'Nervous isn't enough to describe it.' Hikari thought, even as her tail nervously and slowly swished back and forth.

She found herself staring at the various hanging garments, wondering if she would ever will herself to move and put one on. She was standing behind a screen, and her sisters except for Dai and Takeko were waiting for her. The four older Maids were to help decide which uniform The Master would have them make. He had designed these ones.

"Is there something wrong, Hikari?" The Master said and she felt herself move as she bolted upright.

"Ny... Nya, no, Master. I... I'm just not sure which order to go in." She replied.

"Well, how many are there?" Yatsumi said.

"Four." The Master answered for her.

"Okay. Pick a number between one and five."

Hikari frowned.

"Five?"

"Okay, then take your uniform off and model that!" Yatsumi giggled, as Hikari blushed. The Master sighed.

"We're picking a uniform, not a birthday suit." He admonished Hikari's older sister.

"Sorry, Master, it was just too easy. But anyway, Hikari, give the designs a number in your head. And Taira will pick the number for you."

"How come I have to pick it?" Taira complained.

"Because." Yatsumi said, and even though the screen hid them from her too, she knew the two were close to fighting just from the way Taira was growling as she had complained.

"Okay, give me a number." Hikari said fast.

"Three." Taira selected.

Hikari looked at design 3. It was a lighter blouse, like Takeko had wanted, but not a shorter skirt as such. Not a skirt at all, but in fact, puffy shorts that resembled a skirt. And more importantly, the entire uniform's colours were reversed compared to the current one. White was black, black was white, meaning that the Maids would wear all white if they wore this. She pulled it on and walked out from the screen, noting that The Master had been a little off with whatever measurements he used. It was tight around her waist...

They looked at her.

"Hikari, we need to see the back." Sora said.

"O-Oh! Sorry, I forgot..." She said, and turned around, her tail trailing at her waist.

"Nya... That's boring. Twirl slowly so we see the whole thing." Mimi added. Hikari blushed, embarrassed she'd made such a mistake.

She quickly fixed it, slowly rotating on the spot.

"Not sure I like the shorts or colour scheme." Sora said. Yatsumi nodded.

"White might be nice in the sun but the shorts have to go." Mimi noted.

"I don't want shorts either. I prefer the skirt." Taira shrugged.

"Hmm. Well, that simply leaves two then, one of the others is the same but with normal colours." The Master said.

Hikari modelled the other two. One was an all white version of their normal current uniform, whilst the last was a lighter blouse, a shorter skirt, and shorter socks. Oddly, there had been sandals and normal short-heeled shoes with this last uniform.

"That's so you can have a choice. If it's too warm, you can wear the sandals." The Master said. The other four sisters nodded, while Hikari was glad their master had considered this.

"I think that one wins it." Sora said. The others agreed.

"Very well. Hikari, put your normal uniform back on. Girls, the four of you can go back to work and sew the rest of the uniforms in a few days."

The five maids, five sisters, bowed to their Master and obeyed.

***

"You could just lose weight and they could copy it without you standing there like an idiot." Dai fumed rudely.

She hadn't been happy to hear shorts had been knocked out, and was even less happy to see the real thing when she found three of her sisters in the sewing room. Hikari wore the original, still a little too small, once more, as Mimi and Sora were working on a second one, with the size issue at the waist resolved.

Dai was also secretly jealous that Hikari was the first to wear them and the first to be getting a complete set.  And also a little annoyed that Hikari was not to clean out the fountain with her today but that the pair would be waiting until the new uniforms were all done.

"You could lose a little weight from your fat head!" Mimi retorted on Hikari's behalf.

"Huh, whatever. It's not like it matters much." Dai pouted and left the room, tail swishing angrily.

"That girl..." Sora muttered as she approached Hikari with a measuring tape. And for some reason as it wrapped around her...

"Come on, Hikari, you're the only one of us without a Kimono..." Sora said, tape in hand.

"But why couldn't I just buy one?" She asked, confused.

Mimi and Sora had first dragged her to pick out a pattern and material, and she had gone for pink with a pattern in yellow. Mimi and Sora had noted that the pattern was quite similar to the Crest of Light, which Hikari felt had been pretty obvious. That was why she picked it. And now, in Sora's room, with what Hikari thought was too much of the material and a sewing machine. She'd thought the morning trip had been to just go buy one to be honest.

