Ever since I had decided to tell Eri how I felt about her, time seemed to pass by very slowly. Usually the days went by so fast…
“Ok! Good work everyone, that’s a wrap!” the producer’s voice informed. Good jobs and thank you’s echoed about. We had just finished recording two episodes of Haromoni@. Why two? Because we were getting a break of nine days. Usually I don’t like such long breaks, but with the musical recently finished I felt like I deserved one. But most of all because of what I was about to do. If Eri rejected me then I could be by myself. If she accepted then, well…I hadn’t thought that far, as cliché as it sounded.
All of us began to head for our dressing rooms. I quickly latched my arms around one of hers and asked in a voice only loud enough for her to hear, “Can I talk to you alone?”
Turning her head to look at me in the eye, she nodded.
“Get changed first, then come through to my dressing room.”
“Ok.”

I have no idea how long or short it took me to get changed, I just remember arriving outside of her room. I calmed down my breathing before opening the door and walking in. I felt my breath catch in my throat. So much for those breathing exercises.
“Ahh, Gaki-san. Can you help me? The zip got stuck…” she said, tugging at the zip on her costume to prove her point.
“Only you could do something like this,” I remarked playfully before walking over to her. I was very nervous. I mean the zip’s on the front of the costume, and it was stuck half way down…
“But these things are so uncomfortable! And they’re kind of cheap…” she whined, moving away her hands so I could free the zip. I had to agree with her there. Those blue, green and pink outfits that they made us wear were kind of cheap and they were uncomfortable. I tugged at the zip trying to move it but it just wouldn’t budge. I tried again. It still wouldn’t move.
“Maybe you should use a mayuge beam on it,” she jokingly suggested. I did one and we both laughed.
Ok, now let’s try it,” I sarcastically said. I held the zip and dragged it down. It unzipped. We stared into each other’s eyes for several moments before we both burst out laughing. What were the odds? After the laughter died down, she finished getting changed and sat beside me on the couch in her room.
“So, what did you want to talk about?”
I felt my nervousness come rushing back to me. This was it; now or never. Eri was giving me that cute yet curious look she always does whenever I tell her that I want to talk to her in private. I’ve wanted to say this for so long…
“K-Kame,” I began, my voice shaking. She noticed immediately and took my hands in her own.  “I’m-“
“Are you pregnant?”
“…Huh? What?! No! No, I’m not pregnant!”
Eri let out a sigh. “Phew, okay. What is it?”
I gave her a crooked grin. She was doing that to make me feel more relaxed, to make it easier for me to tell her, to make my problem not seem as big as it was. But I still had to tell her.
“Kame, this is really important to me, and it’s taken me a lot of courage to be able to say it, so please listen carefully okay?”
She nodded, her attention completely on me. I could feel her gently stroking my hands in a calming motion.
“I’m gay,” I suddenly blurted out before I could stop myself. Eri smiled at me.
“That’s okay, I kind of thought so. You being gay changes absolutely nothing between us.”
Well things were going well so far. I took a breath, signalling that I had more to say. She looked at me, waiting for what I had to add.
“I like you.”
She blinked.
“As in I like you,” I repeated.
She blinked again. The silence that fell only raised the pounding of my heart.
“…Wow,” she breathed out. I felt her hands move in mine, but never leave. I guess that she wouldn’t know what to do with them if she did. “I’m not sure what to say…”
“Say something, please?”
“I, uh…uh,” she tried to process what was happening.
I began to feel nauseous. “Please, anything!” I begged.
Eri was confused, it was easy to tell by way her eyes searched my face. Every time she looked like she was about to say something, her mouth always shut.
“I’m so shocked at the moment; I can’t think. I can’t reply to you,” she said finally.
“It’s okay…”
“No it’s not! You need an answer.” She pouted stubbornly. “Gaki-san, can you give me half an hour to think about this?”
A chance maybe? She hadn’t rejected me yet, but then again she hadn’t exactly jumped at the chance.
“Take as long as you need,” I said. I quickly checked that my legs would be stable enough to at least get me back to my own room. Standing up, I wavered slightly, but I instantly corrected myself.
“I’ll be in my room,” I informed her, before walking out. I stole a quick glance back at her while I was closing the door. She really was confused, scared even. I wish that I could turn back time; back to before I had feelings for her. But I can’t so I’m going to have to face life as it comes at me.

