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"I'm sorry, you called us over... just for this?" Yukina repeated, a frown on her face as she repeated Kasumi's request. "Absolutely not.""Ehhhh?! Why not?!" Kasumi asked, shocked to hear that Roselia's leader had rejected her request. Well, okay, she wasn't that shocked considering she knew Yukina fairly well... but rejection still hurts. "I mean, we got HaroHapi on board!""That's because that circus is wiling to do anything as long as it's fun." Sayo interjected, glaring at Poppin'Party's leader. "... I should have went with kidnapping Tsurumaki-san...""Sayo, no. We're already lucky that none of us were sued by them, please don't start again..." Lisa sighed, remembering last month's events clearly. All she wanted was to celebrate Yukina's birthday and Ako suggested they dance to a song since Lisa was buying cat accessories as part of Yukina's birthday surprise. Things snowballed due to Ako somehow sharing the video to the whole world as well as Sayo's surprisingly extremist thinking, which resulted in three out of five Roselia members kidnapping Misaki and Kanon. "Though Kasumi, why this of all requests?""Ahhh that? Well... y'see, Marina-san approached us, saying that the fans wanna see a gig where all five bands perform a song that's written by different bands! So like, Popipa performs a song written by Afterglow, and Afterglow covers a song written by Roselia... you get the idea right?" Kasumi explained, holding up one of the five boxes sitting on Kokoro's oak table. "But Kokoro-chan and I were like, why don't we do a mashup instead?""... Mashup...?" Rinko asked, with Kasumi grinning in response. "Are you saying... each member of the five bands will form a new band... and then the new bands will write a song for the band assigned to them...?""Rinko-senpai, you're so awesome! How did you know that's what I meant?""Yeah Rinrin, you're awesome!" Rinko blushed at both Kasumi's and Ako's praises, while Yukina and Sayo... looked appalled to say the least."... Sayo, I don't suppose you could kidnap Toyama-san...?" Yukina asked, earning a look of surprise from Sayo and a look of horror from Lisa. "What? Marina-san's idea is ridiculous to begin with and Toyama-san just made it worse. Besides, we have three experienced kidnappers in our band.""Yukina, I love you and all, but kidnapping is a big no. Kasumi, where's the rest of Popipa?" Lisa sighed, she needed a sane person to reason with Yukina, and right now none of the other Roselia members were sane enough to do so. "And since we're talking about them, where's Kokoro when this is her house?""As of now, Kokoro-sama and her friends are at Pastel*Palettes agency, while Ichigaya-san and her friends are negotiating with her grandmother for permission to have a sleepover in two weeks time." A trio of women in black suits appeared out of nowehere, scaring all five Roselia members. "... Hikawa-san was it?""Y-Yes, that's me." Sayo gulped, where on earth did those three come from and why the hell wasn't Kasumi alarmed by it? The other four members scooted away from Sayo, as though being seen near her would kill them. 'Oh come on, why are you guys inching away from me?! What do these three want anyways?'"While it is a relief to know that you have no plans to harm Matsubara-san and Okusawa-san, we are disturbed by your intentions to kidnap Kokoro-sama's friends." One of the three women said, and while Sayo couldn't see their expressions due to their sunglasses, she could tell that they were furious with her. "And by extension, Kokoro-sama herself.""Okay first of all, not everyone is rich like your mistress. Second of all, I only kidnapped Matsubara-san and Okusawa-san so that I could get Tsurumaki-san to pay us as ransom. And in case you don't know, this idiot over here caused us to go viral which puts us at an increased risk of getting sued. Allow me to reiterate that I am not rich like Tsurumaki-san, else I would have already employed people like you three to be my service." Sayo replied calmly, startling her band members with her attitude towards the three women. Ako was the most startled as Sayo had grabbed her by the collar and dragged her over to her side, putting her under the women's scrutiny."... I see. We wish that you would limit your criminal activities to those that Kokoro-sama doesn't care about." With that, the three women disappeared as suddenly as they came, leaving Roselia in shock. Only Kasumi was smiling, and her smile grew even brighter when Kokoro entered her house with the rest of Hello, Happy World! in tow. Pastel*Palettes followed behind with Afterglow, with almost all of them looking disturbed by their needed presence."Ah! Kokoro-chan! I see that you got PasuPare to join us!""Yup! It was easy actually, their agency person were willing to lend us PasuPare for it!" Kokoro replied, ushering 14 girls to the room where Roselia and Kasumi were. "As for Afterglow... I dunno why, but they were really eager to help us!""That's because your bodyguards threatened us just now. Really, helping Pastel*Palettes to come up with a song is already bad enough... now this?" Ran groaned, revealing the real reason to why they agreed to the reasonably insane request."Ahaha... Remind me why are we doing this again?" Misaki sighed, glancing briefly at Kanon. Kanon awkwardly smiled back in response, while the others have varying opinions to Kasumi's and Kokoro's suggestion. "Anyways, it would be nice to have Roselia on board. Think of it as... a culture-sharing experience?""Okusawa-san, there's no way in hell that Roselia would ever agree to this crazy idea." Sayo responded, crossing her arms to indicate her strong displeasure towards the idea.
[Roselia]
[2.02 PM]
Sayo H.: I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU AGREED TO IT MINATO-SAN.Y. Minato: At least you're with a group of reasonable people.Y. Minato: Furthermore your group is writing for Pastel*Palettes.Y. Minato: My group is assigned to write for Hello, Happy World!.Lisaaaa: oh cmon it isn tht badSayo H.: Imai-san, I have to write a song for a group of idols.Y. Minato: Lisa, I have to write a song for a pseudo-smile cult.Lisaaaa: ur sister is an idol thoLisaaaa: yukinya wht the hell is a smile cult?Y. Minato: Exactly how it sounds like.DevilDrummer: omg im so lucky my grp lucked outDevilDrummer: dun worry u guys ill make the song super dopeSayo H.: Somehow that doesn't instill any confidence in me...Pyrokane: have... faith in ako-chan!DevilDrummer: aw thks rinrin ^^Lisaaaa: soooo i'm at kokoro's place n can i say tht its very fancy???Lisaaaa: i mean i've been here before but i swear tht it sparkles everytime i come overSayo H.: Ichigaya-san's basement is very relaxing.Sayo H.: I can see why Poppin'Party enjoys practicing here.DevilDrummer: omg did u guys know tht im at the same cottage tht we rented back in summer?DevilDrummer: kokoros rich to rent 2 cottages at the sea n own 1 in the mountainsLisaaaa: yukinya's at the mountains now right?Pyrokane: ako-chan there's nfo hereDevilDrummer: hot damn screw u guys im out to playY. Minato: Will Roselia really be alright...?"Okay, first we need to talk about what do we all think about Afterglow's music. I'll start, I think that Afterglow produces songs that convey raw emotion?" Lisa suggested, leading her assigned group to a hopefully productive discussion. Her group members, Kokoro, Maya, Tae and Tsugumi nodded thoughtfully, which made Lisa glad that she was paired with a normal group combination. 'Rinko should be fine with Kaoru in her group... right?'"Hmm... I think Afterglow is like a lion? Like a really shiny lion standing on a cliff and his mane is kinda like what you see in hair commercials?" Kokoro said, confusing Maya and Tsugumi. Lisa barely understood what Kokoro was trying to say, and if it weren't for her stunt at trying her hand at writing lyrics (which she regretted after making Sayo laugh), she would also be unable to understand Kokoro's words. She was more impressed with Tae than herself, since Tae was nodding in agreement."You're right! Afterglow has that totally cool rock vibe!" Tae agreed, clearing up Maya's and Tsugumi's confusion. Lisa nodded in agreement, one thing that Roselia all agreed was that Afterglow's music fall under the rock genre. She was too scared to ask others what were their opinions on Roselia's music, but she was fairly sure their music also fell under the rock genre. Just... maybe not under the cool kind of rock."Ahaha, so that's what Kokoro-san meant! Lemme see... I guess... Afterglow's pretty edgy? Their clothes are edgy, and Ran-san's vocals make it edgier? I agree with Lisa-san on Afterglow's music displaying raw emotion... but they can be cute too? Like uh... ah! 'Hey-Day Capriccio'! That's totally cute and it still gives the song a spooky feel?" Maya added, her eyes starting to shine with excitement as she explained how she liked Afterglow's music, causing Tsugumi to blush in response."Oh yeah... Ako was talking about how cool it sounded despite it sounding playful... Then again, Tomoe's her sister, so she's probably biased." Lisa agreed, making Tsugumi blush even harder. "Tsugumi, what do you think? You're part of Afterglow after all.""E-Eh?! I uh... I think it's nice? Ran-chan always expresses her emotions through songs, and I guess I would say it's honest?""Ah, like a relatable kinda honest?" Maya suggested, to which Tsugumi nodded furiously. "Huehehe... When I listen to one of your songs, I usually go 'whoa, I'm also the same'! You get it?""Oh! It's like when you're eating a plate of omurice and the song playing sings about omurice right?" Kokoro asked, confusing Maya and Tsugumi once again."That's right Kokoro-chan, Afterglow reminds me of punk Occhan.""Uh, Tae? What do you mean by 'punk Occhan'?" Lisa asked, unable to link Tae's pet rabbit to the punk genre. Tae simply giggled mysteriously, and Kokoro joined in. Soon, all five of them laughed even though three of them didn't know why were they laughing along. 'Getting swept into Tae's pace... maybe that's an idea I could suggest for Afterglow? They're all friends after all...'
