Pacific Slice of Life Chapter 2

A sudden sting of cold on Wubby’s back instantly ends her sleep. As she shoots up from her mattress, trying to shake ice cubes off her back and out of her top, she slowly realizes what is going on and why it happens. While she is trying to get rid of the ice cubes, Arcti stands next to her, shaking her head and with her arms wrapped up underneath her chest.

“Morning.” Arcti says, slightly displeased. “Slept well?”

“M-M-M-Mornin’, A-Arcti-chan!” Wubby replies, still hectically trying to get rid of the ice cubes on her back. “W-Why did y-you d-do this?”

Arcti sighs, while rolling her eyes. “Did you really expect I wouldn’t wake you up like this, after your surprise attacks AND the surprise sleep-over from yesterday? You made a promise.”

Once the last ice cube falls out of Wubby’s top, she pauses, looking at Arcti as if she was caught eating someone’s left-overs. “Oh.” she responds, “I… must have… forgotten about that...”

“I’m not surprised.” Arcti counters. “Where did you even hide the booze on you? And that much on top of it?”

“Uhm~… Secret.”

Arcti sighs once more. “Whatever, just get it together already. Go and wake the other up. I’ll change in the meantime.”

“Alright.” Though Arcti gave clear instructions, Wubby just stood there, patting her back in an attempt to dry it, while Arcti waited for her to get out. Then she grabs her own bag, pulls some clothes out of it, and begins changing herself, which causes Arcti to instantly raise her voice, while looking away.

“What are you doing?!” she says, semi-loudly.

“Hm?” Wubby responds, while changing. “What do you mean?”

“Why are you changing here? And especially now?”

“But I thoug--”

“Just get out already!” Arcti literally pushes her out of her room, with all the strength she got. Despite her anger, she doesn’t throw the door shut, but stops just millimeters before it could sound a loud boom through the entire house. Muffled through the door, Arcti adds: “And wake up the others! School starts in less than an hour.”

“And you woke up that early?” Wubby responds back through the door, while adjusting her shirt. “We could have made it in 20 minutes!” An angered growling is the only response coming back. Shrugging, Wubby walks into the living room to wake up the others. On her way she finally realizes that she slept in Arcti’s room, sparking the question if she slept in the same room with her or if Arcti slept in a different room, as she’d normally do when Wubby comes for a sleep-over with beverages. In any case, Wubby marches over to the living room to find the others, spread across the room.

Apparently, Wubby wasn’t the only one who had a sip. It would explain why Medici is laying in a small pile of glitter, and some of her own jewelry, though it should be far too uncomfortable to lay in, and why Paci is literally sleeping on top of a shelf.

Despite only remembering a fraction of what happened yesterday night, Wubby questions when Gladinia; 1,71 m / 5’7½” tall; black, blueish, long, braided hair; gray eyes; and about the same figure as Wubby; laying in between empty Torito bags, showed up here. She cannot recall Gladi showing up along with the others, when Nacoa blew the hide-out inside of the bushes. So, when did she join the party?

Neither can she remember Beldemark; 1,64 m / 5’4½” tall; dyed light-blue, short hair; yellowish eyes; and the same figure as Nacoa; showing up at any point during the party. Yet, there she is, laying underneath the coffee table. Forgetting one surprise-surprise guest is still not that much of a bother to Wubby. Forgetting two, is. She will just ask them, when they showed up.

The rest of the party guests lay scattered across the room. Nacoa saved herself half of the sofa, Cohu the other half, Larchia lays on the carpet with her arms and legs spread out, and Adjus built herself a makeshift bed out of chairs. Besides the furniture standing a bit unorganized and some empty bags and bottles here and there, the damage and chaos is minuscule. Cleaning up won’t be that much of a bother after all. Though Arcti will definitely let Wubby work more than there is chaos, as she wants to let her pay for the suprise attack(s) yesterday.

Wubby looks around for a way to wake everyone up efficiently. Arcti has no megaphone just laying around, much to Wubby’s dismay. There could be one in her small workshop, but going there without having her permission isn’t a good idea. Something Wubby had to learn the hard way. Not because Arcti would directly get mad at everyone entering it, but because of the ‘organized chaos’ of the room. It may look like chaos, but everything has its place, which Arcti knows and remembers the exact positions of. Moving only one object causes her to get upset. That, and the fact that it’s very easy to trip, bump into or get hit by something in there, all of which Wubby doesn’t want to happen right now.

Smashing a bottle is also not an option, as it would cause even more chaos and, potentially, someone to hurt themselves. Neither can Wubby blast loud music through something, as Arcti hid the remotes to TV and music station on purpose. Thus, Wubby has to find something different that does a loud noise. And as such, she finds something. Only seconds later, a balloon pops through her doings.

…

In hindsight, popping the balloon for everyone to wake up and whack her head, wasn’t worth it. Plus, as soon as Arcti heard the explosion of the balloon, she came rushing into the living room, only to find Wubby already being restrained by everyone. As soon as they were done punishing her, Arcti ordered her to clean up the mess as redemption, while leading the others to the kitchen to eat. Wubby can eat when she at least cleaned up the mess in the living room. During cleaning, she finds a bag still half-full with Toritos, but as she was about to eat them, Gladi appeared out of nowhere, grabbed the bag, inhaled the left-over Toritos, and almost comically jumped back into the kitchen.

Wubby sighs. But she deserves it in some way.

