"Hello! I'm good to see you, Sayu-san!"
"Good to see you too! Thank you for inviting me, Mana!"
Sayu Tsukisaka was visiting Mana's flat. Today was the day to compose the lyrics for a brand-new song together.
"Aunt is out today, so you can unwind!"
"Got it!"
In the past, Sayu had stayed in this house. Sayu had argued with her parents about becoming an idol and visited Mana's home as a getaway. Mana's aunt had been there then, but today she was already going out.
Sayu was invited to Mana's room and relaxed like before.
"So, let's devise the lyrics!"
After Sayu ended saying so Mana raised a proposal.
"Before that, I want to read Sayu-san's poetry! I like them and it will help our making."
"R-Really? It can't help it..."
Sayu responded with a face falling somewhere in between blush and smile. One of Sayu's hobbies is to compose poetry. In fact, the lyrics of KiRaRe's songs were mainly written by Sayu. Sayu's poems gain a high reputation from Mana and Sayu has felt happy for Mana to be fond of her poems.
"T-This is just a brand-new poem... Would you read this?"
After saying that, Sayu opened her note to compile poetry with her red face. Watching it, Mana was starting to read out one of them.
"'I don't want dreams to disappear someday. I don't hope to become light to be disappeared by something.'... This is marvelous! I think this appropriately suits KiRaRe!"
"I-I'm glad if you feel so...!"
Sayu knows that Mana is pure. She was feeling that what Mana said was Mana's true feeling. Therefore, she was very pleased with it, though she was a little embarrassed as well.
"So let's start to write the lyrics!"
"Sure!"
Mana agreed with Sayu's suggestion, which had the aim of hiding her shyness under the cover, before putting their earphones that were connected with the smartphones on and listening to the music already completed by Kae, Kasumi, Mizuha and Mii.
KiRaRe's songs have the characteristic of being arranged using horns and strings. Due to it, there are many songs that make people feel happy. This song Mana and Sayu was listening was the same as for the arrangement; However, the melody was somewhat ephemeral and the harmony had the contrast between real and ideal, emphasized by horns' elegance.
After playing the music had ended, Mana started to talk.
"I felt something like... sadness."
"I sensed the same."
Then Mana proposed an idea coming up with.
"Sayu-san, don't you think that poem matches this harmony?"
"I see! I agree! It's nice, Mana!"
"Ehehe, thank you."
"Let's write from the verse!"
"Sure!"
Mana and Sayu lost themselves in doing it. They decided the thema of the song, writing lyrics from start while going back from time to time and wraped up, and completed at last.
"It's done!"
Sayu that said so and Mana, had looks with exhaustion because they were so absorbed in it; Hence they lost the track of time. Then Mana looked towards a window and tweeted.
"Ah, it's already dark!"
"Oh!"
Mana Turning on the light, she begged Sayu naturally.
"Would you stay overnight, Sayu-san?"
"Eh?"
Of course, they are friends. But it was also true that Sayu felt bashful with Mana, especially for staying in this flat, only Mana and Sayu is in.
"Aunt is absent today, so I have felt lonely. It would be happy for me if Sayu-san stayed with me..."
Mana was faced with cheerlessness. That expression, like that of an abandoned puppy, was enough to make Sayu decide to do it.
"O-OK! But I haven't had the approval of my parents and haven't brought change clothes and so on, so I will go back home and prepare for them!"
"Do you!? I appreciate you, Sayu-san!"
Looking at Mana's smile, Sayu was also happy, albeit with feelings of bashfulness. Then, Sayu left Mana's flat to go temporarily back home.
"I've not seen you in a jiffy, Mana."
"Sayu-san! Are you able to get permission?"
"Yeah! And I have brought my necessities!"
"I'm relieved to hear that!"
After Sayu returning her home, she begged her parents and they let her to stay. She have done it once before, so they hardly had feelings of anxiety for it. Due to feelings that she would like to tell Mana in a hurry, she done a round trip in rush so she was perspiring sweat.
"Are you sweaty?"
