Day 160

[from StarLight]

A short time later, Hitomi burst cheerfully into Class 1-3 with Sanae in tow. "Hey guys!" she loudly proclaimed. "I managed to find us a fifth member!"

"What?!" exclaimed Sanae. "I never agreed to join!"

"But you already signed the consent form!" said Hitomi, looking genuinely confused. To Sanae's amazement, she help up a consent form that undeniably had her signature on it.

"What?!" repeated Sanae. "I don't remember signing that!"

"Sure you did!" said Hitomi. "Here you are signing it in a flashback:"

***

"So, have you thought any more about joining?" asked Hitomi, as the pair made their way through the corridors.

Sanae nodded. "I've made up my mind," she said. "I'd like to join the White Star Fan Club."

Hitomi's mismatched eyes lit up with joy. "Really?!" she said. "Really really?! Wow, thanks, Sanae!" From seemingly nowhere, she produced a printed consent form and a pen. "Here! Just sign this consent form and you'll be an official member!"

Sanae took the pen and paper, leaned against the wall, and began to sign her name.

***

"That wasn't a flashback!" Sanae protested. "That was a dream sequence! That didn't actually-" Sensing she was fighting a battle she could not win, Sanae groaned and gave up. On the face of it, a fan club dedicated to her own magical girl persona certainly wasn't the worst club she could have been roped into joining.

With Sanae's protests silenced, Hitomi carried on. "Alright, now that you're signed up, allow us all to introduce ourselves!" Hitomi turned to address the only other people in the room, three freshman girls who were sat on the opposite side of the classroom. "You guys know the drill, right?"

The three girls nodded, one of them rather reluctantly, and together with Hitomi they lined up side-by-side in front of Sanae. Their hair colours formed a rudimentary rainbow: one blue, one green, one yellow, and one red. Hitomi pressed play on her smartphone, and a generic heroic anthem filled the classroom as she stepped forward. "Hitomi Murasakime: Blue Star!" she declared.

Next the green-haired girl stepped forward, her serious expression and imposing physique contrasting with the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. "Nagisa Tezuka: Green Star!" she bellowed.

Next the blonde-haired girl stepped forward, neatly adjusting her glasses as she did so. "Mio Natsume: Gold Star," she said plainly, not bothering with the boisterous introduction the other two had made.

Finally it was the red-haired girl's turn, but she remained rooted to the spot and did not say a word, her expression betraying her complete and utter embarrassment. "Come on, Hinata," complained Hitomi, "you're messing up our intro!"

"B-but… it's embarrassing…" stammered Hinata quietly.

"But nothing!" barked Nagisa, who seemed incapable of talking any quieter. "Be polite and introduce yourself to your senpai!"

Blushing even harder, Hinata reluctantly stepped forward. "H… Hinata Morishita: Red Star," she squeaked.

"And together," the four of them concluded in unison, "we are the White Star Fan Club! Supporting White Star in her every endeavour!"

"-e-every endeavour," Hinata finished feebly, having been a little out of sync.

Sanae stood silently for a moment, trying to take in what she had just witnessed. Finally, her voice filled with disbelief, she said, "Did we just segue into another dream sequence or did that actually happen?"

"You're not dreaming!" said Hitomi cheerfully, seemingly mistaking Sanae's bewilderment for amazement. "That did just actually happen! Now, you'll need some kind of code name of your own, for when you're cheering on White Star in battle along with the rest of us! Hmm…" Hitomi pondered this for a moment, her eyes poring over Sanae's violet fringe. "I know! You can be Violet Star!"

That sounds like a porn star name, thought Sanae. Well, I suppose it could be-

"What's a porn star?" asked Kousen suddenly.

Sanae, who had forgotten that her familiar had followed her to school again that day, shrieked and jumped about three feet into the air, alarming the other fan club members. "What's the matter, Sanae?" asked Hitomi. "Do you not like that name?"

"No, no, I, uh…" Sanae tried to think of an excuse fast. It wasn't a talent she'd needed particularly often, but it was a talent she'd certainly needed to master if she was to preserve her secret identity. "I got stung by a hornet! Yeah, that's it! I think it's flown away now, don't worry."

"Is that so?" asked Mio, as Hinata started frantically looking around the classroom to make sure the imaginary hornet really was gone. "How strange. Are you okay? Hornet stings can be dangerous if not treated."

"Yes, I'm fine," said Sanae. "Don't worry."

"Well, now that we've all introduced ourselves, the only thing left to do is to get ourselves a supervisory teacher!" said Hitomi. "And I know just how to do it! Sanae, since you're the main character, you should come with me!"

"Wait, you mean right now?" said Sanae. "But I haven't eaten lunch yet!"

Hitomi, not caring, was already out of the door. "You can eat it afterwards!" she said. "This will only take a few minutes!"

With a resigned sigh, Sanae followed Hitomi on her way to the teacher's lounge, her stomach letting out a low grumble. I'm so hungry…

***

As the pair entered the teacher's office, Sanae glanced around at the half-dozen teachers sat around eating, or marking, or marking while eating. Some of them looked like they'd much rather eat their marking than actually mark it. All the eating didn't really help Sanae's mood. "So, did you have a specific teacher in mind?" she asked, keeping her voice down.

Hitomi did not bother keeping her voice down. "I was thinking maybe her," she said, pointing at Inaba-sensei, who was also currently eating.

"You mean Inaba-sensei?" said Sanae. "That would be convenient, since she's my homeroom teacher. Law of conservation of detail, and all that."

Hitomi nodded. "Inaba-sensei it is, then!" she said.

The two girls made their way over to Inaba-sensei, who looked up from her sandwich. "Ah, Hikari, Murasakime," she said. "Is there something I can help you both with?"

"Yes!" said Hitomi, pulling out another consent form. "Could you please agree to be the supervisor for the White Star Fan Club? You won't actually have to do anything, but we need one in order to be official!"

Inaba-sensei smiled apologetically. "Well, you see… the thing is, I'm already supervising the Literature Club," she said. "I'm sorry, I'd like to help, but I can't."

"But like she said, you don't actually-"

"It's okay, Sanae, I've got this," said Hitomi, cutting off her upperclassman. Leaning forwards, her demeanour suddenly changed, becoming rather sinister and upsetting. "You're forgetting, Inaba-sensei… I know your secret."

Inaba-sensei's attitude also changed dramatically. Her eyes shot open in genuine panic, beads of sweat forming on her brow as her face turned pale. "I… I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Murasakime-" she said.

Hitomi was persistent. "You wouldn't want the whole school to find out about it, would you, Inaba-sensei?" she said, smiling cheerfully all the while.

The mere thought of this seemed to be enough to get Inaba-sensei to fold. "Wh-what was it you wanted me to sign again?" she asked.

