65 replies to this topic

[Ro-kun]

^ Ah, reading back through it... I really do love this story lol. I should read it myself again sometime. Sorry it's been so long! I haven't been focusing on fic writing at all lately... but here's Berry Beautiful's chapter 3!!!


Chapter 3

Miyabi ran off stage after their goodbyes at the end of the afternoon concert amid the tears and sweat of the six other girls running along with her. While it may have started off not feeling much different from a normal concert day, the concert itself was truly as exciting as it was built to be. So much adrenaline was flowing through her that she hardly could keep still, and she hugged all the other girls as they all hugged each other. After getting through the first five, she looked for Risako to hug but the girl suddenly didn’t seem to be around. Thought about that just flitted through her mind though as her excitement brought her to a different subject: the subject of food!

“We should all have dinner together before our next concert!” Chinami shouted.

“I know this great place right down the street!” Maa-chan chipped in.

“Um… I already have dinner plans…” Saki said in a sympathetic voice.

“What? What are you talking about?” Momoko asked as if her feathers were ruffled. “Don’t tell us you’re meeting up with that boyfriend of yours!”

“I’m sorry!” Saki went on, carefully avoiding Momoko’s question, and scurried quickly down the hall.

“Well that leaves five of us…” Chinami said, counting on her fingers.

“Forget it,” Momoko said, now clearly disappointed. “I’ll find my own somewhere…” With that, she started down the hall away from them as well.

“Well that’s some exceptional Berryz team power we’ve got going there…” Maasa said, looking after her.

“Ehh,” Miyabi muttered. “We’ll be fine without them. We’ve still got the four of us, right?” She was disappointed that Captain wasn’t coming along, but if she really is meeting with her boyfriend, there’s no hope there. The girl may be the best and most caring leader when they were together, but whenever he got involved she seemed to just totally lose her mind. Miyabi didn’t like him very much. “Anyway, where’s Risako?”

“Who knows,” Yurina replied dismissively. “The smartest person in the world would have a field day trying to figure out what’s going on in her head sometimes. I haven’t seen her since the curtain fell, really.” Miyabi fell silent at Yurina’s words. That was true, but… what Risako had told her before the concert was bothering her. She hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to the girl about it since then with the activity surrounding the concert. Also, she hadn’t really thought about it until now when circumstances were killing her excitement from the event.

“So…” Maasa began, apparently trying to get the others back on the track of food. “How about that place I know down the street? It has great yakiniku.” The other three girls nodded in eager response, and they danced their way down the hall to their dressing rooms.

Once they were changed into their stylish casual clothes – they were the trendsetters for teenagers in Japan of course – they met up and found a staff member who led them to an exit they could use where they wouldn’t be hounded by fans. Sneaking out through it, they donned sunglasses and walked down the streets, chatting among themselves. They didn’t really talk about anything important; mainly just about different things that happened during the concert. Maasa almost fell during Fighting Pose, and Yurina complained about the set entrances being too low. Chinami told her she was just too tall, for which she received a hard poke.


They also had a great dinner. Maasa was right about the yakiniku. They were given a whole hour for their meal, so they filled it all with random chatter. Miyabi realized once more that she was glad to have such good friends.

On returning to the arena they separated, and as Miyabi was heading to her dressing room she ran into an oblivious Risako. “Hisashiburi!!” she yelled as she snuck up on the poor unsuspecting young girl.

“Iyaaa!” the girl shrieked, jumping in the air and spinning before she saw who it was. “That was not funny!” she said, holding her hand to her chest and breathing heavily as Miyabi broke into a giggle.

“You’re so out of shape!” Miyabi chided. “You get out of breath just from walking down a hallway…”

“Stop calling me fat!” Risako demanded in return.

“Fat? I didn’t say fat…” Miyabi said incredulously. The other girl just huffed and turned to stalk back down the hall.

“Hey! Wait up!” Miyabi called after, and ran to catch up with the other girl.

“Help! Help! I’m being stalked!” Risako yelled in a mock scream, causing some of the staff also passing down the hall to stop abruptly to see what the commotion was about. “There’s an old crazy girl trying to molest me!”

