It was a regular day at school, or so she thought. Shirana sat in her regular seat in the front of the classroom, a place deemed where the smart students sit. That wasn't a surprise since she sat beside Reira Nagabe, who was the other smart person in the class. The two sat in the front, diligently working by themselves. The Koki twins entered, suspiciously. Looking up, Shirana could see Sara and Karai wandering around in a mysterious manner.
"Now what on Earth are you two doing?" Shirana asked with a brow raised
"Just leave them, aren't they always like that" Reira laughed
"Um, don't say we didn't warn you" Karai smiled
"What?" Shirana stared at her in confusion
Just then, her questions were answered when a stream of students bathed int through the doors. With wide eyes, Shirana watched them crowd her desk, all of them with desperate expressions on their faces.
"Suzuno! Please help us study for the exam!" They all echoed one after the other
"Oh dear..." Shirana gave a gentle smile "the exam starts in a few minutes, you know that right?"
"Please! We're gonna fail" a male student shouted out from the back of the crowd
"Did you all not study yesterday?"
"We tried but it's no use..." a girl whimpered
In the back, Reira, Sara and Karai looked at each other, giggling.
"Isn't she popular" Karai smirked
"Right?" Sara laughed "as expected of the brainiest person in class"
"Yeah..." Reira smiled gently
The loud chaos soon quietened down when the teacher entered. A groan erupted from the class as they were dismissed to their seats. Soon, the exam started and the students began to work quietly. Expressions of confusion was a common trait in the room except for Shirana who was calmly answering all the questions with ease.
The whole day was spent in the same seat, exercising their minds as they racked their brains for answers. As the exam came to an end, the students either left with a face of satisfaction or fear. Nevertheless, the four girls remained calm and composed.
"How was the exam?" Sara asked "I struggled on some of them... math is definitely not my best forte"
"Best forte?" Shirana whispered to herself with a smile
"Seemed like it was easy for you since you're all smiles?" Karai said as she nudged Shirana
"Well... I had studied them the night before so I felt a little prepared. Although, I'm sure I've made a few mistakes"
"Lucky you..." Reira grinned
"Let's go! I'm sick of school" Sara pushed the three of them out the door.
They passed by Kazuki who was trying to escape a crowd of girls. Shirana looked at him and he made a pleading face. She shrugged and just left him alone as he pouted, watching her walk away.
"Don't you know him?" Karai asked
"Yeah? I heard he works at Chanson?" Reira pitched in
"Yeah, but his problems can remain his problems. Someone will go and save him later" Shirana laughed as she saw Akina, Rana and Asahi watching Kazuki from the corner of her eyes.
Walking out of the school building, they could see the sun slowly beginning to set in the distance. The weather was warming up as it was getting closer to summer. Sara took off her jumper and wrapped it around her waist while the other two copied.
"Shirana? Aren't you warm at all?" Karai asked
"I'm fine" she replied
"Hm... suit yourself" Karai shrugged
As they walked, they happily chit chatted normal teen girl conversations. The four were nearing their final school year and the topic of "what do you want to be later in life" was a common subject at home.
"Are you all going to go college?" Sara asked
"Yeah, of course" Reira replied
Karai nodded vigorously as Shirana gave a gentle nod.
"You know what my goal is?" Karai said "I want to invent something nobody in the world has invented before! Something that will be used all over the world!"
"Wah" Sara laughed "sounds a bit ambitious no?"
"It's a goal nonetheless" Karai pouted
"Sure sure" Sara teased "then, my goal is be the CEO of an extremely successful entertainment company! I want to manage artists, actors, idols and everything!"
"You want to manage others when you can't even manage yourself" Karai laughed
"Oh hush" Sara hissed
"Always arguing... ~fure" Flake whispered in Shirana's bag
Shirana smiled at Flake's comment.
"What about you Reira?" The twins said in unison
"JINX!" They yelled at each other
"What in the world..." Shirana giggled
"Well, for me, I want to create my own fashion line. I've already started drawing out designs and making some clothing" Reira replied
"Oh woah!" Sara shrieked "make me an outfit!"
