Chapter 2 - Pai's Last Name

It was the middle of the night, and low-hanging clouds were blocking the moonlight. There were no stars. A small silver Spacecraft, no bigger than a large car, descended from among the clouds to land on a quiet inner-city street. The hatch opened and a girl with short black hair stepped out. She was wearing a purple silk dress that had been ripped at the waist, and a pair of bulky silver pants.
She was followed by a small, brown cat.

In front of the girl was a small old-fashioned shop made of bricks. It had a tiled roof and there were white lace curtains in the window.
"Pretty!" The girl murmured. She quietly tiptoed over to the window and peered in. There were chairs and tables and a counter with plastic cakes and loaves of bread. On one of the tables close to the window was a menu made of sugar-pink card. The girl glanced down the list of foods.
"Pai...?" She whispered to herself.
"What's that?" The kitten asked, jumping up onto the windowsill next to the girl.
"Pai...Apple...Cherry..."



Pai snapped back to reality.
"Uh, Cherry!" Pai said, to her teacher. "My last name's Cherry!"
"Alright then." Mr. Black said, writing in Pai's last name with a biro.

Class continued fairly uneventfully after that. Mr. Black was slightly eccentric, but apart form that Aqua couldn't see anything strange about him. Trinity was still suspicious, and Kairi was concerned. Pai was oblivious.



Haruka was sprawled out on one of the many large couches of the mansion that she shared with her beloved Michiru, as well as Setsuna and Hotaru.
"What are you doing?" She craned her head around to look at Michiru who was sitting at the dining table, staring into her Deep Aqua Mirror.
Michiru smiled. "I'm watching the girls' first day of school." Haruka cringed. "How's Pai coping?" She asked.
"See for yourself." Michiru handed her the mirror. Haruka squinted at the mirror. She could see Pai, Trinity, Aqua and Kairi sitting in school desks, but not much else.
"It's all black and foggy."
"What?" Michiru exclaimed, taking the mirror back from Amara. "You're right. It was clear a moment ago."
"An enemy?" Haruka asked.



After class, the girls went to the cafeteria for lunch. Kairi, Aqua and Pai stared hungrily at the display, but Trinity was in deep thought over the behavior of their homeroom teacher. Despite this, she ordered her lunch and sat down with the other girls, quietly nibbling her pastry.

A low buzzing interrupted her thoughts, and Aqua reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
"Haruka!" She cried with delight, "How are you?"
The other three girls watched Aqua's short phone conversation, slightly confused.
"An enemy?" Aqua was saying, "No, we're fine... No, every thing's normal... Yes, I'm sure... We're fine...Thanks for checking up on us, though."

"What was that about?" Kairi asked as Aqua hung up her phone and put it back in her pocket.
"Haruka asked if there was something strange going on at our school. The Deep Aqua Mirror went all foggy, and she thought we might be in danger."
"We might be." Trinity said quietly, and Aqua turned to see Mr. Black standing behind her.
"May I see you in the detention room, you four?" He asked them. They followed him silently out of the cafeteria.

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