Mana asked so, while looking Sayu's face with worrying eyes .
"Ah... Maybe because it's relatively hot today..."
Sayu felt embarrassed enough to hide the true reason.
"Would you take a bath before eating dinner?"
"But I feel sorry if I do it first."
"Ehehe, you also said so at that time!"
"Did I? Oh, I did. That means..."
"Let's take a bath together!"
They headed towards the changing room.
In the room, Mana and Sayu were taking off the clothes. After they left their jackets, Mana opened her mouth while looking over Sayu's stomach.
"Sayu-san has a good figure as usual."
"R-Really?"
"You do! Oh, I'm sorry. It's the result of your effort to diet, isn't it?"
Sayu is a girl who watches herself for weight, being defeated by food temptation now and again though. Mana also know it, so apologised for saying like Sayu-san's figure stemed from her innate.
"Don't care!"
"I wonder if I should diet too..."
Mana mumbled wathing her body before Sayu denied it.
"It is not necessary for you! You are already pretty now!"
"You think so...? Ehehe."
Sayu's feelings were authentically true and Mana's smile made Sayu relieved, until a chill hit her.
"It comes to chilly..."
"Ugh, I forgot that we are about to take a bath! Let's in a hurry!"
The two took all their clothes including hair accessories off and Sayu entered there taking some goods like a light blue headband and rubber ducks followed by Mana.
Although they started to wash their bodies at the same time, Mana was finishing it earlier because she was used to this bath. There was the choice of soaking in the bathtub ahead, but what Mana did was a different one.
"Sayu-san, do you mind if I wash your back?"
"What?!"
In Japan, there is a culture where one sits in a bath and another washes the other's back. Having said that, this is normally done between close relationships, like partners. Sayu's surprise made sense because it was difficult to think Mana, who is innocent, knew it.
"Where do you knew such a thing...?"
"It was President-san who said that this makes Sayu-san happy."
"She is... Well..."
Mizuha is such a person. While Sayu felt guilty, felt happy a little for Mana to do it, so she coudn't blame her.
"I will make an effort to keep Sayu-san's silky skin!"
"Mana... You are sweet!"
"Ehehe!"
The sound of Mana washing Sayu's back was spreading through the bathroom. In contrast to the silence, the brain activity of Sayu was hustle-and-bustle.
'What should I do? I have come to have some strain!'
The situation that they were naked and Mana was softly washing Sayu's body with her hand made Sayu's tension strengthen more and more. There was only one way for Sayu to be able to do it, which was to withstand it until the last.
After finishing their body washing, they were soaking in the bathtub.
"It feels good!"
Sayu answered Mana.
"Yes!"
"Sayu-san's duck toys are cute!"
There were a few duck toys in the bathtub. Sayu has a hesitation to enter a bathtub without such toys, and she had taken them in the past as well.
"Right? I really like them!"
Sayu said so while pushing one of them to spray water.
"Me too!"
Mana pushed as well and unwillingly sprashed Sayu.
"Eek!"
"Oh, I'm sorry!"
"You did it! I'll counter!"
The water from Sayu's dack shot at Mana's sholder. The little battle continued for a while, with laughter.
Around the time they finished it, Mana incidentally started to raise a question.
"Do you remember when you stayed in my home before?"
"Of course! I have never forget it!"
"I feel that was in the long past."
"Yes, I do too, it doesn't take few months from that, though."
"From that, and when I came across you, I had been helped by you. Although I don't know how many times I have said this, thank you, Sayu-san!"
Mana said so with the most star-studded smile, more dazzling than the sun. Sayu also expressed appreciation for Mana.
"I'm fluttered! Thank you too, Mana!"
They gazed at each other and giggled in spite of themselves, finally leading to laughter. Its laughter, which arose from the two "thank you" resonating together, was reverbarating in the bathroom, like echoes.
They got out of the bath and put on pyjamas, and entered the living room. At nearly the same time, the sound of Sayu's stomach growling came to be heard.
"Are you hungry? Sayu-san."
"Ahaha... yes."
