RENREN AND SHU-CHAN'S FRIENDLY EDUCATIONAL ADVENTURES

Episode six: Sponsor

"Oh Shu-chan, I am… so excited for this… announcement!" Renren squealed right after the Renren and Shu-chan theme song ended and the new episode started.

"So am I, Renren!" said Shu-chan. The two of them turned around and smiled at the camera. "Hello, viewers! Today, Renren and I have a VERY exciting announcement to make!"

"You may have noticed something a little… DIFFERENT about our… clubhouse today!" said Renren. The camera zoomed out to show more of the clubhouse's insides, only to reveal several dozens of bottles, cans and cartons strewn across the little building.

"Our humble show is from now on sponsored by NICE SAWA!" Shu-chan declared. He picked up a random bottle, and the camera zoomed in on it. The logo featured Sawamura from Sakitama giving the thumbs up, and the title 'NICE SAWAA' in katakana letters next to him.

That's when the Renren and Shu-chan phone started ringing!

Renren picked up the receiver. "NICE SAWA IS A GOOD DRINK!!!" he screamed into it. "Uh, ah, you have reached… Shu-chan and… Renren!"

"OH MY GAWRSH RENREN AND SHU-CHAN I AM YOUR BIGGEST FAN EVER!!!" Abe's little brother screamed right back from the other end. "Ooh, ooh, I'm Abe's little brother, by the way! You can call me Shun-chan! My name is almost the same as Shu-chan's! HEE HEE HEE!!!"

"Abe's… little… brother!" Mihashi piped, holding the phone away from him a little as he got the diamond mouth and stuff.

"Allow me," said Shu-chan, taking the phone. "Hello, Abe's little brother!"

"OH MY GAWRSH I CAN'T BELIEVE I GET A CHANCE TO SPEAK WITH BOTH RENREN AND SHU-CHAN!!!!!!!!!!!" Shun-chan yelled at the top of his voice with all his might.

"Oh, but the pleasure is ours!" said Shu-chan. "By the way, have YOU tried NICE SAWA yet?"

"No, but you betcha I will!!" said Shun-chan excitedly.

"You better!" said Shu-chan. "So what can we help you with?"

"I uh ah… I sort of broke my brother's favorite catcher's helmet!" Shun-chan said. "AND IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, I SWEAR!! I DIDN'T DO IT JUST SO I'D GET A PROBLEM THAT NEEDED SOLVING AND THUS AN EXCUSE TO CONTACT YOU, NO, NOT AT ALL!!!"

"Um… right!" said Shu-chan. "We'll be right there to help you solve your problem!"

"I'LL BE WAITING!!!" Shun-chan screamed.

Renren raised a finger. "T-T-To the Abe Residence!"

The screen faded out and then back in again to reveal Abe Jr. excitedly greeting Renren and Shu-chan as they arrived on the scene. He was so excited that he was jumping up and down and saying "Oh my gosh!" repeatedly.

"Hello, I believe you must be Shun-chan!" said Shu-chan, patting Shun-chan on the head.

"OH MY GOSH SHU-CHAN TOUCHED ME!!!" Shun-chan bellowed while folding his hands and holding them against his cheek as dozens of little cartoon hearts started swirling around his head.

"He sure is different from his brother…" Shu-chan said, a little taken aback. "Say, may I offer you a NICE SAWA?" He held out a bottle of said drink for Shun-chan to take.

"THANK YOU!!" yelled Shun-chan, happily accepting the bottle and practically swallowing it whole. "WOW!!! THIS IS THE BEST DRINK I HAVE EVER TASTED!!!"

"So… let's get to the… problem solving!" Renren piped, clenching his fists.

"Oh right!" said Shun-chan, snapping out of his little trance. "Follow me!" He waltzed into the house with Renren and Shu-chan following right behind him. They entered the living room where Abe's favorite catcher's helmet was lying around in pieces in a puddle of glue.

"Um… wow," said Shu-chan.

"I tried to glue it back together, but I think it only made things worse," said Shun-chan, tilting his head and rubbing his chin.

"Well, Shun-chan, even if it had worked, it would still have been very dangerous for your brother to play baseball with a glued together helmet," said Shu-chan, kneeling down next to Shun-chan, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh my goodness gracious, what have I done?!" Shun-chan gasped dramatically.

"You do know what the right thing… would be to do… right?" Renren tried.

"Yes…" Shun-chan hung his head low for a second, then snapped out of it. "I must make a public apology to my beloved brother and buy him a new helmet!!"

"Wow, this kid is smart," said Shu-chan.

"I watch your show every day, that's why!" Shun-chan beamed.

That's when ABE stomped into the room!! He was wearing the same overly exaggerated angry expression as in the pilot episode. "SHUN-CHAN!!" he bellowed. "HAVE YOU BEEN PLAYING WITH MY PROTECTIVE GEAR AGAIN?!"

"AHH!" Shun-chan jumped. "NO! I MEAN YES! I MEAN… I'M SORRY!! I FEEL SO ROTTEN!!"

Shu-chan got between Shun-chan and the camera. "You said it, Shun-chan! And speaking of rotten, here's a word from our sponsor!"

