Episode Two

Eavesdropping~

“Brriiingg~! Brriiiiinngg~!!” The alarm clock rings and rattles, a beeping that the snoring Hyori barely pays attention to. The clock, placed atop a messily organized nightstand, filled with various books and knick-knacks, jumps up to alert the sleeping girl. 

A magic gem glows “Hyori, it is 7:01am. Time for school!” The clock says with an automated robotic tone, the magical pink gemstone still vibrating. 

“Ughhhh..” Hyori flips and turns in her bed. “Five more minutes pleaasse..” She snores, losing to insomnia. 

“I cannot allow a five minute timer, you will be late!” The gem says, having done this many times before. It continues to ring, even louder now. 

“LATE?! AAHHH” Hyori jumps out of bed, ignoring the duty of making it. “I can’t be late on the first day back! Aaaaaa” She talks to herself in a panic, zooming around her room, avoiding clothes piles and a variety of hobbies on the floor she has discontinued. “Alarmy, what time is it?!” She prompted the illuminated gem as she struggles to put her uniform shirt on. 

The gem crystal replies, “It is now 7:06am” hovering above the clock. Hyori, fumbling for her skirt and socks, calls out. “What?! Ahhh crumbs! I was supposed to meet Mareea and Kai at seven on the dot!!” Hyori rushes to get her clothes on. “Why didn’t you wake me up sooner, Alarmy??” 

“You set the alarm for 7am.” Alarmy makes a single ping sound, playing an audio recording of Hyori from the prior night. “Alarmy, set the alarm for 7am. I’m sure I'll wake up before..” The gem stops the transcript. “You then proceeded to procrastinate your sleep, asking questions on various activities.” 

Hyori stands across the room, dumbfounded. “Oh… I guess I did stay up kinda late.. Heh.” She then snaps back to the task at hand. “Ahhhh I need my shoes!” Hyori hurries and grabs her bag, swinging it onto her back while tying her bright purple ribbons for her heart-shaped hair buns. “Goodbye, Alarmy!” She yells, closing her door.

“Have a good day, Hyori.”

Aozora sighs, exhausted. “We’re going to need to cut our inventory costs..” She swipes on her small tablet. “There isn’t enough profit to pay for the gem electricity.” 

The bakery smells wonderful, with warm delights displayed beautifully in their rightful places at a neat display. Stella peers out behind the register, putting the last donuts into the case. Pinkish beige walls brighten the room as sunlight makes its way to the high skies. 

Handing her a cup of fresh coffee, Stella takes a seat next to Aozora in the booths. “Dontcha worry honey bun, work will pick up soon.” They sip their own cup of coffee slowly, savoring it.

Aozora picks up her coffee with a light smile towards Stella, giving them a kiss on the cheek. “I hope so.. Perhaps we could start a sale for the school? Sweethearts day is coming up soon.” Aozora takes a quick sip, the coffee still too hot to fully appreciate. “We might not get any jade coins, but if we get enough silver and gold, we should be okay.” 

Hyori steps quietly, eavesdropping on the conversation from the stairs behind her parents as she puts on her shoes.

“Would be a good chance to rack up some coin ‘n the ole register.” Stella adds in agreement, setting their cup down and admiring Aozora’s focused face. 

Pushing her round glasses up, Aozora states, “Well.. we’ll have to get permission first—” 

“Hey Ma, Good morning Babs!” Hyori gleefully jumps out from the hallway. Hiding her frown, she pretends she didn’t hear what they were talking about. 

Placing her tablet faced-down as calmly as possible, Aozora stumbles with her words. “Ah—! G-Good morning, sweetums! You.. um.. How was your sleep?” She blurts out, hoping to seem convincing. 

Stella turns to face Hyori, unfazed. “Mornin’ hon.” They take a sip of their boiling coffee. The room seems still for a moment. 

