Masquerade

by The Scarf Girls

9 Girls were gathered to start a new project in order to continue the Love Live Franchise. In this new "Idol" world they are getting into, of course, feelings can get in the way. The story follows Suwa Nanaka's point of view, how everything started and how everything got complicated for the sake of "doing the job". How good her Masquerade can be?

10. Chapter 10

Notes:

Hi! Sarah here!
July 2016 was a busy month for the girls!
So we ended up writing a lot of it...
Please bear with us.

And enjoy!

---

Masquerade Ch 10

—-**0. July 2016. 0**—

Quiet. Silence. Peace.

That's what everybody wanted after a whole day of activities, spotlights, loud sounds, and hectic schedules.

And jetlag.

Suwa Nanaka dropped herself dead on her hotel bed, with a heavy sound and a dry thump.

She hugged her pillow trying to make herself comfortable, but her roommate just snorted at her actions.

"You shouldn't fall asleep yet, and less in that position, it will give you cramps because of dinner" said Arisa in her diligent tone.

Nanaka moved her head to a side out of her pillow to lock gazes with Arisa; both shared a deadpan look, then Nanaka buried her face into the pillow once again, completely ignoring Arisa.

"Suit yourself…" said Arisa in a tired tone and moved somewhere in the room, "I would have preferred to be set with someone else too… but you got stuck with me, bear it"

Nanaka made a bitter smile under her pillow; of course, she would have preferred to be set with Shuka or Aina, but neither was there, and production had arranged the rooms within "Years Members", meaning Aiai was with King, Anchan with Rikako, and of course, Nanaka had to share the room with Arisa. Maybe that was why production had only asked 6 members to go to America? To cut expenses?

Yes, that day had finally come. They had traveled to America, to Los Angeles, for a special event called, "Anime Expo in Los Angeles 2016" to hold a special talk session and screening during the Anison World Matsuri concert, and production had determined that only 6 of them would go, leaving Aikyan, Shuka and Aina out of the trip. Of course, this made Nanaka feel terribly lonely.

And now tired.

The event had been that same that afternoon, and despite the fact that they didn't need to dance or sing (of course, they couldn't without the full unit…) they had to talk and introduce themselves to a crowd who God knew how they would react, and some of them even had to talk in English, Nanaka was one, and of course, that had added some extra pressure to the event. She had a hard time speaking publicly in Japanese, and here she needed to do it in English. Also, she needed to act super cheerful as Kanan and show a lot of energy on stage.

They talked a bit about Numazu, about the Anime that had actually aired that day in Japan (and showed the first episode there), they showed the PV of First and Second Single, answered some fan questions, and even changed from the classical school uniform to present themselves in the First Single outfit. So there had been a lot of pressure on their backs; timings, language and the actual response of the fans.

Would they know what Love Live! was? Would they recognize the Franchise? The Love Live! Sunshine series? Would they compare them to their predecessors? Would someone actually come to see them?

Surprisingly for them, they had filled up the whole theater, the crowd had been holding penlights, and they were actually very knowledgeable about the franchise and Aqours. Nanaka did her best speaking in English and talking about SIF, while Anchan did her best speaking in Japanese, and to their surprise, the crowd knew what Anchan was talking about without using an interpreter.

This reaffirmed Nanaka's thought about that Anchan was there because of her Leader position more than her English skills. Not that Shuka would had done any better anyway. As for Rikako, she had lived in Los Angeles for 3 years, but she had answered all her questions in fluent Japanese, not sure why. Maybe she was shy about her English? Still, she was a better choice than Shuka.

But, putting that aside, it was a huge deployment of production's efforts, because not only the girls were there, but the Chief, his assistants, staff members, they brought franchise banners, audiovisual media, the hair stylists, outfits assistants, and the interpreters. It was a big deal, so no wonder why they had left 3 members out of this event.

It had indeed been a very busy and exciting day, it made Nanaka feel really drained, but her heart full of joy.

It was a weird feeling actually, because she felt that she could do that forever; seeing and feeling the love of the fans was enough to light a fire inside her and confirm that she was in the right path with Aqours, but she was feeling as if her soul had been ripped from her body, and she hadn't even have to sing or dance.

So right after the talk session ended they had an interview with the local media, and later somehow everything kind of blurred up of her mind as they moved faster through everything they did that afternoon, until they had dinner and she ended dropping dead on her bed, feeling as if her body was part of the furniture.

"You would have preferred to be with Rikako, wouldn't you?" asked Nanaka with her head buried into the pillow, she moved her head to the side to lock gazes with Arisa; she had a few tones of shade in her cheeks.

"Well, at least she doesn't give me the cold shoulder…" said Arisa shyly, Nanaka gasped.

Nanaka tiredly moved herself to a sitting position on the bed and with her deadpan face looked at Arisa.

It was true that they had started their friendship with the wrong foot, and Arisa made herself clear that now sharing the Subunit, and the Year member group, that would need to change. And it did, with the whole "Aina and Shuka situation", Nanaka had found a friend in Arisa, but sometimes…

She was difficult.

"Well, we can change, Anchan can come here if you like…" said Nanaka with a cocky smile, Arisa gasped.

"Nah, she is fine with Anchan… I mean, they are good together…" said Arisa with a mixed tone, between her diligence and shyness.

"Uhm, are they?" asked Nanaka sitting straight and taking her phone out of her pocket.

"Well, yes, they shared the 'Year group', besides all that 'ChikaRiko' vibe from First Single… And now the first episode of the Anime" said Arisa while sitting on her own bed and taking one of her shoes off, "God… It hurts…"

She is talking about her feet right?...

Or something else...?

Nanaka blinked a few times then looked at her phone, it was quite early on the other side of the world, maybe Shuka was still sleeping.

"Are you lonely?" suddenly Arisa asked.

Nanaka snapped away from her phone and gave Arisa a sad smile, both shared some lonely gazes.

"You are too," sentenced Nanaka, with her monotone, "If it was a big deal you should have changed rooms with Anchan…"

"Would you be fine with Anchan?" asked Arisa taking off her other shoe.

"Of course," said Nanaka leaving her phone on the nightstand, "Arisa, I don't have any issues with any of the members, we are all friends, and Anchan is a kid like Shuka… I don't know why you feel that I still hate you..."

"So, you are like a big sister for them, right?" asked Arisa trying to avoid talking about her.

Nanaka blinked a few times, and hummed some more. For her, they all were crazy loonies, and all looked like sisters, like if Aqours was a big family with 9 children. She was considered as an "older sister" because she was shy, quiet and demure, not necessarily because she was mature or being someone who could be an example or role model. They agreed that Aiai was the one who had more sense in the group and was more dependable, as weird as that sounded.

"Well, sometimes… Anchan is very worried because of her role as leader; she sometimes asked me about a few things, she likes to have my opinion, not sure why…" said Nanaka imitating Arisa, and also started taking off her shoes.

"Maybe because you are someone who it's an observant type of person?" asked Arisa.

"How so?" asked Nanaka stopping.

"Well, people who observe can have like another perspective of things…"

Nanaka hummed.

She was an observer because she was shy, quiet and demure, and she was surrounded by loonies. Also, she didn't like to make a fool of herself like the rest of the members. There's not much perspective in this kind of scenario.

"Well, we have developed a good friendship, we have a lot of topics to talk about…" said Nanaka returning to her shoes, then quickly added, "Arisa, it's not a problem if you want to change rooms with Anchan…"

"Eh?… it's not—"

"Yes, you are feeling lonely because you miss Rikako…" said Nanaka with a tired tone, finishing with her shoe. It was a relief.

"There's nothing wrong in that…" continued Nanaka with her gaze down now untying her other shoe and ignoring completely if Arisa was doing some weird face. "You feel comfortable with her, you have more things in common with her than with me… so why push it? I have a good relationship with Anchan…" and with a gasp, she took off her other shoe.

"Are you lonely Suwawa?…" asked Arisa now with some concern in her tone.

Nanaka dropped her shoe and slowly lifted her gaze towards Arisa with her "Suwa face".

Of course, I'm lonely, not only Shuka isn't here, same as Aina …

What kind of stupid question is that? Of course, I miss my girlfriend… and…Aina...

"Yes I am, but not for your same reasons." said Nanaka slowly and with some red in her cheeks, "It feels weirdly quiet without Aina here, doesn't it?"

Arisa gave her an apologetic smile and sat more comfortably.

"You miss Aina too…"

Nanaka deadpanned

This girl is dumb…

"Don't you?" asked Nanaka back, "We were used to her noise when we were as 'Third years' in our campaign…"

"Yes, of course, but… you miss her not because of her noise…" said Arisa holding back some giggles, "Suwawa, I know… I know what you have been doing this past month…"

"Eh?" snapped Nanaka surprised.

Arisa bit her lips trying to find the words; Nanaka gave her a suspicious glare, she was sure that she had acted normal as always about her romantic triangle of doom.

"What—What do you mean…?" said Nanaka trying to play dumb.

"You have been… hiding… avoiding… Not sure if it's just Aina, maybe you are avoiding Shuka too, I frankly don't know… but for sure you are avoiding Aina…" said Arisa with her diligent tone.

Nanaka bit her lips.

Of course, Arisa was more concerned about Aina's feelings than Shuka's from the beginning. So if someone was aware of Nanaka's behavior towards Aina, it was Arisa.

"I… I don't think that's true…" said Nanaka slowly trying to find the right words, "We have been busy… Subunits and such…"

Arisa gave her a cocky smile.

"Yes, but what about practice? Or recordings? Both of you used to sit together…. Now you sit with Anchan"

"Are you stalking me?" asked Nanaka trying to avoid the topic.

"Eh?… no, no…" tried Arisa now a bit nervously, "but It took my attention…"

"Our complex scene with Aina was in Episode nine; why would I sit with her now?…" said Nanaka acting cool.

"Uhm… you have a point… but still, I'm not convinced…" said Arisa bringing out her phone, "I feel there's something more… and you are not telling me"

"Why would I?" retorted Nanaka with her dry tone; Arisa abruptly moved her sight from her phone towards Nanaka.

"See?… You still gave me the cold shoulder…"

"I think is none of your business…" said Nanaka trying to not sound mad or something, either way, it wasn't Arisa's business.

"I thought you could trust me…" said Arisa with a sad tone; Nanaka frowned.

"Is not that I don't trust you… it's… er… nothing is going on… you know? Aina is my friend… she stepped to the side—"

"That's not true" cut in Arisa; Nanaka bit her lips.

Both remained silent for at least a whole minute of tension in an intense gaze competition.

"Aina told me, that she couldn't step to the side anymore…" said Arisa serious.

Nanaka blinked a few times.

"And…you are avoiding her…"

Of course, she was. Being with Aina was like playing with fire.

"Is... Is she aware of that?..." asked Nanaka shyly.

"So you aren't denying it..." said Arisa with a proud smile.

Nanaka deadpanned.

Nanaka sighed tiredly and almost deadpanned Arisa. Maybe she needed an ally after all...

