Walk-ON!
Chapter 4:
Girls Got Rhythm
Aside from Tsumugi Kotobuki's keyboarding savvy and high-class demeanor, her family owned a few guesthouses in the country. These were beachside resorts that could only be accessed by her family, or by personal invitation. Each resort had its own private beach, managed by a staff dedicated to remove any debris that would compromise the experience. Every guest house had its own personal kitchen, and was stocked with the finest meats, cheeses, vegetables and condiments for a light dinner or a sumptuous feast.
Mugi's villas-located in Shizuoka, Mie, Aichi, Nagoya and Okinawa prefectures-had it all. And the other three members were destined to maximize the experience that awaited them.
Summer arrived at Sakuragaoka like a cruel sun rising over Tokyo Bay. The evidence was eminent. A lone gym shoe stuck to a wire fence. Stacks of chalk were arranged as if to salute some random Cisco Systems exec with a shady ambition and a heart that was cold as one of Paula Abdul's slaves. A local track meet involving regional rivals of Sakuragaoka saw hurdlers jump, javelins fly, and harriers plow their way around the track in the aspirations of making the 2012 London Olympics.
And in the school's main officer, Mio was taking photos for the club's young archive. She noticed a box designated for the team. Inside were a few Ozzy Osbourne vinyls, a few Betamax tapes and cassettes, and an old boom box. Those were the days as she opened the trove.
"Sakuragaoka High School Festival," read one of the cassettes. This had to be from a previous edition, she thought. An exhibit of interest, worth a listen. A minute would pass before she made up her mind.
The board was littered with random announcements, drawings, magnets and random school-related announcements as the light music club began their latest proceedings. Ui was busy working on Gitah, strumming a few chords from Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World," determining the notes to improve her counterpoint and dexterity.
"So," she asked the others as she paused from her played, "I wanted to go ahead and tell a little story about Yui. She and I went on this trip to the Tohoku where our grandma lives. And she keeps on spoiling us left and right, left and right." A little sip of tea in between, and she continued. "My grandma keeps praising Yui because she remembers one thing so well, but not so much me because I know too much about everything. She chides me because on our visit, I was able to use her computer to find out what Gwen Stefani likes to wear underneath her garments."
"Oooh. What does she wear?' Ritsu asked.
"Nothing." And the little drummer girl fell over.
No sooner had she answered the question in a deadpan tone when Mio stormed the room. Turning to the others, she said, "We are going to training camp!"
"We are?" asked Ui. "This will be interesting."
"It's almost summer. We're gonna make the most of it."
"Do you mean the ocean? Or the mountains?!" exclaimed Ritsu.
"We're not going there to play, though," Mio affirmed. "We are there to train for the school festival that will happen in autumn. We're sharpening our skills and will practice from dawn to dusk."
"I think I'll have a bash with this," said Ui. "I'm not too much a fan of buying too much, but I guess I will make exceptions."
Ritsu agreed. "That's the spirit! Make sure you get a good two-piece while you are at it."
"Hey, are you two even listening to me?" No, Mio. They were not listening to you.
"Do I have to remind you about the importance of performing well at the school festival?" Mio asked.
Ritsu wondered. "The School Festival, huh?"
"In the past, this club used to play concerts during the school festival, and they well received. We want to bring that glory back. That's why we are heading to camp."
Ritsu pondered the possibilities "The School Festival...oh man!"
"This is going to be great," added Ui. Turning to Ritsu, she asked, "Has any other high school festivals in the area been as good as this one?"
"Refreshments..."
"Yakisoba..."
"And takoyaki..."
They both beamed with pride. "Hell yeah!"
"I want to run a maid cafe!" asked Ritsu to Mio.
"What about a haunted house with extra blood and cleavers like that stuff from Higurashi? I want that," said Ui, flaunting her differing opinion with reckless abandon.
"Maid cafe!"
"Haunted house!"
"Maid cafe!"