Hitomi held out the form. "Here!" she said. "Just sign this and I'll keep quiet!"

Inaba-sensei snatched the form out of Hitomi's hands and signed it without a second thought, swiftly returning it to her. "Here," she said. "Now, please don't tell anyone what you know. After all…" Now it was time for Inaba-sensei's expression to turn sinister. "I can make school life very unpleasant for the both of you."

"Of course!" said Sanae worriedly. "Our lips are sealed, don't worry."

"Pleasure doing business with you, Inaba-sensei!" said Hitomi, tucking the completed form away. "See you later!"

"See you later, girls," said Inaba-sensei, before returning to her sandwich, a little rattled.

Sanae was also rather shaken, as she and Hitomi emerged back into the corridor. "Was blackmailing her really necessary?" she asked.

"I guess so," said Hitomi, shrugging. "I mean, it worked, after all."

"But still, how did you manage to get the dirt on her?" she asked. "I didn't think Inaba-sensei had any dark secrets like that."

Hitomi grinned. "Here's the thing: I didn't actually have any dirt on her!" she said cheerfully. "I just thought I'd say that and see if it worked!"

"So you're blackmailing her with a secret that you don't even know?" said Sanae. "Wow. Well, at least there's no chance of it getting out... although I worry what might happen if she ever finds out you've got nothing on her…"

"She won't," said Hitomi. "As far as I'm concerned, this lingering plot thread is never going to be brought up again."

"Let's hope not," said Sanae.

"But anyway, we're an official club now!" said Hitomi. "Let's hurry back and tell the others!"

"And then I can eat?" asked Sanae.

"And then you can eat," said Hitomi.

Sanae let out a sigh of relief. "Finally," she said. "I'm starving." With that, the two girls continued back towards Class 1-3.

Day 159

[from Haruhi: A Thousand Worlds]

Haruhi was the first to emerge on the other side of the portal. Her exit was less than graceful: she stumbled out of the shimmering vortex and fell flat on her face. Yuki emerged a few seconds later, calmly stepping out of the tear as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened whatsoever.

As Haruhi got to her feet, a quick glance at her surroundings confirmed that she was, indeed, in a completely different location. The realization sent her usual behaviour into overdrive. "Wow!" she exclaimed. "It really worked! We're really in another dimension! I wonder just how different it really is! Is it in the past? The future? Are we still in Japan? Hey, I wonder if I'll meet alternate versions of ourselves! Oh wait, you said we couldn't do that… but still, this is so exciting! We're the first people ever to visit another dimension! I wonder what it's like!"

The immediate answer was "foggy". A thin haze seemed to hang in the air around them, restricting their view to only a few hundred metres. The signs on the shops around them were still clearly legible, however, and the familiar symbols told them that they were still in Japan, or at least, some semblance of it. How different it really was remained to be seen. At any rate, they wouldn't have to worry about coming across any communication problems.

"So, where should we go look first, Yuki?" asked Haruhi, tugging impatiently at the girl's arm. "I wanna explore this other dimension!"

"I'm detecting data anomalies in this area, but their locations are unclear," said Yuki. "I suggest we explore the area, and try to gather more data in order to pinpoint their locations."

"And that'll lead us to people with supernatural abilities?" asked Haruhi.

"Potentially," said Yuki.

"Alright," said Haruhi, "then let's get looking! Should we split up to cover more ground, or stay together to keep safe?"

"We should stick together," said Yuki. "That way we will have strength in numbers in case one of us is attacked, and should we stray too far from each other, it may be difficult to find each other again in this fog."

"Alright then!" said Haruhi, nodding. "Let's get searching!"

Haruhi and Yuki headed off down the street, keeping an eye out for anything unusual. Thankfully, the fog didn't seem thick enough to restrict their vision too much, but if it intensified then even finding their way around could prove to be a struggle. "I don't remember our Japan having fog like this," Haruhi remarked. "Maybe it's some kind of supernatural phenomenon?"

"Unlikely," said Yuki.

"But it's possible?" prompted Haruhi, to which Yuki nodded. "Interesting. I wonder what secrets this fog could hold! Oh! Maybe it's some kind of-"

"Mayuri! Mayuri! Where are you?!"

Haruhi's ramblings were cut off as a man's voice pierced through the foggy night. Haruhi, immediately curious, began to follow the voice, with Yuki following along behind. Soon, she came across a young man rushing through the mostly-empty streets, calling out fruitlessly for someone. Curiously, he appeared to be wearing a white lab coat. Haruhi somehow got the impression that this man did not belong in this place.

"This could be interesting," remarked Haruhi, before rushing over to the man. "Excuse me, sir!" she called out. "Do you need any help?"

The man looked startled for a moment, then turned round to address Haruhi, a look of distress on his face. "You weren't, by any chance, sucked through one of those tears as well, were you?" he asked.

"Why, yes, I was!" said Haruhi, rather surprised. "Wow, so you came through a tear as well? That's so cool!"

"It is," said the man, smiling briefly, "but that's not really important right now! I have to find my friend, Mayuri!"

"Did she come through the tear with you?" asked Haruhi.

"Yeah, we were both sucked in without warning," said the man. "At first I thought it was some sinister plot by the Organization to get rid of me, but they couldn't possibly exist on this world line, the Divergence Number is too great. So it must be some other unknown phenomenon that I haven't encountered yet." Realizing the two girls had no idea what he was talking about, the man returned to the topic at hand. "Anyway, Mayuri must have been separated from me when we were transported. I have to find her and find a way back to our own dimension as soon as possible! Would you be willing to help me look for her?"

"Sure!" said Haruhi. Usually, she would ask what was in it for her, but this time she knew what was in it for her: the opportunity to talk to a person who was actually from another dimension. People didn't get much more interesting than that.

"Thank you," said the man. "I'll be sure to pay you back for this."

"Of course!" said Haruhi. "Oh, by the way, my name is Haruhi Suzumiya, and this is Yuki Nagato. What's your name?"

The man's demeanour changed somewhat, and with a flourish he swished his lab coat through the air, partially covering his face with one hand. "I am the mad scientist, Hououin Kyouma!" he declared, before laughing maniacally once more.

"There's something wrong with this guy," Haruhi whispered to Yuki.

Day 158

[from I Watch You Sleeping]

I wake up, and for a moment it almost seems as though the whole of yesterday was just a horrible nightmare. Then I roll over to turn off my alarm clock, and suddenly I'm reminded that the nightmare was all too real. Lying on the nightstand, next to my alarm clock, is a single red rose. Taped to it is a note. I instantly recognize the handwriting from the letter the stalker sent me yesterday.

