Notes:

Sarah here!
I'm sorry for the long chapter once again, but it was needed.
On this chapter, we wanted to develop a bit of the project as at the same time some emotional development.
Please bear with us...
And enjoy! : )


Masquerade Ch 07

Fear.

Fear can be an unpleasant emotion that it's caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm. A feeling of anxiety concerning the outcome of something or the safety of someone.

A mixed feeling of dread and reverence.

The symptoms of fear might experience gastrointestinal distress, sweating, dizziness, dry mouth, rapid breathing, and other physical and emotional symptoms.

These things occur because your body is sensing fear, and it's preparing you for an emergency, so it makes your blood flow to the muscles, increases blood sugar, and gives you the mental ability to focus on the thing that your body perceives as a threat.

This, indeed, was an emergency.

Suwa Nanaka was sweating cold, she was feeling dizzy in a whole new level; her mouth was getting dry, she was starting to feel her breathing agitated and having the urge of throwing up.

She was afraid.

Somehow the Chief of staff's office looked smaller and with serious ventilation problems.

She blinked a few times trying to process the new information he just dropped to her and Suzuki Aina who was sitting at her side with a goofy smile across her face, while Nanaka was trying so hard to don't throw up.

"What's wrong Suwa-san? You look so pale..." the Chief of staff said with a concerned tone.

"Suwawa...?" called Aina softly

Nanaka tried hard to swallow her fears with a heavy gulp.

She nodded.

"Alright, then, if there's nothing else to discuss..." said the Chief of staff standing up, " I expect the best from you two"

No, wait... this is not right...
I can't let this happen.
I just...
CAN'T!

"Wa–wait a minute..." murmured Nanaka

The Chief of staff looked down at her and bit his lips

"Something the matter Suwa-san...?"

I need a minute...

"Can... can I have some water please?" manage Nanaka to said softly

Aina opened her eyes wide and then looked at the Chief with a troubled look

"Eh? Right...yes, you don't look fine at all..." said the Chief moving out of his desk and looking around his office

Of course, he didn't have any water around, so, after a few walking in circles around the place, he apologized and run out of the office.

"Suwawa what the hell?!" asked Aina in her loud tone, " you look like if you had seen a ghost!"

Nanaka grabbed her temples and tried to massage them; her fear trying hard to kick her out

"I just can't..." murmured Nanaka troubled

"Suwawa..." said Aina softly and gently she started to rub Nanaka's back, " this is not that bad...isn't?"

The hell is not bad, this is the worst!

Nanaka closed her eyes, she needed a minute to get herself together.

A few minutes ago, the Chief of staff interrupted a very intimate moment between the nine members of Aqours; just right a few seconds after Nanaka and Shuka had come out of the closet and told the members that they were dating and they will be counting on their support, this man came and asked Nanaka and Aina to come to his office.

Under the concerned looks of their teammates, they left the white room to greet this little office where the Chief just ordered them to play as if they were a couple.

Just like that.

They have to pretend to be an item, to take pictures together, to hold hands, to act cute for the fans, to even create a name for the shipping; make the "KanaMari" real.

Just what the hell?!

And to put the cherry on top, no one has to know, just production and themselves, the members just can't know.

Shuka can't know.

How is Shuka going to take this?

How is she going to react? She is not going to tolerate this, not just after they had come out to the open with the members; now everybody knows they are a couple officially and it was Nanaka's idea to expose them out. Even if Shuka was resisting to this idea till the very end.

So how are the members going to react if suddenly Nanaka starts to flirt with Aina in front of the cameras and with the fans?
How hypocrite would she look like in her teammate's eyes...?!

Nanaka's sense of fear started to kick her again; the sweat, the dizziness, her intentions of throwing up...

"Ai–Aina... I can't do this..." said Nanaka removing her hands off her temples

"What?! Why not?!" snapped Aina in her goofy tone, " Suwawa, it's not difficult at–"

"It's easy for you" interrupted Nanaka locking gazes with her, " what I'm supposed to do with Shuka?"
Asked Nanaka with her voice trembling

Aina withdrew her hand off Nanaka's back and made a soft "Oh", of course, Aina wasn't thinking about that at all.

The door suddenly opened making both girls jump in their seats; Nanaka almost threw her insides out of fright.

The Chief of staff came in with a bottle of water that he gently passed over Nanaka.

She took her time to open it and drink of it.

She needed a moment.

Aina just sat in her chair quietly with her smile long gone, it seemed that she understood Nanaka's dilemma.
The Chief of staff just sat across them on his desk.
While Nanaka gave slow sips to her bottle trying hard to move the gears of her mind.

This was a complex situation.

Nanaka was in a terrible position, not happy about failing in almost everything productions had asked to do, from not being the character they designed to fail in the dancing and singing to even fail in the popularity poll... now they were asking her to do something actually very easy, but she just can't do it.

So she has to fail again in what they were asking her to do.
Again.

But how can she explain why she had to fail on this new task?

Well, she can't.

She can't tell the Chief of staff that she is dating one of the members, or that she is dating anyone.

It's against the rules and she signed a contract, so this is out of the question.

But, agreeing to play along and start to be an item with Aina, it will destroy her relationship with Shuka, and God knows how hard had Nanaka and Shuka been working to make this relationship to work, even if it's not quite done.

Forget the years groups or the Subunits, this wasn't into Nanaka's mind, to begin with.

So what's more important; her career or her relationship with Shuka?

My career of course!

But, she just can't appear one day and tell the members that she is in love with Shuka and one hour later say that she loves Aina now.

That didn't make any sense.

Not for her, and of course, not for the members.
Not even Shuka.

These people are not stupid, they will figure out that this is as fake as my energy...

Nanaka frowned and stopped drinking water.

She fixed her sight on the Chief of staff; he had a concerned look on his face

"Are you any better Suwa-san?" He asked

Nanaka blinked a few times and without taking her eyes out the Chief, she closed the bottle

"I'm better, thank you," said Nanaka softly

Nanaka took a deep breath.

Aina was weirdly quiet even for her, and Nanaka understood that this was due her predicament about what the hell was Nanaka going to do about this situation; of course, for Aina this was heaven.

It was an opportunity to give Shuka what she deserved, to take advantage of this irrefutable order, to hold Nanaka, to take pictures with her, to be all lovey-dovey with her while Shuka just had to stay put and watch...

And watch with a smile on her face.
Because orders are orders and for the sake of the show, they must do it.

But this might destroy or discompose the relationship between the members; of course, Shuka is not going to be still and quiet watching how Aina might steal Nanaka away, of course, she is going to fight Aina about it, and now that the members know, they might take sides and everything could turn into chaos.

Aina did warn Nanaka about this.

No, this can't be like this
There must be a way to do my job and don't hurt Shuka...
At least not that much...
So I have two options; appeal to my person or appeal to the members.

It supposed that these people -meaning production-, its concerned about the wellbeing of the members, so they can't force them to do something they are not comfortable with, right?

"Sir..."
Called Nanaka softly, Aina turned her head towards Nanaka while the Chief put himself more comfortable on his chair crossing his fingers in front of his face

"I think I have some observations about this... request..." said Nanaka finally

The Chief of staff rose his eyebrows

"Ok...I thought so, not everyone loses their colors because of something like this...I thought it was an easy task..." said the Chief with concern

Yes, it's an easy task, who wouldn't want to flirt with a cute girl like Aina just for the fun of the fans?

Nanaka shook her head.

Not now, you fool.

"It–it's not like that..." said Nanaka, " I'm not comfortable doing it...I'm a demure person, I think I can't flirt so boldly on camera..." she finished softly

Aina made a sad smile while the Chief of staff grabbed his temples

"God save me, " he started, " Suwa-san, why?" He said lifting his sight again towards Nanaka, " Why with you everything seems so difficult?"

Nanaka bit her lips,

"We changed 'Kanan-san' for you, your moves in the choreography were being changed, they are giving you more hours to record... and now you don't want to cooperate? Sorry but I can't allow this"

Nanaka grabbed the hem of her sweaty shirt,

"I think this is a task that's easy for anyone of you to do; I'm sorry but I can't be soft with you on this one, you have to do it, and you will learn to do it, remember that 'Kanan-san' has to be like that... maybe this can make 'Kanan-san' more popular too, so please Suwa-san, stop being a pain and try to do your job properly"

Finished the Chief of staff with his rough tone, of course, he had enough.

Nanaka nodded, just like she thought, she can let down production once again.

So, I can't appeal to my person...
Ok.

"What do you think Suzuki-san?" asked the Chief towards Aina

"Eh?" snapped Aina surprised, she sat a bit more comfortable on her chair

"I don't have any complaints about it... I think it's a wonderful idea..." said Aina

Of course, it is! For you! You traitor!
Kanan is the one on the giving side, Mari, of course, is on the receiving side...
So Aina doesn't have to do a thing but to follow the flow...
Dammit, Kanan!

Nanaka frowned once more ignoring what Aina was talking about.
But hearing her tone Nanaka could assume that Aina was happy.

So, Nanaka was running out of time; and she needed a strategy.

Aina being well aboard about this, it was going to be difficult to keep ignoring or trying to resist the fact that she might have to do this thing, even if she didn't like it or she was against it, it was her job and she must do it...

But will be Shuka mature enough to understand this?

Well...
She is not going to understand a thing if she sees Nanaka and Aina flirting in the first place! She will be mad, she would be bitching about this towards Nanaka like forever and then take it against Aina, and then Aqours would be hell...

What about telling Shuka?

Fuck production orders, Shuka was her girlfriend, she deserved to know what was going on.

But, would she believe Nanaka's words? That this was an order from production, that this isn't something that she wants to do but she has to do it anyway...

...mmm...