"Because, you're the little sister of the group. And the big sisters want to do something nice for your first Kimono!" Mimi said.

"That and the fact Yolei's hopeless with a sewing machine so Mimi had me help. Plus, this is cheaper."

"Well, how much do they normally cost?" Hikari asked.

"You'd think you didn't want a Kimono made by your two best friends in the world!" Sora pouted mockingly.

"Well, of course not. I doubt she'd survive standing around in her underwear while Takeru measures her waist and Daisuke tries to operate a sewing machine..." Mimi joked. Sora half-heartedly tried to use the measuring tape as a whip before resuming, neither of them teasing her about the bright blush that had taken over their younger friend's face. At least, not yet they weren't...

"I doubt either of them would survive the blood loss. The nosebleeds would kill them before they could even cut their fingers off on a sewing machine ...Hikari, stop sucking your stomach in."

"I'm not, that's..."

"Then you really need to put on weight, seriously. My leg's thicker than your waist!"

"That is my leg you're measuring, Sora!"

Sora actually paid attention.

"Whoops. Sorry."

After that, it had been a mess. Needles getting jabbed into her, Sora making pointless measurements that Mimi had to fix, it emerging that Sora was also a little useless with a sewing machine, but...

"Hikari, you still with us? You zoned out a little there." Sora said,

"Nya? Oh, sorry. Are you done measuring?" Hikari said, wondering what she had been so strongly thinking about. The daydream had completely vanished when she had been snapped out of it...

"Yeah, Mimi's starting your second uniform... Well, first, I guess, with that smaller waist on that one."

"Okay..." Hikari was puzzled. Why was she thinking about Kimonos in her daydream? She'd never worn anything but the uniform her Master gave her, and... That was it. There was no point in anything else really...

***

"How are you liking your uniform?" Hikari teased Dai.

The pair were now in the garden, tending to the plants that were now blooming  freely as the warmer weather came in. All the maids now wore their new uniforms. She loved it now she was wearing it properly, for it was a lot less cumbersome to wear in the hot weather. Dai had protested the short skirt and the lack of any stockings, proclaiming it had shown too much. Takeko had eventually snapped at her constant moaning about it and had reminded her sister the importance of the uniform.

"Nya... It's not so bad, but I had fun yesterday..." Dai grinned, her ears perked up alongside the toothy smile.

"Yeah, about that... Why?" Hikari sighed.

The two were heading for the greenhouse, which would have been hell in the old uniforms.

"Oh, I just wanted to prove something."

That something had been to prove that a uniform was not needed. How she did that, was ironic. She had protested the new uniforms had shown too much skin, and how had she solved it?

***

"She's what?" Hikari gaped, as Takeko suppressed her giggles.

"She was cleaning the statues in the nude."

"...All the statues are nude."

Takeko gave in, and burst out laughing.

"Not them, her! Sora saw her and now she's running all over the place..."

As if on cue, a loud noise approached.

"Get some clothes on you little idiot! What if The Master sees you?!" Sora screamed, as a very much running and very much naked Dai dashed past.

"I am wearing clothes!" Dai shouted back.

Hikari stared in shock, as Takeko smirked.

"Sandals don't count."

Hikari stood ashen-faced, ears drooped and tail motionless like a petrified snake.

"Oh. That's why she wasn't hurting her feet on the path." She mumbled.

Then it hit her what Dai was actually doing.

The two sisters burst into laughter.

***

Of course, Sora had caught her. Dai could run pretty fast, but Sora had more stamina. Hikari and Takeko had tried to follow a few moments later, and the pair had been shocked to see The Master chuckling as he came their way, the way Sora and Dai may have went past. He had indeed saw his servant's childish attempt to prove a point, and though more amused than scandalised, had still been forced to remind Dai to wear the uniform.

"You're not even a little embarrassed he saw you naked?" Hikari said. Dai shrugged.

"Well, Sora was right on my tail at the time, nya? Had more to worry about. What ones need watered?"

"The Pink Carnations and..."

"Sorry, Hikari. I tried to get the right ones, but I had to go across Tokyo for them. Even Sora's shop was out..." The goggles-wearing brown haired boy apologised for the slightly crushed bouquet of flowers.

"I know, Daisuke. They're fine anyway. I just need to put them in a pot. Thank you."