Shuka had her backup in CYaRon!'s members, hopefully, Aina was receiving support from Guilty Kiss, why the hell not get some encouragement from AZALEA too... at least from Arisa, she just couldn't find an ally in King yet.

"Well, I can tell you, with the condition that you tell me what's your deal with Aina," said Nanaka with a dry tone.

"My deal? Gosh, Suwawa, with Aina-san?" snorted Arisa holding her laughter, "Jesus! You want all the girls for you, don't you?"

"Eh?! No, no, not in that way!" Nanaka said hurriedly, "I meant, your deal with always standing up for Aina, defending her... concerned about her, her feelings..."

"Oh, well...that is what being a friend is..."

"Bullshit," said Nanaka dryly.

"Hey!—"

"Then why don't you support Shuka?" said Nanaka quickly, "Isn't Shuka your friend too? It's like you don't like her, you always support Aina in the whole of this, and I remind you that I'm with Shuka"

"Well, it's no—"

"Why can't you just be neutral like the rest of the members?" interrupted Nanaka.

Arisa bit her lips, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Nanaka blinked a few times recovering her breath too; interrupting Arisa was something she wasn't used to doing, not even in AZALEA, but this topic always brought out the worst in her. Her confrontational side. But she needed to defend her relationship, herkid, and her pride.

"Well, if you put it that way," started Arisa, now opening her eyes and looking seriously at Nanaka, "It's not that I don't like Saito-san, I like her, she is kind of the mood maker, she is cute, energetic..."

Nanaka looked at her with the same seriousness.

"But... I don't know, I see her as a child, it's not that I'm not concerned about her feelings... it's more like... Uhm... I don't trust her feelings"

"Eh?!"

"Like if her feelings are disposable" finished Arisa.

Nanaka didn't say a thing. Arisa wasn't fooling around, she never did, so this was her true opinion and vision of her relationship with Shuka.

Were Shuka's feelings a lie?

Nanaka blinked a few times trying to fill the blanks in her mind.

Arisa started fidgeting in her seat and maybe feeling that she shouldn't have said anything about it.

"Are…are you ok?… Are you mad?" asked Arisa shyly.

"Wow..." said Nanaka softly.

"You see, I'm your friend too… I have always wanted to be… that's why I'm stubborn with you, even if you try to push me away…" said Arisa leaving her phone to the side, "I know we started with the wrong foot, but it wasn't my fault…"

"I know…" said Nanaka softly.

"But, I care… Suwawa I care about you too, as I care about all the members…" said Arisa in a soft tone, "Please don't get me wrong, I like Saito-san, she is part of Aqours, but, the way you are is not matching with hers… Do you get it?" she asked in the end.

Nanaka blinked a few times with a sad expression.

The way I am is not matching with hers?… What does that mean?

We are not compatible? We aren't a match? We aren't made for each other?…

We shouldn't be together?…

Nanaka's eyes welled in tears, all her insecurities coming up.

"Hey hey…"

Called Arisa seeing how Nanaka was suffering in silence and in her inner self; Nanaka blinked and fixed her sight on Arisa.

"I'm telling you this because I care, I didn't mean to cause you any harm…"

Harm...HARM?!

Nanaka opened her eyes wide and in discomfort.

"Suwa-san…I'm sorry, that's how I see it…" continued Arisa softly, somehow feeling that her statement needed a little more development for Nanaka to not lose her shit right there.

"When I see Saito-san, I see a spoiled kid, who is trying to get attention, selfish, immature, careless, and—"

"Shut up" interrupted Nanaka, now with a prominent frown on her "Suwa face".

Arisa shut her lips with a sad expression.

"Who…just...Who do think you are?!" asked Nanaka in a higher tone, locking gazes with her, "Why do you feel so superior to us that we need to listen to you? Obey you or try to please you?—"

"That's not—"

"You are not our Leader, and certainly you are not our boss, or someone who can be bossing us around; you are just like US!" said Nanaka in an angry tone, done with Arisa's shit; Nanaka pointed at her with her right index, Arisa frowned.

"Who the hell are you to talk about Shuka in that way? Do you even know her? Who gave you the authority to meddle in this matter?!" finished Nanaka with a mad tone, a prominent frown, and her breathing elaborate.

Arisa didn't change her serious face and looked at Nanaka almost with pitying eyes.

"You done?" asked Arisa arrogantly.

"You want to add more to this?!" asked Nanaka still mad.

"Yes; It's not that I have some kind of authority here or not, I have always told you that your actions aren't yours alone, we are a nine member group, and what you do affects us all… You being in a relationship with Saito-san has consequences in our lives too"

"Why does this affect you that much? Here you just didn't give me that opinion about Aqours, you just gave me your personal opinion about Shuka, and me"

"Well, it is what I see, my observation on the matter—"

"Keep your observations for yourself Komiya-san." said Nanaka now totally out of herself.

"Well I can't, don't you see? This is exactly why I can't let you out of sight—"

"I'm not a child for you to look after!"

"Suwa-san is for your own good!" snapped Arisa, now standing up and pointing at Nanaka with her right index, "The only one who's going to get hurt is you, because Saito-san is a child, her jealousy will explode in front of your eyes and will destroy your relationship! And I'm the only one concerned about that, because I care, I care about you, and the group; if you two break up it will affect the whole unit, you want that? She is not good for you, understand that!"

Nanaka frowned once again and tightened her teeth in anger.

Just who the fuck was Arisa to determine that?

"So you think Aina is a better choice? That she is good for me?" asked Nanaka in a low tone.

"She is better…" said Arisa, not quite convinced, "But I still prefer that you just focus on your job."

"Shuka has changed, she is not the brat of our earlier days, she has proven that she is ok with Aina, and the NanaAinyathingi—"

"Does Shuka know that Aina-san was back in the game?" cut in Arisa.

Nanaka bit her lips, that was a minor detail that Nanaka preferred to leave out of the relationship.

Arisa smiled cockily at her, that was enough to vanish any trace of "anger" in Nanaka.

"So you have been lying to Saito-san…" said Arisa softly.

"I'm not lying… it is just…" mumbled Nanaka looking to her cute Sanrio socks.

"You want to spare Shukashuu the pain," said Arisa softy; Nanaka looked up to her with a sad face.

"We…we are good now… with Aina out of the equation, Shuka is fine… and supportive…" said Nanaka softly.

"But that's not reality…" said Arisa sitting back again, "and that's not healthy…"

Nanaka hummed, she already knew that, but her own selfishness was stronger, for her to keep hiding that information from Shuka, and enjoying both worlds with both girls.

"And now I think I get the whole picture…" said Arisa softly, Nanaka looked at her with a shy face. "This explains your behavior; You are hiding from them both because of this… you can't face Shuka knowing that Aina is back in the game, and you can't face Aina because you are still with Shuka, so you better hide and push both away." finished Arisa, crossing her legs and bringing her right hand softly to her chin

This girl…

I hate her!

Nanaka blinked quite annoyed. It was true that Nanaka and Arisa were a good team, and that was why AZALEA won the Subunit battle. Both were bad losers and were very sharp with the questions. Also, inside the "Third Years" members, of course, they made a good team, making Aina look like the dumb one of the group. So it could be said that Nanaka and Arisa thought alike, worked alike, and creepily enough, they understood each other while working. Or at least Nanaka understood her in working hours and nothing else, but Arisa seemed to understand her even in her private life.

And she was willing to help her.

"Am I right?" asked Arisa.

Nanaka just gave her a sad face, which Arisa answered with a warm smile.

"So, this only leads me to answer your question," said Arisa in a soft tone, "understanding this, it's why I keep standing my position of supporting Aina-san rather than Saito-san."

Nanaka looked at her with a worried expression.

"Aina-san might be weird, clumsy and…well… awkward, but… she cares about you, she loves you enough to try to step to the side and leave you to be happy… She understands your job better, and even if she is still younger than you, she is way more mature… so I can bet my love for strawberries that Aina-san will never give you trouble about your work, or your personal life…"

Nanaka remained quiet, listening to what Arisa was saying, everything seemed true.

"At first, my support began because of what production had asked, you needed to work with Aina-san with the NanaAinyathing, and because I get you, I know you wouldn't do a thing on your own…because it might hurt Saito-san…so, someone needed to step in, and push you…" continued Arisa with a soft tone.

"Then, I confirmed what I had told you before; Saito-san's behavior towards you, your job and her childish of seeing things, it made me think that she wasn't good for you… because you care so much for her, you tried to make so many sacrifices for her, and she just gave you crap, How many times have you saved your relationship with her already? I bet that you two are still together because you wanted to." said Arisa with a confidence that made Nanaka shiver; she was reading her like an open book.

"And on the other hand, there is Aina; I've watched her, the way she looks at you, the way she cares…and I know you care about her too, not sure how deep are your feeling for her, maybe you are holding back because you are with Shuka, but, that's why I'm more supportive of Aina-san… I feel like she would be better for you, also for the project" finished Arisa with her soft tone.

Nanaka felt like a bucket of cold water just fell on her.

Was that the opinion of every member? Or just Arisa? Either way, it was a hard "opinion" to take in. Knowing that your girlfriend isn't good for you and your friend was a better choice, according to your colleagues...

But what the hell did they know? They didn't know Shuka as she did.

"Suwa-san?" called Arisa softly.

"Yes…" said Nanaka almost like a whisper.

"I'm sorry... maybe I should change rooms with Anchan after all." said Arisa with a bit of humor.

Nanaka lifted her sight towards her and smiled faintly at her.

"Don't be silly, after this big bomb you threw at me... I can't let you cross that door" said Nanaka with her dry tone and "Suwa face"

Arisa giggled.

"I'm sorry if you hate me now..." said Arisa softly.

"Don't worry, I hated you from way before this." said Nanaka giving her a cocky smile, then they stayed a few seconds looking at each other, then they broke into giggles.

"So, you pretty much summarized up everything…" started Nanaka to say with a calm voice, "It is something like that… but I don't see Shuka as someone bad for me… we have been working on our relationship, she gave me the space that I needed, she now understands my job, we were good…"

"Suwawa, I feel so much loneliness in your words that it's hard for me to believe that you two are ok…" said Arisa with concern.

"It's because we have been apart for more than a month, we have seen each other in fewer occasions, like…" Nanaka started to feel a little bit drowned in the situation, "like, well, the project itself has pushed us apart way before I started hiding, as she is a 'Second Year', I'm a 'Third', we ended up in different Units, so our time together has been pretty short, and now production does this, sending me to the other side of the world, it's like this relationship was destined to fail, but not because of Shuka's behavior…"

"My, you sure are in love with her…" said Arisa bitterly.

"Of course, I am…" said Nanaka shyly.

"I know, and it's ok… but, what I mean… is that you are so blind…"

"Eh?!"

Suddenly Arisa's phone rang, it was a message that she couldn't ignore, so the conversation needed to be cut abruptly, because Arisa's attention was now on her phone.

Nanaka blinked a few times and then her sight turned to her own phone, she felt the imperious desire to talk with Shuka, and tell her that she missed her and wanted her, or Aina for the sake of talking about Arisa's conversation. Maybe she should call both.

