Episode 4: Welcome Back

It made the most sense to have Asuka talk to the vice principal of the school (the vice principal, by the way, was in charge of all the club-related stuff). After all, she was once the student council vice president. Anything that comes out of her mouth sounded convincing, and she was definitely the most level-headed member of the club.

The vice principal, Mr. Henrosu, looked at her for a moment, clearly taking some time to think about what she just proposed.

“It… doesn’t sound that bad,” he muttered. He tapped the piece of paper with the butt of his pen and quickly rotated it and began to write. “I’ll give it an okay, but if you guys do anything to disturb the other students, just know that I’ll be the one to close this club down.”

Asuka nodded solemnly while her fellow clubmates murmured in excitement and did some fist pumps.

“But!” It didn’t seem like he was done yet. “In order to have a club at this school, you need to have a club room, right? Yeah. You and your friends need a club room.”

Asuka groaned, even though she knew it was true. After all, for the past two weeks, they hadn’t been meeting at all. It felt pretty weird not having club after school.

“Do you know of a place, then?” the black-haired glasses girl asked.

Mr. Henrosu looked to be in thought again. “Hm… well, I do believe that everyone from the literature club graduated this year… So, if you want to, you guys could have their old room. It’s not being used by anyone this school year, from what I’ve heard.”

Tomo piped up, looking too hyped for her own good. “Sounds great! We used to meet at the literature club back in our old school! In fact, we were the literature club.” The girl giggled happily.

“Sounds fine to me,” Asuka said, nodding. “Before we leave, I would like to ask one more thing—who will be our advisor?”

“I can,” Mr. Henrosu said as he scribbled something else down on the paper. “I just think that would be the easiest thing to do.”

Is that a promise or a threat? She wasn’t sure.

“Alright then. It’s all settled now,” Asuka said politely, doing her cool smile.

And with that, the high school division of the Can Do Anything Club was born, without any hesitation from the vice principal whatsoever.

★

It was the third Friday of the new school year, and the day after the confirmation of the Can Do Anything’s new establishment. Asuka had also told her friends to meet her after school in room 231 in the old school building, which was where the formerly-known-as literature club room was.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day that had gone by rather quickly, and Asuka was more than happy to leave history class, even though she loved the teacher. Behami was also in it, making that strangely enough the only CDAC member in any of her classes that she saw on the daily—besides lunchtime, of course.

Asuka cleared her throat and walked up to her friend as she swung her backpack onto her shoulders. Alright. Let’s do this smoothly.

“Are you excited to go to the club?” she asked in the brightest voice she could muster, although it instead ended up sounding like she was running for student council president (again).

Behami shrugged. “I’m moderately excited. I’m sure it’s a cool room, but to be honest, I’m just really gonna miss Naoko, Jopi, and Suika, ya know? It’s not gonna be the same without them.” She made a sideways frown.

By this time, the two first-year girls were now on their way to the club room, which was a bit of a jaunt from their current location.

“I will miss them too,” Asuka agreed. “But on the bright side, at least this means we get to make friends with the original CDAC members. I feel like we don’t talk to them as much as we do Suika and Jopi.

Before they knew it, they were at their desired location.

Behami stopped in front of room 231, and made a big show of their new club room—door, to be exact.

“And here it is! Our new abode!” The girl flicked her long, bronze-colored braid. “Wanna go inside, guys?”

That was when Asuka noticed something—she wasn’t just talking to her, she was also talking to another girl that was right beside the door, playing with the ends of her new skirt.

Oh. Mimori had such a non-presence that I didn’t even know she was there.

Mimori jerked up and then pouted. “Gomin, Behami-chan!” The girl clasped her hands together like she was begging for forgiveness. “I was just thinking about Flugle right now!”

Behami rolled her eyes. “You always think about frickin’ Flugle. Why don’t you think about… oh, I don’t know, Amiibos instead? Or cute kittens?” Behami then opened the door, and the three went inside, Mimori reluctantly.

Asuka’s eyes adjusted to the slightly darkened club room (as the blinds were almost entirely closed) and immediately shocked at just how identical their new room looked to their old one. The differences were that there were three ancient iMacs lined up against the wall instead of another bookshelf, and the room altogether was bigger by like half a foot.

