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December 23

Nagisa >>> the Bi Buddies (3:02 AM)

Nagisa: I AM AN IDIOT

Kanade: yeah and

Nagisa: IT’S DECEMBER 23

Nagisa: AND I DON’T HAVE A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR HONOKA

Kanade: YOU WHAT

Akane: pff- HA 

Nagisa: ok, first of all, akane i hate you

Akane: most people do

Nagisa: second of all, please dear god help me

Kanade: i haven’t gotten hibiki’s gift yet either, if it makes you feel any better

Saki: i thought that was because you make her a cake and want it to be fresh so you make like the day before you give it to her

Kanade: true, but hush

Kanade: we’re trying to make nagisa feel better about ruining her relationship

Nagisa: OH GOD DID I RUIN MY RELATIONSHIP

Rin: it’s 3 in the morning. Why

Saki: nagisa’s ruining her relationship

Rin: nagisa forgetting a gift won’t ruin your relationship you idiot

Akane: wow rin, rude much

Rin: it’s 3am, i get to be grumpy

Rin: just buy her present tomorrow 

Nagisa: right. Ok

Nagisa: what should i get her???

Rin: YOU’RE HER GIRLFRIEND SHOULDN’T YOU KNOW

Nagisa: I’M BAD AT GIFTS THAT JUST AIN’T MY LOVE LANGUAGE 

Rikka: ok let’s just give examples of what good gifts are to help inspire you

Rikka: i got mana a book on inspiring female political leaders

Kanade: well that makes my cake look sad

Rin: and don’t you make that cake every year? 

Kanade: yeah, why

Rin: could get boring 

Kanade: YOU’RE BORING 

Akane: i got miyuki a collection of fairytale retellings 

Akane: rin what’d you get nozomi

Rin: a new coat, she needed one

Kanade: AND YOU SAID MY GIFT WAS BORING

Rikka: even though you two are dating you act like such a mom rin

Rin: SHE NEEDED A NEW COAT 

Rin: why am i defending myself, this doesn’t matter

Nagisa: yeah and none of these gifts are good enough for honoka

Nagisa: well except maybe rikka’s

Rikka: hell yeah

Saki: i wrote a letter for mai for every day she’s gone

Saki: all vacation we will be separated,,, but our love will survive 

Rin: i am surrounded by theatre kids in all but name

Rin: now everyone, please, go to bed

Nagisa stayed awake from three am onward, with one quick three minute nap at five. She was determined to get Honoka the best gift she could possibly afford, which was not a lot considering her savings. But she had to make it work. At six, she realized she was making no progress sitting around her room, so she got dressed and prepared to go shopping. Or attempt to go shopping, who knew how many shops were open and how much she could actually afford. 

“Nagisa? What on earth are you doing up?” Her dad asked. 

“Gotta get a gift for Honoka,” She mumbled, trying to say it as unintelligible as possible so her dad wouldn’t make fun of her. 

“You haven’t gotten her gift already? Nagisa, I raised you better than this.” 

“Yeah, yeah!” Nagisa put on her shoes as quickly as she could and raced out the door. 

“Are you sure you don’t want breakfast?!” Her dad yelled as she left. She didn’t respond. “Guess not!” 

Now, because Nagisa Misumi is first and foremost a human disaster, she missed the train that would take her downtown. As she stood in the cold, anxiously waiting for the next train, a man ran across the station. 

“Shit!” He said. “Did I miss the train?” 

“Yup,” Nagisa confirmed. He ran his hands through his hair, muttering more curses. 

“When’s the next one?” 

“Fifteen minutes.” 

“FIfteen minutes?!” He exclaimed. “Okay. Okay, I can try to work with this. Guess this is just karma for forgetting Christmas, am I right?” 

“Hmm,” Nagisa hummed in agreement. 

After the train finally arrived and Nagisa made it to downtown, her luck did not improve. The first three (THREE!) stores she tried were closed for the holidays. The fourth store she tried had exactly five objects she could afford (a neck pillow, a key chain, a pencil case, a package of two pens, and a tiny notebook). None of them would qualify as decent gifts for Honoka. 

“Find everything you were looking for?” The cashier smiled at Nagisa. 

“Sure.”  Nagisa grumbled, placing a star key chain on the counter. It wasn’t a good gift, but she’d been in this store for over an hour and felt bad about leaving without buying anything. 

“Last minute Christmas shopping?” The cashier placed the key chain inside a small plastic bag with the words ‘THANKS FOR YOUR PURCHASE’ plastered on the front. 

“You know it.” 

“Well, I hope whoever you’re shopping for likes the gift,” She handed the bag to Nagisa. Nagisa forced herself to smile at the well meaning employee.

“Me too.” 

It was now nine in the morning, and Nagisa was beginning to feel the effects of not eating breakfast and being awake since three. 

Was she tasting colors? It felt like she was tasting colors. 

So she went to Starbucks to get some coffee. It was only after she drank the coffee and her brain started to work again that she realized 1) she just spent valuable money that could’ve been spent on Honoka and 2) she does not like Starbucks coffee.

But it was fine! Everything was going great. She still had some money and the star key chain! This was fine. 

December 23

Akane >>> the Bi Buddies (9:45 AM)

Akane: nagisa how’s the gift hunting doing

Nagisa: what’s the easiest way to commit suicide

Akane: ok so not well

Rin: nagisa PLEASE stop being so dramatic 

Kanade: rin you have no say in this, you bought Nozomi a coat for Christmas you scrooge 

Rin: what else was I supposed to get her?? SHE NEEDED A COAT

Kanade: YOU LACK ANY ROMANTIC SENSE RIN NATSUKI

Rikka: damn ok

Rikka: so you got nothing nagisa?

Nagisa: i have. A star key chain

Saki: oof that’s worse than the coat

Rin: WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE COAT

Nagisa: i know

Nagisa: i’m a failure as a human being and a girlfriend 

Akane: well we all knew that 

Akane: don’t you have that chocolate dish thing you can make her? 

Nagisa: oh shit maybe

Nagisa: that was oddly helpful akane

Akane: my dad threw out his back so i’m single handedly making our party food, therefore my responsible side has taken over 

Rikka: oh tikes

Saki: tikes?

Rikka: *yikes

Rikka: actually? I’m sticking with my typo. That’s tikes

Now Nagisa had a decent idea of what to make Honoka, which was better than before. She texted her mom to see if they had any more chocolate left, which they apparently did not. They had used it all making treats for a holiday party at her dad’s work. 

This was still fine! Nagisa just had to buy some more chocolate. 

Only it wasn’t fine, because it was nearly Christmas and people were buying up chocolate in bulk. The only chocolate left was the incredibly expensive kind. Or the kind without any sugar. Nagisa was desperate, but not desperate to give her girlfriend sugarless chocolate! 

At around noon, she made her way to the Tako Café. Akane Fujita made eye contact with her and cracked a smile. 

“Long day?”

“You could say that,” Nagisa groaned. “How much food will 1000 yen get me?”

“Not a lot.” Akane frowned. “You good kid?”

“I forgot to get Honoka a Christmas gift,”

“Oh shit,” Akane sat down next to Nagisa, “Really? You forgot Christmas?”

“It’s been a busy month and I forgot!” There was the ghost tornado, the whole thing where Erika got the water cures trapped out at sea, the zombie demons out for revenge, and so, so much more. It had been a long few weeks. 

“Well, Honoka won’t care,” Akane reassured her. “She knew what she was getting into when she started dating you, and that includes all your-” she gestured vaguely at Nagisa, “-mess. She cares about you, one forgotten gift isn’t going to change that.”

Nagisa sighed and put her head in her hands. “Thanks for the advice Akane, but I haven’t eaten since yesterday and might collapse.”

“Right, food, got it!”

December 23

Saki >>> the Bi Buddies (1:23 AM)

Saki: y’all

Kanade: saki don’t say y’all you know akane copyrighted it

Akane: screw you

Saki: my homophobic uncle has made an appearance 

Rikka: oh no

Rikka: okay who’s free to commit a murder

Saki: please i’m desperate i’ve been hiding in my room to avoid him but it won’t last

Nagisa: i am currently in line to try and enter a jewelry store but i can try to come over??

