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[color=tomato]"Oh this isn’t good."[/color]

[color=888888]— Suki Oyama[/color][/center]

Suki watched Haruna as she explained herself. Misoka seemed a little surprised that Haruna’s mood had improved so quickly, but simply let her finish speaking. And once Haruna was done speaking, she departed. 

[color=90ee90]"That was… So yes!"[/color] Misoka forced a smile and looked back at Suki. [color=90ee90]"There you have it! It was just a misunderstanding!"[/color]

[color=ff6347]"She was lying."[/color]

Misoka looked around. [color=90ee90]"I don’t think she was, she sounded very sincere."[/color] 

[color=ff6347]"She’s a very good liar, and she only lies to make people feel better."[/color]

[color=90ee90]"Maybe. But everyone lies, Suki. I even tell lies like that."[/color] It did occur to Misoka that Suki usually avoided her at all costs. She had suspected that Suki was avoiding her because she tended to play pranks on people and just didn’t want to deal with one of her victims, but maybe there was something else at play here. [color=90ee90]"I know she was being truthful when she said she wanted to be your friend. But what’s this about you not being her biggest fan?"[/color]

[color=ff6347]"I don’t know."[/color] Suki groaned. [color=ff6347]"I mean she makes me feel a little uncomfortable sometimes, but I think I’ve been nice to her for the most part."[/color]

[color=90ee90]"Uncomfortable?"[/color]

[color=ff6347]"Yea."[/color] She looked up. [color=ff6347]"She reminds me of someone I used to know."[/color]

[color=90ee90]"Who were they?"[/color]

The delinquent hesitated. [color=ff6347]"Nobody you’d know."[/color]

Misoka pursed her lips. [color=90ee90]"What were they like?"[/color]

[color=ff6347]"A cyborg."[/color]

[color=90ee90]"E-excuse me."[/color] 

[color=ff6347]"If you don’t mind, I kind of don’t want to talk about it anymore. It looks like a play started."[/color] Suki propped up her head with her hand. 

[color=90ee90]"Oh, well, that’s fine."[/color] Reluctantly, Misoka turned to look at the play. [color=90ee90]"Is that Tsubomi up there?"[/color]

Suki didn’t answer.

Elsewhere, Evil Eye made a phone call. Likely to someone she never wanted to ask for help. Perhaps the stranger part was that she got a response.

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[color=seagreen]"How’s the rest of my harem doing?"[/color]

[color=888888]— Rei Ishiko[/color][/center]

[color=seagreen]"Evil Eye, Interesting."[/color] That was Schrade’s voice, and the echoes of steel could only be her scythe meeting with an equally powerful opponent. [color=seagreen]"One moment, I’m going to put you on speaker."[/color] 

This was a lie.

Rei did not put herself on speaker, she started a video call and cast aside her phone. The angle was not especially flattering, with the shot mostly focused on the ceiling. But Evil Eye had seen the club room enough times to know that was where Rei was. There was just enough of a bookshelf in view with Suki’s manga spilling off the top shelf. Shrade leapt up into the air and gripped her scythe with both hands, then Black Gate slammed into her with her, brandishing a puppet in each hand. 

It went without saying that there was something off here. The real question was if, and what, Evil Eye was going to do about it. 

Once all the tears were cleaned up, the janitor monkeys looked up at Evil Eye. Possibly anticipating her next move, possibly reminding her that they were watching. 

Next to an adjacent table, some of the students started to speak.

[b][color=ffffff]"Sooooooooo, unsurprisingly, it looks like Misoka got picked."[/color][/b]

[b][color=ffffff]"Why did we even bother signing up again?"[/color][/b] They both laughed.

[b][color=ffffff]"Maybe someone else will come along later."[/color][/b]

[b][color=ffffff]"Huh."[/color][/b]

[b][color=ffffff]"What?"[/color][/b]

[b][color=ffffff]"Was there supposed to be a play?"[/color][/b]

[b][color=ffffff]"I don’t think so. The theater club should still be rehearsing. Not to mention their props are a little bit better than that."[/color][/b]

[b][color=ffffff]"Right. Wonder what it’s about."[/color][/b]

[b][color=ffffff]"I mean, we could watch it."[/color][/b]

[b][color=ffffff]"Yea, that was what I was implying."[/color][/b]

[b][color=ffffff]"It looks spooky! Would you like to hold my hand?"[/color][/b]

[b][color=ffffff]"...Sure."[/color][/b]

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[color=deeppink]"Here to make everything better."[/color]

[color=888888]— Willow[/color][/center]

With Tsubomi being a square that didn’t wanna rough up anyone, Willow needed to find another avenue of excitement. Unfortunately, it looked like everything was being handled by someone, so she decided to peak over Evil Eye’s shoulder.

