Vacation time! I hope you guys like the update. Let's see what Yuko has planned shall we?
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Chapter 20 part 1
The next day Black and Nezumi arrived at the beach early in the morning. When they arrived there were already people there. Choukoku, Gakuran, and Shaku were there along with Yuko, Center and Gekikara. However because it was so early Shaku and Center were sleeping and Nezumi was getting close to passing out as well. Black had Nezumi sleep next to Shaku while she went over to talk to Yuko.
"Why are we here so early?" Black asked.
"Because there's some cool stuff you gotta see. Don't worry once everyone arrives they'll be here!"
"Who?"
"You'll see~"
Soon after Atsuko and Minami showed up along with Torigoya. Once everyone was here Yuko woke everyone up and said,
"Minna! Welcome to my party! Are you ready to have some fun?"
"Yeah~"
"Then let's begin!"
Yuko pulled out a whistle and blew into it. However no one could hear a sound coming out of it except Nezumi who said it sounded like a high pitch squeak. Soon after there was a splash coming from the water. Fearing it was another octopus Black hid behind Nezumi. To everyone's surprise though what jumped out wasn't a octopus but two dolphins. Soon after more came out and started jumping around in the water. Everyone cheered in excitement as they watched the dolphins do all kinds of flips and tricks. Then one of the dolphins swam over to Yuko who handed it a small fish.
"Thanks guys!"
The dolphins cried back and then left. When they were gone Yuko turned to the others and said,
"Now the fun really starts."
Apparently Yuko had a bunch of games planned for everyone to participate in and something in Black told her it was going to be a long day. The first game they had was a simple one. It was a race from one end of the beach to the other end. The only thing is it was about a 5 kilometer race and Black was not ready to run. Black was not going to put any effort into running but somehow Yuko knew everyone would not want to try so she had a plan to get everyone moving. In a cage there were a bunch of wild boar that were angry and hungry. Yuko also tied truffles around everyone's head and that made them more wild. They couldn't kill the boars so the only choice they had was to run. Yuko got behind the cage and told everyone to get ready.
"Ready.... GO!"
Yuko dropped the cage and everyone ran. Black could hear the sound of wild boars running after them. Black ran as fast as she could to avoid the crazy things. When Black looked back she saw two of them were right on her. The only three ahead of her were Choukoku, Center and Gekikara. Gakuran had had fallen behind and Black thought she was one of the boars. Shaku and Atsuko were watching from the side while Minami was watching them. Black felt envious of Minami for not being in this crazy race. Not paying attention, Black didn't notice Torigoya run ahead of her leaving Black behind with a bunch of boars.
One was about to bite her clothes but Black managed to escape. She ran super fast and managed to get past Choukoku. However Choukoku went super woman on Black bolted past Black, Torigoya, and Center. Black was once again in the back with the boars behind her. It was then Black decided to use her super speed that she hasn't used in a long time. Black focused all her energy into her legs and then took off speeding past everyone. Black caught up all the way to Gekikara who she couldn't get past. Somehow Gekikara was able to keep up with her and Black was amazed. However suddenly Gekikara smiled and pointed behind Black. Black looked back and saw Nezumi also there. Behind her though was a very very large boar that caught up to her and was extremely angry.
"Black help!"
Nezumi jumped onto Black's back back making her lose balance and almost fall over. However Nezumi pulled hard and managed to get her back up. Everything became heavy as she held Nezumi while trying to run. Up ahead the finish line was almost there and Black was close. Wih all her strength Black ran through the line and came to a screeching stop. Soon after Gekikara, Torigoya, and Center came in followed by Choukoku and Gakuran. Black was so tired that she fell to the ground and started panting hard. She couldn't believe that all those boars were after them and she managed to escape. Black looked over and saw the boars were just standing there staring at them. They weren't going past the line which was very strange. A whistle was blown and the boars ran back into the jungle. Meanwhile Yuko walked over and said,
"And Black is the winner of our first game!"
Everyone weakly clapped and then Yuko said,
"Now onto the next!"
Everyone groaned saying they were too tired to move but Yuko didn't intend for them to play. It was the kid's turn and because Nezumi hitch hiked onto Black she was competing as well. The game they had to play was something similar to buried treasure. On the beach there were a bunch of X's on the ground and their job was to dig up whatever was under. Whoever found the treasure first won and got to keep whatever was inside. Nezumi was really into the game when she heard money was involved and was ready to dig away. When the go signal was given Nezumi ran off and started digging like crazy.
She went to one spot and started digging and she found a chest. When she opened it though the thing inside wasn't gold but a snake. Nezumi screamed and threw the chest back into the ground and buried it. Yuko had set up fake treasures to make the game more interesting and apparently they were dangerous ones. The next one Nezumi opened had bees in it and the one after that had beetles. Every chest Nezumi dug up there was something bad in it. At one point when Nezumi opened a chest there was a baby bird in it. It was cute in the beginning but then the mama came down and nearly took of Nezumi's head. Black couldn't help but laugh as she watched Nezumi run away from the giant bird.
"Found it!"
