It was almost half past three in the morning when Risa downed her 4th glass of hard liquor to take the edge off. The other 2 surviving Gokkies, her Rokkies kouhais and the others were already fast asleep in their respective rooms. Risa sighed, wincing as the strong alcoholic beverage burnt its way down her oesophageal tract.

"No matter how much I drink this stuff, I just can't believe what happened tonight. What the hell am I doing? God, what did I ever do to deserve this?" She mumbled to herself. Risa looked up in the direction of Eripon's room, surprised to see the lights were still on. She looked at the bottle again.

"So much for taking the edge off" Risa stood up and walked up the stairway, one hand steadying herself as she trudged on, swaying slightly as she tried to maintain her balance in her current half-drunk state.

"Niigaki-san...DAISUKI DAISUKI.. DAISUKI...DAISUKI...!"

"WOAAARRHHH!"

Instantly, she became sober again as her ears recognized the audio playing in the background of "Never Forget" coming from inside Erina's room. Risa opened the door only to find Eripon in blissful slumber.

She afforded herself a small smile, coming inside to discover the DVD player hooked up to the TV was playing back Erina's message to her during her graduation ceremony from her beloved group Morning Musume, ON CONTINUOUS LOOP.

She sighed as she reached for the remote and promptly switched off both the player and the TV set. Those memories were sweet to begin with, but were fast becoming more and more painful to her now. She wondered the irony of it all. Now, she desperately wanted to forget the old self she used to be.

Risa looked at the sleeping Erina on the bed. "I love you too, kid". She approached the KY musume and pulled up the blanket.

"Sweet dreams...my dearest" Risa's eyes were brimming with tears.

She leaned in and planted a kiss on Eripon's cheek, pulling away ever so slightly...only to find that some of her own tears have ended up on the Kyuuki's cheek, wetting it a little.

"Don't cry, Niigaki-san...I'll never leave you" The 9th gen member mumbled in her sleep.

Risa lowered her head down as she quickly made her way out of the room, switching off the lights.

Closing the door, she headed back down to the kitchen and saw the bottle at the counter again. The pain was getting too much for her as it is...maybe some more of that drink will help put her to sleep.

"Ohayo, Sleepy-head!" Eri opened her eyes slowly to see the cheerful face of Michishige Sayumi in front of her.

"Go away!" the turtle groaned, pulling the blanket over her head when the bright lights from outside the windows streamed into the room as the Musume leader pulled away the curtains.

"C'mon...Bright and early...time to wake up, Eri!" the bunny grabbed hold of Eri's blankets and in one swift motion, pulled it off the turtle's body.

"Mou! Why can't anybody give me a break these days? I'm on vacation, for God's sake"

"Cos we can't miss this meeting, Eri" Sayu glanced a look at the turtle's image on the mirror as she was putting on her earrings. "You know that"

Eri scratched her head, eyes blinking slowly. "Do you think this is a good idea, Sayu?"

Sayu turned her head around and looked the turtle in the eye "What do you mean?"

"I mean...breaking them up...Gakisan and Eripon" Eri stared at her girlfriend. "After all they've been through...it doesn't feel right, you know? I feel guilty just THINKING about the part we're playing in all of this"

"Look, we've been over this before" Sayu said tersely. "You AGREED to back me up on this"

"After what I've seen on that beach, Sayu " Eri looked down at the bedsheet. "I don't know anymore..."

Sayumi folded her arms, looking unimpressed as she gave a hard look at the turtle, still clad in her pajamas.

"Fine...you wanna know what I think?" Eri began. "My heart is broken to pieces when I saw Risa-chan out there for myself. She really looked like she was talking to Aichan...like Aichan was REALLY THERE at that lighthouse with her. It wasn't as if its just Aichan in her mind that she kept alive. Even after she died, Gakisan never could let go of her one true love, Sayu..she's so afraid of losing those precious memories if she moved on and moved away back to Yokohama"

"What are you trying to say,Eri? You can clearly see she could NEVER be OVER AICHAN."

"Why is that so important as long as this routine made her happy? What I'm trying to tell you here is...Risa-chan stayed loyal and faithful to the person she vowed to live with for the rest of her life. She loved Aichan so much that she couldn't let her go even after her death...They..." Eri's voice was breaking now.

"They have a love that is truly enduring, Sayu" Eri held the bunny's hand. "A love that's perhaps something we'll never ever have"

Sayu's features softened, withdrawing her hand from Eri's touch. "Is that how you thought of us?"

"Look, Sayu..that's not what I meant" Eri stood up.

"If you ever think for one second my feelings for you will change...you're wrong" Sayu grabbed her handbag and stormed out of the room. "I'll be waiting in the car"

Eri sighed as she headed towards the bathroom, dragging her own feet.