“Hurry up!” Arcti calls her. “School starts soon. If you still want something to eat, you should tune up the speed.” Something Wubby won’t let herself get told twice…

***

One after another, the surprise party guests leave Arcti’s house, after finishing the quick breakfast Arcti scrambled together. Once Nacoa and Adjus leave, Wubby is the last one left at Arcti’s house, besides herself. She had been cleaning the mess in Arcti’s living room for several minutes before she was finally allowed to eat. And time is running out for her quickly.

“Hurry up, slowpoke.” Arcti tells her, while making the second lunch box that will be the sacrifice for Wubby.

“Heeeemmmmpf!” Wubby replies, with a waffle in her mouth. She gulps it down before speaking. “I have cleaned your living room just now! And that was faster than I ever clean up anything!”

“And you were the one responsible for the party in the first place.” Arcti adds, packing up the lunch boxes. “You got three minutes.”

With a mouth full of waffle, Wubby turns towards Arcti leaving the kitchen, and replies with an inaudible “Hmmmmpff!”, before stuffing her face with the rest of the waffles. She runs to get her bag and to take a trip to the bathroom. As Arcti already has her keys ready to lock the door, Wubby stumbles out of her house, nearly tripping down the porch-stairs.

As a last check, Arcti rummages through her bag to see if she got all her stuff packed up. “You got everything?” she also asks, Wubby, who adjusts her uniform. Slapping all important pockets for phone, wallet, and keys, Wubby nods. Now Arcti can lock the door, and the two can finally head to school. Though Wubby feels like she forgot something.

***

The two had to stop at Wubby’s place anyways, as Wubby didn’t plan that far ahead to pack her stuff last night before heading to Arcti’s place. So, as Wubby gathers her stuff inside, Arcti waits outside, playing on her phone. As she does, Kari and her sister, Nublark; 1,63m / 5’4”; long, black, wavy hair with blue tips; gray-blueish eyes; a little slimmer than Kari; and always wearing a hawk-hairclip; approach her.

“Heya!” Kari says, upon catching Arcti’s attention.

“Hey, you two.” Arcti responds, putting her phone into her right jacket-pocket. “How’s it going?”

“We are fine!” Nublark responds with a wide smile. Her smile quickly fades, as she eyes Kari. “Except for Kari being a killjoy.”

Kari sighs and rolls her eyes. “Did the others organize a party at your place?”

“More or less.” Arcti responds, scratching her left cheek. “It was more like Wubby trampling over to my place and catching the attention of others, who also came over… It was anything but organized.”

“Ahh.” Kari responds, quickly ramming her elbow against Nublark’s arm. “She wanted to go with the others yesterday. I didn’t let her.”

“You said ‘you will miss school, when Wubby is with them’, but we saw the others going to school earlier!” Nublark protests, ramming her own elbow into Kari’s arm in return. “I could’ve gone with them!”

Sighing again, Kari asks Arcti: “Did Wubby bring booze?”

Arcti nods, a little disappointed. “I don’t even know where she hid so much of it. Her bag was only filled to the brim with books and clothes. I double-checked this morning...”

“See?” Kari adds, looking at Nublark. “And you would have definitely had a sip, peer pressure, or not.”

“But the other are fine as well!”

“There is no guarantee that this happens all the time.” Instead of Kari, Arcti objects. “And the others were pretty worn out as well. Gladi and Belde had to support each other on the way home. And I am sure I saw them trip and fall anyways, as they turned around a corner...”

Nublark gives Arcti a brief look of betrayal, while Kari looks approvingly at her. “But...” Nublark replies, unable to come up with a counter argument, quickly followed by a:

“No ‘buts’.” and a weak bonk on the head by Kari. “Now come, before we actually miss something.” Pouting, Nublark follows Kari, who waves Arcti a ‘C’ya’. Arcti watches them exchanging elbow bumps, weak punches, hip bumps, and so on, as they leave. It almost forces a chuckle out of her.

“I know you are coming closer.” Arcti loudly says. “And if I step aside, you will eat sidewalk.” Without even looking, she sensed right that Wubby was already approaching for a surprise attack.

“Damnit!” Wubby responds, now normally walking down the stairs. With a smug smirk, Arcti turns around, satisfied that she was able to stop her without even looking. “What did the bird-sisters talk about? I only caught the end, when I stood by the door.”

“About the surprise-group from yesterday.” Arcti replies, resting a hand on her hip. “The group You attracted.”

Wubby attempts to look innocent. “As I said, I didn’t know they’d follow me...”

Arcti is still not convinced by Wubby’s excuses. Sighing, she continues: “Anyhoo. Let’s go now. I don’t think we will need to pick up Nacoa this time.”

“Aye.” Wubby replies, before jumping down the last steps of the stairs, landing next to Arcti. “Let’s get going.”

On their way, Arcti continued to judge Wubby for the surprise invasion...

***

As the two walk past a bush, it starts to rustle wildly. Arcti freezes in place, while Wubby quickly wraps herself around one of Arcti’s arms in shock. Both of them look at the bush, hoping a cat would just jump out of it to ease their minds. Instead of a cat, however, first an arm, then another pokes out, both feeling around them, as if the person they belong to is trying to orient themself.

Suddenly, a person jumps out. “Boo!” says Katrzynija, pretending the two haven’t noticed her before. The foxgirl; 1,63 m / 5’4” tall; long, crimson hair; deep blue eyes; a slim figure; and fox ears and tail; also known as just ‘Kat’, looks at the two with a questioning expression. “Why aren’t you surprised?” she adds, curious.

After shaking Wubby off her arm, Arcti replies: “Uhm… You kinda announced yourself when you… What were you even doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kat responds, “I was spooking you.”