She is not going to believe her.

Because it's Aina the one on the other side, and Nanaka knew that Shuka was jealous about Aina... so all of this could be an excuse for Nanaka to be close to Aina or a twisted plan from Aina to be close to Nanaka...

Someone of production must tell Shuka, for her to understand that this is an order and not for a whim.

So, I have to appeal to the members.

"Suwa-san? You ok?" said the Chief of staff, he was standing up again, Aina also was doing some movements to stand up

Nanaka blinked a few times and looked up straight to the Chief locking gazes.
She had her serious "Suwa face", this negotiation must be done in the most serious of tones.

"Sir," called Nanaka

Both, Aina and the Chief stopped their movements

"I believe that for the sake of success in this task, we must tell the members"
Finished Nanaka with a serious and low tone

Both, Aina and the Chief blinked a few times, then the Chief sighed tiredly and sat once again, Aina didn't have another choice but to sit too.

"Why?" asked the Chief in the serious tone too

"I think if the members know they can help," said Nanaka

And that's why we told them about our relationship in the first place, for them to help us...
Now it's going to be very helpful...

"Help?" The Chief asked

"Yes, think about it; isn't going to be awkward for them to see us, Aina and I, doing some flirt with each other and not receiving a weird look from them? They should know that this is for the sake of the show..."

"I think if you do it subtly they will be fine–"

"But then how boldly do you want us to flirt?" interrupted Nanaka, the Chief bit his lips, " the pictures on Twitter, the holding hands, the hugs, those things can't be subtly..."

"Well you are right but I can't see how they can be any help...because if it's just for avoiding some weird looks..." he tried

"If they are aware of this, they can even give us more material to work with; I know Komiya-san it's a sharp actress, she being with us in the 'Third years' group can be very useful... "

The Chief hummed, Aina looked at Nanaka with her eyes open wide

Yes, I'll have to rely on you Arisa...

"If 'First years' know, they can even tease us about it, it can increase the flirting..." continued Nanaka

"Ok, go on..." said the Chief with an interested tone

"I, I can't think right now on how actually 'Second years' can help us, but if Inami-san, our leader, knows too we can have a full support of the group..." finished Nanaka

"Suwawa are you sure?" asked Aina

Nanaka just ignored her; of course, for Aina was better for her to keep this thing low and between production and themselves, but Nanaka had to protect Shuka, at least the best she can in this inevitable task.

"I think Aqours need to have this sense of unity that we still don't have but we are building within ourselves..." started Nanaka once again, " this will give the group a sense of complicity between each other... it will help us grow as a group..."

My, repeating Arisa's words about my relationship with Shuka on this matter with Aina...

"If all the members know about it, we can even be bolder on camera, we will feel more comfortable knowing that what we are doing is acceptable within them too...imagine if one of them is not ok with the 'girlXgirl' interaction and she founds that on the spot, it would look terrible, it's better if everybody is cool about it..." finished Nanaka

"Ok, I feel I'm getting your point..." said the Chief of staff with his right hand on his chin

"So, you are telling us that's it's better to act that our thing it's like the most common thing?" asked Aina

"Yes, exactly," said Nanaka

"Makes sense..." said the Chief of staff softly

"We want to be one with Aqours, it's not fair with them to keep them in the dark with this when we will be working together...they will find out that this is fake eventually, why not telling them and prepare them too for them to work with us on this...?" said Nanaka calmly

There was a full minute of silence where Nanaka could clearly see the gears of the Chief of staff mind working fast about this matter.

Nanaka was sweating bullets; in a few minutes, she had to think in a complete strategy to convince the Chief of staff to tell the members, to tell Shuka, that this was something that production wants.

Even if she promised the Chief to be bold about it.

But how bold?

"Sir, may I ask the limits about how bold do you want us to be?" asked Nanaka, interrupting his thoughts

"Eh... well, not so bold, remember that you are Idols, you can't kiss... that's your limit; you can hold hands, hug, touch...but you must do it obviously, not subtly..."

Nanaka nodded

Thought so, it's not that terrible...
What is terrible is for Shuka to watch all of this...

"Sir, may I suggest something?" asked Aina out of the blue, Nanaka turned her head to lock gazes with her

"Yes Suzuki-san, something to add?" asked the Chief

"Why just explode the 'KanaMari' when we have seven other characters?..." asked Aina; Nanaka opened her eyes in panic, feeling all the symptoms of fear coming back, "... I mean you can do this same thing with other characters like for example 'ChikaYou' or 'YouRiko'"

Aina, you look cuter in silent...
Why the examples with You? Does she wants to see Shuka flirting too?...
No...
She wants ME watching Shuka flirt with someone else...

Nanaka's breathing started to agitate; the thought of watching Shuka being cute and adorable with someone else made her feel dizzy. The room started to spin.

Somehow all the seriousness and the clear state of mind to have this negotiation jumped out of the window.

"Well," started the Chief, " is not that we haven't thought about it... of course, the fans will start shipping all the characters even if they don't have nothing romantically speaking... I can bet my head off that there will be people shipping 'Dia-san' with 'Ruby-chan' even if they are siblings... " Aina and Nanaka opened their eyes wide, Yes, those kinds of people exist.

"But we choose 'Kanan-san' and 'Mari-san' for a reason, at least to begin with; remember that these are reflections of the characters, the 'Seiyū shipping' can't work if the characters are not compatible...right now the most compatibles are 'Kanan-san' and 'Mari-san'; they are the matures on the group, both third years, and also makes more sense...and we already have some 'ChikaRiko' on the PV."

"What about 'Dia'?" asked Nanaka quickly, "why not a 'DiaMari'?

"Do you imagine Komiya-san like a caring person?" asked the Chief with a tired tone

Aina laughed like an old man

"Ok, I got it..." murmured Nanaka

So this is something that Arisa doesn't fit...
Makes sense, Dia isn't the type too...

"But, it's something to have in mind Suzuki-san, maybe not yet, but sometime in the future? Besides if every Seiyū starts flirting with each other it will be totally fake...we want this to feel as real as possible"

"Oh, I see..." said Aina

"So what are we going to do?" asked Nanaka trying to cut the chase

"You had an interesting point Suwa-san..." said the Chief of staff, and finally he stood up, " I'm gonna made a call, wait just a second"

And with that he left the room, leaving the two girls on their chairs.
Tension grew thick on the air.

"What a mo–" tried Aina
"Just what fuck is wrong with you?!"
Asked Nanaka with an actual mad tone, Aina opened her big eyes wide in surprise.
"I'm trying my best here to protect my thing with Shuka and you just want to ruin it"
"What? Suwawa that's not true... you want to tell the members this?!" snapped Aina
"Of course, What is Shuka going to think if she sees us flirting, and taking pictures of us and then put it on Twitter?! And the such?! She is gonna be mad!"
"Hold your horses! Why do you think she is not going to be mad anyways even if Chief tell her"
"Because it's going to be a direct order from production and not something I made up! Or something that she casually finds out; I rather prefer that she is prepared than finding this out on camera"
"That's why you didn't want to do this? Because of Shuka? Suwawa what about your career?! You were willing to fail another order from production, again, because of the sake of this so well called 'relationship' you have with this kid"
"Of course! I tried...but since I couldn't deny it, I have to make the most of it!"

Aina opened her mouth like a fish, opened and closed it a few times, her eyes opened wide, looking at Nanaka with an incredulous face.

Nanaka was with her breath agitated, her cheeks red of anger, her prominent frown on her face, ready to scold Aina if it's necessary again.

But Aina just didn't say a thing, she turned her sight to the Chief of staff's desk, Nanaka did the same, but she adds in her low tone:

"And I don't want to hear you calling Shuka a 'Kid' again... understood?"

Aina didn't say a thing again, not even moved an inch.

Maybe a full minute passed when Aina broke the silence

"Do you love her?" asked Aina softly without looking at Nanaka

"Yes, I do."

"This... is going to hurt her..." said Aina

"I know... it hurts me too"
Answered Nanaka with clear pain in her voice, Aina turned her sight towards her with a worried expression, Nanaka locked gazes
"For the sake of doing the job, she has to know...and she has to bear with it" said Nanaka

"I'm sorry Suwawa..." said Aina with clear sadness

"Just, stop being a pain about it..." said Nanaka taking her eyes away of Aina's

"Aw, Suwawa, please, you know I'm worried too..."
"No you are not, you keep saying and doing things to screw us, why?"
"That's not true... I told you this was going to be hard, I told you that you were playing with fire here! You can't date a member! I warned you... but you didn't listen!"

"I did listen, but I couldn't help it," said Nanaka softly

Aina made a strong silence

"I know... me neither..." whispered Aina

Nanaka opened her eyes wide and looked at Aina; she had her sight glued to her tiny feet.
She couldn't help but make a sad face

Aina was in love too.
With her.

This was so unfair, for everyone.

Shuka has to watch how Nanaka has to flirt with Aina in a fake relationship but for all the world to see while Aina has to watch how Nanaka was having a real relationship with Shuka in the dark.

And Nanaka has to watch how the two people she cared the most suffer, and because of her.

"This wasn't on my plans..." said Nanaka softly

"What? What do you mean?" asked Aina now looking at Nanaka

"It was enough with the 'years groups' and now with the Subunits... to actually give Shuka another reason to be apart from me..."

"Oh, That..." said Aina with indifference," I thought about to be in love with her..."

"Yes, That wasn't on my plans either..."

"I think that love is a burden..." said Aina in a painful tone

Nanaka blinked

Being in love is a burden...
Yes, in our jobs it is...
But—

"Suwawa I lov—" tried Aina
"Alright girls!"
Said the Chief of staff opening the door abruptly; both girls jumped on their seats, he stood on the door frame, the girls turned around, he had a goofy smile on his face

"Let's tell the members the big news!"
Both girls nodded.

