Keion!

Episode 7: Aspirations!


Summer vacation was over, and the school festival wasn't too far away. Well, it wasn't that close, but it wasn't far away, either. Sara, content with three songs, didn't write any more for them to practice, while Cecil had been stricter in forcing everyone to practice. Tea time never disappeared, of course.

During one such tea time after a practice session, Cecil brought it up: "By the way, what should be our band's name?"

Sara stopped midway before her teacup touched her lips, then she put it down. "You're right. We don't have one."

Hikari: "Sara no Woto."

Sara: "No!"

Tei: "Sleepy Time."

Cecil: "What do you think we are!"

Aira: "Afternoon Blues."

Hikari: "We're not a blues band."

Tei: "Pillow Talk!"

Cecil: "We're a music club!"

Hikari: "Mahou Shoujo Kazumiya Sara!"

Sara: "Stop sticking my name into it! How is that even a band name!"

Aira: "Vanilla Star."

Hikari: "What's with that girly name!"

Aira: "What? I was serious."

Tei: "Houkago Cake Time!"

Aira: "We just met a band named Houkago Tea Time, you know."

Hikari: "Stardust Reverie!"

Tei: "Love Sign: MASUTAAHH SUPAAAAAKKUU"

Aira: "You two, just shut up."

Hikari: "Then, how about you, Sara-san?"

Sara looked deep in thought, but sighed in the end. "I can't think of anything right now."

Tei: "Cecirru?"

Cecil: "Silky Love?"

Hikari: "What?"

Aira: "Not bad!"

Hikari: "We're not taking it!"

Tei: "Now now, let's take this seriously."

Aira: "You're the last person I want to hear that from!"

Sara giggled. "Well, let's just think of it overnight. It's getting late."

Hikari: "Eh? Going home already?"

Tei: "Why do you always go home early, Sara-san?"

Sara: "Hm? I have to prepare dinner."

Aira: "Sara's the big sister of five, so she works hard to take care of them."

Tei: "F-five!"

Hikari: "T-that's a lot!"

Tei: "Alright! We're having a sleepover at Sara's tonight!"

Hikari: "I'd love to taste Sara's cooking!"

Cecil: "Stop that."

Sara: "I wouldn't mind."

Cecil: "You won't!"

Sara: "But can we move it for tomorrow Saturday?"

Cecil: "Would that really be okay, Sara-san? I mean, wouldn't it be a hassle to take care of more people?"

Sara smiled.

Aira: "It's okay, Sara likes having visitors."


And then Saturday came. Cecil and Aira, having been to Sara's house before, went on ahead, while Hikari and Tei went with Sara to buy ingredients for dinner and other groceries.

"Ohh, so this is the supermarket," Hikari remarked.

Tei: "Haven't you seen one before, Hika-chan?"

Hikari: "I've seen them before on TV, but it's my first time being in one."

Sara: "Don't you go grocery shopping, Hikari?"

Hikari: "No. Isn't that the chef's job?"

Sara: "Really?"

Sara clapped her hands and asked the two for help with the groceries. She was testing the weight of a cabbage when Hikari came with the potatoes Sara asked for. When Sara saw the bag of potatoes, she smiled.

Sara: "These ones are no good, Hikari. You have to pick them carefully!"

Hikari looked confused as Sara went to the potatoes and picked another bag. "Look, these ones all look better." Then she pointed to the broccolis, specifically at the one with the lighter green. "This broccoli looks fresher." And she kept going. "Cucumbers with more bumps taste better. Taro isn't just cheaper with skin on, it's more nutritious. You have to pick them carefully!"

Sara said more things, but Hikari couldn't keep track of it all. When Sara was done, she just nodded. "O-okay."

"Oh, Sara-chan!" one of the employees called. "Working hard, as always."

Sara: "It's no trouble at all, Tooru-san!"

Tooru: "Awright! Let's get crazy with these half-off stickers!"

Sara: "Aren't those for tomorrow, though?"

Tooru: "You don't want them?"

Sara: "I'll have this, please!"

Tooru: "Ohh, you've got an eye for quality, as always."


Hikari: "So? What are you doing with these radishes?"

Sara: "A Filipino dish called kilawin!"

Hikari: "W-what? I've never heard of such a thing."

Tei: "Filipino?"

Sara laughed. "Don't worry, it's really tasty."

Tei: "Do you always make dinner, Sara-san?"

Sara: "Mom works overseas, and I don't have a dad, so making dinner and taking care of the kids is my job."

Tei: "You're such a good girl, Sara-san. Okay! Me and Hika-chan are going to help out with everything today! Right, Hika-chan?"