“I am not old!” Miyabi protested loudly as she continued running after her quarry.

Risako did her best, but unfortunately for her Miyabi wasn’t totally wrong about the shape she was in. Before long she was tackled kicking and screaming to the floor. “Ahhhh!”

“Ha! Gotcha!” Miyabi looked down at the girl who after the fall she found she was straddling the waist of. Risako looked back up at her as if she was fearful of her life. No other noises could be heard; apparently the staff who were around decided they didn’t want to be involved in Berryz Gone Wild. “Now… you shall be tickled!” Before she even said the word, she began administering her threat.

“Ahhh! Ahh… ahahahahhaa!” Risako giggled uncontrollably beneath her, wiggling around as she struggled to get free. After a minute, really when her arms got tired, Miyabi stopped her ministrations and looked back down at the girl, her own breath now heaving along with the other’s. She enjoyed seeing the smile that now graced her friend’s face.

“I was wondering if you were still that sensitive to tickling. I guess I got my answer,” she said with a smirk.

“Not funny…” the girl below said in mimicked offense, and raised her arm to push Miyabi’s shoulder. She couldn’t dislodge her captor from her superior position, however. “You can get off me anytime you know.” As she calmed, she seemed to begin to adopt a pleading look.

“Mmm… I don’t think so,” Miyabi replied. “Not yet at least…” As she looked into the deep youthful eyes of the other girl the spark of her exuberance shone back at her. She was suddenly very conscious of how close they were. Their faces were just centimeters apart. Something she couldn’t explain came over her and she began to lean closer…

“Ewww,” came a too-girly voice from behind them down the hall. “Get a room, you two!” Miyabi and Risako both jumped up and apart from each other as quickly as they could. “You’d better be quick about it though. We meet for first stage in ten minutes!” Momoko walked up to them as if reluctantly at first as she spoke, and then darted quickly between them, sparing them looks as if to make sure they didn’t try anything on her. She then continued running down the hall, yelling behind her back, “And put some better makeup on or everyone will know what you’ve been up to!”

Miyabi cast a quick glance at Risako who didn’t look back, her eyes lowered and face appearing a little flushed, before starting to head quickly straight down the hallway herself. They had not been up to anything! They… might have been… she supposed, though she didn’t know exactly what happened there. Either way, she was sure her makeup was just fine!

After a moment she noticed Risako was walking the same way as her. “Miya…” she breathed in not much more than a whisper. Miyabi stopped dead, the other girl catching up with her. She had no idea what she was going to say… “You’re going the wrong way. Your room is in the other direction.”

“Oh,” Miyabi replied, her sense lost to her. “Thanks…” She then just noticed Risako nod and begin walking straight on again without looking back. Miyabi watched after her for a moment, her feet rooted to the spot unsure of what to do, before the girl disappeared behind a corner.

As if that triggered something in Miyabi’s brain to make her feet work again, she turned around and headed back toward her dressing room. Okay, what just happened back there? she asked herself. However, her mind didn’t really seem to want to process it. Did I just almost… kiss Risako? It’s not like that would be the most earth-shattering thing in the world. They kind of went out a year or so ago, going on cute little dates and things and even sleeping in the same bed together when they could. It was nice being able to do that again last night… But they hadn’t quite gotten into a kissing stage yet, and school and work became busier and pushed them apart to where they didn’t see each other much at all or do much together… that is until Miyabi stole into her room last night.

As she found her dressing room and began changing for the performance, she began preparing mentally for it and tried pushing thoughts of what happened earlier out of her head. That was something for later tonight. Now, it was show time.

_________________________________________________

And my original notes about the story from so long ago

A few notes about this story... This began with me just wanting to write something involving Berryz, since I felt they still didn't have much that portrayed their characters for everyone to get to know well. Also I've come to love them quite a bit and felt like I might have some fun things to write about them. I was inspired a bit by Wordsworth's and Loser87's works but I hadn't yet realized a bunch of others started writing Berryz fics around the same time... lol. I wonder what happened this month?

