Episode 11: Bye Bye Bye

“Mimori?” Mr. Hadoku said, raising his voice above the chatter of the other students. It was fifth hour biology and all of the kids were supposed to be working on their textbooks.

“Yes?” the girl in question spoke up. She started to walk toward her biology teacher, feeling extremely nervous about what he wanted from her.

Once she was behind the teacher’s desk, Mr. Hadoku looked up at her, prepared to ask her the big question.

“You’re in the literature club, correct?” He began to speak in a hushed voice. Mimori noted that what he was about to say was going to be pretty important and private.

The girl nodded stiffly. This probably isn’t gonna be good. Had anyone seen us use our powers? she thought worriedly.

“Mm-hm.”

“Some of the teachers and I were looking at your submission forms for the cultural festival and noticed that your club name was different. Is there a reason why you’re called ‘ the Can Do Anything Club’? What is that, exactly?”

Aww, crap. Who the heck wrote that down?! UGHHH, we’re in big trouble!

“Um, well… It's the literature club, but my friends and I like to call it ‘the Can Do Anything Club’. One of them probably wrote that down by mistake.”

“Hmm…” her bio teacher seemed to be in deep thought. “Alright, that’s fine. I get it. You kids really like to roleplay these days.”

Huh? Roleplay?

That was when she remembered the sign in their room. The one they put up to mask what they were really doing.

Mimori’s lips wavered, but she tried to regain her composure. “Ahh, yeah! You’re right! I almost forgot that we do that once in a while! It’s been a while since we have, but Tomo and Mari really love that name.”

“Yeah, I get you. In my opinion, reading is pretty boring.” Mr. Hadoku chuckled. “Mr. Fujiwara was so confused about this whole thing, but look at that! I solved the mystery, just by thinking for two seconds! Not even!”

Mr. Fujiwara never paid attention to the paper on the wall, but Mr. Hadoku hasn’t even seen it and “connected the dots”? Dang, he really is too laid back!

“Eh heh heh, good job!” Mimori clapped her hands together to really sell the idea that that’s what the club was doing.

Mr. Hadoku nodded, grinning. “Hey, just let me know when you guys start role-playing again, I wanna watch. There used to be an RPG club at this school but sadly, all the kids in it graduated and the interest in it died down.”

Mimori’s eyes widened with shock. Oh no, we’ve got an interested customer. What am I gonna say now?! “A-alright, we’ll let you know!”

“Cool. Thanks.” He held a thumbs-up. “Thanks for the talk.”

After saying that, he started to yell at the class to be quiet as Mimori headed back to her seat, shaking yet sighing in relief.

★

Luckily, even after that declaration of being totally interested in role-playing and watching the girls do so after school one day, that day never came, and so a month passed by without anything of note happening.

And so, it was finally the day of the cultural festival, and the girls were understandably nervous. The most nervous, however, was definitely Kasumi.

At the moment, she was curled up in the corner of the clubroom, attempting to concentrate on a random book she picked from one of the bookshelves.

Mimori, who was talking to Erica and Mari excitedly about their upcoming performance, suddenly noticed her depressed friend and decided she needed some cheering up. Of course, her method of “cheering up” was walking over there quietly and then yelling in her face.

“Hey, Kasumi! What’s the matter? You seem down in the dumps!”

Kasumi dropped the books from her hands and dug her head deeper into her knees.

“They’re coming. They’re coming to the talent show.”

Mimori looked confused until an invisible light bulb popped up over her head.

“Oh yeah! Them. Yeah, I know now.”

Ayumi, Honoka, and Shana. The most popular girls in the school. Kasumi used to be a part of their little clique until a certain event occurred two summers before. Kasumi never told her what it was, but she said it was extremely humiliating. In any event, Mimori still felt bad for her.

Kasumi’s eyes welled up with tears. “They’ll be there, watching. Laughing. Saying ‘she hangs out with losers! Not one, but five!’”

“They still care about you?”