They walked thru the halls of the building mostly following the Chief and giving to each other some glances.

Nanaka was feeling the fear symptoms once again; now because of Shuka's reaction.

How is she going to take this news? How are the members going to take this too?
Maybe Shuka can't stand this and breaks up with Nanaka just for the sake of not being harm.

That thought made her shiver.

The Chief of staff made them enter the white room once again, of course, it was empty, all the girls where in the changing room, so he quickly moved towards the changing room to get everybody there.

Nanaka took the time to gather her stuff and clean a bit her own mess, just because she was nervous and needed to do something, being still was messing with her head.

"Suwawa..." called suddenly Aina, walking slowly towards her with her stuff in her hand

"What?" asked Nanaka softly not looking at her

Aina left her stuff near Nanaka's and searched for her eyes

"You don't need to worry; you need to think about this as part of the job"

They locked gazes.

"Aina, it's easy for you...what if Shuka don't accept this and finally she breaks with me?"

"Then she doesn't love you as you love her," said Aina softly

"What?"

"Suwawa, you are compromising your career, this is your job, and you have to do it, she has to understand..."

"But it's going to be hard..."

"Then sacrifices must be made; both knew that this wasn't going to be easy yet both of you agreed to keep going..." Aina's words were smooth as silk

Nanaka just made a bitter smile

"Suwawa, we can do it, let's work hard together, if anything happens with Shuka or the members, I'll get your back, I can guarantee that you will never be alone, we are in this together..."
Said Aina with a serious tone but with a sweet smile, her words being pure and clear

"Thank you, Aina, but you are not the one who will be constantly breaking someone's heart..."
Said Nanaka at the same time the Chief of staff entered the white room with a noticeable noise behind him, of course, that noise was from the members.

Both turned around to see the members arriving fully changed into their normal clothes; Shuka was the first one to enter, locked gazes with Nanaka and smiled at her bright and wide, then she jogged to meet her.

"Osuwa!" shouted Shuka

Nanaka smiled back and started walking to meet her

"Of course I'm breaking someone's heart..."
Nanaka heard from behind her; she stopped her steps
"My own"

She just couldn't turn around to see Aina.
Her words got her like swords crossing her whole body.

The only thing she could focus on was that Shuka was a few steps away from her with a bright smile and Aina was a few steps behind her with her heart broken.

And now I'm going to break Shuka's...

Nanaka hugged Shuka to greet her, it was brief because Nanaka made it short.

"Shuka, the Chief is here too..." she whispered

The Chief was focused on something with Anchan so he missed the hug, but later he called them to join him.

"Everything ok Osuwa?" whispered Shuka walking with Nanaka

"I don't know yet..." said Nanaka giving Shuka a sad look

"Don't...don't scare me..." said Shuka, then she looked at Aina, she was walking slowly and very gloomy behind them,

"Is she ok? God, what the hell happened?" Shuka whispered again

"Shuka... " called Nanaka softly stopping her steps right where the Chief told them to be, "no matter what, I'm with you, and you alone..."

They locked gazes, Shuka's smile faded and a worried face was there instead

"And remember that this is work." Nanaka finished.

Shuka couldn't ask or say a thing, the Chief of staff started apologizing about calling everybody there again, despite all the teasing 'First years' were doing he managed to remain them quiet.

The members then shared some worried expression between each other and lastly locking gazes with Nanaka and Aina; both were standing beside each other (Nanaka in the middle of Shuka and Aina of course), Nanaka was with her 'Suwa face' while Aina had a clear sad one.

Even if this was a "good" news for Aina and the project, it seemed that Aina understood the sacrifices that this implied.
Everyone's heart.

The Chief of staff started telling them almost the same speech they received in his office, all that 'Jolks' talk and such; it was interesting to see the members reactions on their faces, but basically everybody was nodding.

From time to time, Aiai was the one making interventions asking foolish things, like if the 'Jolks' was real, of course, the Chief didn't answer that. But King and Aikyan of course fooled around with everything Aiai said or asked, making the mood of this meeting to soften a bit.

"...so, what I wanted to tell everybody is that production this time wants to have the control of this kind of things, and selected to explode the 'KanaMari', meaning Suwa-san and Suzuki-san characters..." said softly the Chief of staff, somehow the room became silent

Seeing that nobody moved an inch, in fact, everybody had concerned looks, maybe because they weren't getting it at all, the Chief clarified the task.

"This means that from now on we want from Suwa-san and Suzuki-san to act as an item, to act close to each other, to hug, hold hands, take pictures and make the KanaMari rea–"

"What?!" snapped Shuka interrupting the Chief, she earned the freaked out look from everybody, including the Chief's

Shuka looked in panic at Nanaka, she was still with her "Suwa face" patiently hearing how Shuka's heart was crashing on the floor

"Osuwa!"

"Shuka let him finish..." said Nanaka in a low tone without looking at her

"Saito-san, please?" said the Chief

Shuka gave Nanaka a panic with a mix of sadness look, then she returned her gaze to the Chief

"Sorry" she apologized.

"Ok, so, what I was saying is that from now on Suwa-san and Suzuki-san have to 'pretend' to be an item, to be close to each other, as all of you might know, 'Kanan-chan' is good with hugs, so this will help Suwa-san to make her job easy; she will need to hug, touch, and of course, take a lot of pictures together, and made the fans happy with a 3D version of 'KanaMari'"
Finished the Chief with a happy and excited tone, almost if this was the greatest idea ever.

Everybody shared a worried expression with each other, even Aiai shut up.

They were silent reading each other's mind.

This wasn't good.

Now that everybody knew that Shuka and Nanaka were a couple, a real one, this was hard to swallow.

"Eh? Why are you all so serious?" asked the Chief concerned

"So this is for the fans?" asked Arisa serious, and then she looked at Nanaka with a worried face

"Yes, just for the fans" answered the Chief and after seeing the worried expression from everyone he added, "and I'm afraid it's not something they can refuse, it's mandatory…"

Nanaka and Shuka looked at each other with the corner of their eyes; Nanaka telling her that she didn't have a choice and Shuka understanding that at least Nanaka tried to refuse to do it.

Or at least that was Nanaka thought.

All the girls started murmuring things and giving Shuka and Nanaka some sad glances, the only ones who weren't murmuring were Nanaka, Aina and Shuka.

Aina was with her sight glued to the floor, Nanaka was with her "Suwa face" and Shuka was clenching her fists and teeth with a prominent frown.

"Why?!"
Suddenly Shuka snapped and shut everyone in the room earning once again every look from the girls

"Why What Saito-san?" asked the Chief

"Why them? Why not use another paring?" asked Shuka with a mixed tone of sadness and anger, " why not use, I don't know, 'ChikaRiko' as they used them for the PV"

"What?!" asked Arisa in discomfort

Anchan and Rikako shrugged

"Well, That paring can't be used for what we are thinking of, and we already use them in the PV," said the Chief calmly

"And what do you want them for?" asked Aiai with curiosity

"Yeah, why give them Seiyū action if they already have the characters?" asked Aikyan

"Because it sells better," answered the Chief of staff, " and besides, like it or not, the fans will ship all of you anyways, we are just giving them what they want, this is just to impulse the project"

"Then use other characters, 'You-chan' is our most popular character now," said King, Nanaka gave her a death glare

"Not helping King" murmured Aiai at her side

"'First years' and 'Second years' are not used for our propose just yet" answered the Chief now a bit tired

"Why is that?" Interrupted Anchan

"Because they are so pure and innoce–" tried the Chief

"Then use 'Dia-san'!, Komiya-san can do it right?!" snapped Shuka

"Hey! What?" jumped Rikako looking with a frown at Shuka

"I think I can't fit in that task..." said Arisa softly beside Rikako, both shared a sweet smile

"What? Why? You are a 'Third year' too" pointed Shuka towards Arisa

Then everybody broke into madness, everybody started to talk at the same time making chaos inside the room

Nanaka blinked tiredly, this was out of control.

All the members started arguing about something that it's unarguable; production wants the 'KanaMari'.
Period.

But this looked very good on the group, the seven of them were arguing because they wanted to "free" Nanaka from this task because they knew this would cause trouble with Nanaka's and Shuka's relationship.

Meaning that it was a good idea to tell the members minutes before this madness broke out.

But of course, the Chief of staff didn't know that, so for him, this was a waste of time and efforts.

"Very helpful Suwa-san..."
He said towards Nanaka and Aina who were the only ones quiet looking at this madness.

Aina giggled, Nanaka sighed.

Well, they ARE helping us out, Shuka and I...

"Alright Alright! End this right now!"
Shouted the Chief of staff clapping and making everybody quiet.
"Good Lord!" He said sighing

Everybody looked at him with a bit of shame

"Girls, we are not asking your opinion, and of course I don't need to give you any reasons! You obey! And that's it" he said with his harsh tone

"We wanted to recreate the 'NozoEli' from μ's, and the 'Jolks' and the characters that fit that, are 'Kanan-san' and 'Mari-san', period." He made a brief pause

"Komiya-san is right, 'Dia-san' doesn't fit that role, meaning that Komiya-san can't do it too; we have the advantage that 'Kanan-san' is a caring character that likes to hug, and 'Mari-san' is bold and reckless enough to tease 'Kanan-san' about it"

Somehow every look was on Aina.

"Because of this, is why 'First years' and 'Second years' can't do it; we want to go further than what we did with μ's, we want to make them bolder"

"Bolder?!" repeated Shuka, "bolder how?"