Then she mentally facepalmed.

Once again her decisions were divided between Shuka and Aina, she wanted to rely on both, her selfishness kicking her passionately, she wanted both girl's attention and comprehension, and maybe someone that could tell her that Arisa was wrong all along. That might be Shuka for sure, because, as for Aina, her position was always a negative one towards her relationship.

Nanaka was about to move towards her phone when Arisa spoke again.

"Sorry about that… it was Rikako," said Arisa moving her phone away, "She invited us to go out"

"What?… Really?….isn't she tired?" asked Nanaka shyly.

"Seems she's not…" said Arisa standing up and moving towards the nearest closet.

"Are… are you going?" asked Nanaka incredulous.

"Yes, of course, I'm not that tired," said Arisa looking for clothes.

Nanaka blinked a few times and made a sad smile.

"And where are you going?" asked Nanaka.

"Eh? That means that you are not going?" said Arisa still busy in her closet.

"Of course not." said Nanaka sitting more comfortably, "I'm seriously tired… jet lag, and now emotionally broken…" said Nanaka in some kind of joking mood, but that was the raw truth.

Arisa laughed thinking it was a joke.

"Well, Rikako wrote about someplace nearby to have a few drinks…thought, Anchan can't come with us, here the legal drinking age is twenty-one." concreted Arisa taking a few clothes out and putting them on her bed.

"Eh? Shouldn't you guys go somewhere were Anchan can go…?" asked Nanaka concerned.

There was a full minute of silence where Arisa was just too focused on the clothes on her bed, then she looked up to meet Nanaka's gaze, and smiled sweetly.

"That's why you don't fit with Saito-san, you are like an older sister…" said Arisa, then grabbed a few pieces of clothes, "You are always taking care of everyone else; Anchan said she was tired and jet lagged, so she passed, maybe it will be just the older ones going…"

That meant Rikako, Arisa, King, and Aiai? Everyone but me and Anchan…

Maybe we should switch rooms…

"Well, be sure to come back early, tomorrow we will go to Santa Monica pier for sightseeing and such, you will need your energy…" said Nanaka with a concerned tone, then she bit her lips with guilt; Arisa understood completely why and laughed at her.

"See?… yes, 'Suwamama', I'll be home early…" and then she went into the bathroom to change.

Nanaka was left alone in the room with her conscience. It wasn't in her intentions to act like an older sister towards the members, but she was kind of used to treating Shuka like that, and now those actions were being reflected to the rest of the members. So the members had this kind of vision of Nanaka, someone caring, worried about the rest, and she just couldn't be helped.

And then this woman said that she was bad for me…

Shuka made the best out of me…

Nanaka smiled and moved towards her nightstand. She determined that she missed Shuka too much, so she opened up her phone and the LINE chat App to write to her, not minding if it was early or late somewhere, she just lost the sense of time with this long time travel.

To her surprise, Shuka was awake and answered quite fast.

Osuwa! Morning! or Evening? I'm not sure…(・・；)

How are you? how was the event? (・・)

Nanaka smiled wide and sat more comfortably on the bed.

Sweetie…(౪)

I didn't wake you up, right? (ｏ´_｀ｏ)

I'm deadly tired, drained and with jet lagged, but ok…(／０￣)

The event was incredible… you would have totally loved it! let's come together next time! （っ・・）っ

She sent the message, and at the same time Arisa went into the room; she was looking stylish and amazing as always. Nanaka guessed that Arisa, being a model and actress, must look that stunning almost all the time.

Nanaka frowned at that thought; it was like in the Sunshine Project she just couldn't look that cool, she needed to look cute more than a womanizer.

Nanaka let out a small giggle over that thought, but Arisa caught it.

"What?" asked Arisa leaving her clothes on the bed.

"Nothing, you look good." said Nanaka, then her phone rang, it was Shuka's message.

No, you didn't! I was talking with Anchan (･ω)

Awww, I bet you did your best, you always do… (ง •̀ω•́)ง

Did you speak in English? I'll love to hear ya'! (艸`)

Nanaka made a goofy smile at reading her message, it wasn't romantic at all, but everything Shuka related made her grin, or to just stare at whatever object with a goofy and silly smile.

"Is it Shukashuu?" asked Arisa finishing her makeup.

"Yes, it is." said Nanaka while typing her back.

There was silence when Arisa spoke once again.

"Is she awake?" asked Arisa.

"Yes, she was talking with Anchan..."

"Anchan?" asked Arisa surprised, stopping her hands on her makeup and turning slightly to Nanaka.

Nanaka looked back at her and shrugged.

"Yes, Anchan"

"Aren't they close uh?" said Arisa returning to her duty.

"Well, they share the Unit and the 'Year group', they got close," said Nanaka nonchalantly.

"You and I are too, and I can't say we are like them," said Arisa in a dry tone.

"Well, that's because you are such a pain..." said Nanaka without taking her eyes off the screen, Shuka was writing to her about the broadcast of the Anime.

Arisa snorted and closed her makeup case, then turned around to lock gazes with Nanaka. She looked ready.

"You sure you don't want to come?" asked Arisa.

"I'm sure, I'll stay here talking with Shuka," said Nanaka with her goofy smile and her eyes glued to the screen, Arisa gave her a sad smile then grabbed her jacket and turned around to go but stopped abruptly.

"You know..." started Arisa, Nanaka blinked a few times and fixed her sight on her, "It's a matter of time for Shukashuu to realize that Aina is back in the game and catch you hiding information. Plus, you can't hide forever Suwawa..." then turned and looked back at Nanaka with sad eyes.

"If that happens, Shuka is going to explode in a way you have never seen before, and it might end your relationship with her, because you will lose control of her, actually you are already losing it... so.. if that happens, remember that you are not alone, and you can find support in your Subunit, or in 'Third years', please take that in mind"

And with that, Arisa moved quickly to not hear Nanaka's retort. But to tell the truth, Nanaka was left in awe and couldn't say a thing. That sounded like a threat.

Nanaka frowned, annoyed once again; what the hell did Arisa know? She sounded like if she knew something that Nanaka ignored, the way she said she was blinded by love, and now that Shuka was something like a time bomb.

Nanaka just shrugged once again not caring that much about Arisa's words, but maybe she would regret that, months later.

So now that Arisa was gone, she could focus more on her girlfriendand enjoy her more.

Nanaka smiled sweetly at her phone, wrote to Shuka to know if she was free to have a video call, and to her luck, she was and was eager to talk to her and hear her voice.

Nanaka quickly stood up and walked at a quick pace to the bathroom to check herself in the mirror, splashed some water on her face to try to erase her tired sleepy jetlag face, combed her hair, and then came back to the room to grab her phone.

She called Shuka by the LINE App, Nanaka's heart skipped a beat when she was greeted by a disheveled Shuka with her sweet and wide smile.

"Hey..." called Nanaka softly.

"Awww Osuwa!" snapped Shuka loudly and with her wide smile.

"How are you, Sweetie?" said Nanaka sitting comfortably on her bed.

"Good, I'm eating cherries, hahaha, my I love this technology, this is so much better than a regular phone call..." said Shuka showing a single cherry and dropping it in her mouth; Nanaka looked at her lips with wishful thinking, "You look cute Nana-chan" finished Shuka while chewing.

"Eh? Really?" asked Nanaka shyly, her cheeks turning red.

"Hum!" hummed Shuka with her mouth full of cherry and nodding, then swallowed and continued, "I thought you would look beaten... Are you alone in your room?"

"Yes, I am... everyone went out"

"Who are you sharing the room with?" asked Shuka with eagerness.

"Arisa..." said Nanaka in a tired gloomy tone.

Shuka laughed, Nanaka deadpanned.

"My, it's like fate wanted you to be besties with Arisha." said Shuka with giggles.

"Yeah, they separated us within 'Year Members', felt like the most natural thing..." said Nanaka annoyed.

"Oh, that means if I was supposed to be there, we couldn't share the room..." said Shuka in a sad tone.

"You would share it with Anchan and Rikako I guess..." said Nanaka with a sad smile.

"Damn! Well, gratefully we get along..." said Shuka and then put another cherry in her lovely mouth.

"It's not that we 'Third Years' don't get along..." said Nanaka changing the hand she was holding the phone with, "Arisa and I have this... weird tension... well and there's Aina too..." then she bit her lips.

Shuka smile faded.

"What about Ainya?" hurried Shuka to ask.

"Well, she is weird..." said Nanaka nonchalantly, Shuka giggled.

"Yes she is; yesterday we practiced a bit of the choreography for 'Aozora Jumping Heart'; there's this part...where 'You-chan' and 'Mari-chan' rest themselves on 'Kanan-chan's' shoulders...we laughed tons telling the teacher that that move would look weird on us, because you are so much taller than both of us, we can't reach your shoulder that quickly..."

Nanaka blinked a few times and nodded, she didn't recall that part of the choreography in the opening though, even if she had already started practicing, and surely she didn't notice that earlier in the screening of the first episode of the Anime at the event. Maybe the nerves and excitement had blinded her about it.

"So Ainya asked if we could touch your hips instead..." said Shuka with a grin, Nanaka bit her lips, "then she laughed like a weird 'Oji-san', such a perv!" said Shuka a bit annoyed.

"Well, if the animation shows you two lying on my shoulders then we must recreate it as best we can..." said Nanaka trying to give the matter less importance.

"I don't get why production keeps putting us three to do choreography together, in our First Single it was the same..." Shuka kept saying in an annoyance tone.

"Maybe because we spend so much time together... who knows!" said Nanaka trying to move onto another topic; talking to Shuka about Aina was dangerous.

"So, what are you going to do today?" asked Nanaka quickly.

"Eh? Today... Uhm... it's my day off, I think I don't have much to do related to the Sunshine project till the sixth where we take over the radio program..." said Shuka putting another cherry in her mouth.

"Eh? Nothing else?" asked Nanaka dazzled by that juicy cherry and Shuka's lips.

"Hum, yesterday..." Shuka started but was busy chewing, "Uhm... we tried to practice but it was kind of... you know, pointless without the full unit..." finished Shuka while swallowing.

"I see...so there's nothing going on." asked Nanaka in her monotone.

Shuka snorted.

"Of course, not," said Shuka moving her phone around, "it's been actually boring, you should have more stories to tell than me" she giggled.

"Eh? Well, besides the event, there's not much to tell; I have jetlag, there's no green tea." said Nanaka somehow annoyed, she just couldn't get green tea anywhere around.

But this statement made Shuka snort and then break into a huge laugh.

Nanaka pouted cutely and her cheeks turned bright red.

"My, Nana-chan, you are so cute..." said Shuka still laughing, "Jesus, I have missed you..."

"Really?" asked Nanaka with a shy but serious tone.

Lately, she was feeling Shuka just didn't miss her that much, whether it was because she was busy with CYaRon!, or busy with 'Second years' recording the complex scenes in Episode 11, where all the screen time was about You having jealousy rushes towards Chika and Riko and their new friendship, and Mari unexpectedly helping her out with that.