I pathetically collapsed onto my couch and let out a long but muffled “Arrgh” into a cushion. I lay there for a while. Looking up at the clock on one of my walls I moaned. What felt like 10 minutes had in fact only been two minutes.
“I guess I better find something to do…” I said aloud to myself. I grabbed a random manga out of my bag and began to read. It didn’t fill me up like usual. Burrowing into my bag again, I took out a notebook and a pencil and began to scribble down whatever came to mind. Some words, some doodles, I turned over the paper and ended up retracing a lazy eight. Crumpling up the paper, I threw it behind me. It landed perfectly in the bin. I smiled for a second. I guess practise does make perfect. My impatience came flooding back when I took note of the name of the Moutube segment; “GakiKame Art Theatre”. Somehow I knew that if I thinked about enough things, that they would all somehow be connected to her. I tore out several other sheets of paper and continued to scribble. This time the things I drew made no sense. A rock somehow riding a Penny Farthing, a cloud with headphones, a hamburger blowing it’s…well it doesn’t have a nose, so it was blowing its tomato (?) on a tissue. Maybe I should see a doctor… On other pieces of paper I randomly wrote. Crumpling up the paper, I threw it at the bin, and missed. I lay my head back on the cushion, closing my eyes, enjoying the silence momentarily. Immediately I shot up and leapt for the paper, trying to unfold it without ripping it apart. I scanned my eyes over the paper until I found one that made my heart jump.
Kamei Eri.
“Gaki-san?”
I immediately re-crumpled the paper and placed it back in the bin.
“Kame,” I breathed out. Eri locked the door behind her, giving us privacy, although most of the people had left the building. She sat down on the couch. She looked at the small coffee table in front of the couch and stifled a laugh.
“Is that what you’ve been doing to pass time?” she asked in a high pitched, humour filled voice. I felt my cheeks heat up ever so slightly.
“These are as bad as mine!” she exclaimed pointing at the hamburger.
“They’re not that bad!” I weakly defended. Eri continued to laugh, and I quickly joined her. That girl has an infectious laugh. It’s like the laugh itself is laughing gas. We both calmed down rather quickly, we still had something to settle. I sat across the couch from Eri.
“Are you sure you’ve thought this through?” I asked. She nodded.
“Gaki-san, I’ve never been confessed to by a girl before…heck, I’ve never been confessed to by a guy before,” she said.
“I’m sorry, it must have been surprising,” I apologised.
“Yeah, it really was…”
“I’m sorry,” I repeated. I really wanted to yell. I wanted to get all of this nervousness out of me. But I didn’t, I could see that she was trying really hard.
“I’ve thought about dating girls a few times but each time I thought about it I became scared of myself. I had no idea if I was wrong for thinking those things. So I’ve been ignoring it.”
I nodded in understanding. I was exactly like that when I first thought about it. You don’t know why you’re thinking those things and you become scared of yourself; scared that everyone’s going to run away. Scared to be alone.
“But when you confessed to me, everything came rushing back. I’ve never had a problem with gays; it’s just that I was unsure about myself. I’ve been thinking over various things, like our jobs, our future; stuff along those lines. But I realised that those things were irrelevant. It was just about us. I don’t know if what I feel for you is more than friendship, I’m sorry.”
“O-Oh…” I felt my heart clenching up.
“But,” she continued.
“But?” I echoed.
“You are a very important person to me, and I feel like I need to give us a chance,” she said. I swallowed roughly.
“So, I’m going to give you one week,” Eri stated “I’ll be your girlfriend for one week. After that I’ll give you my answer. Is that okay?”
“That’s fine with me.” I moved over to her side of the couch and hugged her. “Thank-you. Thank-you so much.”
I had one week to prove to Eri that I was the one for her. I felt tears roll down my cheeks. She was trying so hard for me. I had to try my best as well. I felt her hugging me back
“Thank-you.” I said again. “Thank-you…”

Agh, this is such a tough question to answer

Ai – I highly doubt that she will be graduating soon. Just like a lot of people have been saying about how she has a huge fan base; she and Reina are the backbone of the group. I think that she probably still has around 2 years or more. If she leaves soon then it would be a complete disaster, MM would lose a significant amount of fans. She needs to stay in the group until other members gather more fans. I suppose she could graduate if she really wants to, but it would be a very Miki sort of move. So no graduation for Ai yet.

Risa/Eri – Hmm, now this is where I got stumped. Risa, along with Eri, have steadily been getting more fans, and more screen time which has been very obvious. But the question is, by the time they get the amount of fans that Ai and Reina have, will that be when they’re graduating? It seems like a disaster waiting to strike. It might take another 2-3 years before Risa and Eri’s fanbase becomes the size of Ai’s or Reina’s and by that time they may want to graduate. So should they graduate now? With their growing popularity as GakiKame they could always form a duo together, whether that be singing, radio hosts, show hosts etc. I think it may be a year before they decide graduate. They seem pretty happy at the moment with their current position. Risa is always happy to be in MM since it was her dream and Eri seems happy with the new amount of screen time she’s getting. But another thing with Eri is that she joined to change herself; she’s done that. What does she do now?

Sayu – What are they going to do with Sayu? I don’t get the feeling that she’s going to graduate any time soon. Morning Musume is about the only thing she can do. What would she do after she graduated? There’s no way she could go solo, and I doubt that she’s going to be put into a new group. Maybe she could do something similar to what I mentioned for Risa/Eri. So, no graduation for Sayu. Somehow I get the feeling that if she did graduate, it’s not going to be all by herself.

Reina – The same thing applies to Reina as it does to Ai. No graduation otherwise it will be the end of MM. If Ai graduates then Reina will be the last one to mainly support the group’s fanbase. There’s no way that that’s going to happen. Reina may very well become the leader but that will still be a while away. No graduation for a while.

Koharu – It’s very true that Koharu has the anime solo career going for her, but I still think that she wants to stick around for a bit more. She’s gathering fans for her being in MM instead of anime which will help boost her popularity even more. I think Tsunku and Up-Front want to use this popularity to attract more younger fans to MM. But they may always decide to graduate her

Aika – There’s no way that she’s graduating, she’s only joined recently.

JunJun/LinLin – I really doubt that they are going to graduate, they (like Aika) are newly added. But they were called “transfer students” so they may be graduated to form another group.

I wonder if there may be the possibility of a 3 person graduation? Of course, this would have to be after more members are added, but I was thinking that Risa, Eri and Sayu may graduate together. I know it’s not very likely, but it’s just a thought. I don’t see Sayu graduating by herself so she may graduate with Eri, but then again I don’t see them really doing anything together afterwards. Maybe seperately but that’s iffy. I think you need the GakiKame duo if they are going to get anywhere. They’re better together than by themselves. So maybe they might all graduate together. I think that when the gokkies and rokkies graduate, that it will be absolutely depressing.