“Are you kidding me? They’re pretending to want to be friends with me again! They keep commenting on my Facebook and Instagram posts!”

Mimori facepalmed. “That’s so one-dimensional.”

Kasumi smirked. “They’re faker than a bootleg iPhone.”

“Naught to three sad onions!”

Kasumi giggled a little. “‘Be-boop, be-boop, be-boop!’”

“‘Hello!’” Mimori chimed in.

The two girls started laughing together, and the other club members looked at them.

“So when are we going on?” asked Mari curiously.

“In about forty-five minutes,” Erica said. “That gives us enough time to walk around the premises a little and then come back to get dressed up and ready! Oh, and also get Nathan.”

“Can’t forget him,” Naoko stated flatly. “He’s kind of important.”

“Why are we even here!?” Mari shouted.

No one responded.

“Let’s look around! The time is now, after all!”

Erica jumped up, excited. “Oh yeah, it is! And here we are, putzing around. Especially me. Hey, are any of us even participating in our own class projects?”

The room was silent.

“No? None of us?”

“Nope, I guess not,” Mimori responded. “We’re all just losers.”

Kasumi stood up, tempted to facepalm. “I’m not a loser,” she groaned. “I just didn’t want to participate in a stupid haunted house.”

“That’s fine,” Mimori said, nodding. “My class is doing a fortune-telling booth and that’s not really my thing, but I still wanna check it out.”

“Yup, I’d rather just have a karaoke booth or something. You know how much I’d go ham on that kind of thing!” Mari cackled, and Mimori’s eyes sparkled. (The two of them were in the same class, by the way.)

Kasumi made a big show of rolling her eyes. “You guys…”

Tomo clapped her hands together. “Oh, yay! And I’d sing all my favorite boyband and pop diva songs!”

Erica slammed her hands on the table to get her friends’ attention. “GUYS! C’mon, it’s booth time!”

★

It was as good of a time as any. Kasumi appreciated all of the time and effort the middle school classes put into their class projects. She saw a variety of things, such as class 7-1’s art museum and class 8-3’s ramen shop. It made her even more excited to see that night’s talent show.

… where her group was going to perform. In front of them.

Try not to think about it, Kasumi begged in her head. It’s going to be alright. Maybe they’ll want to skip it??

Suddenly, a voice broke her thoughts.

“Hey, Kasumi-chan!”

She recognized it. It was Ayumi’s.

Kasumi wanted to run somewhere and hide, but it was too late. She and her friends and them were all standing on the right side of the hallway, by class 9-2’s haunted house attraction.

“Hey, Kasumi-chan!” Ayumi said again, but this time more arrogantly. “I heard you’re performing today. Hope your performance goes on without a hitch!”

At the mention of the last word, Honoka and Shana, who were at her side like minions, burst into laughter.

Kasumi’s face reddened as her friends looked at her, concerned.

“UHHHH…” Mimori said in the most obnoxious way she could, hoping for the bullies to focus on her.

The girls, however, just giggled crudely and walked away.

“What was that all about?” Tomo wondered, finger to her lips.

“J—just some people that I hate,” Kasumi replied in a sour manner.

Right after she said that, however, Kasumi got an idea. A wonderful, awful, idea that would totally not blow up in her face whatsoever.

★

After the girls poked around for a little bit, Erica decided it was time to head back to their clubroom so Tomo could get Nathan and the girls could practice one more time.

“You really think we need to do a dress rehearsal?” complained Mimori. “I mean, does it even matter?”

“You just answered your own question, smart stuff,” Naoko replied bitterly.

That was when Mimori’s eyes ended up traveling to where Kasumi was—in the same spot as before, but this time using her powers.

Like a repeat of earlier, Mimori went over to where her friend was and bugged her. The only difference this particular time was that the girls were getting changed into their outfits for the show.

Kasumi caught Mimori in the nick of time.

“How big?” Mimori wanted to know, eyeing her chest curiously.

“Double Ds,” Kasumi said, smirking away. “That should make the girls jealous.”