HI, KEN-CHAN! YOU STILL WEREN'T ANSWERING YOUR MESSAGES, SO I GOT SCARED AND DECIDED TO CHECK UP ON YOU. I'M GLAD YOU'RE OKAY. I COULDN'T IMAGINE LIFE WITHOUT YOU, KEN-CHAN. I GOT YOU THIS ROSE. I HOPE YOU LIKE IT. xxxxxxx P.S. YOU REALLY DO LOOK PEACEFUL WHEN YOU'RE SLEEPING, KEN-CHAN xxxxxxx

Oh God. She was here. She broke into my bedroom. She was here, while I was sleeping. She left this… flower for me. I don't want it. I snatch it off the nightstand and toss it into the trash. A thorn pricks my palm as I do so, but I don't care. I just want it out of my sight.

With the stalker's unwanted token disposed of, I get up and get ready for school, as though this were a perfectly normal day. Of course, I know by now that it won't be, but I don't really have a choice other than to just carry on as usual. Before I head downstairs, I pick up my phone from my desk and reluctantly switch it back on.

Only once I'm on my way to school do I start checking for any more texts. Sure enough, the stalker kept on sending "Answer me!" over and over again until my inbox was full, and the messages couldn't go through anymore. I go through and start deleting them one by one, but I'm still only about half-finished by the time I reach the gates. Well, I guess I could always show them to Raiden, so he can see how things have escalated since yesterday.

The bell to signal the start of homeroom goes quicker than I'd anticipated it would. Obviously being on my phone had slowed me down during my walk to school. I'm about to head towards the main building when something catches my attention out of the corner of my eye.

It's Mizuki. She's hiding behind a building, watching the other students filter into the school. While she doesn't appear to be looking for anyone, or looking at anyone, I still find this rather suspicious. Before I know what I'm doing, I'm heading towards her.

The moment Mizuki sees me approaching, she turns and sprints off. Now that's definitely suspicious. But do I really have the time to go chasing after her…?

…ah, the hell with it. There's gotta be a reason why she's running from me, and I'm gonna find out what. I quickly run off after Mizuki, trying to chase her down.

The problem is, Mizuki's a much better runner than I am, and with the head-start she got, she quickly pulls way out ahead of me. Eventually I lose track of her somewhere near the back of the school. So much for that, then, I guess.

At this rate, I'm gonna be late for homeroom again. Darting down a narrow pathway between two buildings, I start to head back towards the main entrance. To my surprise, however, I come across Mizuki again. She blocks my path, glaring at me.

"The hell are you chasing me for?" she barks angrily.

"The hell are you running from me for?" I retort.

"The hell do you think?" asks Mizuki. "After your little lecture yesterday, I didn't wanna be caught skipping classes again today! Least of all by you!"

"…oh." With my adrenaline rush subsiding, I start to realize just how irrational my panic really was. As bad as skipping classes is, it's probably not something the stalker would do, especially if they were in the same class as me. And if they want me to notice them so badly, then why the hell would they run away from me? They wouldn't, obviously. Dammit. I need to stay calm, keep rational, make sure I think things like this through before I act. Speaking of which, now that I think about it… "Wait. Why even come to school today if you were just gonna ditch anyway?"

"My dad makes me," says Mizuki, scowling. "He drops me off in his car, right outside the gate, and waits for me to go inside before leaving. But he can't make me actually go to class."

Before I can inquire as to what she intends to go for the whole day, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I assume the stalker has noticed my tardiness. Before I can check what it is, though, the bell rings to signal the start of homeroom. I'm now officially late, and for the second day in a row. Both technically the stalker's fault.

"I have to go," I say abruptly, but as I turn to leave, Mizuki grabs my arm.

"Oh no you don't," she says.

"Hey!" I protest. "What are you-"

Mizuki cuts me off. "You'll snitch," she says. "You'll tell 'em I'm ditchin' and then they'll come and drag me back here."

"I won't, I promise!" I say hurriedly, suddenly scared that Mizuki might hit me. It's not beyond her. "I don't even know where you'd be going for them to come and find you!" Good thing I didn't ask her in the end, then.

Mizuki hesitates for a moment, then lets go of my arm. "You tell and I'll punch your face in," she says, her expression deadly serious.

"I won't," I say. "I swear."

"Good," she says. "Now get the fuck outta here."

I swiftly oblige, all too glad to get away from the angry Mizuki. Not to mention the fact that since I'm already late for homeroom, I should probably get there as fast as I possibly can. Or… maybe not, on second thoughts. Mizuki might not have killed me, but Sasaki-sensei just might.

Day 157

[from Pokémon xTreme]

Less than half an hour later, and Taylor had successfully found and captured her first-ever Pokémon. "Well, that didn't take long at all," she remarked, as she picked the Poké Ball back up off the ground.

"Yeah, but now's the important part," said Brandon. "Now you gotta train it. A freshly-caught Pidgey like that won't stand a chance against Graham's team. You'll have to train it up a bit before you can take him on."

"And how long will that take?" asked Taylor.

"I dunno," said Brandon, shrugging. "Until you think you're ready, I guess."

This didn't seem particularly helpful to Taylor. "Well, how will I know when I'm ready?" she asked.

"You can't," said Brandon. "You just gotta try and guess, as best you can."

"Right," said Taylor, who was still rather confused. "Would it help if I caught some more Pokémon? Will these two be enough, do you think?"

"Well, it can never hurt to have a few Pokémon in reserve, just in case," said Brandon. "Just remember, you're only allowed to carry six at a time, and in pro tournaments you can only use three per battle. That helps keep it fair."

"How many Pokémon will Graham use?" asked Taylor.

"Well, since this is your first Gym, he'll probably only use two," said Brandon. "But I'd say get a couple more, just to be on the safe side."

"Alright," said Taylor. "Good thing we brought plenty of Poké Balls."

Brandon nodded. "One more thing, though," he added. "Your Pokémon will get stronger from fighting other trainers' Pokémon than they will from fighting wild Pokémon. There should be plenty of other rookie trainers around, as this is a pretty popular training area, so it shouldn't be long before we run into-"

"OMIGOSH! IT'S BRANDON WELLS!"

Taylor jumped at the sudden shout from behind them, whereas Brandon, accustomed to the attention, smiled. "Excuse me for a moment," he said, turning his attention to the excited teen girl who was now rushing over to him.

"Brandon, I'm your biggest fan!" squealed the girl. "Can I have your autograph?"

"Sure thing," said Brandon, taking a notepad and pen out of his jacket. "And who do I make this out to?"

"Katie," said the girl, her eyes sparkling.