[Afterglow]
[3.26 PM]
Mocacino: raaaaan~ how's it going?Ranawaybaby: So far so good?Mocacino: ran lying is badRanawaybaby: Urgh fine. It's horrible.Ranawaybaby: Sayo-san and I got into a fight with Shirasagi-san.Tsugumi: Ehhh?! What did you two do?Tomochi: moca why can't i change my username?Mocacino: i like mochi tooHimari~: hhhhhhhhh minato-san jst said tht harohapi's a smile cultTsugumi: Wait really?Tsugumi: What about Misaki-chan? She's a part of HHW too.Himari~: she fking agreed with minato-sanHimari~: hina-san just said tht harohapi's weirdHimari~: like hello, she's the weird one hereTomochi: wht abt saya?Himari~: she's just smiling awkwardlyRanawaybaby: Actually, Minato-san has a point.Ranawaybaby: They have people to threaten us into submission, they practically bought Pastel Palettes's agency, and their motto is to make everyone happy.Ranawaybaby: Doesn't that sound cultish to you?Mocacino: omg they r repressing everyone into forced happinessTomochi: wht no wht's wrong with u ranTomochi: this is exactly why sayo kidnapped ppl from harohapiMocacino: wow whenTsugumi: Last month?Tsugumi: You didn't know?Tsugumi: Ako-chan locked Misaki-chan and Kanon-senpai in our school's PE storeroom.Himari~: omg i thot tht was a rumourRanawaybaby: We should assist Roselia.Ranawaybaby: Tsugumi, lend us your place.Ranawaybaby: I'm going to get Sayo-san to help.Tomochi: srsly pls dun do it"Okay! So I think that we should write a sexy song for Roselia! Who's with me?" Kasumi asked, raising her hand as high as she could. The rest of her assigned group followed suit, with Ako raising her hand eagerly. "Alright! Now, anyone has any ideas to write a sexy song?""Ooh! We can write a love tangle between Sayo-san, Yukina-san, Hina-san, and Sayo-san's guitar!" Ako suggested enthusiastically, getting herself a strange look from Eve. "Eve-san, think of it as a rivalry between samurai, except there's love in it.""Oh, okay! I get it now!" Moca had no idea how did all of their planning result in writing a sexy song for Roselia, but she was positive that Ako had no qualms making her bandmates perform such a song. "But... why is Sayo-san's guitar involved?""Yeah! Like, are guitars able to love? Oh man, does my bass love me? I love you too!" Hagumi professed her love to her bass guitar, kissing it while the other four watched."Because Sayo-san said it herself in our group chat!" Ako explained, a triumphant smile on her face as she produced the conversation as evidence. "As for Hina-san and Yukina-san... well the four of us thought that she might be in love with one of those two.""Wait wait wait, isn't the bet just a joke? I mean, it's already pretty forbidden if Sayo-san likes Hina-chan, adding her guitar into the mix is just... well..." Moca started, wondering to herself why was she of all people playing the straight man among the five. She was the one screwing convos up, not fixing them!"Kinky? Sayo-senpai's too perfect, so having such a kink is okay! Besides, who are we to judge who she loves?" Kasumi replied, apparently finding no problems with how the conversation was turning out."Okay, fine. How are we gonna write a song about their love tangle?""We can write from Yukina-san's and Hina-san's perspective for the first half, then we can write about how Sayo-san feels about her guitar in the second half!" Eve suggested, also perfectly comfortable with Ako's idea. Moca sighed, for once in her life she was trying to make things normal and she was doing a terrible job of it."Ahhh! What about we add a third half with all three of them professing their love?!" Hagumi added, with everyone but Moca cheering at the suggestion. "Alrighty, let's start writing!"'... The rest are gonna get a kick out of this.' Moca pulled out her phone and started texting in the Afterglow's group chat, only participating in her assigned groups's conversation whenever she was needed.
[Afterglow]
[5.01 PM]
Mocacino: wow sayo-sans screwed afTomochi: what why?Mocacino: its spoilers buuuuutMocacino: we may or may not hv decided on a song for herTsugumi: That's nice?Mocacino: it involves 2 forbidden relationships n 1 affairTsugumi: How did it escalate to that?!Ranawaybaby: Tsugumi, Sayo-san and I have placed Kanon-san in your room.Ranawaybaby: Don't worry, your parents agreed to feed her.Himari~: omg u guysHimari~: minato-san is halfway thru writing a song abt how harohapi's a cultMocacino: its ok they r too dumb to undersytandTsugumi: Ran-chan, why my house of all places?Ranawaybaby: We're obviously not locking her up in Kokoro's.Ranawaybaby: Also, if they arrest someone, it won't be either of us.Tsugumi: The cafe's reputation will go down if I get arrested!Tomochi: ok wtf u guysTomochi: ran, go back n free kanon-sanTomochi: tsugumi, its ok, u wont be arrestedTomochi: himari, get saya to convince minato-san tht harohapi's not a smile cultTomochi: moca, why tf did u suggest such a song for sayo-sanMocacino: how rudeMocacino: i didn't suggest itMocacino: kasumi-chan didMocacino: then ur beloved sis added middle easts oil reserve to the fireMocacino: i tried to stop it thk u very muchMocacino: but the spirit of bushido n softballs combined with demonic energy n stars overpowered poor mocaHimari~: uh guysHimari~: minato-san just drew a picture of michelle burning in a bonfireHimari~: [burnmichelleburnbyyukinaminato.jpg]Tsugumi: I... I don't want to ask."Tomoe-chan? Are you okay?" Aya asked Tomoe, who had a worried expression etched on her face. Behind them was a blushing Rimi, who Kaoru had unknowingly seduced (as usual). Rinko was trying to come up with words to their song, alternating between the paper and her phone, which was used to text Lisa for advice."A-Ah... Yeah, I-I'm good." Tomoe replied, shoving her phone deep into her bag. She didn't know how to react after seeing her bandmates reveal that they have either kidnapped someone, be a unwilling member of an anti-Hello, Happy World! group, or shipped someone in many questionable relationships. "Hey uh... can I ask you something?""Sure, anything!" Aya beamed, blinding Tomoe temporarily. Kaoru was muttering about how fleeting Aya's smile was while Rimi murmured something unintelligible in response."... Do you ship YukiSayo, or HinaSayo?" Tomoe asked, cringing at the second pairing. How was Sayo able to tolerate being shipped with her own sister? Hell, Tomoe herself would freak if she found out that someone shipped her with Ako. Aya's face went blank, seemingly disturbed by Tomoe's question. 'Oh god, now Aya-san thinks I'm a weirdo and into incest which is not true but I have to ask so that I could potentially influence Ako to write about one of the pairings and- wait, what's the third pairing?'"I didn't know that you're also betting on them!" Aya beamed again, shocking Tomoe with her response. "Hmm... Theoretically speaking, Sayo-chan might be more attracted to Yukina-chan due to their personalities.""I-I... take it that you ship HinaSayo then?""Not exactly, but I'm betting on them! Besides, idols aren't allowed to be in a relationship! Just that... well, we think that Hina-chan has a... more than sisterly interest in Sayo-chan." Aya replied, glancing around as though she was revealing that she murdered someone. "... You didn't hear it from me, but Hina-chan once revealed that she wore Sayo-chan's bra to practice so that she felt that Sayo-chan's hugging her. And well... you should be aware that Hina-chan brought Sayo-chan's picture to the deserted island reality show that we did right?""Uh..." Tomoe wasn't sure what was an appropriate response, but she felt that she was getting more than she bargained for and it was all because she wanted to do something good for Sayo. 'I'm gonna regret hearing this right?'"It wasn't shown on TV... but Hina-chan was seen kissing that picture before she slept. That, and she also declared that she loved Sayo-chan so much that she would marry her just so that they won't be apart. Naturally, the producers cut those bits out.""... She said all that on video?""Ahaha... yeah. I'm not surprised if Hina-chan stole Sayo-chan's panties for today, she's up in the mountains after all." Aya giggled, her eyes looking as though a huge burden was lifted from her shoulders, and Tomoe didn't know how she should feel about being in the know for something potentially disturbing.
'... My god, I've just found out that Ran's a kidnapper, Himari's part of an anti-happiness cult, and Hina-san's heavily implied to hold incestual feelings for Sayo-san. Why the hell did we let ourselves get threatened by Kokoro's personal mafia...?'
[PoPiPa]
[7.29 PM]
Sayamabuki: Oh god pls help usKasumin: whoa whats wrong?Sayamabuki: Okay so u know how i told u guys tht Yukina-senpai was halfway through writing a song abt how HaroHapi's a cult?Sayamabuki: Well Himari-chan and I succeeded in talking her n Misaki-chan down into writing a song that HaroHapi would singChocoCornet: That's nice!Sayamabuki: Uh yeah somewhere along the way they started to get themselves brainwashed?Sayamabuki: They started to say how everything in this world needs to be happy n anyone not happy will be executed?Sayamabuki: Now we hv Yukina-senpai n Michelle roaming down the hallways looking for us!Sayamabuki: I don't know abt Misaki-chan since she's in Michelle but Yukina-senpai has this eerie smile on her face!Sayamabuki: I got sepearated frm Himari-chan n Hina-chan but I think those two r closer to me then them!Sayamabuki: Send help pls!TaemetoaX: is it rlly tht bad?Arisaofhearts: Man, is Roselia full of extreme people or something?Arisaofhearts: Kanon-senpai got herself locked up in Tsugumi's house.Sayamabuki: Oh god they're coming!Sayamabuki: GET HELPODHAPODPA
[7.37 PM]
Sayamabuki: Ahaha srry srry everything's fine nowKasumin: well thts a reliefArisaofhearts: What the fucking shit did you guys do anyways?Sayamabuki: Ahh just a little bit of this n a little bit of tht! ^^Sayamabuki: Right now I'm gonna find Himari-chan and Hina-chan!ChocoCornet: They're still hiding?Sayamabuki: Just a game of hide n seek, srry if it sounded weird!TaemetoaX: oooooh ok thenSayamabuki: Yep, we're gonna show them tht there's nothing to be scared of!Sayamabuki: Tht way, they'll be happy!Arisaofhearts: Hahaha that sounds crazy like them.Sayamabuki: Arisa-chan, you don't sound happy. Cheer up n smile! ^^Arisaofhearts: Geez I'm not Kasumi here.Kasumin: HEY!!!!Sayamabuki: If you can't smile, then just use laundry clips to make urself smile~Sayamabuki: Or if u like, use a knife to carve out a smile~!
Kasumin created [Help Grp 4] group chat.
Kasumin added TaemetoaX to [Help Grp 4].Kasumin added ChocoCornet to [Help Grp 4].Kasumin added Arisaofhearts to [Help Grp 4].Kasumin added Lisaaaa to [Help Grp 4].Kasumin added Tomochi to [Help Grp 4].Kasumin added Tsugumi to [Help Grp 4].Kasumin added Kanon to [Help Grp 4].