"Hugging, holding hands, being lovey-dovey, pictures on Twitter...etc," said the Chief calmly

"Pic– oh my..." murmured Shuka grabbing her temples

Nanaka sighed softly, Shuka was being hurt; she just recalled how mad and jealous was Shuka because of her pictures with Izawa Mikako, her co-host of her radio show, on Twitter, those pictures being just normal pictures and now she has to take pictures with Aina, hugging and lovely close just for the sake of the project.

"C'mon, it's exactly what you have been doing so far with the pictures you were uploading to your Twitter's accounts...but now we want to push you a little bit more..." said the Chief of staff

"Chief," called Anchan with a serious tone, taking everybody's attention, "if production had everything sorted out, then why are you telling this to us...the rest of the members? Isn't this something about Suwa-san and Suzuki-san?"

The Chief of staff blinked a few times, sighed and looked at Nanaka with a matter of fact face.

Nanaka just blinked.

"Well, I thought that too, even production asked to retain this as a secret, but, Suwa-san insisted that for the success of this task we must tell the members..." he said in a tired tone

Shuka looked at Nanaka with a shy smile, and then everybody gave her a nod and some smiles, somehow everyone approved Nanaka's decision to tell them, to make them part of this side of the project as well even if this doesn't concern them directly.

"For your faces I could say you agreed too," continued the Chief, "I called production and told them what Suwa-san told me of how the rest of you could be helpful on the matter, they agreed, and that's why I'm here telling you this..." he finished with a tired tone

"So, how can we be useful?" asked Aikyan

"Yes, how can we help?" asked Aiai

"Well at first, now knowing is a thing," said the Chief recovering his harsh tone," I guess that now that all of you know what they had been asked to do, you will not freak out if they start hugging or touching each other; let's say, they need your support"

"Men, it's the day of being 'useful', 'helpful' and to support people..." said King with a sigh

"Save it" scolded Arisa towards King

"Aqours is one group, and you will have to act like one; this will help you achieve a sense of unity, as Suwa-san said, now that all of you know, you can help them whether is acting cool towards them or to tease their 'relationship' on camera; we want to explore this side of Aqours too...if this succeed and actually make an impact on the fans, then we can use the rest of you."

concluded the Chief of staff.

"So basically they are guinea pigs," said Arisa in her diligent tone

"Well, production chose the 'strongest' wannabe couple from the nine of you, also the one who fits better with being bold, we need to create a new 'NozoEli', but girls, this doesn't mean that the rest of you can't interact with each other..." said the Chief now rubbing his eyes, it seems that he was at his limit with this subject

"Eh? What is that supposed to mean?" asked confused Rikako

"Means that...," he sighed

"...remember that you are interpreting high school teens from fifteen to seventeen years old, all of them are close and friendly friends; you will grow to be close and friendly friend with each other too, so it will look good if you start being caring with each other too... the difference will be in how bold and daring will be Suwa-san and Suzuki-san with each other..."

"He means that we can hug and hold hands too, but not so obvious" clarified Arisa

"Yes, exactly," said the Chief with a tired tone.

Everybody looked at each other with some complicity smiles and nodded.

The Chief smiled proudly

"Well, with that said,"

He turned to Nanaka and Aina

"Girls, do your best, remember I want those pictures to be close and lovely; on the campaign try to flirt too...it will be good with the fans, remember that you will need a 'shipping name' too, get creative"

He walked to the door where he stopped abruptly and turned around to face the girls once again.

"If any of you has any good idea for this two 'lovebirds' to be even closer, please don't hesitate to suggest them, anything can help, we will be counting on you, thank you for your hard work!"

And he left.

For just a moment, the silence was around the room.

For Nanaka, the freaking symptoms of fear kicked her again; now the bomb was just being thrown and it was a matter of seconds for Shuka to explode in anger about the whole of this.

"Just what the hell?!" snapped Aiai in her high pitched tone

"Men!" said Aikyan loosening her body, it seemed that everyone followed thru

"Dude, seriously this was hardcore" murmured King

"I don't think I can manage more tension today," said Arisa rubbing her temples

Nanaka blinked, if someone was having tension today, it was her.

Nanaka looked at her right to see Shuka, ignoring the rest of the members' comments about this situation; she was massaging her temples too

"Shuka..." called Nanaka softly

Shuka stopped the massage and looked at her, she was with a troubled look

"I'm sorry..." said Nanaka with clear sadness, Shuka gave her a sweet smile

"Osuwa...it's ok..." said Shuka getting closer and gently touching Nanaka's cheeks, then she started to caress them softly

"I just...I just couldn't protect us enough..." whispered Nanaka

Shuka made the distance between them shorter, somehow both ignoring completely where they were and all the members around

"I think you did great" whispered Shuka back,

Nanaka could feel Shuka's soft breath against her lips; she was feeling dizzy, somehow her fear symptoms being replaced by symptoms of love, she wanted to kiss her there right now, and it seemed that Shuka was thinking the same thing

"Yo! Guys!" scolded Arisa

Both girls snapped out of the trance and separate from each other enough

"Sorry..." apologized both at the same time, indeed all the gazes of the members where on them, both of them had their cheeks as red as a tomato.

"Wow!" said Aiai

"So this is what they were talking about," said King

"Good thing you guys told us about your relationship before..." said Rikako

"Yes, it was a good call," said Anchan nodding

Nanaka grabbed Shuka's hand and entwined their fingers, Shuka smiled wide at her

"Ok, but this is giving us another problem"
Said Arisa changing the mood, all gazes were on her
"One thing is to cover Suwa-san and Saito-san's relationship and now we have to support this thing between Aina-san with Suwa-san, good thing you all three are in different Subunits"

Nanaka could feel how Shuka's grip on her hand was tightening

"Guys, I'm sorry," started Nanaka, " I know this was unfair and selfish to throw this new burden to all of you..."

"I think you did right," said Rikako looking for approval in Arisa, "it would look really weird if you tell us that you were dating Shukashuu and then you start flirting with Aina-san without a warning..."

Arisa nodded

"It would look so unfair to Saito-san," said Arisa

"I think it was the better option actually," said Aiai in a serious tone, " besides, there shouldn't be any secrets within the group, we should support each other"

"What do you think Shuka?" asked Anchan

Every look was on her, the grip tightened once again

"I... I still don't know, I have some mixed feelings..." said Shuka softly

"Shuka," called Nanaka with the same softness, they locked gazes,

"If you are uncomfortable with this, we can break up," said Nanaka not even thinking

"EH?!" snapped everybody, even Aina who was quiet at Nanaka's left

"Suwa–" tried some of the girls
"What–" snapped the others

"Osuwa..." said Shuka astonished

"This is going to hurt you, and I don't want to," said Nanaka softly

"But I'm already hurt..." said Shuka quietly
Nanaka made a bitter smile

"Oh c'mon!"
Said Aina suddenly in her loud tone and moving away from Nanaka's side
"Shuka, this is OUR JOB! It's not the end of the world, so please let's stop this drama"

"Wha– Hey!"
Called Shuka now with a frown on her face, Aina stopped her steps and looked back at Shuka

"What?! Shuka don't be a kid, there's nothing terrible, its just fiction! Pictures, some hugs! No big!"

"It's easy for you to say, you are not the one being hurt!" said Shuka now getting mad
Nanaka bit her lips

You are wrong...she is being hurt...

Nanaka tried to hold Shuka on her place by tightening her grip on her hand

"And what a kid like you know!" said Aina now getting mad too

"Aina!" scolded Nanaka rising her voice with a mad tone

Shuka left Nanaka's hand to move towards Aina

"This was your idea, am I right?! This is your doing!"
Said Shuka stopping right in front of Aina

"You wanted this! So no wonder why you were so quiet!"

"Shuka!" scolded Nanaka with the same mad tone as before

"Yo, Suwa-san, get your wives in place!" mocked Aiai

"Control your girlfriends" followed King

Both Aina and Shuka bit their lips stopping the argument, Nanaka blinked a few times, Anchan, Arisa and Rikako looked at each other with troubled looks.

"Guys you are not helping," said softly Rikako, Arisa sighed tiredly

"So who's Suwawa's mistress?" asked Aikyan to Aiai and King

"Good question," said Aiai with her right hand in her chin, "should be Aina right?"

"But Aina is the one who will be on camera...so the world will see Suwa and Aina as a couple" answered King

"So, Shuka is the mistress?" asked Aikyan

"But she is the official girlfriend" answered Aiai

"Ok, enough!" said Shuka angry "This isn't funny!"

'First years' did laugh

Nanaka made a bitter smile and saw how Aina gave her a sad look

"Girls, girls, cut it out..."
Said Anchan softly and moving towards Shuka and Aina to make more space between them
"This isn't something we should take lightly..."

"You got it leader!" said Aiai happily

"Furihata-san! Please!" scolded Arisa to Aiai

"Sorry, 'onee-chan'..." said Aiai in Ruby's voice

Anchan took a deep breath.

"Guys..."
Started Anchan while moving her hands with a sign for the members to come closer, they made a circle

"Girls," she said looking at Nanaka and Shuka, "you had trusted us, Aqours, a very important task... and I really appreciate it... this means a lot to me," said Anchan with her right hand on her chest

"Your relationship it's going to be very precious to us, we will try our best to support it and help it in any way we can, right girls?"

She asked looking at all the members, everybody nodded, everybody except Aina.

"Our first task right now is to face this challenge," continued Anchan, " this is our job, and what production asks is an order, it's law, and we have to agree," she talked looking at Shuka

"If the Chief was here telling us this, it's because it's an order from production, there's nothing we can do but to obey, so it's not Ainya's idea..."

Shuka bit her lips; Anchan looked at Nanaka

"Suwa-san, thanks so much for trusting us, I know this must be difficult for you and it isn't something you should face alone, you were right, we should face this..."