"'To Katie…'" As Brandon wrote out the autograph, Taylor was reminded of just who her mentor and companion actually was. Brandon Wells was not just some run-of-the-mill trainer: he was a world-class Pokémon Master and one of the sport's brightest talents. Not only that, but he was a former winner of both the Indigo Masters and the Johto Masters, two of the most prestigious Pokémon tournaments in the entire world. Why a trainer of his calibre had agreed to coach someone like her was completely beyond her, and so far Brandon had said nothing about it. At some point, she would simply have to ask him.

For now, Brandon was content to sign yet another autograph, the swift and fluid motions of his hand betraying the frequency with which he undertook this particular task. Tearing the page out of the notebook, he handed it to the girl. "There you go," he said.

The girl let out a little squeal of joy. "Thank you!" she said. "Oh! Can I get a selfie with you, as well?"

"Sure, why not," said Brandon.

Taylor sighed, starting to get a little impatient. As the excited fangirl pulled out her phone and lined up next to Brandon, Taylor leant back against a nearby tree and idly checked her phone's Pokédex app. As expected, her caught Pidgey's data had been automatically recorded into it, as well as that of her Eevee. Elekid was listed as well, thanks to her battle against Kieran, but because she had not actually caught one, its data had not been logged. I wonder how long it would take me to complete this thing, she thought to herself. Probably years…

Finally, having obtained her selfie and posted it on Instagram, the excited girl thanked Brandon one last time and ran off. Brandon smiled as he watched her go. "Been a while since I signed one of those," he mused. "Well, anyway, now that that's outta the way, how about we go find some trainers to battle?"

"Sure," said Taylor. "Oh, wait… if you're with me, won't people be a bit more nervous about fighting me? I mean, since they'd all be beginners as well…"

Brandon considered this for a moment. "Hmm… good point," he said. "Alright, then how about we split up for now? I'll go catch a couple more Pokémon for you, and you go get some battle experience under your belt. Sound like a plan?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me," said Taylor. "Oh, but we should probably swap numbers, just in case we can't find each other again, or something."

"I was just about to suggest that," said Brandon, taking out his smartphone. "Alright, lay 'em on me."

Taylor gave Brandon her phone number, and Brandon gave her his. "Alright, that's that entered in," said Taylor. "Well, I guess I'll see you later, then."

"See ya," said Brandon, and with that he headed off into the forest in search of more wild Pokémon. Taylor headed the other way in search of trainers, still pondering why such a stellar trainer had agreed to be her coach.

Day 156

[from Murder by Pixels]

As soon as Sapphire heard the news, her eyes lit up like fireworks. Hurriedly snatching up her phone, she selected Jesse's name from her contact list and put it to her ear, impatiently waiting for her to pick up.

When Jesse finally did answer, it sounded as though they had just woken up. "Hello?"

"Jesse! Jesse!" Sapphire's voice was filled with an uncharacteristic excitement, her Irish accent blossoming forth as it always did when she got emotional. "Have you heard the news?!"

"No, what is it?" asked Jesse. "I haven't heard you this excited since…" There was a brief pause, as Jesse began to realize what Sapphire was talking about. "Wait, don't tell me-"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Sapphire. "The Supreme Court just ruled! Gay marriage is legal in all fifty states!"

There was a stunned silence on the other side of the phone as Jesse took in the news. When they spoke again, they were still noticeably tired, but also unmistakeably happy. "It's about time," they said. "It's not gonna solve all our problems, but it's a big step, that's for sure."

"I know!" said Sapphire. "First my country of ancestry, and now my country of birth… oh, I'm so happy, Jesse! I'm so happy I could cry!"

"Need a shoulder to cry on?" asked Jesse. "If my dad finds out about the ruling, then I might wanna get out of the house for a while anyway."

Sapphire nodded. "Sure," she said. "Come right over. We could celebrate with an Orange is the New Black marathon or something."

"I thought you'd prefer Steven Universe," Jesse remarked.

"Oh yeah, good idea," said Sapphire. "We'll watch that instead, then."

"I'll be right over," said Jesse. "I'll call you back when I'm outside, okay?"

Sapphire nodded. "Okay," she said. "See you soon."

"See you," said Jesse, before hanging up.

Sapphire put down the phone and leaned back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. It was certainly true that this wasn't going to end discrimination - there would certainly be plenty of people resenting the decision - but in terms of equal rights, it was a massive step forward. I'm glad I lived to see this day, thought Sapphire.

***

[from Project Nero]

Summer was relaxing and watching TV when her phone suddenly vibrated on the table in front of her, heralding a text message. Picking it up, she unlocked it and saw that Melody had sent her the following message: "WE DID IT! Gay marriage now legal in Vale :D #LoveWins"

Summer smiled, and quickly fired off a reply: "Nice. So, fancy getting married next weekend? I'm free if you are~ xxx" When Melody did not respond, Summer realized she'd gone a bit too far and quickly fired off another: "Relax, I was just joking. I know you don't go that way. Still, that's pretty great news, huh?"

Summer could almost hear the little sigh of relief coming from Melody, as the girl finally responded. "I thought you were joking :3c", she replied. "But yeah, it's fantastic news. Everyone I know is happy to hear it."

"I'm sure they are," Summer replied. "I'm happy to hear it as well. It's about damn time."

"It really is ^_^" Melody texted back.

***

[from Aishiteru! Hikikomori-san]

"Hey, Yuuichi, you hear?"

"Hear what?" asked Yuuichi.

"United States legalize gay marriage," said Ilana. "Gay people can get married there now."

"Yeah, I heard about that hours ago," said Yuuichi. "It's all over Chirper and Nicebook."

"Oh," said Ilana. "I wonder if Katarina hear about news, wherever she is… I sure she be happy to hear it."

"Not really," said Yuuichi. "Not when it's still illegal in her own country. Hell, it's still illegal here."

"It is?" asked Ilana, surprised. "Why?"

"I dunno," said Yuuichi, shrugging his shoulders. "Guess this country's still a bit old-fashioned, in some ways."

"Maybe," said Ilana. "Is better than Russia, though, in many ways."

"Sure is," said Yuuichi. "Who knows, maybe we'll be next."

"Maybe," said Ilana.

***

[from Striker Man]

"Gay marriage is legal in America? Hah, took them long enough," said Striker Man. "We've had that here in Britain for years."

"You're the fifth person in this post to say that it's "taken them long enough"," said The Genius. "I think the writer has made his point clear by now, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, but I think what he wants is to show just how much the decision means to the LGBT community," said Striker Man.

"We're not lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, though," said The Genius. "We're stick figures, we have no concept of sexuality."

"Doesn't that make us asexual, which still comes under LGBT?" asked Striker Man.

This threw The Genius for a loop. "...you know, I can't argue with that," she said.

"Can I marry this pickle jar now, then?" asked Stuporwoman excitedly, holding up a jar of pickles.