Black looked over and found Atsuko holding up a small chest with gold and jewels inside. Shaku also found a chest full of candy and the only chest left was one full of slugs. Nezumi pouted and was a little ticked off about not finding anything but then Yuko walked over and whispered something. Nezumi got the perviest smile Black had ever seen and the high fives Yuko. When Black tried to ask what did Yuko say Nezumi told her nothing. Black suspected something but she decided to let it go when Yuko said it was time to eat. However dinner wasn't exactly going to come to them. They had to get the lunch. The game was to go out and gather as much food as they could and whoever brought the most back got to eat first while the others watched. Black and Nezumi set out and found some bananas and oranges to take along with some pineapple and kiwis. While there were hunting, they heard some strange rustling coming from the bushes. They started to walk towards the bushes but then suddenly a bunch of boars came running through.
"Forward Daruma!"
Black watched as Atsuko and Minami were riding Daruma and chasing the boars. Looks like they were going after the meat. Black and Nezumi decided to head back where everyone had brought the food they caught. There was a wide variety of foods that everyone found but they were missing Center and Gekikara. Not knowing where they were, Black and Nezumi started looking. Then suddenly there was a loud boom coming from the distance. They looked out and saw Gekikara carrying an octopus on her back that looked cooked. Center had a proud smile on her face while carrying a bunch of fish. Everyone agreed that Center and Gekikara won the gathering challenge. Everyone ate happily but Black refused to eat the octopus. Nezumi decided to joke around by taking a tentacle and placing it on Black's shoulder but as she got close, Black suddenly turned around and sliced the tentacle almost taking off Nezumi's hand.
"Hey take it easy!"
"Don't mess with me." Black said.
When dinner was over, the sun was setting and everyone decided to relax and enjoy the sunset. Some of the other decided to play in the water while Black sat on the shore and watched. Nezumi walked over and sat next to her and said,
"Having fun?"
"Yeah." Black said.
"It's good to see everyone."
"Yeah it is...."
"Nee are you ok?"
Black didn't have time to answer because suddenly Shaku came out carrying something. Everyone gathered around and Shaku revealed a strange plant with a bud on it. The plant was blue with a red tip and purple leaves. It really was a strange plant and they didn't know what it was. Suddenly Nezumi reached out and touched and it when it did the bud opened revealing a beautiful flower. Everyone stares at it in awe however only Black noticed a strange powder go into Nezumi's body. Nezumi collapsed and Black instantly became worried. A couple minutes later Nezumi woke up and looked around. Black felt relieved and was glad she was ok however when she reached out to touch her, Nezumi backed away.
"Nezumi?"
"Mistress... P-please... Don't hurt me!"
"Eh?"
When Black tried to touch her Nezumi backed away and hid behind Yuko.
"Mistress?"
Everyone was confused by Nezumi's strange behavior and wondered what was wrong. Black explained what she saw and then Torigoya suddenly said.
"Ah I thought this plant was familiar! This plant was used in many ceremonies for royalty. They're harmless when they're developing and bloomed but in the process of blooming it releases a pollen. If someone inhales the pollen it causes memory loss!"
"So what is she remembering?" Black asked.
"Let me look."
Torigoya took a look into Nezumi's mind and then said,
"She sees herself as a little girl back when she worked in a palace."
"She remembers working for my family." Black said.
Black turned to look at Nezumi who was still hiding behind Yuko. Nezumi thinks she’s a little girl and that she works for her. She thinks that she’s a servant. Realizing this Black felt terrible seeing her closest friend fear her afraid of being hit. Black remembered how terrible she was treated back at the palace and that only made her feel worse.
“How long will she stay like this?” Black asked.
“We don’t know for sure but let’s find out tomorrow. It’s a little late now so we should all reset. Maybe a good sleep will help her.” Torigoya said.
“Alright then let’s sleep. Goodnight.”
Everyone went off to sleep but Black tried to get Nezumi to sleep with her. Nezumi followed Black’s orders and got under the blanket with her.
“Mistress… Why are you being so kind to me?” Nezumi said.
“Because I care about you and you’re important to me.” Black said.
“Are you sure? I’m not a bother am I?”
“Not at all. I actually prefer you here with me.”
“Well… Thank you mistress.”
“Anytime Mayu..”
Black reached over and held Nezumi close to her and kissed her forehead. She could feel Nezumi’s face get warmer telling her that she was blushing. Black started to stroke Nezumi’s hair and soon after she fell asleep. Guilt and regret filled Black’s heart when she remembered how horrible Nezumi was treated at the palace. She remembered the day when Nezumi was caught trying on her clothes and her father had her beaten and locked in a cellar for a very long time. She even remembered a time when one of the guards tried to rape her but Gekikara had stopped them. All the pain Nezumi had to endure for Black made her sick and want to throw up. Her heart ached with the pain that she should have felt back then. That night Black swore that if Nezumi was not better by tomorrow, then she would treat her like her own little sister. Black was going to make up the lost happiness that Nezumi never got to feel.
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I hope you guys liked the update. Look forward to what is going to happen to Nezumi! The next chapter will be the last one so I hope you had a nice time reading all the crazy adventures!