Nanaka just couldn't help but wonder if this was the job of the creepy assistant and her notes; how accurate were the screenwriters to write about You -Shuka- having jealousy rushes, and having Mari -Aina- to guide her all the way out.

The day when she read the script for episode 11, she wrote on the "Third Years" chat and asked if that was really ok; Aina sent a weird audio actually laughing her ass off like an old man, and Arisa some stickers of a girl facepalming. Nanaka wasn't sure if it was about Aina's audio or about the situation, either way, they ended up saying that maybe it was a weird coincidence. But Nanaka sure doubted that, because there wasn't anything set just because in that franchise, and proof of that was that this creepy assistant was always taking notes, and a lot of things that happened to them later were reflected in the Anime, like Aiai's 'Gambaruby', to give Mari the 'Stewshiny', which was mentioned on a Niconama.

But, taking that aside, Nanaka was clear that her time with Shuka was almost reduced to phone calls and these videos calls from time to time, or just LINE messages, but it was almost her efforts to keep the relationship still going, because she was the one who kept writing, calling and worrying about Shuka.

Like a big sister.

"Eh? Are you seriously doubting it?" asked Shuka, stopping her laughter.

Nanaka just didn't know what to say, so she made a bitter smile.

"Suwawa!" called Shuka.

"Of course not," lied Nanaka, "but I would like to hear it more often from you..."

"Oh, gee~ Nanaka, are ya' feeling needy?" asked Shuka with a sweet tone.

Nanaka blinked a few times; being needy wasn't the issue here.

"Shukashuu, when was the last time we did it?" asked Nanaka with a bit of bitterness.

"Eh? Well... Uhmm—-"

"If you don't remember, that means that it was a long time ago..." finished Nanaka interrupting Shuka.

"So you are horny..." declared Shuka.

No, I'm not horny... Geez

I can't concentrate on sex while I have this complex situation with Aina and Shuka...

"No, Sweetie, I don't need sex, I need you…" said Nanaka switching hands on her phone.

Shuka bit her lips, then smiled wide.

"I love you Suwa Nanaka, and I miss you every day, " said Shuka with a serious tone, with a very 'Ikemen' vibe.

It made Nanaka's heart skip a beat or two, and her cheeks to flash in a bright red; she just licked her lips and then bit her lower lip, feeling weak on her knees.

"In fact, you made my morning; the first thing I saw while opening my phone and my Twitter App was your cute picture in 'KimiKoko'outfit." said Shuka with a bright smile, Nanaka smiled shyly at her.

"I wish I could be there with you…" finished Shuka with a sad tone.

Nanaka blinked a few times and made a sad smile.

"Me too…" said Nanaka softly and looking down in sadness, "You would love it here…everything is noisy and colorful…"

Shuka giggled.

"Maybe, but right now, there's only one place I would rather be, and that's in that bedroom, with you…" said Shuka with a coy smile, but her words very clear, of course, it made Nanaka's heart pound really hard and fast, almost as if her heart wanted to crush her chest.

How can someone give you such feelings and be BAD for you?…

Honestly, Arisa, you can go and fuck yourself…

"Really…?" asked Nanaka shyly again.

Shuka snorted and then laughed.

"Nanaka, please, of course…and if I was there with you, we would do other kinds of activities than going out with rest of the members…" said Shuka with a grin.

"Oh… is that true?" said Nanaka recovering her confidence.

"Of course, I would love to disturb the other guests with your moans…" said Shuka, so bluntly that Nanaka let out a drowned gasp, lifting her eyebrows in surprise, Shuka laughed hard about it.

"My, my….who's the horny one now….?" said Nanaka with her face completely red.

"I can't help it…" said Shuka giggling, "maybe I should tell you what else I would like to do with you there…" said Shuka with a cocky smile.

Nanaka gave her a grin and then stood up from the bed, moving the phone around.

"Hey—hey!…what are you doing?…where are you going?!"

It was all Nanaka could hear from the phone while moving towards the door.

"Making sure that we don't get disturbed…" said Nanaka moving at her quick speed.

The room wasn't that big so she reached the door, opened it quickly and put the "Please Don't Disturb" sign on the knob on the other side of the door and closed it with a loud thump. Then came back to her bed with a wide grin, knowing that her roommate was out for God knows how long, but she didn't want any surprises from anyone, not even the Chief.

And even if there was something inside her head bothering her about the previous discussion with her roomie, she could put that to the side for at least the next hour to enjoy the feeling of being loved and cared by someone she loved and cared for back, not caring if her feelings might be disposable.

.

Time traveling sure was something that needed to be saved for the movies. The way the body feels after a trip from the future, and 4 days later going back to the future, made Nanaka struggle with jetlag and tiredness, not to mention terrible headaches, trouble with her sleeping schedule and her concentration.

The event in Los Angeles had been a great success, and it made Production take complete note if it was worth it to come back the next year, and hopefully with the whole Unit, and why not, to even have a Live or a short presentation. The crowd had a great response to the girls and the franchise, so it would be a good thing to come back with all the guns.

But, that time they just couldn't spend too much time overseas, tons of work awaited back in Japan, so they needed to forget about jetlag and symptoms of tiredness to actually keep working.

So after one day of rest, Aqours was back in full Unit and ready for their next Niconama.

That day, they were asked to come with more time in advance than they used to, not sure why; Nanaka thought that maybe it was because they wanted to make some kind of post-event/travel analysis, and to rub that to the three poor members that had been left behind.

Nanaka came into Lantis building with Aina by her side, who walked at Nanaka's pace towards the Production Office to grab their respective outfits, when they saw everybody outside of the office in their normal clothes and with concerned looks. Aina abruptly shut up about what they were talking about and looked at them in awe, in return, everybody gave them a surprised look.

"You are right on time!" greeted Anchan.

"Osuwa!" snapped Shuka happily and walked in fast speed to greet her with a big smile, it was very noticeable that Shuka wanted to kiss her, but they had to wait, so they shared a shy hug and some cute glances and eager smiles.

Aina moved her sight away from them.

"You two coming together?" asked Aikyan in a suspicious tone that surely caught everyone's attention.

"Eh?!" snapped Aina in surprise and almost looking at Aikyan with a frown, "No, no, we just bumped into each other at the entrance"

Nanaka felt her right hand being grabbed by Shuka; so she looked at her with a surprised look, but Shuka just gave her a wide smile.

"So, why are you guys out here...?" asked Nanaka.

"Shouldn't we be on the changing room or something?" asked Aina.

"Yeah, the Chief told us to wait a bit, he has a surprise for us," said Anchan.

Nanaka and Aina shared some concerned glances; what on earth could that man possibly have to give them?

He only delivered news and despair.

"Jesus! I think I'm still time traveling," said King with a tired tone.

"C'mon! Stop that already!" whined Aikyan, "I would die to be in your shoes and had traveled as you did"

"Was it nice? Did you eat lots of delicious food?" asked Aina.

"You bet!" said King.

"Why do you always have to turn the conversation around food?" asked Rikako.

Because she enjoys eating...

It's part of her charms... shit!

Nanaka shook her head, while feeling her hand being squeezed.

"You ok?" asked Shuka beside her, Nanaka nodded sweetly.

"Ok, I'm tired of this!" snapped Arisa breaking all the chitchat in the hall, "This is pointless."

She moved towards the door and was about to knock when it opened wide, revealing the Chief and the creepy assistant.

"Good, everybody is here!" He said in his harsh and loud tone with his particular smile.

"What's going on?" asked Arisa bluntly.

"I see you are eager... I'm sorry" said the Chief, then looked around, studying every single member, "You all look fresh and well, good to see that everyone is doing fine..." he said smiling; Arisa moved back where she was standing before to give the Chief more space, or to actually step out of the office.

"Well, first of all, I want to congratulate the members that went to America, you all did a wonderful job, for the three members left behind, thank you so much for your hard work, you made us proud" He finished with a smile.

Nanaka could feel her hand being squeezed by Shuka like in anger, and in fact, she was kind of mad too, he made it sound as if the member's left behind were like nothing, and those were words just to say something nice.

The girls bowed respectfully and then the Chief cleared his throat.

"Well, we have a lot to do, so we better hurry." he said and made a sign for the creepy assistant to pass him a folder.

He cleared his throat again, opening it.

"Let's walk to the changing room first, there's a surprise for all of you there…" He said looking inside the folder, then started walking down the hall.

All the girls looked at each other with quizzical looks and started to walk behind him.

What exactly could they hide in a changing room, and it being a surprise?

"What the hell?" asked Aiai in her squeaky mode.

"That's why they kept us there in the hall…" said Rikako.

"To prevent us from peeking into the changing room?" asked Anchan.

"Of course, if they don't give us our outfits we can't change…" said Arisa in a tired tone.

The chitchat ended as soon as they reached the changing room.

The Chief stood in front of the room with his back to the door.

"So, as you know, the Anime premiered this week, congratulations on accomplishing that," he said and started clapping, the rest followed through, "So as you might have noticed, there were some small changes between the Magazine design and the Anime ones, right…?" he asked.

The girls looked at each other with concerned looks trying to move their mental gears to find out those "small changes". Nanaka just couldn't recall any of them right away; Kanan looked as she always did.

"Well, we will stick now with the Anime designs, so please… take a look at it." he said while opening the door for the girls to step inside the changing room.

The girls entered the changing room with eagerness, almost stomping into each other to find inside a lot of staff members moving around 9 hangers. The hangers were in the original lineup, with a picture of the character indicating which was the member's outfit. There were 2 outfits, a school uniform, and another one with blue and white colors.

The girls each ran (or in Nanaka's case, walked) to their respective hanger to look at the outfits with admiration, quote marks and words of excitements.

"These are your new uniforms!" said the Chief while the girls examined them, "Maybe you can't find great changes on them, but they're exactly like the ones in the Anime…"

Nanaka took her uniform off the hanger, the only visible change was the handkerchief, from red now it was green.

"What changed?!" asked Anchan loudly.

"Yes, there's nothing new on mine!" said Shuka also loudly, of course, everybody turned to her, then to Rikako.

"Mine didn't change either…" said Rikako softly beside Nanaka.

"Yes, of course," said the Chief, "Second years' outfit didn't change…"

"Eh?!" snapped the three girls.

This could mean that the original color was red, of course, the main year group would remain with the original color…

Of course, the story is centered in 'Second Years'.

"First Years" laughed their asses with Aina's old man laugh as BGM.

Shuka pouted cutely at Nanaka, but then smiled wide to see Nanaka's new outfit, they shared lovely smiles.

"Maybe the biggest changes are 'First Years' uniforms…" said the Chief, all the girls looked at "First Years", "Not only their handkerchief is yellow, but they are sleeveless"

All the girls made sounds of surprise, while "First Years" did something silly; Nanaka just hung her new uniform to pay attention to the other one hanging there; she took it out to have a better look.