"Haunted house!"
It went back and forth for the longest time. If this was a game of rock-paper-scissors, Mio already lost two straight rounds. So she had to make amends with another headbump to Ritsu.
"Why only me?" she complained.
"We're the light music club, and we're playing live, and you are an idiot, that's why," explained Mio.
Tsumugi arrived after her class, which took a bit longer than expected. "Sorry I'm late, hello." She saw Ritsu cowering in a corner, while Mio crossed her arms, turning her back to her friend with closed eyes and a pout.
Ui was oblivious to the whole debacle. "Welcome back, Mugi."
"Did I miss something?" She sure did. "I have some Madeleines if you want it."
"I see," she later said. "We're going to go on a training camp." In the distance, the annoying monotonous tootations of an amateur brass player in the ensemble could be heard a few doors down. Or was it a few floors and a few broken eardrums down? Ritsu proceeded to gorge on the madeleines and tea.
"What do you think, Mugi?' asked Mio."They tell me, 'don't rush this whole thing' and all that stuff, I say, no, we have to do this now. It's been, like, three months since we started this whole thing. And we never even played together."
"Well, well, well, well, well, well." said Mugi, "Hmmm. Makes you wonder."
"Did you realize that she said 'well' six times, Ritsu?" Ui asked.
"She did? Oh."
"All right, let's do this!" exclaimed Mugi. "I've always wanted to be with everyone here."
"How about that," chimed Ui.
Ritsu's ears perked. "So, are we going to the beach, or?"
Mio couldn't believe that Ritsu was still stuck on the extrinsic nuts and bolts. "No, this is to sharpen our skills! Didn't I tell you?" Her confidante across the table just had to grin.
"How much is it going to cost?" Ui asked.
Ritsu had to concur. "Yeah, I think this is going to be harsh on our wallets, Mio."
They had a point. "Well, now that you mention it...Mugi, think you can help us out? You own a number of villas here in Japan, you family does, right?"
"So you want me to host a training camp for the four of us? I sure do. No problem."
The others looked on in disbelief. "She does!" they said.
"Huh?"
"Onee-chan...Ice cream," whined Yui as she rolled on the floor in her bedroom.
"Only when you finished your meal, all right?" she asked. Yui had not finished her breakfast yet. Ui, meanwhile, had her luggage ready to go. Anticipating where the band would have their camp, she had packed her favorite sets of two-pieces, some of the essential toiletries, and loaded her iPod with music from the top 20 greatest rock bands in history. "Oh dear..."
"Onee-chan...Bomber..." Ui just shook her head and continued packing. Suddenly Yui woke up. "Eh!? What happened?"
"Good morning. Breakfast is ready!"
"Oh, yeah. Thank you."
"Listen, I am going to go on a trip with my friends. I want you to take care of the house. Make sure it is clean and no one does anything to it, all right?"
"Yes, onee-chan," said Yui with a yawn.
"I will be back. I want-huh?" Ui felt Yui's embrace.
"Onee-chan, good luck!" There were tears in her eyes.
"You're so hopeless, you know that?"
"You're mean."
Ui tousled Yui hair."I'm just kidding."
"I know." Ui's cell phone began to ring.
"That's for me. Hey Mio!"
"The train's gonna leave in an hour," she said on the line. "Are you close to ready?"
"Yes, I will be there in about ten minutes."
"Brilliant. We are already here at the station, so be sure to get here ASAP."
"Got it." She hung up. Turning to Yui, she said, "All right, I'm off!"
As the four got in the train, Ui took out her iPod. Flipping through the different artists she said, "Ah here is AC/DC again. Let's see, Girls Got Rhythm. That's a good one."
"Hey, look at Ui," said Ritsu to Mio. Ui, dressed in a white shirt, a green sweater and denim shorts, was nodding from side to side to Track 2 of the Highway to Hell CD, which could easily be heard by the others. "AC/DC fan, through and through."