"You can't just order people around, Sara" Karai frowned
"Oh gee, I was kidding! You don't have to be such a party pooper"
The four walked slowly, nearing the town area. The three continued to talk out loud, leaving Shirana to wander in her own thoughts. It seemed like they already knew what they wanted to be or do in the future. Shirana contemplated. What did she want to be? The thought strangely had never occurred to her before, leaving her all confused and for once, unknowing.
Her thoughts were destroyed by Sara's loud voice "I'm going to get married to a rich man!"
"Seriously?" Karai rolled her eyes "you're already chasing money?"
"Not entirely, money just makes things a lot more comfortable, you know"
"Woman, work for it yourself and stop piggy backing on others hard work!" Karai gave out to her sister
Reira and Shirana looked at each other.
"Are siblings always like that? Or is it just twins?" Reira asked
Shirana thought of her siblings and the disaster trying to get them to listen "it's siblings" she laughed
After the long bickering, Reira decided to walk in between them as a way to stop the yelling.
"Anyways" Reira butted in
The two sisters pouted before bursting into laughter.
"You guys are weird" Reira laughed
"Well" they shrugged
"Isn't the future such a mysterious thing? Like, you know that tomorrow you'll go to school but you never actually know if it'll come. For all you know, you could die tomorrow" Karai said
"Dark much?" Reira raised a brow
"I'm being serious though, we all have goals and dreams to be certain things but when an incident or situation happens, your ultimate destination can and will change. We can plan all we want but in the end we just have to be prepared for what's to come"
Shirana nodded. The future was mysterious. It was like a big hole of nothingness yet so full of hope at the same time.
"I have a dream to be a mother you know" Karai said kicking her shoes in the dirt "but it's so funny to say especially when I don't know the first thing about children"
"Does anybody?" Sara laughed "they're so unpredictable"
Just then, a wave of darkness surrounded the area. In a split second, Shirana saw her friends collapse to the ground. From the corner, a man suddenly turned into a monster. Flake jumped out of Shirana's bag.
"Let's go! ~fure"
"Yeah" Shirana nodded taking out her nacharm from her locket
"PreCure Refresh!"
In a tornado of snow, she transformed, her dark blue hair setting loose in the wind as it turned silver. As she finished, she was greeted by the fist of the monster. Taken aback, Crystal quickly rose back to her feet.
"Oh, it's just you here by yourself today?" The female voice appeared out of the shadows
"Miss Iiena..." Crystal frowned
"It's nice to know that you know who I am" she smirked "because I'll be the one to defeat you"
"Oh I highly doubt it" Shirana jumped into the air and kicked the monster away some distance.
"Go! Tomerunda!" Miss Iiena shrieked
The monster suddenly stared aiming for her three friends who were lying helplessly on the ground. Whipping round, Crystal quickly made her way towards her friends and carried them away to safety.
"You are not dragging my friends into this!" Crystal shouted out
"Hah. Friends. What good are they when they're going to turn their backs on you?" Miss Iiena frowned
"Then they're not your friends..." Crystal narrowed her eyes "friends are meant to be there for you, support you and protect you if they can't do anything!"
Miss. Iiena's frown grew as Crystal continued to speak
"I won't let anybody harm those precious to me, I'm going to protect them with all I've got"
Raising her arm, Crystal sent a flurry of snow towards the Tomerunda, freezing it. Kicking it down, she saw her chance.
"Snow Blanket!"
As the monster purified back to its normal self, Shirana turned to Miss. Iiena. A smile crept up on the purple haired lady's face.
"Hmph." And she vanished
Turning back, Shirana ran towards her friends and helped them up. Scratching their heads, they looked around.
"What happened?" Reira asked
"Oh uh... nothing. You must have just blanked out" Shirana replied
The three shrugged and headed off back towards their homes.
"By the way" Reira looked at Shirana "what do you wanna do when you're older?"
Shirana paused, she really didn't know what to answer. When was the last time she didn't know the answer to something? That must have been a long time ago.
The three looked at her, eager to know what the answer was going to be.
"I don't know" Shirana said sighing with a gentle smile
"Eh?!" The twins echoed
"Shirana doesn't know?" Reira whispered to herself, it was a first to hear her say that too
"Mhm" Shirana smiled into the sunset "I guess I just want to protect those I love"
Her thoughts moved to the battle that had happened "that's my dream, to continue living."