"Ah, so long as they're okay. Didn't want to give you crappy flowers on your birthday..."

"And what?" Dai asked.

"Huh? Oh, sorry..."

"Zoning out again? You've been doing that a lot. What are you daydreaming about?"

Hikari tried to answer, but whatever had popped into her head was gone. All she could remember was something about Pink Carnations.

"Oh, yeah. Water the Pink Carnations and the Lillies. Then we prune the roses."


***

She wasn't awake as such. She'd never been asleep really. Across from her, a marble statue looked back,  hands bound with ropes and with a strange device perched on the stone head like a crown. For some reason, the statue had red trousers and a yellow top, and it looked angry, like it was arguing with someone to its left.

"Why are they still resisting, Master?" A voice asked. She tried to move her eyes, but could not.  

"Each of them need their own special way to control. They all think differently, that's why their readings aren't good here... Well, except our statue in red and yellow." A second voice replied.

"But you managed to make me, Master." The first voice said.

"Yes, because you were first. You're going to be the leader. If any of their conditioning breaks, you need to stop them."

"Really?!" The voice sounded pleased.

"Yes. I still have to work on your programming a little, but you'll be keeping all of them in line..."

Footsteps. Someone was nearing.

"I think though, she's next. The readings were good."

In front of her, a white-haired boy stared in the same direction as she did, at the statue opposite.

"Yes... I'm sure her mind is now all mushy and malleable..."

He held up a gold device, and a second later, the statue changed. It became flesh, but not the same. It now had cat ears. The statue-turned-catgirl blinked, then quickly stood up, pulling a tail out from the back of the red trousers. She looked in confusion at the new tail.

"Nya?" She said, as the white-haired boy watched. His glee was evident even only seeing the back of his head...

***

Weeks later, Hikari was still her usual self on the outside. Chirpy, enthusiastic, and excited by every new day. On the inside though, she had worries. She had been having the strange dreams a lot at night plus the odd moments where she seemed to zone out, and had been unsure who to talk to about them. She worried Dai wouldn't take her seriously and make fun of her, Sora would tell her just not to worry about them, Taira and Yatsumi would either be like Sora or Dai, and Mimi probably would just shrug and have no idea what they meant. She wasn't sure about Takeko either, but of all her sisters, Takeko seemed most like the one she could talk with and get a result, but getting her alone wasn't easy.

But today, she found her blonde sister sitting on the bench in the gnome garden, and was glad to see Dai was not present. It was now or never.

"Hi, Hikari. I'm glad we've got these new uniforms for Summer, I'd have been boiling in the old ones." Takeko said, still looking warm despite that. She had been mopping floors all day.

"Takeko... Can I talk to you about something?"

The blue-eyed blonde's round ears perked up.

"Sure, Hikari."

Hikari sat down beside her sister.

"What's up?" Takeko asked. Hikari swallowed.

"I've been having weird dreams..."

"Dreams? What about?"

Hikari wasn't sure what to say to describe them.

"Well... I keep dreaming about all the statues in the gallery. And the gnomes. And... Well, there's these things I saw in The Master's office and for some reason I see those too."

"What things? Like, files?" Takeko asked.

"No... A little screen and some buttons." Hikari tried to describe the devices, but she barely remembered them. It had taken her a while to even associate the devices with those in her dreams.

"Like a phone or something?"

"No, they were all sorts of colours, and they didn't have number pads. It was just a little screen and some buttons. It was about the size of a phone though."

Takeko thought for a moment.

"Is it maybe a bit like the thing The Master carries?" She said. Hikari recalled The Master did have something similar to what she saw in her dreams, but it was larger, and gold...

"Maybe." Hikari agreed.

"But what else happened in the dreams?"

"Well... I can't really explain them that well. I just... Well, I dreamed the statues were all alive."

Takeko thought for a moment.

"Well, they did always make you nervous. Maybe you've just been working too hard recently?" Takeko offered.

"Maybe." Hikari sighed.

"Maybe just a few good nights sleep. And letting yourself wait for the alarm for once. You're up way before it all the time I hear."

Hikari nodded.

"Maybe I'm waking up too early... I mean, I never feel tired until late, but maybe it's just because I keep working."

"Yeah. All you need is to get enough rest, sis." Takeko smiled. Hikari felt far more at ease now.

