Walk-ON!
Chapter 10:
Let There Be Rock
Japan was sweltering in its summertime spiel of suffering as Corona's "Rhythm of the Night" unleashed its pulsating backbeat and infectious hooks throughout its streets. The energy was flowing in the month of July, and a youthful vibe could be felt while the cicadas relaxed in the shade. Oddly enough, the trains were running quiet during the dead period in the afternoon. Perhaps its drivers had opt for the pause that refreshes, but who could blame them? It was summer, the love was running high, and the skinship was stronger than ever. As it should.
Yui Hirasawa was relaxing by the train station, lazily licking an ice cream bar drenched in vanilla. The heat was so pronounced that it caused the bar to melt slightly with the cream dripping towards her cleavage and down, eliciting a few turns and sweat drops from the salarymen passing by en route towards their next paycheck to lasciviousness. Laying a sheepishly naughty face towards them, her tongue dancing around the bar invitingly, they turned away and took off. Yui pouted and continued to work on her bar as Azusa Nakano came down to meet her.
"What are you doing?" Azusa asked Yui, now sucking at it half-finished frozen concoction.
"Oh, hi," Yui said. "Um, I'm just eating some ice cream. This is really good."
"Are you sure you're eating ice cream and not trying to invite someone to rob you of your hard-earned virginity?"
"Ehhh? Why would you say that?"
"Look at all the people staring."
Yui saw couples talking to each other, with a few lecherous old farts peering in for a closer look. She had a generously thick mess of vanilla cream between her breasts, eliciting a blush and a smile. "Oh my, I think it's gotten all over," Yui said, a hand on her cheek in surprise. Her lamest Tsumugi impersonation.
"The hell it has!" Yui giggled as Azusa looked on with a disgusted frown, which turned into a smile of pity.
"So what onee-chan told me is that you are heading to over to camp, right?" Yui said at the nearby Max Burger.
"Three nights, four days, all the amenities," a beaming Azusa said. She couldn't get the grin off her face. It was impossible.
"Onee-chan also told me that last year, she was having a blast. She also said that she made out with Mio on the beach."
Azusa paled in horror. "Oh God, why do you tell me this!" she cried. "Ui-sempai made out with Mio-sempai?" Her index fingers met as her eyes spiraled in and out of place. Reality crept in. "But she had a lot of fun, huh? So they practiced?"
Yui nodded. "That's what she told me, too. And onee-chan was busy working on some solo parts long after they were asleep."
"I see. Ui-sempai is amazing."
"...and when she was done, she took a photo of Mio's stripes."
Azusa was in shock and slumped back on the chair. "Aw hell, not again with the perverted stuff! Does she really have that strong of a yuri taste!"
"Um, she also told me that you two kissed when you first joined the band, I think."
"Darn. I should have known her yuri taste was that epic. I just lost the game."
She tilted her head to the side. "Eh?"
"Nothing, nothing," said Azusa, flailing a little. "But this training camp...should go without any problems. All systems go."
That's what she thought. Little did she know that she would be wrong...by a country kilometer. Compounding matters was that out of all the members of the band, Azusa tanned the fastest. It had to be in her genes: her parents tend to play in Brazil and Capri and all the other vacation hot spots when they didn't do Puppet Master Quartet work. As a result of cruising in the hot, hot sun, they tanned very easily.
Not like Azusa seemed to mind. But for her, it was a cosmetic nuisance. Azusa had no intentions whatsoever to have a ganguro mentality about her, and yet, with her tendency to tan, it was inevitable that she would pass for one hailing from that town of the Hachiko known as Shibuya City. Pretty inevitable indeed.
"Now I have this question, Azusa-chan," said Yui, working on some fries. "Hmmm. So, what is onee-chan like when she is with you in the Light Music Club? Cause all I do in my classroom is bum around and all that stuff."
Snapping her finger, Azusa said, "Well, you should have a pretty clear idea."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"See, here's the thing. You know when Ui-sempai goes to her room and plays something. Picture that in your classroom, without the chairs, just a table and a few seats, and me and Mio-sempai and Ritsu-sempai and Mugi-sempai and you got an idea of how it goes."
"Oooooh." A pause. "I don't get it." Azusa wondered if she really was this spaced out in her own Yuiniverse.
"Actually, let me rewind things here. We don't practice at all."
"Oh? You don't? You mean onee-chan is lazy? That's kinda weird, don't you think?"
"No, she's the exception, as well as Mio-sempai. The others just won't commit themselves."
"Commit?"
"They won't do the work."
"Oh. So what do they do?"
"Eat cake and drink tea."
At that moment, Yui's ears perked. Grabbing Azusa's hands she said, "Cake and tea! Who brings it? I bet it tastes really delicious!" she exclaimed, sparks forming in her eyes.
"Mugi-sempai."
"Ooooooh! Mugi-chan, huh? I want to taste her sweets so bad. You must feel real lucky to be in a band like that with Mugi providing the tasty snacks!"
"Not really." Azusa turned away. "This is why we can't practice one damn bit. We're eating and drinking too much, and playing too little." Yui nodded. "We give ourselves some crazy-ass nicknames, and we always meet each other more often than I would want to. It's a pain in the ass, man."
"Onee-chan is so easy-going and warm, it feels so good to be with her, don't you think?"
"Oh dear God, don't tell me that you have a yuri taste too!"
Yui's head tilted again, this time in the other direction. "What's yuri?"
She smacked her forehead. "Pretend I didn't mention that word. Although...I kinda like it..."
"But what is it? What is it?"
"Girl love."
"Ooooooh. Cool."
"Now she finds it cool huh?," Azusa thought to herself. "This is bad, real bad. Limit your loss of dignity ASAP! Something." She spoke. "I'm surprised you think yuri is cool."
"I know a few people in my class that read it all the time. Like this one really tall dude with glasses, a bowl cut and a bad set of teeth..."
Turning back, Azusa interjected. "Ah, I don't really need to hear that. Anyway, what's Ui-sempai up to?"
"I believe onee-chan is at home writing some stuff and playing a few more chords."
"She is?"
"Onee-chan likes to mix work with play, and I like it. She told me that she will be tuning in to ESPN to watch some football before switching over to the Playboy Channel."
"What? How do your parents get the money to allow you to watch 24/7/365 porn?"
"I've never seen it..."
"Thank God you haven't..."
"But onee-chan at times looks at it and is inspired after watching some of the shows there."
Azusa paled yet again. She could not comprehend as to why Yui would spill the beans on this virgin soul without cracking a straight face.
"I generally don't like the air conditioners because they cause me to get a cold. So when I'm in my room, I literally lie as if I'm dead as a doornail."
Azusa wondered if Yui's brain was indeed dead as a doornail when she told her piece of irrelevant trivia.
"Onee-chan tells me that when I am lying around lazily, I look cute when I'm doing it."
"Helplessly cute. Disgusting adorable. Those are synonyms, one and the same."
Yui blinked. "Synonyms?"
"Oh don't tell you don't even know what those are!"
"Helpless cute and disgustingly adorable don't seem like same words to me."
"So you do know." Good, she's not as retarded as I thought, pondered Azusa, taking a sip of Fanta.
"But if it's Azusa-chan saying so, then I guess they are the same." Azusa spat it out before she could swallow it down.
Taking another sip of the orange Fanta, she went on, "Sometimes, I wondered about Mio-sempai adopting me as a younger sister. It just seems to be a fit, you know. The hair was the same, the demeanor was the same, the commitment was the same...the only difference was that I seem to have more courage that Mio-sempai, who can't stand being scared of anything.
"I'll let my thoughts run wild here. I think of the two of us with long black hair, donning cat ears, wearing next to nothing, I'm nested in Mio-sempai's bosom while we sleep into the sands of eternity. I get those types of dreams every night after I first saw her. My heart skips a few beats. It was as if she was an older version of me. I would do anything to see it happen. My own older sister—my only older sister, and she plays the bass real darn well. Could you imagine that?"