[7.43 PM]
Lisaaaa: wht's this?Kasumin: SAYA GOT BRAINWAHSED BY YUKINA-SENPAI N MISAKKI-CHAN N WE NEED UR HELPTomochi: wht abt himari????Tomochi: is she ok?????Tsugumi: Kasumi-chan, could you explain to us what's going on first?Arisaofhearts: [cultinmaking.jpg]Tomochi: oh dear god noKanon: Um... why did you add us?TaemetoaX: we need ur help in convincing themArisaofhearts: Tomoe, you're in Aya-senpai's group, get her to ask Hina-senpai about her current situation.Arisaofhearts: Tsugumi, get in contact with Himari and ask about her situation.Arisaofhearts: Lisa-san, convince Yukina-senpai to snap the fuck out of her self-brainwash.Arisaofhearts: Kanon-senpai, do the same for Misaki-san.Arisaofhearts: Now.ChocoCornet: What should we do if all five of them are brainwashed?TaemetoaX: burn them alive?Kasumin: NO!!!Kanon: [misakispossessedbymichelle.jpg]Kanon: What should I do now??Arisaofhearts: Get in touch with Kokoro's bodyguards!Kanon: I don't know their numbers!Kanon: Also, I'm locked in Tsugumi-chan's room.Tomochi: gd news, hina is still ok n she's on the rooftopTomochi: bad news, she saw himari getting caught by michelleTomochi: dun suppose u could add her in?Kasumin added Hina H. to [Help Grp 4].Hina H.: JESUS CHRIST HELP MEHina H.: I TRAPPED MYSELF ON THE ROOF N THOSE 4 R LOOKING FOR MEHina H.: SOMEONE GET ME OFF THIS MOUNTAINLisaaaa: damn it yukinya just asked me wht's wrong with being happyHina H.: OH GOD I DUN WANNA DIE HAPPY BY THEMHina H.: LISACHI IF I DIE TELL ONEECHAN THT I LOVE HERLisaaaa: calm down hina!Hina H.: PLS HELP ME SOMEONEArisaofhearts: How high is the roof from the ground?Hina H.: FOUR STOREYS HIGHArisaofhearts: Okay shit.Arisaofhearts: New plan, Lisa-san, Kanon-senpai, Tsugumi, force Yukina-senpai, Misaki, Himari to talk to you.Arisaofhearts: I don't care how, make sure that they respond and keep them busy.Arisaofhearts: Someone add Kokoro in.Kasumin added Kokoron to [Help Grp 4].Arisaofhearts: Kokoro, how fast can your bodyguards send a helicopter to your house in the moutains?Kokoron: uh i guess 6 mins last checked why?Arisaofhearts: Get them to send one to that mountain house now to pick up Hina-senpai now.Kokoron: why thoArisaofhearts: JUST DO IT YOU FUCKING IDIOT!Kokoron: ok ok i already sent them outHina H.: WHY DOES IT HV TO TAKE 6 MINS????????Arisaofhearts: Hina-senpai, do you have anything on hand apart from your phone?Hina H.: I HV A SWISS ARMY KNIFEArisaofhearts: Okay, use it if any of those jokers come up.Arisaofhearts: Tell the pilot to bring you to the beach house Kokoro rented for Group 3.Hina H.: OMFG HOW LONG DOES 6 MINS TAKE?????????Arisaofhearts: Tomoe, bring Kaoru-san outside to wait for Hina-senpai.Arisaofhearts: Group 1, stay with TomoKao as backup.Kasumin: roger tht!Tomochi: why do i hv to be outside with kaoru-san?Arisaofhearts: Once Hina-senpai comes back, ensure she's safe.Arisaofhearts: 7 people should be able to overpower Hina-senpai just in case she was brainwashed before she could get on.Kanon: Isn't Hina-chan a genius...?Lisaaaa: being a genius dun mean ur strongKanon: Good point.ChocoCornet: Arisa-chan, is it really possible to get brainwashed just by writing a song for HHW...?TaemetoaX: maybeKasumin: hina-senpai just arrived!Tsugumi: Wow, that's really fast!Lisaaaa: what abt the rest?TaemetoaX: burn the hse they r in?Lisaaaa: NOTomochi: NOTsugumi: Please don't!Kanon: Let's not do that..."... Arisa-chan, could you now focus?" Chisato asked, the smile on her face masking her irritation for being unproductive. Thanks to Kasumi's idea, Arisa now had to do damage control in the form saving Hina from a group of girls who took Hello, Happy World!'s motto to the extreme. Ran and Sayo remained silent, not wanting to aggravate Chisato after they had locked Kanon in Tsugumi's house to prove a point to Chisato. "Please remember that we have to finish writing a song for Pastel*Palettes.""Ah shut up, I'm trying to save people here!" Arisa snapped, dismissing Chisato's concerns. "Okay... how are we going to get Misaki out of Michelle...""What does Misaki got to do with anything?" Ran asked, idly texting in her band's group chat. What she received were numerous messages from Himari that everything was going well and they were all happy. "Himari just texted that her group's doing okay. It's pretty worrying how she mentioned that Minato-san mentioned that HHW's a cult prior to these messages.""Wait. Did you just say that Himari's texting you?" Arisa stopped her texting and turned to look at Ran, the latter nodding in response. "Ran, that's not Himari.""What do you mean by that? Apart from Hina-san, only Himari would type like this among those five.""Ran, did Himari text in your band's group chat or was it through PMs?""Band. Arisa, you're acting really weird. Chisato-san's not mad at you for allowing us to kidnap Kanon-san." Ran asked, starting to genuinely worry about Arisa. She looked like she was in a war, and if Ran could describe it, she looked like she was turning mad from something. Chisato glared at Ran for reminding her that Kanon was kidnapped while Sayo entertained her own string of messages she had yet to read."Uh... Mitake-san? I think I get where Ichigaya-san's coming from." Sayo said, scrolling through numerous SOS messages from Hina. "Hina's group... they somehow became a real smile cult like how Minato-san described Hello, Happy World!...""What?!" Both Ran and Chisato exclaimed in a mix of horror and confusion. They may not understood what Sayo meant by 'smile cult', but they were acutely aware of how infectious that particular band's motto to make everyone smile could be."Thankfully, Hina-senpai's alright. As for the rest... I'm sorry for your losses." Arisa said, sadly clutching on to her phone as though she had lost someone dear to her. Well, Saya was still alive. Just that she wasn't herself personality wise."Oh my... that's... how?" Chisato was the first one between herself and Ran to speak, but for once, she didn't have a solution to that problem."According to Saya before she was brainwashed, Yukina-senpai and Misaki were trying to compose a song fit for that damn band and before they knew it, they took that band's motto to the extreme.""I don't get it, Okusawa-san is the most level-headed member in that circus. I can't believe that she would fall into such... extreme form of thinking.""She's probably stressed out to the point that she'll take it out on her own band. Though, this is my first time seeing such a scenario..." Ran explained to Sayo, who was mildly distraught to hear that Yukina and Misaki were the first two to act in such manner. Arisa sighed, making a call to Kokoro to fetch the groups that were supposed to stay in the beach houses back to Kokoro's place."Okay you two, let's go to wherever you guys hid Kanon-senpai and go over to Kokoro's place. We need to make a game plan to save those four jokers before we turn into jokers ourselves!""Right!"
[PasuPare]
[8.13 PM]
MayaToYama: Hina-san, are you ok?Hina H.: I SAW HIMARI-CHAN BEING DRAGGED AWAY BY MICHELLE HOW THE FUCK AM I OK?!!!!Bushido!: It's very strange!Hina H.: NO EVE-CHAN IT IS NOT STRANGE IT IS FUCKING SCARYC. Shirasagi: Hina-chan, could you kindly stop messaging in caps?Mt. Aya: Rlly tho, I was pretty terrified when Tomoe-chan asked me to text u with that expression...MayaToYama: How did you managed to escape anyways?Hina H.: oh i got onto the rooftop n kokoron sent a helicopter to save meMayaToYama: ... And how exactly did you get on to the roof?Hina H.: theres a ladder leading to the roof okHina H.: thk god they didnt come upHina H.: or maybe its because i sat on the trapdoor until i was savedMayaToYama: WOW.Bushido!: It's ok! Kasumi-chan just said that Arisa-chan will come up with a plan to save them!Bushido!: It was her that saved you was it not?Hina H.: yea thkfully shes smartC. Shirasagi: I feel slightly guilty for scolding her.Mt. Aya: We're on our way to Kokoro-chan's hse! Wht abt u Chisato-chan?C. Shirasagi: Ah... We're making a stop at Tsugumi-chan's house first.C. Shirasagi: It's where Kanon-chan's locked in.Hina H.: chisato-chan is oneechan mad at me?Bushido!: Why would Sayo-san be mad at you?Bushido!: She loves you after all!MayaToYama: You should have seen Lisa-san beating Hina-san up.MayaToYama: Apparently Lisa-san agreed to do so if Sayo-san participated in that video.Mt. Aya: U mean the one that went viral?Hina H.: actually why didnt we do it?Hina H.: we r real idols tooC. Shirasagi: And we're bound by contracts Hina-chan.C. Shirasagi: By the way, I just asked Sayo-chan and she implied that she's relieved that you're safe.Hina H.: i love her so muchMt. Aya: Btw...r u wearing her underwear now?Hina H.: GASPHina H.: HOW DID U KNOW???Hina H.: DID U READ MY MIND????MayaToYama: Uh I think it's probably because you had previously declared your love for Sayo-san on air?MayaToYama: Well, it wasn't shown to the public but yeah we know.MayaToYama: Also, it is really unhealthy to not only kiss that picture but also profess your intention to marry her.C. Shirasagi: I'm more surprised that Sayo-chan doesn't notice her bras going missing.Bushido!: It is illegal for siblings to marry in Finland!Hina H.: eve-chan incest between adults is legal here.Hina H.: so all i hv to do is to wait until we turn 20Mt. Aya: Wait, doesn't it hv to be consensual for it to be legal?C. Shirasagi: Aya-chan, should I be disturbed that you are also aware of Japan's law towards incest?MayaToYama: Let's just drop it.MayaToYama: Who knows, Sayo-san might really like Hina-san even after all that abuse by Lisa-san.Hina H.: tbf i made oneechan think tht she had hanahaki beforeMayaToYama: Okay then you definitely deserve it.Bushido!: I agree with Maya-san!C. Shirasagi: How despicable.Mt. Aya: Ur on ur ownHina H.: srsly just cuz of tht???"... Minato-san, do you think that we might have taken it a little too far?" Misaki asked, removing Michelle's head. On a whim, Misaki had suggested that they act like extremists bent on spreading happiness to the world since Yukina mentioned that Hello, Happy World! resembled a cult to her. Yukina had agreed, and they started to chase the other three down and once caught, they informed their 'victim' of their plan. Saya was a good sport, she agreed to it since neither Yukina nor Misaki were serious in spreading happiness in an extreme manner. Himari on the other hand... "I think we seriously broke Uehara-san.""Um... Well, now we both know that neither of us should play around." Yukina commented, wondering to herself how could they make Himari go back to normal. After Misaki had caught Himari hiding in one of the house's many bathrooms, Himari started yelling in a delusional manner which led to her believing that she was 'brainwashed'. "Or at least, you shouldn't play around in that suit.""Yeah, it can be traumatising." Saya agreed, staring at Misaki. When Misaki was Michelle, she had a more imposing frame thanks to Michelle being bulky in size. Misaki sighed, randomly dancing in front of Himari in hopes of snapping her out of her current state."Is this cute enough?" Misaki asked, waving her arms in the air in her attempt to make herself look less intimidating. "Anyways, how are we gonna find Hina-san? This place may be huge, but not that huge.""If you wish to dance like that, put the head back on." Yukina sighed, regretting her decision to prank Saya, Himari and Hina. Thanks to her and Misaki, Himari was traumatised while Hina was still missing. "Is it possible for Hina to escape?""Hmm... We could try the beach houses that the others are in... but it takes at least 20 minutes to walk down. Besides, it's late and dark. We could lose our way you know.""