It was mostly white with touches of blue, it was a puffed skirt with a top, it looked really like a sailor's outfit; without a question that was the "Aozora Jumping Heart" outfit. The Anime's intro song.

"So, what's with this other one?" asked Anchan taking her own outfit off the hanger.

"Well, that's next event's outfit," said the Chief, "remember that at the end of the month you will be holding a Live and talk event in Numazu, you will be wearing those"

Like in cue everybody left the school uniform to grab the other outfit.

The room was filled in with loud chitchat and sounds of excitement, the Chief had to clap really hard to bring peace back into the room.

"As I said…Girls!" he shouted, "we have a lot to do, so let's not waste time…"

The girls nodded and hung back their outfits to then turn to face the Chief, it was time for instructions.

"Alright, so…" he started talking while looking down to his folder, "On today's Niconamayou will be wearing your new School uniform; Remember that today CYaRon!'s members need to do the punishment game…"

CYaRon!'s members let out complaint sounds, while Guilty Kiss members started to mock them. AZALEA members just stood still, it was kind of a surprise that King behaved, but clearly, she was fighting with herself to start mocking Aiai about being the loser.

"Girls!" snapped the Chief, "C'mon!"

The girls stopped their noise once again.

"So, today's broadcast is going to be one hour and a half long," continued the Chief, the girls let out sounds of surprise, "but we can review that later…"

"My, that's long…" said King.

"Well, a lot is happening with the project," said Rikako in a serious tone.

"Exactly," said the Chief, "so, remember that on the tenth of this month, two days from now, 'Second Years' will hold a special talk stage at C3 CharaExpo in Singapore—"

"YEAH!" snapped Anchan and Shuka at the same time, Rikako just smiled embarrassed. The Chief looked at them with a frown, then continued reading.

"Also, Takatsuki-san and Furihata-san will be going to the 'Anime festival' in Thailand on the eleventh—"

"YES!" snapped King and Aiai.

Why these people are so eager to travel?… Well, at least they are not traveling around the globe…

The Chief gave them a death glare and then he continued.

"All of you will be interviewed, of course, we will start with 'Second Years'; the interview will be featured in the magazine, the interview will have a photo session, more details with the respective managers of your agencies…" he turned a page in his folder, "Next, we will start shooting a special program called 'Tekuteku Aqours', basically it's going to be a stroll around Numazu with you; the program will consist of three chapters; 'Second Years', 'First Years' and 'Third Years' and you will walk around Numazu and Uchiura showing around the places that are featured in the Anime…"

"Ohhh! That's nice!" said Anchan with eagerness.

"Actually it's very interesting…" said Arisa nodding.

The girls agreed by also nodding.

"Indeed, it's a good way to show the fans that the locations really exist, besides, Numazu as a town is transforming itself for tourism around the franchise, it's a good way to show around too…" said the Chief, "Of course, the setting of each episode will depend on the 'Year group', this program will be featured in the Blu-ray of the Anime."

The girls nodded.

"So, it's shooting will be 'Second Years' and 'First Years' this month, and we will have to leave 'Third Years' shoot for later…"

"EH?!" snapped Aina and Arisa at the same time, Nanaka just blinked.

"Why?!" asked Aina outraged.

"Because there's not enough time this month for that… Also 'Third Years' episode is gonna be the last… so we have time to shoot that later…" said the Chief shrugging it off.

Thought so, we are always last…

Geez—

"Ok, moving on, the CD of 'Aozora Jumping Heart' will release on the twentieth, look forward to that." said the Chief turning another page in the folder, while the girls nodded.

"We are, right?" asked Anchan towards her teammates.

"Yes, I'm dying to hear the rest of the song…" said Aikyan, the girls giggled.

Like the rest of the songs they had recorded already, every member sang it completely, and then sound production arranged the mix with the directions of Yukio Sakai. The song was divided into sections determining the portion of verses the members should sing. Because that song was the opening of the Anime, at least the TV size mix was sung by everyone, no solo lines, so the other half of the song was a mystery.

"You will, soon." said the Chief trying to move on to the next topic.

"Of course, expect a lot of dance practice and recording sessions for the next weeks, further details on your respective schedules…"

The girls nodded once again.

"Next, there's a collaboration with Sega cafe and Love Live! Sunshine, while you don't have anything to do with it… production wants to take you to the cafe the day before it's opening… it's a marketing move… Also, the subway branding commemorating the release of the CD" said the Chief, almost shrugging.

The girls started their noisy chitchat and eagerness. Right now, their characters were taking part of the city, they would be out there, exposed for the world to recognize them, the project and their characters, they weren't just another Anime that aired weekly, they were a Franchise willing to win the hearts of the fans out there.

"Girls!" said the Chief trying to calm the waters, "hold on a minute, I have two more things to say…" he tried.

The girls bit their lips trying to hold their eagerness together.

"As you know, you have this event on the thirty first of July, but, we will go to Numazu a day before, we want to prepare a VTR with you in the Summer Festival of Numazu to later show it in the event, look forward to it…"

Nanaka blinked a few times, somehow feeling that every month became busier than the other, and to think that this was just the beginning, it gave her stomach cramps.

"And lastly… as you already know… your First Love Live was decided" he finished.

There was a huge silence in the room.

The girls shared some nervous glances with each other; one thing was having these short of events talking and singing 3.5 songs, and another was a complete Live. A big show, with a big crowd.

At least these Talk & Live events were like some prolonged version of a Niconama… a Live was major words.

They knew that sooner or later the news about their First Live would pop up into their lives, but they just didn't know when.

And the soul idea of it made Nanaka shiver; now she not only needed to learn half of the new choreography for their event, but now she needed to learn at least all the songs in the Anime for their First Live.

"We don't have the dates or venue yet, but we will keep you posted…" said the Chief of staff.

Thanks for the consideration…

Nanaka frowned in her spot and felt particularly annoyed, not sure why, but she could feel that the tension and nervousness started to fill the room.

"Well, I think that's it for now..." said the Chief closing his folder, and then he smiled at them, "Please take your respective hangers with your school uniforms and then go to Production's office, you would need to change there, we will shoot the broadcast in a different floor too…"

"Eh?!" snapped 'First Years'.

"Why?" asked Arisa, but she didn't get an answer, the Chief moved out from the room, followed by his assistants.

It seemed that they just couldn't use that changing room anymore.

So without asking anything else, the girls started to move; Nanaka turned around to grab her hanger and felt Arisa's heavy sight on her, so she looked at her with her "Suwa face".

"What?" asked Nanaka.

Arisa looked at her with a serious face and came closer.

"Suwa-san," she started softly and almost like a whisper, "you didn't bump into Aina-san in the entrance, did you?"

Nanaka opened her eyes wide in surprise, her mouth like a fish out of the water.

"What—?"

"I saw you in the train with her…" said Arisa softly, Nanaka shut her mouth, "and you were holding hands... I lost both of you in the station… I'm assuming that I came first to the building because you walk really slow… but surely you took your time…"

Nanaka took her sight off Arisa and tried to look to the person that should be on the other side from her; following the official lineup, that person should be Shuka, but luckily Shuka had already taken her hanger and moved out of the room with "First Years".

Then she looked at Arisa again with a serious face.

"She spent the night at my place…" said Nanaka dryly, Arisa opened her eyes wide in shock.

"What?!" exclaimed Arisa, but trying to keep it low.

"What you heard, she spent the night with me…" said Nanaka now turning her sight to the hanger and trying to take her uniform.

"Wait, Suwa-san," said Arisa grabbing her hand, stopping her, Nanaka looked at her with her "Suwa face".

"What did I tell you about touching me…?" said Nanaka dryly, Arisa withdrew her hand from her.

"What are you doing?" asked Arisa with concern.

"Trying to move on with the rest…" answered Nanaka dryly.

"No, God! About Aina-san!" said Arisa with a mad tone.

I don't know, and I don't think is any of your concern, you ...

...you...

...woman!

Geez— I can't even put a name to her!

Nanaka stood still half a minute looking at Arisa with her blank face, blinked a few times and then took her hanger turning around to leave the room, ignoring Arisa completely.

Arisa gasped in surprise, took her hanger too and walked behind Nanaka.

Weirdly enough, Nanaka was walking at a normal speed trying to avoid Arisa.

"Hey— wait… you know that you are slow….even if you want to run…" said Arisa by her side.

"Stop it, I don't need to give you any explications…" said Nanaka moving fast.

"Something happened?" asked Arisa quickly and with a nervous tone.

"Why do you care?" said Nanaka looking at Arisa, "We already talked about this back in America; this is not your concern…"

"Right, then, destroy your relationship, I don't care—"Arisa was saying when both stopped abruptly.

Rikako and Aina were fidgeting outside a door giggling, what took Nanaka's attention was that Rikako was using her sanitary mask, which of course she wasn't using a few minutes ago, so it was like if she was hiding from someone.

"What's going on?" asked Arisa, Rikako looked at them, and Aina laughed like an old man.

"Aikyan is fooling around with a big size 'little demon' plushie…" said Rikako.

"And…?" asked Arisa now serious.

"King is recording… Aikyan is playing summoning a little demon, so whoever entered in the room she put that plush in front of your face" said Aina giggling.

Of course, they are fooling around…

Nanaka and Arisa looked at each other with a serious expression and understood each other immediately. There was no time to waste in foolish things, so both of them moved Rikako and Aina from their spot and entered the room.

When Aikyan saw Arisa and Nanaka entering with their deadly faces, she just bit her lips and stayed put in her spot, hugging that giant plush of an evil emoji.

They walked through "First Years" to the back of the room where Anchan was chitchatting with Shuka and the Chief.

Nanaka tried to move away from Arisa but she stopped her.

"Suwa-san, stop running…" said Arisa softly.

"I'm not running…" Nanaka mumbled, then looked at Arisa, "I thought you didn't care…"

Arisa bit her lips, then hung her hanger in a rack and looked at Nanaka, annoyed.

"If you destroy your relationship cheating is your problem, I'm concerned about—"

"Aqours, I know… Arisa nothing happened" interrupted Nanaka, also hanging her uniform.

"Girls, the script." said Anchan handing them 2 folders, "Everything ok?"

Arisa took the folder and nodded, while Nanaka grabbed it and said a soft "Thank you".

Then the tension was cut by "First Years" and Aina laughing about Rikako dancing with the plushie on her face.

"In the end, she just couldn't escape from that…" said Anchan with a concerned voice but giggling at the end.

"Well, at least now she is more used to fooling around with the rest of the members…" said Arisa.

"Yes, that's true…" said Anchan smiling to Arisa, "Maybe Guilty Kiss was good for her…"

"You think?" asked Arisa concerned.

"Yes, of course, she is now more into fooling around and enjoying more…" said Anchan and then turned to Nanaka, "It's both of you that need to loosen up a bit…" then changed her sight to Arisa, "You two are always so serious…"

"We are working here…" said Nanaka now opening her script; it was kind of big and heavy with a lot of pages, it made sense since the broadcast would last an hour and a half.

