Episode 12: The Inseparable Can Do Anything Club

“Hey, Aoki.”

“Yeah?” the navy-blue-haired boy turned to his friend. “What’s up?”

Aoki’s friend, Yamada, had his eyebrows narrowed. “Are we, um, safe doing the experiment out here?”

It was a crisp, early November day after school. A few kids were outside doing their club activities, such as the jogging club and the baseball club, but other than that it was pretty peaceful and vacant.

“Yeah, of course. It’s almost empty out here and besides, I don’t wanna get another club room messy like we did last time, even though we cleaned it up afterward. We could've always done it in our clubroom, but I thought that the outdoors would be a breath of fresh air… no pun intended.”

Yamada nodded, begrudgingly. He had a feeling his friend was going to say that. He felt bad for telling the literature club girls that they would be doing the experiment there at almost the last minute, so he understood the sentiment.

Yup. The last time they did the superpowers experiment was with those girls back in April. The ones before that were done on just a couple of the members in the science club, nothing else.

So, here they were again. A new feeling in the air, and new test subjects.

And it was just the two of them. (The other club members were in the club room, studying for an upcoming science test.)

“Man,” he moaned. “If only Erica was still here. She knows everyone’s quirks in this school even though she just transferred here last year. Japanese is even her second frickin’ language! We’d tell her, ‘We want to do an experiment on these people’ and she’d say ‘Oh, sure! Make sure you give so-and-so the power of this and the other person the power of that!’ Right?”

Aoki nodded. “Yup. If only. But this time we just asked four choir girls and we’re just giving them the powers of whatever we haven’t done in the book yet.”

Yamada couldn’t help but laugh. “The powers of whatever. Ha! We’re in trouble! Don’t worry, though. 'The Powers of Whatever will set us free.'”

As the boy continued to laugh, Aoki was on the lookout for the four choir girls. One of his friends that were in the science club also happened to be in choir, so he asked him to recruit four members from there for their new experiment. Coincidentally, the four girls were not only supposedly the ones with the most remarkable personalities, but they all happened to be best friends.

That was when, out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the four girls. As they approached, Aoki went did a rundown in his head of who they were.

Asuka Kawasaki, second soprano. Student council vice president. Black hair with a blue hue in a low bun, and indigo eyes. A third year, like him. Isn’t afraid to speak her mind on subjects she’s passionate about. Can be a bit intimidating.

Behami Uesaka, alto. Class Clown. Bronze-colored hair in a braid, and light brown eyes. Also a third year. Even though she loves video games, she also has a persistent tan no matter what time of year it is.

Suika Sakura, second soprano. The stoic type. Light rose-colored hair that reached down to her chin with a small side ponytail, and teal eyes. A second year. Although she always keeps an emotionless face, she’s said to be very emotional on the inside. Can come off as a bit obsessive at times.

Jopi Chiba, soprano—and a great one at that. Called “Jopi” by all of her classmates so no one remembers her real name. Has messy brown hair that reaches down to her back, and brown eyes. Has a small star hair clip in her bangs. Is of some sort of middle eastern descent. A first year. Cute, sweet, and soft-spoken. Is treated like a girl far younger than she is in choir.

“Hey there, Aoki!” Asuka called out.

“Hi!” Aoki said back, startled out of his monologuing. Damn, she really is intimidating in a way.

“Hey!” echoed Yamada waving his arms back and forth like a dork.

“What happened to the other members?” Jopi asked, tilting her head to the side in a cute manner.

Aoki knew that question couldn’t be avoided. “Oh, it’s just the two of us today. Don’t worry, we know what we’re doing! We’re the smartest in the club! Besides Erica-chan.” He added that part as quietly as he could.

As Aoki was talking, Yamada was ready to add the last ingredient to the potion, the powder that would make the liquids bubble and explode, thus getting onto the girls.

If his mother knew, she’d probably be proud of his work.

“You ready?” Yamada said as he looked at his friend and the girls. Aoki could tell from the look in his eyes that he was more than ready to get the experiment started.

The girls all nodded in unison as if they were making the most important decision in their lives. And they kind of were, admittedly.

“Okay! Let’s get this party started!” Yamada said in a sing-song voice as he dropped the last ingredient in, hoping for the best.