... I suppose you're right Yamabuki-san. By the way, what did you say to your band that convinced you were... happy?""To sum it up, I suggested to Arisa-chan that if she wants to be happy, she should look like Jeff the Killer.""... Oh. That's... disturbing to say the least. Uehara-san, what about you?" Yukina turned to face Misaki and Himari, who were both dancing and texting respectively. "Uehara-san...?""Forget it, her texts have devolved into her typing 'happy happy happy'." Misaki replied, looking around the room they were in. "Minato-san, I don't suppose we have rope lying around somewhere?""Rope?""Yeah uh, I'm kinda worried that Uehara-san might just try to do something extreme when we're not looking. After all, we... probably drove her mad.""Oh... Let's hope Mitake-san will forgive me." Yukina said as she left the room in search of rope, leaving Saya behind with Misaki and Himari."Saya-chan~ Why aren't you smiling? Is it because you're not happy? I can make you happy you know? Kyahahahahaha!" Himari laughed in a deranged manner, causing both Misaki and Saya to edge closer to the door in fear. "Misaki-chan, what's wrong? Are you happy inside Michelle? Michelle says that you're not looking happy though!""Oh god, we really broke her. We're so screwed.""W-Will it really work...?" Kanon asked, her lips trembling as the van she was in approached Kokoro's moutain cottage. She was accompanied by seven others, all with the same task as hers. "A-Also, must we really carry baseball bats with us?""Yeah, I mean... I don't really want to hurt Yukinya..." Lisa mumbled, imaginary cat ears drooping as she imagined the scenario where she would have to hit her girlfriend with the bat."Imai-san, that is why I gave you the gun." Sayo sighed, referring the Lisa's water gun that was filled with every bitter liquid they could find. "Though I pity Minato-san if you use it on her, that must taste absolutely disgusting.""Urgh... but it's safer than the bat.""The bat's supposed to be used in an emergency, so should Sayo-senpai have the gun? I thought you always brag that you hit bullseye every time." Arisa asked, watching the trees fly past as the house got nearer to them. Lisa sighed, shakily exchanging her gun with Sayo's bat."What I don't get is why Maya-san and I tagged along! Isn't Hina-san safe back in Kokoro-san's house?" Eve asked, with Maya nodding in agreement. As Eve brought her own kendo sword, she wasn't given a baseball bat to defend herself with. Arisa was equipped with numerous balls with flour mixed with rotten fish, which hopefully could at least stall Saya in her tracks should they encounter the drummer."Both Arisa-chan's and Kanon-senpai's remaning band members aren't reliable, which is why she asked us if they will join them!" Tsugumi explained, staring at her own gun filled with shitake mushroom bullets. "Will this gun even work?""Yeah we get that... but why not Chisato-san or Hina-san?" Maya continued, gulping as the van came to a stop. "We're here...""To answer your question, it's because Chisato-chan's a secret scaredy cat, while Hina-chan didn't want to relieve her war memories again~" Moca yawned, wishing that she could be in bed then. It was already 11.30 pm, yet she had to accompany the others to 'save' Group 4. "Can we go back now?""Moca-chan, we just got here." Tsugumi pointed out, exiting the van and staring at the house. 'Wow... Kokoro-chan owns such a big house in the mountains?'"Ichigaya-san, the guns are distributed if we encounter our own bandmate. What if we don't encounter them?""Which is why we're going in groups of four. And if we meet the 50 percent that doesn't have a weakness to our guns, that's when we use the bats on 'em. I mean, for Saya's case, we definitely have to beat her to snap her out of her brainwashing." Arisa replied, tugging on her collar as she mentally prepared herself to enter the house. "Eve-san and I will tag along with Lisa-senpai and Sayo-senpai.""Ah, so TsuguMoca will be paired with KanoMaya then? Lisa-san, don't die on me you hear?" Moca grinned, scaring Lisa. The others nodded, with Sayo kicking down the door with relative ease. They were met with darkness, which shocked all eight of them as they had expected the lights to be at least switched on. "Huh, even ol' Moca-chan here will switch on the lights as she works on 'Rose-lisa'~""Moca, stop it!" Lisa screeched, following closely behind Sayo as she glanced around in fear. Even though she knew they were facing their friends, it was so silent that it reminded her of a haunted house instead. "S-Sayo, aren't you scared?""Yes, I'm scared that you're going to rip my right arm off." Sayo referred to the arm Lisa had unconsciously grabbed on to as they made their way further into the house. Lisa nervously chuckled, immediately releasing her grip on mentioned arm. "... I suppose you could hold on to my left instead. Right is my dominant hand after all.""E-Eeeep! T-This is where we part ways yes?" Kanon asked as they reached a split in the hallways, her hands trembling as she followed the assigned three down the right hallway. 'M-Misaki-chan, I'll save you!'"Do it for Yukinya... do it for Yukinya... do it for Yukinya..." Lisa chanted to herself as she made her way with the other three down the left hallway, her grip on Sayo's left arm never loosening. 'It's alright Yukinya, we're here to save you!'"Damn it... I lost Yamabuki-san..." Yukina panted as she locked herself in a study room, grabbing a nearby pair of scissors conveniently lying on the study table as she hid beside a bookshelf. She didn't remember what had happened, but she recalled assisting Misaki and Saya in tying up Himari with some wires she had unplugged somewhere and then... 'I guess the wires that I used were connected to the lights system...'"Did the lights blow or something?" Yukina turned to the source of the voice, her hands trembling as she readied the scissors in the direction of the voice. Normally, she was able to identify who the voice would belong to but since she feared that Himari would suddenly appear right before her, she wasn't able to think straight and as such, unable to identify the voice's owner. "This door is locked...""S-Sayo, can't you leave it alone?! We're already separated from Arisa and Eve!" Yukina gasped, realising that it was Lisa and Sayo on the other side of the door. She wanted to open it so that she could see her friends again, but she was worried that Himari was behind them, ready to brainwash them as a result of Yukina's moment of weakness. But still... "S-Sayo!""Imai-san, what happened to doing it for Minato-san? Also, please check your surroundings in case it's a trap." Yukina gulped, she had to take a gamble. Clutching onto the pair of scissors tightly, she went over to the door to unlock it and... "M-Minato-san?!""H-Hurry up and get in!" Yukina exclaimed, with both the bassist and the guitarist rushing in before the vocalist locked the door once again. After ensuring that she had locked the door three times, she looked at her band members in relief. Sayo was understandably wary of Yukina after the prank she had pulled while Lisa was simply sobbing in Yukina's shoulder, clearly relieved that Yukina was at least alive. "Sayo. Lisa. Thank you for coming to save us.""How did you manage to snap out of your... whatever it was?" Sayo asked, aiming the gun at Yukina. Lisa continued to sob, hugging Yukina tightly. "Imai-san, don't drop your guard. Minato-san could very well be tricking us with false security, and I can't fend off a baseball bat should you get yourself brainwashed by your girlfriend.""Sayo, I'm not brainwashed. We were just playing a trick on you all after Okusawa-san and I got frustrated writing the lyrics to Hello, Happy World!'s song." Yukina hurried to explain before she got herself shot by Sayo of all people. 'T-That isn't a real gun Sayo's holding right? Just how seriously did they take our joke?'"A joke?! Do you know how worried all of us were when Yamabuki-san sent help messages to her band? Hina had to seek refuge on the fucking roof just because of your damn joke!" Sayo growled, scaring both Lisa and Yukina as Sayo threatened to shoot Yukina. "So why are you hiding in here if it's just a joke?""The truth is... after we managed to recruit Yamabuki-san, we went to scare Uehara-san... and well...""And?""And she... believed that she's part of a cult to spread happiness to the world with extreme measures. Which is why the three of us are now hiding from her. I don't understand how did she manage to untie herself from the wires...""Wires?! Yukinya, don't tell me you unplugged the wires connecting the lights!" Lisa had finally finished her crying, leaving behind a tear-stained face. Yukina nodded sullenly, wincing as she expected Sayo to shoot her then. "No wonder the lights are all out!""Minato-san, now that we've established that we're on your side, could you put the scissors down before you hurt someone? Specifically Imai-san." Sayo asked, with Yukina dropping said weapon on to the floor. "Why didn't you just text us that it was all a joke?""The three of us established that none of our bands would believe us... plus my phone battery ran out at one point.""Urgh... Imai-san, contact the group chat we made and inform the rest that Uehara-san's the only person that we need to be wary of." Sayo instructed, pinching her nose bridge as she tried to comprehend the ridiculous turn of events that a prank had caused. Lisa nodded, typing away furiously in the group chat they had made specifically for that rescue mission.
[Save the cult!]
[11.56 PM]
Lisaaaa: guys guys be careful of himariLisaaaa: the rest r playing a joke on usLisaaaa: himari's the only one tht went cuckoo!!!Arisaofhearts: Wait what?!Arisaofhearts: What the fuck.Bushido!: That's great, we don't have to hit Saya-san if we see her!MayaToYama: Ooh, you should have said that earlier.MayaToYama: We wouldn't have to attempt beating Okusawa-san out of her suit.MayaToYama: So just be careful of Uehara-san?Lisaaaa: yea go into a rm n lock the door unless she's in thereKanon: Where is everyone now?Lisaaaa: 2nd lvl, a study rm left wingBushido!: Third level, guest room 302, left wing!MayaToYama: Second level, bathroom, right wing.Lisaaaa: mocatsugu?Lisaaaa: mocatsugu r u there?Arisaofhearts: Oh fuck, don't tell me Himari got them...Tsugumi: We managed to escape from Himari-chan!Sayo H.: Why couldn't you just knock her out with the baseball bat provided?Tsugumi: We decided to run after Lisa-san said that she's dangerous?Lisaaaa: location?Tsugumi: Um... Rooftop?Tsugumi: Moca-chan's lying on the trapdoor in case Himari-chan comes up.Mocacino: tell them hiichan's craycray n it's all their faultLisaaaa: i'll add the rest into the grp
Lisaaaa added Y. Minato into [Save the cult!].
Lisaaaa added Kumasaki into [Save the cult!].
Lisaaaa added Sayamabuki into [Save the cult!].
