Period 12: The Springtime of Youth!

"Yuna-san?" Mero called out. She looked over to the empty bunk and scratched her head. "How odd." So far her roommate had slept in every day of their break, but this morning she was already gone. She waved away the thought. It was time for business. She made a magic circle, and checked her connection to the world tree. Just like before it barely had any mana. She sighed. She would have to do more research. She reached over to the desk for her magic index, but found it wasn't there. "Strange." She said to herself. "I was certain I left it here." After thoroughly searching the room, she could only come to one conclusion; Yuna must have taken it. "Argth." These girls were taxing her patience more every day.

Mero walked down the hallway. She had to retrieve her index, but she had no idea where Yuna was.

"Gyaa, where are they?!" shouted a familiar voice from an open door at the end of the hall.

"Asuna-san?" Mero said, peering into the doorway. The room was completely disheveled, clothes and books were scattered across the floor. Both Negi and Konoka were pressed against the wall while Asuna had crawled under the bed reaching for something. "Are you looking for something?"

"Oh hey, Mero-chan." Konoka said

"Good morning." She replied. "Is something wrong?"

"Well," Konoka started. "It looks like she lost her bells."

"Bells?" Mero said tilting her head.

"Damnit!" Asuna tossed a pair of panties over her shoulder, which hit Mero square in the face. "I can't find them!" Asuna finally pulled her upper body out from under the bed and stood up. Her long red hair fell open around her like a curtain. It was the first time Mero had seen her without her pigtails. "Where are- huh when did you get here?" She said noticing Mero for the first time.

"Asuna-san, your hair . . . "

"I know!" She cried. "My ribbons . . . my ribbons are gone!"

"So something of yours has gone missing as well?"

"Huh?" Asuna blinked.

"Have you lost something too Mero-san?" Negi asked.

"Yes, a very important book of mine." Asuna jumped up.

"Someone's been stealing from us?!"

"Don't you think you're jumping to conclusions Asuna-san?" Negi asked. She ignored him.

"That bastard's gonna pay for this!"

"Are you all right Asuna-san?" Said Mero.

"Come on Mero, we've gotta find this guy!"

"Wait wh-" Before she could protest Asuna grabbed her by the wrist and ran out of the room. A moment later a voice came over the P.A. system.

"Good morning Mahora middle school dorm!"

"Is that Yuna's voice?" Asuna realized.

"I'm sure by now many of you have noticed some of your belongings have gone missing." She continued.

"I knew it." Mero said.

"If you want them back please come to the courtyard immediately.

X

A few minutes later Mero and Asuna along with dozens of their dorm mates gathered in the courtyard. Yuna and Asakura were standing on the balcony looking over the crowd.

"Glad you all came!" Yuna said. "I'm your host Akashi Yuna!" She was met with a series of boos and angry shouts from the audience. "Now I'm sure you're wondering what happened to all your stuff."

"You stole my lucky bra!" Someone shouted.

"Where's my manga collection?!" Another girl said.

"And my bike!" said another.

"Relax guys. You'll get all your stuff back no problem, if you can find them first."

"Yuna . . . " Asuna was shaking with anger. "If you don't give back my ribbons right now-"

"C'mon guys don't be like that. Where's your adventurous spirit? This is the springtime of our youth!"

The response from the crowd was not positive. Asakura stepped forward and took the mike.

"Well you heard her!" She announced. "The rules are simple. Your belongings are scattered all over campus. We've prepared maps for all of you." She gestured to a desk stacked with papers. "All you have to do to claim the item is find it first, but be careful there are some surprises mixed in there too. However if two of you find an item at the same time, you're going to have to battle it out!"

"This is so stupid!" Someone called out.

"Why should we have to fight each other just to get our own stuff?" Someone else shouted.

"Now I know some of you may feel that way." Asakura said. "But trust me, there's some pretty intersting things hidden here. Stuff that your classmates might really want to get their hands on." Several girls fidgeted uncomfortably. "So if you don't want to lose your precious treasures, I suggest you find them quickly."

Everyone scrambled up to the table to grab a map. Yuna snatched the mike back from Asakura, and pulled out an air gun.

"Alright everyone, let's start this thing off right!" She raised the gun into the air. "On your marks, get set, GO!" BANG!

