Chapter Text
The first week of school had flown by, and Hikaru had settled herself well. The train ran every fifteen minutes until late at night, so most days, she took it upon herself to not only take some extra time in helping clean the classroom but also to venture into the school library, whether to finish homework, study, or research more school history conspiracies.
She hadn't made a decision on which club to join quite yet. Joining a space club may have seemed like an obvious choice, but she also felt drawn to the kickboxing club; there was something about the idea of throwing punches that brought her nostalgia.
The classmates weren't so bad. As any other high school, it had its fair share of the rudest kids possible. Hikaru didn't mind; she had dealt with ruder people from other worlds. Her response was always the same—with unwavering understanding and kindness. Nonetheless, there were still many fun and interesting classmates with whom she acquianted with.
Shiori was easily becoming her close friend as result of their shared interests in science fiction and space exploration; however, there were a few things they kindly disagreed on.
"Hey Shiori," Hikaru said as class ended, "I have something I want to ask you."
"Mm?" Shiori turned to find Hikaru digging into her bag for her notebook.
"Has your uncle really not shared any weird stories about the school?"
"Oh, come on Hikaru," Shiori rolled her eyes, "I don't know why you're caught up these weird conspiracies when none of it is real."
"We don't know that," Hikaru shrugged, "But that's what makes looking into everything exciting! Look!" she eagerly handed over her notebook.
Shiori skimmed through haphazardly for a few minutes. There was disinterest in her facial expression for a few seconds until something grabbed her attention on a certain page, brows furrowed.
"Sarina Sonoda," Shiori said, "Who is she?"
"Oh, she teaches at my best friend's school!" Hikaru said cheerfully, "She told her all about Amanogawa."
"Uh-huh," Shiori responded, looking through the rest of the page. Hikaru's notes were a little different from her school notes; her school notes were legible and organized, but Shiori could tell Hikaru would get a little excited when she read up conspiracies, drawing little faces in between the messier sentences. According to what Hikaru wrote down, Sarina Sonoda taught at Amanogawa before going on leave, returned, but promptly chose to teach elsewhere. Shiori found that to be a little odd, as she read on, Madoka says Sonoda-sensei avoids talking about her time teaching at Amanogawa, like it brings her physical discomfort, followed by a concerned-looking cartoon face.
She looked at the notebook until Ohsugi-sensei brought attention to the start of their next class.
"Here," Shiori handed the notebook back, "I have something to ask my uncle after class."
Hikaru glanced curiously at her friend as she took her notebook.
--
As the students put their books away under their desks, Shiori gestured to the front of the class, prompting Hikaru to follow her to the teacher's desk.
"Uncle!"
"I told you, when we're here, you have to call me Sensei."
"Yeah, yeah, I just have to ask you something because I just remembered something from looking at the old yearbooks in the library. Whatever happened to Sonoda-sensei?"
Chuta swallowed, his eyes widened for a brief moment, "She's teaching at Muraboshi High now!"
Shiori huffed, "I remember being five and seeing you cry and saying her name over and over for some reason."
"Mmm, ohh right, that!" Chuta chuckled, "I was just worried because there were some private things happening, I forgot what it was, I mean, some personal things, and, well, erm...It was such a long time ago, I can't even remember!"
"Mm-hmm," Shiori raised an eyebrow, "You know, you're being terrible at lying right now."
"Alright, okay, just quit worrying about it, okay?" Chuta scoffed, "She was just on a leave of absence, and now she's happier somewhere else. That's all."
"Excuse me, Ohsugi-sensei?" Hikaru chimed, "I hope you don't mind if I ask you something?"
"Sure, Hoshina! Do you have a question about today's lesson?"
"No, I understood everything," Hikaru shook her head, "I just want to know if there was anything you can tell me about what happened ten years ago? I know that--"
"Ok, ok, I'm stopping you both right there," Chuta interjected with a raised hand, "Entertaining rumors is only going to be a waste of your time! Come on you two, get back to your desks and focus on getting ready for your next class!"
Neither of the girls noticed the confused pout forming on their homeroom teacher's face as they walked past the entrance where he stood.
"Heh, your uncle reminds me of my grandpa," Hikaru said, "He gets the same way when he gets strict."
"It gets annoying, doesn't it?"
"A little bit," Hikaru nodded, "But that's always how my grandpa shows that he loves us and tries to look out for us. Wouldn't you say Ohsugi-sensei is the same way?"
"Pfft, I guess so."
--
Chuta stood by the door, eavesdropping on the girls on the way back to their desks. It brought him great comfort knowing that his niece found a good friend as he closed the sliding door behind him.
"Oyy, you could have been honest," Gentaro said, coming from behind, "It's been a long while since we've had the Kamen Rider Club running."
"Gentaro, please," Chuta exasperated as they walked, "Unless they have to know, they don't need to know. I want these kids to just have a normal high school experience. They shouldn't have to think about things like there being a history of space monsters."
"So you're just going to curb their curiosity?" Gentaro balked, "No, I don't agree with that! I don't want to hide anything from any of the students if I don't have to. Besides, that's your niece! Doesn't she have a right to know?"
Chuta sighed, "Shiori has always struggled with finding and keeping friends, and she finally found a good friend here who shares the same goal she does. She has big dreams of learning rocket science and going out into space, and I want her to just keep her focus on that. If she ever has to know, then of course she deserves to know."