Anchan looked at everyone

"...as a group, as Aqours; we are nine here, we should support each other, we can move better if all are on the same page..."

Everybody gave her a sweet smile, it seems that production was right, Anchan was meant to be Aqours leader.

"So! Let's put this thing behind us," Anchan continued now with a wide smile on her face

"Suwa-san, you can't break up with Shu-chan at the very first moment the road gets hard," she said looking at Nanaka; she smiled back and nodded, then Anchan looked at everyone,

"That's why we are here, to help; then, Shu-chan, you can't blame on others when things didn't get the way you wanted," she said looking at Shuka, then she looked at Aina,

"Ainya, I rather prefer you stop saying that Shuka is a kid; there aren't kids here anymore, we are nine strong girls! We are here to support each other, not to bring them down..."

"I'm sorry Anchan..." murmured Aina softly

"It's not me the one you have to apologize..." said Anchan sweetly; Shuka and Aina shared some shy looks.

"And finally," said Anchan looking at 'First years',

"You three are dangerous! Please think about the members' feelings too; it's not a funny situation for Shu-chan and Suwa-san for you to start fooling around..."

"Don't be so serious Anchan" tried King

"It was just a joke!" said Aikyan

"Yes, but you hurt people's feelings" finished Arisa in her scolding mode, and that was enough for those two to shut up

"Ok, well, that's it"

Anchan giggled

"Let's put this behind us, and let's do our best!" She concluded with energy

Everybody shouted a loud "Yes!" And finally, they clapped.

"You know" started Aiai now with the mood more calmed," we should totally go out tomorrow and celebrate Suwawa's birthday... we couldn't do anything for her"

Nanaka rose her eyebrows, it wasn't necessary

"Yes! That's a great idea! We should go altogether after practice tomorrow!" said Anchan with energy

"What do you think Suwawa?" asked Aiai

Nanaka just nodded and smiled sweetly at them, this was nice from them too.

"Ok it is settled!" said Anchan

They broke the circle to leave the room, Nanaka walked to grab her things next to Aina; both shared a shy smile, and later they walked out the white room with everyone and started walking towards the changing room, the mood finally being restored.

Anchan was talking with 'First years' about their next trip to Hiroshima that weekend for the second session of 'First years' campaign; after mocking hard about Rikako and her suggestions to Aiai to use a passport for domestic flights, the foolish trio was complaining about their last flight, because their seats didn't have any windows, so they couldn't see a thing of the scenery.

Suddenly Nanaka felt her arm being grabbed; she jumped in surprise, of course, Shuka was clinging to her arm

"Shuka..." called Nanaka sweetly, both shared some sweet smiles

"How are you feeling?" asked Nanaka

"Uhm, better... kinda sad too..." answered Shuka in a low tone

"Why? What's wrong...?"

"Well, first..." she started a bit troubled, "we are not together in the Subunit..."

"Yes..." said Nanaka in a monotone

"And you were a bit mad at me... because what I said..."

Nanaka didn't say a thing, she was just seeing the door of the changing room at the end of the hall meaning that soon everybody will left.

"Suwawa, it makes me sad being apart from you, you know that, these weeks with the campaign and that..." said Shuka with a clear sad tone

"It's ok Shuka, you really fit with those looneys..."

Shuka giggled

"And second...this thing with Ainya..." said Shuka softly seeing Aina getting inside the changing room

"I know... it bothers me too..."

"I wish...maybe I should...made the audition for 'Mari-san'..." said Shuka with sadness

"Stop it," said Nanaka with strong tone and stopping her steps too, they arrived at the changing room

Shuka bit her lips and both locked gazes

"Well, see you tomorrow, remember we will celebrate!" said Aiai waving her hand next to them with King and Aikyan

"Have a great evening!" said Rikako walking with Arisa, Arisa just nodded

"See you lat– Eh? Shu-chan are you not coming?" asked Anchan who just walked by

"Eh..." mumbled Shuka looking at Anchan, then she looked at Nanaka

"Go with her..." said Nanaka in her monotone

"No," said Shuka, then she looked at Anchan, " I'll wait for Osuwa"

"You sure?" asked Anchan, Shuka nodded.

"Well then, see you later!" almost shouted Anchan jogging to catch the rest of the members

"Are you sure you don't want to go too?" asked Nanaka

Shuka shook her head

"I'm ok, I want to be with you..." Shuka smiled

"About what you said..." started Nanaka," how could you know that this would end like this? You really think that Aina wanted this? Shuka, in the eyes of every member, you are the victim and she is the villain... she must be feeling terrible..."

"Ow, If you put it that way..." said Shuka softly

"Besides, you wouldn't have won the popularity poll, and you would have ended in eighth place..." said Nanaka in a mocking tone

Shuka giggled

"You are an amazing 'You', you will be an incredible Center, and you will make your unit proud," said Nanaka with a smile, she really meant it

"But it seems that our characters will have nothing in common..." said Shuka with a gloomy tone

"We already knew that Shuka...and we both wanted to carry on" answered Nanaka lovely

They shared some gazes and some smiles

"I want to kiss you... " whispered Shuka "maybe I should take a shower again..." said Shuka getting closer

"You can't...Aina is in there..." said Nanaka narrowing her eyes

Shuka stopped and sighed

"Right..." Shuka scratched the back of her neck, " Osuwa... when is your next campaign?"

"December, why?" said Nanaka opening the changing room

"Well, If 'First years' campaign is this weekend...and my last one was last weekend in Nagoya...that means, I'm free this weekend...and so do you..."

Nanaka walked in at her pace into the changing room; Aina's stuff was resting on a bench and the showers were on use, meaning that Aina was already inside the showers.

Nanaka stopped in front of her locker and managed to open it.

"What are you suggesting...?" asked Nanaka

"We should go on a date this weekend; let's go to Minato Mirai," said Shuka sitting on the bench

Nanaka turned to see her and smiled at her lovely

"I would love to"

Shuka made some sounds of joy and of course, she smiled wide and bright

Nanaka turned again to start undressing and getting ready to the showers, somehow the room becoming really silent except for Aina's shower.

Nanaka put her towel around her and turned once again catching Shuka with her eyes glued on her, somehow she forgot that Shuka was still there; she opened her eyes wide

"My..." said Nanaka surprised

"What?... I love it..." said Shuka with her smile once again

Nanaka didn't say a thing, her cheeks becoming bright red, she started walking to the shower

"Osuwa..." called Shuka; Nanaka stopped her steps to look at her, "can I...stay with you tonight?"

Nanaka blinked a few times and smiled sweetly

After this hell of a day...
Yes, I need lots of cuddles...

"Of course sweetie..." said Nanaka with a smile and then she walked into the showers.

She got to the stall, left her towel in the hanger and her shower stuff near and before she could turn on the water, she could hear soft whimpers and sobs.

Nanaka opened her eyes abruptly, feeling a cold sweat on the back of her neck

Someone was crying.

Aina was crying.

Nanaka blinked a few times, the cold getting inside her bones now; she made a bitter smile and closed her eyes.

What should I do?

Nanaka started to debate with herself, what was the right thing to do in this situation, that damn feeling of fear again;

Go out of her stall to comfort Aina?

Naked.

Both of them naked and with Shuka waiting right outside the showers.

What if she sees them? How can she explain that? This is not mandatory... production didn't send the order, just happened that Nanaka wanted to be a good friend, but, comforting each other on the showers...

This wasn't the time, Nanaka just couldn't go and help her out right now, and knowing Aina, the very first second she steps out of the stall she will be with a bright smile like nothing had happened.

This time Nanaka had to pass, this time Aina had to suffer alone.

This was her fault.

She couldn't take it, and with shaking hands, she turned on the water letting all the hot water fall over her.

Aina was a good friend since the project started she had been there with her, supporting her, cheering for her, watching her... worried about her.

And what has she done for Aina? Nothing.

She keeps scolding her, she keeps pushing her apart, she keeps treating her like crap, like someone annoying that needs to be shut.

And now, she broke her heart

This wasn't fair.

Nanaka brought her hands to her face and started crying too.

I'm the worse...

.

.

—-**0. December 2015. 0**—

November ended in the blink of an eye, and finally, December was there with all the Christmas decorations and the such.

Also, this meant that the campaign would soon end and that there's just one month left for the Aqours event on January.

It was Sunday, December 6th, and it was 'Third years' third day of the campaign, in Osaka.

Indeed this weekend was madness.

They started traveling to Fukuoka Prefecture, on Friday night, because on Saturday they had their second day of campaign at Hakata Gamers.

It was madness, lots of fans, lots of things to do, indeed was fun, but it seemed a little bit overwhelming for Nanaka.

Getting used to this kind of pressure and timings, was kind of hard.

Later that same day they traveled to Osaka, meaning they crossed the whole country.

They stayed at a nice hotel, of course, the three of them had to share a room, but since this was kind of something new for Aina and Nanaka they dropped dead on top their beds at the very first second.

Arisa being an actress for far more time had better training on this.

So, today, it wasn't going to be easy; First was a session on Nanba Gamers till midday, and later on, the afternoon was the session on Ebisubashi Tsutaya, where was even more madness.

Before the show started they got interviewed, it was a surprise for Nanaka; it seems that it was hard for her to have a real dimension of what she was getting into.

The whole place was crowded waiting for them to appear, the cheering, the fans, the merchandise, she even got fan letters!

She was overwhelmed for the second time that weekend, now she understood why Shuka was all over the top when the campaign started.

"Girls! 30 minutes to go!"

Shouted the Chief of staff popping into the changing room and then he closed it quickly.

"I think that guy is the most stressed man in the world"
Said Arisa calmly with three white boxes in her hands walking towards a long table where Nanaka and Aina were sitting; Nanaka was finishing painting her nails with an emerald polish while Aina was reading her fan letters.