Hikari: "Eh! O-of course!"

"Thanks!" Sara smiled. "Ah. That reminds me; we should call Aira and say we're heading home." She brought out her phone, colored white with a bunny phone strap. Hikari looked at it curiously. Sara looked at Hikari, then handed the phone to her. "Do you want to do it?"

"No, it's not that," Hikari said as she took the phone. "Does this even have a camera?"

Sara smiled. "No."

Hikari: "Woah, that's ancient!"

Tei: "It's a fossil! A fossil, Hika-chan!"

Hikari: "A relic of the ancient times!"

Sara laughed. "Don't be rude to the phone. If it really is that old, it might wake in your sleep and do bad things."

Hikari, Tei: "We're terribly sorry."


Soon after calling Aira's phone, they got to the house. It was a two-story house that was smaller than Tei's. "Welcome to our humble home!" Sara exclaimed.

Tei: "Ohh, looks nice!"

Hikari: (It's smaller than our horse stable…)

Sara slid open the door. "I'm back!" she called. "Were you all good kids?"

Aira appeared. "Oh, welcome back," she greeted.

Hikari: (They're totally a couple.)

Then appeared a wave of kids (not really, there were four of them; three guys and one girl), greeting Sara in various different versions of "Welcome back!" and "Strangers!"

"Let me introduce them to you," Sara said. "This is Tatsuya, the youngest of the family! He's five. This is seven-year old Seiya. Then these are Kaguya and Kato! They're twins, both ten years old." All the four of them bowed and greeted Hikari and Tei.

Next appeared Cecil, with a girl with a couple of ribbons on her neck-length black hair. "Ah, Sis! Welcome back!" she greeted Sara with a smile. "We have more guests?" She bowed and smiled. "Hello, I'm Yuka, the second eldest. Thank you for looking after my sister!"

Hikari, Tei: "Hello!"

Sara: "Yuka here's the reason I can afford to go to the club. She's a reliable sister!"

When greetings and introductions finished, Sara immediately went to cooking, Yuka helping her out, Cecil being taught. Aira started on cleaning the house, while Hikari, and Tei were playing with the kids. Barnaby, who was with Cecil, was being played with by Kaguya. "It's a cute mouse!"

Tei: "He's not a mouse, he's a bunny! His name's Barnaby."

Then Seiya jumped at Tei's back, who yelped in surprise. "Is that a challenge!" she said, half a second before Tatsuya jumped on Seiya's back, going "Boom!" Hikari was laughing.

"Hey, don't be rude to your guests," Aira chuckled.

With four guests, the house became more chaotic than usual. Tei and Hikari brought them outside, leaving trails of sparkling bubbles that the kids chased and popped. Hikari spun and surrounded herself with bubbles that Kaguya couldn't help but squeal at.

Sara was chopping radish as Yuka rushed to get a band aid for Cecil, who cut her finger as she was chopping onions.

Kaguya learned of Hikari's fondness for manga, and was showing the drummer her favorites when they came in. Meanwhile, Tei was riding a child-sized bicycle outside as the other kids laughed at her.

Sara took down the dry laundry from under the sun and tossed them at Aira, who fell down to the floor. Kaguya, Kato, and Aira folded the clothes as Hikari was being rode on like a horse by Tatsuya, Seiya jumping on the floor as he waited excitedly for his turn.

Sara added bite-sized pieces of pork to the sautéed garlic, onions, and tomatoes.

Tei was dancing and singing like an idol to Hikari's music in front of the kids, Hikari, and Aira, who was done cleaning. She wasn't bad, rather, she was excellent, and her audience was clapping eagerly. Except Tatsuya, who was holding his crotch and dancing himself; Sara had ran in and took him to the bathroom before he could even make an expression.

There was hardly a break; soon enough after the dancing, Aira, Kaguya, and Tatsuya were already on a fake gun shootout with Hikari, Tei, Kato, and Seiya outside, Hikari falling dramatically as she was hit.

Soon enough, Sara's kilawin was done, and the sun was setting when all chores were finished.

Tei was lying on the floor, exhausted, while Kato was sitting on her back, telling Barnaby to shake his hand.

Kaguya: "I don't think he can shake hands."

Kato: "Then, sit!"

Kaguya: "He's already sitting."

Hikari was sighing tiredly when a smiling Yuka came to the table to set the plates. "Are you tired, Hikari-san?"

"Ahh, you have no idea," Hikari replied. "It was fun, though."

Yuka giggled.