Gentaro's shoulders slumped in resignation, "Alright, alright. She's your niece, so I'm backing off. But just remember, if she ever has to know, she'll be sad that you kept it from her."
"Oh come on, Gentaro," Chuta said as they entered the staff room, "You don't even have the belt anymore. Does it really matter?"
"You wouldn't be saying that if you didn't pass out drunk during our 10-year club reunion last week."
"...What do you mean?"
Gentaro took an open seat and opened his laptop nonchalantly, "You don't have to know."
"Gentaro, what do you mean?"
"No person who couldn't hold their whiskey needs to know," Gentaro teased, failing to fight back a smirk.
"Kisaragiiii!"
--
"Can I join you to the library today?" Shiori asked Hikaru at the end of their final class, "I kind of want to see what you've found about the school's history."
"Sure!" Hikaru answered eagerly, "I just can't stay for more than an hour. I have to take an early train back home. I'm having a pajama party!"
"Oh," Shiori slumped, "You are?"
"Yep!" Hikaru nodded, "It's with two of my old friends from middle school. We have one every month, and in the morning we get on webcam and talk to our friend in Mexico!"
"Oh," Shiori repeated, "Is it okay if I join? I've never been to a pajama party before."
Hikaru was taken slightly off guard by her question. There was nothing wrong with the idea of inviting Shiori; in fact, she would love to! However, they would need to be mindful of their open secret. These pajama parties consisted of Madoka and Sakurako catching up with one another, watching movies, and then going on webcam to talk with Elena in the morning. Whilst they haven't necessarily spoken about being Pretty Cures for a long while at this point, there would still be an unignorable level of awkwardness with suddenly having to keep a secret. Hikaru would just need to talk to them tonight about bringing a new friend over from then on. She could see Shiori getting along well with Madoka and Elena; Sakurako as well, if given enough time of getting to know one another.
"Umm...next month?" Hikaru offered, "I just...don't have enough snacks for everyone."
"Sure, sure!" Shiori nodded, "That works out! It's not like I have my pajamas with me right now anyway."
"Twincool!" Hikaru said, taking her friend by the hand to the library, "Well, no time to waste!"
As they made their way to the school library, Hikaru's phone buzzed with a text message. She opened her message, expecting to see a message from either her mom or one of her friends regarding the pajama party. What she saw instead halted her steps abruptly, her other hand slipping Shiori's grasp.
"Hikaru? What's wrong?"
"Eh?" Hikaru looked up from her phone, "I-it's nothing...I just need to respond to this really quick."
Are you girls okay?
Hikaru hadn't heard from Abraham in a long time. As excited as she was to hear from him again, seeing such an unsettling message sent to her, Elena, and Madoka so randomly was leaving her with a sense of unease.
Twincool! Abraham!! Hi there! ヽ(>∀<☆) Everything is fine
As she typed out her response, Hikaru thought about where Abraham could be. At this point, she understood where Elena's time zone was relative to herself, and she should be sleeping. If he was in America, then that would mean he was sending this in the late night hours.
Choosing not to overthink, "Sorry, it was a message from someone I hadn't heard from in a long while."
"As long as everything is okay. You looked deep in thought."
"Yeah, yeah, it was just unexpected," Hikaru smiled assuredly, walking briskly once again to the library alongside her friend.
"You know, I never gave the weird theories about the school much thought," Shiori said, changing the subject, "I just assumed they came from weirdos who hate science."
Hikaru chuckled, "Isn't that a weird theory though?"
Shiori choked back laughter, "Okay, listen. Cryptids like mothman? Probably not real."
"You don't know that."
"Weird groups and cults that spread weird ideas online? Definitely real."
Hikaru pondered and nodded, "Yeah, I can see what you mean."
"Plus, a high school that prides itself in encouraging space exploration is just the kind of target for conspiracy theorists," Shiori stated, giggling as she said, "Besides, I never could see my uncle putting up much of a fight if there were real monsters here."
"So you never read anything about them?"
"Not until I went through your notebook. I did joke about there being rumors to my uncle once, and he dismissed it pretty quickly, so that was the end of that.
"I didn't think of them again until I saw Sarina Sonoda's name in your notebook. I was just a little kid then, but I vaguely remember my uncle ranting to my mom about her being on leave and being suspicious about it. I forgot all about it, considering I was...about five."
Upon arrival to the library, there were a few students complaining about how none of the computers were working. Faculty members were troubleshooting and attempting to get the computers working, but all the screens remained off. Hikaru approached one of the computers curiously.
"If the computers aren't working today, we may as well come back Monday," Shiori said.
Hikaru moved to press the power button, not expecting a different result than unresponsiveness but still hopeful. Upon merely touching though, she was taken aback by strong static to her finger, "Ahh!"
Whirring sounds suddenly reverberated from the computer in front of her, spreading to all the other computers, and a pair of bright red eyes flashed on the screen.
"I've finally found you...Cure Star," the screen turned off once again.
Hikaru instinctively stepped back and took a defensive stance. She did not expect to be addressed like that today. Combining that with Abraham's text message, the sense of unease in her stomach turned into that of looming ominousness.
"What the hell was that about?" Shiori asked, "And why do you look like you're about to get in a fight?"
Hikaru wasn't sure how to answer those questions, rather she kept her focus to the rest of the room. Instead of saying anything, she gazed around with furrowed brows.
The ceiling caved in.