“It was good.. Is.. everything okay?” Hyori goes to give Stella a hug to greet them. The smell of fresh coffee makes its way to her nose, a bitter scent in contrast to the sickly sweet aroma of baked goods. 

Aozora fumbles with her words again, fixing her glasses. “Oh, yes!” She slides the tablet under her resting elbows, as if she isn’t obvious enough. “Everything is alright, dear—”

Stella returns Hyori’s embrace, placing a free hand on Aozora’s shoulder. “No need to worry, sweetheart. We’ve got it under control” Stella winks, the usual sign from them to show off their cool. 

“Okay.. Well, let me know if you need my help or anything!” Hyori stretches across the booth table to greet Aozora, glancing at the papers scattered about detailing bills and financials. 

Aozora hugs Hyori warmly, easing a bit. “Of course, love. You just focus on your studies.” She smiles, trying her best to hide her concerns. 

“I’ll try my hardest!” Hyori returns to the side of the booth, then quickly goes behind the register to the display case, taking a donut for the road. “I’m sure Mareea and Kai are waiting for me, I gotta get going!” 

Stella waves to Hyori, smiling wide. “Have a good first day, hon! Your friends haven’t been waitin’ too long'' They say, placing their cup down. 

“Love you, sweets! Be safe!” Aozora calls out, bringing her tablet out again without looking away. She tucks her hair behind her ears, still trying to hold her smile.

“I will! Love you Ma, Love you Ba!” The bakery door swings open accompanied by a little bell’s “Ding!” as Hyori walks out, free to frown again.  

“Heyyy girl. What was the hold up?” Mareea inquires, chomping her sharp teeth into a cheerful grin. “Hey Yori! Everything good?” Kai emerges behind her, also greeting with a toothy smile. 

“Oh.. Hey guys! Yeah, everything’s fine.” Hyori subtly forces a smile in return. The quiet road of Brewer Street seemingly even more silent. 

“You sure? You don’t seem—” Mareea begins to ask, but Kai places a stern hand on her shoulder, mindful of her backfin. “Remember, let Hyori tell us when she’s ready” He lets go, calmly reminding her.

Mareea turns, leaning on a street pole and resting her shark tail by her side, out of the way. “Right, right, my bad. I’m just a little worried, y’know?” Mareea reaches out and pokes Hyori’s cheek playfully. Now more serious, she asserts, “I can tell.. somethin’s up…” She frowns slightly, looking off behind Hyori to distant buildings of various shapes and heights. 

Hyori giggles “Hehe! Well, you’re right.. It’s just- My parents.. They seem to be struggling a bit…” She trails off, staring past Mareea and Kai towards the road to Deadman’s High School. Hyori then voiced, looking back to the sharky pair. “I want to help them out!” 

“What’re you thinkin’?” Mareea asks curiously, standing up straight. She hoists her side bag onto her shoulders, getting ready to start walking

Kai grabs his own bag, gesturing to Hyori to follow along. “I don’t mean to stop you, but we should get moving too. Tell us on the way” He says with a friendly smile. 

“No, it’s okay! Sorry for taking so long…” Hyori secures her backpack, walking in between Mareea and Kai. “So, my parents mentioned holding a sale at the school for Sweethearts day.. I was thinking of surprising them and holding it myself!” Hyori pauses briefly, distracted by avoiding the cracks on the sidewalk “…With- help, of course.” She says, pleading a bit. 

Mareea bumps Hyori’s shoulder lightly with her own, poking her with the fin on her forearm. “That sounds awesome! Whata ‘bout you, Kai, you in?” She leans forward to see Kai walking along, not minding the conversation much.

“Wuh? Huh? What’s happening?” Kai asks, puzzled with his hands in his pockets. Finally processing and tuning in, he responds “Bakesale? Oh for sure!” 

Mareea rolls her eyes, clear she’s playfully annoyed. Hyori chuckles as the three turn a corner; the grand, towering high school with gleaming gems accented above the highest peaks ahead of them, not very far now. 

