Together, we Conquer

On the Way to Inaba

March 16

The next few days for Madran were filled with Philemon forcing her to take a break, so she simply hung out with everyone outside of school and worked as hard as she could in school, as to alleviate boredom. On the fourteenth, Madran had coordinated with all of her teachers that they would hold onto her schoolwork until she got back on the 21st, and she said goodbye to anyone that she could. By some odd occurrence, the planners for the panel had allowed anyone who was given an official invitation to bring two other friends along. However, dogs weren't given a free pass, so Chicory had to stay behind whilst Madran and Suga accompanied Sheila. She wasn't able to convince Ann to bring Chicory along, which saddened her. After that, Elia had told Madran how the trip would be going down.

"Ok, so, Madran, Sheila's mom will be picking you and Suga up. Once you get to the train station, meet up with the others who are going to the trip. And, make sure you're packed!"

Madran had taken the last part of the briefing with some salt, and, by the 16th, she was fully ready. She then waited with Elia and Chicory outside for Sheila, Suga, and her mom to arrive.

"I'll miss you."

"Don't forget to text me every night, and, if anything... persona-y happens, let me know."

"Gotcha! Also, Chicory..."

Madran pet Chicory for a bit.

"Be nice to mom. If anything happens, I can probably configure with Margaret or Elizabeth to transport you to where we'll be staying."

Chicory seemed to react happily to this, and Madran wondered if he wished that something odd would happen. Then, after sparse chatter and much waiting, Sheila and her mom arrived. Madran hugged Elia and Chicory goodbye, put her duffel bag in the trunk of the car, and got in.

"Hi, everyone!"

"Hello, Madran-chan. Nice to see you again."

Madran looked up to the driver's spot to see Sheila's mom, Kinaru. She looked to just be an older version of Sheila, with Asian features, a slim face, brown eyes, and long, black hair. A large difference between her and Sheila, however, was that she had shorter bangs and wore her hair often in a bun, while Sheila liked to wear her hair down, and had noticeably long bangs.

"Hello, Inan-san! Hi Sheila and Suga."

Madran buckled herself in and looked to see a very excited Sheila and a rather bored Suga.

"So, how is everyone?"

"Oh, we're doing great. Well, Suga almost fell down the stairs when she was going down to see us, according to Herupā-san."

"Hey! It's not funny."

Suga frowned.

"Oh, well, anyways, let's go."

Kinaru began driving to the train station and began to chat with everyone again.

"So, aside from your resounding success against that mean lady, how has your week been going?"

Suga was the first to speak up.

"Well, ballet practice went well. Being able to stand on my toes is helpful on snatching things up high."

Kinaru chuckled and turned to Sheila.

"Well, Sheila's been very excited about this trip, and has only grew more so after you all assisted her with Shiini. Goodness, and to imagine I was so blind..."

"It's ok, mom. Also, are you feeling well? I heard you coughing a lot last night."

"Oh, I had a glass of water, and I tried to breathe it."