"Well, he has to be..." said Aina moving her letters around " everything here works like a clock because of that man's stress"

Nanaka giggled and then they shared some cute smiles

After that day on the showers, of course, Nanaka didn't say a thing to Aina about that she had heard her or why was she crying; no, she played it cool.

But she tried to be nicer with Aina, and of course tried to don't talk about her relationship with Shuka with her, they were close friends and all of that, but talking with Aina about it was just to bring her more pain.

So here is where this campaign and all this traveling was worth for, in one hand gave them lots of new topics to talk about and in another one, it gave Arisa and Nanaka a new chance to be closer.

And that was being a good thing so far because now Arisa could be a good listener for her if she had "Shuka issues".

So far, the chemistry within "Third years" members was good; all three really indoor types and nerds, so they shared some good and quiet talks, except for Aina who from time to time acted really weird and made them laugh their asses off.

Arisa sat next to Nanaka and gave them a box to each one of them

"Oh, this smell nice~," said Aina lifting her sight, "thank you Arisha~" she finished with a cute tone

Nanaka's heart skipped a beat

"I thought you wanna try this," said Arisa opening her box, she revealed it, it was a box full of Osaka's classic Takoyaki

"Awwww~ I love it! Thank you so much!"
Said Aina in her loud tone opening her box and without waiting any longer she started eating.

Nanaka was blowing her nails for the polish to settle, while Arisa opened Nanaka's box.

"It's going to be ok to be eating 30 minutes before the campaign starts?...thank you Komiya-san," asked Nanaka while blowing her nails

"We haven't eaten, we need this," said Arisa removing some sticks from the Takoyaki

"Why you keep calling her by her last name?" asked Aina putting another ball in her mouth

"Respect for my elders," said Nanaka blowing

Arisa looked at her with her eyes open wide with an outraged look, then both giggled.

Suddenly Nanaka's phone rang; it was a message, she carefully took her phone trying hard to don't mess her nails.

The message was from Shuka asking how was everything going on over there.

"Everything ok?" asked Arisa taking a bottle of green tea

"Yes, it's Shuka," said Nanaka with a goofy smile on her face, she could feel some dark aura across the table where Aina was seated

"Oh, is it her day off?" continued Arisa

"Yes, she stayed home apparently..." said Nanaka with a bit of trouble with her phone, she took a picture of hers and Arisa's box of Takoyaki, and then send it to her.

"Oh, she must be bored then..." said Arisa taking a ball from her box and eating it

"Well, she is always thinking about work... even if it is her day off..." said Nanaka typing carefully on her phone, " so no wonder if she texted me, she must be thinking on the campaign..."

"Can be that she misses you and that's it?" said Aina softly, she gained a few looks from Arisa and Nanaka

Aina blinked a few times and then she put another Takoyaki into her mouth shrugging.

The phone rang again, another message, this time was a picture of Shuka's dog inside her bed.

Nanaka curled the tip of her lips, indeed was adorable

"No way, is that Shuka's bed?" asked Arisa swallowing a Takoyaki and of course, looking into Nanaka's phone

"Yes, its name is Shur- Hey!" snapped Nanaka, while Arisa took her phone away from her hands

"It's that Tom & Jerry? Does Shuka have Tom & Jerry sheets?!" asked Arisa amused

"What?! Let me seeeeeeee letmeseee," said Aina moving her arms and hands to Arisa

Arisa gave her the phone and Aina broke into her old man laughter.

Nanaka deadpanned, and tiredly she grabbed a Takoyaki and ate it.

Arisa returned Nanaka's phone to its owner

"My, Suwawa she IS a kid..." said Aina still laughing

"I can't help you on this one…Aina-san is right" said Arisa

Nanaka didn't say a thing and put her phone away.

I think my sheets are even more childish than Shuka's...

"I think I saw that picture before..." said Aina eating another ball, " isn't in her Twitter?"

"Shuka's?" asked Arisa eating too

"Yes, I think I saw it yesterday..." said Aina swallowing

"Oh, That means that, " Arisa swallowed, " that picture is old..."

"Is another one" said Nanaka taking another ball, " I saw that picture too on her Twitter "

"Oh," said Aina

"Twitter uh?" said softly Arisa

"I'm surprised that you don't have Twitter," said Aina towards Arisa," you being a model, actress and all of that..."

"I don't get those kinds of things... I don't know how to use it" answered Arisa eating

"See? Respect for the elders..." said Nanaka again taking another ball.

"It's not that..." tried Arisa to defend herself

"If you don't have any social media and such how are you going to upload all our pictures?" asked Aina with concern, but her sight was fully focused on the Takoyaki

"Right… yesterday we took a lot of pictures… where are you uploading them?" asked Nanaka eating

Arisa made a pause, a long one.

So Aina and Nanaka shared some amused looks to each other, it was weird for Arisa to stay quiet.

Both looked at her with their eyebrows rose; Arisa had her cheeks red in embarrassment and took another Takoyaki

"We even took some selfies…" said Aina now trying to don't break into her old man laugh

"Ok, ok….I don't have any social media…I don't get them!" said Arisa embarrassed

Nanaka giggled while Aina finally broke into her laugh

"Mou…" complained Arisa pouting

Who has ever thought that Arisa could be that of a dork...

"If you were troubled you should have asked us…" said Nanaka with a goofy smile on her face

"Yeah! Suwawa is always uploading stuff" said Aina finishing her Takoyaki

"My, were you hungry?…"
Asked Nanaka towards Aina; she just gave her a shy smile, Aina sure loved to eat, then she looked at Arisa
"It's not that I upload a lot of things, but sure I'm active on Twitter…"

"I...I see…" said Arisa softly eating

"How do you know I'm that active?" asked Nanaka towards Aina

"Well, I follow you…?" said Aina moving her Takoyaki box to the side to keep reading her fan letters, " and I like your pictures, you are cute"

Nanaka blinked a few time not even tasting the Takoyaki she just ate, and it seemed that Arisa stopped eating too.

Both looked at Aina; Nanaka with her cheeks red of embarrassment and Arisa with an incredulous look.

"What?" asked Aina looking at them, " you are cute… what?! I said it! You are cute Suwa Nanaka"
Finished Aina with a strong voice

Nanaka bit her lips feeling some weird things in her belly

"Oh, now that you say that," said Arisa with a goofy tone, " you haven't done anything bold on camera!"

Nanaka deadpanned her, and Aina brought her hands to her mouth

"What?… Suwa-san, you have to do it…Aina-san you too, those are orders…" said Arisa now drinking of her tea

"I...I know…" said Nanaka softly, now feeling that she had enough Takoyaki

"What's wrong Suwawa?" asked Aina

"I don't want to do it…" said Nanaka softly

Aina blinked a few times with a sad smile, while Arisa sighed softly

"I'm sorry Suwawa, but we must do it…" said Aina

"I know, but… I don't know how…" said Nanaka troubled, then she looked at Aina " I…I don't want to hurt Shuka"
Finished Nanaka looking at her box with sadness in her voice, somehow all colors fading away with this sense of fear once again.

Aina blinked but was Arisa who brought the colors back when she left her bottled tea with a strong thump on the table.

Nanaka jumped on her seat

"Stop it Suwa-san!" said Arisa now looking at her "You have to leave your feelings at home, you are here to work"

"Suwawa… I think you are over feeling this" said Aina now grabbing her fan letters

"What? how…why?…" Nanaka asked

"Suwawa, I don't think Shuka is that of a child to don't know how this world works…" said Aina, Arisa looked at her with a concerned face

"Wha-What do you mean…?" asked Nanaka with fear

"You are overprotecting her…" said Arisa now with a tired tone " she has to grow, she has to make mistakes too, and she has to bear this, this is your job, you can't keep failing at it because it might 'hurt her'…" finished Arisa even doing the quotes with her hands

"What about you?… are you hurt?" asked Aina softly

"What? me?…why I should be the on—"
"Oh c'mon!" said Aina now with a hard tone, she even dropped her letters on top of the table while standing up

"Aina-san?" asked Arisa concerned, Nanaka looked at her with her "Suwa face"

"Look at me in the eyes, and tell me that you didn't get hurt by her pictures of their last campaign," said Aina with a serious face, looking straightly to Nanaka's eyes and soul.

Arisa looked at Nanaka with her lips tightened; Nanaka had her straight face.

Did it hurt?…

It was that same day, the day they received the order to start flirting with each other.

Shuka uploaded the pictures of the "Second years" last day of campaign that was held on that weekend.

There were mostly pictures of the three of them, but sure, Shuka uploaded a lot of pictures with Anchan.
Close to her… fooling with her…
At that moment she just thought that they were cute, but nothing more...

Nanaka's right eyebrow twitched.

"Suwa-san?…" called Arisa

"Suwawa…?" called Aina

Nanaka blinked a few times

It did hurt.

And there she was worried about hurting Shuka when she had hurt her first.

Nanaka closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then she looked at Aina straight into her eyes

"So, how should we be calling our thing?"

Aina curled the tip of her lips, and then she sat again.

"If they wanted to recreate the 'KanaMari', it should be something with your names on it…like Jolks, right?" said Arisa

"SuwaAinya?" said Aina

Nanaka hummed with a frown

"Too obvious?" asked Aina

"A bit long?" said Arisa

Nanaka remained silent, her thoughts were around how Shuka did upload those pictures the very same day they got the news about Aina and her to start flirting with each other; was this a sign of jealousy? revenge? like if Nanaka must do it, then Shuka should do it too?

Thought so, Shuka wasn't going to take that lightly, she counterattacked the Chief's order even if Nanaka hadn't done anything yet.
Like " I do the harm first to don't be hurt later"

Good Lord...