The screen faded out and stayed blank for a few seconds, and when it faded back in, it revealed a bright and colorful scene that would make the most emotionally troubled person cheer up. Sawamura gracefully slid onto said scene. He looked around for a few seconds, then shielded his mouth with his hand and whispered, "Psst, It-chan!"

"What? Oh right!" came a voice from off the screen. A moment later, Ichihara came running in. "Um… boy, I sure am thirsty." It was obvious he hadn't rehearsed at all because he was carrying the script and reading off it.

"You don't SAY!" said Sawamura enthusiastically. "I believe I have JUST what you need!"

"Really?" said Ichihara with a fake gasp. "Do tell!"

Sawamura snapped his fingers, and the scene turned into this little CG animation of fruits being squashed and poured into bottles with the NICE SAWA logo on them as some announcer lady babbled in the background about NICE SAWA being made of high quality products in a variety of exciting flavors while being incredibly healthy for good measure.

"OH. WOW." Said Ichihara as the scene turned back to him and Sawamura who had in the meantime obtained a bottle of NICE SAWA each. "This is… the best drink ever!"

"You can say that again!" said Sawamura. "NICE SAWA! A REFRESHING BEVERAGE FOR ALL OCCASIONS!"

"NICE SAWA IS THE BEST DRINK IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!" Daichi bellowed as he came running onto the stage, waving his own bottle of NICE SAWA around crazily.

"Daichi?!" said Sawamura, looking confused.

"That wasn't part of the script!" Ichihara roar-whispered in Daichi's direction.

Daichi gasped and smacked the sides of his head as his eyes started swelling with tears. "I'M SORRY!!" he bellowed. "WHY CAN'T I FOLLOW THE SCRIPT LIKE A NORMAL WELL BEHAVED PERSON?! I ONLY CARE ABOUT MYSELF AND MY OWN NEEDS! MY HEART IS DIRTY!!!!!!!" He proceeded to dramatically storm off the stage.

Ichihara and Sawamura looked at each other awkwardly for a few seconds.

"So uhh… NICE SAWA…" Ichihara tried.

"So… So good that it's worth ruining commercials for!" Sawamura concluded. "Hey, that works," he added under his breath.

Sawamura and Ichihara high-fived as the screen faded out.

It faded back into the living room of the Abe residence! All four of the characters present were sitting in the couch, looking all business-like.

"Ah, welcome back to our show!" said Shu-chan.

"We're in the middle of… solving Shun-chan's problem by… TALKING!" Mihashi announced.

"So far it's working pretty well!" Shu-chan informed everyone. The camera moved over to focus on the Abe brothers.

"So… I'm really sorry!" Shun-chan sniffled. "I didn't do it on purpose! I'll never touch your personal belongings without your permission ever again, and I'll work hard mowing lawns and doing dishes for old ladies until I'll be able to afford a new helmet for you!"

After hearing this moving speech, Abe immediately lightened up. "Well if you say so, dear brother!" he said. "Since you've learned your lesson, I forgive you!"

Shu-chan clapped his hands together. "All's well that ends well! Now who's up for some NICE SAWA?"

"ME!!!!!!!!!!!" bellowed everyone present as they all joined hands and skipped off.

A quick screen-fading later, in the clubhouse… Renren and Shu-chan were back in the couch with their own refreshing glasses of NICE SAWA.

"So what did we learn in THIS episode, Renren?" Shu-chan asked.

"Talking solves EVERYTHING!" Renren piped. "Also, don't touch other people's belongings without their permission! If you break something, make sure you tell the owner of said thing the truth! Also…"

"NICE SAWA IS THE BEST DRINK IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE!!!" both Renren and Shu-chan bellowed as they faded out and the credits started rolling.

THE END.

***

BEHIND THE SCENES…

Sawamura and Ichihara were sitting around in these extremely expensive-looking chairs, flipping through a big pile of cash each.

"Frankly, this episode disgusted me," Hanai announced.

"You wanna come say that to my face?!" Kano rolled up his sleeves.

"I'm JUST SAYING that I didn't expect your show to become this… commercialistic!" Hanai explained. "Sponsors? I mean, what the fudge, man?"

"Hey!" came the voice of Ichihara from over in the expensive chairs. "What if we told you we're going to donate all this cash to starving baseball players in Luxembourg?"

"You are…?" said Hanai.

"Nope!" said Sawamura and Ichihara. They high-fived and started laughing like dorks.

"Personally, I think the whole sponsor thing is a great idea!" Abe announced, probably just to defend Mihashi. "It never hurts to try new things, you know, and if it doesn't work out, who's stopping them from kicking the Sakitama people off the show?"

"…I guess," said Hanai, looking defeated.

"Speaking of trying out new things, I think this show strictly needs an announcer!" Tajima declared. He cleared his throat. "WILL THE SPONSORS GET TO STAY ON THE SHOW? WHAT WILL RENREN AND SHU-CHAN HELP OUT WITH NEXT? WILL THE STARVING BASEBALL PLAYERS IN LUXEMBOURG EVER GET THE SUPPORT THEY NEED?! FIND OUT IN NEXT EPISODE OF RENREN AND SHU-CHAN'S FRIENDLY EDUCATIONAL ADVENTURES!!!"

The end FOR REAL!