"I think I'll go now actually. I've done all my work for today."

"Okay.  Sweet dreams, sis." Takeko said, giving her sister a hug before Hikari went to her room.

***

"What shall be done with them?" A voice asked.

"I will leave these ones as they are. The others are taking conditioning well, but I need to be sure I have it right. Perhaps later I can determine a way to condition them too, but I have little time. Even speeding things up in this pocket means I still have a time limit." Another replied.

"Where will they go if you keep them?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I can expand the space. Altering the conditioning of the others shouldn't be too difficult, they're still unbroken. Hopefully their minds will show us the patterns we need to easily condition others in future. If I can figure out which ones to put in storage for a rainy day rather than waste time worrying about them remembering everything or just plain not being under my control it will make going back to normal time easier. I can't have half my subjects disobedient."

"I see. And what of the failure?" The first voice continued to ask questions.

The other voice sighed.

"Conditioning does not retake. It seems once broken, there can be no replacement... Yet. I'm confident that someday maybe there can be some new way, but for now he... I mean, she... joins our latest acquisitions."

Footsteps. The voices drew closer. She could only see their heads below in the shadowy darkness.

"These three appear to be very close to ready." The first voice said.

"Yes... It shouldn't be too difficult to add them into the memories of the others that worked while we make them think the grounds have always been as big as I'm going to make them. For now, we leave them here. Make sure none of the others ever come down here. You know what to do."

"Yes."

Footsteps, and they walked away. She wished she could still turn her head, what little remained of her thought. She could hear the new presence now. Chirpy, eager, wanting to be born and do her job soon....

***

"Oh..."

Hikari blinked awake, and then realised it was still dark. She fumbled quickly to find her lamp on her beside table, and then groaned as she looked at the clock. Four AM. So much for waking with the alarm.

"Wait... I fell asleep with my uniform on..." She groaned again. She was awake now, but too early.

"Well, I'd better get out of my uniform and try to get back to sleep I guess."

She did that quickly, and lay back in her night-dress.

"Another weird dream..." She sighed. All the details were going but the hazy parts. Two voices. A strange statue. And something about the way the dream was watched, how she saw it...

'I can't worry about dreams all the time.' She thought to herself, lying back, and trying to go back to sleep.

She gave up an hour later, and washed and dressed. She was out of the room a full hour before the alarm went off.

***

"It works on you, but not on me..." Yatsumi grumbled.

"Well, our old hairstyles didn't work with the new uniforms." Taira replied. Hikari smiled as she watched her older sisters help each other try to change hairstyle.

Having awoken first, she found herself helping Mimi as breakfast was made. Takeko had made breakfast for The Master, Dai was waiting to the last possible minute to wake up, and Sora was waiting for The Master to finish so she could clean his room. It meant only Taira and Yatsumi were there to wait for the breakfast cooked by their other two sisters.

And like the rest of the past seven days since the pair had received their new uniforms, Yatsumi and Taira tried to find the perfect hairstyle to go with them. Of course, that hairstyle changed daily, and what had been great one morning suddenly felt wrong the next and had, had, had to be changed. Currently, the pair had identically braided hair, though Yatsumi had low opinions of the style on her.

"What about a ponytail? Just a normal one, not braided or anything..."

"Maybe. I'll try that." Taira said, as Mimi and Hikari brought the four plates out.

"Mimi, what do you think would work best?" Yatsumi asked.

"I'm not sure. I thought your hair was fine before."

The aspiring hairdressers scoffed.

"We can't all be lucky and have perfect hairstyles for everything we wear every day. Help us out here, sis!"  Taira said. Mimi simply smiled in reply, and the four sat in silence as they ate.

"Who is it that's doing today's roster?" Hikari asked. There was a job she was hoping to avoid.

"Sora's done it already." Mimi answered. Hikari felt nervous.

"Have you seen it?" Yatsumi asked.

"Not yet. I think we should go see after she's cleaned The Master's room. She left it in the office I think"

"Ah, okay. Hey, you know what that means?" Taira grinned.

"What?"

"The four of us can try and find the best hairstyle for Yatsumi before we see the roster!"


***

She had checked the roster after they had eventually went with the ponytail for Yatsumi. To her displeasure, the job she dreaded was there for her. It was her turn now to clean the statues, and given her dreams lately, she was dreading going into that dark gallery again.