Your touch was such a rare thing to me and every time it felt like the first. Shivers of excitement run through me, but there is also something else, something I can’t explain. You know this and you tease me with it. Your hand gliding against my back during dance practise. Your body tantalisingly close to mine in a line-up.
“Is there something wrong, Ai-chan? You look distracted,” you said to me, smirking. I try to look annoyed but my blush gives me away. You begin to walk towards me, your hips swaying hypnotically like a pendulum. Running a finger over my shoulders, you slowly circle me.
“Ahh! Mikitty, what are you doing to my Ai-chan?!” Risa’s voice suddenly calls out from nowhere. I quickly separate myself from you. Risa runs over to me, placing her hands on my shoulders and looking me in the eye. I hear your cackling, but in the distance.
“Ai-chan! Are you okay? Did she do anything?”
I shake my head.
“She really didn’t do anything?”
“She didn’t do anything,” I reassured.
“If you say so…I came to get you because your photo shoot starts in five minutes!”
“Oh, thanks.”
“No problem. Now let’s go!”
Risa grabbed my hand and began to drag me away.
“Don’t space out during the shoot!” Risa commanded in a friendly tone.
I nod my head but I knew that I would be spaced out for the rest of the day. I can still feel your lingering touch on my back and shoulders. Agh, why are you so distracting?! I’ll get my revenge on you Fujimoto! Just you wait and see what Takahashi Ai is capable of!

It was fun because no-one suspected us. It was fun because no-one knew. It was fun because I learnt. It was fun because I was with you.

Those were my last words to you, and between us. I wish I had said something more, something better, but I guess that’s all that I could have said. When we were together everything was simple and fun, and we didn’t want it any other way. There was no point in making good-bye complex.

To be honest, I wasn’t surprised when you got caught smoking; you had told me prior. I warned you but at the same time I sympathised. Being a teenage idol wasn’t as great as it looked. Sure, there were those amazing moments but there were just as many depressing ones. We didn’t keep things back from each other; after all, all we wanted to do was help the other. You told me. You told me. You cried. I held you.
“You’re really a good person,” you had said. I smiled.
“Only because of you,” I informed.

Even though you had graduated and were working hard in W, we still met. Not as much as what we would have liked, but it was better than nothing. I remember out last meeting. We discussed everything from our future’s, how we became what we were, our love interests to how Tsunku used more cosmetics in a month than the entire of Hello!Project in a year.
“Can I kiss you?” you asked.
I opened my eyes in shock but quickly smiled and shyly nodded. Our lips stayed locked together for just over 30 seconds before we broke apart. You licked your lips.
“I can still taste it; your innocence. Promise me you’ll never lose it,” you begged.
“I promise.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oi, Kame! Moshi moshi? I can see the lights but no-one’s home!”
Eri snapped out of her thoughts to find herself face-to-face with Risa. Eri felt her cheeks turn red.
“Are you okay? Your face looks flushed…” Risa trailed off. Placing their foreheads together, Risa attempted to take Eri’s temperature. Not moving an inch, Eri felt her face heat up more.
“Well, I don’t think you have a cold…” Risa pulled her head back, “be careful though, we need you for the musical.”
Eri nodded shyly.
“Oh yeah! You have a visitor,” Risa informed.
“A visitor?”
“Well, more like an old friend. The rest of us talked to her earlier but you weren’t there.”
Eri furrowed her eyebrows in thought.
“Doraemon?” Eri guessed.
“Kamei-chan, aho?!” a voice accused playfully.
Eri snapped her head in the direction of which a very familiar voice came.
“Kago-san!” she exclaimed. Kago smiled.
“I’ll let you two talk,” Risa said. Turning to Eri she said only loud enough for her to hear, “I’ll be waiting for you in the cafeteria. You promised to be Cinderella to help me practise, remember?” Risa winked. “I can’t wait,” she said before leaving.
Eri took a couple of seconds to process what had been said before again flushing and unconsciously licking her lips.
“Are you two dating?” Kago asked.
“No!”
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah…” Eri sighed out.
“You like her, don’t you?” Kago asked rhetorically.
Eri stuttered, only the beginning of words coming out.
“I thought that you grew out of your shyness,” Kago teased.
“I did, it’s just that…well, it’s Gaki-san…” Eri tried to explain.
“It’s ok, I understand.”
Eri smiled thankfully.
“I just dropped by today to see how you were all doing with rehearsals,” Kago explained, “You’ve all really grown up.”
“So have you.”
“Thank-you.”

Eri and Kago continued to chat for over 20 minutes, time seeming to fly by.
“Those days were fun…” Kago sighed out.
Eri was about to console Kago, when the older girl cut her off.
“Can I have one more kiss?”
A silence followed, Eri rolling over the question in her mind.
“…yes.”
Not even a second passed from when she answered, Eri felt Kago’s lips on her own. And just as quick as it had happened, it was over.
“Yup, just as I thought,” Kago confirmed aloud, after licking her lips several times, “I can’t taste your innocence.”
“B-But I-I’ve not…yet…you know?” Eri embarrassedly said. Kago burst out laughing.
“I don’t mean like being a virgin! I mean your heart. You’ve fallen in love, and I have a pretty good idea who with,” Kago said.
“Oh…” Eri let out a sigh of relief.
“A believe a certain ‘Gaki-san’ has caught your heart, am I wrong?” Kago asked, smirking. Eri blushed and lowered her head so that her bangs were covering her face.
“I guess your shyness never left, just hid away,” Kago commented, giggling after she finished. Eri mumbled to herself shyly.
“Well, I’m not going to keep you from your crush any longer. Just tell her how you feel, I’m sure she feels the same, I can tell,” Kago said.
Eri stood up and locked gazes with Kago.
“I never got to thank you for helping me break out of my shell, so I’m going to thank you now.” Eri bowed deeply. “Thank-you so much.”
“No problem. Now get going,” Kago gently ushered.
Eri looked at Kago for a few more moments before nodding and beginning to walk out of the room. As she walked further away from Kago, her own words popped into her head.
‘It was fun because no-one suspected us. It was fun because no-one knew. It was fun because I learnt.’
Eri closed the door behind her, the sound echoing down the empty hallway. She turned left and headed to the cafeteria where Risa was waiting for her.
“All done?” Risa asked, standing up when she spotted Eri.
“Yup.”
“Ready to go practise?”
“Whenever you are,” Eri replied.  Eri then stepped forward and entwined one of her hands with Risa’s. She smiled. Risa looked at Eri in confusion first but then smiled back, a light blush appearing.
“Watashi no oji-sama,” Eri shyly said.
“Zutto, watashi no ohime-sama,” Risa said back.

