//------------------------------// // Arc 2: Chapter 6 // Story: Student 32: Sunset Shimmer // by Show Stopper //------------------------------// The rest of the week was one annoyance after another for Sunset. She suspected on Sunday when the Narutaki twins arrived to give her a tour of the school - a tour that suspiciously didn’t cover any of the areas the cheerleaders had shown her on Saturday - that there was some sort of class-wide conspiracy to keep her from studying that week. By Tuesday evening she no longer suspected; she was certain. Kaede and Ku Fei had arrived in the early afternoon after Sunset had ditched the twins to show her around the different dojos and fighting clubs on campus, despite Sunset’s insistence that she’d already found a club she enjoyed. Monday had introduced her to the Sports Trio: Yuuna Akashi, the busty basketballer who wore her black hair tied in a side-ponytail; Akira Ookouchi, the long-haired swimmer; and Ako Izumi, the soccer girl with ice-blue hair. Sunset was surprised when, rather than the sports clubs, they had shown her around to the various music clubs and karaoke bars around Mahora. It turned out that Ako was the bass guitarist for a 3-A student band. Sunset briefly considered looking into it until she was told that the cheerleaders were the other members. Tuesday morning had brought the pig-tailed class geniuses to her door. Satomi Hakase and Chao Lingshen had shown her around the University campuses, keeping up a constant torrent of advanced mechanical discourse that left Sunset hopelessly lost. They’d also introduced her to another member of the class, Chachamaru Karakuri. She was a robot. Suddenly, her strange ears and puppet-like joints made sense to Sunset. She’d left the campus dazed and confused, which only added to her rapidly growing irritation, an irritation that her roommates had picked up on. “Nichi-chan,” Nodoka asked over dinner that evening, “is something wrong? You’ve seemed… off this week.” “And by off,” Yue added, “we mean you look like you want to tear someone’s head off and use it as a basketball.” Sunset snorted, enjoying the mental image for a moment. “I’m fine,” she said. “Just… making plans for tomorrow. A surprise for the rest of the class.” “Really?” Nodoka’s smile almost made Sunset feel guilty about her “plans.” “That’s great! Oh.” Her face fell. “Tomorrow? But we have that Library Island dive tomorrow! The University students are going to give us a guided tour of some of the lowest levels!” “That was tomorrow?” Sunset asked, feigning surprise and disappointment. “Drat! Guess I’m going to have to miss it, then. I’ve put too much planning into this to let it go to waste, and it has to be tomorrow.” Yue shrugged. “It’s not like you’ll be missing much; you never listened to the rules about where we were and weren’t allowed to go anyway.” “Hey, I lived in that library for months,” Sunset defended. “You think I wasn’t going to explore?” Yuee rolled her eyes while Nodoka giggled. “Well, I hope your surprise goes well tomorrow.” Sunset nodded, looking down at her food to hide her smirk. Trust me. This surprise will change everything. ***** “So,” Madoka said, “do you have any idea why Nichibotsu wanted to meet us all out here?” Ako shook her head. “No idea. I’m kind of surprised. After how she reacted to everyone this past week, I didn’t think she’d want to see all of us again so soon.” The two girls looked around. They were standing in the World Tree plaza, the gigantic tree looming above them. Surrounding them was most of their class, all of the girls who had given Sunset tours around Mahora over the last week, all of them equally confused as to why they were there. “Maybe she wanted to apologize to us,” Sakurako suggested hopefully. “I mean, she was kind of mean to all of us. Maybe she realized that we just want to be friends?” “I doubt it.” Fukka glowered, crossing her arms. “She didn’t seem remorseful at all about treating me and Fumi like kids. She wasn’t even subtle about it; she patted me on the head and called me cute!” “Guess we’ll just have to ask her,” Madoka said, pointing to the steps leading up to the plaza. Sunset was walking up towards them, a clipboard held under one arm and a pair of reading spectacles perched on her nose. “Nichibotsu,” Akira said, stepping forward. “I’m surprised you wanted to see us all again so soon.” “But of course,” Sunset said, grinning up at her. “After all, I had to do something for all of you after all the trouble you went through for me.” She held up the clipboard as she reached the top of the steps. “It’s not much, but I hope these thoughts I put together will help me to convey just how… thankful I am for all of your efforts.” “Heck yeah!” Yuuna shouted. “That’s what I’m talking about. Speech! Speech!” Sunset chuckled. Show time. “If you insist. Let’s start with you.” She cleared her throat, looking down at her clipboard. “Drop out of basketball.” “...eh?” “Just a piece of advice,” Sunset continued. “I’ve seen pictures of your mother and I’ve overheard your complaints about your growing bust. Trust me, it isn’t going to slow down anytime soon. Soon enough, those melons are going to start giving you all sorts of back problems and will hinder your playing to the point where you’ll quit out of frustration. Better just to quit now and save yourself the embarrassment.” The plaza was quiet, everyone staring in Sunset in open-mouthed shock. “Um, Nichibotsu,” Satomi said, “don’t you think that’s a bit harsh?” Sunset scoffed, flipping over a sheet of paper and glancing up over the top of her glasses. Way to give me a transition. “I don’t want a lesson on tact from the most oblivious and tactless girl in the class.” She looked back down at her clipboard. “I know you claim to have sold your