The one who had just done such an absurd thing was a blonde girl with wavy hair. Her casual, slightly rebellious outfit and her sweet, clean-cut face made her stand out. A bright red ribbon tied her ponytail, and her golden braid bounced as she walked with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her denim overalls. Her name was Akane Kimidori, a second-year student at Penguin Village Junior High.
"Stupid crow, calling me an idiot again," Kimidori muttered as she blew a bubble with her gum, looking thoroughly annoyed. "That's just too much. I'm obviously super cute." She shrugged. "Oh well, I'll go find Arale."
She chuckled to herself—Arale was the real idiot here.
But as she walked, Kimidori suddenly stopped and turned around.
A group of five people was quietly following her. A bald old man with a turtle shell had a pervy grin, while the middle-aged man in a white lab coat, cigarette in his mouth, looked curious—his expression mirrored that of the little girl next to him. Beside them stood a stylish blonde woman with curly hair, and lastly…
Kimidori's eyes lit up. Her bad mood instantly disappeared as she strolled over, hands still in her pockets, and tilted her chin up at the only young man in the group. "Hey, handsome, why are you following me?"
Yamiru still hadn't recovered from what he had just witnessed. He looked at the cute girl in front of him and pointed toward the sky.
"You just now…" His face was filled with confusion. "Do you even remember what you did?"
"Did I do something?" Kimidori asked, tilting her head. "I just got rid of an annoying crow, didn't I?"
Dr. Brief shook his head. "Your shouted words turned into physical text, which you then grabbed and used as a weapon…"
Kimidori blinked. "Isn't that a totally normal thing?"
Girl, are you serious? Yamiru and Tights both had synchronized question-mark faces.
"Maybe it's only normal here," Bulma mused. "Do all the people in Penguin Village have superpowers? Or is it magic?"
"No way," Kimidori laughed casually. "Superpowers and magic? Those are just things from novels."
She had absolutely no self-awareness about what she had done… Yamiru, Tights, Dr. Brief, Bulma, and Master Roshi all realized this at the same time.
Everyone silently agreed not to dwell on it. Maybe Dr. Senbei Norimaki, who lived here, could provide a better explanation. After all, they had come to find him. Dr. Brief took the opportunity to ask the blonde girl if she knew where Dr. Norimaki lived. Something about Kimidori's personality and appearance gave him the feeling of a mix between his two daughters… He found himself quite fond of her.
"Dr. Senbei Norimaki…" Kimidori's eyes brightened with realization. "Oh, you're looking for Arale's big brother!" She grinned. "What a coincidence, I was just heading over to play with Arale. I'll take you there."
"That would be great." Master Roshi nodded in gratitude—before lowering his gaze and seeing her slightly puffed-up chest and fair, soft arms reflected in his sunglasses.
Kimidori led Yamiru and the others toward Dr. Norimaki's house.
Along the way, the middle schooler eagerly chatted with Yamiru. Even when he held Tights' hand to signal he was already taken, Kimidori didn't mind. Just talking with a handsome guy put her in a good mood—no ulterior motives necessary. Everyone found her lively and innocent nature rather charming.
Before long, they arrived at Dr. Norimaki's home.
From a distance, loud crashing sounds came from the yard.
"An experiment?" Dr. Brief and Bulma wondered.
"A martial artist?" Yamiru and Tights thought.
"Haha," Kimidori giggled. "It's definitely Arale messing around again. You just can't stop her."
That said, she was clearly eager to see the action and ran ahead to take a look.
Yamiru and the others quickly followed.
In the yard of Dr. Norimaki's house, the ground was littered with craters. In the center stood Dr. Norimaki himself, a scruffy-looking young man with a cigarette in his mouth, examining a charred figure in front of him. On his head, a green-haired little kid was perched.
Beside Dr. Norimaki was a petite girl with long, straight purple hair. She wore a white-feathered cap and large round glasses that made her already big eyes look even more adorable.
But…
Wait a second…
"Yamiru, what's wrong?" Tights asked in confusion.