Lisaaaa: guys we r here to save u from himariSayamabuki: Oh god I'm so sorry tht I listened to Yukina-senpai and Misaki.Sayamabuki: How r we going to get out of here?Sayo H.: We always have helicopters for Aoba-san and Hazawa-san.Sayo H.: Yamato-san, update on Okusawa-san's condition.Kumasaki: I'm fine, couldn't text while in Michelle.Sayamabuki: How r we going to get Himari back to normal?Arisaofhearts: Saya, first of all fuck you.Arisaofhearts: In fact, fuck you three.Arisaofhearts: Second of all, we're going to find a way to wear Himari out.Mocacino: ????Bushido!: Oh! We could wear her out by running around!Arisaofhearts: And who the hell will volunteer for that?Sayo H.: I could do it.Lisaaaa: no dun leave usSayo H.: Imai-san, you have Minato-san with you.Lisaaaa: yeah but she sucks at shootingSayo H.: So you shoot and she swings, problem solved.MayaToYama: It's dangerous though...MayaToYama: Hina-san will kill me if Eve-san or I let you throw yourself in harm's way...Lisaaaa: i knew it, hinasayo's a thing!Sayo H.: No, no, and no.Kanon: How are we going to locate Himari-chan?Mocacino: tsugu will contact hiichanTsugumi: What?! No!Sayo H.: Actually, that's a great idea."Really Sayo? You're gonna act as bait?! Think about Hina!" Lisa argued, handing the phone over to Yukina for her to view the conversation."First of all, Hina and I aren't a thing. Second of all, we need to locate Uehara-san thanks to a certain 'Yukinya'." Sayo glared at said girl, who noticeably flinched when mentioned. "Also, the rest are all on the level above us. We can't send anyone else with me unless you're telling me that you two excel in the athletics department.""... Okay fine. Can you outrun Himari anyways?""The one person I can never outrun is Hina. Even Kitazawa-san's no match for me." Sayo replied, silently grateful that she sought to be better than her multi-talented sister. "Do I have a location?""Not really, but Saya said that she'll be waiting for you on the third floor in our wing. She's currently with Arisa and Eve in guest room 302, good luck Sayo." Lisa said, hugging Yukina as Sayo left the room they were in. "Yukinya, do you think they could do it?""I hope so...""Himari's last seen in the right wing, we should head there." Saya said as she walked towards the right wing with Sayo beside her while glancing about in case Himari planned a surprise attack. "So uh... I heard from Arisa that you and Ran kidnapped Kanon-senpai.""It was to prove a point to Shirasagi-san. Though, I wasn't the one who worded that idol music was 'trash' as what Mitake-san had so eloquently phrased it." Sayo responded, her fists clenching tight so that she could deliver a solid punch to Afterglow's bassist. "I don't have to ask about your group's do I?""Ahaha... How's Hina-senpai?""Better, given that she's in a safe house." Sayo glanced at Saya before going back to surveying her surroundings. "Yamabuki-san, are you aware that I'm shipped with either Minato-san or Hina?""Eh? Kinda, heard it from Yukina-senpai today. Or yesterday. You get the idea.""I see. And which ship are you siding with?""Uh, do I have to answer that?""I'll take it as with my sister then.""What?! No, I'm just saying that I don't want to ship you with someone you don't like! Besides, why are we only shipping you with girls? Why not a boy?""Maybe it's because I came out as a lesbian to Roselia recently." Sayo smirked, secretly enjoying Saya's reaction. That didn't mean that she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, in fact she was paying even more attention given that she was expecting Himari to jump on them while they were seemingly distracted. "Did Minato-san not mention it to you just now?""I-I doubt Yukina-senpai would disclose your sexuality just like that! Wow, so you're really gay..." Saya muttered under her breath, momentarily forgetting her surroundings. Thankfully, Sayo was keen enough to pick up on Saya's sphere of focus and watched out for her too. "I've never seen someone who's really gay...""I was under the impression that everyone in your band is gay. Though given your phrasing, I assume that you're not?""I-I uh... well, I don't really know. M-Maybe? When I modelled beside Kaoru-san, I was thinking that my modelling experience would be better if it was Arisa instead? Ah but I don't think they'll let her model since they wanted someone to fill in the role of the groom... and I guess Arisa would be against it.""... Truthfully speaking, I was under the impression that all 25 of us are interested in girls. The exceptions might be Maruyama-san, Matsubara-san and Kitazawa-san, but other than that..." Sayo trailed off, hearing an exceptionally off-beat, but cheerful humming behind a corner 25 metres in front of them. "Yamabuki-san, prepare to run.""Saya-chan! Why do you look so scared? Is it because you don't know how to smile? It's okay, I'll teach you how to smile!" Sure enough, Himari appeared out from the corner, a disturbing smile plastered on her face as she skipped towards the duo. "Oh my, if it isn't a Negative Nancy right beside you~ Don't worry, I'll eliminate her existence!""My god, she really has gone mad." Sayo commented as Himari suddenly broke into a dash, quickly closing up the distance between them. "Yamabuki-san, now!""Huh...? Where am I?" Hours had passed, and Himari woke up only to find Tomoe sleeping beside her in an unknown bedroom. She tried to recall what had happened yesterday, but failed to remember anything apart from being forced by Kokoro's bodyguards to be a part of Kasumi's idea. At that moment, Tomoe woke up, worriedly staring at her best friend as though she was down with a high fever like the last time. "Tomoe? Where are we?""Um... you don't remember anything?" Tomoe asked, slightly wary towards Himari even though she was acting like her usual self. Himari blinked, what had happened yesterday that was serious enough for Tomoe to be cautious of her?"No... All I remember was Kokoro-san's black suit ladies pressuring us to do that mashup song thing... what happened afterwards?""Do you... uh... remember who you were grouped up with?""Grouped up with...?" Himari thought extremely hard, and eventually a memory of her walking towards Saya surfaced. "Um... I remember walking towards Saya-chan in a huge room... is she a part of my group?""Y-Yeah, she is. Do you remember the others?" Himari thought again, this time it was Yukina approaching them with Misaki following behind. After that... "H-Himari, you don't have to try to remember if you really can't!""No, I'm okay! I uh... Yukina-senpai and Misaki-san came to us, and then Hina-senpai tackled me... I guess they were also a part of my group?""Tomoe-chan! Is- ah! Himari-chan, you're awake!" Tsugumi entered the room Tomoe and Himari were in, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm so glad you're okay!""Tsugu! Yeah, I'm okay! What happened to me anyways?" Himari asked Tsugumi, who immediately averted her eyes away. "T-Tsugu?! What did I do?! Please don't tell me it was some freaky orgy or something weird...""I-I think an orgy would be way better than what happened last night..." Tomoe commented, getting out of bed to stretch. "Anyways Himari, if you really want to know what happened yesterday... well... you could just look at the conversations you had in your phone.""Oh god no, I sent some weird pics of someone naked didn't I?""H-Himari-chan! I assure you, it's nothing sexual!" Tsugumi reassured, mildly disturbed that Himari was convinced that she had done something sexual with her assigned group. "Oh Tomoe-chan, if you're looking for Ako-chan, she's in the living room with Sayo-san, Hina-san and Yukina-san! Lisa-san, Saya-chan and Chisato-san are preparing breakfast while Arisa-chan's in the main room with Kasumi-chan and Kokoro-chan!""I assume that the rest are still asleep? What time is it anyways?" Tomoe asked, glancing around in search of a clock. Tsugumi pulled out her phone, which displayed the time as 10.15 am."10.15 in the morning! Oh I almost forgot, Rinko-san said that she was done with the lyrics and wanted your group to have a lookover before composing the music!""Ah, thank you! I'm just gonna brush my teeth first..." Tomoe mumbled as she made her way to a door which she presumed to be the bathroom."Okay, I'll inform her! She's in the dining room with Kaoru-san." Tsugumi left the room afterwards, leaving Himari alone in the bedroom to look through her messages. Thankfully, her phone was on the bedside counter so that she didn't have to worry what had happened to it."Okay! Let's see what did I say in here..." Himari had unlocked her phone, and it was surprisingly left at a conversation she had with the rest of Afterglow at 3.26 pm the previous day. As she continued to scroll down, her eyes popped out as she read what she had sent to the group chat. 'W-W-What the hell is this?! Why did I take a picture of Michelle burning in a fire?! And did I seriously caption this as 'burn Michelle burn by Yukina Minato'?! Why did Yukina-senpai say that HaroHapi's a cult? And why did I spam so many texts about being happy in the group chat?! What the fuck happened yesterday?!'"Uehara-san...? Ah, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Misaki had entered the room, a guilty frown on her face as she did her best to not face Himari. "So uh...""Misaki-san, what happened yesterday?! Why did Minato-san draw a picture of you burning?! And why did I spam so many texts about being happy?! Did we get drunk or something?!""Ahaha... Yeah well... it's a long story but..." Misaki explained the events that had happened previously, how Yukina and herself decided to pretend that they were influenced by her band's motto and how it escalated to Hina seeking refuge on the roof and Himari experiencing what was assumed to be a stress-induced hallucination. "So yeah, that's kinda why you acted crazy online.""So... this is Kokoro's mountain house?" Himari asked, glancing around the room. It was certainly unfamiliar, so it should be one of Kokoro's residences..."No, this is her own house. Sayo-san and Saya-san managed to wear you out last night, I didn't expect you to actually chase after them...""S-Sayo-san?! She came for Hina-san?!""Huh? Not really, Arisa-san dispatched a group to get us back to normal. Hina-san was the only one who wasn't caught by any of us." Misaki sighed, ruffling her hair. "Hey, do you remember us tying you up with wires?""Wires...?" Himari repeated, a flash of her loosening a thin object around her wrists came back to her. "I remember loosening something around my wrists... are you talking about that?""This is why I said that none of us are experts in tying someone up... Anyways, breakfast should be ready by now so get the fuck out of bed or something..." Misaki shrugged, exiting the room. Himari couldn't see what was happening outside considering that Misaki had closed the door behind her, but she could guess the series of events unfurling outside the room. "Gah! What the fucking hell Hagumi?! Can't you see me?!""Mii-kun! Michelle isn't moving! What should I doooooo?!""May I ask why is it that you require a photo of the four of us?" Sayo asked Ako, who was busy developing a photo she had took. Said photo contained Sayo sitting in the middle of a sofa while she carried her guitar, while Hina clung on Sayo's right arm and Yukina draped her arms around Sayo's neck. Lisa stood behind Yukina, her back facing the camera while she looked over her left shoulder. From an outsider's point of view, the photo looked intimate while questioning the significance of Sayo's guitar. From any one of the 25 girls' perspective... "Please don't tell me you're immortalising my joke on film.""Oh c'mon, who would pass up an opportunity like this? Besides, this would be a good cover for our song!" Ako chuckled, giving Roselia's guitarist a peace sign. Sayo groaned, hoping that the song that Roselia was supposed to cover would be as good as the photo. "Damn shame that Hina-san isn't part of Roselia... Maybe we should get Lisa-nee to cover her lines...""Hina? What does she- oh. Oh god no." Sayo gasped at the exact moment Hina entered the room they were in, incoherently mumbling about something. "Speak of the fucking devil.""Wha? I swear I only stole your underwear, I didn't do anything else..." Hina yawned, unaware that she had just admitted to stealing her sister's underwear. "I can't wait to cover our new song!""You what?! Hina Hikawa, what's wrong with you?! Stealing my underwear, how do you get off?!""Wow, I never knew that you were interested in my kinks." Hina giggled, her eyes widening after she had realised what the conversation flow indicated. "... Oh shit, you weren't supposed to know that.""This is... gah! Please tell me you're just playing pranks on me like what we usually do and not because you love me!""Uh... well. Would you flip out if I said it was the latter?" At this point, Ako wanted to exit the room to leave the twins to fight but the photo wasn't done developing. So nope, even though the room was about to explode from Sayo's boiling rage, Ako was forced to wait until the photo's done."What do you think?" Sayo smiled, though her eyebrows indicated otherwise. Actually, Sayo smiling was already a clear indicator that she was about to scream, but Hina had her hopes up."Um... sisters love each other?""NOT IN A ROMANTIC WAY YOU FUCKING IDIOT! HOW THE FUCK DO YOU THINK THAT THIS IS NORMAL?!" Sayo yelled, scaring the shit out of Ako while Hina simply looked taken aback. Ako wanted to hide somewhere or maybe go find Tomoe, but to do that she had to get past Sayo and Hina so escaping was out of the question."Well... you're aware of fan fiction about us right? Okay so half of them are about us fucking buuuuut..." Hina started, pulling out her phone in an effort to back up her claim. Ako wasn't sure if she should be proud that they were recognised enough for people to write fan stories about them... or disgusted that people were shipping them with people that they won't ever date. Then again, almost all 25 of them were shipping either YukiSayo or HinaSayo. "See, there's even one between Ako-chan and Tomoe-chan! And best part is that they're fucking too!""Oh dark devil of the abyss, please delete that fanfic on the grounds that we're both underage or something." Ako was horrified that there was someone out there that shipped her with Tomoe, much less depicted them engaging in sexual relations. 'Oh c'mon, like, ship me with anyone but onee-chan! Hell, shipping me with someone like Kokoro-chan or Kaoru-senpai sounds less weird than onee-chan!'"Do you have to drag Udagawa-san into this?! I mean, it wouldn't be fair to Shirokane-san since they're dating!""Sayo-san, that is not the argument you should make while defending my honour!""Hey onee-chan, don't you think that being shipped with me is way better than getting a harem of weirdos?""Hina, you are a weirdo." Sayo groaned, all she wanted was to go back to writing lyrics with Ran and Arisa. Not this. "... How long has this been going on?""You mean the underwear stealing or me pining for you?" Hina innocently asked, with Ako silently cheering as the photo she took was finally developed. "Cuz if it's the latter, I guess since we were 11?""... I'm surprised you understand the concept of love at all, much less at that age.""H-Hey! Grr... fine! I'll show you that I understand what love means!" Hina declared, making her way towards Sayo and kissing her passionately. Okay, it was more of Hina smashing her lips on Sayo's, but she didn't care. Neither did Ako, who was snapping away at the sight. Sayo thrashed about, but Hina prevented her from breaking the kiss. Eventually Sayo gave in, with the intentions to murder her own sister as well as Ako.'Hot damn, I'm gonna get my money's worth!' Ako grinned to herself while texting the group that they had won money from those who hoped that YukiSayo was a thing. 'Take that Rinrin!'