soul to science, but isn’t that just because it gives you a convenient excuse not to have to own up to your horrible social skills? Just look at Chao; she’s perfectly capable of behaving normally outside of a lab or classroom, and she’s just as dedicated to science as you, if not moreso. Face it, your tactlessness isn’t a byproduct of your dedication to science; it’s just a gaping fault that you’re too cowardly to own up to.” “Nichibotsu! That’s too far!” Misa marched up to Sunset, glaring daggers at her. “If you think we’re going to just stand here and let you insult us-” “That’s exactly what I expect you to do,” Sunset replied boredly, rolling her eyes as she flipped another page. “After all, you all saw fit to drag me out of my studies to parade me about Mahora despite my protests. I see no reason not to carry on despite yours. You and the other cheerleaders may see yourselves as the pep and heart of the class, but to be honest, you’re nothing but annoying ditzes who can’t contribute more than silly cheers and some panty flashing. “And speaking of fan-service,” Sunset’s eyes flashed up to Akira, “Swimming club suits you. Yuuna should get some pointers on how to deal with monsters like yours. Like I was telling the cheerleaders the other day, flaunt it if you’ve got it, right?” “Th-that’s not-” “But I guess it’s better to have than to have not,” Sunset interrupted, ignoring Akira’s flushed face as she turned to the twins. “I honestly feel sorry for you two. To be perfectly candid, I didn’t even have to try to treat you like kids the other day; I actually forgot that we were in the same class. Not that your clothes and hair make things any easier for you. If you dress like little kids, you’re going to be treated like little kids. It’s just childish to complain about it when you invite it, but I guess you can get away with such childishness too.” Fuuka grit her teeth, glaring at Sunset as Fumika started to tear up. “That’s low, Nichibotsu,” she growled. “I thought you were annoying before, but I didn’t think you were a bully!” “A bully?” Sunset said, feigning indignation. “I’m just stating the facts. Isn’t that right, Chao?” She turned from the twins to the Chinese genius. “A soulless scientist like you shouldn’t have anything against what I’m saying, right? Even my opinions are capable of being easily substantiated.” Chao hesitated, avoiding eye contact with anyone. “Well,” she said, “you haven’t technically said anything incorrect…” Sunset smiled. I can't believe she actually went along with that. You really are heartless. “Good to know that there’s someone here who can face the truth. The rest of the class could stand to learn a thing or two from you. Let’s see now,” she said, looking down at her list and flipping through the pages. “Who’s next?” “Let me guess, aru.” Sunset looked up to see Ku glaring at her, Kaede standing behind her with a frown on her face. “We’re freaks because we’re so strong and idiots too, ne?” Sunset scanned her clipboard before nodding. “Yeah, that just about covers it. Plus your ways of speaking are irritating. I guess that’s every- oh!” She looked up in supposed shock, her eyes locking on Ako. “Ako. I can’t believe I forgot- actually, I can.” She looked down at her list, scratching her head. “To be honest, you just don’t register enough for me to remember you most of the time. Guess I don’t have anything to say to you.” She smiled up at her. Time for the finisher. “Just keep being a wallflower, I guess.” With a final nod to the assembled students, she turned and walked away, thinking happily of the upcoming long weekend of uninterrupted studying. ***** Though at first a rather simple spell, Sagitta Magica has a wide variety of uses. Its most basic form is a barrage of arrows, but it can also be utilized in its Convergentia form, the full power centered in a single bolt. Finally, for mages who find themselves oft engaged in physical combat, Sagitta Magica can either precede or “ride upon” a physical strike to increase its- “Nichi-chan! Nichi-Nichi-Nichi-Nichi-Nichi-Ni-” Sunset slammed the door open, murder on her face. “WHAT DO YOU WANT, YOU FLAT, WANNABE PAPARAZZI?!” Asakura’s smug grin did nothing to assuage Sunset’s anger. “Flat, wannabe paparazzi?” she asked. “Looks like Natsumi-chan was on to something if that’s the worst you can give at the drop of a hat.” “What the hell are you...” Sunset trailed off as she noticed that the reporter wasn’t alone. Makie stook just behind her, along with another girl from their class, an unassuming orange-head named Natsumi Murakami. Sunset recalled that she was a member of the Drama Club. Sunset glared at the girl, who flinched under her gaze. “And what, exactly, was Natsumi on to?” “That everything you said to everyone yesterday was an act, of course!” Makie said cheerfully. “Sure, you might have been annoyed by everyone interrupting your studies, but you don’t really hate us all that much.” “You… know about yesterday?” Sunset asked, confused. “Thanks to me!” Asakura reached into her bag and pulled out a camcorder. “I saw the girls gathering in the plaza, and my instincts told me there was a good scoop to be had. Glad I caught everything.” Her grin fell into a concerned frown. “A lot of the class didn’t react well to it.” “A lot of the… You showed the rest of the class?!” Makie nodded, her face matching Asakura’s. “Yeah, and you’re lucky we did, or Natsumi wouldn’t have realized what you were doing. I don’t think the Library Exploration girls would have been able to calm the rest of the class down otherwise.” Sunset sighed, closing her eyes and massaging the bridge of her nose. So much easier to do with fingers. Well, better get the full story. She stepped aside, gesturing for the girls to enter. “Tell me what happened.”