"We have not eaten any foods since starting to write the lyrics, so it can't help it. I will make dinner, Hamburg steak, but are you OK?"
"It hears delicious! I'll help you!"
As a story not included in the story for KiRaRe to win the right to progress to the finals of the Prism Stage, Mana and Sayu once made Hamburg steaks with Haku Nishidate, who is one of the Tetrarkhia, an idol unit in Nagoya, Aichi prefecture. Hence, two Hamburg steaks were made without any trouble.
There were two plates where Hamburg steaks and some carrots were, on a table. The steam from them was rising and stimulating their appetite. After greeting, Sayu cutted the round-round Hamburg steak into bite-size by using a knife, seeping out meat juices. A fork was bringing the piece into her mouth.
"This is really delicious!"
Right after eating it, the flavor spread through the mouth and the texture of sticky brought her a joy every chewing.
"It's yummy!"
Mana following Sayu, also agreed.
"Why on earth is this Hamburg steak great?!"
"Maybe mixing the meat with the feelings of love have made them tasty!"
"I suppose! But this is too good I can't stop to eat. I am doing a diet, though."
"It's OK because you can practice dance and singing a song to reduce these calory!"
"Indeed, Mii-senpai"s training can practically decrease the calory to zero. So I"ll eat at will!"
The rambling, but fun conversation was continuing over dinner.
They had finished dinner, so they gathered in Mana's room again.
"What shall we do?"
Mana responded, taking something out.
"Actually, I borrowed a card game from President-san!"
"From President?"
"Yes! Let me see..."
Mana started to read out Mizuha's memo.
"Prepare a deck, a set of cards. Cards are comprised of idol character cards and so on. Starting the play, two players compete with the sum of each card's IPP and the player having the lowest total of IPP must put a card in a zone called the pressure zone. If your pressure zone stacks 10 cards, then your opponent will win and you will lose."
"I see, this is a card game with the theme of idols!"
"Oh? There is the continuation."
"I feel an ominous omen..."
Mana continued reading it out.
"Mizuha's special rule: If you put a card in the pressure zone, then you must draw a card from a deck; each card of it has an instruction. You must follow the instruction the card you drawed has!"
"I know tendency of her doing. I feel anxiety with 'instructions'..."
On the contrary to Sayu, Mana was excited with the card game she didn't know.
"It looks fun! Shall we play?"
Sayu could not refuse against Mana's pure eyes, as usual.
"OK...! Let's play it!"
After a few minutes, Mana was in the phase of comparing their total IPP.
"My total IPP is equal to 12,000 and Sayu-san's equals 10,000, so would you put a card in the pressure zone from your deck?"
"Oh, I lost at the first battle."
Sayu piled a card up in the zone.
"Then, I must pull a card from President's deck... Draw!"
Sayu read it aloud.
"Hold your opponent's hands."
"Ahaha, that's easy if with Sayu-san!"
"Y-Yeah!"
Sayu held Mana's hands without fingers intertwined, feeling a little pounding in her heart.
"Ah, my IPP is lower this time."
Mana drew a card from President's deck and read it out.
"Convey your love feelings to your opponent."
"What a command?! President must have fun teasing us!"
Hardly paying attention to what Sayu was saying, Mana started to follow the instruction.
"I love you, Sayu-san!"
Sayu choked.
"A-Are you OK?"
'What a cutie! Can I endure this until finishing the game?!' thought Sayu. Of course, although Sayu understood Mana could say such things to whoever was of KiRaRe, Mana's something like confessions had a huge impact, especially for Sayu.
"I was overtaken for IPP."
Mana placed a card in the pressure zone and pulled a card from the President's deck.
"Call your opponent's name with a different tempo from time to time, ten times."
"Huh? That's a strange order."
"Hmm, like this?"
Said so, Mana commenced to call Sayu's name.
"Sayu-san... Sayu-san... Sayu-san, Sayu-san. Sayu-san, Sayu-san! Sayu-san!"
"P-Please stop! Mana!"
"What is wrong?"