"...What about it? do you like it?" Nanaka heard snapping out of her mind

"Sorry, what?" asked Nanaka looking at Arisa

"NanaAinya" repeated Arisa

Nanaka blinked a few times, then looked at Aina who was with a goofy smile on her face.

"Ok," said Nanaka softly

"Oh really?!" asked Aina with a happy tone

"Yeah, sure," said Nanaka closing her box, she couldn't finish her meal

"Alright then!" said Aina in a more cheerful tone

"Ok, let's take a picture then…" said Arisa closing her box too, " let's took one of the three of us then one of you two?"

"Aww sounds nice Arisha~," said Aina with a happy tone

Nanaka just blinked, actually she felt dizzy, like in the clouds; seemed that she just didn't care about the name, the picture or even the campaign anymore.

Suddenly the door opened again with the head of the Chief popping out

"Girls! five more minutes!"
And then he closed it.

The girls moved out of the table and sat on a black couch.

Aina in the middle because she was the shortest, Arisa at her left while Nanaka on her right.

"Ok, I'm gonna take the picture…" said Arisa rising her hand for the selfie, " eh…Suwa-san, you need to smile…ok...that's better… why… hum, why you just don't lean yourself a bit to Aina-san? …more close…closer… yes…ok… Cheese!"

And Arisa took the picture.

The three of them had a soft smile on their faces, but at least Nanaka's head was close to Aina.

"Would this work?…." asked Aina to Arisa

Arisa blinked a few times

"Well, I think you will get it with time…" said Arisa

"This is not bold at all," said Aina with an amused tone

Nanaka hummed

Aina was right, Shuka's pictures were even "bolder" than that, but…

"Now, you two, take a selfie," said Arisa and gave Nanaka her phone

Nanaka and Aina shared a shy smile and then got closer, smiled at the camera and took the picture.

It wasn't bold. Not at all.

But it was something.

They dropped the topic there because they had to leave for the campaign, but until that moment Nanaka felt that she was like walking on clouds.

Somehow all of this felt like an empty shell.

The campaign was a total success.

The next day, in the calm of her home and room, Nanaka uploaded the pictures, smiling faintly while looking at them.

On the picture of her and Aina, she wrote "NanaAinya ( *˘ᵌ˘) …"

Maybe the picture wasn't bold enough…but at least what she wrote connoted an intention of love…?

Kind off.

She sighed softly.

This surely would bring troubles with Shuka...

Well, there's nothing else to do…but to do the job…
There's no turning back…

And she pressed the enter button.

.

.

What was left of December was hectic, between practice and the last days of the campaign which ended on December 13th.

Later was just practice for their event in January, in between, of course, they had some activities out of the project that they enjoyed as a group, like Aikyan, Rikako and Nanaka going to Sanrio Puroland to see the Christmas decorations.

Also, Nanaka and Shuka shared some dates too; it was hard for them to find the time, the mood, and a place to have them, but they did, even if they had to face some "disagreements" from time to time.

Of course, about this new "NanaAina" thing.

But what was important was practice.

They indeed were excited, and with more reason after knowing that µ's Final Love Live! was announced on the February issue of the Dengeki G's Magazine.

Even if they knew about it from the very first day - because their mere existence was because of this- now it was official; µ's was going to end on March 31 and April 1 of next year with a huge performance in Tokyo Dome.

And after their big shadow was them, Aqours.

A bunch of kids chasing their shadow, and being afraid of a tiny event where they should sing 3 songs.

Sounded terrifying.

.

.

.

—-**0. January 2016 . 0**—

Finally, that day came.

January 11.

The special event held in Tokyo, Akihabara to commemorate the end of the campaign.

Every single practice, every single drop of sweat, frustration, and preparation was for this.

The week before was hectic, full of rehearsals, preparations with the single's outfits, vocal training, and stage training.
This was going to be the very first time the 9 of them gathered in a stage to actually perform.
Until now, they were on a stage by groups of 3 and just talking.

It was one hour before the show started, and the changing room was madness.

They had to put parts of the single's outfit under their school uniforms, arranged their hairs according to their characters; for Nananka this wasn't a challenge, Kanan had a ponytail; for Arisa and King, their characters had their hairs lose; Aiai she just were two pigtails; Rikako made a half bun, but what was a challenge were Aina's braid, Aikyan's bun, and somehow Anchan's hair.
She was really into having Chika's charm.

Of course, the ambient was a mix of anxiety and fear.

The changing room was loud, between all the noises of preparations plus the girls talking nervously with each other.

Nanaka just had finished with her makeup when Aiai sat at her right.

"There are times like that, aren't there?"
She said with her mocking tone, Nanaka just looked at her with her "Suwa face", not saying a thing, sometimes Aiai was weirder than Aina.

"What?…" said Aiai, seeing that Nanaka just blinked at her

"What is it?"
Asked Nanaka now looking at her reflection on the mirror, her make up was right, her ponytail was right, she felt ready

"How do you do it?" asked Aiai with a soft tone

"Do what?" asked Nanaka looking at her thru the mirror

"Being this calm… you are the only one who is so chilled about it"

That's' not true….I want to throw up…

"I'm not," said Nanaka softly

Aiai just rose her eyebrows

"Hey! Rikyako lets take a picture!"
They heard; that was Shuka's voice calling for Rikako to take a selfie, of course, unconsciously Nanaka turned to see them

"How are you hanging with that?"
Asked Aiai in her serious tone, Nanaka turned to face her

"Well… good I think…" said Nanaka a little confused

"You know, I thought she was going to be more affected about this, but seems that is the other way…" said Aiai standing up

Nanaka bit her lips

"It's not like that…" tried Nanaka

"I get it, you don't want to hurt her…" Aiai said with a tiny smile

"Aw! this is great!" snapped Aina at Nanaka's left with her loud and happy tone, the hairdresser just left and left Aina's hair done

"Look-look, Suwawa, it doesn't have a wire!" she said looking at Nanaka and Aiai pointing out her braid in her head

Aiai laughed while Nanaka gave her a sweet smile

"That's a surprise…" said Arisa with her monotone at Ainas's left

"Right? I really thought it would have one…" said Aina still in a super loud mood

Nanaka blinked a few times still with her eyes glued into Aina

She…looks…

"Beautiful…" said Nanaka softly, but enough for Aiai, Aina and Arisa to hear her

There was something in Aina's hair today, not just the braid, she had it silky and nice, it smelled good, it was a little bit curly too, Aina indeed looked beautiful, with her nice smile…

"Suwawa, are you drooling?…" asked Aiai with a mixed voice between mocking and seriousness

Nanaka blinked a few times snapping out of her thoughts

"This is great," said Arisa taking her phone, " Put yourself together, let's take a picture…"

"Oh, okay!" said Aiai

"I think Aiai and Suwa-san have to stand…" said Arisa trying to capture the picture, " get close to Aina-san…good…"

Arisa took a moment to look at them, then she smiled maliciously

"Suwa-san…" called Arisa, Nanaka blinked "bring 'Kanan-san' to life today… start hugging us…"

"Eh? what do you mean Onee—" tried Aiai but Nanaka understood immediately and hugged Aina from behind

Aina said a soft "oh" while Arisa smiled wide

"Perfect, Cheese!"

And Arisa took the picture.

Later it became the festival of the selfie; everybody started taking pictures with each other, trying different combinations too, Years group, Subunits pictures ( but no Subunit B) and a variety of fooling around pictures too, courtesy of "First years".

"Osuwa…" she heard softly by her side, of course, Shuka was there with a shy smile, " can we…take one too?"

Nanaka smiled sweetly

"Of course," Nanaka said, and Shuka took it.

Somehow, that picture looked a bit sad, both smiles were shy, with a mix of fear and sadness.

"Ok, everybody! stop everything you are doing! and come here to the table!"
Said suddenly the Chief of Staff with his harsh tone making everybody shut

Like if it was something inherited from the campaign everybody took a seat within years members formation.

One of the Chief's assistant started to pass some paper sheets.

"We are 30 minutes to start, let's review the script once more," he said looking at his own sheet

Everybody nodded.

"First we will have some 'Drama' intro; you will have to read behind the stage before coming up, the lines will be in a screen next to the entrance of the stage, your lines will be on your characters colors, of course, you have to be on character..." he said, everybody nodded.

"Then you will be out on the stage; smile, laugh, cheer your fans, wave at them, let them know you are happy to be there…" he continued, then he turned to Anchan

"Inami-san, you will be the MC, we are counting on your leadership too…"

"Ok!" said Anchan nodding, there was clear fear in her voice

"Remember that once you are out on the stage you ARE your characters, try to act like them the best you can…"

"Yes!" answered all the girls in unison

"Right, next, introductions; I hope everybody had memorized your introduction paragraph, it has to be on character!, the order of introductions will be in the same order as we had practiced, 'First years' first till 'Third years'…"

The girls nodded.

"You still don't have call & responds segment, so this will move faster…" he said still reading his paper

"Chief!" called Aiai rising her hand, the Chief nodded

"Can we call our nicknames after someone does her instruction? for the fans to know better our nicknames"

"How so?" asked Shuka

"For example, you finish your introduction, then the rest of us call you 'Shukashuu'" said Aiai

"Great idea!" said the Chief, the girls nodded

"Ok, after the introductions, there's a welcome, where Inami-san, we are counting on you to do the MC, show them the lineup, and talk about the campaign…here you have few minutes to improvise a little bit, ask about how was it if you have some memories to share and such, have fun!"

Anchan nodded.