Alone in one of the rehearsal rooms, Kago whispered out 8 simple words.
“It was fun because I was with you.”

We had both agreed not to let any romantic feelings develop between the two of us. I agreed easily. I was only focused on getting one person’s attention; Goto Maki’s. You had been the same.

Looking back, I realise that it was because of that one episode…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Jajang…couple.” Abe said after she flipped over a piece of paper on a stand next to her, “Okay, let’s start!”
Reina wore a long blonde haired wig and Yossie wore a short brown haired wig. Both sat down on a prop bench, Yossie placing her arm around Reina’s shoulders. The Morning Musume girls’ could be heard squealing.
“In a relationship for six months, an envious couple.” the narration voice spoke out “Today, the two of them came to the beach.”
“The ocean’s so beautiful,” Yossie commented.
“Yeah, it is beautiful,” Reina agreed.
“There’s only the two of us here.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you shivering?” Yossie asked, turning to Reina. Reina wiggled. Again, the girls squealed.
“But it’s because we’re so close to each other,” Reina explained. Yossie took Reina’s in her own, smiling.
“The girlfriend accidentally found out now that he’s a playboy. Those two started to fight on the side of the ocean.”
Reina released her hand from Yossie’s and turned to face her.
“I want to clear things up with you,” Reina said in a slightly harsh tone.
“What, what, what?”
“You cheated on me didn’t you?”
“Me?”
“Last time I saw you walking with another woman,” Reina accused.
“You probably saw the wrong person,” Yossie weakly defended.
“No, I saw it!”
“Than how about I show you my cell phone?” Yossie proposed.
“No need.”
“There isn’t a single girl’s name in here except for yours,” Yossie stated.
“No, I wanna break up with you.”
Yossie placed her hand on Reina’s shoulder and said, “Wait a second…”
“No.”
Reina stood up.
“Why?” Yossie asked.
“I hate you. Let go of me,” Reina demanded. Yossie repeatedly tried to hold Reina’s hand but was always shaken off. Standing up, Yossie began to look down at Reina.
“It’s found out that this is the girlfriend’s only suspicion. Those two went back to being intimate with each other.”
“Having you worried, it’s my bad,” Yossie apologised to Reina. Holding out her hand and taking Reina’s in her own, Yossie hugged Reina. Laughter rang out all through the studio. Holding each others hands, they faced each other.
“You’re the only one I like,” Yossie stated.
“You’re the only one I like too.”
“The boyfriend then finds out that she’s a playgirl.”
“Is there something wrong with me?” Yossie asked angrily.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Last time, you and that guy… in the convenient store… In the convenient store, drinking from the same can, right?”
Reina placed her hand over her mouth in shock.
“I did not do that,” she defended.
“That counts as an indirect kiss!”
“So what if it’s an indirect kiss?”
“I don’t accept that!” Yossie folded her arms, turning away from Reina.
“During this fight the fact that he is moving to Hokkaido is made. The sudden breakup…”
Reina laughed, the situation was getting more ridiculous. Yossie turned back to Reina.
“Sorry…truthfully, I don’t want to go either…”
“You’re really going?”
“I have my own dream,” Yossie replied. Laughter.
“Actually, here is Hokkaido. The two of them live closer to each other than before, as neighbours.”
Yossie stood there, finding the right words to say. A short silence passed.
“Hotaru,” she said, giving Reina’s character a name.
“Because having you come here with me… Let’s have a small coffee shop, just the two of us.” Yossie again held Reina’s hand and held it up.
“Yeah,” Reina agreed.
“Then, we’ll take care of “him”,” Yossie continued, making it like they already had a kid. Staring at one of her hands as the child, Yossie said, “We’ll take care of him together. Our baby.”
“From relationship to marriage, it’s been 3 years. Right now, having absolutely no feeling towards each other, the husband and wife.”
Reina and Yossie were in an embrace, but separated at the new situation. Yossie walked away from Reina and sat down on the bench.
“Food, is the food done yet?” Yossie asked, crossing her legs.
“Why don’t you go make it yourself?” Reina demanded.
“Bring it out already.”
“I’m tired as well.”
“Stop being so annoying. I work so hard and then come home.”
“Why don’t you eat outside then come home,” Reina suggested, annoyed.
“Newspaper, how about the newspaper?”
“We don’t have a newspaper at home.”
“Hurry up and go get it.”
“Go get it yourself.”
“Miso soup isn’t hot either,” Yossie complained.
“If you don’t wanna drink it then don’t drink it.”
“Then, I’m leaving this family,” Yossie stated.
“Go ahead,” Reina said.
“Really?”
Yossie stood up.
“Then you get out.”
“Why?”
“Time’s up!” Abe announced.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even if it wasn’t exactly a major moment, it had been because of that scene that I began to feel differently about you. Suddenly, it wasn’t Maki’s attention I wanted anymore; it was yours. I wanted us to be exactly like the couple we acted out that day. Okay, maybe not exactly; who the hell would want such a dysfunctional relationship?!
I wanted to the one you held; the one you loved. Our secret practise dates became more to me. My heart would always race whenever we snuck to the movies. I was so happy that you were paying attention to only me. When we would say goodnight to each other after you walked me back to my house, I could really see the Mr. Moonlight part of you coming out. But my happiness was short lived. You and Maki became even closer and we stopped going on dates. Then, one day, you confronted me.
“Reina, we can’t date anymore.”
I felt my heart breaking right then, but I wasn’t going to cry in front of you.
“Let me guess, she’s going out with you,” I said, not letting any emotion show.
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“It’s obvious to tell by the way you two have been acting around each other lately,” I stated. A short silence followed.
“I’m sorry, Reina,” you apologised. I could feel tears trying to break free, but I wouldn’t let them; not yet.
“It’s ok, your better for her than me. Anyways, I’ve fallen in love with someone else,” I said. You looked at me in shock.
“That’s great! Can you tell me who it is?”
I shook my head.
“Well, I’m always open ears whenever you want to tell me. I wish you the best of luck with this person, hopefully they’ll return your feelings,” you blessed, smiling. I inwardly winced.
‘If only you knew…’
“We can still hang out though. Want to go the movies or something?” you offered.
“I can’t, I’ve got some business to attend to,” I declined. You pouted.
“Aww, that sucks, but I understand. Let me know if you want to hang out though.”
“I will.”
“I’ll go and see if anyone’s free since you’re busy. I’ll see you on Monday!” you called out. I waved as you left. As soon as you were out of sight I ran. I didn’t care where I was going just as long as I was by myself. My eyes and throat burned, but nothing compared to the burning in my heart. The more I thought about you, the more the pain increased. Even if I tried to get you out of my head, my heart wrenched from the lack of you. It was a no win situation. I fell to my knees in an abandoned park. Our chapter of life together was now over. It was the end of our little game.