Saki: oh god no he’ll detect your bisexual energy immeditly 

Saki: i just need a good solid ‘straight’ friend i can escape with 

Kanade: well i am definitely the one who passes as straight the best BUT i am currently in my gay feelings trying to seduce Hibiki 

Saki: ooh that would ruin the illusion

Rin: i’ll pick you up

Rin: how straight do i need to act

Saki: very

Saki: don’t even worry about tho, i just realized none of my friends are straight enough and i must suffer

Rin: why 

Saki: he’d say something like “Oh is THIS the kind of people you hang around? Saori, you let this happen?” and then it becomes a whole family debacle 

Rikka: that’s somehow even more tikes than akane’s thing

Kanade: you’re really sticking with tikes huh

Rikka: yessiree 

After a multitude of failures, Nagisa was left with a star key chain and a cheap iron ring to give to Honoka. 

It was now around 4:30 in the afternoon, and Nagisa was finally heading home. She felt like shit, to put it bluntly, and was ready to collapse onto her bed.

As soon as she walked through the door, her mother rushed over to her.

“Nagisa, dear, please tell me you haven’t been outside since six in the morning.”

“I was inside most of the time mom, don’t even worry about it.” 

Her mother pursed her lips. “How long have you been awake?”

“Long time. I’m gonna go take a nap now.”

Nagisa fell asleep the instant she hit her bed. She then proceeded to have a wonderful dream in which everyone she loved shunned her for being a terrible girlfriend. There was also a weird subplot involving killer whales. Dreams were wack. 

Nagisa was aroused from her slumber by the unholy screeching of her phone. (Was that one of the most dramatic ways to describe that experience? Yes it was. But in all fairness, being woken up from a nice nap is a harrowing experience.) She groaned and covered her ears with her pillow, desperately trying to cram a few more seconds of sleep in. But it was all for naught, the damage had been done. She was, unfortunately, awake. 

“Who the hell is texting me at,” She grabbed her phone, “8 pm?”

It was the Bi Buddies, because who else would it be. 

December 23

Kanade >>> the Bi Buddies (8:02 PM)

Kanade: listen

Kanade: i’ve had a shitty day, i know akane and saki had shitty days, i’m pretty sure nagisa had a shitty day, and 50/50 chance for rin and rikka but given our track record they probably ALSO had shitty days

Kanade: who wants to go to this café i found and gorge ourselves on bad cookies

Well. Nagisa had to admit that sounded appealing. 

December 23

Nagisa >>> the Bi Buddies (8:04 PM)

Nagisa: i’m in

Rikka: please

Rin: will there also be terrible decaf coffee  

Kanade: probably? I’ve never been to this café before

Rin: sweet. I’m in

Akane: hell yeah

Saki: my uncle’s talking to my grandma about immigration which means he won’t see anyone else for at least two hours hell yeah i’m coming

Nagisa arrived at the café around 8:30. She was surprisingly not the last one to arrive, but she wasn’t the first either. Kanade and Rin were already there. 

“Nagisa’s here already? Damn, wonder what’s holding up everyone else,” Kanade mused. 

“Go to hell,” Nagisa shot back. She glanced at the name of the café. “Cure Café? Kanade did you seriously bring us to a Precure themed café?”

“Maybe…” Kanade rubbed her neck. “I just thought of the ironic potential, y'know? Help to ease our pain.”

“How are you even more dramatic than usual?” Rin questioned. Kanade chuckled sadly. 

“I’m mourning a lost love.”

“Hibiki still hasn’t gotten the hint, huh?” Nagisa placed her hand on Kanade’s shoulder. Kanade slumped.

“No. I feel like I’m turning into Rikka, destined to pine forever.”

“What was that about me?” Rikka said as she walked up to the group, Saki not far behind her. 

“That you’re destined to pine forever.” 

“Ouch,” Rikka put her hand over her heart, “That hit me right here.”

Saki was on her phone, a small smile across her face. 

“Texting Mai?” Rin had walked over to Saki and glanced at her phone. “Nevermind, you’re just sending emojis to Itsuki.”

“I just spent the day with my homophobic uncle, let me have this.”

Akane arrived a few minutes later, and they all went into the café. The inside of the café was nothing fancy, and there were a few pictures of random Cures placed around the main room. There was a table in the corner that could seat six people, so they went there.

“So how was everyone’s day?” Rikka asked. Everyone else let out a collective groan. 

They then went up to order food and coffee (despite the fact that it was nearing nine). The woman at the counter had long rainbow hair, and was overall just a major cutie. 

“Hello, what can I get for you?” She said with a smile on her face. Nagisa felt her face flush, and glanced over to see the other Bi Buddies go through similar gay panics. 

“Um- one black coffee,” Akane eventually spoke up. “Your hair’s super cool, by the way.”

“Thank you!” 

The woman then asked for Akane’s name for the coffee, which she gave. The rest of the group fumbled over their orders and their names as well. As the woman went to go prepare their orders, they went back to the table. 

“I- that was pitiful.” Rin eventually said. “We all see one cute girl and freak out? Most of us already have girlfriends!” 

“Who would agree that was a beautiful woman,” Saki shot back. “Oh man, I miss Mai so much. We could have freaked out together if she were here.”

“I think we did plenty of freaking out anyway, Saki.” Nagisa reassured her. 

A few minutes later they got their food and drinks, and that’s when the night really began. 

“Now I know we all had horrific Christmas Eve Eves,” Rikka started, “But I think my tale is pretty humorous so, may I start?” 

“Go ahead,” Nagisa told her, chocolate cake in hand.

“So you know how Mana’s been trying to tell me she loves me, but not in the way I love her?”

“And that’s she’s been dodging this for weeks,” Rin took a sip of her tea. “Yeah, we know.”

“Right, so today she finally decides to tell me, and she has this whole speech planned. Only she can’t get the words out. Eventually, Regina ends up jumping in and telling me that Mana doesn’t like me like that. I almost died.”

“You know, I can’t tell if that’s sad or not,” Kanade admitted. 

“I thought it was a great way to top off Mana and I’s strained relationship,” Rikka smirked. 

“Please tell me you know how sad that sounds?” Saki asked gently, pushing around the remains of her croissant. 

“I do, but who’s turn is it next?”

“Ooh, ooh, me!” Kanade raised her hand. “I baked Hibiki her cake, right? And I made it rainbow, because, gay rights. For the decoration I basically spelled out, ‘hey, I like you’ and she said that it was great practice to ask out my crush!”

There was a chorus of sympathetic winces. 

“Then somehow we got into a fight about, as usual.” Kanade sighed. “I’m just… tired of this routine. But the problem is I don’t know how to break it.”

“You might just have to kiss her and be done with it,” Akane commented. Kanade frowned. 

“I don’t really want to take advice from someone who literally jumped out a window to avoid her feelings.”

“That’s fair.”

“Also, how are you already done with that coffee?”

“Oh this,” Akane shrugged. “You know how I gain energy from the sun? Well I used a lot of it during a fight and since it’s winter, there’s a lot less sun for me to gain energy

from. I also spent all day inside, so now I’m running on fumes and black coffee.”

“Sucks to suck,” Saki sent finger guns Akane’s way. “I’m a moon cure so I’m currently thriving. Or not. I haven’t slept in a while.”

“Same but now I don’t have the sun energy to help,”

“Gross.”

“Saki, how was it with your uncle?” Nagisa questioned. She’d been worried all day. 

“Bad, but that was to be expected.” Saki rubbed her neck. “He made some casual homophobic comments, said I was idiot, so nothing too bad. Unfortunately, he’s staying till after Christmas. I’m really trying not to snap at him and cause a family feud, but boy is it tempting.”

“If you even need a scapegoat, you know who to call,” Rikka placed a hand on Saki’s shoulder. Saki smiled thankfully. 

She turned to Nagisa. “How was shopping for Honoka?”  

Nagisa felt all joy drain from her body. “Bad. It was very bad. I got her a key chain and an iron ring. “

“Youch.” 

“I know.”

“At least you didn’t get your girlfriend a coat,” Rin mumbled. 

“So you finally admit it’s a dumb gift?” Kanade leaned on Rin’s shoulder. Rin shoved her off.

“No, it’s a smart gift. It’s just boring and predictable. She guessed what I was giving her.” 