"It's dinner time!" Sara called to everyone when the sun was gone. The table was surprisingly big enough for ten people. "Thanks for waiting!" Sara said as she set down the kilawin.

Hikari was unimpressed when she saw the dish, but tried hard to hide it.

Sara poked Hikari's forehead. "Don't worry, it tastes great." Everybody else nodded in agreement. Tei also did it, more for the sake of nodding than agreeing. Sara clapped her hands together, "Thank you for the food!"

Everyone: "Thank you for the food!"

Aira turned on the TV. (Hikari: (TVs like those still exist!))

TV: "What TIME is it? EEEESSCAPADE TIME!"

Everyone rushed to get their share of the kilawin, while Hikari held back, still doubtful that she'd like the dish. The kids were digging in eagerly; Aira and Cecil seemed to be enjoying it; Tei started sparkling with her first bite. Hikari just stared at the dish.

Sara: "Hikari, if you don't eat, there won't be any left."

"I-I will…," Hikari said weakly. Then she grabbed some with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth. Then her eyes turned into stars. "It's a lot better than it looks!" she exclaimed.

Aira: "Looks like Sara's cooking impressed the princess!"

Tei: "It tastes so wonderful!"

Cecil: "I thought you could only eat sweets."

Sara: "We have desserts!"

Tei: "As expected of Sara-san! You never disappoint!"

Once the kilawin was all done (Sara was glad that they liked it, but she sighed that there were no leftovers; she wanted to have some for lunch tomorrow), the desserts came: mandarin orange mousse!

Sara smiled at everyone. "It's an experiment with Nono, so let me know what you think."

Everyone took a bite, and then everyone had pink sparkling bubbles all over their heads.

Tei: "I can die in peace now."

Hikari: "It tastes of happiness."

Cecil: "I… I want to learn to make these, too."

Aira smiled. "Amazing as always," she praised Sara, a thumb up.


Soon enough after dinner and some chores after that, Sara had put the kids to sleep, and all of the Light Music Club plus Yuka were relaxing in Sara's room. It was a rather plain room, as Hikari remarked. Apart from the stuffed bunny doll, there wasn't much else to it. "I like it better this way," was what Sara had said. "Besides, it's this room gets turned into a guest room when we have visitors, so that means we're all sleeping here."

After a while of watching them exploring the room, Sara had gone downstairs to make some tea.

Hikari sighed, although she was smiling. She faced Yuka. "How do you and your sister handle this kind of chaos every day?"

Yuka giggled. "For my sister, I guess it's because she thinks it's fun."

Hikari: "Fun?"

Yuka nodded. "Yes!"

"Really?" Hikari sighed, giving up. "Sara-san, you'll always be a mystery to me. So, how about you?"

Yuka: "I'm not really sure… Maybe it's because I'm just used to it."

Hikari hummed thoughtfully. "I guess I'll never understand. I'm the youngest child in my family, after all. How about you, Tei?"

Tei: "I'm an only child, but I guess you could say I had someone who was like a sister to me."


Like when she sleeps on the bus.

Nono: "Tei-chan, wake up! We're gonna miss our stop!"

Or when she sleeps on the train.

Nono: "Tei-chan, wake up! We're here!"

Or when she slept on the floating ring in a swimming pool?

Nono: "Tei-chan, wake up! It's dangerous to sleep here!"

How about the vacation mornings?

Nono: "Tei-chaaaaan, wake up! It's morning!"


Aira: "Just what do you think a sister is!"

Tei: "Then, how about you, Cecirru, Aira?"

Cecil: "Hm? I have a big sister back in America."

Aira: "I've got a younger brother, the same age as Yuka."

Hikari: "Ah! You never did tell us. How old are you, Yuka?"

Yuka: "I'm 14. I'm in the third year of junior high."

Hikari: "Ohh! You're only a year behind us."

Cecil: "You'll be taking high school entrance exams soon, right?"

Yuka: "Yes!"

Aira: "What school are you going to?"

"Sakura High," Yuka said eagerly. "I want to be with Sis at school!"

Tei: "You're such a good girl, Yukapyon."

Cecil: (-pyon?)

Sara came into the room. "Tea's here."

Tei: "Yay! Sara-san's tea!"

"Sis is always talking about how wonderful the Light Music Club is," Yuka said in between drinks. "I think it'll be lovely to have all of you as seniors!"

Cecil looked up. "So you're joining us next year?"

Yuka: "I'd love to, but I don't think I'd have the time; I have to get home early to take care of everybody."

Sara was crying. "I'm sorry you have to do everything just so I could be in a club."