Wait, why am I surprised? After all, this is the same school district. If only they had newer computers, though…

Mimori gasped as she leaped into the new room. “Yes, we’re the first ones here!” The girl grabbed a seat closest to the door and began scanning what books were on the only bookshelf.

Behami also took a seat and dug into her backpack for her Nintendo 3DS. “Yeah, it’s pretty neat that we beat the other girls here.” She grinned and then looked at Mimori, with a somewhat apologetic look on her face. “Oh, and Mimori? I’m sorry for being kinda rude to you a moment ago. You can love your pretty boy as much as you want, okay?”

Mimori perked up and blushed. “Um, o-okay! Thank you!”

Not even a second after that rather wholesome exchange, Tomo entered the room, looking extra cheerful.

“Hi, everyone!” She stopped when approaching one of the empty chairs. “Wow. I’m actually surprised at how few people are here! You’d think we’d all be excited to be back into the swing of things!”

“That is true.” Asuka nodded seriously. “I’m guessing that they’re only late because they don’t know how to get to the old school building.”

Right after she said that Kasumi entered the room, panting audibly, the bangs of her original brunette hair sticking to her forehead (yes, she let her hair color go back to normal as a sort of High School Debut).

Tomo giggled. “Like Kasumi-chan?”

“HEY!”

“Oh! But I love computers!” Tomo added, expertly changing the subject. “They add a nice touch of professionalism to the room.”

Kasumi chortled, as she took a seat next to Mimori (because friends). “I mean, yeah, if they weren’t so, you know, old. No offense…”

Tomo made a closed-eyes smile and clasped her hands together. “That’s okay! I understand that my sense of technology is rather outdated.”

“That’s not a bad thing though!” Behami said, quickly coming to her clubmate’s rescue. “Old technology can be pretty cool sometimes, you know when it’s not all bricked and stuff.”

Asuka jolted back to life from her seat where she was intensely focusing on writing in her planner. “Did you just insult Apple?!”

The room went quiet again but thankfully was saved when Mari and Erica walked in, completing the group of seven.

“Why are you so obsessed with Asuka’s poor life choices?” Mari said teasingly as she sat her backpack down and sat right next to Behami.

Behami looked at Mari confusedly.

“Geddit, cuz Apple sucks?”

Oh, she’s gone and done it.

Asuka’s eyes narrowed as she almost got up on the long table. “WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!”

“And there she goes! Kasumi’s classic eyeroll!” Mari said in an announcer’s voice.

For whatever reason, that made Asuka calm down and focus her attention on Kasumi (who had apparently just done an eye roll), whose head was planted on the table.

“I roll my eyes at people at least eighteen times a day,” she informed, her voice muffled as her face was still on the table. “It means ‘I don’t like you’, or ‘You’re an idiot’, or ‘You bore me to tears.’”

Erica’s eyes widened. “Wow,” she said in awe. “You sound like the main character of a YA novel! Have you ever thought about that?”

Upon hearing that bit of info, Kasumi changed her position from face-planting on the table to curling up into a ball in her chair.

“‘Maybe you were right…’”

All of a sudden, Mimori began to freak out. “Oh my God, I love that song! I’m so glad I shared it with you, too!”

Kasumi’s blush covered her whole face as she coiled up even tighter. “Mm-hm, it’s a good song,” she replied softly.

Suddenly, Erica clapped her hands, signaling attention to her club mates.

“Okay, everyone! All eyes on me!”

What is she, a teacher?

The girls all quieted down.

“Alright. Now, I know what you’re thinking—you totally miss the old members of the club. I know, it sucks that they aren’t here too.”

“Yeah, I totally miss Naoko, even though she’s basically hostile to the whole world.” A smarmy smile formed on Behami’s face.

“Hey!” Mari said, slamming both her hands onto the table. “I know Naoko’s like that, but she’s actually pretty nice and wholesome on the inside, okay?!”

Behami sighed. “I know she is. She’s just a character, you know?”

Mari nodded and sat back down. “I know, I know. Sorry for getting all defensive about her. She’s just… a character.” The girl repeated what her friend said but in a crappy snooty tone.

“That sucked,” Kasumi said from her Emo Ball.