[everyone but sayo-san]
[11.03 AM]
DevilDrummer: [hinasayoftw.jpg]DevilDrummer: take this yukisayo shippersLisaaaa: OH MY GOD WHEN IS THIS?????DevilDrummer: just now ^^Tomochi: wtf ako why r u doing this n why r u shipping those twoTomochi: i had to find out fm aya abt this stupid betMt. Aya: Wait u mean u weren't betting on them?!Tomochi: u had no idea how horrified i was when i learnt of itMocacino: ahhh youthTomochi: moca noC. Shirasagi: Well, I'm pretty sure that means all members of Pastel*Palettes will be getting a share of the money?DevilDrummer: yeaPyrokane: does sayo-san know about this...?DevilDrummer: iono but i ran aft hinasan went smoochy smoochyY. Minato: Damn it.Kumasaki: It's a good thing Kokoro's shipping YukiSayo, that way we'll have more money.Kokoron: is 10m yen tht much?Sayamabuki: Guys can I say something here?DevilDrummer: the floor is ursSayamabuki: I'm gay for ArisaTomochi: CALLED ITHagu-me: aw shit i suck at bettingKumasaki: Yeah, we all know.Sayamabuki: Wait did u guys bet on me too??Sayamabuki: Tomoe-chan, since when do you bet??Tomochi: uh no i just had a feeling tht ur gay for arisaTsugumi: Yeah, she's the only one that didn't bet on either bets.TaemetoaX: wht she saidTaemetoaX: we bet tht u will either like arisa-chan or kasumi-chanTaemetoaX: even tho im dating kasumi-chan but im not the jealous typeKasumin: awwwww i love how much u trust me otaeSayamabuki: Ur gay too????Mt. Aya: Everyone's gay ^^!Sayamabuki: What?? I just found out tht I'm gay from Sayo-senpai yesterday...Tomochi: i thot u said tht idols cant date...Mt. Aya: I didn't say tht being gay isn't allowedTomochi: i still can't believe tht u guys made a bet abt sayo-san like srsly wtfLisaaaa: hahahahaha i'm richFleetingArtist: Ah, how cruel the hands of fate are towards Sayo-san.C. Shirasagi: Kao-chan, shut the fuck up.MayaToYama: Okay now all we have to do is to prevent Hina-san from declaring her love at a concert.Mt. Aya: Oh god tht would be a pr nightmareRanawaybaby: So who owes who money again?Ranawaybaby: And do we need an update on who's dating who?Mocacino: ok mocaran is a thingKasumin: yea but everyone knows thtSayamabuki: Um.ChocoCornet: Then Kasumi-chan and Otae are dating!Kanon: MayaEve!MayaToYama: Eve-san, what did I say about telling people?Bushido!: But I didn't tell anyone!Kanon: Oh no it was supposed to be a secret? I'm so sorry!Kanon: I thought only Saya-chan didn't know so I wanted to bring her up to speed!Kanon: I'm so so sorry Maya-chan and Eve-chan! T^TMayaToYama: Oh uh, I mean, it's okay. You have good intentions unlike a certain someone who kissed her sister...Kanon: Tsugumi-chan, is your cafe's wall alright?Tsugumi: ?Kanon: Oh because I saw Eve-chan pushing Maya-chan against a wall in your cafe while kissing so...Kanon: Oh dear.Tsugumi: Uh...Bushido!: WE DIDN'T BREAK ANYTHING BUT YOU CAN DOCK ANY DAMAGES FROM MY PAY!MayaToYama: You're making it worse Eve-san!Mt. Aya: Well since none of us know abt it till now at least it's not so bad...Mocacino: wow this is a fucking trainwreckSayamabuki: So uh... is tht all?Fleeting Artist: We also have KaoChisa, isn't that right my little kitten?C. Shirasagi: ChisaKao, and don't call me your 'little kitten' thank you very much.Kumasaki: What the fuck could you not bring your kinky shit into this chat?Lisaaaa: HHHHHHHHHHY. Minato: What's the difference Lisa?Pyrokane: the first name is the dominant one in a relationship...DevilDrummer: usually in a sexual reltaionship thoLisaaaa: AKO WHYTomochi: dun tell me ur fucking rinko because i will smack uTomochi: i will NOT allow u to ruin rinko's purityDevilDrummer: does in game count?DevilDrummer: we managed to woohooLisaaaa: didn't u hijack rinko's accnt for tht?Mocacino: omg woohoo rapeHimari~: so thts forced akorinko thenTomochi: AKO UDAGAWA WHEN I COME OVER UR GONNA GET IT U LITTLE SHITDevilDrummer: oh fuckY. Minato: ... So does that mean we should be called LisaYuki instead?Lisaaaa: OMG YUKINYA NO WHY GOD NOMayaToYama: I didn't expect that and really, 'Yukinya'?Pyrokane: it's lisa-san's pet name for yukina-san after she dressed up as a cat on her birthday...Kumasaki: That's really kinky, you two should be ashamed of yourselves.Ranawaybaby: I still don't understand why didn't you guys want to copy Roselia...Tsugumi: Ran-chan, even Yukina-san herself told you that it was a bad idea...Bushido!: This is called 'gap moe' yes?Mt. Aya: Eve-chan, thts not itMt. Aya: Btw Chisato-chan, wht abt ur contract??C. Shirasagi: They said I can't have a 'boyfriend' not 'girlfriend'.Tsugumi: Himari-chan, you and Tomoe-chan are dating right?Himari~: yup!Sayamabuki: Wow to think tht so many ppl r gayArisaofhearts: You're just oblivious.Arisaofhearts: By the way, I might like you too.Sayamabuki: ^^Kokoron: aaaaaaaahhhhhhh kanon and misaki r dating!Kumasaki: Kokoro what the fuck.Kumasaki: Kanon-san outing Maya-san and Eve-san is accidental, but you're just doing this on purpose.Kasumin: wait i thot everyone knows tht ur dating herTaemetoaX: rimirin told usChocoCornet: IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!ChocoCornet: AND I TOLD YOU GUYS TO NOT SPREAD IT!Kasumin: wait u meant to NOT spread it?Hagu-me: yea i always thot tht dun spread it is a codeword for spread it cuz im a chicken to say it myselfMayaToYama: That's definitely not what it means.Kokoron: tsugumi date me!Kumasaki: What the fuck?!Fleeting Artist: Oh my, what a fleeting surprise.Kumasaki: Since when do you even have the time to see Hazawa-san?!Tsugumi: Oh after we went stargazing together, we exchanged numbers and she contacts me very frequently!Tsugumi: Didn't Ran-chan exchanged numbers with Hina-chan?Ranawaybaby: That's different!Ranawaybaby: My god how did we not know of this?Bushido!: Oh Kokoro-san comes in at very odd hours!Lisaaaa: as u all know i'm dating yukinya as mentioned aboveLisaaaa: n so is ako n rinko also as mentioned above but saya's probs confused by now soRanawaybaby: Minato-san has a harem?!Tomochi: i will beat u up aft ako yukina-sanY. Minato: She meant that Ako and Rinko are an item, didn't you even claim that you're going to beat Ako up after forcing herself on Rinko?Y. Minato: Rinko, feel free to sue Ako for rape.DevilDrummer: IT WAS ONLY IN SIMS4Ranawaybaby: Oh. Your phrasing was off.Tomochi: i'm watching uHagu-me: wow we owe lots of money kokoronKokoron: its ok lets just gve everyone 10mKumasaki: Let's not do that.Hina H.: update im dating u know who!Y. Minato: Oh dear god the world just ended.MayaToYama: Oh dear god PasuPare's gonna face a PR nightmare.Y. Minato: How did you manage to convince Sayo to date you?Pyrokane: we were convinced tht she loves her guitarHina H.: uhhh do u guys even know who gave her money to buy her guitar?Lisaaaa: her parents?Hina H.: MEHina H.: i only found out abt it after a while thoFleeting Artist: What a fleeting twist of events!C. Shirasagi: Kao-chan, stop adding 'fleeting' to everything you type.MayaToYama: Chisato-san, I think it'll be weirder if she didn't.DevilDrummer: so all this time sayosans hinting to us tht she likes hinasanY. Minato: I failed as Roselia's leader.Lisaaaa: we all failed as her friends and feloow bandmatesKasumin: well i failed as a fren to see tht saya-chan was going thru a gay crisis so u guys r better than usChocoCornet: Sorry Saya-chan, we thought that all of us were gay...Sayamabuki: Guys, it's almost unheard of to see 25 girls who r at least bi gathering in the same locationKokoron: tsugumi can i hv a replyTsugumi: Oh, sorry! Sure, let's date!Ranawaybaby: Okay, the world's officially ending.Tomochi: rtMocacino: rtHimari~: cant we just be happy for them?!"Remind me why are we doing this again?" Yukina sighed as she tapped on her microphone lightly to test it while the rest of her band prepared to start practicing the song Ako's group had written for them. Ako looked proud of herslef while Rinko... She had seen what her girlfriend wrote and while she was somewhat impressed, she wasn't sure if Yukina would see the same way. Or Sayo for that matter."Because Marina-san said that the fans-" Lisa started explaining, but was cut off by one of Yukina's famous glares. "Geez, don't ask if you don't wanna hear an answer...""I'm just worried that this song will be terrible. I mean, it's Udagawa-san for crying out loud." Sayo sighed, wondering if she should have bothered the look at the lyrics prior to that session. 'I just can't will myself to even memorise her possible shit...'"Hey! I'll have you know that Kasumi-chan and the rest helped!" Ako protested, irritated that Sayo still saw her as some irresponsible child. "We tried our best to write a song that'll fit Roselia's genre!""Soooo... cool?""No Lisa-nee, that's Afterglow. To the rest, Roselia's either edgy emo, sexy, or bittersweet.""B-Bittersweet?! I'll have you know that 'Sunkissed Rhodonite' is meant to be a song about how much we value Lisa!" Yukina blushed, startled that others could mistake one of her favourite songs as bittersweet. "By the way, what does 'edgy emo' mean?""A-Ako-chan! Let's start!" Rinko hurriedly intervened, not wishing for Ako to corrupt Yukina's mind. From the looks of it, both Lisa and Sayo were glad that Ako was stopped."Indeed. Ako, please start." Ako's shoulders drooped for a second before lifting up, her hands flying across the drums effortlessly. For that particular song, the beat had to be slightly faster than their usual songs so as to represent 'the rushing thrill of love'. It was different for the keyboard, for it had to be slower to represent 'sexy affairs'. "Your touch lights a rush more thrilling than my sunshine-""Pfffft! Ahahahaha! Ako, I can't! I can't do it! This is even worse than my song! Oh god, ahahahaha!" Lisa burst into laughter, unable to hold it in any longer. She had briefly looked through the lyrics, and it was already hilarious enough on paper. Hearing it being voiced out doubled the laughter. "How is this sexy?!""Well... There's Kasumi-chan, Eve-san, Moca-chan and Hagumi-chan. What do you expect from them? Be grateful it's not about my descent down into the underworld." Ako huffed, glaring at Lisa. Yukina sighed, flipping through the lyrics while Sayo groaned in irritation. "Sayo-san, don't you groan when you haven't even spared my song a single glance!""I wasn't really expecting much, but for it to make Imai-san laugh? That's a first." Sayo replied right as Yukina handed her own set of lyrics for Sayo to read. "Minato-san?""You should really read them." Was all Yukina muttered as she exited the studio, probably heading for the washroom. Sayo sighed, scanning through the lyrics as quickly as she could.