"No, Stuporwoman," said Striker Man, "you can't marry a jar of pickles."

"Why not?" asked Stuporwoman.

"Because a jar of pickles is an inanimate object, and you can't marry inanimate objects," said Striker Man.

"Why not?" asked Stuporwoman.

"Because... uhh... damn, this is harder than I thought," said Striker Man.

Luckily, The Genius picked up the slack. "You cannot marry an inanimate object," she said, "because an inanimate object cannot love you back. Would you not want a partner that can love you back?"

"It does love me back!" said Stuporwoman. "It loves me back with flavour!"

"How can someone so stupid make such valid points?!" remarked Striker Man.

"I think the same about you sometimes," said The Genius.

"Disclaimer: the author does not condone, nor promote, the idea of marriage between humans and inanimate objects," said Striker Man. "In fact, I don't even know why he brought this whole discussion up, to be honest." Stuporwoman represents the crazies who think same-sex marriage is a slippery slope, and that next you'll be able to marry your dog, or your brother, or a helicopter, or an ice cream cone. "Ah, I see."

"...so can I-" You can't marry a pickle jar, Stuporwoman, end of story. "Awww." You can marry someone who likes pickles, and eat pickles together with them, though. "Ooh, that sounds even better! Okay, I'll do that then!" Good for you.

Day 155

[from Cyborg Team Alpha]

Ichiko's recovery progressed fairly swiftly. It was now two weeks since she had first woken up, and she was able to feed herself, dress herself - though she could not yet manage buttons or shoelaces - and was now starting to learn how to walk again. However, this was a slow, difficult process. These legs were not the ones she was used to, and after three days of practice she was still struggling, even with the waist-high parallel bars to help guide her. It did not help that the hands gripping the bars were not the ones she was used to either, and more than once her grip had let her down, sending her tumbling.

Unperturbed, Ichiko continued to persevere, and each day she was able to walk a little further. Her new comrades in Cyborg Team Alpha felt she was pushing herself a little too hard, but they all knew better than to try and tell her to take it easy. After all, they had been much the same during their own rehabilitations.

Today, Ichiko was being supervised by Gumi. Gumi seemed to be the kindest and most gentle of the group members, and the one least suited to fighting. She was also, as far as Ichiko could tell, the only one whose cyberization was not immediately apparent. As she pulled up halfway down the rails, resting her robotic arms against one of the bars, she decided to take the opportunity to try and get to know Gumi a little better.

"Here." Ichiko looked up to see that Gumi was holding out a bottle of water for her. "If you're going to train this much, you'll need to stay hydrated. Your body still needs sustenance, you know."

Ichiko nodded, and took the bottle. "Thank you," she said. Holding the bottle in one hand, she attempted to unscrew the lid with the other, but she hadn't quite recovered the fine motor control to enable herself to do so.

"Oh, sorry," said Gumi, "I should have unscrewed the lid first-"

"No, it's okay," said Ichiko, her metal fingers still scrabbling for purchase on the bottle lid. "I can do this…"

At that moment, Ichiko lost her balance and fell to the floor, the bottle tumbling out of her hands and rolling away. She let out a heavy sigh and lay there for a moment, feeling useless. "How am I supposed to fight the Rising Sun if I can't even open a bottle of water…?" she lamented quietly.

Gumi retrieved the bottle of water, then sat down next to Ichiko. "You'll get stronger," she said, unscrewing the bottle lid. "You're already getting stronger, day after day. Nobody expects you to fight just yet. We want to make sure that when the time comes, you'll be ready." She held out the water bottle. "Having to ask for help doesn't make you a weak person," she said. "It means you're still human."

Ichiko nodded, sat up, and took the water bottle. "But… I'm not really human, am I?" she said. "Not anymore."

"You're just as human as the rest of us," said Gumi, as Ichiko started to drink. "You can think, and feel, and make your own decisions. You struggle, and you fail, and you make mistakes, and you get upset about them. All these things make you human, Ichiko."

"But-"

"No buts," said Gumi. "You may be a Cyborg, but you are still also a human."

Ichiko sighed. "I guess so," she said. Decided now was as good a time as any, she added, "Hey, Gumi? Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure," said Gumi. "Go ahead."

"Well…" Ichiko tries to think of how best to phrase the question. "What exactly happened to you in order to necessitate your conversion? I mean… everyone else, I can tell what happened to them, but…"

Gumi smiled. "My story's not as exciting as yours or Ryuto's, sadly," she said. "I was in a car accident, you see. My right leg had to be amputated in order to get me out of the vehicle, and by the time I got to the hospital, I'd already died of internal bleeding. But fortunately, due to my skills in bio-mechanics and prosthetics, Dr. Toriyama chose to save me, and make me a part of Cyborg Team Alpha."

Gumi lifted up her right trouser leg. The prosthetic beneath was so realistic that Ichiko would never have realized it was fake, had she not been told. Ichiko hesitantly prodded it with a finger: it felt like flesh. "Is this really a prosthetic?" she asked. "It looks so real… not like mine and Ryuto's at all."

"Well, there was no way we could get yours and Ryuto's cyberizations to look 100% human," said Gumi. "So we decided to just leave them like they are. We could have made your arms and legs more human-like, like mine, but we figured you'd prefer them like they are now. Ryuto certainly does."

Ichiko nodded, looking down at her skeletal carbon-grey hand. "You're right," she said, "I prefer it like this. It helps remind me of what I am. What the Rising Sun did to me. If I looked human again… it wouldn't feel right."

"Like I said," said Gumi, "you are a human, Ichiko. Maybe you don't feel like you are, but the fact that you feel at all is what makes you human." Standing up, she held out a hand to Ichiko. "Now then, do you feel like carrying on with your exercises?"

Ichiko nodded, taking Gumi's hand. "Of course," she said, as she shakily stood up. "Always."

Gumi smiled. "Give it your best," she said.

Ichiko handed back the water bottle and gripped onto the rails once again. "Of course," she said. As the pain and determination crept back into her expression in equal measure, Ichiko lifted her leg and took another slow step forwards.

Day 154

[from Sonic the Hedgehog Returns]

Tails was still circling the Death Egg in the Tornado, waiting for Sonic to get in touch, and so he was quick to spot the escape pods being launched from the falling station. "Robotnik's got to be in one of those," he noted. "If I can shoot it down…" This train of thought was quickly derailed when Tails noticed a squadron of Buzzbombers approaching at close range. "Never mind that," he said, "I'll have to just concentrate on not getting shot down myself! Sonic needs me!"