"You really like AC/DC, don't you?" Mio asked.
"I'll admit, it's infectious," confessed Ui in a low voice.
"You didn't have to confess that to me in a low voice."
"I just had to. In a low voice."
"Ah." Tsumugi was sitting next to Mio, listening to "Allegria" by the Gipsy Kings. Unlike Ui, Tsumugi was more into the European types of music. Flamenco, rumba, a little classical here and there.
"She's a fan of flamenco, isn't she?" asked Ui.
"Well," Mio said, "here's the thing. Her parents are friends with this tour promoter who managed the Asian leg of the Gipsy Kings' recent world tour. Mugi told me that the promoter gave her family free tickets to a show near the villa we're going to. So as a result, she is a fan of the band."
"I see." Everyone turned to Mugi, who was blushing while listening to her song.
"Oh Nico," Mugi said with a giggle, "I love you." She was referring to lead singer Nicolas Reyes.
Mio couldn't believe it. "Niko!? You mean she now likes Eurobeat!?" Little did she realize how far off she was.
"I never knew that Mugi was a paralist," Ui added.
"Time for me to take a picture..." said Ritsu.
"Go for it!"
And she did, waking up Tsumugi in the process with a flash of light and a click of the shutter. "Huh? Oh, sorry about that," she said.
"Good morning, Mugi."
"No problem," Ritsu said. "So, tell us, where is your villa?"
"Twenty minutes away." The train passed through a tunnel, revealing the beach. "Here we are."
Ui, Mio and Ritsu were in awe. The train reached Atami, Shizuoka. "Amazing!" Ritsu exclaimed.
Ui quickly took stock in the environs. "This is great. It's the type of scenes where vows are exchanged and love is shared." A seagull soared over the ocean, perhaps heading towards Rokkenjima, some many kilometers in the distance. It decided to follow the train first.
"The ocean, huh?' asked Mio. "Beautiful."
"Yep, the ocean," answered Mugi.
"Help me out here, Ui," said Ritsu. Ui opened the door for her. "One, two...THREE!" The wind blew into their faces. Somehow the other passengers didn't seem to mind. After all, they were also out for leisure.
"Whoa, it's the scent of the sea breeze," Ui said.
"I'm ready to go swimming already!" exclaimed Ritsu.
Mio had to remind them. "Remember, we didn't come here to play!"
The lone seagull was followed by a flock, as if they were symbolic escorts. The only thing missing was "I Ran" playing on the train.
Tsumugi simply smiled. She had been to this place many times before. The water was crystal clear, the sand was imported from the island of Capri, and the villa was kept clean by the Kotobuki household's network of butlers and maids. Usually these villas were reserved in advance. Of course, as a member of the household, Tsumugi always made exceptions for those closest to her.
Mio had a reflective expression to her. She too was taking stock in all of this, and turned to Mugi, who was smiling back. Mio could only wonder if this camp was going to work out, or if this was nothing more than a vacation period.
Tsumugi could see that look of worry. Mio is too much into the business side of things, she thought. If you let your hair down, the business side of things will go through its course. That's the way of the world.
The uncertainty and the hope, the worry and the happiness...all of those would come to a head in Tsumugi's villa in Atami.
"Wow, this is a huge villa!" Ritsu exclaimed.
"Cool," Ui added.
"This isn't the biggest of the villas under my ownership, though," Mugi said. "We should have found a larger place to stay in. As a matter of fact, this is the smallest."
"The smallest?" wondered Ritsu. The largest villa was three times the size of the largest hotel in the city in terms of space. This villa was just three-fourth the size. "This?"
As they entered, everything was prepared. And they had instant access to the private beach. Ritsu ooohed and aahed at the spaciousness of their room.
Ui said, "Man, I've never been in something as comfortable as this before. Brilliant."
"This continues to amaze me," Ritsu said. "I am glad Mugi is with our band, otherwise we wouldn't be getting the best training camp spot that I have been to in my whole young life! Wow!"