“It’s fizzing… it’s bubbling up…” Aoki murmured, knowing what was to happen. “Let’s run, Yamada! You know the drill!” he shouted.

The four girls all stepped back a little as the boys ran behind a tree.

Then, it happened.

It happened so quick, but in a matter of seconds, the goo was all over the girls… as well as the ground.

The boom sound from the explosion wasn’t too terribly loud, but it could still be heard from where the Can Do Anything’s club room was.

“Did you guys hear that?” Mari said in an alert tone of voice.

“Yeah. I think everyone did.” Hank, the guest for the day, said flatly. He was in his younger form.

“I think everyone did—except her.” Kasumi giggled, gesturing towards Mimori, who was listening to music on her iPod.

Mimori flinched, taking one of her earbuds out of her ear. “Hyuh? Did someone say my name?” She grinned as she started to sing in a rather loud and obnoxious voice, which made Kasumi’s eyebrows knit together in annoyance.

“SHUT! UP!” Kasumi growled.

“Eep! Oh my, what a big shut up.” Mimori said in her Fluttershy voice. “Don’t worry, I’m listening now.”

“So guys. Should we rush down there and see what’s going on?” Erica pondered.

“I was thinking that too!” Tomo said, already getting out of her chair.

“Yes,” Naoko said in her usual monotone voice. “Honestly, who knows what’s going on down there.”

And so the Can Do Anything Club, plus Hank, raced downstairs to where they thought they heard the noise coming from, which led them outside behind the school.

The first thing the group saw was four girls that were all covered in differen- colored goo, which had splattered on the ground as well. Two boys were also there, cleaning up the mess on the ground with a bunch of paper towels.

Strangely enough, no one else bothered to come outside and survey the scene, but the majority of the kids were out of school at that point.

“Hi there,” Hank said cheerfully to the mysterious girls.

“Hello!” greeted Tomo. “I see that you got goo on you. Would you like to have a sleepover at my house tonight?”

“Good point, Tomo-chan,” Erica responded before turning to the new girls. “I’m not sure if the boys told you or not, but that gooey stuff is gonna give you superpowers. I’m not kidding. If you wanna sleep over at Tomo’s house, which is nearby, make sure to call your parents.”

“Hm, hm, another sleepover.” Mari nodded her head in a goofy manner. “I concur. Sounds fun.”

The girl with the indigo goo on her answered first. “We were aware of what the boys told us and while I think it’s pretty stupid, it’s hard to say no to those guys.” She sighed heavily. “It’s nice to meet you, by the way. My name is Asuka. That hyper girl is Behami, the pink-haired one is Suika, and the small, cute one is Jopi.”

Mimori gasped. “OH! It’s YOU GUYS! I know you from the choir concerts!”

“Correct.” Asuka smiled a small smile.

“Oh yeah! I recognize you, too!” Behami said excitedly. “Mimori! And Kasum!i You’re also in choir, aren’t you?”

Kasumi cringed a bit, then nodded. “Yeah. But we don’t do that after-school Encore thing like you guys do. We’re not that good.”

“I think you guys are good!” Jopi said in a cheerful voice. “You two need to have more confidence in yourselves!”

“On the subject of school,” Asuka said, curving the subject only slightly. “It’s a school night and I have homework, so I’m not able to do the sleepover thing. Sorry.”

“Not interested. Sorry.” Suika said in a stoic voice like Naoko’s.

“But you guys just got your powers today,” Tomo said, pouting cutely. “Wouldn’t you wanna be with someone experienced in case you start developing your powers overnight?”

“She has a point,” Naoko added. “Ding.”

Asuka folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. “Sorry, guys. I’m just not comfortable with the idea. If I start noticing anything weird going on with me I’ll be sure to handle it myself in a mature manner.”

“Yeah! We’ll be just fine!” Behami chuckled, a hint of unsureness in her voice. “No worries!”

Tomo couldn’t help but glance at Erica, who was concentrating very hard on the girls’ faces. Tomo guessed that she was trying to read their minds.

“Um, do you even know what superpowers you have?” Mimori blurted out.