“Oh look! There they are!” 

Kai, Hyori, and Mareea collectively turn to see Vonni calling out to them and Xander waving behind her, making their own way to the school from the opposite direction. 

Hyori jumps up with excitement, running up to the pair. “Hey guyyyss!! You two get here just now?” She gives Vonni a hug accompanied with a big cheerful grin. 

“Yeah, I was a little late picking Vonni up…” Xander states, dramatically sad. “My sister, she’s..” He hesitates a bit. “..In town. She’s been staying at my apartment.” 

Mareea butts in, speaking quickly “Ouuu you hava sister? I didn’ know that!” She walks up to the others, side by side with Kai.

“I’ve actually met her, she seems sweet! A lil shy though.” Vonni places a hand on Xander’s shoulder, leaning on him then hooking her arm to Xander’s. 

“No worries, man.” Kai adds, greeting Xander with a ‘bro-shake’ then going back to standing by Mareea. He drapes his arms over her shoulders, giving her cheek a noogie. 

Mareea laughs lightheartedly, appreciating his antics. “Kaiii!” She drags out, attempting to turn to Xander again. “So, what’ser name??” 

Xander looks lovingly to Vonni, fixing the hair between her rabbit ears. “Hm? Oh, her name is Juuzou.” Half distracted, he gives Vonni a peck on the cheek. “You know you’re beautiful, right?” 

Flustered, Vonni hides from Xander’s gaze. “Staaahppp youuu!” 

“Juuzou, huh? That’s a pretty name!” Hyori, laughing along with the romantics, gives her two coins. “Does she go to the school?? Maybe she can help with my bake sale for Sweethearts day!!” Hyori gleams enthusiastically as other students pass by the group. 

Xander tunes back in fully into the talk. “Bake sale? Well.. I dunno, I’ll ask if she wants to. But…” His sentence weakens as he frowns, deep in thought; then quickly recovers, springing up. “Like Vonni said, she’s a bit shy.. But maybe this’ll be a good chance for her!” He announces loudly, some passersby looking his way. 

“WOOHOO! I need all the help I can get- You two can help, yeah?” She asks the rabbit and demon pair with hope in her eyes. 

Vonni nods, still curious “Why are you holding one anyway? Did something happen?” Worried now, she glances at Xander. 

“No no, everything’s okay! Well.. mostly.” With a lull in her sentence, Hyori frowns, being reminded of her parents' situation. “I.. I want to help my Ma and Babs! They.. don’t want me to take on too much responsibility because of my studies...” She starts walking backwards towards the entrance of their school, the group following suit. “But.. I want to do the best I can to help them!” Hyori swiftly turns back around.

Vonni drags Xander along, not letting go of his arm. “Aww, that’s sweet, Yori!” Xander, smiling as Vonni drags him, nods in agreement. 

“We’ll help you, girl! We have your back.” Mareea winks, flashing a toothy smile again. She lightly releases herself from Kai’s grip, going to Hyori’s side to give her a nudge. 

“Mareea’s right! Plus it sounds AWESOME!” Xander chortles boomingly, taking stairs up to the front doors with Vonni leading. 

Kai, gloomy because his feisty shark girl released herself, calls out “Mareeeaaaa come back!” He frowns, reaching out towards her. 

“Come up here, then!” Turning around, Mareea shouts from the steps, still following Hyori. Mareea whispers to her “Lil crybaby sharky.” with a mischievous grin. 

Hyori blurts out in laughter on accident, quickly covering her mouth. She then lowers her hand, looking back to the group more seriously. “Thanks, you guys. Really, I appreciate your help a lot.” She gives the group a big buoyant smile. 

The school bell rings to be heard across campus, indicating the front doors will open at once. The lilac walls of the building, stretching high enough to accommodate large beings, looms over the group as they head inside; sunlight high enough in the sky to accentuate the luminous pink magic gems giving the school its tremendous power.