X

"Damn, Yuna." Asuna grumbled. "When I get my hands on her. . . Asakura too!" She and Mero were walking along the outside of the dorm. Mero peered over Asuna's shoulder at the map. There were Xs all over it indicating the missing items, but none of them were labeled. There was no way to tell which "X" her book was hidden under. They had no choice but to check every one. This game was clearly designed to bring the participants into conflict with each other. They were getting close to the first location, but Mero didn't see anything that could be her spell book. There were no other students around, so maybe they couldn't find it either. Or worse, maybe they already had.

"There." Asuna pointed.

"Where?" She looked up. "I don't see anything."

"Come on!" She jogged over to the corner of the building, and Mero began to follow when she realized something. Why was she following Asuna? Whatever they found, they would end up fighting over. If they wanted their things back they should've split up.

"Over here. See?" Asuna was pointing at a brick just above the ground with an X carved into it. She nudged it with her foot and it wobbled. "Look's like there's something in here."

"You managed to spot that from so far away?"

"I guess I have good eyes." She knelt down and removed the brick. "Let's see what we got." She reached into the open space and pulled out a small piece of paper. She unfolded it, expecting to find some directions or instructions, instead there was a crude drawing of Yuna with her tongue sticking out, above the words 'try again'. Asuna crumpled the paper in her fist. "Yuna . . ." She growled.

"She did say there would be surprises." Mero said. "This scavenger hunt may be more difficult than we thought."

"Come on, let's get to the next one!"

"Wait." Mero held up her hand. "Why are we going together?"

"Huh? What do you mean? Obviously we have a better chance if we team up right?" Mero took a deep breath. How stupid could she get?

"If we stay together, we'll only end up fighting each other. If we want to get our things back we should seperate." Asuna blinked.

"Do you want to steal my ribbons?"

"What? Of course not."

"And I don't care about your book either. We don't need to fight each other, let's just work together and find our stuff."

"O-Okay." This girl was incredibly trusting.

"Alright let's go!" The redhead charged forward and Mero trailed behind her.

"Asuna-san, why is it so important you get those ribbons back?" She asked. "Wouldn't it be easier to buy a new pair?" Asuna stopped.

"Yeah it would, but these are special. It was the first present Takahata sensei gave me." Mero rolled her eyes.

"Is that all? Why do you like him so much anyway?" Anger flashed across Asuna's face, but quickly dissipated.

"I owe him everything. My parents are dead, I have no family, I don't even have any memories from before I came to Mahora."

". . ." Mero listened in silence. They continued walking.

"The principal and Takahata sensei took me in. They're basically the only family I have. They took care of all my tuition fees, and even let me live here for free. That's why I'm working my paper route, so I can pay them back at least a little. They were there for me when I had no one I could depend on." She shook her head. "I don't know why I'm telling you this. You're not an orphan are you?" She thought about that.

"No." She may not have been born like a normal human, but she wasn't an unwanted orphan either. She had a purpose.

"Then you probably don't understand." Asuna said. "Whatever, let's just keep going."

The next spot on the map was in their classroom. The "X" was scrawled on one of the floorboards, and when the pried it up they found a small rectangular box. Mero half shoved Asuna out of the way and snatched the prize. Her spell book had to be in here. She opened up the box and found . . . a stack of manga. She picked up one in disbelief.

"What is this?" She said flipping through the comic. "This man is naked and, wait what is he doing?"

"Whoa, I think that's enough of that!" Asuna went red as she snatched the manga from her.

"What's the matter?" Mero tilted her head. "Is there something special about that book?"

"D-Don't worry about it!" Asuna said, turning even redder. "You don't need to learn about this stuff!" She began to lower the items back into the floorboards. "We should just leave this here, and go to the next spot." Mero stopped her.

"No we should take it with us."

"Huh? Mero-chan, could it be you're into this kind of thing?"

"What are you talking about? If we happen to run into the owner of these books they will be a valuable bargaining tool."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"You need those hair ornaments back, right?" Asuna could've sworn she saw the beginings of a smile on her face. She couldn't help but smile back.

"Right!"

As they walked out of the classroom with their prize, Haruna came around the corner.

"Ah, I see you found my doujinshi." She said, noticing the manga under Asuna's arm. "I'm gonna need those back now. "You drew these paru? That explains so much." Asuna said, as she started to hand her the manga, when Mero stepped in front of her.

"Sorry Haruna-san, but I think we'll be holding onto these for the time being. If it's important, you can have them back once this game is over." Haruna sighed.