“Seriously?” Kanade gaped. “I didn’t know Nozomi had that kind of forward thinking.”

“Keep roasting my girlfriend Kanade, see what happens.”

“Right, only you can do that. Continue.”

“I just… do you guys think I’m going to ruin my relationship by being too boring and predictable?”

“Nah,” Akane comforted her. “You guys have just known each other for so long that knowing what the other is thinking is just kind of natural.” 

“Besides, if anyone is going to ruin their relationship, it’ll be me,” Nagisa told her.

Rin chuckled slightly at that, which Nagisa considered a win. 

“Akane, your turn to discuss your day,” Rin turned to her. 

“Uhh… okay.” Akane replied. She ran her fingers through her hair. “So my day started with my dad screwing up his back, again. He really needs to stop doing that.” 

“How often does he?” Nagisa found herself asking.

“Too often. Anyway, we had planned this party-dinner thing for tonight, and we couldn’t just cancel, so I had to cook all of the food while my mom and brother decorated and cleaned. It was fun.”

Kanade grimaced. “How much food?”

“Well there were five families coming over, and one of them was the Midorikawas,”

“Oh god.”

“Yeah,”

“But the worst part- well,” Akane paused. “Context first. Miyuki and I planned out this whole dinner so she could come out to her parents and we could tell our families we’re dating.”

“Shit, seriously?” Rikka leaned toward Akane. “I’m guessing from your tone it didn’t work?” 

“Well she comes up to me when the dinner starts and tells me she isn’t ready to come out. Which I get! Y’know, coming out- it’s scary. But I kinda spent extra long on the food and stuff to make it perfect for her. And I feel like I kinda wasted my time. A bit. I don’t know, maybe I’m just overreacting.” 

“Maybe,” Rin agreed. “But it does suck to spend a long time on something and have it not pan out.” 

“Wait.” Saki held up her hands in confusion. “When was this dinner?”

“5, but I’m pretty sure everyone’s still there. I told my parents there was a friend emergency in order to leave.” Akane turned to Nagisa. “If prompted, say you had a pregnancy scare.”

“What? Why me?”

“I don’t know! Your name popped up first!” 

Suddenly, Kanade through her head back and laughed. 

“God, I needed this.” Kanade lifted up her cup of decaf coffee. “A toast! To the Bi Buddies and their shitty luck!”

“Hear hear!”

By the time Nagisa arrived home, it was close to 11. Her mother started to lecture her, but then decided it would be best for Nagisa to just go to bed. 

So she did. 

Then, after what seemed like a short time, she jumped awake. The first thing she noticed was that she was no longer in her bed, but at her desk. 

Did I sleepwalk? What is happening? She thought to herself, before checking the time on her phone.

The time was 5:03 AM, December 23. 

What the fuck? 

Kanade’s December 23rd was supposed to go like this: She woke up at eight, got dressed and started baking her cake for Hibiki. While baking, she continued to make fun of Rin for buying Nozomi a coat. At around the same time Saki’s homophobic uncle made an appearnce, she started the decorations. She had decided that this cake was a great way to confess to Hibiki, but she forgot just how oblivious that girl could be. Kanade called her an idiot, Hibiki got offended, and then Kanade headed home, enraged. She calmed down a few hours later. She suggested the Bi Buddies hang out because she knew they would bring with them at least some good jokes. That part of her day went well, and by the time she got home (around 11), she went to bed in a good mood. 

Only apparently that didn’t happen, because it was December 23rd again. 

Kanade woke up at eight, which wasn’t uncommon, even for days that weren’t December 23rd. She rarely slept later than 8:30. So when she opened her eyes and looked at her clock, she wasn’t alarmed. 

She gradually became more and more alarmed as she got dressed, and saw that all her clothes from yesterday were back in her dresser. Originally she thought it could’ve been a prank from her younger brother, but soon more and more similarities left her feeling… concerned. 

“What day is it?” She asked her mother in a panic, still in her pajamas .

Her mother laughed at her. “December 23rd, sweetie. Don’t worry, you still have plenty of time to make Hibiki her cake.”

“Didn’t- what?” Kanade lifted her hands up in confusion, but seeing her mother’s concerned face, she dropped them. “You know what? Nevermind. It doesn’t matter.”

“Oookay,” Her mother turned away from her. 

Kanade was officially freaking out.

(Kanade wasn’t aware of this at the time, but elsewhere, all the other Bi Buddies were having similar freak outs.)

Instead of baking Hibki’s cake, Kanade went back to her room. 

“So the day’s repeated. What does that mean? Oh God, am I in a time loop? Is this my Groundhog Day? But I’m not a narcissistic jerk who needs some self improvement!” Kanade stopped talking. 

“Am I a narcissistic jerk who needs some self improvement?!” 

“YES YOU ARE, PLEASE SHUT UP!” Her brother yelled at her from another room. 

Kanade grabbed her phone and texted the Suite team. 

December 23

Rhythm >>> Music Boiz (9:03 AM)

Rhythm: am I a narcissistic jerk who needs some self improvement?? 

Muse: no, wtf? 

Beat: of course not!!!

Melody: uh, no? 

Well. The Suite team was too close to her to give her a straight answer. She was also pretty sure there was no way Ellen could insult someone. 

So then she texted the Bi Buddies, who were always more willing to call you out. Plus, if she remembered correctly, Akane’s responsible side had taken her over today, which meant she was even more likely to call out toxic traits. 

December 23

Kanade >>> the Bi Buddies (9:06 AM)

Kanade: hey am i a jerk who needs some self improvement 

Nagisa: w

Nagisa: what

Rikka: no but you are stuck in a cycle with Hibiki that could grow to be toxic if not dealt with

Kanade: well damn ok

Saki: yeah you definitely need self improvement but i wouldn’t say it’s because you’re a jerk

Rin: she deftects her insecurities onto other people as a coping mechanism 

Kanade: WELL DAMN OK

Akane: sometimes you can be a bit of a bitch but you’re cute so it’s okay

Kanade: dang

Kanade laid down on her bed, phone in hand. Guess there were some reasons for her to go through a self improvement time loop. 

December 23

Kanade >>> the Bi Buddies (9:14 AM)

Kanade: okay so how do i get better??? 

Rikka: be better at communicating with Hibiki

Rikka: why are you asking

Kanade: hard to explain

Rikka: you’re in a time loop and guessed the way to get out of it is to self-improve

Kanade: HOW DID YOU KNOW

Rikka: well guess fucking what

Rin: not you too

Saki: we’re all in this together aren’t we

Akane: wonderful 

Kanade met up with the Bi Buddies at the Cure Café, which they all had now decided was their freak out café. When they got there, they ordered and ran into the cute rainbow hair girl from yesterday. Today? Whatever, it did not help the panic. 

After giving her their names and orders, Akane finished off the embarrassing interaction by complimenting the girl’s hair again. 

“Didn’t you do that already?” Kanade asked. Akane looked at her. “Oh, right. Guess not.”

“If we really are in a time loop, I sincerely hope we won’t be as hopeless around her again,” Rin sighed. “Okay, time to over analyze our inner turmoil.”

They began to brainstorm. 

“What if this do over is actually a gift from the universe?” Saki asked optimistically. 

“Do you really think the universe would give us a gift?” Kanade countered. 

“Fair point.” 

“Are we sure this is a time loop?” Rin suggested. They all looked at her. “I mean, we’ve only repeated the day once.” 

“She has a point,” Nagisa agreed. “Maybe we just triggered the repeat of today, but if we don’t trigger it it won’t repeat!”

“So an Edge of Tomorrow style time loop instead of Groundhog Day?” Akane leaned back in her chair. “Well we won’t know unless the day repeats again.”

“Is our plan seriously to wait it out to ensure this isn’t a sign from the universe to shape up?” Rikka commented. Everyone else nodded. “I don’t know what I expected, but I guess it won’t matter until tomorrow.”

So the Bi Buddies went their separate ways and tried to make the best of their redo of December 23. Kanade didn’t make Hibiki a cake, but she did take Hibiki out for a walk. It was nice, sort of romantic. 

(Did Hibiki get the hint? Of course not.)

Kanade was a little disappointed at the result of her second go round of the day, but figured it was better than the first. Tomorrow she’d make Hibiki’s cake and confess her feelings outright. 