Mio noticed a bowl of fresh fruit. It was bunches of grapes mingled with bananas, oranges, pomegranates, kiwifruit, apples, mangos, a pineapple and a few hibiscus blossoms for decoration. "What's this?"
"Oh dear, I told the people staffing this place not to put this out," Mugi said. "I'm sorry."
Ui and Ritsu opened the bedroom. "Whoa, epic!" Ritsu exclaimed. The bed was garnished with rose petals, perhaps a salute to a certain Bon Jovi song. And the bedsheets, comforters and pillowcases were freshly washed.
"This has to be a bed for a princess," Ui said. "Have any royal dignitaries passed by here recently?" she asked Mugi.
"Not really. And I told them not to have it set up like this," Mugi said. Charlotte Casiraghi of Monaco did stop by a year ago, but it was in the largest of the Kotobuki villas in Atami.
Ritsu opened the refrigerator. Inside was a nice, large cut of Kobe beef, well-marbled and ready to be roasted for dinner.
"Oh man, this looks delicious," Ritsu said.
"I'm sorry," responded Mugi with a defeated tone. She spoiled the rest of the band by accident.
"I told the staff here to make this as normal as possible, but they didn't listen," Mugi later said to Mio as the other two unpacked.
The walls of the villa had paintings and photos of Mugi during her travels and her younger years. One of her favorite art pieces showed her in a white dress playing on her favorite white grand piano in the garden, with the birds singing around.
"Here you go," she said, showing Mio a garage that had all their equipment ready. Apparently she had arranged for her family's staff to deliver the equipment from the music room to the villa a few days in advance. "I haven't used this part in a while, so I don't know if this works."
Mio beamed. "No worries. This is a-OK. Wait a minute, where's Ui and Ritsu?"
"I think they disappeared."
"Can't be helped, then." Mio took out the boom box that was in the music room a few days ago. This was in her beige duffel during the trip.
"What's that?"
"This?" She pressed a button, playing a past concert of the club. The song was called "Maddy Candy." Mio didn't know who was the singer at the time, but they would find out that it was the unexpected of frontwomen. "This is a recording of a show by the past members of the Light Music Club. I found this before our previous meeting."
"They are impressive," Mugi admitted.
"Even better than us," Mio added.
"Yeah."
"When I listened to this, I decided then and there that we will not lose to them."
"And that's why we are here at training camp, right?"
"Exactly. However..." Mio had a bad feeling that it would be all for naught.
"We're not going to lose, I will let you know that," Mugi said with a smile, "if it's us, we won't."
"Mugi..."
Ritsu then slammed the door open with a goggles, a yellow and orange-striped two-piece with white trim and a red plastic trident ready. "All right, let's go!"
"Hey you two, we are ready to head out," Ui said.
"What about practice!?" Mio exclaimed as the two of them wiggled their way out on to the beach. "Even under these circumstances?" she asked Mugi.
"Yeah, well..." She just had to join them.
"Hurry up!" exclaimed Ritsu.
"I'll be there in a bit! Mio-chan, let's go!"
"What?"
"We're here already, so why not for a bit. Okay?"
"Huh?"
"Come on, Mugi!" Ritsu hollered.
"All right!" she responded. "We'll be waiting," Mugi said, heading into the change room before stepping out onto the beach.
Mio Akiyama was left alone. Eventually, she conceded. "I'm going too!" For Mio it was solid black with her hair tied back, while Mugi went with white and a ponytail.
As for Ui, she stuck with a yellow two-piece with frills at the bottom. The top, however, emphasized her bust. Between the two sisters, Ui had the biggest of them. As a matter of fact, her bust was barely bigger than Mio's. Was it the soy milk and isoflavones that Taiga Aisaka alluded to? Or was it the fact that she was just too perfect?
That's not to say Mio Akiyama didn't have as nice a bust. It wasn't as big as Ui's, but it seemed well developed. And proper.