"Seems like whenever Mio-chan is with you, Azusa-chan, you sleep better at night."
Azusa had a stunned look. "How...how would you know?"
"You told me."
"I guess I did."
"I suppose she is really nice and a cool person." Yui said, finishing her burger. "I never got to see her that much. What about Ricchan?"
She took some time to think about it in between sips. "The problem with Ritsu-sempai is that she's not a responsible club president and she's a tomboy. I'll take the fifth."
"Sorry to hear that." Yui proceeded to dispose of the rest of the fries. "Proceed. Oh, behind you."
Ritsu peered over like the stalker she was. "Who's irresponsible here?"
Azusa's orange Fanta erupted like Kilauea on a Sunday morning. "Shiiiiiit!" she shrieked.
"Talk about an entrance, Ricchan," Yui said, clapping her hands. "Well choreographed. Hi."
"Yo, how are you two lovebirds doing?" Ritsu said to the other two.
"Lounging around, eating lunch," Yui said.
"True."
Her arm was wrapped around a traumatized Azusa, who was receiving a sisterly noogie. "Ritsu-sempai, don't scare me like that!" she shot back. "Urggg...and...Lovebirds...?"
"Quiet you. I went from the back, and came in and saw you two, and I thought to myself, let me mosey on down here" Ritsu said to Yui, who was busy twiddling a straw. "Oy, are you listening?"
"Oh yes, yes I was," she replied, sipping some more Coke. "Did you go by yourself, or was Mio-chan with you?"
"No my dear, as a matter of fact I went solo this time. Mio's doing some summer classes, and she's even tutoring some of the slackers.
"Hey Ricchan."
"Yeah?"
With her hands tied behind her back, she tilted her head to the side. "Am I a slacker?"
It would be easy for her to say Yes, because it was true. A straight arrow, triple bull's eye, gold medal...throw it in the bag and take it to the bank. But this was a very sensitive younger sister she was dealing with, so adjustments had to be made. They had to be in order. "No."
"Waaai! That's Ricchan for you!"
"You better believe it. There's only one Ritsu Tainaka."
"Amen!"
"Could you quit it already!" Azusa pleaded. "At this rate, your cooties are gonna go FedEx on me. And why the hell didn't you go with her to summer classes?"
"Me?" Ritsu asked. "Why the heck would I go to summer classes? It's boring. It's a drag, as Ui would say it. I have no intention, no clear intention to take part in such follies as that."
"I figured." Actually, if Ritsu did go and help out, Mio would never get anything done. Besides, pouncing on the kitten of the club was better than bumming around on her own right. She needed something to do, as the Ramones song suggested. "That's right; I wanted to ask you this."
"Shoot."
"Mugi-sempai, as you know, has her own tea set, and a villa. Is she really that rich?"
"Well, the cakes and tea are brought from the house and are custom made down there. She also owns the music shop where we got our instruments. Also, she was the one responsible for bringing Gitah and Hiro to Ui's house."
"Gitah and Hiro? What are those?" asked Yui.
"Gitah is the guitar Ui uses. Her backup guitar, Hiro, is blue-colored, and is used only as a backup."
"Gitah...Hiro...Guitar Hero. I think I now know where she got the names. But I haven't played the game."
"Anyway," continued Ritsu, "at her villa she has her own servants, and is on trips when she is on vacation. She is very well-traveled."
"No way! For real!" Azusa couldn't believe it.
Ritsu perked up. "I kid you not. This is some interesting trivia I bring up. It excites, it stimulates and it's true."
"I would think so...but at the same time I would believe you haven't got a clue either."
"Let us test that hypothesis then, dear Azusa. Calling Mugi in 3...2...1." Ritsu whipped out her mobile and dialed in. Some time passed. "Interesting. She's not answering her cell phone." Seems something was up. "Let's try the Kotobuki house." Azusa meant to find out.
A few presses later, a voice answered. "Greetings."
"Looks like someone picked up. Yes, I was wondering, is this Ms. Tsumugi's father?"
"No, this is actually the butler of the Kotobuki combine speaking."
Ritsu and Azusa couldn't believe it. "She actually has a butler!" they exclaimed. Well, it certainly wasn't Hayate Ayasaki. He was busy paying his dues to the Sanzen'ins just up the road.
Ritsu stammered to find the words. "Um...is Ms. Tsumugi around?"
"Relax, sempai, relax." Azusa had to cool the engines one bit. Did she have a coffee bender this morning?
"I should inform you that Madame Tsumugi is in Finland right now, avoiding the heat," the butler said.
"I see. Thank you. Excuse me." Ritsu immediately hung up.
"She's in Finland?" Azusa asked.
"I told you she was well-traveled."
"Finland...where is that?" Yui wondered.
"It's in Europe, Yui," Azusa said.
"Ooooh, Maybe I will get to see a lot of fins."
"You sure will! Wait...what?"
"I am spent," Ritsu said. "I am a dog in heat right now." She broke out in song. "Summertime, and the livin's easy..."
Didn't take long for Yui to come up with something. "Onee-chan bought some watermelon at my place, you want to go?"
That got Ritsu going. "Yes. Onward!"
"SO it only takes food for Ritsu-sempai to get her mojo back," Azusa thought. "God save her hunger."
"Hey, onee-chan, we're back," Yui said, bringing Azusa and Ritsu with her.
"Melons," Ritsu said. "Squishy melons. I want..."
"Ricchan and Azusa-chan are here."
They couldn't believe what they saw. Ui was rocking to "Let There Be Rock" by AC/DC.
"Ui-sempai?" asked Azusa.
"What the hell has she been doing all this time?" Ritsu said to the other two next to her. "The Angus Young spasm?"
"Next thing you know she'll be taking her shirt off." No sooner had she said that that the shirt and top were both off. Azusa nose began to bleed as she fainted. "Yui...go get her a tissue," Ritsu said in a deadpan tone.
"Yes, ma'am!"
The next day, Ui and Ritsu walked into Miss Sawako Yamanaka's office with an agenda on hand. "Excuse our intrusion," Ritsu said, opening the door.
"Greetings, Miss Sawako," Ui added.
"Hello there," Sawako said, cooling herself down with a fan. "What can I do for you two? Man, it's hot in here."
Déjà vu, thought Ritsu. "Tell us about it. Anyway, it's supposed to be summer break, and you guys are working like it's a foregone conclusion that there isn't any."
"Something like that. We got research, lesson plans, and meetings with the unions, the headmaster and other teachers, the whole nine yards. It's the nature of the business that is being a teacher here at Sakuragaoka. So, are you guys going to practice?"
"Yes, ma'am" Ui replied.
"Did you need anything from me?"
"Actually," Ritsu added, "the club plans to go on a training camp like we did last summer."
Ui went on. "Taking from what Ricchan said, we were wondering, Miss Sawako, if you were interested in coming as well."
"Training camp, huh?"
"Her face speaks trouble," Ritsu said as an aside to Ui, who smirked in sympathy.
"I'm sorry, both of you," she said, "but I've got quite a hefty work load that will prevent me from joining you folks down there."
"Fair enough. We'll go by ourselves. But we should warn you this: you snooze, sensei, you lose, sensei!" Ui said.
"Awww, that's too bad," Ritsu added, rubbing salt into their advisor's wounds as the two of them left. "You know, we thought you would get pissed we didn't ask you to come, but THIS is what happens when we do, huh?"We're going swimming, and there's going to be a barbecue and a boatload of food down at camp, too. This is going to be a blast. You snooze, sensei, you lose, sensei!"
Had Ui not lay the bait discreetly, Sawako would not even court the idea. Little did they know...
The hours, minutes and seconds counted down before camp began. Back at the music prep room, some final preparations were in order. Mugi returned from her trip in Finland. Apparently, the fact that she was homesick triggered her to fly back to Tokyo.