“Th… That’s not what I meant… What were you doing before you jumped out of the bush?”

“I lost orientation. I didn’t want to jump out the wrong way, so I made sure I was facing the right way.”

Arcti and Wubby exchange brief looks, before Wubby adds: “But because of it, you ruined your spook.”

“But you two looked spooked nonetheless.”

“That’s because… a bush suddenly making noises is spooking people for a moment, Kat-sama...”

Kat shrugs. “At least I spooked you in a way. Mission accomplished.” As she talks, she sees Balli waiting to cross the street. “Pardon me, I’m gonna annoy Balli-chan instead.” Without waiting for the two to say their goodbyes, Kat rushes off into Balli’s direction. Her quick approach is followed by a loud:
“WHAT DO YOU DEGENERATE THINK YOU ARE DOING!?”, as Kat immediately pats her head with her ‘feel-good-magic’.

After a short moment of silently watching, Arcti says: “Chicken.” to Wubby.

“Hey! You also became pale upon hearing the rustling!”

“I’m always that pale, Wubby-chan.”

“Grrr, you know what I’m speaking of.”

Suddenly, a voice sounds from behind them with: “What do you think of this?”, and makes Wubby, quite literally, comically jump into Arcti’s arms. Mesto watches them, while holding out a picture of a futuristic plane to show them.

“Aaaeeeiii, Wubby get off!” Arcti says, overwhelmed by her actions, and a bit spooked by Mesto.

“Mesto-san!” Wubby says back, “Don’t scare us like this! We just were spooked by Kat-sama before!”

“Okay.” Mesto replies. “I didn’t see that. So, sorry?”

As Wubby gets back to her feet and out of Arcti’s arms, Arcti asks with a tilted head: “Did you change your hair again?”

“Unimportant.” Mesto replies, while pushing a curl of hair out of her face and pointing at the plane in the picture, “What do you think of this one?”

While readjusting her clothes, Wubby replies: “Looks spacy. Where you got it from?”

Before Mesto could answer, Arcti also adds: “What’s that thing on it’s nose?”

“Air Battle – Project Hänchenflügel. It’s the main fighter of the coalition. And, I’m not a hundred percent sure either. In game, it is always the part you are looking through when aiming, but I couldn’t confirm if it also fires. I’ll see if I can get a better shot of the NPC planes next. Speaking of which, I do need pictures of that. I’ll go get it right now.” And just like that, Mesto leaves again, uncertain if she will turn up at school or not, taking the direction she is heading in into account.

Arcti takes a look at her phone to check the time, and confirms that time is running out for them. “Are you done? We need to hurry a bit.” Wubby nods, before they continue their walk.

***

Intermission

The school day hasn’t even begun, yet the school is already filled with live. The majority of the students is only now arriving, but the teachers and their helpers are already caught in their duties. Since Jar has to take care of a big household, due to her previous version conquering many lands, she also appointed a number of them as her assistants. Excluding Xoriet, who is even with her in terms of leading the household, but tends to lean back, while Jar is overworking herself with many different chores she’s obligated to do as the leader of the household.

So as she and the other teachers gather to look through today’s plans, one of the students she took as her assistant hops through the school, tasked with various things. Get copies of some papers, give other assistants an update on tasks, inform substitute teachers if they have anything to do, and so on.

The person in question, Bunnies. A 1,68m / 5’6” tall; long, wavy hair, brown but with blonde tips; hazel eyes; lean figure; and (you guessed it) possessing bunny ears and tail; bunnygirl under the (semi-) voluntary service of Jar.

She just received her pre-schooltime tasks for today, and calmly marches through the corridors, as the students slowly come in. Pretty much everyone on her way greets her, one way or the other, with friendly smiles on their faces. Prior to this universe, she already had a shining reputation. And now in this world, she didn’t fall behind. She rather improved that reputation even further with her work and attitude.

After picking up some reports from the substitute teachers’ offices, she is on her way back to the teachers room. Yesterday’s situation demanded the substitute teachers to hand in a couple of papers and report to document the students’ scores, grades or overall performances. Though ‘hand in’ results in ‘filling out and leaving it on a pile for someone to eventually take it to the teachers’ office’. However, all of the substitutes are normally too lazy to personally transport them to the teachers’ office. Hence, some of the assistants are forced to do it. Today – Bunnies.

As she walks around a corner, with the papers in hand, she crashes into someone, sending her falling to the ground. The other person can be no other than Balli. Kat stands next to them, sipping on a magic-juice-box. The only comical part not applied here is Bunnies sending the papers flying into all directions. She clings onto them. But what comes next, is inevitable in this universe.

“YOU IMBECILE!” Balli shouts. “Watch where you are going!”

“Good morning, Balli-chan.” Bunnies responds, rubbing herself where it hurts, “Good morning, Kat-chan.” Kat simply answers with a small wave, while continuing to sip on her juice. “Sorry for running into you. It was truly a little uncaring to walk so close to that corner.”

“You think a simple ‘Sorry’ is going to be enough?!” Balli counters, already back on her feet.

While getting up, and getting dirt off her clothes, Bunnies continues, eventually monologuing: “I guess not, and I don’t even think that. I mean, that definitely hurt, so an apology cannot be enough. But I have work to do, and cannot do much at the moment. And on top of that I don’t got any of my treats, band aids or even my lunch money with me. They are all in the teachers’ office. I also can’t just (...)” Her monologue eventually falls off-topic, discussing the importance of apologizing with words and physical objects, the meaning of gifts and treats in general, and the responsibility everyone has to their dear friends whenever something bad happens…

“Oh, but I know what could do for now!” she concludes. She leaps forwards with open arms into Balli’s direction, and throws her arms around Balli.