For two weeks she was stranded, lonely, on a desolate beach, living on a prayer with nothing to eat. It was a depressing situation. Depressing in the fact that for all her youthful tomboyish beauty, Ritsu Tainaka was about to die on this beach.
It couldn't be! The fate of this band relied on her drumming and her power. It was doomed to end. Such a wasteful demise.
Thankfully she could still speak on this stranded stretch of sand. "When I went on this journey, I wondered how this would all end up," she said to herself, dragging an inflatable.
Her eyes could sense a piece of seaweed while the seagulls cried. "I found something." Picking it up, she said. "I'm saved. Hallelujah."
"Hey Ritsu, what are you doing?" asked Mio with crossed arms and a crossed expression. Just several meters away was Ui, snacking on some strawberry Pocky while Tsumugi was busy building another sandcastle.
"Oh my god!" Ritsu noticed Mio's breasts start to jiggle a bit. The piece of seaweed dropped. She had to throw a beach ball at her out of pure envy. "Take that!"
A pause, and Mio said, "That hurt." She smiled and took a photo of the ocean. "But this sure is a pretty place."
Ritsu immediately walked over to Ui, who stood up and stretched. "Ah, it feels good to be-ah!" She felt Ritsu's hands grab her breasts and moaned in response, her face blushing.
"I cannot believe that you have the biggest boobs in the band," Ritsu said with a naughty expression. "They are bigger than Mio's. Oh, but it feels so good to feel them, to fondle them, to squeeze them..!"
Ui's eyes started to close slightly. "Ah...AHHHH! Ritsu...Ritsu...ahhh...haaah...!"
"You actually like this? Shouldn't you feel as if you are being violated?" Her groping started to quicken.
"No...It's just..." Ui began to salivate. "...it's feels so good...ahhh!" She could sense her bikini bottom begin to get damp. Ui's heavy breathing became more pronounced. "Oh Ricchan...so bold...oh no, if you do this anymore I'm going to...!"
She was enjoying it too. "Such perfection, such size! The first time you even called me by my new nickname Ricchan's heart...Ricchan's heart is about to burst!"
Mio threw the beach ball at her in response. "Knock it off!"
"It was just a little bit of skinship with Ui!"
"Shut up!"
Ui, however, was in bliss for a few more minutes. Her eyes were closed, and she was still giggling from the spontaneous fondling session Ritsu gave her. Whether or not she grew another cup size remains to be seen.
Mugi was finished with her castle. It took her an hour, but it closely resembled the Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland.
"That's pretty good," Ui said.
"Like it?" she said. "This is nothing compared to the others I've made. I even made the Great Wall of China one time and won first place!"
Ritsu couldn't believe it. "So she's a sculptor too, huh?"
Mio meanwhile, watched her step as she walked along the cliffs. However, her hands touched some barnacles, which caused her to walk away in fear.
This was an opportunity for naughty Ritsu Tainaka to pull another of her patented "Mokujise Happy 100%" pranks. "I'm not scared, I'm not scared, I'm not scared," Mio repeated to herself, covering her ears.
"You better head to the doctor," Ritsu said, "my god; your knees are covered in barnacles."
Mio screamed as her friend with the goggles smiled. Too easy. Way too easy. Ui and Tsumugi agreed that it was a piece of cake.
Sunset arrived on the Shizuoka coast.
Ui and Tsumugi looked on at a painted sky of orange and red hues.
"We have arrived on Treasure Island, Cipangu!" exclaimed Ritsu, exhausted from too much swimming and groping.
"I never thought the water was going to be this clean," Ui replied. "For a few fleeting moments I did think that we were on the island of Capri after all."
"There's a little bit more," Mio said as she brought a watermelon over.
Ritsu was surprised. "For real!?"
"Well, we are at the beach after all. If we don't play as much as we want, there's no purpose in coming to..."