"Are you sure you'll be all right?" Takeko said with concern. It had been her turn to work the roster today.

"Yeah. They're just statues. I shouldn't be worried." Hikari nodded.

"Okay, but if you want help, just come find one of us." Sora added.

Hikari made her way to the poorly-lit room, and neared the first statue. She tried not to tremble much as she set up the stepladder to clean the first statue.

'How do these things get so dusty anyway...' She wondered idly, trying not to think about all the shadows and dark patches in the room. She began climbing...

***

She woke up in her room, with a worried Sora and Takeko by her side.

"What... Why am I here?"

"You fainted while you were cleaning the statues, Hikari." The Master said. She looked at him, having only just noticed he was here.

"Oh... I don't remember fainting. I'm sorry, Master, I'll go and finish..." She said, trying to sit up, but Sora held her back.

"No, Hikari. Takeko told me about how you've not been resting much lately. I think you need a day or two to relax rather than working all the time." Sora said.

"I agree. Why, you do more work for me than anyone but Sora, little one." The Master said gently.

"Um... Okay..."

"Yeah, we don't want to see you tire yourself out, Sis." Takeko said.

She didn't want to miss work, but maybe she had been overdoing it...

"But... I don't want to sit around doing nothing while everyone else works."

"Don't worry, no one minds, trust me. But perhaps I'll leave you two to convince her it will do her a world of good. She is your sister." The Master said. Takeko and Sora nodded.

"Yes, Master." They said together.

"Take as much time to rest as you need, Hikari." He said, as he left.

"You know, I can remember how cute you two were as kittens..." Sora began. Takeko groaned.

"Not this again."

"Yes, this again, Takeko." Sora said, hugging her little sister and rubbing her head.

"But you weren't that much older than us were you?" Hikari noted.

"No, but you were still cute. You two and Dai always running around together, while Taira and Yatsumi kept climbing the tree..."

She paused for a moment.

"Hikari, we're very lucky to have such a kind Master."

"I know." She nodded in reply. Takeko also nodded agreement.

"He took us in when we had nowhere to go. He's given us shelter, and employment. He's saved our lives. Just remember his kindness."

"I do, Sora. I do."

"He's worried about you like us. Just rest, little sister. We really don't grudge you your rest."

Hikari realised she'd been trying to get her to give in and take the time off. And it had worked. She'd put it in just the right way to get to her.

"Okay, Sora. I won't do any work, but do I have to stay in bed all day?"

"You can wander around, just don't help anyone. I know you won't get in the way, you're not Dai..." Sora said, with a chuckle at the end.

"All right." Hikari nodded agreement. Her sisters bid her goodbye, and got on with their day.

She lay in bed a little while, before eventually, she stood up...

***

She decided the first place she would go would be to ask a question, for some reason. She knocked on the door.

"Come in."

She entered, and The Master looked up.

"Oh, Hikari. Resting, I hope?"

"Yes, Master. But I wondered... I wanted... Can I ask you a question?"

He smiled.

"You just did, but go on."

"Well... It's about that strange device you have..." She said, nervously.

The Master picked it up, looking at the gold device.

"This? It's just a phone. Were you wanting one? Sora did say she thought radios or phones could help you and the other Maids..."

For a moment, she had a doubt. If it was a phone, why had she never heard him get a call? But why would it not be a phone?

"Um, no, Master, I just wondered what it was..." She said quickly.

Maybe it had a silent mode.

"I see. Was there anything else?"

"No, Master, that's all. I was just curious. Thank you." She said, and left.

"I think I'll go see who's cleaned the statues..." She muttered. She had been told not to work, true, but she just wanted to be sure that what had been her job was being done. She felt so guilty that she was failing The Master...

***

"Oh, Hikari..." Sora said, from behind the male angel statue.

"I just wanted to see who was doing this." Hikari said sheepishly.

"Well, it was me, and I'm nearly done."

Sora finished, and climbed down, walking over to her sister.

"I know it's easier to see all the dust on the statues with the spotlights, and they look better, but I have to show you something. See, I'm pretty sure you weren't just tired out, but it was a big reason..." Sora said, leading Hikari to a corner.

"You think I was scared?" She mumbled.