"Well, Aikyan is working too, and she isn't serious at all…" giggled Anchan, "She has been a good thing for Riko-chan…" and with that, she moved back where she was talking to Shuka and the Chief, and to grab another two scripts to hand Rikako and Aina

"Maybe you should tell Rikako that Aikyan isn't good for her too…" said Nanaka with her eyes glued to the script, somehow returning the punch from back in America when Arisa had told her that Shuka wasn't good for her, but Arisa didn't say a thing in response. It made Nanaka concerned, so she lifted her sight towards her; Arisa was like a stone watching Rikako fooling around with Aikyan.

Nanaka blinked a few times and gasped.

Well, it seems that Arisa has her own trio of doom to worry about…

Nanaka took her script and moved to the nearest chair to sit and study the script more carefully, even if it was noisy.

Maybe she should have told Arisa that she was developing a special friendship with Aina, not the cheating type, but the fact that Nanaka was trying to fulfill her selfish desires at the same time Aina was fulfilling her love ones to spend more time with Nanaka.

They knew the limits of it. Both could spend time with each other, but nothing bold could happen besides holding hands or receiving a hug. Yesterday Aina had called Nanaka, asking if it was possible to crash at her house that night because she needed to be early in town to do some errands, and later needed to be at the broadcast, but her errands were just too early. Of course, Nanaka said yes and let her stay.

Of course, Shuka could never know that, even if all that they did was talk and play video games until late.

But she didn't want to tell her not because she was cheating, she hadn't done a thing that could have compromised the relationship, they had even taken separate baths, but of course, if Shuka knew that Nanaka had this kind of friendship with Aina, there would be no words in this world to calm Shuka down.

So it was better to spare her the pain.

The Chief interrupted the chitchat to start reviewing the script with everybody.

Mostly the broadcast would be about the first episode of the anime, a few silly games and letting the fans know a bit of information about the project, CD information, Merchandising, Blu-ray and the sort, plus information about the Franchise. Nothing really hard or different from what they had been doing lately, but sure it felt more energetic and special than before, since it was a 9 member broadcast more than in years trios or Subunits, so the ambient was really hype.

And the fact that they needed to move from the changing room to Production's office didn't help, since the room was smaller and crowded.

It was so catastrophic that Aikyan fooling around with Aiai kind of broke the handy cam for the broadcast, or that Aina accidentally dropped coffee in one of the sketchbooks for the program. Unfortunately, that sketchbook was the one that Arisa had to use later for the activities.

So, once they finished reviewing the script, they proceeded to change into their new outfits, of course, that could only lead to a selfie festival within the members. Now with the new uniforms, it was almost obvious that they would take a lot of pictures and almost in every combination possible, 'Years group' and Subunit, well, all Units but AZALEA. There was still this huge "wall" within AZALEA members, or it could be that Arisa was kind of pissed, because she didn't want to take any picture with anyone.

"Suwawa, can we take one?" heard Nanaka.

She had just taken a group picture with Aiai and King, so she turned around to see tiny Aina with her big smile and big eyes bouncing in her spot. She had her hair into two braided pigtails that looked so damn cute on her.

Nanaka smiled wide.

"Of course." and then she extended her hand with her phone.

"Wait, it's been a while since we've taken a NanaAinya…" said Aina.

"Oh, you have an idea…?" asked Nanaka softly.

"Yea— give me your hand…" said Aina.

Nanaka put her left arm around Aina joining her hand with hers to make a "heart" with their fingers; Aina lifted her left arm to touch Nanaka's hugging arm and then Nanaka took the picture. She took two, one with Aina winking to the camera, and another one just of them both smiling but in the same position.

"Aww that's a good one!" said Aina in her loud tone looking at Nanaka's phone, Nanaka just hummed.

"Hey! lovebirds! I want a picture too!" said Aikyan coming into the scene.

"Sure!" said Aina with her big smile.

"Suwawa give me your phone…" said Aikyan.

Nanaka did what she was told and got closer for Aikyan to take the picture.

"We need to be a little closer…" said Aikyan, "Let's hug, Suwawa hug me too!" whined Aikyan.

And Nanaka did what she was told once again and sandwiched Aina with her body and Aikyan's to take that picture, then the three of them laughed.

"What's wrong with your big eye bags…?" asked Aikyan.

"Oh we spent too much time playing video games, right?" said Aina looking at Nanaka.

"Yes…" said Nanaka softly but trying to change the topic or move out from there.

Aina and Aikyan were taking another picture when she heard Aiai's squeaky voice.

"Gee— Shuka you need to smile, I don't want to upload gloomy pictures…"

Nanaka turned around to where Aiai and Shuka were; Shuka was only taking pictures with "Second Years" and CYaRon!'s members, but locked sights with Nanaka, she somehow lost her smile.

Nanaka frowned.

Is she worrying about Aina again…?

Nanaka walked towards her with her phone in hand, maybe she could take a picture with her too…

"So you are going to start hugging all the members?" asked Shuka with an annoyed tone as soon as Nanaka was close; Nanaka stopped, that was enough warning to tell that Shuka was mad.

"Shuka…" called Nanaka with a sad tone.

"Ainya is not enough now…" said Shuka with sadness.

"Shuka, it's my job—"

"This is not just NanaAinya…you just want to hug everybody…" said Shuka with sadness and a bit of anger in her tone.

No, just you and Aina…

Jesus!, take a deep breath Nanaka…

Nanaka blinked a few times, counting to one hundred if possible and then smiled at Shuka.

"Sweetie, remember that I'm 'Kanan', she has to hug the members, it's part of her charms…"

"That sounds like a mere excuse for you to be all touchy with the girls…" said Shuka with bitterness.

"Well, that's my role…" said Nanaka with a faint smile walking towards Shuka, and without any warning she hugged her tightly.

"He—Hey!" exclaimed Shuka, but later she responded to the hug, shyly.

"Next time you want to express love to me, ask me about a hug and that's it… I'll give you one, ten, thousands, I don't care… You are the one that matters to me," said Nanaka softly into Shuka's ear, which gave Shuka chills down her spine.

They broke the hug and smiled at each other.

"If I need to start hugging you on camera for you to believe me, then I will…"

Shuka opened her eyes wide like not believing what Nanaka had said.

She was supposed to do NanaAinyathings on camera, not with her, with Aina, but that was Nanaka's love. She could do the sacrifices, no matter if that was risky for her career. But at least she could shield herself behind Kanan and her hugs.

"I— I love you…" said Shuka softly, almost like a whisper.

Nanaka smiled sweetly at her.

Once again, she had saved the relationship from a tense situation.

Nanaka just couldn't kiss her, remembering that they weren't in their safe place reminded them that hugs were the only affection they could make towards each other.

The Chief interrupted them to start the broadcast.

They walked toward an even smaller room from previous Niconamas. The big table was set for them to take a seat in the "Show lineup", meaning "First Years" on the left, "Second Years" in the center and "Third years" on the right.

"Alright! We will start with CYaRon!'s members and the punishment game!" said the Chief, so only Anchan, Shuka and Aiai entered the room.

Due to the room being so small, the rest of the members waited outside. Somehow Aikyan and King managed to enter too, just to help in the punishment game to make things a bit harder for CYaRon's members.

The broadcast started with CYaRon! making fools of themselves as always, and the rest of the members just watching from the door frame, laughing about the silly things they were doing.

Nanaka couldn't help but smile with bitterness that her girlfriend was making a fool of herself for everybody to see and laugh at her. Then she felt a short body next to her, of course, Aina was trying to watch, but since she was the shortest she just couldn't. Nanaka made a space for her to stand in front of her; Aina bowed shyly thanking her for the gesture.

They kept watching the goofy trio when Nanaka felt something from her insides…

A desire.

She had an impulse and hugged Aina from behind.

She could feel that Aina stiffened a bit and slightly turned her head to one of her sides to lock gazes with Nanaka.

It was a surprised look, but Nanaka gave her a gentle glance.

There was no camera, all the members were really entertained watching the loonies, so no one would notice them.

Aina smiled and grabbed Nanaka's hugging hand with her left.

They held hands and hugged while Shuka was being punished.

And it felt right.

That Niconamasure marked Nanaka, Shuka and Aina, (and maybe the fans and production too, but for different reasons...) but not because the broadcast was somehow spectacular or they said something that important, but because of the subtle behavior towards each other, or maybe not that subtle.

Nanaka and Aina flirted and giggled a lot with each other, which made Shuka visible jealous, and in response she countered touching Anchan, getting closer to her, or even grabbing her hand.

Nanaka watching this tried to fix it by being more aware of Shuka and not that much for Aina (sitting next to each other made the job easier...), but Nanaka just couldn't help it, her job was with Aina, so every time she fixed her behavior towards Shuka, one second later she fucked it up with Aina once again.

The most memorable thing was in one of the silly games, they had to write down in their sketchbooks a way of expressing love, with the condition that it couldn't be explicit or in English.

Nanaka wrote a poem alluding the moon, a very romantic way in the Japanese culture, but Shuka wrote "Hey Hey— give me hug" and it was like turning on a switch in Nanaka, for it was Shuka asking her for that hug, so she immediately hugged her, right in camera, right in sight of everyone. It made Shuka blush so hard, but two seconds later Aina showed her answer, "I want to always stay close to you…" which Nanaka immediately answered "Then come here!" in a very Ikemenvoice.

It made her want to facepalmed so hard.

Of course, Nanaka hugging Shuka made the room loud and full of cheers, but when she answered Aina, only Aina celebrated the fact.

Later of course, Shuka didn't spare Nanaka a second glance, it was as if she had built a wall between them.

That was the first time that Shuka witnessed theNanaAinyain the same room and not just from the screen, of course, it affected her.

So, that Niconamaleft a mark on production's and the fans' eyes in the way that they knew what Nanaka was capable of; she could just hug someone so bluntly and cutely in front of a camera, that sure it was something that production would try to exploit into the fandom and for the fans, that clearly would give Nanaka popularity, as the one capable of boldly flirting on camera, an action that none of their predecessors did so bluntly, and clearly none of the other Aqours member was willing to do yet.

But on the other side of the coin, Aina was left with the impression that her moves towards Nanaka were actually working, but Shuka's impression was that this was clearly a mess.

For her it was clear; Aina was back in the game, this wasn't just work.

As for Nanaka, everything seemed to be out of her control.

.

July was clearly a complicated month. And a total mess.

Hiding from Aina and Shuka wasn't working anymore and it was now hurting Nanaka.

Shuka traveled with Anchan and Rikako for the event in Shanghai; and despite Nanaka's efforts to keep her mind and body busy, whether with work or going to a proper gym, she just couldn't stay out of Shuka's Twitter, watching how happy she looked far from her.

Nanaka tried maintaining her relationship holding on, trying to message Shuka, or trying to video call her, but Shuka was always busy, or unreachable. But Nanaka was patient.

On the other hand, Aina was also just too busy with her other jobs, but never letting Nanaka down for a few "short dates" as Aina called them. Something like a quick tea, or Aina crashing at her place from time to time, with the excuse that she needed to be up early the next day. If it was a lie, then Nanaka would buy it anyways, it didn't matter anymore.

