Sour's on the case!

by AppleJTZ

Case closed

Like in any other school lunch time was one of the busiest times at Crystal Prep Academy. Dozens of boys and girls were wandering through the cafeteria looking for a seat, while even more had already sat down and were eating. Despite being a time to gather, lunch was usually a rather quiet period in the strict high school. However, on this day, it seemed like a weight had been lifted from the hearts of the students: An uncommon number of them were smiling genuinely, some even laughing, and there was generally more conversation going on than it was normally the case.

And all the good mood seemed to be related to a small pot on everybody’s tray, containing a red gooey mass with a layer of white cream on top.

From her seat Sunny watched the students around her eating their pudding. Many of them hummed in delight as they gulped it down, causing Sunny to giggle. “Look how they are all enjoying their pudding” she said, before taking a spoonful of her own into her mouth.

Her spoon in her hand Sugarcoat looked over the table at the two already empty pots of pudding lying on Sunny’s tray. “They?” she repeated, arching an eyebrow. In front of her also two empty pots of pudding were resting, with her current one being half-empty.

Next to Sugarcoat Lemon was holding her pot close to her face, practically shoveling the pudding into her mouth. “Fey fould be glad we found it for fem” she said with a full mouth, spitting little bits of pudding across the table on Indigo’s tray. The sporty girl frowned, though it didn’t seem like Lemon’s table manners were the reason for it.

“Should we really not tell them we were the ones who found it?” she asked, rolling her spoon inside her (fourth) pot of pudding.

Sunny shook her head. “I doubt they would believe the truth” she said. “They’d still think it was stolen, and might start raising suspicions against each other. It’s better if they think it was a mistake from the company.”

“Besides” Sugarcoat added while lifting a spoonful of cream from her pot “We did it for the pudding, not for the glory.”

Putting her elbow on the table Indigo leaned her head against her fist. “Guess you’re right” she mumbled, also taking a spoon of pudding. As she took a look around, seeing all the students cheerfully eating their pudding her face brightened a little. “But seriously, look at them diggin’ in!” Indigo laughed. “Kind of hard to believe they were all having a breakdown just a few hours ago.”

Lemon gulped down the pudding in her mouth, wiping her arm over her lips. “Speakin’ of it, has any of you a clue why everyone freaked out this morning like that?” she asked in a more serious tone. “I mean I love pudding too, but it’s not so great to cry about.”

From the side Sugarcoat glanced oddly at her. “You were on the verge of tears, too.”

Sunny swallowed her latest load of pudding. “It probably wasn’t the pudding” she said, staring into her almost empty pot while rolling her spoon through it. “We are all under a lot of pressure lately, with Cinch’s reforms adding to the usual stress here. I guess the pudding being gone was just the last straw to make everyone collapse.”

“But we are under the same stress” Lemon argued. “Why didn’t any of us snap?”

Sunny and Sugarcoat looked up at the ceiling of the cafeteria, considering Lemon’s point.

“Well…” The three girls turned to Indigo. “For most of the students, I guess the pudding on Tuesday really is the only thing to look forward to at this school” she said, seeming a little flustered. “But the five of us have something to look forward to every day.”

Sunny looked curiously at her. “And that would be…?”

The yellow cheeks of the blue-haired girl turned red. “Us.”

Also blushing small smiles crept on the faces of Sunny and Lemon. Sugarcoat’s face remained neutral. “That was very sappy” she bluntly told her.

Blushing deeper Indigo frowned. “You’re a real mood-killer today, you know that?”

A slight smirk hushed over Sugarcoat’s face. “I didn’t say you were wrong.”

After scratching the last bit of pudding out of her pot Lemon dropped it to the other four empty ones lying in front in front of her. “Phew!” she sighed, patting her belly with both hands as she slid down her chair. “I’m stuffed!”

“Let’s give the rest back to the dean” Sunny suggested, glancing at the pallet of pudding on the side of the table. “It was nice of her to give us some of the teachers’ share as a reward, but a whole pallet is a little too much for five girls.”

“Agreed” Indigo said, nodding to her seat-neighbor. With a big grin she turned her head to her other seat-neigbor. “Or do you want some more, Miss master detective?”

Sitting slumped in her chair Sour groaned, looking like she was about fall off her seat any second. She held one hand on her considerably swollen belly, her other one weakly hanging to the side. Her lips were smudged red and white, while at least a dozen of empty pots of pudding were lying scattered on her tray. “I… never… want to see… pudding… again” she moaned.

“You will, on the next Pudding Tuesday” Sugarcoat reminded her, raising her spoon to her mouth. Watching her embrace it with her lips Sour’s stomach rumbled, her cheeks turning green as she felt the pudding crawling back up her throat…

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading my story! And sorry for the long breaks between chapters - if I had to write a letter to Dean Cadence, I'd tell her I've learned not to write a crime story before knowing how the crime actually took place

Comments

[ShadowLDrago]

Sunny shook her head. “I doubt they would believe the truth” she said. “They’d still think it was stolen, and might start raising suspicions against each other. It’s better if they think it was a mistake from the company.”

True.

Sunny swallowed her latest load of pudding. “It probably wasn’t the pudding” she said, staring into her almost empty pot while rolling her spoon through it. “We are all under a lot of pressure lately, with Cinch’s reforms adding to the usual stress here. I guess the pudding being gone was just the last straw to make everyone collapse.”

Aye.

“Well…” The three girls turned to Indigo. “For most of the students, I guess the pudding on Tuesday really is the only thing to look forward to at this school” she said, seeming a little flustered. “But the five of us have something to look forward to every day.”
Sunny looked curiously at her. “And that would be…?”
The yellow cheeks of the blue-haired girl turned red. “Us.”

Daaw!

[Regreme]

Adorable updates, as usual from you.^^ You're an expert at these, it seems.:D

[BenRG]

That's the real take-away here: Friendship makes you stronger; it makes you better. It's what will make the Shadow Five be the stand-out personalities of their grade because we, as a species, are always stronger when we act together than we ever are on our own.

[AppleJTZ]

7039815 Thanks! It was rather hard to estimate how subtly I should put the hints into the story with neither being too obvious nor too hidden.

7040438 It will probably take a while before their stories are finished. As for your question, well, you just have to wait and see what I've got in store for you

7042038 Thank you very much! Now I finally know the name of that melody

[Animation Crusader]

Another happy ending for the Shadowbolt Five. It was nice of the Dean to give them some of the teachers' share as a reward, even if it was a bit much.

The best part was the reasoning why the Five didn't crack like the rest of the student body did- their friendship. Because they have each other AND pudding to look forward to at school, the rest of the student body only have the one thing that makes them happy. When that's taken away, they all crumble. It really goes to show how powerful friendship can be.

[the frank]

This was... brilliant! You've just earned yerself a follower!

[Csquared08]

This was fun!

I had to write a letter to Dean Cadence, I'd tell her I've learned not to write a crime story before knowing how the crime actually took place

[Phara_mine]

Simply great, nothing else to say.