When she woke up, it was 8 am on December 23rd. 

December 23

Kanade >>> the Bi Buddies (8:04 AM)

Kanade: I DON’T KNOW HOW MANY OF YOU ARE AWAKE BUT STILL

Nagisa: i have been up since 5

Nagisa: i keep having the same goddamn conversation with this man at the train station smh

Kanade: damn you’re still leaving your house?

Nagisa: eventually this time loop will end and honoka needs a gift

Kanade: well you’re dedicated i’ll give you that

Rikka: so i’m guessing the universe just hates us

Akane: i knew the edge of tomorrow theory was too good to be true

Rin: i think we all did, subconsciously 

Rin: ok who’s ready to tear each other apart to figure out what character flaw needs to be fixed 

Rikka: well we all know kanade needs to communicate with hibiki better

Kanade: right

Rin: and also not project her insecurities onto others

Kanade: rin needs to not be boring with her gf

Rin: i do need to spice things up

Kanade: WHAT WTF YOU AGREE WITH ME

Rin: i am,,, predictable 

Rin: but i will be predictable no longer

Rikka: nagsia needs to fucking chill

Nagisa: hey now

Akane: *nagisa needs to realize half of her school is in love with her

Rikka: that too

Nagisa: they are not

Rikka: they are too

Rikka: wait

Rikka: *nagisa needs to realize she’s worthy of love and the people who love her won’t stop because she’s a bit of a mess

Nagisa: HEY NOW

Nagisa: well rikka needs to realize she can be upset with mana not returning her feelings! 

Rikka: what? I’m over that

Saki: pfft- HA

Saki: i just woke up and even i know that’s ridiculous 

Rin: saki’s perfect 

Kanade: oh shit yeah what’s saki going to do

Akane: learn to stand up for herself without mai’s help

Saki: what

Akane: fight your uncle saki

Saki: i’m considering 

Saki: akane you need to allow yourself to be mad at your friends

Akane: no

Saki: huh ok

Akane: i have many flaws but that is not one of them

Kanade: wait if that isn’t your toxic trait what is

Akane: oh definitely my repression of trauma that is expressed through jokes

Kanade: well that is a big one

Nagisa: man we figured that out quickly 

Rin: i’ve been analyzing our behavior for forever in case some shit like this happened

Saki: after the ghost tornado i realized we were in desperate need for self awareness 

Kanade: we’ve been through too many chaotic experience together not to come out a little aware of our problems 

Akane: you all are as easy to read as picture books 

Rikka: i- the last answer sent me

By the time of the fifth time loop, Rin had come to the conclusion that she was destined to spend the rest of her life on December 23.   

For one, her whole plan of not being predictable had gone south every single time loop. 

The first time she tried it, Nozomi thought she had gotten sick and almost took her to the ER. The second time Nozomi was convinced she had somehow gotten possessed by a demon. This time around, she thought it was an elaborate prank. So, all failures. 

Rin was tired. She was always a little tired, but now she was extra tired. How was she supposed to end this time loop if trying to change herself was so exhausting? Everyone was predictable sometimes, damn it.

Then, as she was heading over to the Cure Café (which was now the designated spot for the Bi Buddies to update each other on the success of their time loop plans) she was hit by the wonderful thought that yes, everyone was predictable sometimes, but also, Rin was boring and needed to change in order to keep Nozomi interested. 

Part of her was aware of how self depreciative that was, but the cruel voice inside her head had a point. She had to keep trying. For Nozomi. Not just to keep her interested, but Nozomi deserved to have a partner that wouldn’t bore her. 

When she got to the Cure Café, she could tell the rest of the group was having just as much luck. 

After yet another horrifyingly embarrassing interaction with the cute barista, Rin joined the Bi Buddies at their table. 

“I think the best part of the time loop is that no one will remember me freaking out over that cute barista,” Rin said, sitting down. 

“I mean, we will.” Kanade took a bit from her cookie. “But we all freaked out while interacting with her, so maybe we’ll all just take a vow of silence.” 

“Moving on from the barista,” Rikka interrupted, “have any of us made any positive progress?”

“I got Honoka a moon keychain instead of a star one,” Nagisa said miserably. 

“I tripped my uncle. Accidentally, but it still felt good,” Saki beamed. Kanade high fived her. 

“None of my surprises work on Nozomi, but I think I’ve been doing this the wrong way. I just haven’t figured out the right way yet.” Rin sighed. 

“I made things worse!” Akane held up peace signs. 

“How?”

“Stopped paying attention while cooking and dropped something, which led to a turn of events that inflamed an old injury.”    

“Ah,” Saki nodded. “The arm still not fully healed?”

“Might never be!” 

“Akane please go to therapy,” Nagisa pleaded. 

“What? And tell my therapist my arm nearly got ripped out fighting a demon for a ghost tornado?” Akane said. 

At the same time, Rikka said, “A therapist? In this economy?”

“We’re going to be stuck here forever, won’t we?” Rin despaired. 

“God, you know what?” Rikka said, suddenly. “If we’re going to be stuck in a time loop forever, I’m going to learn how to play piano. I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“Rikka you’re a genius,” Rin gaped, realizing what she had to do. “What’s something that would be totally out of character for me to know how to do?”

“Salsa dancing.” Kanade said immediately. Her face lit up. “Rin, let’s learn salsa dancing together.”

In a normal situation, Rin would’ve told Kanade no outright. But, well, today was different. 

“Hell. Yeah.”

So Rin and Kanade learned how to salsa dance. 

And it was still December 23rd. 

So then they started to learn modern dance. 

“Damn, I'm freezing,” Rikka walked up to their table. Kanade had laid her head on the table, exhausted from the higher level modern dance class she (and Rin) was now qualified for. Rin was tempted to join her. 

Akane, upon hearing Rikka’s statement, had moved over in preparation. Rikka sat next to Akane and started snuggling in. 

“Ah, much better.” 

“Am I nothing but a heater to you?”

“Yes.”

“Guess what everyone!” Nagisa bonded over to the table, coffee in hand. “My drumming teacher thinks I’m a prodigy!”

“Oh yeah?” Saki challenged. “I’m a bonafide pottery genius!” 

“Kanade and I are scheduled to be a part of a dancing competition in January,” Rin commented. 

All six of them burst out laughing. 

“I think I’m losing my mind,” Akane said during one of their meetups. 

“God, same.” Was the response. 

“How many of these loops have we done?” Rin asked. 

“I lost count after 30,” Rikka replied. “Time doesn’t matter and death is inevitable.”

“Love that positive vibe.” Kanade high fived her. 

December 23

Rin >>> the Bi Buddies (9:04 AM)

Rin: is it bad i haven’t interacted with nozomi in like ten loops

Nagisa: bro i haven’t interacted with honoka since the 22

Rin: that does make me feel better

Akane: I started actively avoiding miyuki a while ago

Rikka: same but with mana

Kanade: yeah it’s like,,,, why try to improve my relationship when it won’t matter anyway

Rin: that’s not depressing in the slightest

Saki: i miss mai so much you guys it’s not even funny

Saki: but :) she’s :) far :) away :)

Akane: literally just use the magic bookshelf. I don’t care

Saki: i’ve tried but she’s :) never :) there :)

Saki: she’s off doing stuff with family so she doesn’t respond to my texts and so i don’t know where’s she’s disappeared too

Kanade: oh rest in peace

Rikka: mana’s been trying to give me the talk but i’ve already heard it so whenever she comes my way I just fucking sprint the other direction

Nagisa: how quickly do you get out of breathe and she catches you

Rikka: shut the fuck up

Akane: the trick to my avoidance is that i leave my house as soon as i wake up and only return to sleep, if that

Kanade: oh yeah once i slept at the park 

Rin: i just pass out wherever once i feel tired

Saki: imagine sleeping, wack

Nagisa: wait if you don’t sleep how the hell do you repeat the day

Saki: i blink and it’s morning again

Nagisa: huh

Nagsia: well then

In all honesty, Saki could barely remember the original version of December 23rd. She talked with Mai a little bit, then started helping her parents get ready for their family to visit, then her uncle showed up at some point. It stopped mattering when she started skipping out before her uncle showed up.