[Your touch lights a rush more thrilling than my sunshine,
but ironically you rely on it to glow.
Addicted to your emerald gaze, yes it's true.
I'm falling hard and it melts my guilt away, why you?]
"Jesus Christ Udagawa-san, this is even worse than bad poetry!" Sayo exclaimed, reading her lines in horror. "What the hell do you mean by 'as my hands glide down your hard curves'?! Is that my guitar I'm singing about?!""Ahahahaha oh god it hurts so much!""I cannot believe you wrote about a song about me and my guitar! No wonder I had to pose with it!""Don't forget Hina-san and Yukina-san!""Urgh, don't remind me... Why did I ever say yes to Hina anyways? Oh yeah, I wanted to murder her while her guard's down.""Remind me why are we doing this again?" Ran asked as she looked through the composition for their latest song. She wouldn't say that it was bad, just that... well, it could be worse. Tsugumi had a part to play in it, and Lisa helped too. She trusted Lisa's composing skills, even though her song was pretty terrible (not that she would admit it since she knew how much heart Lisa had poured into 'Rose-lisa')."Because we got threatened?" Tomoe suggested, looking through the lyrics that Tsugumi's group had written. "Wow, 'shooting star splitting across the sky, pierce through the inky heart of evil'? That's... well.""I-It can't be that terrible! Right...?" Tsugumi panicked, she had tried her best to write the song but halfway through Kokoro and Tae took over. As Maya was unable to translate their words, it ended up being literal. Thankfully, Lisa was able to salvage some of it. "Moca-chan?""Ahhhh I dunno. I don't give a shit anymore. Go ask your girlfriend what's she thinking, if you can understand her that is." Moca smirked, and Tsugumi wasn't sure if she should take that as an insult or not. Sure, there was a 70 percent chance that she and Kokoro would break up in the near future solely because the latter was impossible to understand. Sure, they barely had any contact with each other and it was doubtful if Kokoro even understood what did love even mean. That didn't mean Tsugumi wouldn't try to make it work."Moca, lay off." Tomoe retorted right as a phone started to ring. "Tsugumi, that's your phone isn't it?""A-Ah, sorry!" Tsugumi immediately grabbed her phone and rushed out of the studio they were in, picking up the call. "H-Hello, Tsugumi Hazawa speaking!""Kyahaha! We're dating each other, so no need to be so formal~" Kokoro's cheerful voice crackled through Tsugumi's phone, and Tsugumi made a mental note to get her phone fixed. "How's our song? Do they like it?""Oh! Well... Ran-chan and Tomoe-chan didn't exactly understand it... but they're grateful for your efforts as well as the others! We had to write a song for PasuPare at one point, so we understand how hard it is to write a song for another group.""Ahhh I knew this would happen... I'm kinda bad in putting it in clear words, sorry that it turned out iffy. I would send Misaki over, but we have practice today too so yeah!" Tsugumi was surprised that Kokoro was aware of her own flaws, she was expecting her to get confused to why Afterglow couldn't understand her part of the song. "Just tell 'em to think of cool things! That might help?""Alright, I'll tell them. By the way, was there a reason that you called?""Hm? Not really, I just wanted to hear your voice~ Kaoru said that relationships need communication, and since we don't see each other often, I decided to just call you instead! Did I bother you?" Tsugumi chuckled, making another mental note, this time to thank Kaoru for her helpful advice."It's okay, the rest are still figuring out what does our song even mean. Which is good, since we wanted Himari-chan to relax."
"Will it work? I thought she went creepy a while back."
"It's fine! We just need to dial down the happy part and she'll be right as rain soon enough!"
"Ahaha, if you say so! Oh yeah, I got two tickets to an amusement park. Are you free this Sunday?"
"Please say that you didn't reserve the whole amusement park..." It was a genuine worry, and while it meant that they would be the only two in the park... it just didn't feel the same without throngs of people squeezing the air out of her as she tried to make her way from one attraction to the next.
"I could if you want me to!"
"Ahhhhh please don't reserve the whole park!""Alrighty, I'll meet you outside the train station at... 9.30 in the morning then? Hey Misaki, is it too late by then?" Tsugumi could hear Misaki yelling in the background that it was fine, before she yelled a whole string of vulgarities at how Kokoro should just look it up the internet instead of asking her. "I'm gonna prove to your band that I'm the perfect girlfriend! Misaki said that perfect girlfriends don't usually use money on the first date though, but how can we buy food there then?""I-I think she meant that first dates don't have to be on some fancy cruise or something along those lines." Tsugumi blushed, touched at how considerate Kokoro could be despite her eccentricities."I should get going, Ran-chan might be strangling Moca-chan by now.""See ya later Tsu-chan! Oh wait, can I call you that? Hagumi said that I shouldn't call you 'Tsugu' because that's a thing only Afterglow has rights to. Do you think I could buy those rights from them though? Eh? Oh okay, we can start now. Later Tsu-chan!" The call disconnected, and Tsugumi grinned uncontrollably at that exchange. She would have continued to stand outside their room, if someone didn't tap her shoulder to signal her to move aside."Tsugu, I'm going over to Roselia's. I have no idea what caused it, but Ran and Moca are now slow dancing. Himari's worsening it by singing the song. Wanna come? I think it'll be way better than what Afterglow's doing." Tomoe said, jerking a thumb inside the studio where Moca and Ran were indeed slow dancing to the song they were supposed to perform."Fly that arrow right at your heart, let all your love bleed out!" Himari sung, making Tsugumi cringe as she followed Tomoe to Roselia's studio. "So... come on~! Pierce through that black-hearted sky as I cry! Evildoers oh beware, love is sailing right through the air!""Remind me why are we doing this again...?" Maya asked Eve and Chisato, her hands trembling as she looked through the composition. "T-This isn't Mitake-san's work!""It isn't, it's Sayo-chan's. After the incident regarding that group, we all agreed that we weren't going to do it anymore. As such, we drew lots and Sayo-chan was the one who had to complete the lyrics. I think it should be alright, considering that she does watch our shows." Chisato calmly explained, her eyes not betraying the worry that she shared with Maya."Hina-san must be very happy to know that her girlfriend wrote this song for us!" Eve clapped her hands together, causing both Maya and Chisato to shudder in mild disgust. "What's wrong?""Uh... I'm not discriminating against Hina-san or anything, but dating Sayo-san? That's... unsettling." Maya replied, scratching her cheek awkwardly as she nudged Chisato to add in her opinion. 'Chisato-san, don't make me the bad guy here!'"Indeed, though I can't deny that it has made Hina-chan happier than we have ever seen her." Chisato replied as diplomatically as she could, keenly aware of Maya's disappointed gaze directed towards her. 'I'm sorry Maya-chan, but I doubt Hina-chan would listen to reason...'"She is very brave to confess, and even braver for standing proud among us! Her bushido spirit is admirable!" Eve chirped, waving as Aya and Hina entered the studio. "Aya-san, Hina-san! Good afternoon!""Afternoon you guys! I can't wait to sing this song! Chisato-chan, you had a part to play in it right?" Aya asked, eager to start practice. Hina was trying her best not to laugh, and luckily for her, Aya didn't notice. Chisato could only dumbly nod, placing responsibility in something she didn't want to be a part of. "Great! I can always count on you~""Ack." Chisato gulped as she snatched the composition in Maya's hands, quickly scanning through it before Aya herself could see it. 'Let's see here...'
[Frilly, twirling, that's not us,
That's not idols, we're so much more!
Have some faith, leap forward with us
To that shining road past the stars!
Ah... that's right, millions of years away but that's alright!
Believe in me, believe in you, yes that's it!
Let's go, go, go!]
'This... is actually okay... It's not good, but at least it doesn't tarnish our idol image...' Chisato thought to herself, genuinely impressed by Sayo's song. She was expecting Sayo to write a depressing song like what Roselia would probably sing, so seeing their song made her feel a tad guilty that she doubted Roselia's guitarist."I kinda like the part where it goes 'Frilly, twirling, that's not us, that's not idols, we're so much more'." Hina commented, earning herself a gleeful nod from Aya. The other three heaved a sigh, even though the beats might be hard to keep up as it was a high energy song at least the lyrics were written within reason. "Maya-chan, will your arms break though?""I-I'll be fine, thanks...""But you know Hina-chan, it's as though this song was made for you! You like songs that require fast strumming right?" Aya pointed out, unaware that Sayo was the sole composer and she may or may not have composed it for her sister. It was most likely because she herself was used to high tempo songs as compared to what Ran had previously described as 'country pop trash'."Uhhhh... Well, since both onee-chan and Chisato-chan pointed out that I'm always too fast, they probably asked Ran-chan to... y'know, give us a challenge for you guys to keep up with me? Haha..." Hina trailed off, surprisingly not inclined to boast that her own sister (and girlfriend) made the song."Y-Yes, that's exactly what Sayo-chan and I said! Did you know that Arisa-chan agreed with us?" Well, if Hina wanted her to lie, Chisato would play along. 'She owes me though.'"Ohhh so that's why! This is a great way to see how much we've grown! Maya-chan, Eve-chan, you two agree with us right?" Maya and Eve gave each other worrying glances before giving Aya the curt nods she wanted to see. "Hehe, this is the first time I'm this eager to play a song! Can we start now?""J-Just lemme check the instruments one more time..." Maya mumbled as she ambled towards an amp, cursing at how even though Sayo disliked Pastel*Palettes due to the sole reason that Hina was in it, she was able to compose a decent song that was far better than what her group did. 'I wonder how's Afterglow taking it? I couldn't understand Kokoro-san or Tae-san...'"Kanon-san, remind me why are we doing this again?" Misaki groaned in her Michelle suit as she randomly danced, something that she secretly liked to do but couldn't as she always felt that she wasn't cute enough to do so outside of the suit. Kanon awkwardly patted Michelle's arm while Kaoru declared how fleeting the song was to Hagumi, not that she actually understood it but whatever. "I recall that we all fucked up the lyrics... Never am I working again with Minato-san.""What did you write?" Kanon asked, receiving the lyrics that Group 4 had written. "Um...?"