“So, as their senpais I want you to give them advice and tips,” Tsunku said facing the members of Morning Musume. The members of the fifth, sixth and seventh nodded their heads in understanding.
“I have provided each member’s latest photo book for reference; please use them to your advantage. That will be all, you are dismissed.”
Tsunku quickly left the meeting room, rushing to his next meeting. The members were left in short silence before they got to work.
“Ok, Mitsui, JunJun and LinLin, are you all ready to learn how to get through your first photo book?” Ai asked the eighth gen members.
“Hai,” they all replied.
“We should look at my book first!” Sayumi energetically exclaimed holding her PB in one hand, “after all, I am ichiban kawaii!”
Everyone’s expressions faltered.
“Let’s just do hers first so that way we can get the narcissist out of the way,” Risa joked. Sayumi stuck out her tongue playfully at the gokkie while everyone else nodded in agreement. Picking up Sayumi’s latest PB, all of the members gathered around and began to give out tips to the newest gen.

—————————————————–

Ai picked the final PB off the desk at which the girls sat; MAPLE.
“How come mine came last?” Eri moaned.
“It just ended up like that, it’s not the end of the world,” Reina explained. Eri didn’t seem satisfied with the answer but went along with it anyway. They flicked through the pages and many praises were given to Eri. In return, Eri explained many things about her shoot.
“You have to feel comfortable with yourself, with the camera, with your surroundings; everything. If you feel uncomfortable you won’t be able to give 100%. Also, you need to be connected to your surroundings, that way your personality comes out really well in the photos, it shows that you and the place became one,” Eri told her kouhais. They nodded in awe; they had never realised that they had to do more than just pose right and get the expressions correct. The older members of the group stared at Eri in amazement. Eri looked at them confused, her head cocked to the side.
“What?” she asked.
“That was really good advice, and it came from you,” Risa replied.
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Eri exclaimed. Sayumi laughed.
“Nothing,” she said. She quickly grabbed Eri’s PB out of the leaders and Reina’s hands, taking a look at the PB for herself. She stopped on the page where Eri was in a black bikini looking over the edge of a wooden boat into water.
“Kyaa~ Eririn is so sexy!” Sayumi squealed.
“I’ve got to admit that this is a really sexy picture, Eri,” Reina agreed. Risa took the book out of the bunny’s hands and studied the picture.
“Really?” Risa asked.
No matter at how Risa looked at it she just couldn’t imagine Eri being all sexy. She could only imagine Eri as her usual bubbly self or…well, being Eri.
“It’s a really expressive photo,” Ai complimented.
“Mou, Gaki-san,” Eri whined.
“I just can’t see Kame being all sexy though since I’m used to seeing her all Eri-like,” Risa commented.
“Well I can see where you’re coming from,” Reina said.
“Gaki-san can’t see me as being sexy?” Eri mumbled to herself.
“Aww, no need to feel so down Eririn,” Sayumi hummed, giving her best friend a quick hug.
“I just guess Kame isn’t the sexy type to me,” Risa stated before laughing nervously.
“I’m sorry I’ve got something to do, please feel free to continue without me though. I’ll see you all tomorrow,” Eri informed the members before leaving the meeting room suddenly.
“Ahh, Kame!” Risa called out, trying to stop the rokkie but to no avail. The door shut. Risa let out a sigh.
“Maybe I insulted her…”
A silence fell.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” JunJun suddenly spoke. The other members smiled.
“Yeah, she probably does have something to do, I’m sure she mentioned something about it to me the other day…” Reina trailed off trying to recall anything important.
“Plus Eri’s always smiling so there’s no need to worry,” Sayumi said.
“I agree, it wasn’t your fault Gaki-san,” Ai reassured.
Risa weakly smiled before saying, “You’re all probably right.”
“I’ve learnt so much, thank-you for sharing your knowledge with us,” LinLin thanked, bowing in respect. Mitsui and JunJun copied.
“It’s no problem, it’s out job as your senpai’s anyway,” Ai kindly said.
“Since we’re here in Yokohama is there anything fun to do around here to kill some time?” Koharu asked.
“I’ve heard that there’s a new café around here, anyone else wanna go?” Reina offered. Everyone agreed to go.

—————————————————–

“Are you sure that you’re ok? You’ve been out of it ever since Eri-chan left,” Ai asked Risa again as they arrived outside of Risa’s room.
“Yeah, I’m sure, I’m probably just tired, thanks though Ai-chan.”
Ai nodded her head obviously not believing the fellow gokkie but deciding not to push the matter further.
“Remember, I’m always just at the other end of the hall if you need me.”
Risa once again thanked Ai and said goodnight. Locking her door Risa yet again sighed.
“I wonder if Kame’s ok…” she said to herself. Shaking her head Risa decided to take an early shower.