No sooner had she said that when Mio suddenly realized that she sold out her own reason for the team coming to Tsumugi's villa.
"Oh crap! Practice!"
"You forgot?" Ritsu said.
"Hey Ritsu...you were the one telling me we should play."
"And who was the one soaking it all up out of the four of us here?"
Well, it was fun while it lasted. But there was no doubt that their attention turned to the big task at hand. Back at the garage, it was time for a little fine tuning. After all, Gitah needed to soak in a little bit of the ocean air too.
"I am so stuffed," Ritsu said after getting her share of the dinner-and the Kobe beef. "I never thought that Ui was a good cook and could prepare the dinner for us."
"It sure does take a lot of slack off me," Mugi said. She still had to arrange the afters.
Ui was busy exploring a few chords while Ritsu was still relaxing on the floor. "Hey Ui, what are you playing?"
"Guess," she said.
A few notes later and Ritsu had the answer, "Oh, I know that one. That's the Jason DeRulo song, right? Whatcha Say, right?"
"One hundred points for Ritsu-sama!" Mugi applauded. Ui continued to serenade Ritsu with her instrumental rendition of the song, with Mugi backing up with some synthesizing and drum programming to test the system.
"All right, Ritsu, get up already. We need to do some training," Mio said. Ritsu was still sleeping. "Mmmm, whatcha say...mmmmthatchuonlymentwell? Mmmm..."
"I said, GET UP! Mugi, Ui, stand back."
"All right." One long G-chord got did the trick as Ritsu got back to her feet.
While Mugi was still tuning the synthesizer and Ui was picking up the notes for Britney Spears's "3," Ritsu still felt woozy.
"Hey, can we stop for today?" whined the drummer in a voice that sounded as if she drunk a fifth of vodka.
"We came here to practice," Mio responded.
"True, but..."
Here was a point where Mio looked to get some payback. "Ritsu...I just found out something. Did you just gain a few centimeters at the waist? I found that out when you slept over a few weeks ago at my house. Is that because you haven't been drumming lately?"
Mugi couldn't believe it. "Ritsu came to your house?"
Ui took stock in the bombshell laid by the Dangerous Queen. "How about that? Ritsu, you are such a chubby tomboy."
"Mio, you what!?" In fear, Ritsu did whatever she could to burn the calories. She only managed to crash the brass and drum skins annoyingly for a few fleeting seconds.
"Hey Mio, can I take a break and get something from the fridge?" Ui asked. "I'm thirsty." Mio turned in shock. Her bluff didn't help Ritsu either, who was still sleepy.
"D...do what you have to do!" she shouted.
Now Ui and Mugi were playing a little rendition "Down" by Jay Sean. Ui herself was sitting next to an empty can of Kirin Afternoon Tea. Ritsu was still sleeping and rolling on the floor.
"Ritsu, you're going to get dirty," Mugi said.
Mio was completely beside herself. "So guys, what are we going to do about the school festival?"
"I told you, Mio, it's all about the maid cafe," Ritsu said as Ui continued to play.
"No, a haunted house!" she replied, stopping her cover. Mugi followed suit.
"Not this again," Mio said, putting a palm to her forehead in disgust.
"Hey Ui, you gotta understand the possibilities of Mio in a maid outfit," Ritsu explained. "Look at her. She is fit to be a maid. Imagine if you will."
"All right, all right..."
Mio wondered, "What is it now?"
Ritsu continued. "Ui, there aren't many that can wear a maid costume as perfectly as her."
Ui's eyes widened. "Ricchan, is that so?"
Mugi asked, "Ricchan? Is that Ui's nickname for you now?"
Beating her chest, Ritsu proudly said, "The product of a good grope results in some interesting new epithets bestowed on you. Now, coming back to Mio, imagine how she would look with black stockings, a white apron and a maid's headband. And she would even twirl around, with her hands forming a heart and say, 'MOE...MOE...KYUUUN!' Or something like that!"
"Say, that does fit her," Ui said.