"All right crew," Ritsu said as the others packed their back. "It's been a quite a while since we have been together like this."
"More like a few months," said Azusa to Ui, who returned a grin and a shrug.
Ritsu continued her spiel. "We gotta go buy some stuff for the camp."
Back to the shopping mall they went. Everything was at a bargain from late July to mid-August, and there was a good crowd on hand.
"So, dearest Mio-sempai," Azusa said with a gleeful smile, "what are we gonna buy today? New equipment, maybe?"
She pondered the question, and then said, "Let's see..."
Ui interjected. "Swimsuits."
"There's her motivation right there," Azusa said. "No Sprite needed. I had a gut feeling this was what we were going to do."
"It's not like we're going to play like a bunch of robots!" Ritsu exclaimed.
"Idiot, I can't trust you!" Azusa was still traumatized from the incident at Max a while back.
"What?"
"You gotta be able to turn yourself loose and give yourself a break every now and then," Mio explained. "Let your hair down, live a little. To experience summer the way it was meant to be experienced makes you better appreciate who you are, no matter where you are."
"I guess you're right," Azusa replied. Talk about an older sister tendency. Mio petted Azusa's head as she blushed.
"Hey Mio," Ui asked.
"Yeah?"
A thumbs-up. "That was well-put, babe."
"Ohohohoho, why thank you, m'dear. Frankly, I don't give a damn about what I just said, but I do."
"Damned if you do, damned if you don't?" Ritsu asked.
"No, that's Bart Simpson. I was quoting Clark Gable as Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind."
"Ahah. So you do like that movie?"
"It's one on my favorites." Meanwhile, Tsumugi was savoring the sisterly moment as Ritsu sensed the possibility that she lost the game.
The blue summer skies and white clouds danced around Tsumugi Kotobuki's villas. The climate was perfect, the weather was great, and the presence of the band was imminent.
As they arrived, everyone but Mugi stared in awe at the size of the villa, which wasn't the largest, but was large in its own right. It was actually smaller than the previous villa that the band used, but it had more than enough room for rehearsals, icebreaking, barbecues, and it had a beach that was cleaned of any debris a day in advance. Everything was set up for a fantastic four-day getaway.
"Once again...this is epic," Ritsu said. "Hallelujah!"
"Was this the one you rented last year?" Ui asked.
"Actually, that villa was unavailable again this year," Tsumugi explained. "A Frenchman by the name of Jessy Matador was doing a video shoot for a Eurovision song contest entry, so that was unavailable. This one is smaller than others, so please bear with me."
Ui turned to the others. Mio was in shocks, Ritsu was in disbelief, and Azusa blinked for a few seconds. "We won't mind one damn bit. What's small for you is big for us, and we can live with it. Right, fellas?" The others briskly nodded. "There's your answer right there, Milady."
"Okay."
Less than an hour later, Ritsu and Ui took off. Ritsu was decked in a white two piece with orange accents, while Ui had her blue two-piece replete with a skirt.
"Let's roll!" Ritsu said.
"Right!" Ui responded, leaping into the air.
"Hey!" Mio exclaimed, calling them back. "We'll play after we finish practicing!"
"For real!" Ritsu pouted.
"I want to head into the ocean already," Ui complained. "Even perfection needs to have its flaws."
"Time for a vote. I vote no and say that we practice first."
"We say yes," Ui and Ritsu said in unison.
"I'm also voting no," Azusa said.
"So that means Mugi is the deciding vote," Mio said. "Mugi, your call."
"Let's do it like we did it last year: let's head to the beach and play," Tsumugi said. Three to two, majority wins. Mio couldn't believe that she backstabbed her. Could it be that her yuri fix reached dangerous levels?
"Let's roll, folks, we'll be waiting for you!" Ui said, Ritsu giving chase.
"All right!" Ritsu exclaimed. "It's go time! Tout le monde! Yes we can!"
Azusa wondered, as she donned her pink one piece with frills, if Tsumugi's concept of playtime was really cruising on the Love Boat and not the keyboard. She pictured Tsumugi and Mio on the deck replete with mai tai and screwdriver, while Ui and Ritsu were at the bow, catching the breeze like that out of Titanic.
She noticed that there was a cruise ship after all.
"I told you, we didn't need this!" Tsumugi exclaimed through tears. She was donning a gold two-piece with orchid print and sarong wrap. "Clean up everything around this beach, and take away the boat as well, thank you!"
"Yes ma'am!" the park operator responded over the mobile.
"Mugi..." wondered Mio. She had a blue two piece, with some small white and orange accent along the left side of her top and the right side of her bottom.
"Sempai..." wondered Azusa. They were so identical in more ways than one. Poor Tsumugi Kotobuki. Like Azusa, detail was always critical, and in this case, the people at the bottom didn't do their part.
Not like Ui and Ritsu were minding. It was heaven on earth for them. They were both tossing a beach ball around encased in their own sparkles of happiness and the cool of the Pacific. Meanwhile, Azusa was pouting in the middle of Tsumugi clapping her hands and Mio taking photos for the next scrapbook. Next to them was a boom box that had Jessy's song playing: "Allez! Ola! Ole!" The song would finish 12th at the Eurovision Song Contest the following year. It was turning out to be one of Tsumugi's favorite songs on her iPod, and she even played the simple chord progression during practice, improvising to get an idea of how she could maximize the capability of her KORG synthesizer.
The song reminded her of the days she spent as a child on the island of Capri, in Marseille, in Monaco, on every resort on the Mediterranean. "Allez! Ola! Ole!" reminded her of her childhood. It made her wonder just what the bloody heck was she doing wasting her time in Helsinki.
But Azusa still wondered if they were going to ever practice and get the kinks worked out. That was the issue with Azusa Nakano. She was all about work, and not so much about play. She felt that the only way that she could get something done was to grab her red Fender Stratocaster, and come up with some type of hook for the next song. For her, this vacation seemed nothing but a waste of time. The only thing prevented her from buying into her own logic was Mio's advice: live a little, appreciate yourself a lot. It was the type of advice she wasn't used to because her parents opted to give her something different to chew on. They were so busy doing concerts and session work that there was just no time for them to get a break. Azusa didn't need to go through that because she was going through her first year. She had a set of priorities that weren't as demanding, but still required her attention.
Now she was a driven individual, that Azusa Nakano. She was motivated to be the best musician she could be. Leisure time did not fit into the equation. However, as a member of the light music club, it was a concept, a release, a peace of mind that she needed to learn to embrace—more than anything at all—and accept. Life was going to have to be a beach, rather than a female version of man's best female friend, for the next few days...even though she had trouble accepting that she would get a really strong tan afterwards.
"Hey Azunyan!" It was Ui with the ball. Azusa looked up. "Come play with us!"
"No thanks."
Ritsu started to wonder. "I guess you're not very good at sports, I take it?"
Azusa was incensed. Music was her forte, but physical education wasn't. Heck, she couldn't even jump a vault right without landing top-down-bottom-up, to her own embarrassment and the delight and amazement of the male contingent in their gym outfits. Furthermore, Azusa understood that there was a crazy gym uniform fetish running rampant across the country like wildfires under the Kanto skylines, and she didn't want any part of it. However, she wanted to prove her point that she wanted a piece of the piece. Carpe diem. Yes we can and all that stuff.
"Ritsu, you liar!" she exclaimed as Ritsu grinned in the distance. "I can play if I want to! I'll show you, Ritsu-sempai!" Here, she chose to take Mio's advice.
The three of them went around, tossing the blue and gold inflatable lazily. For the first time in ages, Azusa knew what it meant to break out of her shell. She felt energized, full of spirit and ecstasy, as if she had the wings of an angel flying high in the summer of her youth. And would you believe it, she could sure toss that ball around. Nobody on that day, at Tsumugi Kotobuki's villa, could say that they didn't see the real Azusa Nakano, the happy, blissful Azusa Nakano that day. This was the Azusa they would remember her as.
