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Gummy Plight (16) : During the Star Festival, seasonal pop-up shops are everywhere. StarSweets is a new candy shop that touts a variety of ‘healthy’ sweets in addition to old classics and new favorites. Their reviews are great, and for good reason! Except, when you go, something’s wrong with your order. As you chew, it suddenly gets gummy, and then it gets tacky, and then you can’t chew at all. It’s so sticky that you can’t open your mouth. The only consolation is that the flavor stays fresh and delicious the entire time. Maybe it takes a few minutes, or a few hours; you can try whatever remedy you want, but if you wait it out it will eventually soften and you can free yourself. Overall it’s harmless, just massively inconvenient, and maybe a bit embarrassing.
Nemu enjoyed candy about as much as the average child usually did, which was to say, she did enjoy it, though perhaps with a touch of caution due to unfortunate pranks from her twin sister. Gummy bugs, especially gummy worms, were off the table, and Nemu had a habit of eyeing any candy her twin gave her with a level of scrutiny in general, ready for any sneaky pranks. Of course, she wasn't entirely suspicious of everything given to her, and generally would consider anything given to her by anyone else to be 'safe' for consumption; as a result, when the pop-up candy shops started opening up when the Star Festival came around, Nemu didn't think anything of it when Alise bought bags of sweets for both of the twins as well as Etoile.
That was her first mistake.
Her second mistake, of course, was actually attempting to consume any of the candy; Nemu hadn't thought anything of it at first, because Alise had said it was a taffy candy, and taffy was... chewy, right? Only, Nemu didn't think taffy was supposed to get so sticky that you couldn't chew it anymore, let alone cause her jaw to get stuck shut. Unable to chew any further, and unable to open her mouth to call for help, the green-haired girl sat in silence, tears forming in the corner of her eyes, as she felt utterly and totally betrayed by the older teen that was her twin sister's mentor. Surely, this was some sort of prank that Sato and Alise had collaborated on together, and she was once again the unfortunate victim...
Nemu wondered how long this would last. Hours? Days? This certainly wasn't any ordinary candy, so it had to have been magically enchanted somehow. It would be just her luck that she had been chosen to be the one to have to suffer through this. What would Mama and Papa say, if they found out what happened? And how would she even explain, if she couldn't talk? Perhaps if she wrote down her predicament... but that would also require having to explain what she and Sato were up to at night, and what Alise really was, aside from their babysitter. No, she would have to continue to suffer in silence, until the magic wore off...
Blessedly, her worst fears failed to come true, and Nemuri was not stuck with a super sticky piece of candy that had sealed her mouth shut forever. Although it seemed to have lasted an eternity, relief was only minutes away, and the candy softened enough to where Nemu could discard it, whatever spell or enchantment that had been cast on it now removed. It didn't, of course, improve the child's mood any, as she was still on the verge of tears and had a newfound distrust of any candy Alise presented her with, but...
Her sticky situation was, well, not so sticky anymore? Though she didn't appreciate being the target of what was a really bad practical joke...