“Girls? Which girls—? Oh, yeah. Those bitches. Yeah, you go show ‘em, Kasumi-chan! Even though they saw you earlier looking smaller!”

“Yeah, them,” responded Kasumi as she adjusted her top and turned around. “They’re going to see just how cool I look up there with my gracious chest, so they can hopefully stop bugging me.”

Mimori shook her head, unimpressed. “That plan of yours is so full of plot holes I just can’t even. I know this isn’t going to end well.”

Kasumi shrugged. “You only live once! And you only live once with superpowers, too!”

“Eww!” Mimori gagged. “Dear God no!”

It was at that moment when Tomo and Nathan teleported to the clubroom, and luckily everyone was ready to rehearse for the very last time.

“Let’s do this!” Erica cried, fist in the air determinedly.

★

Okay, so everyone was nervous now. They were on after a group of four girls all singing some idol song with some choreography to go with it.

As Nathan was getting set up in the sound booth, the girls were attempting to give each other pep talks.

“Alright, everybody! Let’s do awesome!” Mimori cheered as quietly as she could. She glanced around at everyone, excitement in her eyes, it failed to register because Naoko was glaring at Kasumi for some reason.

“Thought there was going to be a pony reference in there somewhere,” Mari snarked. She was going to say more, but she was interrupted by an eruption of applause and an announcer saying that it was their turn.

“Next up is the Can Do Anything Club with choreography set to Backstreet Boys’ ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)!’”

“The same old...” mumbled Mimori.

And just like that, the girls shakily walked onto the stage to the sound of applause of their students and likely some alumni and parents.

The lights shut off, and the girls were surrounded by darkness.

Kasumi was already nervous, but as the music crescendoed and filled the room, that emotion was being taken over by another one: Delight.

A stage light then appeared directly on Mimori, and the other girls began their routine while she was lip-syncing.

“‘Everybody… rock your body… everybody, rock your body right…’”

Colored spotlights then appeared on everyone as they lip-synced and formed poses together.

“‘Backstreet’s back, alright!’”

The girls started to pace around and Kasumi wondered what they were thinking at that moment, for just a split second.

As the girls went to their respective places, Naoko stepped up to the front, ready for her part.

“‘Oh my God, we’re back again!’” She pretended to sing. “‘Brothers, sisters, everybody, sing. We’re gonna bring the flavor, show you how… we got a question for you, better answer now…’”

Naoko finished her lines by mouthing an ever-enthusiastic “Yeah” and Mari stepped up.

“‘Am I original?’” she lip-synced with her hands on her head for whatever reason, forming a double arch.

“‘Yeah!’” the girls echoed.

“‘Am I the only one?’” Tomo mouthed while doing a self-conscious pose.

“Yeah…”

“‘Am I sexual?’” Kasumi lip-synced, blowing a kiss in the air. The boys in the crowd reacted with, well… what you’d expect.

“‘Yeah,’” the girls replied, all rolling their eyes.

Suddenly, Erica jumped in front of Kasumi. “‘Am I everything you need, you better rock your body now!’”

As the girls went into the chorus, the crowd went wild, which was pretty shocking for a group of weirdos all mouthing the words to a nineties song. But it was catchy, and the girls were amusing enough.

Kasumi then noticed that in the front row were her old friends who looked to be absolutely speechless. It looked like they didn’t even bother taking out their phones because they couldn’t move.

And somewhere in the crowd was Hank, watching the show as well.

Thirty more seconds passed and their performance was done… or was it?

As the six girls bowed, Kasumi turned on her mic and put a hand on her hip defiantly.

“And that’s how it’s done!” she cried. “Peace out!”

She then slammed the mic on the ground, the poor piece of equipment giving out a loud shriek.

Half of the crowd gasped and the other half hollered.

Kasumi noticed as she ran off the stage that her ex-friends in the front row had red faces. Her fellow clubmates followed her off the stage, all confused as to what the heck just happened.

When the announcer walked onto the stage and apologized for the mic drop possibly raping the audience’s ears, the girls made their way around the corner, to the hallway of the school.