The boom box was now playing "Hold on Tight" by the Electric Light Orchestra. Mugi was singing along. "Accroche-toi à ton rêve, Accroche-toi à ton rêve..." Mio continued to take photos. "You think she's already come out of her shell by now?"
"Broke out of it," Mio replied, taking photos. "I made her do it. It's a feel good thing."
"I've never heard of that song."
"What song?"
"Dr. Feelgood."
"So you do like hard rock."
"A little bit. I'd rather stick to the classical and refined power pop."
"Refined power pop, you know, that's a pretty good compromise."
"Indeed it is, Mio-chan." Mio smiled back. "Hold on tight...to your dream...I think I'll go make something out of sand later. Time to check on those two" Getting off her seat, she went off to do a little rendezvous.
As Mio walked through the tide pools, Ui and Ritsu were fooling around yet again. "So I've brought up this discovery to you, Dr. Tainaka. Take a look!" Ui presented Ritsu with a red sea star.
"A fascinating discovery, my dear Unison! Can you let me take a closer look to see it it's real?"
"Absolutely."
"Hey Mio-sempai," asked Azusa.
Mio looked back and saw her toy around with some of the barnacles. She was now in a reflective mood. "What's up?"
"I was wondering; do you know the story about the barnacles?" Mio froze in horror. She didn't want to think about it. "See, I heard on the news, and this a few months back on the Yomiuri Shinbun, that there was a guy who had his leg cut open by one...Mio-sempai?" Mio was screaming and cowering in fear. Apparently, those were the types of things Mio couldn't stand hearing, let alone discussing. Of course, Ritsu knew this, and probably talked about the legend of the house full of barnacles to Mio more than anyone she knew. "Are you all right?" She took off in fear and would just about stay that way for the rest of the afternoon. "I should remind myself not to talk about that again," she said to herself. "Ritsu-sempai?"
Ritsu looked on and gave a thumbs-up and a smile. "Thanks for stealing my thunder. I appreciate it."
"Wait a minute. Stealing...your thunder?" Wicked, man. "I don't get it."
Back at the Villa, there were a few freshly picked watermelons, and Tsumugi took the biggest of them all for the bashing game that was to come.
"Forward, forward!" Ritsu, Ui and Tsumugi said. "Go, go, go!" It only took her 10 seconds for her to give it a good whack. And Mio was on the runaround.
Next, it was a little burying of Ui in the sand, complete with an unrealistic bust and a post reminiscent of a bodybuilder. Azusa and Ritsu finished the arm, Mugi took the shot, and Mio was on the runaround.
Back to the water they went. Ui was able to find a piece of kelp sticking out on the coast that was washed up and possibly originated from Korea, according to the Google GPS. She lifted the bad boy as if it was a boxer's champion belt. Azusa floated around in admiration using the ball, Mugi was soaking it up on another extended innertube, Ritsu turned into Ritsupatra on the same inflatable...and Mio was on the runaround.
"So this is a representation of Zenkoji Temple," Tsumugi explained to Ui, Azusa and Ritsu. I have a photographic memory of how it looks like, the dimensions, the detail, and this is a 1/16th life size representation."
"That's great," Ui said.
"Totally epic," Ritsu added. "Do you do this for a living, or as a hobby?"
"When I was 4 years old, I was taught how to do sculpturing," Tsumugi explained. "It stated with clay, then marble, and now sand. I prefer sand because the setting that goes with it is always eye candy.
"So who is the guy pointing upward next to Zenkoji?" Azusa asked.
"Oh, that's Kamina from Gurren Lagann."
"Should have known." And Mio was still on the runaround.
On the beach premises were some staff that provided snacks for visitors to the Kotobuki villas. Today's item: fruit bars.
As Tsumugi was savoring her orange bar, Ui asked the question, "Hey, can I get some of your sugar?" Azusa's bubble gum bar was melting dangerously fast. Her heart began to beat a little bit quicker.
"No, you already ate yours!"
"Aw, just a little taste?"
"No!"
Mio was still cowering in fear. "Hey Mio," Ritsu said.
She turned around. "All the fun we did together..." she said through nervous chuckles. As she turned around, Ritsu was drenched in a kelp wig. "Oh God..." Mio fainted. She wouldn't get up for a while.
Always...
I want to be with you...
And make believe with you
And live in harmony, harmony,
Oh love...
Azusa never made public her dreams to anyone. But they were vivid and full of grandiose imaginations. In one dream, she was riding on a robot unicorn through rainbow skies and dancing dolphins. In another dream, she was reclining on a tree and watched flocks of flying uniforms ridden by young men in the nude. In another one that she recorded in her journals, Azusa dreamed that she was visiting America, that there was a convention that had her as a headline act with her friends. Today, it was the robot unicorn again.
"So this is what it feels like to ride you again," Azusa said, straddling on the horse with a few giggles, stroking its horn lovingly. "It feels so good, so soft, and so nice to touch you; to put myself on top of you. Is this my dream?" Her tongue went to work. It had to. This unicorn never tasted so good.
The unicorn gave out a nice moan. "Azunyan..." it said."That's my sensitive spot. Rub it harder. Please rub it harder..."
"Yes, yes I will." Both Azusa and the unicorn were breathing heavily into the heavens as she touched it, tweaked it, and squeezed it. The unicorn's moaning got more pronounced.
Azusa began to sweat. The area around her crotch get damp very quickly as she rubbed herself on the unicorn, straddling faster and faster through the skies.
"Azunyan...Azunyan...there will be no shame!" cried the unicorn through its orgasm.
Azusa's limit had gone through the roof. It was time to let it go. "Oh...oh...oh...ohhhhh looooove!" She collapsed on the unicorn, which rested. "I was meant to be with you." They were meant to be with each other. Always.
She heard her voice through her sleep. "Open your eyes." Was it an angel? Did she arrive at the pearly gates?
A few minutes later, Azusa woke up. She realized that she had tribbed Ui silly. Ui played the unicorn role to a T. Ritsu looked at them with a grin to her face, while Mio snuck as dirty look at Tsumugi, whose nostrils were clogged with tissue paper.
"I see, your eyes are open," Ritsu said.
"Mou, will you quit it with the Erasure reference? It's making me dizzy."
"Sorry, sorry."
Azusa realized that she was straddling on top of a rather stimulated Ui, and her fluids were drenched all over her legs, thighs and torso. Ui was smiling languidly. "Azunyan," Ui said with a finger to her lips. "You really have...something special. I just can't explain it, but you do."
Azusa's face turned into a tomato in record time. "No way...did I just...?" Ohhh yes she did.
"On top of that," Ritsu added with a smirk and a point, "You are on top of her, and I think both of you need to get a room."
"Really?" Mio said, crossing her arms with a wry expression. "No kidding, Ritsu, it's just next door."
"I never really imagined that Azusa-chan liked yuri that much," Tsumugi said to Mio, clasping her hands with a head tilt. "They look so cute together! It's all good."
Typical. "Why am I not surprised?"
"To see Azusa straddle Ui and engage in tribadism...it's a beautiful thing. I never thought that she knew how to do that in the first place."
Mio snuck a dirty look at Tsumugi, who was sighing in glee. She was stuck in her own fantasy world.
As Ui went off to wash herself of the stickiness, Ritsu brought up the question. "Well Mio, should we call it a day and head back to the villa?"
"I think we should."
"Great, we'll eat dinner, and then sleep. Sounds like a plan."
"But what about practice?"
"It can wait."
"Man, I knew that we should have practiced first before we went out to play," Azusa said.
"But you were the one who wanted to play the most, right? On top of that..."
"Yeah, I know. I have turned into a Brazilian ganguro." A healthy tan. "The humiliation of it all. But we are going to practice."