“Um, hello? Anyway!” Erica said loudly, now snapping her fingers. “I know that we all miss—”

“You mean ‘innyway?’” Mimori interrupted rudely. “That’s how Prue from Charmed says it.” Beat. “Okay, sorry.”

Erica groaned and continued speaking.

“Innyway, AS I WAS SAYING! … Thank you for your patience, everyone. Now, I know that you’re going to miss the other people and whatnot, but think of this as a rebirth of the Can Do Anything Club. A second chance, almost. Actually, it is a second chance. Like Shinedown once said, ‘Sometimes goodbye is a second chance.’”

“Another good song!”

“Shut up, Mimori-chan. Sorry, guys. Moving on… This is a chance to redefine ourselves. To give ourselves a new identity. Um… this was a speech that I memorized, but I never came up with an ending but just remember that Naoko and Suika will be here starting next year! Go, Can Do Anything Club! Yay~!” The girl did a goofy pose including a peace sign with her tongue sticking out.

The girls erupted into applause, even though the ending was pretty lame.

“That was great,” Tomo cried, but not literally this time. “You’re really good at making rousing speeches!”

“Oh.” Erica's face froze a second. “Uh, thanks I guess?” She looked slightly sheepish as well.

Suddenly, someone knocked at the door.

“I’ll get it,” Mimori shouted without hesitation.

And who was behind the door? Henry, of course, still in Max Takanashi’s body.

“Hi,” he said in a bright tone of voice “I have news. Is now a good time?”

Mimori blushed a bit. “Um, yeah, of course! We weren’t talking about anything important anyway.”

Henry took a seat at one of the computer stations and began fidgeting with his blazer. What is he so nervous about?

“What’s going on, man?” Mari wanted to know, bouncing up and down in her seat for no reason. “Did you make a huge discovery or something?”

Damn, she kind of read my mind.

Henry chuckled. “Um, I guess so… Although it is something I told Mimori-chan about a month ago.”

Mimori choked on the water that she was drinking.

“I believe it’s time for everyone, sans Mimori-chan, to get their powers back.”

Everyone gasped.

“No way!” Tomo squealed. “Really? Nice!”

“Well,” Henry continued. “Here’s the thing—in order to do that, you have to get the goo all over you again. In fact, you have to bathe in it. And unlike the original goo, this type is not sentient, but instead permanent… Yes, there is a type like that, but it’s at the very, very back of the book, which I don’t think you girls or the science club ever went to the back of.”

Erica shrieked. “WHAT?! You’re just telling us this now?!”

“Ah ha ha, yeah. Sorry. But I think it’s all right though because you all having them temporarily was almost like a test of sorts, and I think you all are ready for the real thing.”

“Holy crap! Yes, finally!” Kasumi squealed, clapping her hands together.

Asuka was admittedly a bit terrified.

Henry smiled. “I’m not done yet. For the tubs of goo, I’m going to teleport you all to a private bathhouse, similar to the beach house that Tomo-chan created earlier this year… it’ll all be in a different dimension.”

Mimori’s eyes widened. “For realsies?! That sounds awesome! I’m sold, except for the fact that you’re technically an adult dude. Yeesh.”

Henry rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to peep in on you girls. I’ll be in a separate room, playing some video games.”

“Yesss!” Mari said, who then began cackling evilly. “Atta booooy!”

★

Not too long after that conversation, the girls were transported into a huge private(!!) bathhouse that contained seven bathtubs, all but one filled to the brim with goo and separated by large rocks.

“Wow,” Mari said, mouth totally open and agape. “Thanks so much for this! This is sick!”

“Yeah!” Kasumi agreed excitedly. Just then, however, she and the rest of the girls watched as Hank waved to them and exited the room.

If we were in this room any longer we would’ve said “Get out” in perfect unison, Asuka noted, smirking.

And with that, the girls began to undress and get into their respective tubs of goo… You know, as you do.

While taking off her top, Mimori began to monolog.

“Remember the good ol’ days? Back when we were just a group of five ordinary girls?” Well, she was going to. “Oh, and oh my God! Yesterday—I forgot to tell you guys this—but Flugle posted a picture of himself as a kid for Throwback Thursday! And he was so cute!!” she squealed.