“WHAT ARE Y---! ARGGGH!” Balli responds, as Bunnies wraps her arms around Balli, and gently starts to rub her back.

“Pain, pain, go away~” Bunnies sings, holding Balli. The latter tunes down her voice, the longer she is held like this. Eventually, Balli calms down, but seems to force an annoyed expression on her face.

“Let go of me...” Balli says, in a somewhat fake-annoyed voice.

“Oh, apologies!” Bunnies instantly replies, while letting go off Balli. “I get carried away sometimes, as you may have noticed prior to that, but I hope you feel better now and all. Unless, of course, you connect hugging with something bad and uncomfortable, then I’m sorry again, but I couldn’t think of anything else right now. As I said, I forget things quickly, so I had to get this over with now. But, this is not about me, so, are you okay now?”

Balli grunts, while facing away from Bunnies. “J-Just don’t talk about this again. Or else I-I will rip off those e-ears of yours!”

“Why are you blushing?” Kat asks carelessly.

“I’M NOT BLUSHING!” Balli fires back. “That’s just the lighting here! You look that red as well! WAIT!! What are you doing with that phone?!”

Kat shrugs. “I didn’t get a good signal. So I held it up a little. I had a little better signal that way. And, no, I didn’t film you.”

“YOU BETTER NOT!”

Bunnies takes a look at the clock on the wall, and realizes she should get going. “Sorry again, but I must hop on now! If you need me to, I will share my lunch box with you later as retaliation, if this wasn’t enough here. Anyhoo, see you later!” Balli continues to argue with Kat over the meaning behind her ‘blushing’, as Bunnies leaves with in a slightly faster pace.

Because of what happened, she gets a little carried away. First she thinks of Balli and what Bunnies had seen her doing in recent days. But her thoughts quickly carry away to other students and classmates as well doing so. Sometimes she gets a ‘speaking of the devil’ moment while stepping through the hallways, as she passes the students she thinks of.

Suddenly, her way is blocked by a group of freshmen, who don’t give a damn about others. Kindly she asks: “Uhm… Could you, please please, let me through?” The freshmen turn around, and try to look tough. Bunnies hasn’t seen them before, and they don’t seem to know who she is either.

“And what if we don’t let you?” one of them, barely on eye-level with Bunnies, says. “Gonna call the teachers? As if we’d care. Is that a paper of the substitutes?” He and his friends cackle. “We can let you through. But only if you let us have a look at Reptilysia-sama’s paper from yesterday.”

“Uhm...” Bunnies replies, looking at the papers. “I don’t think I can let you do this… Maybe if I add a please to the question again?”

The ‘tough’ freshmen laugh. “Are you for real? Give us the papers already, or else we w--”

Suddenly the air pressure seems to rise. A feeling of dread fills the freshmen, as multiple menacing auras arise throughout the whole corridor. Dozens of eyes have locked on the freshmen. Eyes ready to kill. Three auras in particular have risen behind the freshmen. While Bunnies looks at three rather curious and questioning, the freshmen turn around scared until they face Kari, Paci, and even Jar herself.

“What do you think you are doing, freshmen?” Jar asks them, with the words rippling through them like a slap to the face. “To your class, before I tell your class teacher.” Instantly, the freshmen run to their class in face of the threatening aura of Jar. As they disappear, so does the pressure in the air. Everything returns back to normal.

Bunnies observes the whole situation, a little confused and curious at once. “Uhm…” she hums, looking at Jar, “There was no need to get all menacing, Jar-sensei. I would have just taken another route. Also, is the meeting over already?”

“Oh, right.” Jar replies. “I just wanted to give Kari-chan something back, and then heard what was going on here. I should get back. You can come right with me. I’ll give you another task in the office.”

Nodding, Bunnies follows Jar back to the office. “You don’t need to be like this for me, sensei.” she adds on the way. “I can handle these things well already!”

“If I don’t, the others will regardless.” Jar responds, giving her a pat on the head. “You are too nice to everyone. That’s why nobody will just watch you in such a situation.”

“I guess...” Bunnies replies, falling into thoughts again…

***

The school day couldn’t have been more generic than any other day. Or at least, that’s what all the students think of it today. Perhaps yesterday’s rather sudden twist made today look rather bland. All classes and breaks passed without any notable events or oddities. Which is surprising, considering how unusual this world is. Apart from Balli looking extra annoyed whenever Bunnies was near, Arcti apprently almost dying of heat in chemistry during a simple experiment with small flames, Novoblupolia (or Novoblu (-chan)) getting into another argument with Portu over what’s ‘right and wrong’, and Kat using her nickname and Kari’s to fool or even troll newbies, nothing much happened that attracted more eyes than normal.

Different from yesterday, however, the students are going to work in their mini-jobs today. At least, a big part of them. Hence, club-activities don’t happen today in their usual fashion. Some are empty because of it, and others are only ‘occupied’ by single students or pairs, who do the planning and other paperwork, while the rest goes to work.

Thus, even Wubby and Arcti make their way to work, along with Strala and Medici. While Strala and Medici are on their way to the local mall to help out in different shops, Arcti heads to the great local library, where she has to take care of the IT parts, and Wubby to the Arembian Museum, where she will do nothing but look at computer screens with the original task to watch the security cams, only that she will open games instead and pay only a little attention to the cameras. Out of experience, nothing much will happen in the museum anyways, especially in the middle of the week.