Banking the place round, Tails began to engage the Buzzbombers, shooting them down with the plane's machine guns while simultaneously avoiding their hail of laser fire. I need to win this, he thought. I can't let Sonic down. Oh, Sonic… I hope you're okay…

***

Meanwhile, Metal Sonic Mk.I was continuing to chase the real Sonic through the corridors of the falling Death Egg, occasionally firing volleys of lasers in the hedgehog's direction. Every single one missed. Sonic turned to face the machine, taunting it while running backwards. "Man, even when they're based on me, Buttnik's machines are useless!" he quipped. "Ya can't catch me, and ya couldn't hit the broad side of a b- WAAAAAAAAH!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the machine scored an almost direct hit, catching Sonic off-balance and sending him tumbling down the corridor. When he finally came to a stop, sprawled across the metal walkway, Sonic let out a groan and almost immediately started to pick himself up. In the meantime, Metal Sonic Mk.I had come to a halt and was preparing another Spin Dash.

"I had to open my mouth," muttered Sonic as he straightened back up again. "Well, come on then, ya big bag o' bolts," he said, "give it your best shot!"

The robotic duplicate unleashed its Spin Dash, tearing down the corridor towards Sonic at frightening speed, its metallic spikes gleaming dangerously. Sonic merely dodged to one side at the last second, shouting, "Olé!" The machine attempted to turn around in mid-spin, to try and get another shot at Sonic, but in the tight confines of the corridor this simply proved impossible and instead the machine toppled over, skidding sideways along the corridor in a shower of sparks. Sonic winced and covered his ears as the scraping of metal against metal created a horrific screeching sound.

As the machine finally skidded to a halt, Sally's voice sounded once more in Sonic's ear. "Sonic, you need to get out of there now!" she insisted. "You're running out of time before the Death Egg hits the lake's surface!"

"Yeah, I know!" said Sonic impatiently. "This darn robot keeps getting in my way!"

"Then destroy it!" said Sally.

"I don't think it's gonna be that easy," said Sonic, as the machine started to climb back to its feet.

"Well, you'll have to find a way, somehow," said Sally. "By Rotor's calculations, you have less than two minutes left."

"That's plenty of time," said Sonic. "Take a chill pill, Sal, I got this."

Metal Sonic Mk.I began to rev up yet another Spin Dash attack, and this time Sonic had an idea. As the machine launched itself at him, Sonic dodged to the side as he had before, and then raced off down the corridor at full speed. By the time Metal Sonic Mk.I had come out of its Spin Dash to try and relocate the hedgehog, it was far too late; Sonic was halfway to the exit and far out of the machine's visual range. Even if it knew how to follow him, it would never be able to catch him now. Finally, Sonic had managed to escape.

"Tails, I'm on my way to the exit," Sonic said, speaking into his microphone. "You'll be there to pick me up, right?"

"Sorry, Sonic," came the reply. "I'm still fending off these Buzzbombers. How long until the station hits the water?"

"Not very long at all, l'il bro," said Sonic. "I need you to pick me up ASAP, got it?"

"Okay," said Tails. "I'll try my best."

"Thanks, buddy," said Sonic. "I'll be at the exit in about… three seconds."

Sure enough, mere seconds later Sonic emerged onto the unfinished platform on the very edge of the Death Egg. Tails was still some distance away, engaging the squadron of Buzzbombers, and the water below was getting uncomfortably close. Sonic could see the reflection of the Death Egg looming large in the sparkling waters below. "Why did it have to be water…?" he lamented.

Still, Tails' dogfight continued. He wouldn't be able to land amidst such hostilities, and the waters below continued to get closer and closer. There was nothing else for it. Sonic would have to jump from the platform, and hope that Tails would be there to catch him before he hit the bottom. "Here goes nothing," he muttered to himself, and with that, he jumped.

Tails spotted Sonic's jump and, ignoring the few Buzzbombers that were left, focused his attention solely on saving his friend. "Don't worry, Sonic, I've got you!" he shouted. Pulling into a steep banked dive, Tails swooped down in pursuit of Sonic, leaving his tormentors in the dust. He caught Sonic with just metres to spare, the hedgehog landing neatly on the plane's wings as it skimmed over the surface of the lake.

"Nice catch, bro," said Sonic, high-fiving the young fox.

"Thanks, Sonic," said Tails, smiling. "You did great too."

"Well, duh," said Sonic. "When do I ever no-"

Sonic's bragging was cut off in mid-sentence by an almighty crash from behind them. Turning round, Sonic and Tails saw that the Death Egg had finally struck the water's surface, forming an immense circular tidal wave at the point of impact. The shock ripped the flying fortress' metal plating apart like rice paper, torrents of salt-water pouring through the corridors and obliterating everything in their wake. Metal Sonic Mk.I was helpless to resist as the torrent carried it away, the water frying its circuits.

Had the Death Egg still had power, its electrics would have met the same fate. Instead, the station was simply ripped apart at the seams, slowly disintegrating from the bottom up into millions of pieces of scrap metal, all the while continuing to sink lower and lower into the depths. Sonic and Tails watched the fortress' gradual destruction, and both felt immensely relieved, for they knew that Knothole was safe from annihilation for another day.

"Sal, you there?" asked Sonic.

"Yeah," said Sally, her voice overflowing with relief. "I'm here. Good job, Sonic. You saved us all."

"I know," said Sonic. "All in a day's work. Glad I made it outta there in one piece."

"And that robotic copy of you?" asked Sally. "What happened to that?"

"Went down with the ship," said Sonic. "We won't be seeing him again."

Day 153

[from StarLight]

As expected, the White Star phenomenon only intensified following her battle against Black Star, and the two magical girls remained almost the sole talking point for the rest of the week. Sanae soon found herself getting used to it, although it was still a little difficult not to turn around every time she heard someone cry out "White Star!" in the corridors.

To her surprise, it also seemed as though Black Star had gotten a small peripheral following. Her villainous nature hadn't stopped some people on the Internet from expressing affection for her, and she had seen more than one person posting things like "I don't care if Black Star is evil, she's still adorable as hell", or "Black Star did nothing wrong", or "Isn't Black Star a character from Soul Eater?" She had to scroll past that last one fairly quickly, for fear of copyright issues.

Much to her horror, Sanae also found a small group of people who were obsessed with the idea of "shipping" White Star and Black Star together. By the weekend, she had already seen at least three pictures of the two magical girls expressing their love for one another in some manner. I don't get it, she thought. How does one look at two mortal enemies fighting to the death and think, 'I bet they actually really want to screw each other'? Probably watched too many tsundere anime.

Having become a little burnt-out on her alter ego, and feeling all the more glad that no more monsters had appeared since Monday, Sanae spent the weekend relaxing and putting all thoughts of White Star and Black Star to one side. Come Monday morning, she was ready to go back to school and face the endless chatter all over again. Amaya was not so ready.