"I was only kidding..." Ritsu felt the immediate headbump.
"Or maybe not." Mio's heavy breathing accentuated her embarrassment.
Later that evening, the band took some time off to eat some watermelon while the tiki lamps went off outside the villa.
"Hey, let's actually practice after this, all right?" asked Mio.
"Got it," said Ritsu with a wink. "Ritsu says this with a burst of confidence and a spring in her step." Mugi nodded.
They had it all ready for Ui, who took her place. "One, two..." The fireworks went off as Mio watched Ui play a rendition of AC/DC's "Girls Got Rhythm."
Mio was mesmerized. It turned out that Ui Hirasawa's playing ability was going to be the glue that held this band together. Never before had she witnessed someone dedicated enough to emulate Angus Young's style of play while at the same time integrate her style of presenting it. It was as if she was a live concert. She could easily visualize the dream that awaited them. It was a brilliant vision, a vision that was theirs for the taking. A carpe diem moment.
"That was incredible," Mio said. "You truly are perfect in your playing."
"We could have used some more fireworks, but this is what we could muster up," she replied.
"At the Budokan," Ritsu said, "they will give us all we need. And lots of it."
"All right."
"Remember, that's what we planned out to do." She turned to Mio. "Right?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah." That was the long-term objective.
"Fireworks at the beginning and at the end," Ui said. "And lots of it."
"What. Are we trying to make it look like it's New Year's Eve?" asked Ritsu with a bemused expression.
"Precisely. And we need plenty of whites and pastels. Pink, red, those types of colors. I think that will be our main firework colors based on the cheery blossom trees and our name. Red, white and pink. With a dash of yellow."
"Yellow?" asked Tsumugi.
"It's as if she is planning the show before we even have our first live," Ritsu said with a surprised look.
Mio turned on the boom box she had earlier. "If we're aiming to play at Budokan, we gotta be able to do this much at the minimum."
Ui went over and took a listen. "I'll have a bash," she said.
"Impressive," added Ritsu.
"I've been waiting for you to come. Die!" said the voice in the piece, which was entitled "Hell the World." As an aside, the band for this club was named "Death Devil."
That nearly broke the eardrums of the others. "Whoa, someone's having too much fun," said Ui. "That or maybe she was on crack. Maybe."
"Are you sure?" Ritsu said.
Mio, however, kept her ears covered and repeated, "I didn't hear it, I didn't hear it, I didn't hear it..."
Another chance for Ritsu to take advantage. "Barnacles. They are still on your knees." It just shocked her.
"No! No mooooore!" cried Mio, crawling to a corner, sobbing hysterically.
"Ricchan..." said Mugi, "you overdid it."
"Maybe my eyes and ears are deceiving me, but it looks like you have traumatized Mio for the next umpteen hours," said Ui, finding the correct consequence for Ritsu's actions.
Damage control. Serious damage control had to be done on Ritsu part. "Sorry about that, my bad."
"Don't worry Mio, it's all right," said Ui.
"It wasn't a ghost," Mugi added.
She turned around, her eyes welling with tears and a deep blush. "Really?"
Tsumugi and Ritsu found themselves stuck in a moment where their heart strings began to tug away. "Moe, moe...Kyun!"
"I stand corrected," Ui said. "She is the maid of all maids in the end. Hail."
The stars continued to dance into the distance, while a rare aurora borealis charted its path across the Atami skyline.
Mio was still traumatized by the whole incident while Ritsu tried to cheer her up. "Sorry, Mio." She wanted none of it, for she had reached her limit.
"Let's see..." Ui said. She took the time to throw in a few licks, while the others looked in awe. "How's that?"
"Excellent," Mugi said, clasping her hands.
"I'm trying to remember that sound that goes, 'myooooon.' I did that before earlier today."
"What you did earlier was a choking technique," explained Mio.
"You mean this?" Ritsu went over and started to strangle Ui.