“Oh, by the way,” Wubby says, looking at Strala and Medici, “has any of your seen Mesto-chan today?”

Medici only shakes her head, where Strala says: “I think I did. At least if… To what did she change her haircut today?”

“Uhm...” while Wubby tries to remember, Arcti sighs and replies:

“She changed from open, brown her, to black ponytail and a red stripe through her hair today.”

Strala thinks. “I guess I did then. During lunch, but don’t ask me exactly w-- Oh, I remember now. I saw her on my way to the cafeteria. She went to the school library with a stack of books.”

“Makes sense.” Arcti comments, as the group approaches the crossing that also leads to the city library. “Anyhoo, I need to go. See ya later!”

“Have fun!” the group says almost simultaneously. As they move on, Medici gently pushes Wubby, saying: “Miss her already?”

Sarcastically, Wubby says, while pushing back: “I’m almost dying! Please let that shift be over soon!” They giggle. “I can still survive on my own, ya know?”

“Except when it comes to homework.” Strala counters, smirking smugly. “Isn’t it like that, little kohai?”

“HEY!” Wubby instantly cried out, “I can do them myself! It’s just that… uh...” In the realization that she won’t be able to come up with a reasonable answer that would still fit her, she look to the ground, pouting.

Strala chuckles. “Be glad you are on that end. I was writing Haven-sama’s homework in the past. Until she decided to study more and overtook me… Maybe you will do like Haven-sama one day.”

“In other words,” Medici concludes, “Stop being so lazy.”

Grumbling, Wubby wraps her arms together, while intensifying her pout. The other two continue to talk to Wubby into finally getting her laziness under control, though she visually refuses to. Eventually, the two split up with Wubby, as they head to the mall, whereas Wubby continues to march to the museum.

***

At least for work she hoped for something to happen. Instead, it was as boring as school a couple of hours ago. Nothing note worthy happened. No one dared to touch the exhibits, walk somewhere they weren’t allowed to be, gestured at the cameras, not even a technical difficulty occurred that Wubby would have done some panicked emergency fixes on until she calls an actual expert on the tech. She almost didn’t have to take an eye off the cameras, which she regrets now, because of one person’s fast movement she got distracted by, she failed a level on a game and had to do it again from the beginning.

Anyhoo. There she sits now, waiting for the last minutes of her shift to pass. Sama, her boss, has already checked out for today, and leaves the closing of the museum to Wubby. Not the first time she has to do it, so she will be fine.

Bored she turns in 180s around on her chair, with an empty look on the cameras. She could be going into the exhibit and start turning off all displays and holograms, but two over-curious visitors are taking their time in the last section of the exit. And Wubby is not the type to tell people to leave. Hence she waits. Even when it bores the life out of her.

Out of nowhere, a cold wind blows past her ear. Instantly goosebumps shoot out of her body, accompanied by a short ‘Eeep!’. She slaps her own ear because of it. As she does, she can hear a familiar chuckle.

Recognizing that chuckle in combination with unnaturally cold winds, Wubby instantly turn around, to find Arcti having a laugh about her. “What are you doing here!?” Wubby cries out, rubbing her cold ear.

“Got off from work early.” Arcti responds, stretching. “Haven-senpai said it should be okay. So I came here, met Sama-sama at the door, and she let me in with a wink. And I still need to repay you for your surprise attacks.”

“Grrrr.” Wubby growls. “You know yourself that this will just continue our cycle.”

“Yep.” Arcti replies, shrugging, “Not that you would be sad about that.”

“Aye.” The next time Wubby takes a look at her computer screens, she notices that the last two visitors are just going through the exit. She hops out of her chair, stretches herself, and concludes: “I can not close up the museum. Just give me a moment to turn off everything.”

“What do you think about this?” a sudden third voice asks, sending Wubby right back into her chair, and Arcti jumping.

“MESTO-CHAN!” the two shout out, shortly after jumping. Mesto tilts her head, confused about the overly shocked reaction. But what is to expect when Wubby and Arcti should be the only ones in the staff area...

***

Following Mesto’s sudden appearance and the two telling her their opinion on the character she showed them, which looked oddly like a character from the anime ‘Coincidence – Great Chaos’, Wubby closed the museum and got on her way home with Arcti. Little do they know, how many of their classmates and friends will come across them on their way home today.

The girls just got out of the museum, and as they wondered where Mesto went, because they left the building just as she did, Novoblupolia approaches them with a dozen handouts and a box in her hands. Novoblupolia or, for most, Novo for short; a 1,63 m / 5’4” tall; long, blonde-peachy hair; grayish-blue eyes; and an average figure; is a local girlscout and is part in several charities around town. Just like everyday, she is walking around to spread the awareness of an important topic that hasn’t gotten enough recognition yet. Today’s topic: ‘Clean after yourself’ - a campaign to spread awareness about throwing your trash into a trashcan instead of nature.

“Hey girls.” Novo says, upon approaching the two. Wubby hasn’t even turned her keys to lock the front door to the museum. “Can I get your attention for a minute to talk about the most recent campaign?”

“Always, Novo-chan.” Arcti responds, knowing it will be something with good intend. “What is it this time?”