Kasumi chortled. “Reminder, Mimo. We didn’t know what powers we were getting either when we got our experiment done on.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Aoki said out of nowhere. “We wanted to keep an element of surprise for you guys. Plus, it’s never anything bad.”

Yamada gave a thumbs-up. “Just be chill and look forward to it!”

“Oooh, yay!” Behami gasped. “I love surprises! I hope it’s something really cool, like a reality warper or something!”

Jopi’s eyes bugged out a little, like she was trying to hold back a facepalm.

“I’m okay with it.” Suika said shortly.

Asuka chuckled lightly. As she tried to get the goo off her ankles. “Anyway, girls. Let’s go. We’ll tell the girls what powers we have in the morning, and then everything will be alright.”

And with that, the choir girls walked away as the science boys finished cleaning up the huge (but not as big as the literature club’s) mess that was on the ground.

Tomo drew in a deep breath as she looked at her friends with a dose of concern on her face. “Okay. Let’s see what happens next.”

Mimori cocked her head to the side. “Yeah. Wonder what’s next,” she said in a dreamy tone of voice.

★

It was the next day, and the girls of the Can Do Anything were all in their classrooms.

Asuka knew this. After all, she was sneaking into Mimori’s and Kasumi’s first hour, unbeknownst to everyone.

How? Well, she was invisible.

That’s right. She ended up gaining the power of invisibility. She had found out that morning when she woke up and looked in the mirror to see… nothing. Being knowledgeable about psychology, Asuka managed to calm herself down and think about being visible again and she turned back.

There was one problem at the moment that Asuka was wondering how to solve, however, as she was walking over to Mimori and Kasumi were talking at their seats about something that didn’t particularly interest her.

When’s the best time to turn visible? If I concentrate at the right time when no one is looking, but when would that be…?

“Asuka? Kawasaki-san?” A sudden voice broke through her brain like an Exacto knife cutting through paper.

“Huh?!” she jolted, surprised. Quickly, she looked down at herself.

Well, I’m visible again. Alright.

“Well, would you look at that,” she said, giggling in a flustered manner. “I’m… I’m…”

“Invisibility,” Kasumi noted. “How cool.”

A couple of friends glanced in the girl’s direction but other than that, no one seemed to care.

The class’s teacher, Mrs. Kikoyama had yet to arrive in the classroom, so Asuka knew she had a few more seconds to borrow.

Asuka narrowed her eyes at her new acquaintances. “Don’t speak of this in class,” she warned sternly in a low voice.

And with that, she left, waving goodbye to Mimori and Kasumi, only feeling slightly annoyed.

“How did it go?” Said a voice coming from behind her. It was Behami, leaning against one of the lockers. “I still can’t believe you got powers!” she giggled. “Just another Thursday morning.”

Asuka rolled her eyes. She wished her friend wasn’t, well… so strange. And invasive.

“It would have gone better if I didn’t keep overthinking,” she noted. “Other than that… yeah, it went fine. Now, I have to head to class, and so do you. If you suddenly get powers, let me know at lunch.”

Behami nodded and held up a gang sign. “Roger that! Asu—ka!”

Asuka nodded back, turned heel, and started to head to her class, keeping in mind to not run in the hallways.

A slight smile bloomed on her face as she did.

★

“What do you get when you mix this and this and then add this?”

It has to be known that math was probably the most boring class in existence. There was only one thing that kept her interested and engaged during that period, though, and that was the fact that her powers could awaken any second now…

Behami was impatiently tapping her foot and her pencil, staring at the clock as it kept clicking by on the walls.

Can the clock go by any slower? I just wanna get my powers now.

Wait. What if my power is bending time?

Behami used her other hand to try out some hand signs, hoping something would happen if she did any of them.

“Kana?” Suddenly, the teacher’s voice pierced her ears and interrupted Behami’s hand movements.

Behami knew what would come next, and it wasn’t because she suddenly had the power of premonition. Kana would answer the question correctly and the teacher would praise her, like always.

Wash, rinse, repeat. Every day.

If only I was Kana… then I’d get better grades.

For some reason, right after she said that, Behami started to feel funny.

“Yes, Kana! That’s the correct answer!”

“Groan…” Behami put her hands on her face. Not because she was tired of Kana’s perfectness, but rather because she in fact felt ill.