Asuka rolled her eyes, and as she did, saw Kasumi lightly stub her toe as she was getting into the tub.

“Augh, I already know this,” the no longer blonde girl wailed. “You sent it on Facebook Messenger. The caption said ‘A-Team’, and yes, Flugle looked cute. For a ten-year-old.”

Asuka could then hear Mimori groan in her usual dramatic fashion. “Why do you always gotta take the fun out of everything? It was such a cute picture!”

After that, the room was glazed with silence, the girls taking in the warmth of the goo in the tub (that oddly did not feel weird on their skin at all), magic once again flowing into their bodies.

It was a peaceful, amazing half-hour or so. No talking, just the sounds of water sloshing around occasionally. Asuka even found herself doing some simple yoga poses.

That was, until…

“Oh my God, guys,” Kasumi said, her voice echoing in the wide open space. “I officially have my old powers back.”

Ah. Goodbye to the levitation powers then.

“Oh, sweet!” Mimori shrieked. “Luck-ee! So, like, the water’s medium blue ‘n stuff, right?”

“Uh, yeah. It still is.” Then, loud enough for Henry to hear in the next room she hollered, “Thanks, Henry! You made my day!”

Asuka could just barely make out him yelling “You’re welcome!” back.

After that, the room went silent again.

Not.

“‘When will you learn?!’” Behami cried in a voice that Asuka knew was supposed to be imitating someone. “‘That your actions have consequences?!’”

Mari cackled and the girls began to talk about some stupid old meme that had to do with a kid ranting about Sonic the Hedgehog.

★

School once again. Monday, two days after the impromptu hot springs trip.

Asuka opened the door to the club room, more hesitantly than normal, and—

There was Kasumi, sitting at the table on her phone, with Mimori right next to her, looking on.

Alright. Just like normal. Now, where are her…?

Kasumi noticed her friend’s presence in the room (finally, huh?) and got up from her seat.

Sure enough, her breasts were huge.

“Hello!” Kasumi said in a super chipper tone of voice. “Do you want an apple?” She winked at Mimori after that quip.

Mimori made the tea kettle noise, as expected.

“Um, hello Kasumi-chan. I see you’re using your powers at school already.”

Kasumi cackled in an ojou-sama-like manner. “Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be?”

Behami, who was also at the table when Asuka walked in, looked up from a manga she was reading. “So you’re meaning to tell me that you learned absolutely nothing from that incident I wasn’t involved in?”

Kasumi and Mimori shut up for a second.

“Oof,” Mimori oofed.

However, Kasumi was a bit more sassy about the whole situation.

“New school, new me!” she said, looking incredibly smug. “Besides, I’ve learned to not give a fuck anymore about what other people think! … Or something.” That last part sounded pretty tsun to Asuka.

“Um, alright.”

The door opened once again, and the girls all heard a familiar-sounding voice. Asuka didn’t need to look back to know whom it belonged to (in both ways).

“Wow. What a crazy Friday night.” The male voice chuckled. “Like really, man.”

Mimori’s head, however, swerved around faster than if you were to tell her a new Equestria Girls doll line was going to be released.

“FLUGLE?!” she squawked, already getting out of her seat despite also knowing who was doing the voice.

The source of that angelic voice, as always, was just Mari, messing around with Mimori (and Suika).

Mari. I somehow never get tired of you.

Once in Asuka’s line of sight, Mimori was still up close to Mari, even though she obviously wasn’t Drew. “I don’t care if you’re Drew or not, that made me fangirl like crazy!”

Mari started to giggle in her actual voice. “Eh heh, no prob! Man, did I miss doing voices.” She made a fist pump in the air. “Now the joy of trolling people is back!”

After that, Tomo and Erica filed into the classroom, completing the group.

“I heard screaming as I was walking down the hallway,” Tomo said, eyes closed, as per usual.

Mimori and Kasumi looked at each other and started to laugh.

Obviously an inside joke of theirs.

But then…

“Wait!” Mimori cried. “You actually heard me in the hallway?! Holy crap, I’m sorry!”

Tomo shrugged. “It’s fine. Just learn to control your volume in the future. That is if you can.”