"After that, there's an opening call, you had already practice that" he continued, everybody looked at their papers while nodding

"Later the music of 'Kimi Koro' will start, for us, the staff set the tables and everything, while you wave to the fans and the sort…tried to move around the stage too"

Some of the girls giggle, mostly because of nervousness

"Ok so, we entered in the talk segment; the first corner will be held by 'Third Years', your turns to talk are on yours characters colors, the MC here will be Komiya-san"

"Yes!" said Arisa in her diligent tone

"This corner is called ' Uranohoshi Girls Academy Enrollment Guide', and consist in introducing your characters once again by writing down two things that describe them on a sketchbook"

"EH! we have to draw?!" asked in panic Rikako

"Write, it says 'Write' here…" said Anchan

"Yes, we will give you the sketchbooks after we finished here, you will have 10 minutes to write that before going on stage…" continued the Chief.

"You will show them by turns, again, following the lineup and explaining your two charm points… get creative, and take your time on this one"

He made a pause, while the girls looked at each other troubled.

"Ok, so next segment will be held by 'First years', this time Furihata-san will be the MC, the segment is called 'Drama time', where will give you three situations and you have to respond on them in character, after that we will give you a script written by Kimino Sakurako herself with 'the right answer'…"

"Answer?" asked Aikyan

"Well, with what would your character say for real… this is for you and the fans to see how well you know your characters"

Everybody nodded.

"A representative from each year will enact each of the situations, the line up is the following; Kobayashi Aika, Rikako Aida and Suwa Nanaka first, then Takatsuki Kanako, Inami Anju and Komiya Arisa, and for the last one, Furihata Ai, Saito Shuka, and Suzuki Aina, the turns will be decided by our special Janken" he concluded

The girls laughed about the Janken; while Nanaka, Shuka, and Aina shared a concerned look; Shuka and Aina will be like competing with each other…

"For the third segment an instrumental version of 'Step Zero to One' will be played and it will be your cue for the segment to start, its called 'PE Time', which will be held by 'Seconds years', Inami san is the MC, this segment is easy, one year group have to act a subject and the other two teams have to guess… pretty easy"

The girls giggled.

"Then, Inami-san will talk about the training camp, try to share some memories of it…"

Memories… I have memories… with Shuka… kissing… and touch—

Nanaka bit her lower lip, and shook her head, this wasn't the time.

"Then the VTR we shoot will be played while you change for the Live segment"

Then the tension rose up.

Talking and playing around was kind of easy and manageable, it was the Live part that was giving them the fear symptoms.

"The set list is what you have practiced so far, nothing new… later some closing words and that's it!"

He finished with a big smile on his face like this was nothing.

All the girls shared a concerned look with anxiety and fear once again.

The creepy assistant started passing some sketchbooks for the girls to start writing down the two charm points of their characters with some sharpies.

"Girls, later on, you will hold your first Niconama show! so please look forward to it, because we will have a big announcement to make!" said the Chief of staff happily.

The excitement in the room was on the roof.

Nanaka received her sketchbook and lazily she opened it.

So, what should I write…?

"I can't write a thing, I feel like I have nothing on my mind…" said King across Nanaka on the table

"Just what you think it's important for your character…" said Arisa in her diligent tone, and with the black sharpie writing something down.

"It can be anything right…?" said Shuka on the other side of the table

"Just anything related to your character…" said softly Rikako

Seemed that all of the girls were a bit troubled, or what it seemed anxiety, excitement or nervousness about the event made them even forget their own characters.

Soon the room became silent with everybody on their respective sketchbooks; with sometimes making some small chitchat between years members.

"Ok, I'm done," said Arisa with her serious tone and giving her sketchbook to the staff

My, that was fast…

Nanaka took her sharpie and wrote a number "1".

Ok, Kanan was a complex character so far - even if she thought that it was simple at the beginning-, indeed she had a lot of charms point to point out, but which one of all of them was more important? or characteristic from Kanan, what makes her relate with her…?

Well, I'have always thought that the only thing I have from her is her ponytail…

So Nanaka wrote "Pony Tail".

Then she wrote a number "2".

What else? she likes hugs?…yes, she does, but that isn't something that the fans know by now, it's something she is just building with the character, in fact, there's no picture or text, beside her introduction speech, that reaffirms that, so no, for the fans this isn't something regular of her.

She likes diving… she has muscles to show off…

That's something I don't have from her…her nice body…

Nanaka remembered the key visual of the magazine a few months ago, the day she went to Shuka's house to practice, actually the day when all of her things with Shuka started: that day she saw that key visual in the magazine where Kanan was showing off her nice body.

So Nanaka wrote "Nice body"

It looked a bit of plain, so she added a heart at the end.

Because it's sexy…

She saw that there were other colors for the sharpies so she started coloring the heart.

"How you doing?" asked Aina by her side

"Good… how are yours?" asked Nanaka back

"Eh… good?" answered Aina not convinced

"Oh what did you wrote?" asked Arisa looking at Nanaka's sketchbook, "Nice!"

"You think…?" said Nanaka now drawing a little head of Kanan on the sketchbook

"Yeah… you know… I have an idea…" said Arisa softly, Nanaka looked at her, Aina was equally interested

"About?" asked Aina

"You two…and your 'NanaAinya' thing…" said Arisa with a malicious smile

Nanaka blinked a few times and unconsciously looked over Shuka; she was fooling with Rikako and Anchan, it seemed that Anchan was messing with her sketchbook.

Nanaka frowned.

"I'm listening…"
Nanaka said now with a strong voice, Aina and Arisa shared a wide smile.

.

They left the changing room with their souls in their mouths.
Their nervousness was killing them, so they kept talking nonsense or moving weirdly.
Nanaka could see how Shuka was mumbling around, so she got close to her.

No matter what production asked them to do, they were still girlfriends.

"Shuka," called Nanaka softly, Shuka smiled at her getting close to her

"Are you ok?" asked Nanaka

"I'm freaking nervous…" said Shuka with a nervous smile, "what if I mess with the dance?"

"You will be alright…" said Nanaka, Shuka shared a smile and searched for her hands

They entwined their fingers.

"Did Ainya learned how to frog-leap?" asked Shuka giggling

Nanaka rose one eyebrow, still to the last rehearsal, Aina didn't do the frog leap properly

"Well, she said she had been practicing with her mother… I guess… she will do it on stage…" said Nanaka

"I hope that everything goes well..." said Shuka softly

"It will…"

"Osuwa…," Shuka called, " Thanks for painting my nails today…" she said shyly

"My pleasure… thanks for helping me out with the dances… and the leapfrog" said Nanaka with loving eyes

"My pleasure…" repeated Shuka

"Let's do our best today!" said Nanaka and then she hugged her.

"O-osuwa…" called softly Shuka
Shuka answered the hug tightly
"Let's do it, Nanaka," said Shuka softly

Nanaka felt her heart stopped for a second, somehow the symptoms of fear never going away, on the contrary, getting worse.

They separated and shared some smiles.

"Ok girls!"
Called Anchan and made some signs with her hands to make a circle; all the members got close and did it.

"This is it!, this is the moment, every single sweat and tears we shared was for this…this is our first step!, as Aqours, as a group, let's make the most of it! we have struggled, we have been fighting… we are NOT µ's, we can step out of their shadow! I believe in all of us, we can do it…" said Anchan with confidence but with some fear in her voice too.

The girls nodded to each other. All of them know how hard they had been working for this very moment.

Anchan extended her right arm to the center, everyone followed thru.

"I'm…I'm getting emotional…" said Anchan tearing a bit, the girls shared some smiles with her and some encouragement words; she nodded.

"I think, we should shout 'Sunshine', like the opening call…" said Anchan now with a softened tone, everybody giggled

"Makes sense…this is Love Live! Sunshine after all…" said Arisa, everybody nodded.

"OK!" shouted with energy Anchan, " Let's give our best! let's make us proud! but overall, let's have FUN!"

All shouted "YES!"

"AQOURS!" shouted Anchan with energy

"SUN—SHINE!" shouted everyone extending their arms to the sky.

They clapped and dissolved the circle, entering backstage.

Everything was dark but for the monitor for them to start the opening drama.

They could hear the crowd, the cheering, how many people were actually there? maybe the theater was empty and all of that was just their imagination? what if she screws up the dances? the leapfrog? NO.

They had been practicing since last year, what possibly could go wrong?!
They were really nervous it was easy to tell, if this was getting them like that, the thought of having their first Live was terrifying.

The symptoms of fear being over the top, kicking Nanaka internally, it was fear, excitement, and nervousness; her intentions to throw up, her hands were sweaty, she was sweating already… her thoughts messing with her thought of failure, of not getting all the parts she needs to dance right, the feeling of falling all throughout, that her poor stamina betrayed her, it was just...

Fear.

"Its ok.." she heard a whisper by her side, Nanaka blinked and looked at her right

"You will do it great… we can do this"
Whispered Aina, and she softly grabbed her hand entwining their fingers, Nanaka couldn't say a thing, she somehow got lost into Aina's eyes.

It was like those symptoms somehow disappeared.

"Ok, Inami-san! one, two, three…GO!" said the Chief of staff.
Nanaka tightened her grip on Aina's hand.

Fear.

What a strange feeling to feel, when you are facing the very first step of your life holding to something real; it was like a leap of faith into nothingness, but it didn't matter, she right now felt ready, she felt supported, and no matter what happened next, she wasn't alone.

Aqours debuted that day.
The rest, its history.

-0oo0-


Notes:

We hope this wasn't boring long.
We had a lot to develop here, not only for the characters personalities but also because of the project
have everyone seen the little glimpses of Anshuka?...or to relate to Feelings under a mask?
Arisa's idea with the KanaMari you can find it out on the actual video of the event of January 11.
Well now that everything is sorted out, the project, Subunits, the love triangle and such...I think we can move along!

Thanks so much for the comments and likes!