There was one glorious loop where she punched her uncle in the jaw, but she couldn’t sustain that energy for very long. She didn’t want to cause another family debacle. (Yes, she did cause one. No, she did not want to talk about it.) The best plan was to just avoid her entire family. She took a page out of Akane’s book and said there was a friend emergency. She continued the story that Nagisa was having a pregnancy scare, but had yet to tell Nagisa about it. 

Now, after becoming a certified pottery genius, Saki was taking on a new challenge. She was going to eat/drink everything offered at Cure Café and then try to recreate it herself. Her latest attempt had been the peppermint infused hot chocolate, which had gone pretty well, but not perfect. She had all the time in the world, so every recreation had to be perfect. She didn’t have an excuse. 

Carefully she took a sip of her most recent attempt.     

“Too cold. Probably need to heat up the milk longer.” She muttered to herself. She set the mug down on the table, where her sister swiped it. 

“This is delicious! Thanks sis!” And then her sister was gone. Saki sighed and looked at the clock, which read 12:32 PM. She still had time to escape her uncle. 

Saki got out her phone and pretended to be concerned. She let out a small gasp for good measure. (Saki had gotten pretty good at acting these past few loops.)     

“Um, mom, dad? Can I head out for a while?”

“Why? You know our family’s coming over soon.” 

“Yeah, well, my friend is having an emergency.”

“What kind and which friend?”

“Her name’s Nagisa and she thinks she might be pregnant.”

Her parents were silent. 

“Okay, uh, go help your friend.” 

Success. 

Saki began the trek over to Cure Café, so she could taste the hot chocolate again. It would’ve been easier to take the magic library, but she had gotten bored of that. Walking through the streets had a little more entertainment. 

“Watch where you’re going nitwit!” 

Ah, yes. The angry middle aged man who had gotten into a fight with his wife early that day. He was fighting with: 

“Don’t tell me what to do you lazy piece of trash!” 

A 17 year old high school boy with too much time on his hands.

Saki maneuvered pass the duo easily. The verbal insults would escalate until it was almost physical, and Saki really lived for the reactions of the bystanders. She looked at a different person every day. Most of them were pretending not to notice while also watching intently. This time around, Saki set her sights on a biker who didn’t even try to hide the fact they were staring. 

Eventually Saki made it to the cafe. She had gotten used to talking to the pretty barista a few loops ago, and was forever thankful for that. She ordered the peppermint infused hot chocolate and began taking notes. 

As she sipped her drink, Christmas music filled the café. Saki was really starting to get annoyed with Christmas music. 

December 23

Saki >>> the Bi Buddies (1:22 PM)

Saki: i think getting stuck in a time loop on the 23rd of december is the worst day to get stuck in

Kanade: i’m intrigued. continue     

Saki: the christmas vibes are insane but you never actually get to christmas 

Nagisa: oh my god yes

Nagsia: the christmas music alone has sent me into insanity

Rin: and it will never end

Saki: constantly christmas 

Kanade: that’s the name of our time loop. constantly christmas 

Nagisa: in all honesty i might need a christmas carol style wake up to revive my christmas spirit after this

Rin: i’m surprised you’ve read a christmas carol

Nagisa: i watched the muppets version

Rin: yeah that makes more sense

Saki chuckled despite herself. Then she texted Mai, which she did every single time loop. 

December 23

Saki >>> Mai (1:30 PM)

Saki: i miss you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saki: but how’s it going with your family

Mai: it’s actually not bad

Mai: i forgot how fun my cousins were

The conversation with Mai always went in the same direction, and Saki knew what was going to be said next. But it made her feel better, talking to Mai, even if she did know what she was going to say.

Saki stayed at the café for a little while longer, before going out and walking around the city. She had done this walk only a couple of times before, so it was one of the few things that happened on December 23rd that she didn’t have memorized. 

Which meant there was an unexpected car, with blinding headlights that almost ran her over. She didn’t get hit, luckily, but she made a note of that car in her brain.

And now she had a migraine. Great. 

See, while Akane had the horrible arm thing, Saki had to have a staring contest with a god. Which meant now she had to deal with the side effect of bright lights sometimes causing migraines. 

Saki wanted nothing else other than Mai to give her a hug, Sadly, she was deprived. 

Around 7 PM, she went back to the Cure Café to meet up with the Bi Buddies. They would talk about the day, what they did differently and all that. 

“SAKI!” The other five Bi Buddies cheered. Saki winced slightly at the loud noise, but smiled back at them. 

“Migraine?” Akane guessed immediately. Saki nodded. Akane dug through her bag and brought out a container of pills. “Always have painkillers on me just in case!”

“I thought I had mapped out all of the bright places,” Saki winned. Akane patted her shoulder sympathetically. 

“So other than Saki being attacked by light, how was everyone’s day?” Rikka asked. 

“Meh,” 

“I think I joined a gang?” 

“I got banned from McDonalds,” 

“I’ve been having a breakdown for three consecutive loops but the fun part is it starts over with the day,” 

“Okay,” Rikka took a deep breath, “Do we have time to unpack all of that? Maybe not, but I’m up for the challenge.” 

So they all had a nice chat regarding their day, and then Saki headed back home. Her uncle started verbally insulting her when she arrived, but that was to be expected. She ignored him, ignored her grandparents telling her to be more respectful, and went straight to bed. She wasn’t going to actually sleep, but it was better than interacting with her relatives. 

She closed her eyes. When she opened them, it was 8:03 Am on December 23rd. 

Time to do it all again.

Naturally, it was Rikka who figured it all out. As the Bi Buddy with the most brain cells, of course Rikka would piece together all the clues. It just took her … a shameful amount of time. 

The first clue came from Saki. 

“Café’s are such timeless places,” She had said. And that got Rikka thinking.

They had all gotten into the habit of going to the Cure Café for various reasons. Be it trying to recreate the entire menu (Saki), thinking it was a good place to meet up (Rin and Kanade) or just wanting to try and flirt with the cute barista (Rikka, regrettably), they had all come up with some excuse to go there. 

That was odd, but it was only one piece of the puzzle. Rikka knew there had to be more to their … situation than just one café. Plus, tons of other people went to Cure Café, but it appeared only the six of them were in a time loop. Either way, Rikka filed that under “things that could help us get to December 24th”.

Nagisa also said something. 

“You know, I don’t know why I keep coming back here,” she’d said, while eating a piece of cake, “maybe the food’s just that good? I think I might be losing it.”

“No,” Rikka told her, “I think you might be onto something.”   

Rikka was VERY suspicious of the Cure Café but at the same time did not have enough evidence to clearly convict it.

Rin and Kanade didn’t say anything that made her any more suspicious than she already was, but they did say a few things of note.

“Well, one things for sure. Nozomi’s sure as hell gonna freak out when she sees me dance along to Single Ladies .” Rin said. Kanade leaned her elbow on Rin’s shoulder. 

“We’re totally going to scare the SHIT out of all our friends and family when we perform our dance routine.”

“If we perform it. The performance is in January.”

“True.” Kanade smiled. “You know, in a way, this time loop is kinda convenient. You know what I mean?”

“Actually? I kinda do.” Rin replied. Rikka stayed silent.

Rikka was trying to figure it all out, but she couldn’t make the final jump. It was very frustrating. So, to counteract the frustration, she decided to channel all her energy into bugging one of her friends into fixing their problems. First she bugged Nagisa, but actually Nagisa was doing pretty well. 

“I think every time we loop I come a little closer to getting Honoka a worthy gift.” Nagisa smiled. “Hopefully by the end I’ll find the perfect gift. If not, I’ve found some pretty good ones.”

She refused to bother Saki. On principle. She asked if Saki was doing okay, and Saki said she was. She pushed a little bit, but it was soon clear she would dive into annoying territory if she didn’t stop. 

Rin and Kanade were off doing their own dancing thing, and seemed to be helping each other out. So that left Akane. 

Which, when she really thought about it, would’ve happened anyway. She was constantly using Akane as a personal heater, so she would’ve started channeling her frustration into helping her at some point. 

“So how are things with you and Miyuki?” Rikka asked her, while laying her head in Akane’s lap. Akane had been playing with Rikka’s hair (which she once said relaxed her) but stopped after Rikka spoke.

“How are things with you and Mana?”

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second.”