Anyway, when thinking about what to write about them I didn't know much more except for what the characters would be like. It's quite difficult to apply Berryz to traditional plots, mostly because of how young they are, so I got stuck for a little while (part of the reason I didn't write sooner). Then I looked at what I already had seen written about them and basically they were stories that focused on some sort of romance and other things that really just reminded me of teen dramas. So I thought, what the hey. I've got characters, let's throw a bit of backstory into them and start them in a certain setting and see what happens. I'm basically writing this story about what I think might be the random happenings of Berryz' daily life. Because of this, as in a teen drama, the plot and such might meander a bit, but hopefully it will be interesting nonetheless if nothing else than because of the characters. This also feels to me like the best way of keeping the Berryz spirit in what I write, which I consider more important than some other groups. Those dramas tend to acquire plots at some point and gain quite a bit of interest, and some people at least seem to enjoy the little I've written so far, so we'll see how it goes.

Thank you all for reading, and please let me know what you think about the girls!

I feel like working on Berryz Gakuen too!!

[℗ani©kof¶àίи]

Hey Ro-kun. -___-
I'm still waiting for chapter 49 of Berry Beautiful... I miss your writing!!!
Please write soon... I know you're busy though. Ganbare!

[Arcachan]

Its my first comment in here ^^
i think this story is amazing, i like this story please continue this story

[Ro-kun]

Aww, people are still commenting!!! I'll have to continue posting things in here then

Here's just a little something I threw together in honor of today, even though it's actually set a few days from now still. I wonder if anyone will be surprised?


“Sakura Chirari”

“Good morning!” Airi said brightly as she strolled in the back doors of Sun City hall. She knew exactly where to go today, and felt as if her spirits were lifted. She even woke up well this morning.

The staff murmured good morning to her as well, many of them returning her smiles before hurrying back to their duties. When she reached their dressing room, she noticed that Maimi was the only one there so far and working on her hair. Leave it to the members from Saitama to be the last ones to show up when they’re actually having a concert in Saitama.

When she realized she was alone with Maimi, she stopped dead.

After a moment, their Leader saw her through the mirror and smiled. “Ah! Airi!” she said with a beaming smile of her own. “Good morning! Did you sleep well?”

Airi nodded her head. “Mhm,” she replied simply at first, before walking slowly over to her chair. Once there, she focused pointedly on her cosmetic bag. “I even had time to finish up my homework, so I’ll have a free night tonight. I might get a full night’s rest.”

“Oh, you will?” Maimi asked, almost wistful-sounding. There was a silent pause after that, when Airi almost looked up, but eventually she continued, more brightly, “How was your first week of school, by the way? I know there were times at rehearsal those days when I just stopped and thought like, ‘I wonder what Airi’s doing right now… Does she like her new classes? I hope so…’”

That did make Airi look up, her eyes slightly widened. She forgot that she hadn’t actually talked to Maimi about school yet. With rehearsals made even more intensive than usual given the circumstances, and her being off at school, and every other way the two of them were normally kept busy, they hadn’t gotten the chance to talk like this again since…

“I do like them,” she replied, beaming back at Maimi through the mirror. “Though I’m already sad about missing art and history.”

Maimi chuckled softly as she ran a brush delicately through her hair. Airi watched the bristles as they slipped smoothly through the silky strands, so much like…

“You really are such a geek, you know,” Maimi said, teasing her.

“Airhead,” Airi shot back, grinning as she dug back into her bag.

“Kappa-lover,” Maimi replied, still sounding amused.

“Thank you,” Airi responded, mockingly polite this time.

“Airi,” Maimi said, sounding more hesitant this time, but Airi was distracted now. “About what happened in Hawaii…”

“Ow!” Airi grunted, after pricking her finger on her clippers and snapping it up to her lips to suck at gently.

“Ohayo!!” came a joint greeting from Nakky, Chisato, and Mai as they strolled into the room together before Airi had to look back up at Leader.

“You’re late!” Airi said in mock scolding, grateful for a change in subject. Three pairs of innocent eyes stared back at her.

“Kawaii na~” Maimi cooed, seeming to have recovered.