And all of a sudden, too.

Was it something that I ate?!

The teacher, who must have had eyes at the back of her head, noticed Behami’s distress.

“Do you need to go to the nurse’s office, Uesaka-san?” she asked.

“Bathroom,” Behami replied grimly. She got out of her seat carefully, pocketing her phone in her skirt pocket rather sneakily and then making a mad dash out of the room.

As she ran across the hallway and made a beeline into the bathroom, she could feel her body twisting and distorting into something.

Yeah, Behami knew what was going on the second she was out of the classroom.

I wished I could be Kana, and here I am, turning into her!

Clunk. She shut the bathroom door just as quickly.

Taking a swift look around the bathroom to see if anyone else was there (there was no one), Behami went up to the full-length mirror on the back wall and looked at her new body.

It was definitely Kana’s. Her pale, thin body took the place of Behami’s, and her soft, shoulder-length black hair tickled the top of her crooked collar.

“I can shapeshift,” she muttered to herself in Kana’s whispery voice.

Behami felt like it was a special scene in some Netflix drama show, and she had to admit, some chills went up her spine upon saying that line.

Clunk.

“Oh, you too.”

Someone walked into the bathroom and said that, startling Behami.

The girl took one more glance in the mirror before she saw who else joined her in the area designated for taking a crap.

It’s Suika! Yay! Someone I know!

“What do you mean ‘you too’?” Behami questioned, cocking her head to the side. “Did you finally get your powers as well?”

“Just kidding.” Suika said this in her regular monotone, although Behami could tell she was trying to be humorous. “I can predict the future. A few minutes ago, I got a vision of someone saying ‘I can shapeshift’ in the mirror in the bathroom.”

Nodding along as her friend was speaking, Behami slammed her foot on the ground in an over-dramatic fashion.

She slapped her thigh. “Gosh, dang it to heck! How does one change back?!”

After doing a dumb laugh, Behami looked at her friends and noticed that she was standing stalk still, almost like she was paralyzed.

Behami’s mouth twisted a bit. She must be seeing the future again. Hoping it’s something that isn’t minutes away like last time, though.

It was pretty unnerving. For a brief moment, Suika’s pupils disappeared, making it look like she was really possessed.

Seconds later, Suika gasped and her pupils returned.

“Jopi’s getting her powers soon, too,” she announced stoically.

Behami’s eyes widened. “Wait—like, what kind of powers? Can you tell me? Do you know?!”

Suika made some hand motions before abandoning her friend in the bathroom.

Clunk.

Behami chortled. Typical Sui. I guess it’ll just have to be a surprise.

★

It wasn’t until lunchtime that all four girls got together to talk. The girls all gathered to eat on the school roof, which was their usual spot. It was nice but it was always just them and a couple of other people up there. Not too many people, and not too few.

While the friends were eating their Bentos, the girls were enjoying the sounds of nature until Asuka broke the silence.

“So… you guys get your powers yet?”

Suika, Behami, and Jopi all fidgeted when Asuka said that so casually.

“I’m guessing that’s a yes?”

“Yeeeup!” Behami hollered, then chortled. “You know how long it took me to get back to normal?! Actually… only a few minutes.”

“How long? Wait, what?” The look on Asuka’s face was absolutely priceless. “What on earth happened to you?!”

“I can shapeshift, yeah? Got my powers during third hour today.”

“Oh.” Asuka looked taken aback. “That’s neat. I got mine last night. I can turn invisible. Suika, Jopi? How about you two?”

Behami gasped at what Asuka said so nonchalantly, while Jopi and Suika looked at her with wide eyes.

“I can make things appear out of thin air,” Jopi declared. “I got my powers last period. I wished I had a new eraser and one appeared!”

“Way cool, although kinda lame!” Behami squealed. “And it looks like Suika’s prediction was right!”

“‘Prediction?’” Asuka asked, curious. “Like, as in predicting the future?”

Suika nodded. “It’s a fun power.”

“She got her powers around the same time I did,” Behami added.

After dropping those bombshells, Asuka thought for a moment. “Do you think we should stop by the literature club and tell them that we have powers?”

Behami tapped her fingers on her Bento box. “At this point, why don’t we join? If we have powers, we’ll fit right in!”