While this exchange was going on, Erica was readying herself to do her role as the club president (Tomo was now the vice president since the foreigner loved to take charge), which was basically just downing some water and clearing her throat.

“Ahem! Ahem-ahem!”

The girls quieted down.

“Sooo… this meeting of the Can Do Anything Club shall begin! Woo-hoo!”

“What was the ‘whoo-hoo’ part for?” Behami asked, raising a hand (because someone had to do it). “Because of us getting our powers back?”

That was a dumb question, Behami-san.

Erica grinned. “Exactly!” She played with the chair that was in front of her, tilting it forward and backward. “Aren’t you guys happy about it? I know I am.”

Guess I’ll voice my opinion then. “I suppose it is, although I don’t tend to use my power very often. I guess I’m just more conservative about using it than you guys.”

Tomo looked at her, smiling sweetly, as she tended to do. “I get it, and that’s perfectly fine, Asuka-chan! Everyone uses their powers however they like!”

“Correct!” Erica added. “Tomo is absolutely right about that. But moving on…! Today, I’d like for us to do a worksheet that we did back in America! Have any of you heard of ‘I Used to Think, Now I Think?’”

Mari immediately raised her hand. “No, but it sounds stupid. Do we have to do it?”

Erica sighed. “Yes, it's going to be about what you guys used to think about having superpowers and what you think now, and yes Mimori, you still have to do it, too.”

Mimori groaned. “‘Dang it! Dangus!’”

“‘Dang! Darn! Dern! goatfucker!” added Kasumi immediately after.

As Erica continued to explain the project (which was actually just very easy in Asuka’s opinion), Tomo was already passing out the blank pieces of paper for the girls to write on.

Once that was completed, it was time to write.

The room was nice and quiet, save for the scritch-scratching of the pencils, which seemed to create a symphony of noise. The girls were all scribbling down on the paper what they thought and all that. Asuka made sure to put some thought into it as well.

Approximately five minutes passed and Erica got to clapping her hands together, just once.

“Alright, everybody! Go ahead and start sharing—But not all at once, please!”

That bit right there made Asuka secretly glad that Erica was the club president. She gave off really heavy corny teacher vibes, which made the vibe in the room feel comfy and organic.

Well… as organic as a club with seven super-powered girls in it can get.
Mimori raised her hand. She wanted to go first, of course.

“Go ahead, Mimori-chan!”

Mimori took a deep breath, obviously calming her big nerves. Why she wanted to go first was beyond anybody’s guess, but Asuka assumed it was because she wanted to get it over with and she wanted to try to push herself further as a person.

“‘What I used to think: Magic was something only the Charmed Ones and demons could do. Now I think: Anyone can do magic! Example: My special friends.’”
Behami cocked an eyebrow. “We’re your special friends? Nice! Oh, can I—?”

Erica made a sweeping motion with her hand. “Yeah, go. And good job, Mimori! That sure was an answer!”

“Woo!” Behami hollered. “Anywho… ‘What I used to think: Magic is real. What I think now: Magic is real.’ Hey, were we supposed to add anything else to this, or…?”

“Yeah, but—you know what? That was good enough. You did a good job.”

“Yay!”

“Tomo… it’s your turn.”

“Sweet! Okay. ‘I used to think that magic did exist, within each and every person. Now I think that I was right, just that you need a spark to ignite that magic, the spark being the goo.”

Asuka couldn’t help it. She cringed a little.

★

After the girls read aloud their worksheets, Mimori said something strange out loud.

“OMG, was that actually Flugle as Nick? Like, it wasn’t just my imagination or anything?”

“What do you mean, ‘Was it him?’” Erica said, questioning her friend.

Mimori jolted. “Eep! You heard me! Well, today at lunch, me and Kasumi—”

“Um, of course, it was real. You were right there, doofus!” Kasumi interrupted in her almost-usual cynical tone.

“Hm.”

Kasumi went on to explain what happened during their lunch hour, as Mimori wouldn’t speak coherently about it. Asuka noticed that she mentioned one of the new girls in Naoko’s CDAC sector, Miharu, which Erica also picked up on.

Right then, a decision was made.

Erica slammed her fist on the table.

“Okay, guys! This meeting has been adjourned! Tomorrow, we’re going to the middle school to meet the new middle school CDAC members!”