“I hate you,” Rikka lifted her head off of Akane’s lap, but immediately regretted it. Now she was cold. “You’re still miffed Miyuki couldn’t come out to her parents?”

“You’re still not over Mana?” Akane shot back. Rikka jabbed Akane in the ribs. 

“You will tell me your feelings.”

“I refuse to disclose anything unless you’re vulnerable too,” Akane stuck out her tongue. 

“Real mature.” Rikka took a deep breath. “Fine, I’ll go first, since you’re being such a brat about it.” 

“Heh,” Akane smirked. Rikka jabbed her again for good measure. 

“I- well the short answer is I don’t know,” Rikka admitted. “I feel like I should be over her by now, and part of me is, I think. Like, I don’t yearn for her anymore. Does that make sense?”

Akane nodded, so Rikka continued. 

“She’s - it’s just so easy to love her. Some days I feel like I’m moving on, but I never really am.”

“I get it,” Akane said softly. “Back when I liked Nao, I had no idea how to get over her. You kind of feel stuck in the feelings, right?” 

“Right,” Rikka breathed out. “That’s exactly it. How-how’d you get over her?”

Akane shrugged. “Just sorta.. Happened. You gotta let yourself grieve dude. Trying to force yourself to be better when you’re not is just a recipe for disaster.”

“Damnit Akane, sometimes you give really good advice.” 

“Sometimes I surprise even myself.” Akane paused. “Also I can tell you’re freezing. You can keep your head in my lap, I don’t care.”

“Oh thank God,” Rikka laid her head back down on Akane’s lap. “So much warmer…”  

“I am glad to be of use.” 

“OKAY! Now it’s your turn to talk about your feelings.”

Akane let out an over dramatic sigh. “If I must.”

Akane didn’t actually say anything for a while. Rikka saw her open her mouth to speak and then close it a few times. 

“I swear if I hear another Christmas song I’m gonna shoot myself,” She said eventually. 

Rikka laughed. 

The silence continued. 

“Since this is so hard for you, I’m gonna start waxing poetry about my love for Mana.”

“Please don’t,” Akane begged. “I’ll talk.”

Rikka smiled and Akane pushed her face away from her. Quietly, Akane began braiding some of Rikka’s hair.

“You know, I don’t actually get mad that often. I can get kind of… chaotic, but I don’t get mad. I probably started repressing my rage when I was young, for some reason. It just became a habit to not allow myself to get angry in most situations. But when Saki and I got taken by the group of ghosts-” Akane cut herself off. Rikka laid still, waiting for Akane to continue. 

“I just- I was a little peeved, at first, but then I had to go up against this actual demon. And I didn’t have my Smile Pact on me, so the only powers I had were my fists and some stored up energy from the sun. And it was clear he was more powerful than me.  And then my arm- well you know. I was suddenly so angry. I was in pain, and I was frustrated at even having to do the stupid trial, and I was just so, so angry. I gathered up all my sun energy and just let loose. I broke his leg easily and then it was like he was afraid of me . And I know Saki has some issues related to this whole event too, so I shouldn’t be too judgemental of myself, but still. I- I got mad and I hurt someone. Who’s to say I won’t do it again? And Miyuki- yeah what she did was annoying and I was a little upset, but what if she makes me really upset? What if I hurt her?”

“That is… a lot,” Rikka admitted. “How long have you been sitting on this?”

“A while,” Akane shrugged. 

“Well,” Rikka sat up to emphasise her point. Akane’s hands fell away from her hair. “For one thing, I think it’s literally impossible for you to hurt Miyuki. And, if I’m being honest, you not allowing yourself to be angry at her could damage your relationship even more.”

“You’re right, I know you’re right. I also don’t believe you.”

“I mean, obviously you’re not going to fix this problem with one conversation. You need to talk about these feelings more, man, and with Miyuki.”  

“Yeah,” Akane sighed. “And you need to have that talk with Mana.” 

“Fine. I’ll have to do it tomorrow though, so the conversation actually sticks,”

Akane snorted. “Guess that means it’s never gonna happen,”

“God, we’re a mess,” Rikka dragged her hands over her face. “And I mean all the Bi Buddies, not just you and me.”

“It a bisexual thing,” Akane quipped. Rikka laughed. 

“You know,” Akane said after a while, “I’ve been thinking. What if the time loop isn’t ending because we don’t want it to end?”

“What?”

“I mean, like we all want it to stop, sure, but there’s also plenty of reasons for us to want time to stop mattering. Nagisa, for example, is finally able to get Honoka that gift. Saki can avoid her uncle without causing a scene. Rin can work on something that will surprise Nozomi. Kanade, you, and I can all avoid talking to our pink cures. I could go on.”

“Holy shit,” Rikka said, the pieces falling together. “That’s it!” 

“I take it you figured something out?”

“The café is related to the cause of the time loop, but none of us suspect it because we don’t want to. We’re content to live the rest of our lives on December 23- or we were at some point and there’s some magical thing taking advantage of that!”

Rikka looked to Akane for validation. Akane’s started to widen as she began to realize how much Rikka made sense.

“We go to this café at least once every loop.” Akane put her head in her hands. “Of course it would have something to do with it. It can’t be the food though, because none of us ever get the same thing.”

“Maybe it has something to do with- I don’t know. We need the six of us together to really compare notes.” 

December 23

Rikka >>> the Bi Buddies (8:59 PM)

Rikka: EMERGENCY MEETING OUTSIDE OF THE CURE CAFÉ

Nagisa: now????

Rikka: WE MAY HAVE MADE A BREAKTHROUGH 

Rin: OH MY GOD WHAT

Saki: WILL OUR SUFFERING FINALLY END

Rikka and Akane stood anxiously waiting for the four other members of their group. Rin and Kanade arrived quickly, and to the surprise of everyone, Nagisa and Saki did not leave them waiting very long. 

“Okay, spill, what’s the breakthrough,” Rin demanded. 

“Right,” Rikka said. “So the Cure Café definitely has something to do with the time loop, but I haven’t figured out an exact cause yet.”

Kanade opened her mouth to start asking questions, but Akane jumped in. 

“Has there been any loop where any of us didn’t go to this café at least once?”

“No.” Kanade admitted. “Oh god.”

“Exactly,” Rikka pointed to Kanade. “But why didn’t any of us notice? I think, at least on some level, we wanted to keep going through the time loop. It sure as hell was a convenient excuse to avoid our problems, right?”

“That it did,” Saki frowned. “But what caused the time loop? I mean, we never order the same thing, and half the time we don’t even enter the café together.”

“Maybe it’s someone we interacted with,” Nagisa suggested. 

“Like the barista?” Akane glanced at Rikka.

“Exactly like the barista,” Rikka agreed, slightly concerned. 

 “How unfortunate,” said a voice from behind them. “I was hoping we could drag this on a little longer.”

On the other side of the street was the rainbow haired barista. The whites of her eyes had been colored black and her teeth had grown sharp. 

“How is she still hot?” Rin muttered under her breath. Rikka had to agree. Then the definity not human barista attacked.   

She charged at Rikka first, and Rikka (who was forever thankful that she had Precure experience under her belt) quickly dodged, which sent the barista charging through the window. She picked herself up rather easily and through a chair at Rikka. It missed, but hit Kanade straight in the chest.

“OW!” She yelled. Akane charged at the barista/creature and tackled her. Rikka helped Kanade get up, while Saki and Nagisa ran over to help fight. 

Rin picked up the chair, and the three of them went into the café to help out. Akane’s surprise tackle had thrown the creature out, but soon she had gained enough momentum to throw Akane at Nagisa, knocking them both down. Saki had a good grab on the creature’s left arm, and so Rin went to hold down her right. 

“I can’t believe I was working up the nerve to flirt with you,” Rikka growled. 

“Sorry, you’re not really my type,” the creature admitted, shaking Saki off. 

“Then who is?”

The creature glanced at Nagisa. 

“Of fucking course.”

“What?” Nagisa exclaimed. 

“Seriously? You’re a magic creature, I would’ve thought you’d have better taste,” said Akane, shoving Nagisa off her. 

“I am a fae, we have a weakness for hot idiots,” 

As the creature (fae?) was distracted arguing with Akane, Kanade came up behind her and hit her with the chair, knocking her out. 