“Have you noticed the occasional trash laying around on the sidewalk, in bushes, on trees or even in channels across the city?” Arcti nods, aware of the problem, while Wubby nods only pretending to be aware of it, since she is going outside rarely outside of shopping trips and going to school or work. “Good. Then I’m here to spread the word and tell you to clean up after yourself! You don’t even have to be the one throwing the trash around, but you can help by cleaning it up anyway! Help keeping the city and the region clean!” As she speaks, she gives the two handouts highlighting exactly that problem again, along with two rabbit-keychains. Since Novo always distributes rabbit-themed toys and is most likely also the leader of the campaign, it was inevitable that she gives them something rabbit-themed.

“I guarantee you, Novo-chan, we will.” Arcti replies, while quickly scanning the handout. “Right Wubby?”

Wubby, who inspected the keychain with big eyes in the meantime, immediately snaps out of her ‘how cute’-mode and quickly says: “Of course!” despite only having paid half the necessary attention.

“Great!” Novo responds with sparkling eyes. “Together we can create a better environment for everyone! Now, if my hands weren’t full, I would give you a small group hug, but you see the problem. I will get going now. I need to spread more awareness about this! Did you know that every third rabbit near the city has at least a some form of micro-plastic inside its blood? Ah! What am I continuing this? You already said you will take care. I will get going now! See you tomorrow at school!”

As quickly as she appeared, Novo left the scenery again. Arcti immediately glances over to Wubby, asking: “You didn’t pay the slightest bit attention, didn’t you?”

“Hey!” Wubby responds, ‘subtly’ looking at the handout trying to read the main information. “It’s… about… the environment! Of course, I paid attention!”

Sighing, Arcti shakes her head. “Of course, your did. Anyhoo, let’s get going. If you want to show me the new game you got, I would want to be home before sunset.”

“It’s not my fault if we get stopped on our way!”

“Stop arguing, and go!” Inevitably, Wubby would continue arguing as they get moving.

***

A couple hundred meters later, around the same crossing Wubby split up with Strala and Medici, and amidst Wubby’s monologue about she was close to losing herself during lunch break earlier at school while around a couple of new students, a familiar voice rings through the two’s ears. A voice arguing as much as Wubby does. But with who?

Their heads quickly turn towards the direction of the noise-maker, which turns out to be Paci. “So, I ask again, what if someone sees me like this?!” she almost shouts into Kari’s face. “I have a reputation to uphold!”

“Being a little less crazy than normal is not that bad for you, kohai.” Kari tells her, carrying two bags, one full of a bunch of new clothes and the other full of guns. “Besides, you look adorable with that top.”

“I’m not made to look adorable!!” she replies, pulling on and pointing at her bright-red, shoulder-free shirt, that has a bunch of glitter-stars printed on it. “I’m supposed to look --” Her eyes lock on Wubby and Arcti, who watch the two as they got into their peripheral. The former can’t hold back a chuckle, behind her grin. Blushing red as a tomato, Paci instantly shrieks: “You two! You heard and saw nothing!!”

Kari joins in on the chuckling, as she sees the two. “How’s it going?” Much to Paci’s dismay, Kari starts a conversation, while she wants to quickly leave the scenery before more eyes can take a look at her ‘embarrassing’ shirt.

“We are doing just fine.” Arcti responds first once more. “We were just on our way to Wubby’s place, so she could show me a new game she got, while I had to listen to her ramblings again.”

“What are you calling ramblings?!” Wubby asks, pouting. “I was just telling you what I forgot to tell you after lunch!”

“You told me that after lunch already.” Arcti counters sharply, “You are now just expressing your anger over it. Again.” Wubby’s pout intensifies.

Kari giggles more. “Wouldn’t have expected different from you two. I was just shopping with Paci, since we both had our short shifts today. And I thought this shirt looks nice on her.”

“It’s embarrassing!” Paci comments. “How am I supposed to spread my menacing existence with this kind of shirt?!”

“I told you,” Kari replies smugly, “you don’t have to be all menacing all day. And seeing you like this is adorable as hell. I may call you as adorable as Balli-chan when she gets angry.”

“Oh, shut up!!”

“Have you and Nubli-chan formed an alliance? I already hearing that sentence enough per day.”

“Then you shouldn’t have forced me into this!!!”

“You decided to comply with it. I gave you a choice, and you complied.” The fact that Kari is right, infuriates Paci to a point she cannot hold herself back from rambling quietly to herself. So quiet, Kari won’t hear even a quarter of the semi-serious insults Paci is throwing at her. “I guess we should get going and not stop you two any further. I have to get back home, before Nubli-chan is burning down the kitchen again in an attempt to cook. And this hot head needs to calm down at home, where she doesn’t feel embarrassed. So, see ya.”

“Bai!” Wubby says while Arcti gives them a polite bow. Even a couple hundred meters away, Paci’s inaudible muttering is still to hear, but no one can truly understand it. Not even Kari, who stays by her side.

Wubby is still giggling over the fact how Paci reacts. “She did look adorable in that one. No wonder she is going crazy about it.”

“If that’s a sign for something?” Arcti smugly responds, raising an eyebrow at Wubby.

“Is that sarcasm?” Wubby counters, more smugly, while a thunder like chuckle sounds through the wind. “Wait, what was that?”

“Either Jar-sensei testing another of her weapons not too far away from the city, a volcanic eruption, or a thunderstorm coming closer.” Arcti explains. “Anyhoo, if we keep getting distracted like this, we will not have the time today for you to show me the game.”

Little did they know, my hand slipped on the push-to-talk button on this realm again. Whoops.
- Perses :-)

***

“Can we?” Wubby asks in an obnoxious tone, “Please! Can we?”

Sighing, Arcti responds: “No. Do you even have money on you?”