Yamiru had suddenly stopped walking and even took half a step back. Since they were holding hands, Tights noticed right away. When she turned to look, she saw his face frozen in an expression of utter disbelief…
And his gaze was locked onto…
The little girl standing beside Dr. Norimaki.
Yamiru muttered something under his breath.
Tights leaned in and listened closely. It sounded like something along the lines of "How is this possible," "You must be joking," and "Can we be serious for a moment?"—all rather confusing remarks.
Meanwhile, Dr. Brief had already walked over and raised a hand in greeting. "Hey there, Norimaki."
"Oh, isn't this Brief? And your two daughters as well," Dr. Norimaki looked a bit surprised to see them, but he quickly smiled and gestured to the soot-covered figure in front of him, who looked like he was being scolded. "Perfect timing. Look, I've got an alien here."
"Yeah... we kind of figured as much…"
As Dr. Brief and Bulma approached, they finally got a clear look at the strange, blackened man in front of Dr. Norimaki.
His face was humanoid enough, but on either side of his head were massive, compound eyes—like those of a fly. A pair of insect-like wings sprouted from his back, and his outfit—whether it was overalls or something else entirely—closely resembled the segmented lower body of a fly. In short, he was essentially a giant fly with a human face.
"How rude!" the fly-man roared in outrage. "Since when has there ever been such a cute fly like me?!"
Bulma said flatly, "But you're not cute at all."
Arale, with her hands stuffed in her pockets, grinned and chimed in, "Yeah, she's right!"
The fly-man looked utterly crushed. "..." Girls these days are so mean!
"Arale~!" The purple-haired girl in the white-feathered cap waved at her friend before turning toward Bulma with curiosity. "Ooh, who are you?"
"Bulma," the purple-haired girl with braided pigtails answered. "What about you?"
"Arale! Or you can call me Norimaki Arale~" Arale flexed her arms in a show of strength. "I'm a robot built by the doctor!"
"You idiot! Don't just go around telling people that!" Dr. Norimaki panicked and clamped a hand over Arale's mouth. He shot a glance at Akane Kimidori, who was still playfully teasing the fly-man, seemingly unaware of what had just been said.
Bulma, however, perked up at hearing Arale was a robot. She leaned in closer, scrutinizing her facial features and eyes. There was not a single trace of artificiality in Arale's bright, lively gaze—it was impossible to tell she was a robot.
"Haha, let's not focus on a little girl for now. Check out this alien!" Dr. Norimaki hurriedly diverted the conversation, pulling the fly-man closer. "Isn't this exciting? A real alien!"
Master Roshi: "Oh."
Dr. Brief took a drag from his cigarette. "I guess it's somewhat interesting."
At this moment, Tights, who had walked over after sensing Yamiru's odd reluctance, overheard the conversation and chuckled. "This guy here has been living with aliens for years."
Dr. Norimaki: "..."
"But if we're talking about aliens that ugly," Bulma commented as she continued to poke and prod at Arale, "then yeah, I suppose it's a bit novel."
Arale, seemingly unbothered and perhaps finding Bulma amusing, let her do as she pleased. Sensing that Bulma was quite interested in her, Arale enthusiastically removed her own head and handed it over. "Wanna take a look?" she asked, her voice now coming from the severed head in her hands.
Bulma: "..." She took the head and examined the mechanical structure where it connected to the neck.
"You idiot!!" Dr. Norimaki shrieked in horror upon realizing what Arale had done. His heart nearly leaped out of his chest—especially with Akane Kimidori still nearby! He lunged forward, snatching Arale's head from Bulma's hands and hastily reattaching it with a crisp click. Perfectly reconnected.
Dr. Norimaki let out a sigh of relief before turning his head, only to see that both the fly-man and Akane Kimidori were staring at Arale in utter disbelief, their jaws practically hitting the ground. They were so dumbfounded that they looked like they had turned to stone.
"......"
"Oh, come on…" Yamiru muttered, covering his eyes as he stood behind Tights. So it really was Arale… He groaned in distress. "Who could possibly handle this…?"
Arale and Norimaki Arale were just different translations of the same name, but having two names was kind of cool. Of course, the real reason was that "Arale" sounded really nice and fitting for Arale's personality.