"You bought me, but thank you." C/N smiled back. "Alright, your shoes are polished now!"

One Direction smiled. "This is some serious talent, C/N! After we're done with finding the culprit, we should really find you a job!"

"Haha, thanks." They shyly replied.

"Okay, lunch can't wait any longer. I swear, you'll love this place!"

C/N's hand was held by the fathers again, as they all walked inside a restaurant called "The Starving Dwarf". What could that possibly mean.

TO BE CONTINUED

a.n.: hi guys kinda shortish chapter this time ^_^ i hope u like the prospect of a new plot point and objective for our protagonists!!! 0_0 tell me what u think is going on in that restaurant in the comments.... i hope i did justice to the art of shoe polishing!! if i didnt feel free to give me thirty billion euro i will use them all to fund my shrine that i am building in my room. whose shrine? you already know