Okay I finally finished the one-shot that I have been working on and there are few things
1) It should be broken up but I wanted to do something like this
2) It's Berryz, sorry
3) Guess how long it actually is
(I was surprised myself)
4) Can it fit? Maybe
The explosions ran across the sky with colorful lights over the black sky. Firework always indicated a celebration but sometimes there is no celebration to attend.
She looked outside her window covered by an oversized shirt and pajama bottoms, wondering about what the next day would bring and if she could live on. Living through her own means, she held onto the knife closely only to throw it away before going to sleep.
“Rii-chan, wake up.” The youngest member felt a hand on her back as the shakes became more violent.
“Momo, leave me alone.” She called out with an irritated tone.
Risako rolled towards the peach forcing her off the bed but landed on her feet. Rii-chan opened her eyes thinking about the knife and noticed nothing by Momo as she got up and searched the floor for the knife she threw last night. Momo yanked her off the floor and threw her on top of the bed.
“What are you looking for?” Risako paused as the image of the knife outlined by the drawer.
“You must have been dreaming Rii; there was no knife when I arrived here.” Momo had a puzzled look at she looked at the floor to see it quite clean.
She accepted the peach’s words and headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower before heading to the meeting with all the other members. Rii usually never had her thoughts jumbled in her head before and for today to start off this way.
It seemed that a headache was going come soon.
Rii exited out with a towel wrapped around her body as she searched through her drawers for underwear. She found a matching black top and bottom and slipped it on before pulling a light blue shirt over her head matched with jean shorts. She rushed out despite her damp hair and arrived a few seconds before Captain was to start the meeting.
“Okay, I wanted this meeting to discuss a group trip.” She extended her hand up as the rest gleefully cheered.
“Where are we planning to go? Many places are packed with tourists because school is one break.” Miya pointed out as she scribbled a few places that would allow Captain and her to be alone for a while.
“I have a few suggestions of my own but Tsunku has limited many of them so out manager can watch over us.” They all groaned at hearing the manager will be with them and threw their ideas into the wastebasket.
Risako hinted a smile as she doesn’t have to be the last one to be chosen out for their trips but there was a place on the list that caught her attention. She heard it was a retreat for groups of people who usually don’t spend a lot of time together and it seemed to give them an excuse to only allow the manager to be with them outside of the room.
“Rii-chan seems to be interested in a location.” Chinami shouted out catching the youngest one by surprise and let them know about the trip to the hot springs.
The other members had their reservations about going to a hot springs during the summer but being in a cool area wouldn’t hurt to enjoy a luxury during the slow period. Miya was the only one sticking to her decision to not travel to the hot springs but was overruled by the majority and it was set to leave a week from then.
The week passed by quickly as they were busy with their individual schedules and throughout the appearances, they set up a list to do while on the trip to prevent boredom. However, Risako wanted to adventure around the mysterious woods behind the hot springs as a nature trip to scare the manager.
They packed up whatever was needed for the trip and loaded it onto the bus for their trip down to Osaka for a visit to the hot springs. Knowing the ride would be a couple of hours, they each took a seat and rested up but Risako stayed awake looking outside at the scenery.
She was amazed that many of the members slept through the cool interaction between the birds and the trees but she began to feel the drowsiness drag her into sleep land. She fought it valiantly with water but soon caved into the body’s function and slept in her seat.
“Rii-chan, wake up…” The voice wasn’t from anyone familiar so she just turned over.
“Get up, I need to talk to you.”
“Chinami! What are you doing?” Risako noticed Chii next to her with her arm draped over her waist.
“Seeing if you are still alive.” She said in a serious tone as the bus was moving quicker than usual.
“Well I am now, why did you bother me?” Before she could receive her answer, Chinami’s lips pressed up to hers blocking her breathing.
Risako lay down on the seat with her hands locked with the older woman as Chinami mounted on top of her. Risako moved her bag under the seat in front of her and observed her hands gliding under her shirt. Risako froze in horror as she slowly rubbed her midsection anticipating her next move but opened her eyes to realize she was in the middle of a scene played out in her head.
Luckily, no one else had seen her but seeing Chinami across of her, she probably was toying with her as she was sleeping. Rii placed her hand on her knee gently waking her up and she shot up looking around noticing only the youngest member glaring at her.
“Are you okay?” Chii asked as Risako flashed a smile.
“Just checking if you were still alive.” Chinami narrowed her eyes and gave her thumbs up before falling back asleep.
Rii was beginning to think that she maybe having dreams of being with other members romantically which wasn’t abnormal as Miya and Captain were the most active among all of them.
She quickly looked over to the back as she saw a shirt hanging on the seat and crawled past Maasa to see Miya fixing her bra. Rii scooted back to her seat hoping the light-colored hair woman didn’t see her.
She heard footsteps as Miya approached her seat and sat next to her with her eyes beaming towards her. Rii held her hands together trying to apologize but it was no effect on Miya’s demeanor.
“I was… just wondering why a shirt was on the seat.” Rii’s voice stuttered as she tried to explain.
“My bra was starting to bother me so I wanted to take it off so I could sleep but I saw your face looking up. I know you aren’t perverted but you should at least approach me as usual not to sneak around.” Rii nodded as Miya walked back to her seat and quickly changed into something comfortable to sleep.
Risako was overly exhausted from Chinami and Miya’s visit that she leaned her head onto the window and snoozed away until their manager woke them up when they arrived eight hours later.
The sun was slowly setting in the background as the seven members dragged their bags into the common room and began to choose their sleeping bags. The inn only contained one room that was used for all purposes and was once used as a drug intervention room.
Captain, Miya, Yurina, and Chinami were on one side of the room and Maasa, Momo, and Risako took the other side as they placed their bags in their spots. Their meal was served outside of the room as they happily ate with few conversations among everyone getting their impressions of the trip so far avoiding Risako for the first round.