"I figured you might say something like that. Lucky for me I brought some friends." Just then a dozen more girls spilled out into the hall. "I don't believe you've been properly introduced to the manga club." One girl stepped forward and offered them a harsh glare.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to leave here with our precious work."

"P-Please give back our drafts!" Another member pleaded.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Hey wait," Asuna put up her arms defensively. "We weren't really trying to-" Then all at once all the members pulled out pens, markers, and various art supplies, brandishing them as threateningly as they possibly could. Asuna swallowed hard.

"Get him guys!" Haruna shouted, and the entire club surged forward. Mero raised her hand to prepare a spell, but once again Asuna grabbed her by the arm and ran down the hallway.

"What are you doing Asuna-san? Where are you taking us?"

"Let's just run." She said. "We can't take them all on at once!"

"Yes we ca-"

"Hey is that Asuna?" They heard someone else say.

"Yeah, and the transfer student." Another girl noticed them.

"What are they running for? Did they find something?"

"Let's go after them!"

"Crap!" Asuna skidded to a stop as a second crowd came toward them from the other end of the hall. "We're trapped!"

"No, we're not." Mero said turning to the open window beside them. A moment later both girls tumbled out of the building and fell through the air. Mero put out her hand to- wait, what was she going to do? They were on the fourth floor. She couldn't fly, she could use a spell to break her fall, but Asuna was with her. She hadn't thought this through at all! Then, without hesitation Asuna simply wrapped an arm around Mero's waist and kicked off against the wall. The two launched away from the building. As they were plummeting toward the ground Asuna reached out with her free hand and grabbed a tree branch to stop their fall.

"Phew!" She exhaled. "That could've been bad. Hold on." She began to rock back and forth, and dropped them back onto the grass. "You okay Mero?"

"Yes." She said looking up at her classmate who had just jumped from a from a four story window, and while in free fall managed to grab a branch and swing them both to safety. "You have good instincts Asuna-san."

"What are you saying? Come on let's-hey look!" Asuna was pointing at her feet. Mero looked down. She was standing on an "X" carved into the dirt. The two began to dig up their prize. As she sifted through the dirt Mero grasped onto something hard.

"What is this?" She pulled out a pair of long ridged objects wrapped in a black cloth. She unwrapped the cloth revealing two identical chinease broad swords. She turned over the swords in her hands. The craftsmanship was exquisite, with a wicked sharp edge and taoist symbols carved into the hilt.

"Whoa," Asuna said staring at the weapons. "Someone brought real swords to school?"

"Ah, you found my tao swords aru!"

"Huh?" Asuna and Mero turned to see Ku Fei bounding up to them.

"Ku-chan?" Asuna exclaimed. "These swords are yours?"

"That's right aru. My master gave them to me when I left China. I won't be giving them up so easily." Ku raised her hands and one knee. "Which one of you is coming aru?"

"W-Wait Ku, we're not going to fight you." Asuna said.

"It's the rules aru!" Ku said holding her stance.

"Come on give her back her swords." Asuna reached for the weapons. Ku sighed.

"No one's going to fight? And I was thinking you'd make a good match too. How disappointing aruyo."

Did this girl just imply that she was stronger than her? Mero's eyebrow twitched with anger.

"She's right." She stabbed both swords into the ground behind her. "According to the rules, we have to fight to claim our items."

"B-But-" Asuna stammered. Ku grinned.

"Here I come aru!" Ku rushed in and punched. Mero deflected it and swung her arm at Ku, who blocked the attack. The two girls went back and forth, exchanging attack and defense.

"Come on guys, this is stupid!" Asuna said trying to force herself between them.

"Hey there she is!"

"Crap!" Asuna said as she saw the crowd catching up to her. They chased her away, leaving Mero and Ku to their duel. Mero attacked again, Ku diverted her arm with both hands, and pulled her arm out of the way. Then in the same motion she dropped her other arm under her guard and swung her elbow into Mero's ribs.

"Guh!" A counter? I couldn't react in time! Ku released her and she fell backward.

"Get up Aru." Ku returned to her neutral stance. "The fight isn't over yet."

"Grrr" she growled in frustration. As she pushed herself up, her hand brushed against one of the swords on the ground. She looked down at the weapons. She was done being humiliated by this little girl. She picked up the swords and charged.

"Hey, weapons are against the rules aru!" Ku protested as she dodged the blade.

"Shut up!" Mero swung the swords furiously.