"Just let it die already," she mumbled, as she shuffled towards the school. "Just let the White Star fad die already."

"Are you alright, Amaya?" asked Sanae. "You look tired. Like, really tired."

"My mom was up all night playing the new Bat-Dude game and she had the volume turned up really loud for whatever reason," she groaned. "I couldn't get a wink of sleep, and I know half the plot now. I can still hear Bat-Dude's voice in my head…"

"Well, to be fair, there's worse voices you could have in your head," said Sanae. "Like Sailor Moon and her annoying whiny baby voice. Ugh." She shuddered. "I hope I don't get a voice like that when this series gets animated."

"I don't have to worry about that, because I'm a tomboy," said Amaya. "They wouldn’t give a tomboy a voice like that." She yawned, and then sighed. "They're gonna give me an annoying voice now just for the fun of it, aren't they?" she muttered.

Sanae shrugged. "We'll find out someday. Hopefully."

Amaya nodded "Hopefully," she muttered. Then she stopped walking, and her head suddenly lolled forwards onto her shoulder.

"Amaya?!" exclaimed Sanae, startled. "Don't tell me you've just fallen asleep standing up!"

"I'm too tired to go to school," said Amaya.

"Too bad!" said Sanae, seizing her arm. "You're the straight man to my idiot! I need you to make the classroom scenes funnier! Besides, if you don't come into school, what are you gonna do for the whole day? Stay at home while your mom plays Bat-Dude?"

"Let's go," said Amaya suddenly, her head snapping upwards as she resumed walking.

"Wow, that was fast," remarked Sanae. "Good thing I didn't have to drag her all the way up there, though. That would have been tiring."

Amaya suddenly glared at Sanae over her shoulder. "Did you just make a fat joke?" she asked.

"Well, if the boot fits-" quipped Sanae, an instant before Amaya's foot impacted her face, knocking her to the ground.

"Sure fits your face nicely," grumbled Amaya, before walking off again. Sanae picked herself up, rubbed her face, and made a mental note never to tease Amaya while she was sleep-deprived.

***

When they finally made it to school, Amaya proceeded to spend most of the day sleeping at her desk, only waking up when a teacher barked at her to do so only to go right back to sleep again five minutes later. When it came to lunchtime, Sanae gently nudged her friend awake. "Amaya," she whispered, "wake up. It's lunchtime."

"Thanks, Sanae," mumbled Amaya, rubbing her eyes. "I think I'll eat here today, you go ahead to the cafeteria."

"You sure?" asked Sanae.

Amaya nodded. "I'm sure," she said. "You're the main character, you go do your main character stuff."

"Okay," said Sanae. "I'll be back once I'm finished eating, okay?"

Amaya nodded, and yawned. "Sure, whatever," she said.

Getting up out of her seat, Sanae grabbed her back and headed off to the cafeteria as usual. On her way there, however, she spotted a flyer crudely stapled to one of the walls. Usually, she didn’t pay attention to the various club flyers stapled to the walls, but this one happened to catch her attention, as this one had a picture of White Star on the front. Moving in closer, she began to read it:

"Are YOU a fan of White Star?" it proclaimed boldly. "Why not join the new WHITE STAR FAN CLUB? Meetings are every day after-school (location tbd). Come and discuss White Star, Black Star, and any other cool supernatural stuff that happens in Mitsuzawa!"

Sanae couldn't help being surprised. "Wow, I even have a fan club now…" she muttered.

"Wanna join?"

Sanae shrieked and jumped about a foot in the air, paranoid that whoever had just spoken had heard what she had said. Looking around, she realized it was Hitomi, the heterochromatic girl she had run into - literally - at the start of the semester. "Wh-wh-wh-when did you get here?!" she exclaimed, flustered.

"F-f-f-five seconds ago!" replied Hitomi, mimicking Sanae's stuttering. "I heard you were interested in joining the White Star Fan Club! Is that right?"

If Hitomi had heard her, she wasn't letting on. Sanae decided to give her the benefit of the doubt for now, and forced herself to calm down. "Uhh… maybe…" she said. "Are you in it, Hitomi?"

"I'm the club president!" she said boldly. "Or rather, I will be, once we get one more member, a room, and a supervising teacher! Then we'll be a proper club!"

"You already have three other members?" said Sanae. Somehow, despite all the attention she had gotten over the last week, she was still surprised that there were people who liked her enough to join a fan club dedicated to her.

"Sure do!" said Hitomi. "You wanna go meet 'em?"

"Sure, why not," said Sanae. She was rather curious about what kinds of people would join a fan club dedicated to her.

"Alright, let's go!" said Hitomi. "They're over in Class 1-3, so follow me~!" Hitomi headed off down the corridor, with Sanae following along behind. I hope I get to eat my lunch while I'm there, she thought, I'm really hungry…

Day 152

[from Vanishing Point]

It did not take the guards long to locate the fake Aiko. She was standing at the water cooler, pouring herself a drink. "Aiko Fujikawa?" one of them called out. Aiko looked over in the direction of the men, and upon seeing them, her eyes shot open with shock. The polystyrene water cup fell from her hand, slipping all over the dark blue carpet.

"You're going to have to come with us," said the second guard.

Aiko remained stock-still for a moment, gazing at the men in horror, then suddenly sprinted off down the corridor, away from them. The two guards, alarmed, quickly chased after her. One of them raised his gun, but the other guard forced his arm back down. "No, you idiot!" he exclaimed. "You might hit one of the workers by accident! Wait until we've got her cornered first!"

Aiko chased her way through the corridors with desperation, shoving confused co-workers aside as she went. Finally, she dived through a door to her left and slammed it shut behind her. As the guards followed her inside, they found themselves in what looked like a conference room, with a large table in the middle. Aiko was nowhere to be seen.

"That's odd," said the first guard. "Where did she go?"

"She's got to be in here somewhere," said the second guard, drawing his handgun. "We'll find her."

The first guard nodded, and the two split up, combing their way through the room in search of the impostor. The first guard was soon drawn to a metal cabinet set against one wall. It seemed like a good hiding place. Slowly, trying not to make a sound, he crept up on the filing cabinet, one hand ready to pull the doors open, and the other hand ready to put a bullet in Aiko's head.

As his hand curled around the doorknob, however, he was suddenly impaled straight through the chest by a steel blade that appeared to have been thrust straight through the metal door of the cabinet from within. Looking down, the man saw his shirt and jacket become stained, then soaked with crimson, his lifeblood dripping onto the floor. Then his vision blurred and faded away, and he saw nothing. As the blade was retracted back into the cabinet, the guard fell to the floor, dead.