Appearing out of the shower Risa was wearing nothing but a bra and panties. It was the height of summer and even at night time it was hot. The door was locked so Risa didn’t need to worry about uninvited guests. Anyways it wouldn’t bother her if another member saw her in only her undergarments; she had gotten changed in the same room as them before and she had worn bikinis in front of them so being caught in her panties was no big deal. Turning out all of the lights in her room, Risa climbed into her bed and began to drift off to sleep.

—————————————————–

Blinking, Risa woke up to the sound of something locking. Her arms were above her head. Someone was at the headboard of her bed, locking Risa’s arms above her head in handcuffs. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Risa eyes shot open in shock when she realised who it was.
“Kame?!” Risa gasped out in disbelief.
The figure stopped and smirked.
“What are you doing? Why am I in handcuffs?” Risa asked.
Silence.
“Are you angry at me?”
The figure shook its head.
“Why would I be angry at you?” Eri questioned.
“Well, because of what I said earlier today…” Risa trailed off.
“I’m not angry at you,” Eri stated. Risa let out a sigh of relief. That’s also when she realised her friend’s attire.
“Kame, why are you only in girls boxers and a bra?” Risa hesitantly asked. Again Eri smirked. Risa’s heart rate increased. Suddenly Eri climbed on top of Risa and positioned herself above the girls’ waist, straddling her. Risa felt her cheeks flush a deep scarlet; she was thankful that the room was dark. Risa took in a sharp breath when she felt one of Eri’s hands lightly brush against her toned stomach.
“K-Kame?”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you,” Eri breathed out into Risa’s ear. Eri reached over the side of the bed and grabbed a bottle. Risa stared at Eri in confusion. Eri popped off the lid of the bottle and began to spray some of the contents onto the girl underneath her.
‘Whipped cream,’ Risa said to herself.
Eri put the bottle back onto the ground. Before Risa could register what was about to happen she felt something warm and wet go over her stomach. Risa gasped out; Eri was licking the cream off of her. She felt the tongue go again but incredibly slowly. Risa felt her whole body heating up at the contact. Her breathing began to change. At first Eri had been licking the cream off the top part of Risa’s stomach but as the cream began to disappear she had to begin to travel lower to get more. Risa’s breathing soon became heavy. Eri smirked as she heard the girl panting and the legs beneath her beginning to rub together. Risa looked down to where Eri was and the sight only increased Risa’s body heat. Eri’s body was placed over her own; the girl leaned over to lick off the cream, her cleavage very visible. Eri looked up and smiled at Risa deviously, a sparkle in her eyes.
“Am I sexy now?” Eri whispered out.
Risa nodded embarrassedly.
“What?” Eri teased.
“Y-Yes,” Risa huskily replied.
Eri began to lick off the final two rows of cream left on the girl. These two rows were directly above Risa’s panty line. Risa felt herself giving in. She let out a moan.
“Hmm, what was that?” Eri playfully asked.
“M-more,” Risa breathed out, “E-Eri.”
Shock passed over the younger girl’s face for a moment; Risa was addressing Eri by her first name. A smirk appeared on Eri’s face but this time it was from ear to ear. Obliging, she began to lick. Risa bit her lip, holding back a moan from the tantalisingly slow licking she was receiving. She felt the warm tongue trace small circles, tasting her. Both girls were old enough to know what they were experiencing their waists slowly grinding together. The only noises in the dark room were the laboured breathing of Risa and the wet sound of Eri’s tongue. Risa knew that all of the cream had been licked off when she felt her panties being pulled down slightly. Risa’s pulse sky rocketed. She felt one of Eri’s nails gently scraping across the skin under her stomach. Risa let out a little squeal. Eri let out a small giggle. Lightly snapping Risa’s panties Eri patted them afterwards and got off of Risa. Staring at Eri in shock Risa suddenly began to grasp at what had just happened. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Eri picked the whipped cream off the floor and began to leave the other girls bedroom. Before she closed the door she turned back to face Risa.
“Sweet dreams, Risa,” Eri said, sexily whispering out the name.
The door clicked closed. Risa didn’t move a muscle for several minutes before coming back down to Earth. She began to bring her arms back down when she realised that she couldn’t.
“Hey, I’m stilled locked up! Kame!” Risa yelled, desperately flopping about while she did. Then out of the corner of her eye on her bedside table she spotted a key.
“That’s not my key…”
Then she saw a little note underneath the key.

Opposable thumbs can’t help you now, can they?
-Eri

A little picture of a turtle was then drawn underneath.
‘I have no idea what goes through that girl’s head sometimes…’ Risa thought to herself.
Stopping her mind from contemplating the matter she quickly got it back to the task at hand.
“This isn’t fair!” she whined.
‘Give me something!’ the back of Risa’s mind screamed.
Outside of Risa’s bedroom Eri quietly giggled to herself before slinking her way back to her own room.

Several minutes later silence fell upon Risa’s room.
“Mou, she could have at least made the handcuffs furry or something…”

I wanted you to give all of your attention to me. I wanted you to look only at me. I kept talking to you so that you would have to look at me, yet somehow your attention kept going back to Kame. Maybe I’m just boring to you; maybe I’m just another senpai. Still, I tried. It’s amazing how well you and Kame get along; you even called her “aho”. You must be pretty good friends if you say that to a senpai. I could feel my jealousy bubbling up in my stomach. After I had finished talking to you, you would only give a short answer and turn and look at Kame. It’s not that I dislike Kame or anything, not at all! I really like her; I’m just kind of jealous at how easily she makes friends and the amount of them. I guess that it’s not really a big deal but I still can’t help but want to get your attention. You’ve really made me realise my feelings towards certain things JunJun; I’m really surprised by these feelings inside. Sometimes I still try and catch your attention but I don’t really do it as much now. I guess I can’t win at everything, after all, I can’t beat Kame at being “the ultimate aho”. It’s much more fun being the “reaction queen” anyway.