"Alright then, aruyo." Ku reached into her clothes and produced a long sash. She held it between her hands, and used the cloth to push aside the blades and deflect her attacks.

"What is this?!"

"A cloth spear aru!" She widened her stance and held up her "spear".

"What kind of-"

"Hiya!" She flung the end of the sash, Mero tried to block but the cloth arced around the sword and wrapped around her forearms. It pulled taut and bound her arms together, forcing her to drop the swords. "Caught you aru!" Ku pulled her in and prepared to counter attack.

frigirans exarmatio [freezing disarmament] Mero opened her hand and an icy wind blew. The sash along with Ku's uniform and underwear, froze and shattered. Oh no, I accidently used magic! The naked chinese girl stumbled back in surprise. Have I been exposed?!

"What a weird wind aru. Achoo! It's freezing aru! What happened to my clothes?" She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. "Oh well aru. Let's get back to the fight!" Mero blinked. Seriously? Was she really that dense? Ku threw up her hands again, completely ignoring her nudity.

"Stoooooop!" A familiar voice shouted. The two girls turned to see Yuna running toward them waving a red handkerchief. "Stop Ku-chan red card! You can't fight naked, there are kids reading this!" She looked at her baffled.

"What are you talking about aru?"

"Yuna-san!" Mero shouted.

"Whoops, time to go." She said as she took off running, with her roommate right behind her.

X

"Phew." Asuna sighed. "Looks like I finally lost them." She stood up from her hiding spot behind a tree and dusted herself off. "But I got separated from Mero too. What do I do now?" She began wandering around again trying to follow the map, when she heard Asakura's voice over the P.A.

"It seems more than half of the prizes have already been found! If you don't want your treasures to be lost forever, you better hurry!"

"Crap!" She jogged around the corner and encountered another one of her classmates, Chao Lingchen.

"Chao?"

"Ni hao!" [Hello] Said the chinese girl smiling. "Looks like the contest is winding down ne."

"Yeah. Did you lose something too?" She asked.

"Ha ha, of course not ne." Chao laughed. "Someone like me who has sold their sold to science, could never form attachments to material possessions yo."

"So why are you here then?" She shrugged.

"It seems like fun ne."

"Er, right . . ." Asuna said nervously. Chao was a little strange. She would occasionally visit her restaurant stand, but she never really spent much time with her.

"What do you have there ne?"

"Huh?" Chao was pointing to the stack of manga tucked under her arm. "Oh, I forgot I was carrying this. It's just some doujinshi that paru drew." She said holding them up.

"Looks interesting yo. Would you be willing to trade for this?" She pulled out a thin book covered in foreign symbols.

"What is this?" Asuna said taking the book.

"I don't know ne. I just found it over there. I can't read it at all yo."

"And you're just going to give it to me?"

"Don't you want it?"

"Mero did say she lost a book, I wonder if this could be it. It looks almost like the ones from library island. . . "

X

"Ow, ow, ow!" Yuna squealed as Mero pinned her against a wall. "Ah, my arm, my arm is breaking!"

"I would like my book back, Yuna-san." The white haired girl whispered.

"Don't you think you're taking this a little too seriously?" Yuna said. "I mean all this for por- ow!" She jumped as Mero twisted her arm. "Okay, okay! I give! Just let me go okay?" Mero released her from the pin, but kept a tight hold on her wrist.

"Where is it?"

"Relax, I've got it right here." Yuna started to did through her bag, and smiled when she found what she was looking for. "Take this!" Then without warning she pulled her hand out of her bag and shoved something into Mero's mouth

"Gupth!" She froze. A cold shiver ran though her body. W-What is this?! Something was melting in her mouth. Sticky syrup dripped down her throat, it was . . . sweet! She sucked down the sugary treat, until her lips closed around a thin piece of wood.

"Ha, ha!" Yuna cried out triumphantly. "You underestimated me, but know your weakness!" As the popsicle disappeared, she recovered from her daze. She looked down at her empty hands and gasped. In her confusion she'd released Yuna!

"I was actually saving that popsicle for later, but oh well, sacrifices have to be made I guess." She gave a smile and a wink. "Ciao!" She darted away and Mero ran after her. She ran into the gym storage room, and stopped in front of a large bin filled with basket balls. A large grin spread across her face. "Mero-chi!" She sang as the white haired girl appeared in the doorway. "Catch!" Mero jumped to the side as a basketball flew right past her.