The second guard, hearing the commotion, turned round and was shocked to see his lifeless colleague lying on the floor. Letting out a cry of fear, he raised his handgun and fired six bullets into the cabinet, each one punching through the thin sheet metal with ease. Satisfied that this would have been enough to kill Aiko, he lowered his gun and breathed a sigh of relief. However, this relief was short-lived. Mere seconds later, the cabinet door opened, and the guard watched on in terror as a woman stepped out of it, kicking aside the corpse of his former partner.

This woman, however, was not Aiko Fujikawa. It was Obsidian. She was frighteningly tall, at least six feet, and her crimson eyes burned with fury. She was dressed in a long black dress with white lace detailing, and a long slash that ran down one side of her skirt. Clutched in her hands were two gleaming katanas, one of which was bloodied from where she had murdered the other guard with it.

The terrified guard began to tremble as he took a step backwards. "What the hell are you?!" he exclaimed.

"You should know," said Obsidian coldly. "After all, you created me."

With that, Obsidian charged towards the man, her swords ready to strike. The man kept his gun aimed at her the entire time, but somehow he found himself paralyzed by fear, and unable to pull the trigger. He was therefore powerless to stop Obsidian as, with one swift stroke, she severed the man's head from his shoulders.

Day 151

[from Sapporo Lilies]

It's one of the last training sessions before our big first game. While the girls get changed into their football kits, I head out onto the training pitch so inspect it. There don't seem to be any major concerns, which is good. There's not much to be gained from training on a terrible pitch.

I've been trying to get to know the girls, to find out what makes them tick. If I can understand their various individual mentalities, that helps me to put together better strategies. Learning who works well together, who doesn't, who prefers which tactics… it's all important. As the girls filter out onto the pitch, I jog over to have a brief chat with each of them in turn. First to arrive, as usual, is Konoko. "Good morning, Konoko," I say cheerfully.

"Good morning, gaffer!" she says. "Let's do our best, okay?"

"I hope you all will," I say, as she rushes off onto the pitch. Next to come out is Hinata. "Hey, Hinata," I say. "How's the floristry going?"

Hinata seems impressed that I remembered what she does in her spare time. "It's going well, thanks," she says, smiling at me. "Perhaps I'll bring in some arrangements for you all one day."

"That would be nice," I say.

Suzuma is the next player out, but before I can get a word in, she's already sprinting past me. She hasn't been too happy about my attempts to get close to the players. She really doesn't seem to like me at all. I suppose I can't expect them all to like me just yet. Maybe she'll change her mind once we start winning. If we start winning. It's a tough first game we have this weekend.

Next up are Shinobu and Ichiko, eagerly chatting away to each other. It sounds like Shinobu is giving the young striker some advice. "-just try and be subtle about it. Like, when you pass him in the corridors, give him a nice big smile-" That's probably not the kind of conversation I should be listening in on. Sometimes I forget that Ichiko is still in school. Luckily, I'm told the school allows her to miss a certain number of days so she can train and play in matches, although she has to make up whatever time she misses.

Next up is Yuuka, who I don't expect to get much out of. She's not really a talkative person. Nonetheless, I persevere. "Hey, Yuuka."

Yuuka looks over to face me, but keeps walking. "Hi," she says.

"How are you feeling today?" I ask her.

Yuuka shrugs. "I can't complain," she says.

"Okay, good," I say.

I'm about to continue when Yuuka suddenly stops and asks, "How about you?"

The unexpected question, as simple as it is, throws me off guard a little. "Huh?"

"How about you?" she repeats. "How are you feeling today?"

"Uhh… good, I guess," I say.

Yuuka gives me a small smile. "Glad to hear it," she says.

It occurs to me that that might be the first time one of the girls has actually asked me how I'm doing. At least Yuuka's warming up to me, then.

"GANG WAY!"

Before I can turn round to see where the shout is coming from, something suddenly collides with me with tremendous force, knocking me to the floor. As I struggle up onto my elbows, I look around and slowly piece together what has happened. Rika is lying to my left, rubbing her knee and wincing a little. Yuuka is standing over us, looking shocked, and Fiona and Natsume are rushing over from the changing rooms to investigate. As Yura rushes over, looking mortified, I suddenly realize what has happened: the two idiots were racing each other out of the changing rooms.

"What the hell happened?" asked Natsume.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" exclaims Yura. "I didn't think this would happen…"

"I told you both that holding a race in the players' tunnel was a bad idea," said Fiona, shaking her head. "Honestly, how old are you?"

[AUTHOR NOTE: At this point, you will have the option to scold them or defend them]

"I concur," I say, as I climb to my feet. I'm not happy about this. "You could have really injured someone there, including yourselves. If you two wanna run races against each other, do it on the pitch where it's less crowded, and now in the player's tunnel. I don't wanna catch either of you doing something like that again. Understood?"

Rika climbs to her feet, and thankfully it looks like she's not hurt, although her pride's taken a bit of a bashing. "Sorry, boss," she says. "It won't happen again."

Yura nods in agreement. "We promise," she says.

"Okay, good," I say. "Now go and join the others."

As I brush the grass and dirt off my suit, the girls head off onto the pitch, except for Fiona. "Are you alright?" she asks me.

"A little sore, but I'll be fine," I say. "I dunno what they were thinking, though."

"They weren't," said Fiona. "They got too caught up in their little friendly rivalry. But hopefully they've learned their lesson now."

"I sure hope so," I say. "I don't want a repeat of that."

"Me either," says Fiona.

I decide to ask a question that's been playing at my mind ever since I found out Fiona played here. "Say… can I ask you a slightly personal question?" I ask.

"Depends how personal it actually is," says Fiona, smiling.

"What brings a star like you all the way out to a small amateur team on the other side of the world?" I ask. "You could have gone anywhere to retire, so why here?"

"I fancied a change of scenery," says Fiona. "Playing in England was fun, but I felt like I needed something different to end my career with. So I chose Japan. The women's game is big over here as well, plus the views here are really incredible. Sure, I could have gone to America or something, and been paid a lot of money to play, but I think I have enough money already." She lets out a little chuckle.

"That's a pretty mature way of thinking," I remark. "If only there were more footballers who thought like that."

"I agree," says Fiona. "There's too much money in the game these days. Well, the male game, certainly, but let's not get into that right now."

I nod. Not really the best thing to be discussing this early in the day. "So anyway, why Sapporo in particular?" I ask. "Any real reason, or just…?"

"They just seemed like the team with the nicest atmosphere," said Fiona. "I must say, I'm enjoying my time here so far."

"Thanks," I say. "It means a lot to hear someone like you say that."

Fiona smiles. "You're welcome," she says. "Now, shall we go and get started? I think everyone's already out there by now."

"I think so too," I say, clapping my hands together. "Right, let's get things underway, then." Fiona nods, and we both make our way out onto the pitch to join the others.