Maybe I should just die…there’s no reason for me to live anymore; you’ll never be mine and it hurts so much. I can feel the gaping hole of emptiness in my heart growing bigger. Just the sight of you and her together drives me closer to insanity. I stared out at the vast blue of the sea in front of me. My toes were hanging just off the edge of the cliff. I gazed down and watched as countless waves crashed against the rocks below.
“Mmm, 50 metres, maybe?” I estimated out loud to myself. If I jumped from the right place I could land on the jagged spikes of stone. I winced at the thought but still the thought of losing you was more painful. I could feel my whole body beginning to shake as I began my mental countdown.
10, 9…
Time had already begun to slow down.
8, 7, 6…
Hot tears began to fall from my eyes as the past 5 years of my life flashed by.
5, 4…
Your smiling face shone in my mind.
“Maybe in another life.”
3.
A breeze passed; silence. I begin to lift my foot.
2.
Rushing footsteps.
1.
“Sayu!”
I felt myself beginning to fall, my eyes wide open in shock. You were there. Looking up I saw you jump off the cliff after me where I had been moments before.
“Eri…” I whispered out, my voice getting lost in the whistling wind.
I felt your arms warmly embrace me. You positioned us so that we were falling backs first, you underneath. I realised what you were doing, but too late before I could do anything. We hit the water hard, you receiving the worst hit; you had broken the water to protect me. I was thrown out of your arms and under the waves. Pain surged through my left leg; I had injured it on impact. I fought my way to the surface taking several deep breaths after surfacing.
“Eri!” I screeched out.
Turning my head back and forth I scanned the water for you, the fading light making my search harder. My heart was about to burst out of my chest; you couldn’t die. I breathed in deeply before diving back under the water. The salty water stung my eyes but I ignored it. I saw your body floating downwards slowly. I swam towards you at full speed. Grabbing you around the waist I began my ascent back to the surface. My lungs began to scream in agony from lack of oxygen, if I didn’t get air quick the both of us would die. Bursting above the waves I desperately inhaled. Quickly turning to you I realised that you were unconscious. There was no way you were going to give up so neither would I. Holding onto you I struggled back to shore. I weakly dragged you out of the water and gently placed you on the sand.
“Eri, please wake up,” I panted out. I lay on my hands and knees next to you, water dripping off of me.
“You can’t die…Please, just say something. Anything!”
You coughed quietly.
“S-So much for me b-being a t-turtle, huh?” you joked smiling at me. I felt tears falling from my eyes again as I pulled you into a hug.
“Don’t you ever do that again!” I ordered.
“You’re saying that to me? Why did you jump off of the cliff?” you asked.
I froze.
“Sayu?”
I unlatched my arms from you and kept them at my sides. I turned my head away.
“We tell each other everything, Sayu, so why can’t you tell me this? We’ve always been together,” you said dejectedly.
“I’ll tell you but there are going to be so many consequences,” I sighed out.
“We always work through them though, don’t we?”
I weakly smiled, you were still yourself. I brought my gaze to meet yours.
“I love you, Eri,” I stated.
You stared at me but quickly smiled and hugged me.
“I guess this is a problem isn’t it?” you sadly asked.
I nodded into your shoulder.
“That’s why I jumped, because I know that we can never be together because you have Gaki-san to love.”
“I’m so sorry, Sayu. I’m so sorry,” you apologised your grip around me tightening.
“It’s ok.”
“No, it’s not! I left you all by yourself!”
“I know that you never meant to.”
“Please don’t do this ever again. I need you, I really do. You’re always at my side; I wouldn’t be myself if you weren’t there.”
I heard you sniffling.
“Please, Sayu, I need you.”
I nodded; even if I could never be the one who you loved I guess be the best at whatever came next.
“Promise me.”
“I promise that I will never try to do this again,” I vowed.
We continued to hug for several minutes. You sneezed.
“Cold?”
You shyly laughed and nodded. I smiled.
“Did you hurt yourself?” I asked.
“Surprisingly no, but my back and legs kind of hurt,” you admitted.
I picked you up and placed you on my back.
“Yay! Rabbit back!” you excitedly squealed.
“Honestly, you still act like your shoe size,” I teased.
“But this is fun!”
“Hai hai.”
We both laughed as we made our way back to the hotel. I may have been cold on the outside but I was warm on the inside. These moments that we spent together will never leave my memory, ever. The hole in my heart will slowly heal but you will always be my number one; always and forever my Eri.

Inside the Kame house hold…
22:16

Stepping into Eri’s bathroom, face wash armed, Risa gasped.
“What’s wrong, Gaki-san?” Eri asked appearing behind the gokkie.
“I didn’t know you had one of these things!” Risa exclaimed shocked, pointing to an object that was plugged into the wall on the opposite side of the room. Eri pouted her lips.
“You don’t need to sound so surprised. I can work technology just fine!” Eri protested.
Risa smiled, ’Alien technology,’ she joked to herself.
“Wow, you must have used it a lot if you need to charge it,” Risa commented. Eri blushed.
“But it’s fun, and it’s charged now!” she weakly defended. Eri unplugged it and showed it to Risa.
“It feels amazing and it’s so strong,” Eri said, clicking a switch on the bottom. It began to vibrate.
“I’m so jealous,” Risa whined, longingly looking at the object.
“Do you want me to show you how to use it?” Eri offered. Risa energetically nodded.
“Well, first you need to relax your whole body,” Eri explained, taking several deep breaths after.
“Wet it, and then add some paste.”
Eri slightly wetted the item before taking some paste from out of a tube and placing it on the end.
“You have to position it carefully before putting it in. Also, you have to be careful about where it touches and how strongly, you don’t want to hurt any sensitive skin…”

—————————————————-

Kame’s Bathroom
22:32

“And that is how it’s done!” Eri declared smiling; she was obviously very pleased.
“That took 15 minutes!” Risa complained.
“So?!”
“I could do that in 5!”
“There are some people who can do it for the entire night! Anyways, how would you know? You don’t even have one.”
“Just you wait and see! When I get one, we’ll do this together! I’ll show you how good I am at this sort of stuff!” Risa declared.
“I’ll be waiting for that day,” Eri said before walking out of the bathroom, back to her room.  Risa turned to face herself in the mirror and smirked.
‘I’ll beat Kame, and her stupid electric toothbrush!’