“Just because we’re not as punctilious as you two, doesn’t mean…” Nakky began as the three of them also moved toward their counters.

“You really shouldn’t keep using words like ‘punctilious’ you know,” Airi chided. “Nobody else may even understand you.”

“Hey!!” came three simultaneous voices yet again, Leader providing the one difference, but Airi just grinned and went back to her bag. However, she kept a view of said Leader in the corner of her vision. It seemed that once again, the two of them would not get to talk alone. Normally she would have enjoyed that, since she liked being around more people, but at this time there was something she definitely wanted to discuss with Maimi-chan as well. She just… wasn’t sure if she was ready for it yet. She wondered if she’d ever be…


“Aren’t the sakura so pretty?” came a voice from behind her. It was dark now, after their last live was over, and she had just left the venue. She felt almost completely worn out, knowing she’d sleep well tonight. However, she’d gotten distracted gazing up at the cherry blossoms in the small park within the Sun City grounds, and hadn’t noticed someone coming up behind her.

Airi thought she did a very good job of hiding the fact that she very nearly jumped out of her skin, and turned her head slightly to see Maimi-chan now also smiling up at the blossoms beside her.

“Most of them have started to fall now, though…” the girl said, lowering her gaze to the ground. It was littered with the pretty white flowers. Groundskeepers would probably clean them up overnight, but she wished they’d just let them stay there on the ground, for a while at least.

Then Maimi turned to look into her face. “Can we talk?” she asked lightly, gesturing to one of the benches beneath the trees. There were a few people around in the park, and they could see the outdoor photo vendors just outside the fence, but amid the trees and falling blossoms, the bench was still relatively secluded.

Airi nodded, and Maimi took her arm as they walked. After sitting down on the petal-covered bench, they both hugged their bags and looked up into the trees again, silence dragging on for a moment.

“I’ve said it so much before, but you’re really lucky to have your birthday in the middle of the sakura bloom,” Maimi said finally. “It’s surely auspicious.” She cast a wry glance in Airi’s direction. “That has to be where all your talent and beauty comes from.”

“Mai~mi~” Airi whined, nudging Leader slightly with her fist. “Stop embarrassing me.” Thankfully it was likely difficult to see her pinkened cheeks in the dim light near the ground.

“You know it’s true,” Maimi replied, looking up and smiling again, rocking back and forth a little.

“I feel like you’re flirting with me when you say things like that now,” Airi pouted, staring straight ahead.

“Oh?” Maimi commented airily. “Maybe I am.

“…Maybe I always have been.”

Airi was now very glad of the dim light.

“Are you saying Hawaii wasn’t something that just happened?” Airi asked in a quiet voice.

“You know, I’ve been thinking about that,” Maimi replied, as Airi blushed anew. “And I don’t think it could have been.”

Airi stole a peek at the girl, to see Maimi gazing back at her seriously. Seriously, but still cutely. In fact, maybe it’s Maimi-chan’s seriousness that was so cute in the first place.

“You don’t regret any of it… do you?” Maimi asked, still looking serious, but Airi saw another emotion as well. Fear? Desperation?

“I…” Airi began, but couldn’t continue.

She stood up, stretching beneath the trees, holding her bag in her hand as she swung her arms around.

“Do you?” she heard faintly behind her.

Airi froze, slowly letting her arms fall to her sides. A long moment passed before she finally responded. “…No.” She sat back down lightly, purposely not looking at the other girl. “Of course not.”

Then she felt soft fingers against her chin, and they gently pulled her face toward Maimi’s. That seriousness was still there, but to Airi’s great relief, the fear had been replaced by a light smile. She stared into dark eyes as their faces closed in, nearly touching; a tilt; then her lips met the softness of the other’s.

A few minutes later, and the two girls sat side by side, an arm around each other’s back, gazing up at the trees. “You know, it felt different in Hawaii, but back here… looking at the blossoms… Spring is really a season of beginnings, isn’t it?” Airi asked musingly.

“I love the spring,” Maimi followed happily.

“Me too,” Airi replied, and then the two girls looked at each other and giggled.

“We are so hopeless, aren’t we?” Maimi asked. “I don’t even know how we’re going to get by together.”