“What just happened?!” Erica shout-whispered, being aware that the show was continuing on.

“Something amazing,” Kasumi said, smug. “I can’t believe I made them all shocked as fuck!”

Tomo creased her eyebrows. “Gee, I hope you don’t get in trouble because of that, Kasumi-chan.”

“But it was so worth it!”

Naoko shook her head. “Nah, it was cringeworthy. Other than that though, it was a good performance.” She sighed. “I’m gonna change my clothes and then head home, okay?”

The other girls agreed and went back to the clubroom to change… all except Kasumi, whose head decided to hang out in front of the door to the club room.

“Hey, that was pretty cool what you did back there, Kasumi.”

A voice could be heard from behind her, and it sounded like Nathan. If only it was Peter, thought Kasumi, hands covering her cheeks.

“Oh, hi Nathan,” she said, smiling. “Yeah, it was cool and all, but it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, too. I kind of regret doing it now. Like, I’m still happy about it but now it just feels wrong.” She noticed she was rambling at that point.

Soon the boy and girl were both leaned up against the wall, conversing about the performance and the crowd’s reactions to it.

After he left, Kasumi pulled a Mimori and sang out her frustration.

“‘Once I rose above the noise and confusion, just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion. I was soaring ever higher… but I flew too high.’” Something got caught in her throat but she continued to sing anyway.

“‘Carry on my wayward son

There’ll be peace when you are done

Lay your weary head to rest

Don’t you cry no more.’”

At that point, she paused for a bit because her friends walked out of the club room and said goodbye to her.

Now she was alone.

Well, it’s time for me to head home, too, she thought as she walked into the empty club room and continued singing as tears were falling down her face.

“‘Carry on, you will always remember… c—carry on…’”

Growing even more frustrated, Kasumi changed back into her school uniform and shrank her bust back to normal. Except…

Nothing happened.

“What?!” she shrieked. “Why can’t I…? Oh.”

That’s when she remembered what Mimori had read in the book.

“ … This says that the goo that gets splattered on you is sentient and that if you do something with your powers that it doesn’t like, they will disappear and you’ll be unable to gain your powers back for a few months. Huh, so it’s kinda like a strict parent, huh? Weird.”

“So, basically, I can’t turn back to normal. Great!” Kasumi slapped her hands on the main table in anger, growling. “Now how am I gonna hide these from Mom and Dad?!”

Kasumi began to cry all over again as she sank down onto the carpet, arms and legs shaking.

Hey, at least they weren’t there to see my performance. At least they had an excuse not to go.

I was still stupid. So stupid…

☄

It was two summers ago. Kasumi and her friends were planning to go to the spray park just for fun. At the time, she was still super self-conscious about her breasts, which were even more nonexistent back then, and the fact that her friends were more busty than her.

Kasumi had the idea to buy a small inflator from the dollar store to make it look like she at least had a B-cup, and it looked surprisingly convincing. Her friends were convinced too because, at the time, she only wore baggy shirts to hide her lack of breasts. (and when it came to change in the girls’ locker room, she always made sure to get there first so no one would see her.)

Things didn't go according to plan, however, when Kasumi and her friends were under a tipping bucket and the force of the water made her bikini top fall off, exposing her flat chest.

Not only did her friends see her topless, but they also made fun of her for faking having breasts.

That day, Kasumi burst into tears and had her mom pick her up from the waterpark. Things hadn’t been the same since.

☄

Kasumi was losing her mind. The scene of her at the waterpark kept playing in her head over and over again.

I have to get home somehow… but how am I gonna make my parents not see me?

There was always the option of wearing baggy clothes. However, she didn’t have any on her and even if she did, her big breasts would still be noticeable through the sweater or hoodie.

It was a Saturday, though. She could always come up with some excuses like “I wanna study tonight” or “I’m tired, I’d like to get some sleep.”

The studying option seemed better. That way, she’d have an excuse to run straight up to her room and if they do really wanna talk to her, she could just curl up in her bed and place a textbook in front of her chest.