"I don't think, little sister, I know. I know you're still scared of the dark even if you don't. I'm your big sister, and it's my job to know that kind of thing. But when you clean them again, you don't have to be afraid." Sora said, and then flipped a switch.

All the spotlights went out, and Hikari stared in surprise. Instead of blackness, more lights came on and illuminated the whole room.

"We never used it much before but even I hadn't known there was a way to do that until recently. Even The Master only found out a little while ago, but the system had been broken. I asked if I could try see what was wrong, and I found a fuse for those lights was broken. I fixed it. And now you can clean the statues in the light!"

"Wow..." Hikari smiled.

"It's not just for you though. Between you and me? Taira doesn't like the shadows much either." Sora said, conspiratorially.

Hikari's response was a giggle.

"I won't tell her if you don't."

"Good. Well, I'd better get on. You should look at these now they're not so scary. Maybe you'll appreciate them more now?" Sora suggested as she left.

Hikari looked at them now, seeing them as the art they were rather than the strange shadows and black patches she'd been too worried about before. They all looked so real...

***

She wasn't sure why, but she had went outside, to the Gnomes. And there she had sat in peace for... For a while. Just staring...

She had stared at the gnomes. The goofy grins on each of them. The garish paint. As she stared... Something was feeling wrong about this....

"Oh, hey, Hikari." Dai said as she saw her sister. Takeko followed.

"How are you feeling?" Takeko added.

"I looked at the statues..." Hikari mumbled. Unconsciously, her hand went to her head.

"Oh... Okay..." Dai said, looking at Takeko, who then looked at her other sister in concern.

"Are you feeling okay?" Dai continued.

"I don't know. I looked at the Gnomes too..." She said, standing up, and looking at the cat-like gnome. Neither of her sisters failed to note she did so somewhat unsteadily.

"Hikari... How long have you been here?" Takeko asked. She noted her sister looked a little red... Sunburned? Her ears were almost flat on her head and her tail almost lifeless. A sure sign she wasn't herself, to Takeko.

Hikari turned.

"I don't know, Takeru. I really don't know."

Her sisters stared at her, puzzled.

"Takeru? But that's a boys name..." Dai noted.

"I think you've had too much sun, sis..." Takeko said.

"Oh." Hikari said,

"Don't worry, I've had enough sun for now." He said, smiling.

"But... Everyone else is swimming now. Don't you want to join them?" She said. She didn't want to be alone but she wanted everyone else to have fun.

The blond boy shook his head.

"It's okay. It's not fair to leave you all alone just because you were feeling unwell. Are you okay now?"

"Hikari? Are you okay?" Takeko spoke again, waving a hand in front of her sister's face as Dai pinched her. Hikari jumped in surprise.

"Nya! Don't do that! I... I was just... I was thinking about when were at the beach."

"Hikari... We've never been to a beach." Dai said, alarmed. Was her sister hallucinating?

"Get Sora. I'll take her to the shade." Takeko instructed with a whisper. Dai nodded, and ran.

"Hikari, I think you're confused. You've got sunstroke or something. Come on, let's go sit by the fountain... It's cooler there."

"Okay... Maybe I am a little..." Hikari said, mumbling now as Takeko led her to beside the fountain. It wasn't far from the Gnome garden. It had a woman standing as a water carrier atop a pillar, water pouring from her overturned urn. She had strange hair for the statue she was, a mass of spiked but still somehow feminine hair that was all over the place...

Hikari looked at the fountain, like she had looked at the statues. Like she had looked at the Gnomes.

"I remember her..." She said, as Takeko made her sit in the shadow of the water carrier woman.

"Yeah, the fountain. You went swimming here when Dai dared you to, and Sora was mad at us all for ages because you couldn't swim and thought you were drowning." Takeko chuckled.

Hikari stared at her. That wasn't what she remembered... Was it? She wasn't sure now...

"Well, it's funny now, remember? Look, it's only a foot deep..." Takeko tried.

"I don't remember that very well." Hikari mumbled, looking at her feet.

"Oh. Okay."

Takeko waited a few seconds.

"So, are you feeling okay now?"

"I guess..." Hikari said, as she saw Dai and Sora heading their way.

***

After Sora spoke with her sisters, she took Hikari back to bed, with some cream for the sunburn, which, strangely, didn't seem to hurt much to Hikari, but she thought perhaps the cream was just working well.