[Hey! Hey! Hey! Ahhhh, let's smile smile smile!
Hand in hand, circling round and round, let's yell a 'Hey, hey, smile'!
C'mon now, let's slap that frown upside down!
March on right, happiness is in sight!
March on left, ahhh this is the best!
Don't worry if you can't smile, the world's here to remind you how to smile!
Chase that light, what's stopping you from that right?
Hey! Hey! Hey! Ahhh, can we hear a 'Hey, happy, go'?]
"... Don't ask. Just... no." Misaki wanted to cry, she wasn't even sure if she was high on drugs while helping Yukina to compose lyrics for her band. Hell, she considered giving their first draft to Kokoro, but then she might get weird looks from everyone else if she did. It wasn't as if she could just give a song that went 'happiness hiding every corner, bash them down before they consume you' right?"I'm actually impressed Misaki-chan! This is a nice song!" Kanon commented, unable to read between the lines that the song implied something darker than what Kanon would ever expect. Not like Misaki would ever reveal what it really meant, she wanted her girlfriend to stay innocent."This song captures how fleeting happiness is perfectly! As expected of Misaki." Misaki flinched, not expecting Kaoru to approach them that early."Uh... I'll be sure to tell her that next time I see her?" Misaki replied, almost forgetting that she was now Michelle. "How did your group's song turn out?""Ah... With the efforts of my little kittens, Poppin'Party is sure to give their audience a fleeting performance of a lifetime!""... So you guys screwed up.""What? Of course not! Rimi and Rinko were lovely as they wrote the lyrics while Aya and Tomoe were splendid in composing the music!""... So you're the freeloader.""U-Um, maybe we should place faith in Kaoru-san's group!" Kanon hastily replied, effectively ending the conversation. "By the way, has anyone seen Kokoro-chan? I can't seem to find her after her call with Tsugumi-chan...""Ah I don't give a shit, and maybe it's a good thing that she isn't here." Misaki shrugged, waddling over to Hagumi. "Hagumi-chan~ How are you doing?""Michelle! I'm doing great now that you're finally here to practice! It's always Mii-kun! Ah, not that I don't like Mii-kun!" Hagumi launched herself on the bear suit, squeezing the soft material as tightly as she could. "I'm so excited to practice! Hey hey, do you think Roselia will like Hagumi's song?""H-Hagumi-chan, don't forget to credit others too~" Misaki replied, internally groaning at her Michelle act. Usually, she would act moody regardless if she was wearing the suit or not, but after learning why Hagumi likes Michelle, she decided to act like Michelle (at least in front of Hagumi that is). 'Urgh, if I remember right it was pretty weird... Didn't Ako-san photograph Sayo-san with a weird harem that day?'"Ah! Michelle's here! Alrighty, break time's over! Let's start practicing our new song!" Kokoro announced, making her way to Michelle. "By the way, have you seen Misaki? I need her help with something.""Oh uh... M-Misaki-chan said that she needs to go back home for uh... something important." Misaki fumbled a reply, wishing that a miracle could happen and the three idiots would finally realise that Misaki and Michelle were the same being."That's too bad. I was hoping that she could go over to where Afterglow is and explain our song to them!""I'm sure they'll be fine~" Misaki sighed, she knew that wouldn't be the case but she wasn't just going to ditch her own band. She was also certainly not going to make Hagumi cry just because Afterglow needed her. 'You guys are on your own...'"Remind me why are we doing this again?" Arisa groaned, with Saya awkwardly laughing in response as Kasumi, Rimi, and Tae fooled around. "This idea sucks.""Ahaha... At least Rimirin was the one who wrote the song? It could be worse you know, like Kaoru-san..." Saya replied, holding the lyrics to their new song in her hands. "Either way, anything is way better than the song my group wrote.""I'm still pissed that you guys pulled that stunt. Do you know how traumatised Hina-senpai was? Not to mention how worried Tomoe was when it came to Himari! And here I thought Minato-senpai had some sense in her brain.""Hey, there's pressure you know. It's Harohapi we're writing for, naturally they'll want their song to be about happiness right?""It's not like they're Roselia, that's what I call pressure.""Ehhh?! But it turned out okay in the end!" Kasumi had skipped over to where they were, a bright smile on her face. "We made sure that Yukina-senpai and Hina-chan oozed pheromones in the song!""That's disgusting, and why would you guys even do that?!" Arisa exclaimed, wondering what the hell was going through the leader's brain. Kasumi giggled, not bothered by Arisa's comment. "Saya, say something!""Well I would... if my group didn't do weird hijinks of their own...""Oh c'mon, what's the big deal? Roselia does sing those kind of songs.""Kasumi... You know what, forget it. I don't care anymore." Arisa dismissed Kasumi's earnest eyes and made her way to her keyboard, not wanting to deal with Kasumi (or Tae) for the rest of the day. "Let's just... start. Yeah, let's see what Rimi wrote.""Okie dokie! Saya-chan, take it away!" Kasumi beamed as she fidgeted while waiting for Saya to start drumming. As the music began, Kasumi opened her mouth as she prepared to sing while Arisa mentally cringed at their song. Sure, Rimi had experience writing songs... but who knew if Kaoru didn't add in a few 'fleeting' lyrics of her own without any of them realising. "Light the sky up with fireworks, now it's tinted with the warmth of love-""Stop, stop, stop! Rimi!" Arisa yelled out, unable to play past the first verse. Rimi flinched, she was pretty sure it was reasonable... "Why do I have a singing part?! I don't want one!""E-Ehh... I thought we could go for the maiden in denial trope... Kaoru-san suggested this and Aya-senpai agreed." Rimi replied, looking through Arisa's part. To be fair to the keyboardist, singing 'I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna try but maybe if it's you, sure exceptions are okay' might be embarrassing for her. "No good?""Hell no! Cut out my parts at least!""Arisa-chan, you're so picky." Tae shrugged, not the least bothered by Arisa's concerns. Saya didn't say anything, but she felt that it was a pretty decent song. Kasumi agreed, but both of them didn't dare to say it to Arisa's face. "You should write a song next time then.""Didn't I write my own solo song? It was ranked the best among our five solos.""I still can't believe that Rimirin wrote a song about choco cornets... Otae, you're also pretty impressive for writing a song about your rabbits." Saya commented, trying her best to subtly change the conversation flow. "A-Ah! Speaking of choco cornets, I brought some! Arisa, why don't we eat them?""... Fine." Saya heaved a sigh of relief as she distributed the bread to everyone, glad that a crisis was somehow averted (for now). 'Maybe we should change it to something like 'the stars above rained as we pressed our lips'... Nah, that doesn't make sense...'
[Vocalists+Marina]
[6.24 PM]
Mt. Aya: Um marina-san? Do we hv to perform the song we wrote for each other?Mt. Aya: It's...not rlly a gd idea aft hearing from the restMt. Aya: (Mostly frm roselia tho)Y. Minato: I guarantee you that it's not age-appropriate.Ranawaybaby: I have no idea why did I slow dance with Moca halfway through the song.Y. Minato: I recorded it, that was hilarious Mitake-san.Ranawaybaby: YOU WILL DELETE THAT VIDEO RIGHT NOW.Y. Minato: [ranmocatango.mov]Ranawaybaby: Holy fucking shit do you not understand Japanese?!Kokoron: wowKokoron: i thot we made sound super cool did u rlly not understand?Kasumin: yea i saw it n its pretty self explanatoryY. Minato: Toyama-san, please be reminded that you're the only person who can fully understand Tsurumaki-san.Kokoron: huh rlly??Ranawaybaby: By the way, dump Tsugumi and I'll fucking kill you.Ranawaybaby: Mafia bodyguards or not.Marina: Hi! So yeah, that's what your fans want to hear!Marina: It's ok if it's not what you guys usually sing!Y. Minato: [slavetothemusic.mov]Y. Minato: Don't ask who recorded it, it was downright embarrassing.Ranawaybaby: [starhero.mov]Mt. Aya: [fallenidolslastshow.mov]Y. Minato: I knew Sayo's a literal person, but for her to name your group's song as 'Fallen Idol's Last Show'...Mt. Aya: That's bad yes we knowKokoron: [thehappychase.mov]Ranawaybaby: Wait, the cult song became like that?Y. Minato: Would you like to see the first draft?Marina: I'll pass!Kasumin: [summertimeromance.mov]Kasumin: thts the edited version aft arisa-chan refused to sing her partsMt. Aya: Aw man i rlly wanted to hear her sing her parts...
[7.22 PM]
Marina: Ok you guys, when you perform the songs, CiRCLE won't claim responsibility!Marina: (We're broke anyways)Marina: Looking forward to your performances soon! Bye!
Marina has renamed [Vocalists+Marina] to [Just Vocalists ^^].
Marina has left [Just Vocalists ^^].
Ranawaybaby: Wow, she's put a new twist to my username...Y. Minato: Shit, now we really have to perform the songs we wrote.Mt. Aya: Oh dear, slave to the music is gonna be bad press for us...Kokoron: i like our song! thks yukina!Kasumin: welp, gd luck to u 3Kasumin: my grp's song is decent!
Kasumin has renamed [Just Vocalists ^^] to [ran+aya=yukina?].
Kasumin has removed Kokoron from [ran+aya=yukina?].
Kasumin has left [ran+aya=yukina?].
Ranawaybaby: Can we add them back?Mt. Aya: Oh forget it, we're doomedY. Minato: Well... we could always kidnap them.Y. Minato: I have three seasoned kidnappers in Roselia.
Ranawaybaby has renamed [ran+aya=yukina?] to [Kidnappers].
Mt. Aya: Oh no i'm out
Mt. Aya has left [Kidnappers].
Ranawaybaby added Mt. Aya into [Kidnappers].
Ranawaybaby: You're staying here whether you like it or not.Mt. Aya: THIS IS CALLED KIDNAPPINGY. Minato: This shows that we're successful.Mt. Aya: OH GOD WHYYYYYY