“Together?” Airi asked, peering up through her eyelashes. This time it was the older girl’s turn to blush. “Yaji-san, are you saying that we’re a couple?”

“Chissa will be so jealous, won’t she?” Maimi mused.

“It might give her something to think about…” Airi replied, pondering. “You know,” she said, staring past Maimi while she played with the buttons of the girl’s shirt. “Reading your blog posts lately, like from the other day, Chisato sleeping next to you, I know it’s totally innocent.” She was speaking in a rush. “But I can’t help but feel a little jealous.”

“You and I did sleep together a few nights in Hawaii too, you know,” Maimi countered, causing Airi to blush again.

“I know,” she replied. As if she could forget! “Still,” she continued, pouting. “I want my Maimi-chan to myself again some night.” Her last words faded into murmuring as she snuggled into Maimi’s shoulder and acted as if she would doze off.

“Some night…” Maimi said airily, still gazing forward in thought as she unconsciously brushed her fingers through Airi’s hair.

"Maimi-chan?" Airi asked, hardly more than a breath.

“Mm?” the other murmured. Airi felt completely, relaxingly focused on the fingers running through her hair.

"You taste like cherries."

…

“Thank you for inviting us to this after-party!” Airi exclaimed as the members of ℃-ute began to file out of the restaurant. The ramen had really been delicious; the others didn’t lie.

“It was nothing,” Chisato said, brushing it off. “Thank Mai – she found the place originally.” She gave the girl she spoke of an odd look. “Went by herself, she says.”

“Mou,” Mai whined. “Why won’t anyone believe me when I say I do things on my own!?”

“Because you’re Hagi-san,” Nakky said with a grin.

“It’s because of you people I have to work hard to look mature,” the younger girl grumbled as they exited into the fresh night air.

“I guess we’ll see you later in the week, then?” Chisato asked Leader when it was time to split ways. “I’ll probably hang out with Mai around here tomorrow.”

Airi was going to respond, but at a funny glance from Leader, closed her mouth again. “I don’t know,” she said. “I was thinking of bringing Airi back here. Maybe we can all hang out as ℃-ute for once. That is, unless you wouldn’t like to.”

Three faces turned to her with wide eyes.

“Are you kidding??” Nakky said.

“Let’s do karaoke!!” Mai added.

Chisato just stared in plain, but very pleased, disbelief.

“It’s too bad we didn’t just plan for a hotel for you two, since then you wouldn’t even have to worry about coming all the way back up here for the day,” Nakky said thoughtfully.

“Well you know me,” Maimi said with a smile that made Airi’s heart beat faster. “I don’t always think of these things when I should.” Then she took Airi’s arm. “Anyway, we’ll see you guys tomorrow! I’ll mail you!” And they all said goodbye to each other and headed their separate ways, Maimi pulling Airi along with her.

As they walked, Airi kept looking up into her face. Maimi would meet her eyes, still smiling, before Airi would look down in embarrassment. This continued for a ways down the street until Airi finally said, still looking down, “You have some kind of plan, don’t you,” she stated, not in a question.

Maimi glanced innocently at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Ah! Here we are,” she said as she pulled them to a stop in front of a cake shop. “Dessert time!”

For the next hour or so, Airi was pleasantly distracted by the tasty desserts, though from time to time she glanced at Maimi when she thought she wasn’t looking, and when she remembered the girl must be up to something. Afterward, when they stood satisfied outside the shop, Airi said tentatively, “Well I guess we might as well head to the station then…”

Maimi didn’t say anything at first, smiling off at nothing, before glancing back at her. “I thought you said you wanted to spend the night with me?”

Airi opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Then, feeling her hopes fade, she mumbled, “Mother will be unhappy if I don’t get home soon…”

“Don’t worry about that,” Maimi said, her smile widening. “I’ve already contacted her, and said I’ll take care of you for tonight. It’s for our ℃-ute Day tomorrow, after all.”

“Yaji-san!” Airi almost gasped. “That’s very nearly a lie!”

“Well we will be having ℃-ute Day,” Maimi replied. “I just didn’t mention what would happen until then.”