"Yuna-san, what do you think you're-" Bonk! The basketball she'd just dodged bounded off the wall behind her and hit the back of the head.

"Take that, my trademark backboard shot!" Mero tried to advance but Yuna kept assaulting her with basketballs. She ducked under one ball, and when it bounced off the wall she dodged it again. Then another ball came at her from one side, then the other. Don't get cocky she thought. Once I know you're ricocheting your attacks I can dodge them easily! A ball bounded off the floor, and nearly hit her in the chin. She hoped into the air as another ball passed between her legs. While she was still in the air a basketball flew straight toward her face. I can't dodge! Did she anticipate this?! She caught the ball in her hand and stopped it just inches from her face. No matter. This much isn't enough to get me. Because she was holding it so close to her face she couldn't see the ball coming right behind it, which it the first ball and pushed it into her face.

"Enough!" She raised the ball over her head and prepared to counterattack, but when she looked around the room, Yuna was already gone. "Grrrrr. . . " Mero growled, and squeezed the basketball until a loud pop could be heard and the air slowly hissed out. She ran out after her and immediately crashed into Misora. As she fell she dropped something: two long ribbons with a pair of bells attached to the end.

"Ow. Where are you going in such a hurry?" She said getting back to her feet.

"Misora-san, please let me see that for a moment."

"Huh? This? I found them a little while ago, but hair ribbons aren't really my style. I got my sneakers back so I'm good."

"Just let me see it." She said reaching out for the bells, as Misora casually moved them out of her reach. "Misora-san?"

"He, he," She smiled mischievously. "If you want em . . . come and get em!" With that she turned and bolted down the road at breakneck speed.

"Get back here!" She shouted as she chased after her. She's fast! Much faster than she was in gym class. She watched as the distance between them slowly began to increase. She won't notice if I use magic just a little right? Acceleret! [Accelerate] Immediately she began to close the gap. Misora looked back and saw Mero gaining on her.

"Gah, how'd you get that fast?! Oh well, now that it's come to this . . ." She pulled her arm back and threw the bells as far as she could. "Go long!" Mero didn't miss her chance, she jumped over Misora and snatched the ribbon out of the air. "Got it." Once she landed she inspected the item in her hands. "These are definitely Asuna's hair decorations. Wait, where is Asuna?" She looked around, but she had already lost track of her. Then she heard Yuna's voice on the P.A. system again.

"Only a few items are left! This is your last chance everybody!"

"Wait," She thought out loud. "If she's able to make announcements like that, then there are only a few places she could be." She turned to Misora. "How do I get to the announcement room?"

X

"Ha, ha! this is going even better than I hoped!" Yuna laughed as she reclined in her chair.

"Really?" Asakura said. "From where I'm standing it looks like you were in a pretty big pinch just now." Yuna waved her away.

"Details, details! You can't expect to succeed without a little bit of risk. This is the springtime of youth!

"Okay," Asakura sighed. "But what are you gonna do now? Everyone's about ready to strangle you right now."

"Oh, they'll get over it!" Yuna snorted. "If we didn't do this we would have wasted our entire break! We can't end our precious schooldays without doing anything exciting, that would just be too sad. Sure they might be a little miffed right now, but I'm sure one day they'll look back on this memory and smile."

"So, you really think we'll forgive you?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't-"

"Um, Yuna?" Asakura said tapping her friend on the shoulder. "That wasn't me." Yuna froze in place. Very slowly she turned around, and there was Asuna, standing in the doorway cracking her knuckles.

"Hey Yuna." She said. "Come on, let's have a chat."

"Eeep!" Yuna burst out of the announcement room with Asuna hot on her heels.

"Give it up Yuna!" Asuna shouted. "You know you can't outrun me!" Yuna turned around around and pulled out two water guns. She shot a stream of water, which Asuna dodged easily, but as she jumped to the side another blast hit her in the face. "Ah! Damn it Yuna!" Asuna swore as she tried to wipe the water out of her eyes. "When I catch you I - gah!" She gagged as Yuna shot another blast directly into her mouth, before charging down the hall. She pushed past Mero, running in the opposite direction.

"What? Yuna-san, where are you-"

"Don't let her get away!" Asuna shouted, and the two of them chased her outside. They were gaining on her. She was running toward another building across the yard, but there were no open doors or windows on the first floor. They had her! As she approached the building she pulled out her cellphone.