Things tried to be better and calm around mid July, but went to chaos when "Seconds Years" left for Numazu to record the "TekuTeku Aqours" and Nanaka was left alone once again.

Shuka tried to mend her absence in their trip to the Sega Cafe, where they shared as Aqours and had a good time, but everything became fucked up once again on Aina's birthday.

That day, it was Aina's turn to take over the radio show with Arisa. It was some kind of "interview" for the fans to know the members better, this kind of program was being recorded like that. A representative of each Year was the MC in charge of leading. Anchan was the MC for "Second years", Aikyan for "First years" and Arisa for "Third years".

The previous week had been Nanaka's turn with Arisa to answer all the questions, and to be better known by the fans. She was still looking for a good Call&Response for Kanan in those episodes, actually, she was finally satisfied with one fan letter that came with the idea of Nanaka asking "Kanan I know how you are feeling?" The fans answering "Fairly well!" and then Nanaka should say "Ok, then let's hug!".

Of course, that line was covering a lot; some puns with Kanan's name, and the hug that Kanan mentioned in her presentation card, plus, that Nanaka could hug. The fans now knew she was capable and Production did too, so that line screamed loud and clear that after that line, Nanaka could just hug someone, she was inviting the fans to hug too, so why not?

But, that week was Aina's turn to be on the radio and it happened to be on her birthday.

Earlier that morning Nanaka received a message from Arisa with the idea of her popping into the Radio program with a cake to surprise Aina on the broadcast, live for the fans. She said it would be great to keep the NanaAinyaalive and fresh. Of course, when they were working on the script, none of that was mention to Aina, but Nanaka could bet her Sanrio plushie collection that more than a half of Aina's answers were "Arisa made".

Also, Arisa guiding the NanaAinyacomments, like after reading a fan letter asking how Aina and Arisa met and what were their impression of each other, Aina being gay as she was praised Arisa's beauty, and Arisa said "I can really feel Suwawa becoming jealous".

Aina, of course, laughed about it and said, "Wh—What? I love Suwawa the most!".

Nanaka's heart skipped 5 beats and her cheeks became wild red listening at that on the other side of the booth. That was so bold and it was live for everyone. She couldn't help but smile bitterly; she was glad and happy about Aina's feelings, but sure that would give her serious trouble with Shuka.

But, the issue didn't end there. No.

Of course when it was time for Nanaka to pop into the booth and start singing "Happy Birthday" to Aina; Aina freaked out, made a lot of squeaky noises and loud sounds of joy about Nanaka being there with a cake, but she was abruptly shut up by Arisa saying;

"And so, let's have Ainya accept this; what does Suwawa has to say in response to you 'loving her the most'?".

Nanaka's hands shook with the cake and cold sweat ran down her spine. Of course, she had to play along, and she just couldn't hesitate. Arisa had set her up for that. While Aina made more squeaky and loud sounds of surprise and excitement, Nanaka laughed nervously and said;

"I love Ainya the most too—"

Aina and Arisa made some excited sounds and clapped; Aina even took a strawberry off the cake and tried it. She looked happy and bright.

But, Nanaka was in despair. Shuka must have heard that radio show, and heard a blunt confession from both of them. Of course, later they changed the topic and Arisa even asked her for help with Aina's "high tension". Nanaka just laughed at her, thinking that it served her right to suffer Aina's weirdness.

Arisa asked Nanaka to stay to the end to enjoy the cake later with everyone once the program ended; which Nanaka did outside the recording studio.

She sat with the cake, her phone in hand, the saddest smile ever and her sight lost on the wall.

Shuka messaged her of course;

REALLY?!

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!— IM DONE.

It was a fucking mess.

And she needed to fix it somehow, maybe there was a chance at the event of the end of the month, or maybe before it, she just couldn't think in anything at that moment, not even what to say to Shuka to ease her pain, her anger…

So she better ignore Shuka's message and got lost in despair and the wall in front of her. She needed to fix this...

But now, everything was shattering.

Of course, when Aina and Arisa went out of the recording studio, they found a very gloomy Nanaka "sitting" almost like a rag doll, with her sight lost somewhere in the nothingness, with the cake almost falling from the plate and her phone on the floor.

"Suwawa…?" called Aina softly; Nanaka didn't even move.

"Hey, Suwa-san, you will ruin the cake…" said Arisa walking towards her and taking the cake in her hands, it wasn't difficult to take that plate away from her.

"Arisha, I think the cake is not important right now…" said Aina kneeling down to look at Nanaka in that complicated state.

Aina picked up Nanaka's phone off the floor and tried to give it back to her owner, but Nanaka was still somewhere else.

"Well, I don't know if she is broken or if she is in her world as always…" said Arisa looking at Nanaka then to the cake, "She found a good cake indeed…"

"Arisha!" called Aina in her loud tone, scolding her, Arisa gasped, "Suwa-chan…? Something happened?" asked Aina in the sweetest voice ever.

Nanaka blinked a few times and fixed her sight on Aina.

"You done with the broadcast?" asked Nanaka softly.

"Were you sleeping Suwawa?" asked Arisa in her diligent tone; Aina deadpanned her.

"I'm sorry…" said Nanaka trying to sit properly.

"You almost ruined the cake…" said Arisa.

"Hey—hey what happened…?" asked Aina with soft tone, touching Nanaka's knees and looking up at her with big and concerned eyes.

"I think…I think I fuck it up…" said Nanaka softly and gloomily.

"Why?" asked Aina softly.

Why…? why?…WhY?!

Nanaka blinked a few times and then frowned, she gasped and looked at Arisa.

"What?" asked Arisa.

"You set me up!" said Nanaka coldly.

"Eh?" snapped Arisa surprised, "Me?".

"Yes, what you did… back there… the answer to love Ainya the most— Jesus!" said Nanaka now recovering her color.

"Oh crap!" said Aina covering her mouth.

Arisa looked at Nanaka without blinking and with an arrogant smile.

"Shukashuu…" said Aina softly looking at Nanaka, then she looked at Arisa with fear.

"Is she mad?" asked Arisa confidently.

She…did she do that on purpose?!

Nanaka eyes widened; she stood up so abruptly that almost made Aina fall on the floor.

"You knew!" said Nanaka loud.

"Knew what?…" asked Arisa with a deadpan look, " Gee— Suwawa, it's not that difficult to tell…" said Arisa moving the plate around. "She is a jealous brat; you really thought that she would change her ways? That she would be so cool with you flirting with Ainya so bluntly on camera for the fans?… Please, don't be naive!"

"Arisha! What the hell have you done?!" said Aina standing up, her voice growing louder.

"I didn't do anything!" said Arisa now mad, "I just did my job, don't blame me for trying to help you both!"

"This is not helping!" said Aina with a mad tone.

"Hey Hey! don't take out it on me… I just followed the script and played along with what production wants! They want you two to be close and gay with each other, Shuka is OUT of the equation, understand that! You CAN'T protect her forever Suwawa!"

"That's not your call!" said Nanaka, angry now.

"It was! And you know what?! You started it!" said Arisa with the same mad tone, "You were the first one to bring that up on our first Radio show; one of your charm points was to love Ainya! And I didn't see you complaining back then!" said Arisa, now with anger on her face.

"Yes you did…" said Aina turning softly to Nanaka, "What did Shukashuu say about it…?"

"She…" started Nanaka, but then she bit her lips, "She…she never knew…" finished softly.

"What?!" asked Aina loudly; Arisa hummed with smugness on her face.

"She… She was in Shanghai, so she never heard the show…" said Nanaka in shame.

Yes, of course, she remembered her first time on the radio, Arisa asked her for 3 charm points. She had said her pale skin, her low energy and that she loved Aina. Of course, that wasn't a charm point, but reviewing the script with Arisa and the Chief they determined that "Loving Aina" was more attractive than having any other hobby (And Nanaka's hobbies were kind of boring…). So confident enough that Shuka was having a blast in Shanghai, she would forget completely about Nanaka's turn in the Radio, and it was just like that.

Nanaka did what she did and Shuka didn't notice or cared. But right now she was in town, and had been listening to the show, she clearly had forgotten that this was just that; a Show.

Aina sighed softly and rubbed Nanaka's back.

"Ok, so what are we gonna do?" she asked looking at Nanaka, then Arisa.

Arisa shrugged.

"Should we need to do something?" asked Arisa back, then looked at the cake, "We should eat this, looks so yummy"

"Arisha, please," said Aina, then looked at Nanaka, "Did she say something already?"

"Yes, she told me she was done…" said Nanaka taking her phone back, Arisa snorted.

"Well, that sure makes it easier now, you can focus on your work—"

"It's not that simple, you cold woman!" said Nanaka recovering her mad tone, Arisa bit her lips.

"Ok ok, don't lose your shit…" said Aina, then she fixed her sight to Arisa, "We are a group Arisha, if they break up, we would too, you know that"

Arisa rolled her eyes, this was a nuisance.

"I don't see the point on fixing something that is already broken," said Arisa.

Aina looked at Nanaka with sad eyes, then looked at Arisa with a serious face.

"I think it's not broken yet," she said, then looked at Nanaka, "Ok, she said she was 'done', but what the hell does that mean? We don't know... talk to her"

"And tell her what?" asked Nanaka.

"Well, the truth?" shrugged Aina.

I can't even face the truth, I don't think Shuka is prepared for that either...

"I think that's worse..." quoted Arisa softly, but was ignored.

"Should I tell her that I didn't mean what I said, that I don't love you the most and everything is fake for the show?" said Nanaka dryly; Aina bit her lips and her eyes welled up in tears.

Arisa looked at Aina with sadness.

"Yes...you should tell her that..." said Aina softly and shyly.

"You ok Aina-san...?" asked Arisa, but was ignored once again.

"You should show her, production and the fans that you love her most..." said Aina looking to her shoes.

"How?" asked Nanaka.

"What? Wait—" tried Arisa.

"Well, the next time the fans are gonna see us is going to be on that event at the end of the month; that's your chance to prove her wrong…" said Aina more confidently, "But maybe you should talk to her before that…"

"Yes, I must talk to her…" repeated Nanaka.

"Wait—wait…you two, this is not that easy," said Arisa cutting both girls determination, "I must remind you that the fans believe both of you to be… well… gay for each other, why the hell you want to ruin what you have been working on the last months because your brat of a girlfriend can't accept your job…"

"You are a cold woman…" said Aina with a serious tone.

"I'm not— Suwawa don't ruin it!" said Arisa now looking at Nanaka, "Is it worth it?"

Nanaka blinked a few times and tightened her grip on her phone.

Was it worth it? Her love? Her efforts? Her career? Was Shuka worth it?

"It is…" she said softly, and then brought the phone to her sight, and started moving her fingers faster to write Shuka back and try to fix this mess.

In the beginning, Shuka was reticent to hear Nanaka out and typed back strong angry words, but in the end, she agreed to meet Nanaka and talk about it.

Arisa gave Aina a sad look and a bitter smile, while Aina looked in sadness to her shoes.

