"Wooooo! What a RUSH!"
"Aichan, if you're not gonna come down from there, I'm gonna get Ikuta to drag your sorry ass back on the deck" Risa yelled at the ex-longest serving Musume leader.
"Yada!" Ai retorted. "Not when I get to see the view from here..it beats the Zekkyo machine anytime!" the older yelled back, then gasped as she witnessed the setting sun in all its glory, still holding on to the top of the mast of the sailing yacht.
Risa sighed, exasperation creeping into her tone as she continued helming the wheel of the yacht they have rented for the summer. "Eripon, can you PLEASE tell our stubborn leader to come down right now?"
Erina grinned, giving Risa the thumbs up "Takahashi-san" Eripon pleaded. "Come back down please...its not safe up there"
Ai was brought back to reality from Erina's voice "No can do, Ikuta! We have only this summer to be able to do this... Can you please tell your beloved subleader to stop being my mom and act more like the fun-loving girlfriend of mine whom I used to know, FOR ONCE"
"Makocchin?" Risa, always the sensible one...still with the wheel in her hands, turned towards her gokkie member.
"Hey, don't look at me...as soon as its safe for me to get my hands off the rails, I would gladly come up to get her" replied Ogawa Makoto, shrugging her shoulders.
"It's beautiful, Risa...if only you could see this...its...its so beautiful from up here". Risa looked up momentarily to see her girlfriend's hair being blown by the strong gusts of wind, but her face is the picture of serenity, calmness, and at peace with herself.
As she caught the last look of her soulmate's smile from the top of the mast, the rogue wave struck, and the mast collapsed.
"NOO!" Risa bolted up from her sleeping position on the log chair, sweat trickling down from her temples, cooling her body as they evaporated thanks to the cool morning breeze.
"Bad dream?" She looked to her right to find Sayu already staring at her.
"Don't you have a rehearsal to attend?" Risa replied nonchalantly.
"We're supposed to be celebrating Aichan's birthday. Don't you remember? The entire Hello Project would be here anytime soon. We're all on vacation leave for this month"
"I must've fallen asleep, Sayu" Risa yawned as she scratched her head.
"You've been sleeping here ALL NIGHT" Sayu raised her voice, more in incredulity than plain rudeness.
Taking a seat next to her senpai, she touched Risa's hand "What's wrong, Gakisan? You haven't been yourself lately"
"How do YOU know that? You're hardly around these days" Risa lowered her eyebrows, withdrawing her hand from Sayu's warm one.
"Ikuta tells me you've been taking walks late into the night...but THIS...It's not normal to do this, Gakisan...you're not the only one who's hurt" the bunny lowered her gaze, her voice trembling.
"You don't have to be worried over nothing...cos I'm fine...I REALLY AM!...Now...I'm gonna go get some breakfast..." Risa quickly changed the subject, getting up, avoiding Sayu's gaze and headed back to the beach house.
At a local cafe, Ogawa Makoto and Konno Asami were catching up on their private lives as they ate their breakfast together in a long while. A knock on the glass window of the cafe near where they were seated, both the gokkies looked up to see Sayumi outside. Makoto signalled for Sayu to come inside and join them.
Makoto promptly ordered a coffee for her kouhai.
"What's wrong, Sayu? You looked troubled" Asami asked.
"I don't know, Kon-chan...I just had a brush with Gakisan just now" Sayu replied flatly. receiving her coffee and thanking the waitress.
"You fought with Gakisan?" Makoto arched an eyebrow..."I thought you guys were buddies"
"Well, we've been through a lot, Makocchan, ever since you both graduated...and as much as I hated to do this, I have to ask you for a favour" Sayu looked down on the table.
Makoto exchanged worried looks with the other gokkie, before addressing the bunny. "Shoot...you know I'd do almost anything for my kouhai..especially when she's now the leader of Morning Musume"
"She's been avoiding all of us, Makocchan...I can't even penetrate this ...this WALL she put up between herself and others"
"What's this REALLY about, Sayu?" Makoto stopped eating, realizing her kouhai is dead serious in turning to her senpais for help this time.
"Can you two please talk to her? We've been trying for quite some time since we arrived here and all we've got is a cold shoulder, or at best, lukewarm welcome from her. I sensed that she's keeping something from all of us"
"Wait...wait wait.." Makoto cut her kouhai off, holding a hand up.."What are you saying, Sayu?...You want us to spy on her?"
"Of course not, senpai..." Sayu looked up, look of determination on her face..."I just thought you could help find out what's with her...since you both always had that tight gokkie rapport...maybe she would let you in on what's REALLY bothering her"
"Why are you doing this, Sayu?" Makoto sighed, staring at the bunny.
"I'm worried about her, Makocchan...but I'm more worried for my members...if it turns out that Gakisan IS an unfit guardian, it's my responsibility as leader to see to it that Eripon is out of Gakisan's custody...even though I know it would in all likelihood hurt the both of them..but I'm gonna need both of your help..." Sayu poured her hearts out, and after a while, she was breathless.
Makoto and Konkon were both silent for a while. It was only in the following minute that it dawned on the gokkies Sayu's intentions.
"When you said Gakisan COULD be an unfit guardian, are you implying she's mentally unstable, or taking drugs?" Konkon asked the difficult question.
"Wait..." Makoto stood up.."I can't believe you two...THIS is CRAZY!" Makoto pointed a finger accusingly at Sayu. "We're talking about Risa-chan here! Sweet, dependable Risa! How COULD you! Leveling such accusations at her. Do you have any idea how much she sacrificed her own future to look after Ikuta after her parents were killed in that cruise liner disaster. She admitted to me herself that the only thing that gave her confidence is the fact that she has Aichan to fall back on...Aichan was her rock..and when she died, ain't it natural for her to be sad at this point...the anniversary of her birthday, or death too in this case"
Sayu rose slowly, her lips quivering. "I know how much they loved each other, believe me, I do, Makocchan...but I also know that if Gakisan refused to move on with her life, she will only drag Eripon down with her in perpetual despair...I don't want that, senpai" The bunny headed towards the exit of the cafe.
Before Sayu opened the door, she said. "I can only be one...don't you understand?...in all honesty, I can't be a leader of Momusu if I refused to do the right thing hurting my very close friend"
With the last comment, Makoto and Asami could only watch on as Sayu stormed out of the cafe and headed back towards the beach house, determined to busy herself with the decorations and the celebration preparations for the party that will take place later that afternoon.