"Makie! Are you there?! Time for our emergency exit plan, NOW!" She screamed into the phone. "Yeah, yeah, meal tickets, trading cards, whatever you want, just DO IT!" She reached the wall and Asuna lunged for her. "Too late Asuna." She raised her arm and a long ribbon wrapped around her wrist, and pulled her upward. Makie was standing on an ledge a few stories above, reeling in Yuna with her ribbon. This was a problem. There was no easy way to get up there without magic, and if they went through the building, she'd be long gone by the time they got there."Sorry, better luck next-" Asuna simply crouched down, and launched herself into the air. "Seriously?!"

"You're not getting away that easily!" Asuna came up right under her and swiped at her legs. Yuna raised her knees and moved out of reach just as gravity reasserted itself and pulled Asuna back toward the earth.

"Damnit!"

"Asuna-san!"

"Hm?" She had just ben to fall when Mero shot up right next to her and grabbed her wrist. The two locked eyes for a moment. Asuna nodded and Mero swung her up to toward the ledge. Meanwhile Yuna scrambled onto the building and exhaled.

"Phew, that was a close one!" BAM! Asuna landed on the roof right behind her. "Oh, come on!" Asuna confidently strode forward, and Yuna ran toward the corner of the roof, and picked up a fire hose mounted on the wall. "Get back!" She said pointing the nozzle. Asuna hesitated for a moment, then smirked and continued walking. Yuna turned on the hose, and a jet of pressurized water shot towards her. Before the blast hit, Mero jumped in front of her and held out her hand. When the stream hit her palm the water dispersed and parted around them.

"Mero?"

"I can hold it back." She said. "Go."

Asuna leaped out of the veil of water, and landed a flying kick right in Yuna's face. She immediately crumpled to the floor. Asuna turned towards Makie, who held up her hands in surrender.

"J-Just wait a minute Asuna!"

"Hey, let me borrow that."

X

When Yuna came to, her head was throbbing. She tried to rub her temples, but she couldn't move her hands. She couldn't stand up either. She looked herself over, her wrists and ankles were tied together with Makie's ribbon.

"Makie, what are you- oh . . . " When she looked up Mero and Asuna were standing over her wearing very intimidating scowls. "Uh-oh." Makie was standing off to the side holding her hands together in a 'I'm sorry' gesture.

"I think you have somethings that belong to us." Asuna said calmly.

"Uh, well I do't actually have your stuff, I hid them in the dorm."

"Take us there." Asuna growled.

"Uh, about that . . ."

"What?"

"Well I don't mind showing you, but well someone else has probably found it by now. And there's no way to know who . . . " Asuna began to shake violently. "Wait, wait, wait!" Yuna cried. "I know you're mad, but you gotta admit it was fun right? Just a little? It may have cost you your trademark bells but surely bonding with your precious classmates is more important, right?" Asuna pulled back her fist. "Kyaaaa! I'm sorry!"

"Wait a moment Asuna-san." Mero interrupted. "These are yours aren't they?" She held out the ribbons she'd taken from Misora.

"Yes!" Her face lit up as she snatched the hair ornaments. "My bells! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" She was jumping up and down and shaking the other girl.

"It's nothing." Mero said pushing her away.

"Hey, see everything worked out in the end." Yuna said. "Now if you could just untie me."

"Not just yet." Mero said. "I still need my spell- er, my textbook back."

"Oh, I almost forgot." Asuna said. "Is this the book you were looking for?" She handed her the mysterious book, and Mero eagerly flipped through it.

"Yes, this is it. Thank you, Asuna-san."

"Heh, heh, no problem!" She said tying her hair back up.

"Good for you. Now if you'll just excuse me." Yuna slowly began inching herself towards the exit.

"Not so fast." Asuna said grabbing her by her collar. "You're going to make sure everything you stole gets back to their owners."

"Come on!" She whined. "That'll take forever!" Asuna glared at her. "I mean, of course I will."

"Hmpth, it's the least you could do," Mero said. "Considering all the trouble you put us through."

"Well, we got our stuff back, so I guess it wasn't that bad." Asuna said. Mero looked at her sideways.

"What?"

"It was kinda fun."

"It was a foolish waste of time."

"Really?" Yuna asked. "You seemed pretty happy eating that popsicle." Heat rose in Mero's cheeks.

"S-Shut up!" She shouted. Asuna chuckled.

"I guess days like these aren't so bad once in a while."