"Getting a tan? But you already got that accomplished."
"No, I meant playing our instruments."
"So, that means you want to pull off an all-nighter?"
Azusa couldn't believe that Ritsu underestimated her work ethic. "Of course I will. Who the hell do you think I am!"
"Kamina reference," Ritsu said to Ui on the side.
"Quite. Wait a minute. Did you just get a tan?"
"Uh...yeah? What about it?" Azusa asked.
"Azunyan..."
She gulped.
"Azunyan, I LOVE YOU!" Azusa couldn't breathe as she was glomped to the ground by an overjoyed Ui. "I never thought that you had such delicious tanlines; I must taste you now!"
The wetness came back as Ui's tongue slithered down her tanlines. "Nooooooo!"
The afternoon arrived on the Kotobuki Coast, and while some beach parties were going on in the villas down the line, it was time for the real proceedings to begin.
"Oh man, I am a woman ready to get my grub on," Ritsu said as Mio carried her Fender bass to the studio. Some smooth jazz could be heard inside. Chuck Mangione. "Feels So Good." Well, it sure felt so good to be back inside, didn't it?
"Bear with it a little."
"Whoa." While Azusa was going to be in Brazil mode for the rest of the outing, she could not believe how the place was set up as she carried her Fender Stratocaster inside. "This is amazing."
Since Ritsu was unable to bring her own drum set to the camp, Tsumugi arranged to have a similarly designed SONOR drum set brought over from the shop. It was basically the same arrangement and acoustics, but had a red theme instead of a yellow one. Actually, the only change was the snare drum, which was of a superior quality to the one she purchased a while back. However, the others were able to bring their instruments to the studio.
Sitting across from the drum set were a guitar tuner, and a speaker set of large Marshall Amplifiers, arranged to simulate a concert/studio environment. These were also brought over by Tsumugi.
Ui, Ritsu and Mio really valued the connections that Mugi provided as a member of the team. Without her, the lives could not go on as planned, nor could the camps and practices go on as planned. She was the breadwinner of the light music club, and it showed with the state-of-the-art equipment at the band's disposal here at the villa.
"Hey Mio, you think we hit the jackpot here?" Ui said to Mio.
"Forget the jackpot, we hit the mother lode."
"A mother lode is fine too."
"Yes it is."
"I've never used these types of amplifiers before," Azusa said, gulping. The delicious tanlines from her one-piece were going to linger for a while.
"I've never had this drum set, either," Ritsu said. Taking her seat and picking up her drumsticks, she perked up with glee. "Mio, let's do this. It's practice time! The snare drum is a new model, too!"
Mio was nonplussed by the overt enthusiasm. "Fucking materialist." Bad Religion, send help.
As Tsumugi unfolded her KORG and the others got their instruments ready, Ui did a little tuning on Gitah. "The wait is over, dear vessel," Ui said to her most prized possession. "And so I strum."
"Hey, I know that progression," Mio said as Ui did her tuning-up. 'That's 'Let There Be Rock' by AC/DC, isn't it?"
"Nicely identified. 100 interwebs and God's blessings to Miss Mio Akiyama, who is currently setting her musical pacemaker for action, live at the Kotobuki Summer Combine."
"It's not a pacemaker, it's a bass!"
"Bassmaker?"
"No, that's Fender."
"I will make a note to the show hosts not to put that in the script again."
"Are there even any?"
Ui pointed to Tsumugi, raising her hand with a little jump. "Vanna White." Mio rolled her eyes as the others continued to tune up. Something near the top of Azusa's Fender Stratocaster got Ui's attention. "Hey Azunyan, what you got there?"
"Oh this? This is my tuner."
"Ooooh. A Yamaha tuner. So this bad boy here calibrates the chords without you having to use your own ears, huh?"
"Precisely. How did you know?"
"Well," Ui said, reclining on a chair, "I saw this on places eBay and , and they featured tuners just like this. This some accurate stuff you got here. How long did you have this thing?"
"Oh, this one? I've had this for two years now, and it's still working like a charm. And it's backed up with a five-year warranty."
A strum of perfect pitch. "Gitah approves of your tuner. It's got a soul."
"How do you know?"
A kiss, and a stroke amid the whisper. "Because I gave it one."
"Do you have a tuner, Ui-sempai?" Ui pointed to herself. "I should have known. A perfect sempai with a perfect pitch. Who needs a tuner when you have Ui-sempai to play the part?"
Another stroke and strum. "Gitah said, 'Hell yeah.'" Azusa was taken aback. "It can speak!" Yes, it can.
Ten minutes later, everything was set. "All right chums, let's do this," Ritsu said. "One, two, three, four!"
The band blazed through a set of numbers: "Cagayake! GIRLS," "Don't Say Lazy," their signature piece "Fuwa Fuwa Time," "Heart Goes Boom!", "My Love Is a Stapler," "Curry over Rice," and a whole bevy of covers to go with it. Overall the session went on for about two hours by guesstimation of the stewards outside the complex, and the energy at the villa was at an all-time high.
"How about that?" Azusa said to the others. "Was that awesome or what?"
"Sure was," Ui replied. "And the Lord said, 'Let There Be Rock'."
"And we were all synchronized as one, too," Tsumugi noted as she clapped her hands in delight. Azusa wondered to herself if this was the very first that they worked as one and actually practiced. She was not seeing things, hearing things, or playing things. It was the real deal.
"Ritsu, I liked the tempo you set," Mio commented. "I wondering, did you get some special training or something?"
Ritsu couldn't pay attention to the question. She was already starved, and even though her rhythm was what they would expect out of her...Ritsu was running on empty as she slumped over her set, giving up the ghost. She gave a new meaning to devoting her heart and soul to the band. "I'm hungry, so I don't have the strength to go on," she said in an intoxicated tone.
"Or maybe because you're starved, you lost all that useless energy of yours."
"Up yours, Mio, you fucker." Ritsu was wailing incessantly now. "Man, I wanna eat already! This is supposed to be a training camp, not a Nazi concentration camp! Lemme eat already!"
"Mio, I think we need to take 15 right now for Ricchan's sake, pronto," Tsumugi said.
"Yeah, we've already been working our asses off for a couple of hours man," Ui added. "We need us some dinner before we all die on this island."
"It's still on the mainland," Mugi corrected.
"Isn't Honshu an island?"
"Oh yeah, that's right. Whoops. Let's roll."
The setting sun glistened over the waters, evoking pastel shades of orange, yellow and red. Some late afternoon delight is in order.
Ui, Azusa, and Tsumugi returned with some groceries from a FamilyMart located one kilometer from the villa. This FamilyMart was franchise-owned by the Kotobuki family, and was available for guests to purchase groceries and other trinkets and souvenirs.
"Hey you two, we're back," Ui said. Tsumugi was carrying the lioness's share of the stash.
"Welcome back," Ritsu said. "So, what you got for us?"
"All the tools and spoils needed for the cookout tonight. We got some steak, some chicken, some veggies, everything. We also got some ramune and Pocky to keep the party going. They even gave us a discount through Mugi. Everything in the store became half-off, and combined with the discounts that were already there, this is a steal. We got food for less!"
"Splendid, splendid! Hallelujah, we will never go hungry again." Ritsu was jumping for joy. She grabbed one of the items. "Ohhh, what a wonderful cabbage! I could eat it in the raw right now!"
"Just wait for a little bit, will you?" Mio asked, tugging at Ritsu's shoulder. Yes, Ritsu was running on empty for that long. Azusa wondered why she was still in oddball mode while playing like a gem on the drum set. It just didn't seem to compute at all, if it ever did. It was a blasphemous juxtaposition that only she—and she alone—could pull off.
"Let me go!" Ritsu whined. "The cabbage, the cabbage! It is a god of cabbage! A god, I say!"
"We'll split it. It will be done quickly," Mio assured. Ui turned to Tsumugi, who was enjoying the spectacle. Didn't take long before Ui rolled her eyes.