It’s time to go.

Getting into the house without her parents seeing her was fairly easy. All she had to do was shout “I gotta study!” and her mom and dad understood. Someone who couldn’t wait to see her (or rather, talk to her) was Mimori.

Because of course.

Right as Kasumi arrived in her room and set her backpack down…

Check out the preview of the new episode!! DJ’S IN IT!!!

Wow, so shocking (not really). Anyway, how am I going to message her the sad news?

“Be blunt,” she said quietly yet determinedly out loud.

Okay… here goes nothing.

So… I kinda lost my powers.

Not even ten seconds later, Mimori replied.

I’m sorry. I knew it’d happen eventually though. :(

A gif of a crying Twilight Sparkle followed the text.

Kasumi rolled her eyes, but she appreciated the sentiment.

Even in a serious situation, Mimo-chan has to include ponies.

Kasumi responded immediately. I know! And now I can’t reverse the size of my breasts! Now I’m stuck with big ones! I mean, I don’t mind, but at the same time, I can’t possibly show my parents! O-O

A minute passed until Mimori responded.

Hey! So me, you, and Tomo could meet up and use the spell book and see if there’s something in there that can reverse them!

Kasumi raised an eyebrow. Without Erica? Sounds dangerous.

Well, Tomo happens to have the book at the moment. She’s making another copy. She’s writing everything down by hand!

Oh.

Let’s meet up tonight at Tomo’s house. I’ll tell her. If not, mine. I’ll let you know in under an hour! Promise! Kasumi could feel Mimori’s excitement through the phone screen.

It was then that Kasumi realized how great of a friend Mimori was. Even though she was childish a lot of the time, she had a big heart and cared about her dearly.

She had to admit. It helped her calm down a lot.

★

One hour flashed by before her eyes. During that time, Kasumi actually did study for a test in history that was next Thursday.

And now here she was, at Tomo’s house with Mimori, making a potion for undoing the potion’s after-effects. Mimori was also communicating with Hank (aka Henry) via Messenger.

They were also doing this in Tomo’s bedroom, by the way.

“And then you add this, and voila! This should work!” Tomo said in a cheerful tone of voice.

Mimori looked up from the kitchen counter. “Henry, er, Hank—”

“I still can’t believe Hank and Henry share the same body,” snarked Kasumi.

“—Shush! Um, sorry. Anyway, he says that after the goo stuff rejects you, you won’t be able to have new powers for a few months. He says you can get a new power during this time though.”

“I didn’t know we could get another one,” Kasumi said, shocked. “That’s cool! But no powers for an unspecified amount of months? Geez. I don’t think I can do it!”

Tomo walked over to Kasumi and handed her a cup full of liquid that resembled green tea.

“Drink this,” she said gently. “We’ll go out of the room for you… I’m sure you’ll need some privacy.”

Kasumi nodded and her friends went out of the room, chatting along the way about powers and all that.

Carefully, Kasumi drew a deep breath, prepared her brain and she began to drink the potion.

…

It wasn’t until less than a minute after that Kasumi began to feel a tingling sensation in her chest. A tingling that couldn’t help but make her giggle.

Kasumi took a seat on Tomo’s bed and watched as her hopes and dreams (and anxiety) began to shrink away.

As that was all happening, she thought back to all the stuff that happened at the cultural festival and checked her social media sites to see if those girls she humiliated were bugging her.

They… aren’t.

Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Kasumi looked down and noticed that her chest was back to its meager A-cup.

Happy to see the return of her almost flat chest, Kasumi opened the door excitedly to be greeted by her friends who were chilling out on the carpet, undoubtedly listening and chatting about the movie Tomo’s parents were watching in the family room.

“Hey, hey guys! It worked!” she shout-whispered for the second time that day.

“Good,” said Tomo, nodding and smiling.

“Good job!” Mimori said, obviously imitating an anime character.

Kasumi shook her head, grinning. “You guys are something else.”