Airi stared at her Leader, impressed for not the first time, and then her lips spread into a grin of her own. “And what do you plan to do with me until then, Leader-san?” Maimi just grinned and whisked her away.

The next morning, two very happy girls met up with their other three companions, and together they enjoyed a very superb ℃-ute Day indeed.

[darkacex99]

YES and update!!!! *fist pumps*
yes plzz keep posting here ur fanfics are awesome

[Ro-kun]

Reposting here cause why not... there's a bit of a companion piece posted elsewhere (a while back) too. I just felt like I needed to do this.


My One and Only

“Otsukaresama deshita!” Riho repeated seemingly endlessly as she walked through the halls backstage of the Budoukan. She poured all of her energy into it though, wanting to make sure and express her deep-felt feelings of gratitude to everyone that had supported her over the years.

When she reached the dressing room, she found the other girls had beaten her there – not surprising as much as she’d been caught up by greetings to pretty much everyone she came across – and they threw a small celebration for her along with a cake.

“Sayashi-san, Sotsugyou Omedetou”

The words written on the cake were simple, but she felt her eyes always drawn back to them up until they were broken up once she cut into the cake. She had a large piece of it with plenty of fruit on top, and chatted with the other girls as she ate. Fuku-chan and Maa-chan in tears as they stared already missing her, Zukki with her big smile as she stuffed her cheeks, Eripon and Duu acting cool, Harunan being geeky with the younger girls… all but one. She had noticed immediately that someone was missing, but didn’t mention it since she wanted to keep up the energetic and celebratory mood.

Eventually the girls broke off to tidy themselves up, and begin to head their separate ways, all the way down to Maa-chan who didn’t want to let her go. “Yasushi-san, samishii…” she kept whining, but Riho did her best to give the girl an encouraging smile. “It’s not sayonara, it’s mata ne,” she would say. “We’ve got a few more events these next three weeks until the 21st, er… 31st, too, after all.”

“It’ll be so busy though…” the girl kept protesting.

“Ma-ta-ne~” Riho repeated, and eventually the final girl also drifted off and left her alone with a few bustling staff members.

Riho took her time changing into her street clothes and arranging her own things, taking deep breaths as she attempted to fend off exhaustion like she didn’t think she’d ever felt before. Her mind still rung with the memories of the day, how nervous she’d been putting herself out there so much, how many things she could have done better… but soon she would try and turn it all off.

She slung her bag over the shoulder and headed out into the hall, trudging down it to the exits with only some faint “Otsukaresama deshita”s now at the staff who passed and bowed to her. It was deafeningly quiet compared to her day up until that point. Eventually, almost without her realizing, another, smaller, girl fell in beside her with her own bag over her shoulder.

“Sorry for not being at your party,” the girl said in a low voice. Riho’s breath caught. It seemed someone else had been crying, as well.

“It’s okay,” Riho replied in a quiet voice herself, lacking virtually all of the energy she’d exuded earlier. Saying goodbye to all the fans and the other members was one thing, but it really felt like she’d already said everything she needed to this girl, even before she first announced her graduation. “You’ve hardly talked to me like this since…” she began, but trailing off not needing to continue.

Instead of responding, she felt the girl hook an arm around her own. Riho flinched at the other’s touch, but let her pull her along a different hallway. They finally reached a different exit, out a side door near a part of the garden area, and when they reached some cover of vegetation, they sat down on the ground in front of a small fence. Riho looked up at the stars, only a few up high bright enough to see in the early winter mid-city sky. She was surprised she could see any until remembering they were at the edges of the Imperial park, where lights would be more limited.

“I guess it’s graduation year, isn’t it?” The other girl asked, and Riho glanced over to see her looking up at the stars also. “I graduated school in March, and though you’ve got a year of that left you’ve decided on one of your own…”

“I did,” Riho replied quietly.

The girl looked over at her finally, and Riho gazed back into Ayumi-chan’s eyes. “What happened to us, Riho-san?”

Riho took a moment to respond. “We grew older,” she replied candidly.