I could feel my heart thundering and my nerves shaking as I arrived outside of your house. I was about to do something that would change both of our lives forever. I placed my trembling finger on the door bell and retracted it after it had done its job. My legs began to feel like jelly, but you saved me by opening the door. I felt all of the fear flow out of me just by seeing you. You looked so…angelic. I felt my face flush as you smiled at me innocently.
“You look stunning,” I complimented.
It was your turn to blush, your face lighting up.
“T-Thanks, you look amazing as well,” you said back.
You stepped aside from the entrance and let me in. I stepped inside and took off my shoes. I felt myself relax even more when I looked around your house; it was like my second home now.
“When did your family leave?” I asked. You had mentioned that I could spend the night since your family had gone to go visit relatives for the weekend; you had decided to stay behind since you had seen your relatives recently.
“About an hour ago.”
An hour ago? The house looked absolutely spotless.
“Did you clean the house?” I asked. You shyly nodded your head.
“It’s amazing, and even more surprising considering how messy you are,” I teased.
“Mou, Gaki-san! I’m not that messy!” you playfully protested, pouting your lips.
“Hai hai, I’m sorry.”
I gazed at your lips, longing to feel them on my own again. I leaned forward and placed my lips on your own. You let out a small squeak of surprise but quickly recovered and kissed me back. I felt my wings extending. Our bodies touched as you pulled me closer to you. At this rate I was going to hit space, so reluctantly I pulled my lips away from yours. There was still something I had to do.
“You seem really loving tonight,” I teased.
“I can’t help it, it’s just us two in an entire house for a whole night,” you explained smirking. I felt my ears turn red; you were so shy sometimes yet you could be so deviant as well.
“So, Gaki-san, shall we watch a movie?” you questioned.
“Sure. Which movie?”
“Anything that you want to watch.”
“Do you have Titanic?” I asked.
“Of course, let’s go!” you stated before gently grasping my arm and pulling me through to the living room.

After the movie and tears had finished we turned off the TV and lay in each other’s arms.
“Ne, Kame,” I said before I could change my mind. I was going to do it.
“What is it?”
“We’ve been together for 6 months from today, right?” I asked.
“Yeah, why?” you asked curiously, lifting your head off of my chest and looking up at me.
“Y-You love me, right?”
“Of course I do, more than life,” you replied.
“I know this may seem rather hasty b-but there is something I want to ask you,” I confessed.
“Ask me anything.”
I took a deep breath before continuing. I looked into your eyes; they glowed so mystically yet they were so warming. I felt my courage building up even though I hadn’t even planned what I was going to say. I got down on my left knee in front of you.
“Have you ever flown Kame? Have you ever felt the pure air flow through your hair? I have, all because of you. You made me see what was beyond the closed world underneath the clouds. I can never forget the exhilaration in my soul as I soar into forever. You helped me to learn how to break free from my past; one of a broken heart. Each day you were there by my side, making sure that I never destroyed my wings; even when they had already been damaged. You were so patient, healing me and my wings. You held me when I cried, you made me smile when I was sad and above all, you loved me. You loved me like she never could. There is something different about you from anyone else, something that I can’t put into words because no word in any language would be enough. Just you calling my name makes me feel alive. Without you I know that I would fall, because now that I have you, I’d never let you go. I can’t even imagine my life if I had fallen, I’m so thankful for having you by me. Just you standing by my side brightens the world. When you kiss me it’s like your giving me a piece of heaven, something I will always treasure. But, I want to repay you in some way for everything that you have done to me. I want to be the one that rescues you when you fall. I want to show you the eternal sky in which I fly. I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to do as much as you did for me, but I’ll never stop loving you. Because, I’ll be your every tomorrow and I’ll always be there,” I said.
You stared at me in shock, tears streaming down your cheeks. You seemed to know what I was going to ask next. I pulled out a small box from my pocket. Opening it up, I smiled.
“Kamei Eri…will you marry me?”
You didn’t move; the shock too much. I winced. You suddenly got up off the sofa and ran upstairs to your room, tears falling behind you. I felt my heart shake; I had ruined everything. I hung my head and let a few tears escape, but I wiped them away and stood up. Even if I had destroyed our relationship I had to make sure that you were ok; no matter what, even if it was at my own expense. I placed the box back in my pocket and headed upstairs.

Stepping into your room I heard you; you were in the closet. I guess old habits die hard. The sound of you whimpering stung my heart like poison. I had made you cry.
“K-Kame?” I asked. You whimpered again. I decided to do what was best; I went into the closet with you. It was dark, but I could make out you and your features.
“Kame, I’m sorry,” I apologised. You leapt into my arms, fresh tears falling.
“You don’t need to apologise, Gaki-san,” you said. My eyes shot open.
“W-What do you mean?”
“I was just so overwhelmed with happiness, I have been waiting for this day and now that it actually happened I’m just so…so…” you stuttered out. I kissed you on the lips trying to calm you down. Separating, our eyes met and so did our souls. I pulled the small box from my pocket again.
“Kamei Eri, will you marry me?” I asked again. You smiled so sweetly.
“Yes!” you exclaimed before connecting out lips. I felt tears of pure joy fall; we were the happiest people on earth and the funny thing about it all was that we were in a cramped closet. We broke apart, a saliva strand extending between us momentarily before disappearing. You grinned at me then leaned forward and whispered in my ear,
“You take me sky high.”