"All right, the four of you, I will go heat up the stove," Azusa said, bringing her bags to the table.
"See?" Mio pointed out. "Even your junior is taken the initiative and getting the job done."
Ritsu gave up, knowing that she lost the game. "Fine, then." Ui went and placed her groceries next to Azusa's.
"Oh god, my eyes hurt," Ritsu said as she chopped the onions. Meanwhile, Ui was busy getting the other ingredients ready for the barbecue out in the open.
"I do this all the time at home," Ui said, slicing the steak into slivers, preparing the rest of the ingredients. "This is nothing."
"No kidding, huh? Urgg..." Her shining tears lit up the afternoon with a sparkle.
"And thus, I shall entertain you all with a 'What Would My Imouto Do?' skit." She cleared her throat, and cried as the onion fumes triggered her tears. "My eyes hurt..."
"Yui, are you okay?"
Ui turned to Ritsu lovingly. "Ricchan."
"Yui..."
They held each other's hand. "When we die, we'll die together!"
"Yes, we will."
"So that's what your younger sister would do?" Azusa asked Ui.
"Yes, that's right." Tsumugi was soaking it all up.
"A little push here will to the trick," Mio said in regards to the rice cooker on the premises. "All right, it's ready! Time to make some onigiri!"
Azusa couldn't wait. "Yes, ma'am!" They made about 20-30 of them. The odd thing about it was that Mio's hands were bigger than Azusa's, therefore the size of the rice balls were different from each other. Mio couldn't believe the difference in size as Azusa continued to work on the onigiri, which were stuffed with plums, salmon, and other tidbits to make for a sweet and savory variety.
Ritsu peered over Mio's shoulder. What was she scared of this time? Of course, this could also be seen as her chance to get back at Mio for now letting her munch some cabbage and keep her hunger at bay sooner. "I wonder if Mio-chan has huge hands," Ritsu said playfully.
"Shut up!" Mio had to deal with the discrepancy in her hand size as Ui was dazzled by Ritsu's kebabs, reminiscent of a Brazilian churrascaria. These were not bad shish kebabs to begin with. A mix of mini corn on the cob, prawns, shiitake mushroom, steak, onions, bell peppers and squash were all on the grill that day. Combined with the onigiri and other refreshments on tap, it would hold them over until tomorrow. As Tsumugi tended the grill and Ui got the plates ready, Azusa watch Ritsu drag Mio around the yard, holding her own kebab as if she was King Leonidas from the movie "300." Madness? This was training camp! Mio was incensed that Ui decided to do a little ballroom dancing with the onigiri just for the heck of it. Too much Hollywood was a bad thing.
After everything was set, it was time for toast. "So," Ritsu said to the congregation that afternoon, "I would like to raise a toast, raise your glasses high, please. Thank you. Let us raise a toast to the Light Music Club of Sakuragaoka High School, to the concerts we will perform, the music we will play, and the many lives we will touch. May the gods of rock guide us from this point forward! Kampai!"
"KAMPAI!" the others said, their glasses joining together.
As they savored their dinner, Ui wondered about how her family was able to procure steak this high of a quality. This was local, organically grown Kobe and Matsuzaka breeds, and because of the high price, marbled cuts of this kind at the Mart ran for as much as 500,000-600,000 yen a kilo. However, because Mugi was with them, the price was no larger than that of the regular cuts of beef commonly sold near the Hirasawa House. Furthermore, this was the first time Ui ate this type of beef. It was fantastic, and it melted in her mouth. It was unfortunate that they didn't sell this in droves. But she understood why they didn't. Tsumugi brought nothing but prime cuts to the villa.
Naturally, Ritsu's batteries got a huge surge with the three kebabs she wolfed down at Kobayashi-speed. Mio tried to get her ladyfriend to slow down, but to no avail. In fact, they could pull off the all-nighter with the fuel brought in. And Azusa was enjoying every moment of it. So what if she looked like she had spent one too many rounds in Shibuya with people that would take advantage of her? Whether she was light or not, Azusa was still Azusa and Azusa was enjoying summer the way it was meant to be enjoyed. Advice well taken.
"That was great," Ui said after dinner was over and evening finally arrived. "You know something, guys? I think we can do a few more hours fine-tuning some more of our songs."
Azusa agreed. "Most definitely."
'The best indeed," Ritsu added. "The fact that my batteries are charged...thank you falettin me be mice elf agin!"
'Yer wecom."
"All right, we have some hanabi," Tsumugi said, procuring a couple packages of firework strings. "Let's get to it."
"Look at her," Ritsu said to Mio. "She's still as a rock."
"Huh? What's that?"
"Look!"
As Tsumugi and Azusa were watching their hanabi strings flicker out, Mio saw Ui concentrate on letting the fireworks chart their way upwards before they finally died out. She was in admiration of the way Ui stayed perfectly still, as if she was a statue that couldn't breathe, talk, and was nothing more than a glorified hanabi holder. One could sculpt her, place a string on her hand holding it, and light it up, and watch it work its way upward.
Soon after, the string finished burning. "More please," Ui said. As Tsumugi's string went out, she took another piece from the package and lit it up.
"There she goes again," Ritsu said to Mio. Turning to Mugi, she said, "There's something about these hanabi. When you are about to see it go out, you think to yourself, 'Come on! A little longer! A little longer! Hang in there. Yes you can!' You can only do it for so long. Hang in there, you can do it, you can do it!"
That was a concept Tsumugi never know about. Who ever thought that she would instill that much confidence in her? The unlikeliest of sources. "All right then, one more!" She took out another string, and lit it up. "Do it! You can do it! Yes we can!"
As Ui continued to concentrate on her new string and Tsumugi proceeded to concentrate on her own confidence, Azusa looked at Mugi through the eyes of her own melancholy. "Whoops, it fell off again," Tsumugi said. Azusa appreciated the effort. She loved her for that.
After her second string finished its course, she noticed something strange. "Ricchan, your string died. You want me to get you another?"
"Two!" she exclaimed. "In this event, when that happens, you fuse them and then the string becomes larger! How about that!"
"That's something my sister likes to do. She does something like..."
"FUSION! Senkou Hanabi Man!" the two of them said.
"There you go," Ritsu said "Hey Mio, am I a genius or what?"
"You're just plain stupid," Mio said.
"Shut up!"
"That's cheating!" Tsumugi complained.
"And stupid," Mio added.
"It was her idea," Ui said, pointing to Ritsu. "Don't blame me. One more, Mugi." She handed her another lit string. "All right!"
"Man, I can't believe I have to sit in that posture while Ui is able to let her strings chart their course," Ritsu said afterwards, putting her spine back into place and letting the muscles flow again.
"A bit heavy for you?" Tsumugi asked Azusa, who had to carry the bucket of used fireworks and refuse.
"No, I'm all right."
"Scenario time!" Ritsu proclaimed. "Ladies, our courage must be tested in the middle of this Japanese summer night. So, we must head out into the wilderness in the ongoing quest to increase our trust in each other."
"Right!" Ui said. "Nice idea."
"Another one?" Mio asked Ritsu. "We really have ourselves one heck of an itinerary and it's even going into the evening?"
"It's all good, baby bubba! Besides, you should know that summer camps are all about tests of courage!" Her eyes sparked.
"You should also know that you've been watching too many teen movies from the States, Ritsu. That's crap's really been corrupting your mind. I'm not going to take part."
Ritsu's eyes sparked again. "I see...so you are a coward."
Mio snuck an angry expression at Ritsu. If this was how she would encourage everyone in the group to go with her on these adventures, the Lord might as well take the band away from the world! "No, I'm not! If I wanted to do it, I could!" She was going to regret those words soon enough.
Ritsu grinned. Turning aside, she said to herself, "You nasty little wench. I'm gonna let all hell loose on you because you wouldn't let me eat until one friggin' hour ago while I was dying on the drum set, woman!"