★

“It’s been a while since we filled this out,” Tomo said, grinning at her friends. It was now after school and she and the fellow members of the Can Do Anything Club, as well as Nathan, were waiting for a certain group of girls to arrive.

“Ah, yes. The RPG powers chart. Who could forget about that gem?” Mari sighed, secretly relishing in her sarcasm. “When was the last time we wrote on it, during summer break?”

Tomo nodded. “Yep! Back when Kasumi had her superpower.”

Kasumi’s face reddened as her friend took the piece of paper off the wall and set it on the table.

“Y-you I’m still here, right?” she stammered. “It’s n-not like I miss it or anything!”

“Uh-huh, sure you do,” Nathan said, cackling. Naoko, who was sitting next to him in the room reading a book, looked up from it and dragged him closer to her with telekinesis.

“I want to whisper sweet nothings in your ear,” she said in a low, suggestive-sounding voice.

The room was quiet for a moment.

“Woah, Naoki!” Mari hollered. “That was… wow. Seriously.”

“Ooo~hoo~!” Mimori hummed.

Nathan, his face just as red as Kasumi’s, scooted back to where he was sitting, acting as if nothing happened.

Speaking of Kasumi, she wiggled around in her chair, clearly antsy and visibly jealous.

Luckily enough, the awkward fanservice-y moment was interrupted by the opening of the club door.

Erica was more than excited. She ran up to the poor girls faster than a speeding bullet.

“Welcome to the club!” she shouted. “I mean, the Can Do Anything Club!”

“Uh… that’s nice and all, but what does that even mean?” questioned Asuka. “I thought it was called the literature club. It even says it on the door.”

“Yeah, but that’s a dying industry,” Mari said, smirking. “This club can do literally anything, as you know! It’s exactly what it says on the tin.”

Jopi just stared at Mari, weirded out. After all, she was only used to Behami’s quirkiness, Suika’s stoic fangirling, and Asuka’s super-serious OCD.

“There is no tin,” Jopi replied simply.

Everyone facepalmed.

Desperately changing the subject, Asuka pointed to two unfamiliar figures in the room. “Who’re these guys?”

“Ah, right! You don’t know them yet!” Tomo clapped her hands together, smiling. “The boy in the glasses is Hank, who just so happens to share a consciousness with a hundred-year-old spirit who’s also a wizard named Henry. The boy with the spiky hair is Nathan, Naoko’s boyfriend.”

Asuka’s eyes widened. “Wow. Okay then.” She cleared her throat. “So, what kind of powers do you have?”

Naoko raised her hand and told the new girls the deets all in one breath.

“I have the power of telekinesis, Mimori can manipulate time, Tomo can teleport, Erica can read minds, Mari can mimic anybody and Kasumi used to alter her breast size but her power got taken away from her for now. Nathan doesn’t have one and we already explained Hen-Hank to you. Did you know that our powers are sentient? Ding.”

The room was once again silent.

“... Hen-Hank?” Tomo pondered, finger to her chin.

Mimori sweat-dropped, cringing a bit. “Did you get that, guys? It’s our life in a freaking nutshell.”

Mimori looked to see Kasumi now curled up in a ball in the corner, singing to herself.

“Geez! I didn’t mean it seriously!” she shrieked. Kasumi jolted.

Asuka, who was still a little in shock, cleared her throat once again.

“So, what are we going to do now?” she asked the club, her soon-to-be friends.

“Are you going to join?” said Tomo politely. “I mean since you guys have superpowers and all.”

Asuka smiled tightly. “I was thinking about it.”

Behami jumped up and down anxiously.”Please say yes, Asuka! Please say yes! We can make it work!”

Asuka thought about it, then nodded slowly. “Yes, I suppose. But on one condition.”

Everyone leaned in, waiting to know what that catch was.

“That we show them our powers first. They don’t even know what they are yet! Well, except for Kasumi and Mimori. They’ve already seen mine.”

For whatever reason, all the girls in the club clapped and cheered as Tomo readied her pencil to get ready to write down what the new girls’ powers were.

There were now ten girls in the club… well, twelve, including the boys. Things were going to get a lot more interesting from now on.