Ayumi-chan breathed a short laugh, and reached up to lightly touch the side of Riho’s face. Riho reflexively leaned into the touch before she caught herself. “Why does it seem you’re older now than I am?” The question was hardly more than a statement since Riho knew that more than anyone, this girl would already know the answer. Riho pulled away, and they both sat back with their eyes drifting again to the sky.

“Do you remember those first times we visited each other’s schools?” The girl asked. Like Riho could hardly forget. “Our trips to Dreamland, all those wonderful dinners…”

“Ayumi-chan…” Riho began, her voice becoming tight.

“I’m sorry,” the girl said quickly.

She remembered every moment she’d spent with the girl in the two years they’d dated. Between that and her work, it had been the happiest time of her life. For perhaps the first time she hadn’t felt quite so alone. Even so, early last winter Ayumi-chan had at last admitted frustration saying it was always so hard to know what Riho was really thinking, that even though they’d been together so long it was like she never opened up, always so focused on her efforts at school and at work.

Riho hadn’t known how to respond to that, so she shut down even further and the two of them began drifting apart. They still went on a few dates over the winter holidays, even spent a few nights together like their annual Christmas in Dreamland, but it was nothing more than a glimmering parade of detachment. Before Ayumi-chan’s high school graduation they broke it off completely, and Riho shut down even further only rarely hanging out with friends and redoubling her efforts at work.

In the long ensuing months she thought hard about her life and where she was going, and this fall finally made her decision.

“Was it me?” Ayumi-chan asked, and Riho’s widening eyes darted back to her. Before she’d often wondered if the girl could read her mind, but…

“No,” she replied quickly, and the girl looked at her. Riho’s eyes fell. “It was the decision I came to after lots of thinking about what I want out of life. It’s really what I’ve been telling people all along. Nobody believes me…”

“I believe you,” Ayumi-chan replied quietly. “But… I wonder if that’s what you would have decided if not for me.”

Riho replied with silence.

“Well we’re both going to be free now I guess, huh?” The girl said after a time, stretching. “Me from school, even though there’s still work…” She gave a soft chortle. “I suppose you’re kind of going the other direction, from work to school no? Studying English and dance. Any idea where you’ll go yet?”

“No,” Riho replied.

“Going off to learn who knows what kind of sophisticated dance in who knows what glamorous place… You just have to keep staying ahead of me, don’t you?”

“It’s not that,” Riho protested.

“It’s okay.” The girl giggled. “Don’t deny it, I know how competitive you are. You’ll accept nothing less than working the hardest, being the best.”

“I’m not,” Riho continued to quietly protest.

Ayumi-chan reached up to her face again and tilted her head to look into her eyes. “You saw all those fans out there today, didn’t you? Cheering your name. All those cameras, the members getting so emotional even though there are still some weeks to go. You are the best, you know.”

Riho stared into dark eyes a moment before shrugging away again to hide her blush, but didn’t protest this time.

“That’s why they fell in love with Riho Sayashi,” Ayumi-chan continued. Did she really have to keep going… “It’s why I did,” she continued in a much smaller voice.

“I’m sorry, Ayumi-chan,” Riho said, shaking her head, and for the very first time today she felt tears come to her own eyes. “If I was really all that great I wouldn’t have hurt you. If I was really that great I wouldn’t be stumbling my way alone through my life like I am.” She looked up into the girl’s concerned face, realizing her own eyes must be glistening with moisture but beyond caring at the moment. “Am I making another disastrous decision, Ayumi-chan?” she said, her voice now filled with desperation and fear, pleading to the girl beside her.

Ayumi-chan didn’t answer, just pulled her close, and Riho lowered all her defenses as her tears gushed forth against the girl’s shoulder. She sobbed, sniffed, and choked her tears in the arms of the person who’d meant more to her than anyone, until finally drawing away.

“I’m sorry,” she said once she could manage words. “I’m such a crybaby…”

“No you’re not,” Ayumi-chan said in an amused voice, though it seemed tight as well. Riho had thought she felt some dampness from the girl’s own tears as she wept herself. “You’re the strongest person I know.”

“Strong people don’t cry…” Riho retorted in her misery.

