Shattered Skies: The Morning Lights

CHAPTER 8: Sisters and Brothers

CHAPTER 8: Sisters and Brothers

-VERTEX THREE: 8.333882^1-

Wakabadai

"It's just not fair," moaned Nagisa Misumi between mouthfuls of takoyaki. "It's too cruel, it's just too cruel! I don't believe this!"

With a sympathetic smile, Honoka Yukishiro leaned over the table to pat her hand. "Oh, Nagisa, it'll be all right. I'm sure that Fujimura-kun will come back to visit-"

"How?!" There was a brief shower of crumbs and bonito flakes that accompanied Nagisa's latest outburst. "He's moving to America in three days! America, Honoka! I'm losing him forever, and he'll never know how I feel! My life is over... it's over..." In a state of helpless misery, Nagisa fell forward, her forehead colliding with the surface of the table with an audible thunk. "Just leave me here. Leave me here to die."

Honoka sighed and rubbed her best friend's shoulder. Only someone like Nagisa could weather multiple near-apocalypses with no problems and completely fall to pieces over a boy.

A spirited voice sounded somewhere above them. "Guy troubles, eh?" said Akane Fujita as she took Nagisa's empty tray. "Sounds like you need another batch. Oi, Hikari, Hikaru! Another round!"

"Right away!" The kind, polite voice came from inside the trailer that served as the headquarters for the Tako Cafe, a traveling establishment run by Akane and her two "cousins". Said "cousins", a sister and brother, had a more complicated relationship with Akane than most people knew, including Akane herself... but they were still a family where it counted, blood related or not.

When the famed takoyaki chef was out of earshot, an audible snicker drifted up from somewhere in the vicinity of Nagisa's thigh. "As if Fujipi would have noticed you anyway, ~mepo..." said a squeaky voice from the backpack lying at her side.

This was followed by another, higher-pitched voice from Honoka's shoulder bag. "Mepple! Be nice! Can't you see that Nagisa is troubled, ~mipo?"

More snickering. "She'll be more troubled tonight if she keeps pigging out on all those takoyaki. Even the black hole in Nagisa's stomach can't take it all sometimes, and when it gets backed up- ouch!"

Withdrawing her hand, Nagisa glared down at her pack. "You be quiet! What did I tell you about discussing things like that in front of people?!"

"It's not my fault you eat too much," it grumbled. "That's why Fujipi never noticed you. He doesn't like girls with chipmunk cheeks- ouuuuch! That hurts, ~mepoooo!"

Hard as it was to believe, two schoolgirls talking to and arguing with their bags wasn't that uncommon of an occurrence in Wakabadai... at least not in this part of town. It happened often enough that passers-by simply assumed that the girls were eccentrics... or maybe that they had some new types of hidden earpieces for their cell phones. Either way, it didn't matter. Talking bags were hardly the strangest things to happen to the city, which had more than its share of disasters and unusual incidents...

Or at least, it used to. After the final defeat of the Dark King a month previously, life in Wakabadai settled into safe, predictable normality... strange voices from school bags aside, of course. Dusk Zone and the Zakenna were gone forever, and Cure Black, Cure White, and Shiny Luminous, known together as Precure, were officially retired.

No more reason to worry, apart from Nagisa's long-time crush preparing to move overseas. The Queen of Light gave her blessings for Nagisa and Honoka to live on Earth with her reincarnated will, Hikari; her brother Hikaru, the former will of the Dark King; and their fairy friends Mepple, Mipple, Pollun, and Lulun. For now, all was quiet... and for another week or two at least, there wasn't even schoolwork to worry about. They could spend entire days simply enjoying their youth, basking in the warmth of Wakabadai's spring sunlight as the leaves came out.