"No, no, it's fine!" Yuka blushed and fidgeted. "For me, everything's fine as long as Sis is having fun."

Sara hugged the blushing girl. "You're such a great sister!"

Aira: "You're so dedicated."

Tei: "You're such a good girl, Yukapyon."

Cecil just smiled.

Hikari: (It's probably just me, but it feels dangerous for some reason.)

Tei: "Is there anything you want to be, Yukapyon?"

Yuka: "W-well…" (I can't tell them! I can't tell them I want to follow Sis wherever she goes!) "I-I still don't have an idea what I want to do."

Tei: "Really? You seem like someone who does."

Cecil: (How could you even tell that?)

Tei: "How about you, Hika-chan?"

Hikari: "A writer."

Aira: "What? That's so boring."

Hikari: "HEY!"

Aira laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding."

Yuka: "You want to write novels, Hikari-san?"

Hikari: "Novels can count too, but what I guess I want would be to share stories to the world. It doesn't have to be a writer specifically."

Tei: "Now that you say it like that, it seems pretty big."

Hikari: "Well, it's still just a dream."

Tei: "Ai-kun, how about you?"

Aira looked up thoughtfully. "I haven't really thought about it. I'm always going with the flow."

Sara: "You're going to have to know what you want to do some time in the future."

Aira smiled. "Yes, yes."

Yuka: "How about yours, Tei-san?"

Tei: "No, not really."

Everyone: (That reply was too fast!)

Tei stretched. "It feels so far away; I can't even imagine it."

Hikari: "Really? No dreams at all?"

Tei shook her head. "I don't really feel like I have one of those vague, cloud-like, faraway dreams." Then she brought one finger up. "Ah! Maybe there's this one thing."

Sara: "What is it?"

Tei smiled. "I want to shine."

Hikari: "Shine?"

Aira: "What do you mean by that?"

Tei: "Nothing much. I just want to shine."

Cecil: "It's that vague?"

Tei: "How about you, Cecirru?"

Cecil was silent for a moment as she thought about it. "I'm not a hundred percent sure on what I want to be, but I think it's safe to say I want to be a musician. A guitarist, to be specific."

Aira nodded. "I see. You want to be the guitarist of a band with friends that you love and cherish. That is to say… us!" she grinned.

Cecil suddenly blushed fiercely.

Tei: "Whaaaaaat? That's so cute, Cecirru!"

Hikari laughed. "You're so adorable, Cecil-chan."

Even Sara was laughing.

Cecil: "Sara-san!"

Sara: "Sorry, we're not laughing because we think it's a silly dream or anything."

Cecil: "Hmmmmmph."

Sara: "I promise we'll all work harder as a band, okay?"

Aira: "Sara's right. If there's something I know I want to do, it's to play with everybody else!"

Hikari: "I agree."

Tei nodded.

Cecil looked down, blushing more. "Th-thanks."

Tei: "What about you, Sara-san? Any dreams?"

"Me?" Sara looked surprised. "To be honest, I don't really have a clear dream either." She smiled nostalgically. "When I was a child, I wanted to be an idol."

Hikari: "Sara as an idol!"

Tei: "It's not a bad image!"

Sara laughed softly. "Well, maybe I still want to be one, but it honestly doesn't matter to me anymore."

Yuka: "Why?"

"These days, I'm just happy to see everyone's smiles." Sara grinned. "Besides, I sing with everyone in the band, and it's a lot of fun. If anything, I suppose one wish I have is that we can be together for a long time."

Aira: "We'll be together."

Hikari: "For as long as we can."

Cecil smiled.

Tei: "Then, promise me we'll shine!"

Cecil: "Of course! We'll shine!"

Sara nodded, smiling. "We'll shine."


Unnecessary disclaimer: I own neither Touhou nor Adventure Time.

This chapter was pretty fun to write. I do have an idea on what the band's name could be, but I don't see how that name relates, so I'm still lost. I'll be sure to decide on what it is before the cultural festival, though. I feel like I nailed a K-ON feel in this chapter, and I like what I did. It's bad that most of my best plans for the story don't come until much much later in the future; I'm worried I might lose interest in the fic before it comes to that. Anyway, I don't have much else to say here today, so I'm ending this silly afterword here. I hope you had fun reading this chapter! I'm not sure what the next chapter's going to be about, but look forward to it nevertheless! Until next time!

PS: Character profiles are mostly done, but since I just finished Aira's designed and recently revised Tei's design, it'll take longer, especially since I also want to add some other things. (You can see the current ones "previewed" on my Twitter.)

More PS: Kilawin is tasty.