The other girl was silent a moment before finally responding. “A strong person is one who takes on pressure, takes on challenge, no matter how impossible the task seems. A strong person is a twelve year old girl who grabs the spotlight in an organization with such a tradition and history as Morning Musume, and elevates it to even another level as she bears all the pressure on her tender shoulders. A strong person is someone who feels confident enough in herself that she can say ‘There’s even more out there’ and decide to leave all of that behind to set off on a new journey. Someone who held every eye today at the Nippon Budoukan, smiling all the way through in her gratitude without letting anyone see what it all was really doing to her.”

“You’re seeing it…” Riho said softly, though her tears had faded as she pondered each of the girl’s words. When Ayumi-chan stayed silent though, she finally looked up to see the girl smiling caringly back at her.

“A strong person is someone who can trust someone enough to bare her soul to when she needs. Even when her partner too selfish to understand that.” As she finished, her smile adopted a sad tint, and Riho saw her eyes moisten again.

Riho stared back, at a loss at the admission from the girl beside her. “Were we just too young?” she asked.

Ayumi-chan’s smile fell into an awkward grin. “You’re starting to talk like an old lady,” she chided.

“Old man,” Riho chimed, coughing a soft laugh.

“Don’t forget hentai,” Ayumi-chan continued, though after more brief laughter from both of them a somewhat awkward silence dragged on.

“This is the only life I’ve known, Ayumi-chan,” Riho said finally, staring out ahead of her. “I pushed throughout my childhood. Pushed harder once I passed the audition. For nearly all seventeen years. I wonder if I maybe made this decision just to have it all over with, for once.” She looked up into her companion’s face. “Am I still too young?”

In response the other girl leaned toward her again, but instead of just holding her gently, this time she captured her lips in a kiss. Riho responded gratefully, though she knew her face must be like a wet rag by now. The touch felt so familiar, though it had been so long. After a moment they parted and just held each other close.

“Riho-san, that wasn’t…”

“I know,” Riho said quickly. As much as she desired that intimacy, she knew it was only fleeting. Even though she couldn’t presume on what all was to come.

“I do love you,” the girl said softly, barely a whisper.

Riho tightened her embrace. “I know.”

She did know that no matter what, she would always have someone to rely on. She smiled wistfully in their embrace, remembering all her teasing what seemed so long ago. They may not yet fully be adults, but they were certainly no longer such brash, youthful delinquents.

The next day when she walked in to practice, it was business as usual if maybe with a few more looks from her comrades. Business as usual at least, except for the bright smile she shared with Ayumi-chan for the first time since before the year when her life was to change forever. Seeing that smile made an idea sparkle in her mind as if yearning to be recognized, but during a break from practice the girl came first to her.

“Hey look at this!” Ayumi-chan said, offering her phone. Riho glanced at the screen and saw herself shouting into a microphone - it was a recording of a report of yesterday’s concert on one of the morning shows.

“Ah… hazukashii!!!” Riho moaned, hiding her face, and quickly glanced around to see if anyone else was looking. No one was, but they’d all still certainly see this and other reports soon if they hadn’t yet.

“Nee, Riho-san,” Ayumi-chan said, a flash of uncertainty in her voice.

“Mm?” Riho replied, peeking out between her fingers. When she saw the girl’s phone back down at her side, she dropped her hands.

“I was thinking… Christmas is coming up in a couple weeks, you know.” Riho blinked at how closely that echoed the thought she’d had. Was she saying… “I can hardly remember a Christmas I didn’t spend at Dreamland with Riho-san. We’ve gone the past three years… I thought… You know, if you really didn’t mind, just in order to keep a tradition alive of course…”

“Yes,” Riho interrupted suddenly.

Ayumi-chan blinked at her.

Riho smiled. “Yes, let’s go to Dreamland for Christmas. Together.”

Seeing the smile bloom again on Ayumi-chan’s face, Riho thought how amazing it was to still have this one girl at least by her side, no matter what came. As for fully becoming an adult… It would come too, and perhaps she was already there in many ways, but the rest could wait maybe just a little bit longer. The endless sky lay out far and wide before her.