"Aina-san, you ok…?" repeated Arisa.

Aina lifted her sight to her, and faked a smile.

"Should we eat that cake?" said Aina.

"Sure…" said Arisa, "We should take a picture too, for the memories…"

And they did. They took a few pictures, Aina with a shy smile, Arisa with her serious face, and Nanaka with a soft smile, but with better face since Shuka agreed to talk to her and fix that mess.

A mess that maybe couldn't be fixed.

.

.

—-**0. August 2016. 0**—

Quiet. Silence. Peace.

Those things were hard for Nanaka to have for at least a whole month, and the fact that it was Summer didn't help, it was just so damn hot. August was madness, but no because there was much to do for the fans on the public side of the project, but in the inside of the project.

The Anime was still broadcasting weekly, and with that, they were filled with photo shoots, interviews, continue recording for SIF, the last episodes of the Anime and the insert songs. Also, Production had determined that the Blu-rays should have more songs that weren't featured in the Anime, so they had started recording at least 3 more songs.

Also and more importantly, the event of July 31st had left them with great news about their first Love Live!. The dates were set for February 25th and 26th of 2017 in Yokohama Arena. Practice would start in November. It made sense thinking that not all the songs were ready to be practiced, and before starting that, Production needed to determine all the settings and budget for that. It made the girls sigh in relief for at least a few months.

But, they knew that it wasn't that easy.

August meant a few things for the Sunshine members, there where trips to Taiwan Comic Fair 2016, where Anchan, Aikyan, and Aina made an appearance and held some special talk. Aina was the most enthusiastic about it since it was her first trip overseas. In this same activity line, Aiai and King went to Thailand to make an appearance at the Anime Festival Asia 2016.

As for the rest of the members, the Radio show kept broadcasting weekly; the beginning of August was the turn for "First Years" to take over, then "Second Years", and last week of the month "Third Years". Of course, they held a Niconama with the 9 of them; now they were used to holding one once a month.

Regarding August's Niconama; it was another mess.

It seemed that Nanaka just couldn't help but "fuck it up" with Shuka again. Production, seeing that the NanaAinya was a huge success, tried to keep it up, forcing Nanaka to be on the tight rope.

After the "Radio disaster", Nanaka talked with Shuka and convinced her that everything was for the Show, that Arisa had set her up (maybe that wasn't a lie), but her feelings were for Shuka and Shuka alone. It was a hard battle, but in the end, Nanaka had succeeded.

Later she tried her best to show to the fans that she had a soft spot for Shuka; meaning being extremely close to her at the event of July 31st, even in the VTR while watching the fireworks she boldly held Shuka's hand the whole time. Later uploading pictures together, but of course, she had to upload pictures with Aina too.

This, of course, made Shuka bitter. It meant that whatever Nanaka did, she later needed to do it with Aina, and then everything went to hell. In response, Shuka didn't even upload pictures with Nanaka, instead, she uploaded with "Second Years" or Anchan.

That day in the Niconama wasn't any different. Despite Nanaka's efforts to take pictures with Shuka and being all lovey-dovey with her in the changing room (behavior that now the members were kind of used to…), then on camera it was all about NanaAinya once again.

The eternal loop of Nanaka's despair.

That day was a day to bully Rikako because of her hairstyle or drawing skills, but also was a day were they reviewed the episodes that had already aired; of course, when the "Third Years" arc was being mentioned, "Third Years" interacted with each other, forcing Nanaka and Aina to "do stuff"; glances, giggles and soft touches (touches that clearly Nanaka forced by extending her long arm towards Aina…) But the happiest moment was the SIF challenge that had forced Nanaka and Shuka to stick their bodies together. But it wasn't enough to keep Shuka happy.

Actually, the situation was like a time bomb; anytime Shuka could explode about it, and that kept Nanaka in constant fear.

The fact that the tension started to be felt by the other members was making Nanaka nervous too; but it was weird, because even if they had arguments and discussion about their relationship, the changing room was still a safe place, and they left their differences out of it. They knew that Aqours was important, and both needed to be at "peace" to do their jobs properly, and the members just couldn't know they were having problems. But still, it was difficult to be close to each other.

For Rikako's birthday, neither Shuka or Nanaka went to the celebration. As for Shuka's birthday, Nanaka did her best to restore the balance, of course, they were celebrating almost a year of relationship, even if right now the relationship was in its weaker point.

.

.

.

—-**0. September 2016. 0**—

After that toxic month, Nanaka determined just one thing.

She needed to somehow to removed Aina a little bit from the equation. Shuka was constantly feeling threatened by Aina's presence. It wasn't something new, in fact, it was something that bothered Shuka from the beginning of the relationship, but the weirdest thing was that now Shuka wasn't mad at Aina like before, her anger was towards Nanaka.

Of course, it was Nanaka the "bolder" one who wanted to hug, touch, and be all over Aina, the later just let Nanaka be and get advantage from the situation. And now Arisa didn't even bother in telling them what to do, or how to improve the NanaAinya; Nanaka and Aina did just everything by themselves, and now everyone seemed to be even used to it. Even if that meant that Shuka needed to suffer.

So, Nanaka feeling guilty about Shuka's pain, decided that to spare her from that, meaning that the solution was to remove Aina from the picture.

Of course, September came, and with it a new Niconama. Production determined that after the broadcast, "Third Years" would move to Numazu to record the TeKuTeKu Aqours program that was left. This made Nanaka frown in despair, and Shuka knew why.

Nanaka would leave with Aina that night and spend the night in a hotel to start recording the program first thing in the morning, (somehow Arisa's presence was null). Of course, Shuka wasn't happy. Lately, she never was, and that was making Nanaka troubled.

So while the members were reviewing the script for that night's Niconama, she decided that she needed to cheat. At the end of the Niconama, they would shuffle some sticks with numbers deciding new trios for the next 3 broadcast. She needed to stick with Shuka and not with Aina, no matter what.

That Niconama was the worst of all the broadcasts so far, and not only because Rikako was bullied again.

Because they reviewed the episodes of the "Third years" arc and read fan letters about it, even had to talk about their experience recording episode 9, which meant all the KanaMari and related stuff. It was like scrubbing everything into Shuka's face once again. And Nanaka didn't make it any better by hugging Aina not caring if Arisa was in the middle; they just hugged in front of Arisa making it look like something funny.

Yes, it was funny, but not for Shuka.

So after the broadcast, when it was time to pull the sticks with the numbers, Nanaka tried to mend her mistake by grabbing Shuka's hand, sending her the message that she was eager to be with her in the next broadcast; Shuka at least never withdrew her hand from Nanaka's. So Nanaka made sure to peak into the box and grab a stick that had the same number as Shuka; Nanaka needed a Niconama without Aina to stop hurting Shuka with her behavior.

Luckily enough, she succeeded and pulled out the stick with the number "12", same as Shuka and Aiai. That meant that the 3 of them would be in charge of December's Niconama. When both saw each other's numbers they couldn't help but smile wide and celebrate like if they had won the lottery.

After an intense session of Selfies and videos with the new trios, Nanaka proceeded to change into her normal clothes, remembering they needed to leave for Numazu on schedule.

"Gee— I can't wait!" squeaked Aiai walking to her locker, Nanaka looked at her by the corner of her eye.

"Well, you have to wait; it's going to be on December…" said Shuka with a giggle and opening her locker, which wasn't the one beside Nanaka anymore.

"It's going to feel like a CYaRon!'s broadcast" giggled Aiai.

Shuka laughed.

"Ne, Osuwa, you think you can handle it?" asked Shuka with her wide smile; Nanaka felt that Shuka's anger had vanished with this good news.

"I can handle it… it's going to be fun!" said Nanaka with her own special enthusiasm.

"It's gonna be… the "Pure Attribute Niconama!" snapped Aiai, "Hey! First time you two would be together in something…" squeaked Aiai.

Nanaka smiled wide.

"Isn't it great?!" said Shuka taking her shirt off and hanging it.

"Yes, I'm glad…" said Nanaka putting her blouse on.

"Oh no… I'm gonna feel all lonely…" said Aiai removing her skirt, "Don't you dare try to do your dirty stuff there with me, you hear it?!"

Nanaka was about to say something while Shuka was giggling when King interrupted.

"That's not gonna happen, you don't need to worry, Shuka is not Ainya…" said King without even looking at them.

Nanaka's heart stopped, and she could bet Shuka's did too. She looked at Shuka with sadness, to her surprised Shuka's smile faded.

It was like if her happiness had just jumped out the window.

"Yes, but I wasn't talking about the broadcast… you know! The dirty stuff they do inside the changing room…" kept saying Aiai, Nanaka made a bitter smile, Shuka just turned around giving Nanaka her back.

Of course, her anger returned…

"Oh right…that's true…" said King in her place.

Nanaka hurried up in dressing herself when she heard again;

"So you don't need to worry, she can't touch Shukashuu on camera, you are safe," said King

"Yeah, you are right, Ainya must be the lucky one," quoted Aiai.

It was like a nightmare.

They kept talking about how lucky Aina was, how weird must be for Shuka to see her girlfriend flirt so boldly on camera with someone else, and laugh about it. And that she needed to stay there with a wide smile and do nothing about it.

They kept talking about it when King in a joking tone shouted towards Shuka;

"Be careful Shukashuu, or your precious 'Osuwa' might be stolen away—"

"If you are not careful she is gonna leave you for Nya!" said Aiai in a mocking tone.

But it was enough.

Shuka with a loud thump closed her locker, grabbed her bag, the hanger and moved out at an angry pace.

Nanaka opened her eyes wide, of course, it was so comprehensive that she ended up angry and pissed off about it. All the members must be aware that Shuka was like an accessory in the NanaAinya. It must be painful.

"You are a bunch of dummies," said Nanaka in an angry tone, closing her locker with a heavy thump, grabbing her bag, the hanger and walking out of the changing room.

She needed to find Shuka and try to calm her down; remembering that she didn't have enough time because she needed to meet the rest of "Third Years" for the trip to Numazu she hurried up.

It wasn't that difficult. She was in Production's office returning the hanger.

Nanaka opened the door slowly and sighed, relieved to find Shuka there. The room was empty but for them, Shuka was hanging her uniform with a frown on her face.

"Hey… Sweetie…" called Nanaka; she closed the door behind her and walked to the rack to hang her stuff.

"Osuwa…" called Shuka with a dry tone.

Nanaka left her hanger and looked at her with a sad face.

"Don't pay any mind to that dummies… you know—"

"Stop!" Shuka cut in.

They locked gazes, Sad gazes.

"We…" started Shuka, her eyes welled in tears, she took a deep breath, "we need to talk."

Nanaka opened her eyes wide. Her heart stopped. She could hear it, something shattered.

Quiet. Silence. But definitely not Peace.

-0oo0-

---

Notes:

Poor Suwawa...

Drama is the fuel for the soul.
The blanks are in Lies Under a Mask 09 and chapter 10.
Please look forward to those chapters, here the project would move along...
We hope you like it.
See you then!