[color=ff1493]"Oh hey! Look at her go!"[/color] She looked away from the phone and at Evil Eye. [color=ff1493]"You know she was not that hard to fight when I got my hands on her. I think Rei might be slackin’!"[/color]

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[color=9a8c9a]"Ask me the question."[/color]

[color=888888]— Black Gate[/color][/center]

Michi gave the twins a nod once the bottle had been handed off, and then looked ahead. Of course Hizuki was there, threatening her. Any normal person would only see Michi scowling at the open air. Maybe that was why she chose to ignore her for now and focus on the students below. Yet she still had two magical girls up on stage, one of which just handed a bottle off to Tsubomi.

[color=9a8c9a]"I’m not summoning anything."[/color] She mumbled, just loud enough for Hizuki to hear. Then Michi lifted her head and spoke to the room. [color=9a8c9a]"Is everyone having a good day? Maybe you’ve had better, maybe you will have better, Maybe you don’t think today is good at all. I was told by a few people that they were not having a good day today, even though I worked hard to make today as good as I possibly could for them."[/color]

A girl sitting near the edge of the theater, one without a blue ribbon, looked up at Michi and smirked. [b][color=ffffff]"Is that why you look like a mop?"[/color][/b] The joke was only [color=ffffff]"funny"[/color] enough to get her small clique of girls laughing. Tsubomi had done her best, but Michi had stopped her before she could be completely cleaned. [b][color=ffffff]"But seriously, who are you, and why should I care about some stupid play?"[/color][/b]

While Michi looked reasonably agitated, her hate and desire to destroy was spreading across the room like a thick miasma. It practically choked out all other emotions in her vicinity. [color=9a8c9a]"You should care because you are a simple creature. You are ignorant of the world and what’s in it."[/color] Her eyes drifted away from the heckler. [color=9a8c9a]"This play is about my dear sister Norah, and what happened to her on a day like today."[/color]

The heckler was about to say something, but stopped when her chair was shoved into her table. When she turned to see who had bumped into her, there was a large gorilla in a suit and tie sitting behind her. She wisely chose not to say anything else.

[color=9a8c9a]"Our story starts on a Friday night. Most kids are planning sleepovers or going to stay up all night playing videogames, but not Norah. She plans to go to bed early so that she can wake up and do some extra studying. She also plans to go over my homework like she used to do before we were adopted. Also, it was our secret, but if I did good? We’d go to the bakery and get crepes early in the morning."[/color] She looked to Tsubomi. [color=9a8c9a]"Tsubomi was different too. She sold drugs to people. Not for the money, but because it made people happy."[/color]

On Tsubomi’s half of the stage, several ape extras hopped out from behind the shower curtains and landed around her. [b][color=ffffff]"Eyyyyyyyy!"[/color][/b] one of them  made gun fingers and pointed at her. [b][color=ffffff]"I hear ya got some ‘Miracles’ eh? Think ya could hook a brother up? Maybe a sistah?"[/color][/b] Michi snapped her fingers, and Roche appeared on stage. She was still slumped in her chair. [b][color=ffffff]"My girl here could use a li’l TLC if ya know what I mean? Ah-heh-heh-HEH!"[/color][/b]

With the play underway, Michi spoke to Hizuki in a hushed tone. [color=9a8c9a]"Why do you care so much about these [i]sad sacks[/i]? Suki was [i]asking[/i] for it, and I merely [i]suggested[/i] we summon a giga miseria. Why are you [i]assuming I’d do it in the school[/i]? Why does the detention club get a pass on [i]everything[/i]!? Are you going to ask Roche to [i]not throw food on people[/i], or are [i]threats of violence okay[/i] if it’s your [i]friends[/i] are doing the [i]bullying[/i]!?"[/color]


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Aside from the snoring maids, all seemed to be quiet at the Tsukishima manor.