"No, that's strangling. Choking is when you pull on the string when you pluck."
"Ah, now I remember," Ui said after Mio demonstrated the technique. It took her less than 10 seconds to do a choking technique.
"And that's how you do it. You're quite a fast learner."
"As expected of Ui," Ritsu added.
"Unusual, too," Ui chimed.
"Like a barnacle."
"A barnacle!? Not that again!" exclaimed Mio. Mugi had to comfort Mio from going into her episodes of fear while Ritsu and Ui got a good laugh out of it.
As the moon came out, the band dipped into the outdoor jacuzzi. "This villa is loaded. With a capital L," Ui said. "We even have a jacuzzi, guys!"
"Sure was fun," Mugi added.
Mio nodded. "You were right, though. There wasn't anything to worry about."
"But we could have played around a little more!" exclaimed Ritsu, who came out of nowhere.
"Who are you!?"
"It's me," she replied, showing her forehead.
"Your forehead sure is big."
"It is. Got a problem with that?"
"It's cute, though, for some odd reason," Mugi said.
"Speaking of odd, I've got some of the oddest personalities," Ui said. "Ritsu is a groping machine. Mio freaks out when we talk about barnacles. And Mugi even has a fetish for clean, pimple-free foreheads."
Ritsu was shocked. "She...she does!? Mugi, what do you mean by cute for some odd reason though?"
"Um, it just is cute for some odd reason," Mugi said.
"How were you able to know all those chords and play those songs a few hours ago?" Mio asked Ui.
Ui simply pointed to the iPod lying on the bed.
"You mean you integrated all the notes and played it on your guitar? I should have known." She lowered her head into the warm water in defeat.
"You didn't have to lower your head into the warm water in defeat."
"I just had to."
"But you know what? We should do this every year, even after we graduate. To have a camp here." She clasped Mio hands. "Let's make this our new tradition!"
"All right. I'm...glad you thought this was a good idea!"
"In...coming!" Ritsu surprised Ui by grabbing her breasts again.
Ui couldn't believe that Ritsu had that strong of a bust fetish. "Waaaah! Ricchan, you dirty dog!"
Ritsu, though, had to take one final photo of the band as they were sleeping. The kicker to all of it: Ritsu was too sleepy to take a shot.
Ui needed to get a bottle of water in the middle of the night because she was thirsty. She noticed that the band's camera was on the dining room table.
Walking back to the bedroom she saw Ritsu, Mugi and Mio sleeping quietly. Ritsu herself was gurgling a little bit, but that was aside from the point.
Ui noticed something: Mio wasn't wearing any pants in her pajamas, but some blue and white striped underwear. On top of that, Mio was hugging a dakimakura.
"A rice bowl and a dakimakura?" Ui thought. "This calls for a little shooting. This is for you, dearest Mio." As her mouth formed a number three, Ui carefully focused the camera solely on Mio, and took a number of photos with pinpoint accuracy. She even got nice photos of Mio's choice of underwear for added measure.
The next Monday at Mio's house, Ritsu entered unannounced. "Hey Mio!"
"Coming, so I heard the pictures from training camp are developed?"
"Yes they are! Take a look."
"Ooooh!" She took a look at the photos, but was stunned at what she saw. It was a close-up of her hugging her pillow, even drooling a little bit. And there was more of her. More than what she wanted to see.
"Hehe, I took some good pictures, right? I even have Mugi-ack!"
Mio lifted Ritsu high by the neck in anger. "Give me the negatives."
"Wait a minute, this is a digital camera, there a no negatives. And hold on, can I take a look at the pictures?" She took a look. "Wait a minute, I did not take these. I swear, I did not!"
"LIAR!" The noose tightened beyond control. But that was another dimension to Ui Hirasawa. Not only was she perfect at playing, but also taking the most difficult/nosebleed-worthy shots aficionados could only dream to obtain. Ui 1, Paparazzi 0.
END CHAPTER 4