“Oh my god,” Kanade wheezed, “How does this always happen to us,”

“I don’t fucking know,” Rikka said back to her. 

Rikka woke up with a start at 7:32 AM on December 23rd. She grabbed her phone and saw a text from Nagisa. 

December 23

Nagisa >>> the Bi Buddies (5:34 AM)

Nagisa: ok i know none of you are awake but as soon as you are PLEASE meet up at the magic library 

Right. Okay. Shit. There was a magic fae creature after them and they needed to deal with it. Rikka got dressed as quickly as possible and tried to run out the door. 

Her mother (of course her mother was there at this moment, couldn’t she be at the hospital right now??) stopped her. 

“Where are you going in such a hurry?”

“Uh….” Rikka panicked. “My friend Nagisa thinks she might be pregnant,” 

“Oh, um, well-”

“So I have to go help her okay BYE!”

Sorry Nagisa. Rikka thought as she ran out of the house to the nearest bookshelf. (It would be way too suspicious if she disappeared in her own house.)   

(Little did she know, everyone except Nagisa had used the pregnancy scare as their excuse. Nagisa told her father she was going to get Honoka a gift. ) 

Rikka arrived at the magic library fourth. Kanade and Saki arrived a little later than her. 

“Okay,” Nagisa said holding her phone. “So I had a few hours before any of you woke up and I googled what a fae is.”

“It’s like a fairy, but a mean one,” Akane said immediately. Everyone looked at her. “What? I’m dating Miyuki. You expect me not to know fairy tale terms?”

“Fair.” Nagisa continued. “But I found some specific sources about time faes? They trap their victims in time and that way they can continuously feed on them. I think that's what she was doing to us. Um, there was also some stuff about the fae needing to have power over their victims? I didn’t really get that.”  

“Names,” Akane gasped. “Faes gain power over you when you give them your name.”

“Brilliant move on her part, then, working at a café,” Kanade commented. 

“Wait a minute,” Rikka frowned, “why did she need us to keep coming back to the café then? Is that where she fed on us?”
“Or is it because when she set back time she lost our names and only had enough power to bring us to the café and have us give them to her again?” Saki suggested. 

“So maybe the way to stop her is to not give her our names?” Rin put her hands on her hips. “Easy enough. We’re self aware now, we just got to avoid the café.” 

“No,” Akane said. “We’re the Bi Buddies. We’re doing this in the most obnoxious way possible.”

And that’s how the Bi Buddies end up back at the café. The fae saw them and smiled. 

“What can I get for you?”

Akane went first. “I’d like a black coffee. You have beautiful hair, by the way.” 

“Thank you,” her smile was looking more forced. “And to whom is this order going to?”

“Firebrand.” 

“T- that’s 300 yen. Thank you.” She looked frustrated now. Saki went up next. 

“Hi, yes, can I have a peppermint infused hot chocolate? For Moonshine. Thank you.”

Rikka said her name was Elsa. Rin called herself Mom. Kanade told the fae her name was:

“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. You can shorthand it on the cup to just Super.”

Nagisa went last. The fae looked like she was on the edge of a mental breakdown. Nagisa said her name was Mamma Mia. 

The fae launched herself from behind the counter, tackling Nagisa. Akane latched onto her neck, and she lessened her grip on Nagisa, who kicked her in the face. The other customers in the shop started oohing and aahing. Rikka yelled at one of them to call the police. The fae grabbed Rikka’s wrist and threw her to the other side of the shop.  

Rikka heard a crash and when she looked up she saw Rin was now outside, mildly covered in glass. Kanade was coming up behind the fae with a chair again, but it didn’t work. She soon joined Rin outside. So did the chair. 

Rikka joined the tackle pill with Nagisa and Akane, and the three of them soon had the fae outside as well. 

“Move back!” Akane shouted as her arms and hands started to glow. Rikka realized she had never seen the sun or moon cures use their excess power before, just heard about it. 

“I thought you ran out of sun juice!” Nagisa cried. 

“I don’t have enough to s-” Akane was cut off mid explanation by the fae crashing down on her. She grabbed the fae’s arm and threw her, where she was cause by Saki. Saki’s eyes were glowing an eerie silver. 

“I’ve stared down God, bitch. You ain’t special.” Saki said to the fae. She then threw the fae into the ground. 

“Is she out?” Kanade asked. She was out. 

The police came and took her away. One of them said something about ‘stupid goddamn magic fights’ but they weren’t needed for questioning. They were done. 

“Holy shit.” Rin sat down on the side of the road. “Is it over? Is it real again?”

“It better be,” Saki sat down next to Rin. “That was cool as fuck and if no one remebers that I’ll cry.” 

“Saki, every time you swear I die a little more inside.” Kanade told her. 

“Now about the sun juice-” Nagisa turned to Akane. 

“I had enough stored away to do some cool tricks, but not enough to keep me awake for 8 days.” Was the explanation. 

“I could sleep for 8 days after this,” Rikka said. “Longest day of my life.”

That earned her a few chuckles. 

“You know what?” Akane stood up. “Even if time isn’t real, we totally kicked that fairy’s ass. We deserve to celebrate. I’m inviting you all and your families AND your precure teams to my dinner party.” 

“Are we seriously all going to fit in your restaurant?” Rin asked. Akane looked at Rikka. 

“Oh,” Rikka realized what was needed of her. “I can help with that.” 

“Fuck it.” Nagisa said. “Let’s have a party.”

Akane had spent most of her time in the time loop learning two things.  1- the guitar, and 2- the okonomiyaki orders of almost every single person she knew. This would come in handy which she told the Bi Buddies to come to the dinner party, and invite their families. She already knew what they wanted. 

She also knew, from her time as Rikka’s personal heater, that Alice had a huge venue open that could be used for ‘Precure Related Events’.  And it was common knowledge Rikka could convince Alice to do a lot of things, including letting her use a venue. 

Really, the hardest part about her plan was convincing her parents, who were unsure about going to a new place to have their dinner party. But Akane managed by telling her mom it would already be clean when they got there. 

She then further convinced the Bi Buddies to help set up by doing … very little, actually. 

December 23

Akane >>> the Bi Buddies (10:32 AM)

Akane: so who would be willing to help little old me set up our party

Rikka: i’m already there fuckface

Akane: yeah but all you’ve done is complain about how cold you are

Rikka: I GOT YOU THIS VENUE

Kanade: i’m on my way

Saki: all the most reason to avoid chad

Rin: is… is your uncle named chad

Saki: no but he should be

Nagisa: i’ll be over soon too

Akane: neat

Akane realized she should warn Nagisa that her parents knew her as the friend who had a pregnancy scare. Oops. 

When the Bi Buddies arrived, the rest of them also started warning Nagisa. 

“So like, my parents might think that you-um,” Saki trailed off. Akane couldn’t believe what was happening. 

“Yeah your name was there and it was such a funny excuse,” Kanade added. 

 “How many of you said I was having a pregnancy scare to get out of the house,” Nagisa forced out. Five hands were raised. 

“Rin,” said Nagisa, sounding disappointed. “How could you.” 

“It was a really good excuse Nagisa,” Her voice was weak. Akane could tell she felt ashamed. 

“Why?” Nagisa finally said. “Why couldn’t you have chosen anyone else to pick on? We had literally all the time in the world.”

Oh, this was a question for Akane. “Well if they ever met you it had to seem like a scenario that would actually happen to you. Like I wouldn’t say Rikka had a pregnancy scare, that’s just not realistic?”

“And it is for me??” 

After Nagisa had a few minutes to freak out, Akane put her to work. They didn't need to clean the venue, but there were some decorations that needed to be put up. Akane recruited Saki and Kanade into helping her cook, which made the whole process go a lot smoother. 

Well that and. Well. Akane also had a slightly selfish reason to expand the dinner party. 

If she made it less about her and Miyuki and more about the Bi Buddies, when Miyuki told her she wasn’t ready for their parents to know it would hurt a little less. 

“Stop thinking, it makes you less warm,” Rikka mumbled. She had her arms wrapped around Akane’s shoulders and was leaning on her back. 

“We’re inside, go find an actual heater.”

“But you’re more comfortable- ” 

Akane made eye contact with her brother who mouthed something along the lines of ‘what in God’s name is happening with you’. 