Wubby avoids eye contact before responding: “Yes.” Quickly after, she turns at Arcti again, gets even more obnoxiously closer and asks right in her ear: “But can we please? Please please??”

“I told you,” Arcti responds, slightly annoyed by this point as Wubby asked the same question for the 25th time now, “if you don’t have money with you, we won’t go there, because you always ask me to buy stuff. And Norwany-senpai won’t give you a Vocaroid-figurine for free all the time. Or have you helped her out without me noticing this time?”

“Ehm… Yes.”

As she sighs again, Arcti wipes her hand over her forehead. “You know how believable that is?” Wubby simply reacts with a smug grin. “You aren’t leaving me a choice either, aren’t you?” Again without a word, Wubby reacts with a head shake and, again, a smug grin. Sighing, Arcti has to give in to the demand, thinking ‘It doesn’t mean she really does want to buy anything, right?’

***

“Heeeeeello, Kino-senpai~!” Wubby loudly says, while entering the anime and manga shop of Norwany.

“Hmm? Oh. Hey, Wubby-chan.” Norwany, or Kino for short; 1,63 m / 5’4” tall; long, black hair, bound to a long ponytail; proud, purple eyes; and an ample figure; says back, stopping to sort a shelf of the newest ‘YoYo’s Strange Odyssey’ edition. “And hey Arcti-chan. What leads you two here today?”

“She did.” Arcti responds, pointing at Wubby. “We happened to be close by, and out of all things she actually remembers, it’s the position of your store. Then she left me no choice.”

“I haven’t forgotten about the game either.” Wubby replies, “I just wanted to have a look around.”

“I see.” Norwany concludes. “May I interest you in the newest release of ‘YoYo’s’? I just received it as I opened the store today. Didn’t even get to read it myself yet.”

Wubby’s mouth gapes open. Instantly she grabs one of the copies, before Norwany has even stopped talking. Arcti’s eye-roll is almost audible. “Make that two.” she says, already taking her wallet out. “How much again?”

Norwany tilts her head. “Free. Wubby-chan helped me out getting the stack of ‘Two Pieces’ mangas into the manga-club-room during lunch. So I promised her that she can get the newest YoYo’s for free when it arrives.” Smugly grinning, Wubby looks at Arcti, who stares back at her in disbelief. “And when you are already here, look at this!”

For the rest of their stay, Norwany shows the two a hologram projector through which their favorite Vocaroids come to life. It’s hard to tell if Wubby or Norwany is more excited about that new piece of technology.

***

After leaving the store, Arcti takes her copy of YoYo’s Strange Odyssey and whacks Wubby’s head with it. “Couldn’t you have told me that earlier?”

“Ouchie.” Wubby responds after the whack. “I could have, but I didn’t, because I forgot.”

“You seemed too smug to have forgotten about it. You purposefully held it back to annoy me.”

“Tease is the word you are searching for.” Another whack on her head followed. “Ouchie. That one was harder than the last.”

“No way, Detective Noodle.” Arcti responds, a little annoyed, followed by yet another sigh. “If I didn’t knew you already, I would just go home now, and not follow you to show me the game.”

“Oh, c’mon!” Wubby cries back, “Can’t I have a little goofing around too?”

“You are goofing around daily.” Arcti responds, debating if she will give her another whack to the head. “Anyway. Mind telling me if yo--”

“SHH!” Wubby suddenly shoots out of her mouth, while covering Arcti’s mouth with her hand. Arcti already has her YoYo’s copy ready for another whack, but then she spots what motivated Wubby to ‘shh’ her.

Entering their view is a Balli, and a Pravus exiting a store together. Pravus, sometimes also called Rose; 1,52 m / 5’ tall; very long, red hair; red eyes; and an adorable figure; is from Jar’s household and normally known for sticking around people like Xoriet to tease them. Seeing her coming out of a clothing shop together with Balli is a sight to behold. And as it seems, Balli actually baught something as well. Wubby and Arcti watch from afar, as they see a third one approaching. This third one is up to some mischief though…

“See Balli-chan?” Pravus says, smugly smiling at Balli, “It was fun having a little shopping trip, wasn’t it?”

“I still don’t get how you can like shopping AND then dressing like this.” Balli responds in an unusual calm tone, but that’s not where the somewhat bizarre part ends. Instead of her normally formal, prudish attire, she is actually wearing something that shows off her legs and arms to more than just the ankles and wrists. “And I swear to the lord, if someone sees me dressed like this, this was the last time I did something like this!”

“Pff, relax. Even if the others see you, you look fantastic! And you’d look even better if you would wear these!” Pravus pulls out a bunny-ear headband, and suggestively holds them close to Balli, who instantly pushes her hand aside.

“Never!” Balli loudly counters. “I will never fall for such degeneracy!”

“Yet, you did it when Bunnies-chan was around!”

“THAT NEVER HAPPENED!”

“Are you sure? Like, really really sure? I could swear you looked cute that day.”

“NEIN! Ballistikov has and will never do such degenera--” Amidst her small rant, a small cascade of water falls over her from behind, followed by a familiar giggle.

“Got you.” says Kat, with a now empty bucket of water in her hand. “Now your turn.”

Balli, completely drenched, lucky that her bags full of her new clothing didn’t get hit by the water, turns around with fire in her eyes. “KAT-CH--- I mean, KATRZYNIJA! I will get you for this!!” she shouts, as she chases after the fleeing kitsune-girl.

