Chapter Text
Stage I: A Scary Surprise
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Academy
Rinku woke with a snort, drool flying from her chin. "Huh?! Whu-?! What happened?!" She rubbed her red eyes sleepily.
Did I… she yawned …fall asleep in class? Had she been more awake, she might've questioned such behavior. She was the Ultimate Explorer, after all, known for her boundless energy and endless curiosity. She was the last person to fall asleep anywhere, and yet…
The classroom was dark and silent. Did that mean school was over?
"HELLO?! IS ANYONE THERE?!"
Rinku reeled back in her seat, then she raced to the classroom door without a second thought. "Maho!" It was the Ultimate Cook! Maybe she would have answers! Or food! Who knew how long it had been since Rinku's last meal? Rinku certainly didn't! Which meant, it was time to eat!
"Rinku?!" Maho was racing through the hallway perpendicular to Rinku's. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked left to see the orange-haired girl peeking from behind a classroom door. Then, before she could even blink, Rinku came flying at her. "Wait—!" Too late.
Rinku slammed into Maho, arms open. She embraced the other girl, practically kissing her cheek. It took Maho nearly an entire minute to pry Rinku off, and then another five to try to get on the same page with her. Rinku's scatterbrained nature was unparalleled.
"Wait… So, we're not in Yoba anymore?" Rinku tilted her head and tapped her chin as Maho interrogated her.
"What? No! Isn't that obvious?!" Maho gestured all around herself and Rinku. Nothing was familiar. The floors were wrong, the halls were wrong, the lockers were wrong, and the whole school seemed to be abandoned. "Why do you think all the windows and most of the doors are boarded up?!" she demanded. While she was frantic, Rinku seemed completely nonchalant.
"Oh, I just thought it was nighttime and I accidentally slept so long that I missed the dismissal bell!" she shrugged, grinning.
Maho's blue eye twitched. Wha—? You think that even if you fell asleep in class for the entire day that everyone else would just leave you there?!
And even if Rinku could argue that she mistook the darkness created by the boarded up windows for darkness created by the nighttime, Maho would've argued that the patches of sun shining through the slits in the boards should've given it away.
Then again, as Maho knew all too well, Rinku wasn't always the sharpest tool in the shed. Case and point…?
"Oh, the floor looks like a panda!" Rinku's face split into a wide grin as she pointed at the black and white tile.
And that's exactly what I'm talking about! Maho sighed. Yoba had wood floors, not tile. That was why she was so worried.
Like Rinku, Maho shot awake with an undignified snort in an abandoned room, although she was in what appeared to be a radio room rather than a classroom. While Rinku woke up with her face on a desk, Maho was slumped in a large, red, cushioned, swivel chair, sitting before a wall of monitors, a pair of large, black headphones around her neck. Maho was much quicker than Rinku to realize that something was terribly wrong, and she tried frantically to turn on any of the monitors, but none of them responded to her touch. The only other device in the room was a set of DJ turntables, but they looked as if they hadn't been touched in years. The words "Despair" "Jockey" were carved one on each turntable.
"H-HEY! LET ME OUTTA HERE! WHAT GIVES?! HUH?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Before Maho could get further in her story, something scared the daylights out of her and Rinku.
They both shrieked, Rinku in excitement and Maho in terror. "MUNI!" Rinku took off flying down the hall.
"Wait! Rinku! WAIT!" Maho reached out for the other girl, but it was already too late. It could be a trap! At the very least, it's dangerous to go rushing in blindly! Especially after a scream like that!
While Maho chased after Rinku, Rinku rounded a corner just in time to see a locker door swing open and a tiny brunette in a bunny-ear headband fall out. It was indeed the Ultimate Illustrator, and Rinku beamed, holding out her arms to pick the other girl up off the floor.
"R-R-Rinku?!" Muni cried out in surprise as Rinku lifted her up, then she looked away and blushed when Rinku pulled her in close. "What the heck's going on?! Why was I stuffed into a locker—MAHO?!" Muni's golden eyes shot open comically wide as Maho finally caught up to Rinku.
The moment Maho skidded to a stop, though, something suddenly occurred to her. Rei! I wonder if she's here too?
Muni cried out in indignation when Maho took off running again, this time away from her and Rinku. "Hey! Wait! Where are you going?!"
"To find Rei!" Maho shouted over her shoulder.
"When I'm clearly in need right here?!" Muni scoffed under her breath and shook her head. The nerve of some people!
At the same time, Maho searched desperately for a music room. There was no guarantee Rei would be there even if there was a music room, but it was the first place Maho thought of for the Ultimate Pianist. Lucky her, she was right. Rei was asleep on the piano, arms crossed beneath her check as she rested on the keys. Despite herself, Maho chuckled, knowing how horrified Rei would be at the thought of sleeping on a piano.
Maho was tactful, lifting Rei up as she shook her awake, so that way Rei would not wake up still pressed against the keys.
"Mmm? Maho?" One of Rei's green eyes opened slowly, and she gave the other girl a tired smile. "Did Hapiara have a sleepover?"
At the same time, Rinku and Muni came bursting in, finally catching up to Maho.
"Rei!" Rinku cried out in excitement while Muni's jaw dropped.
"Rinku? Muni?" Rei sat up taller in Maho's arms, cognition slowly returning to her. "W-what's happened? Where are we?"