Akane told him to go help their mom. 

Around 7 (yes they had to push back the dinner, but it was fine) people started showing up. 

“Akane what the fuck,” is Nao’s first reaction. “You did all of this today?”

“I mean, I had help?”

“This time around you did!” Kanade shouted from across the venue. 

“How dare you assume I haven’t bound you all to my side for eternity!” Was Akane’s response. 

As people arrived and sat down to eat, things quieted down. The adult chatted politely, while all of the Precure got to have a bit more fun.  

Then Akane heard her mom saying something along the lines of “Oh your daughter is Nagisa” and she knew she had to do something.  

“Nagisa, that was a very funny excuse you came up with!” Akane said, a bit louder than she would normally. “Very, very funny!” 

“Akane, what are you doing?” Miyuki asked, concerned. Rikka, however, caught on. 

“Yes! Very humorous! I’m sure my mom believed me wholeheartedly!” 

“OH my god,” Nagisa hissed. “Stop bringing that up!” 

“Bringing what up?” Honoka looked at Nagisa. 

“You’re just SO funny-” 

Nagisa threw a fork at her. 

Akane gasped as dramatically as she could. “Nagisa! How could you!”

“I am ending your bloodline.”

“Bold of you to assume I was going to continue it in the first place!” 

Rikka burst out laughing. This led Kanade to start to cackle as well, and soon all the Bi Buddies were out of it, including Nagisa. Akane was well aware that everyone else was slightly confused, but that almost made it better. 

After the food was finished, people started mingling. This led Saki to suggest they needed music and dancing. 

“That’s a great idea!” Nozomi cheered. “Does anyone have an aux cord?” 

“No one give it to her!” Rin glanced at Akane. “We need a live band.”

“Okay?” Hibiki questioned. “I can play the piano-”

“Not you.” Kanade interrupted. “It’s time for our performance, we need more than a piano .” 

“Performance? PERFORMANCE??” 

This meant Akane was on guitar, Rikka was piano, Nagisa was on drums and Saki was on bass. As the crowd looked on in complete confusion, Nagisa signaled them to start. 

Akane, while playing, had the chance to see Nozomi’s face when Rin and Kanade started dancing. 

She’s a little jealous, isn’t she? Akane’s eyes wandered over to Hibiki. And so is she. 

Once Rin and Kanade’s performance was done, Akane and the rest of the ‘band’ joined everyone else on the floor. The dancing became a lot less formal. Every once and a while Kanade and Rin would get paired up and they would whip the floor with everyone else. But it was so, so fun. 

Rikka pulled her into a dance. 

“What, you get cold?”

“Yes. But I was wondering if you talked to Miyuki?”

“Maybe in a bit. You talk to Mana?”

Rikka laughed slightly. “Maybe in a bit.”

“By the way, in the summer time I will be using you as my personal cooler.” 

“That’s fair.”

“Excuse me.” Akane turned to see Miyuki. “Can I cut in?”

 “Of course.” Rikka let go of Akane’s hand. She gave a thumbs up. Akane returned it. 

She and Miyuki started dancing. 

“Hey.” Miyuki said. 

“Hey.” 

“I didn’t get to see you all day,” Miyuki smiled softly. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too. Sorry I kind of expanded the dinner party.”

“Don’t be! I was- I was grateful, sort of,”

“Oh?”

“I don’t know if I’m ready to come out to my parents yet.” Miyuki admitted. Akane squeezed her hand. 

“That’s okay.” 

“Is it? I know you worked really hard today-” 

“Yeah Miyuki, it is. I just- I want to shout to the world that I love you. That’s why I want our parents to know. So I don’t have to be quiet.” Akane told her. Miyuki blushed. 

“Akane that- that was so sweet you absolute jerk.”

Akane laughed. “We can talk about this more later, m’kay? Let’s just have fun tonight.”

“Okay.” Miyuki agreed. “Okay.”

“GUYS!!!!!” Saki’s voice shot through the venue. “IT’S SNOWING!!!” 

It had never snowed on December 23rd before. The Bi Buddies all raced to the window. 

“It’s snowing!!!” Rin screeched. 

“It’s snowing!!!!!” Kanade and Nagisa screamed back at her. Rikka started to cry. 

“It’s snowing…” 

“Alice,” Akane asked, trying to keep her voice level, “what’s the quickest way for me to get out of this venue and into the snow?”

“The window, I think.” Alice smiled. “I didn’t know you liked the snow so much.” 

Akane stopped listening. She opened the window and jumped out of it. She heard some screaming from behind her, but she didn’t care. It was snowing. 

“Heads up!” Nagisa shouted. Akane turned her head and got hit in the face with a snowball. 

“It’s on!” Akane started gathering up some snow, as Saki shrieked with joy and started making snow angels. 

Akane didn’t know at what point the other party goers decided to just accept the chaos, but they did. Almost everyone joined in on a massive snowball fight, including her dad. She got him right in the face. 

“That’s for screwing up your back again!” She shouted. 

“I didn’t want to!” He yelled back. 

“Rikka, please have mercy!” 

“Oh god it’s freezing- DON’T YOU DARE LIGHT A MATCH IT WILL MELT THE SNOWBALLS!”

“Do not- I repeat do not- let Reika and Karen join forces.”

“Ellen, have you ever made a snow angel before?”

“I don’t think so?”

“WHAT?! THIS IS A CRIME THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.”   

At some point, people started getting cold and began heading inside. The laughter didn’t stop though, and that was what was important.  

“Akane please ,” Rikka whined after they got inside. “Please be warm.”

“I’ll do my best?” Akane looked around at the whole group. People had started to group up for warmth. Nagisa and Honoka were letting Hikari snuggle with them. Nozomi and Rin and taken on Rin’s siblings. Kanade- well, Kanade during the snowball fight had gone up to Hibiki and kissed her, so now the two of them were together. Saki was with her little sister, and, actually a lot of Nao’s little siblings were crowded around her too. Hmm. 

Rikka wrapped her arms around Akane. “Much better.” 

“Jesus, you’re cold.”

“I know,” “Um, Rikka?” Miyuki walked up to them. “Can I have Akane? Thanks.”

“Whoa, whoa whoa, you don’t get to take my heater without reason.”

“Reason?” Miyuki started fidgeting with her hands. That meant she was nervous. Akane was going to throw Rikka off her, but Miyuki spoke again. “Well, she’s my girlfriend so I get cuddling rights.”

Did Miyuki know what she was doing? Her parents were right there.

“I see how it is,” Rikka sighed. “I guess I’ll suffer.”

“Go over to Makoto you leech,” Akane shoved her in the direction of Makoto. Miyuki grabbed Akane’s hand. 

“I want to tell the whole world I love you too,” she said. “Can I?”

“Yes?” Akane had no idea where this was going. Miyuki pulled her in closer. 

OH.

“GAY!” Kanade shouted. 

“KANADE I KNOW FOR A FACT YOU LISTEN TO GIRL IN RED, DON’T EVEN TRY!”    

December 24

Nagisa >>> the group that keeps on growing (8:02 AM)

Nagisa: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE EVERYONE 

Kanade: CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saki: i never thought i would make it

Rikka: i am in actual tears

Rikka: one day till christmas, and then the music stops

Rin: yesterday was the longest day of my entire life

Kanade: SAME

Mai: ok, seriously, what did i miss

Honoka: we have no idea, they’ve been like this since yesterday

Nozomi: did you all know rin could salsa dance????

Rikka: yeah she’s also pretty good at modern dance

Nozomi: what the fuck

Akane: rin dancing’s old news

Kurumi: it is very much not

Akane: IT’S DECEMBER 24TH BOIZ

Saki: the 24!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kanade: you know i’m not over the fae having a crush on nagisa

Nagisa: i’m not over you all being terrible people with bad excuses

Reika: well something definitely happened

Honoka: the fae what

Akane: you know what honoka?

Akane: don’t even worry about it

Honoka: well now i’m going to

Nagisa: you don’t need to 

Nagisa: it’s over now and we’re all good

Rikka: actually? We kinda are good

Rin: or better than before

Kanade: that’s new

Saki: but i kinda like the new vibe

Akane: go us, getting some character development 

Rin: go us, indeed

Chapter Text

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