“Hey!” Pravus shouts after them, “Don’t forget about me!” Quickly, Pravus runs after them, to not miss the fun that has broken out. All three quickly leave the scenery. Arcti and Wubby exchange looks as the three leave.

Simultaneously they say: “Nobody will believe us if we told them.”

“Should we just move on?” Arcti asks, unsure how to react.

“I guess...” Wubby responds, gesturing to get moving. Both a little hesitant, they continue on their way, while the day is slowly nearing the evening...

***

“And then a fish two heads taller than I am flew out of the water!” Wubby tells excited of the last fishing tour with Doom-Marine. “Later he was so kind to make Sushi out of it. After a week, there still was some of it left.”

“How is he?” Arcti asks curiously. “Has he finally finished his chicken coop?”

“Yeah. Last week, I think. He was just waiting for the hay for the interior to arrive. He had to take a hen inside while the coop wasn’t finished because she was hatching the eggs. The little chickens are supposed to hatch coming weekend, he said!”

“Aww. Cute. But don’t you come to the idea of bringing them to the next show and tell!”

“I would never!”

“Just like last time when you brought him with his rabbit to school and said ‘emphasis on the rabbit’?” Arcti counters with a risen eyebrow.

Rolling her eyes, Wubby bumps her elbow into Arcti. “That was different.”

“As in?”

“Uhhh…” After a 5 second pause of Wubby thinking of an excuse, she replies, sighing: “Fine. You got me there.”

Simultaneously they say: “As always.” Arcti instantly locks eyes on Wubby.

“What?” Wubby replies, smug. “I know how it goes by now. Don’t act all surprised.”

“Your smugness is the thing.” Arcti responds, unlocking her eyes from her. “It’s… strange, cause it’s you. Especially when it’s that kind of smugness.”

“You’re unfair.”

“No, you are.”

“No u!”

Arcti sighs, knowing this is a battle that can only end in a tie. As they continue their walk, she shifts the conversation back to the initial topic, asking about how Doom-Marine is doing in this pretty child friendly environment with no demons to slay. Despite not being able to practice his normal daily activities, he has gotten used to a quiet life quite well, according to Wubby. Although some stories of her regarding combat training and other things easily connectable to the Slayer of Hell sound almost worrying.

Suddenly, a figure jumps out of the tree in front of them, making both of them jump.

“STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMI--” the girl shouts, pointing a water-gun at them. “Oh. Damnit. You aren’t Otta-chan.”

“Hi, Pengu-chan.” Wubby says casually, almost as if nothing happened. “What were you doing?”

Pengu, short for Penguinya; 1,82 m / 6ft tall; waist-long, black hair; brown eyes; and a sporty figure; responds: “I was waiting for someone. Wait, I already gave that away, right?”

After clearing her throat, Arcti responds: “Uhh, Otta-san?”

“Damnit.” Pengu responds, kicking the ground. “You aren’t gonna tell her if you see her, right?”

“Mmmmmaaaaayyybeeeeee.” Wubby responds, really drawn out. “For a small bribe, perhaps not?” Her request is instantly answered with a bonk by Arcti.

“I don’t think we will meet her on our way. You should be just fine.”

“Great!” Pengu replies, already approaching the tree to climb it back up. “If you are wondering, I want to repay her for that one time she--” She pauses, thinking if she should admit the one humiliating defeat she had against her in a game or not. “Nevermind. For short: I want to repay her with this water-gun. Now excuse me, I’m gone before Otta-chan could see me.” Almost in an instant, she rushes up the tree. Arcti and Wubby stare up the tree, with raised eyebrows. Pengu pokes her head out of the leaves, telling them: “If you are staring up like this, anyone close enough to see you will be reckoning with something up here. Move along!”

Trying to keep a straight face, they both look forward, while getting in motion again, and Pengu gets back into hiding. They both hold back a giggle after that encounter.

As coincidence always has the best timing, Otta just happens to turn around the corner in front of them, walking towards them. Otta, short for Ottarenzia; 1,70 m / 5’7” tall; blonde, shoulder-long hair; brown eyes; and a slightly less sporty figure as Pengy; looks on her phone, listening to some, what can be heard by Wubby and Arcti already, metal that would be deafening for the normal person.

Otta sees the two in her peripheral, looks up, and waves. Just as the other two, as Wubby had pushed it before, she doesn’t really have time, which is why she points at an imaginary wrist watch to indicate she can’t have a chat now. The others nod, before they pass by her.

As soon as they are out of her peripheral, Wubby and Arcti step around a corner to watch what happens next. Pengu jumps down as soon as she hears steps coming from almost underneath her. Otta almost drops her phone upon the jumpscare of a surprise attack. She quickly takes off her wireless headphones upon seeing the water-gun in Pengu’s hand.

“HANDS UP!” Pengu shouts, holding Otta at gunpoint. Next she demands Otta to be sorry for beating her at a videogame the other day, but Otta speaks back telling her that she has done everything fair and square. But Pengu doesn’t want to hear that, and shoots on the ground in front of Otta with her water-gun a couple of times.

In a comical move, Otta points at something imaginary to distract Pengu, which she falls for, looks away, and Otta sprints away from her. Following comedic fashion, Pengu looks back and forth, before realizing Otta has sprinted away.

“COME BACK HERE!” she shouts, while wildly firing after Otta. Metal plays out of Otta’s phone, to encourage her running and make everything more dramatic. A sight to behold. Especially at this time of day, when the sun is almost setting.

Realizing the time, Wubby and Arcti get their eyes off the chase that leads in a zigzag across the street, and get moving once again. Hopefully, this will be their last stop...

***