"Because I get the impression that I should not hear this any more..."
Mana just called the name. Just that. Even so, Sayu was not able to avoid feeling some sense of guilt due to some reason.
After that, the game continued and it was now time for Sayu to draw a card from President's deck. Sayu read it out until halfway.
"Give the opponent a ki-?!"
"What happned?"
"N-No problem! I'll concede defeat! I lose!"
"O-OK...? I'm surprised because I don't expect that I can win against Sayu-san."
'I absolutely will get revenge on President for this!' thought Sayu in the bottom of her heart.
"A-Anyway! Shall we sleep?"
Mana looked at the clock in the room.
"Oh! I forgot about the time due to fun. I will prepare for it."
"I'm going to help!"
They laid out futons, turned the light off and got into them.
In the dark Sayu could hear a voice.
"Sayu-san... Are you still up...?"
"Yes, I am. What's happened, Mana?"
"I can't sleep thinking about today's fun things."
"Ahaha, but to tell the truth, so do I."
"Game, cook and writing lyrics?it was so fun today."
"But there are more and more fun things to come as well. The lyrics are going to create brand-new music!"
"That is true! Sayu-san's lyrics will gain a high reputation because that's so great!"
"Haha from the perspective of past experiences, Kae will stand the position against my poem."
"That will be OK! Sayu-san's lyrics were adopted in Kirameki Future as well."
"That was part of my lyrics, though. But I feel happy with Mana feeling so."
"Z-z-z..."
Mana seemed to already be sleeping, with soft breathing.
"Oh, I'm sure she could get asleep."
Sayu told her feelings without a loud voice not to wake up Mana.
"Thank you until today. And please keep our days, Mana."
Saying so, Sayu also got asleep.
One day after that, in the club room, Mana and Sayu were showing KiRaRe's other members the lyrics they had created.
Kae mumbled upon seeing it.
"This is just Sayu's poetry as usual..."
"What's it supposed to mean?"
Mizuha intarapted, like cutting down Sayu's anger.
"But I like this concept, especially the lyrics of the chorus part."
Mii also agreed.
"I'm standing for Mizuha, mii. I was also strongly torn between an ideal and a real as an idol, so I feel some sympathy, mii."
Kae rechecked the lyrics in response to two reactions, without her bias.
"Well, indeed, part of the lyrics will suit the music."
"Yeah, in my opinion, we can adopt these lyrics by fixing them a little!"
Kasumi agreed as well, which meant they reached a consensus.
"You did it, Sayu-san!"
"No, Mana. WE did it!"
"Oh, indeed! I'm looking forward to bringing the new song to completion."
"I agree!"
Out of the blue, Sayu remembered something.
"Oops, it almost slipped my mind. President, can I have a minute?"
"Y-Yes. Are you a bit angry? Sayu-chan..."
Sayu's face was a smile but at the same time a frown. They moved to the edge of the room.
"Thank you for renting your card game to Mana."
"Oh, that's it. Could you enjoy it?"
"'Could you enjoy it?' is NOT all of it! What the heck is that President's deck?!"
"Ah, but your heart could throve, couldn't it?"
"That's tru-, anyway, it's not what I want to say! Mii-senpai, can you double the amount of President's training?"
Sayu called out Mii, who was standing a little far away.
"Finally does Mizuha get motivated, mii?! All right, let's train, mii!"
Mii showed a happy-like smile because Mizuha often represented fatigue when starting to train.
"P-Please wait! Sayu-chan, I was wrong! I just wanted to bring you and Mana-chan's relationship closer. Can you stop Minori-chan?"
Mizuha asked Sayu to let her off putting hands together, which means 'I'm sorry' in Japan. However, Sayu was still angry.
"The crime of teasing the girl's heart is serious! Please reflect on it."
Right after, Mii pulled Mizuha's hand.
"So let's go to Mt. Takao, mii!"
"From now?! No way~!"
"Good grief... It isn't necessary for President to be worried, because I will get closer myself to Mana emotionally, one day, by myself."
Sayu mumbled, gazing at the two.