The woods outside the camps were disfigured from a typhoon that rocked the environment last year. Actually, the villa that was erected for the band was just constructed a few months ago after the typhoon caused irreversible damage to the forest. The park rangers in the area could have removed the brush and trees and sowed new ones in their place. However, the Kotobuki family objected to the changes and saw the potential of it being redeveloped as a place to test the trust and courage of parties visiting the villa for their holiday. This was a popular site among organizations hosting retreats, and it was a hit with other high schools in the area.
A flock of ravens with eyes like rubies greeted Azusa and Mio, who eventually decided to take part with Ui and Tsumugi. Mio shrank in fear as she held her flashlight. "H...High school students...aren't fazed by these trials of courage...right?" she said with a nervous laugh. There were exceptions. Mio Akiyama was obviously one of them.
"I hope so," was Azusa's response. "Oh, and by the way, you're squeezing my hand a little too hard there. IT kinda hurts." The wind rustled through the bushes behind them. The both turned around. Azusa was wondering what the commotion was. "What the heck was that?"
Mio, meanwhile, was already about to reach her limit in and out of stammers. "I don't know; you tell me! I...I...I think it is...Ritsu pulling another fast one on us..."
"Her again? Aw hell..."
She noticed someone creeping through the bushes. Was it the boogeyman of Mio's nightmares, waiting to tear both her and Azusa's clothes off and rape them and leave them for dead? Was Ritsu about to get her revenge cold steel platter outside Tsumugi's summer villas? Was there really going to be trouble in paradise?
The flashlight saw someone dragging itself towards Azusa and Mio. Both of them blinked. The figure drew itself even closer. This had to be the boogeyman.
The figure spoke. "Mio-chaaaaan!" It roared! Mio shrieked and paled in her white-faced freak-out. Azusa looked on in stunned disgust. It was Miss Sawako.
"Sempai, sempai, get a grip!" Azusa said. She turned around. "Miss Sawako! What are you doing here?"
Sawako was in a dirty mess, wearing her orange sundress, a hat and her luggage of cosplay outfits. Knowing that the club she was advising was going to have a blast without her, she petitioned the administration to give her a week of unpaid sick leave, while delegating her work to the others in her office. Of course, she was unable to figure exactly where the camp would be, but she had a premonition that Tsumugi's house had something to do with it.
The night before the band took off for the villa, Sawako called the house butler to ask if Tsumugi was heading off anywhere for the weekend. The butler said that it was the villa. She then asked for directions, noted which line to take, and at what time.
Normally, she would be able to arrive at the premises. And she did take the same line, and got to the destination. However, there was a snag. Because this was private property, Miss Sawako was unable to enter the villa because on the list of guests expected, and was denied entry. There was another way to get to the villa, but it was the long, dangerous route, and it involved going through the forest, replete with ravines. She spent the afternoon and evening dragging herself through the brush just to get to the villa, but got lost along the way. Thankfully, Mio and Azusa were there to identify her. It was not the best way to get to the camp, but she had to do whatever she could, given the constraints, to meet with the club she was advising. And to not have any cosplay materials available for Azusa was a travesty to her (although she had her own clothes on hand).
"What happened?" Azusa asked as she hugged her teacher.
"I...I finally met up with you guys," a relieved Sawako said.
"The heck? Miss Sawako?" Ui wondered. "How did you get through? And why are you here?" Tsumugi ran off and found a visibly shaken Mio.
"I wanted to come after you guys," she explained through tears, "and surprise the five of you." Well, security prevented that from happening. Then again, the fact that she came in unannounced was a surprise in itself. "But I got lost."
"Well, you got at least one of us," Azusa said, turning to Mio, still pale as a ghost.
"Mio-chan, it's all right!" Tsumugi said, trying to shake Mio back into reality and her Old Dance shirt. "Mio-chan!"
Azusa couldn't believe that Mio was this much of a scaredy cat. Little by little, she probably was getting more out of the camp that everyone else for two reasons. First, she now became aware of the weaknesses of each band member and how the others are doing whatever to help each other out in that department. Secondly, she now became aware of her own weaknesses and knew how everyone else prodded her out of her shell. Azusa now understood how this was breaking the ice between the five of them and Miss Sawako. Sawako's weakness was cosplay. Ritsu's weakness was fooling around on a big appetite. Tsumugi's weakness was being stimulated by anything. Ui's weakness was even more diverse, with yuri leading the charge. And Mio was scared straight by anything that caused her to be scared straight. Her own weakness was that she was too much into work and not enough into play. She was learning a lot...and more.
A local owl native to the area watched the proceedings from above. Dangling from a branch was a bag of gray sand that would have otherwise been used to get her payback. But for Ritsu, that wasn't going to happen. Sawako beat her to it by crashing the party.
"No one's coming." Once again, Ritsu Tainaka just lost the game.
One of the nice things about the villas was the customary jacuzzis that were there. The shower heads were made of 24-harat gold and were tended to by the stewards and security.
A large jacuzzi big enough to hold 20-30 people at one time awaited the girls and Sawako, who was tending her hair.
Ritsu sat across from the others, sulking in her own failure to get back at Mio. "This is the life."
"Oh my god, that was a horrible entrance," Mio said as Tsumugi sympathized.
"Oh well."
"Hey Mio, Mio," Ritsu said, "check this out!" She squeezed puffed her cheeks together to form a happy blowfish. The others laughed in response.
"Hey Azusa," Ritsu asked, "you're not a fan of the heat?"
"Not exactly," she said.
"I have an idea, sweetie," Ui said. "Azunyan, you should dunk yourself into the jacuzzi here!"
"Huh? Why?"
"Watch." She grabbed Azusa, who was madly blushing. Her heart began to race like a car in the Indy 500. That yuri taste in her was coming, and knew Tsumugi nose was going to erupt. As she dunked her, the hot water caused her to leap like crazy. Not only was she sensitive to the hot water, but when the hot water is combined with a tan on the borderline of a really bad sunburn in the Summer of '69, it brings a disastrous result, as witnessed in Azusa's shriek.
"OWWW!"
"And I shall remind myself not to do that again," Ui noted. "Although, on the other side of things, bringing some Coppertone would have helped you a load before you got here..."
"Ui-chan, question," Mugi asked as Ritsu waded lazily from end to end. "Did you put on a few kilos?"
"Not really. If I did, it was one at the maximum, maybe less. I did want to point out that my family's genetic disposition causes out weight to stay constant. So whether I eat large or small, the metabolism will cause my weight to contract back to where it is without food. Even with regular exercise, the weight would stay the same. Only a change in the hormones would cause the weight to increase. If my hormones cause me to go up to 53 kilos, I will stay at 53, if it goes to 54, it will stay at 54 regardless of diet or exercise."
"How much do you weigh now?"
"Last time I checked, I believe it was about 52."
"We're jealous of your genes, you freak!" Mugi, Mio, Sawako and Azusa exclaimed. They all gained weight the past few weeks. Naturally, Ritsu wasn't paying attention, floating around like a daytripping lilydipper.
"Oh, you also gained pounds over the past few weeks, Miss Sawako?"
"Unfortunately," Sawako said, "Yes. But...when I take off my glasses," she went on, taking her glasses off, "I can't tell the difference between you two. I think I got double vision."
"I see," Mio said. Ritsu was still dogpaddling as Ui stroked her chin in interest and Sawako tried to discern Mio and Azusa from each other.
"By the way, Miss Sawako," Ui said, "I like that song."
"Which one?"
"Double Vision."
"You like Foreigner?"
"Actually, I prefer 'Waiting for a Girl Like You,' but you know what? That song kicks ass too."
Sawako continued to discern the differences. An idea came to mind. "Ahhh, this gives me an idea. I'll figure it out by groping your boobs right now!" Azusa and Mio froze in shock as their rights were about to be violated in a few fleeting moments. That is, until Sawako got her own headbump from Ui.