The brunette catgirl had been confused to learn of what she'd apparently said. The name didn't mean anything to her, did it? Why had she said Takeru? And why had she said those strange things? She and her seven sisters at the beach.. She'd never left The Master's land as long as she could remember.

She decided to ask Sora before the older sister left her to rest.

"Sora... I don't know why I said that. I know that none of us have ever been to the beach, together or alone. Why did I say that?"

Sora looked alarmed for a second.

"Well, you did seem to have some sunstroke. And you've been working far too hard recently. But on the plus side you ought to have an okay tan when the sunburn goes away." She joked.

"Oh."

Another thought came up.

"Why have we never gone anywhere but here?"

Sora smiled.

"Do you want to? Maybe, if I ask nicely, I can get The Master to take us somewhere. Maybe a beach? With plenty of sunblock, of course."

Hikari liked the idea, true, but that wasn't an answer.

"Um, okay. But why haven't we gone before? How come it's just us and The Master here? No one visits..."

Sora sighed.

"Hikari...please, just rest up."

And Sora left, ending the conversation without answers for Hikari.

***

Dai looked crestfallen, frowning with drooping ears. Hikari was finishing her own breakfast, and Dai had demanded to make her own. But the sausages were burned, the egg was like coal...

"Dang it...." She mumbled. She had been so sure she was going to get it right.

Hikari was about to encourage her sister to try again, when she was beaten to it, by a taller cat girl in glasses.

"Now, now, little sis. Not everyone's perfect their first go. Just try again, nya?" The purple-haired catgirl said. Dai nodded, her ears perked up, and thanks to the encouragement she was a little happier even as she threw the failed efforts in the trash.

She woke up. Had she been dreaming?

She looked at the clock after the light was on, seeing that it was not long after midnight, and a strange thought entered her head. By the time she was really aware...She was there. In the gallery. The lights were normal, and she wondered why she had come.

She studied the marble statues. She noted that five had names. Two others did not. She hadn't noticed that. Two had no names. Strange... And then there was the fact the names made little sense.

The first of them was called Faith. It was a smiling, tall, woman. It had long hair, down to it's waist. It held its hands by its side, standing tall and proud, almost like it was at attention. Something seemed somehow missing from the face, she thought...

The second was Kindness. The smiling face of this shorter woman seemed strange, but staring into the marble eyes, Hikari had an impression that something was off with the statue, even if to a casual glance it seemed like just another statue. It stood hiding itself, unlike Faith, and Hikari felt those marble eyes were staring with an intensity that ran contrary to that smile locked in stone below them.

The third... The bowl-cut, Knowledge and Reliability. What was that meant to mean? It was just a statue, a little shorter than her, that was like Kindness in that it was posed shyer than Faith, and covering up. It knelt, and if it wasn't marble, no doubt it would have red cheeks.

The fourth... A mass of spiked hair, and a knowing grin on it's face looking out at the world. It was called Wisdom, so maybe this one worked...  It stood, hands on hips, not shy like the last two.

The fifth... Love and Sincerity. She was somehow familiar. Like she had been seen recently. Her long hair framed a smiling face, that felt hauntingly recent, as she stood with hands behind her back as if a servant waiting for a command. Hikari blinked, and for a moment... The white hair was...

The hair was purple. It might have just been the glow from the small torch the statue held aloft but...

She could swear it wore glasses too.

A vision of a catgirl in glasses, purple hair, hugging Dai.

A vision of a statue in red and yellow, standing before her.

No... None of those things, something said.

A friend. A sister…

She held her hands up, thumb and forefingers making circles. Holding them up against the eyes of the statue. A crude representation of what was meant to be there that made her realise the real name of what was before her.

"Miyako..." She gasped.

"I hoped you'd not have remembered, Hikari..." A voice said. She wheeled around, and saw the owner. She replied in confusion, even as she felt her ears stiffen and her hair stand on end.

"But... I don't know what it is I'm doing. Am I remembering? What am I remembering?" She asked, truly uncertain of all that was happening.

There was no answer.

"Do you even know?" Hikari asked softly.

"Of course I do, Hikari..."

"...You'll be keeping all of them in line..."

"It's my job to know that kind of thing." Sora said. She held a golden digivice in her hand... Hikari felt herself freeze in surprise at seeing the device, and was completely unable to move as her elder sister raised it up...