"Sorry, teacher, but..." Wearing Sawako's glasses, she rose up, struck a pose and winked. "That's my job."
"I just...lost the game..."
Aurora borealis, at this time of day, at this time of year, in that part of Japan, localized in Mugi's own summer villa backyard. It was a novel idea sketched on by the heavens, by the gods of fate who unleashed the constellations and the North Star from above. No clouds and no light pollution in spite of the crickets chirping meant that a stargazer's delight was in the books.
Not for the club. A whole recharge was in order. It was the God-given right of the Sandman to come in announced. Unlike last year, all the members got to sleep on their own mats. It was a good thing that there was a butler on the premises to prepare another set for an unexpected guest in Miss Sawako, who was tangled up in her own gurgled dreams of cosplay and tainted purity.
"Oh cabbage, save me!" said Ritsu, snapping from her bed, before falling into the arms of the Sandman. "So good."
Azusa was in the restroom washing up. Her parted twintails gave way to long hair that could made her pass for Mio if the side bangs were trimmed to a hime cut, the front bangs were parted a certain way and she donned blue contacts. Of course, the tan was a dead giveaway at this point in the proceedings.
Half asleep, looking to get back to the group bedroom, Azusa heard some music back in the studio. It was Ui playing some chords to "Fude Pen Ballpoint Pen." She liked the new hook at the beginning that would set the tone for the rest of the piece. Ui was busy composing additional notation for the lead guitar in this role. Well, she just had to smile. UI noticed her peering through the window. "Hey, Azunyan, you can come in if you want." She did.
"I do have to apologize for having you come down her to some composition work," Ui said to Azusa, who donned her twintails again.
"No problem. I also wanted to practice more with you, Ui-sempai."
"All right. So, I found out that when we did our live early on in the year, we didn't have a melodic hook at the beginning for one of our numbers. Therefore, I wanted to show you what I've come up with, and see if you like it. If I'm not able to come out for a concert, you will be ready to do the lead in my place."
"I see."
"I hope this is something that is comfortable for you."
"I am sure it is, sempai."
"Cool. Here it goes. The song, by the way, is 'Fude Pen Ballpoint Pen.'" She played a few notes of the proposed hook.
"Interesting. Let me try that." And she did. "I think I can manage this one, no sweat."
"That is the Azunyan I know. Hmmmm. You know something?"
"Hmmm?"
"I think on the fifth note of this hook we have to raise it a little bit. Let's see what happens." She did, and the result was a little bit better."Eureka! We found our hook!"
Azusa smiled. "You know something?"
"What is it?"
"Remember when I had this dream when we were on the beach earlier today?"
"You thought I was a unicorn, right?"
"Right. You know, I really get all these weird thoughts about riding on unicorns, watching hordes of people ride on unicorns and so on."
Ui put her guitar down, and relaxed on the floor. "Vivid, aren't they?"
"You don't think it's weird?"
"I believe everyone has their own visions, their own imaginations, their own way of seeing things, their own dreams. If they treat these things as the keys to their own happiness, then I say to them, more power, you know?"
Azusa smiled as she put hers down. "So when I think of you, I think of the horse I want to ride in my dreams, the horse I want to ride off into the sunset, the unicorn I want to fly off into the night with. I always feel good when I am with you, Ui-sempai."
"You do?" She pointed to a tape player sitting on top of the amplifiers. "Just push 'Play.'"
"Are you sure?"
"The doors are closed, and no one but ourselves can hear us."
Azusa hoped Ui was right in her convictions. Pressing the Play button, the lights went off, and Erasure's song "Always" played.
"This song," she thought. "This was the song in my dreams...where...everything was...everything was..."
As if she was possessed by a force of nature, her lips locked with Ui's, and they shared a passionate kiss. A string of saliva could be seen as they parted, and they were only getting started as their heat rose and their pulses quickened. Soon after, their clothes were all off, and Azusa was on top of Ui again, riding on her to ecstasy.
A few doors down, Sawako could hear the music in her dreams. "Ohhh love," she gurgled. "In summer or winter..." Mugi wouldn't realize until the following morning that she would feel extremely light-headed, and the top of her shirt would be drenched in blood that came from her nose. She did hear Ui and Azusa calling each other's name, their breathing and sounds of love, sex and skinship.
As for Ritsu and Mio, those two were too fast asleep to hear the moans of Ui and Azusa getting off on each other in the studio. Two fast, too fast, same thing.
Whatever the case may be for the six of them, they had to hold on to the night, for there would be no shame. The rest of the camp went on without any snags, and plenty of memories.
Back at the train station, Yui checked in to see how Azusa was doing. The heat was still sweltering, the traffic was still bad, the cicadas were still there and the people didn't walk as much. And she still had that ice cream bar with her. But this time, she wolfed it down before it melted. "There you are. Ooops, a brain freeze."
"That's what happens when you eat it too quickly, Yui," Azusa said with a frown.
She noticed the tan. "Whoa. Did you go to Brazil or something? Was that where the training camp was?"
"Not exactly."
"Ohhh. Because, you know, there's like a lot of people who are from Brazil and they got some wicked-ass tans, man."
"I just got out too long, and forgot to bring my sunscreen."
"By the looks of things, you had a blast, didn't you Azusa-chan?"
"I hope so."
"So, you didn't get to practice as much as you want to huh?" Yui asked Azusa at the Max Burger.
She pouted. "Unfortunately, no. That's not to say we didn't practice period; it's just that we could only fit so many things to do in four days."
"Ahhhh."
"You know, I thought we would have some kind of special training. But we ended up going to the beach instead, went through tests of courage and did some kinky things on the side because we bored as fuck."
"Ahhhhh."
"Are you even listening?"
"Yeah." She was more into finishing her combo meal.
"But I really want to do more practice."
"I see, but onee-chan usually doesn't tan at all. What happened to you?"
Azusa had a confession to make. "I played out in the sun the most." She worked on her drink in shame. "But you know something?"
"Huh? What's that?"
"In the end, it really was a good idea that I went with them." She blushed madly.
"Azusa-chan?"
"Yeah?"
Yui gave a thumbs-up. "That's the Azusa-chan I know. Working hard, playing hard. You rock!"
"Th...Thank you. And now I know a little bit more about the others in my club."
"Now this I gotta hear."
"First off, Mio-sempai is scared of a lot of things. She's a scaredy cat. That's the first thing. Two, while Ritsu-sempai seems to be irresponsible and tomboy, she gets along with Mio-sempai really well. I think those two make a nice pair. Third, I found out that Tsumugi may have a taste for that type of stuff, she pays attention to detail and was generous enough to loan us her summer villa for the camp. She's a nice person to be with, and even brought us some really good equipment for our rehearsals. Plus, she's got a youthful face to her, and is really cute in all sorts of ways."
"Ooooh. What about onee-chan?"
Here it comes. "Ui-sempai..." The blush got even deeper as she thought of the night she and Ui made out in the studio. It would be easy for her to say that they were close to being that close to each other, but she couldn't. "She practiced like the Dickens. And she even composed some music too that I collaborated on."
"Onee-chan did it!" Yui pointed to the heavens. "God bless you, onee-chan!"
Azusa procured some photos from the trip. She just had to smile. These were good times that would last a lifetime. She didn't know it then, but they would do this for one final summer before Ui, Mio, Tsumugi, and Ritsu graduated. "However..." She handed one of the shots to Yui.
She was mesmerized. "Whoa!"
Azusa gave in. "I think your older sister likes me. She's in love with me. She feels real warm and nice to be with."
She looked upwards praying. "Thanks for looking over Azusa-chan, onee-chan. Life will be better in Spring."
"It's summer, Yui."
"Oh yeah, that too. It's the spirit of the year."
END CHAPTER 10