“Rii, are you sure you can handle sleeping in the same room as us?” Miya asked as she motioned over to Captain.
“It should be no problem, I don’t expect much sleep anyway.” Chii giggled at the reply as Miya turned her attention to her.
“You must know something, Chinami.” Miya’s eyes were like daggers piercing through the veil and eventually she gave into the reason why she was giggling.
“You talk to Captain loudly sometimes.” The rest of the members agreed with the statement as she glanced over at Captain who was not within the circle of the conversation about their voice level at night.
Since they arrived late in the afternoon, they were limited to the showers for their baths and one by one they took their sleeping bags and dozed off into dream land.
Rii held her towel to her chest as they each took turns washing them with the shower that it had no hot water left in the system. She had to let the chilled water hit her body hoping that it would get warm again but no luck waiting for it that she was the quickest of the group to shower.
She slipped into her sleeping bag with the manager by the door ready to close it for the night. Risako closed her eyes and heard strange noises from across the room. The little light from the moon created a silhouette of a body stretching out and crawling over to the other member’s sleeping area.
She turned over to avoid the scene but a coin was stuck between the mats causing her to let out a sharp noise to wake everyone up in the room. Everyone looked over at Risako as she held up a coin to the light and quickly the lights went off as Risako felt comfortable in her sleeping bag until she heard a noise.
“Excuse me, I want to help you.” She disregarded the offer and turned to the other side to hear the same voice again.
“Chii you better stop joking around.” Rii whispered but noticed no one was near her.
“My name is Aku. I want to help you get some wished granted.
Risako shook her head and revert back to her sleeping position but the creature was insistent to help Risako anyway possible. Aku dove into her mind and opened up the boxes within.
Aku found itself swimming through her dreams and approaching the first pit stop that caught its attention. The creature placed its hand together and mumbled a prayer. A bright light flashed and the scene soon changed into an empty room where Risako was sleeping in the room.
“Rii-chan, wake up, we need to go.” She felt a hand grabbing her and tumbled out of bed landing on her elbows.
“What are you doing?” Risako looked up noticing Miya extending her hand.
“I would ask the same question.” Risako dusted herself off and followed Miya out of her room into the lunch room where everyone was sitting around.
She walked over to the table where there was an empty seat. Miya handed the member a bento with a smile on her face but the people around her were unnoticeable. Risako sat in her seat frozen just glaring at the older member as she pried open the cover and broke the chopsticks for her.
“Aren’t you hungry, Risako-chan?” Miya winked at her and looked down at her arm to pinch herself.
She thought it couldn’t be real and it had to be a dream. In a moment of panic, she left the table with her chopsticks in hand and ran into the bathroom where Miya was by the sink washing her hands.
“Hello, are you here with someone?” Her question surprised her and she ran out into the dining room where Miya was still there chatting with the other people.
Rii wasn’t sure if it were people she knew or they both knew, but she was in shock that there was two Miyabi’s in the area. She ran out to the street and sprinted to the corner without noticing the bicyclist coming at her. Rii closed her eyes holding her head as she shot up feeling the sweat running down the side of her head. She rolled out of her sleeping bag and shook the person next to her.
“Who’s that? Risako?” She turned and looked at her shadow knowing it was her.
“Kuma-chan, I had a weird dream. Miya and I were…” Yurina squint her eyes as she grabbed the younger member by the hand outside of the room.
Kuma-chan towered over Risako as she was still heavy with sleep and knowing her history with the older member, she could handle the drama, however it was rare that anyone had a dream. Rii sat down leaning on the outside of the door as her fellow member sat inches from her as the thoughts were coming together slowly.
“Okay, so Miya and you were together. It bothers you because Captain and she have a relationship.” She pointed out as the younger member nodded.
“But, I always held it inside. Does it mean I am neglecting the feelings?” Yurina tilted her head back onto the door and it opened behind her.
“You guys are up.” The manager called out as Risako turned away to avoid contact but Yurina was out of commission.
The manager dragged the two back into the room while avoiding awaking any more members. Aku was a wily creature hiding in the shadows as it was hungry for another adventure. Unfortunately, it couldn’t attack an awake being, so it had to hunt another victim.
It scanned the area and jumped from shadow to shadow, suffering from the hunger of his art, it found a victim, and without warning it took a jump into the brain.
Aku was disappointed that the victim was less exciting than Risako, but it managed to leech onto one dream that would give the woman a ride.
“What are you doing?” She looked down at her hands and looked up to find Momo across of her.
“I don’t know. I am wonder why you are here.” The peach smiled and stuck out her pinky as usual.
“We are on a date, remember? Yurina had a photo shoot, so you asked me to take her place or you take her place for me.” Momo mumbled out the situation as she looked back down at her hands.
She looked around the area, noticed the restaurant was a place where they hanged out a lot but with Momo, it seemed outside the realm that she would allow her to come here. Then, the waitress with a fuzzy face came with an ice cream sundae between them.
“Chii, I know Yurina and you have a great relationship. I always wanted to know who acts more like the boy in the relationship.” Chinami looked up thinking about the question.
“Neither of us. We play off each other a lot and if we managed to get scared, we each take the reins for become the stronger of the two.” She explained while Momo dug up a scoop and snatched the cherry from the top.
Chinami glared over the peach’s eating style as she laid her head on her arms, still pondering over how she was with Momo. She held her hand over her wrist and swung down feeling the pain, catching the peach’s attention.
“Chii~ stop slapping yourself! You should enjoy the sundae. Here have some.” Momo showed her the spoon of slowly melting ice cream. Chinami pried her mouth open inch by inch until the spoon entered her mouth and closed down on it.
“Doesn’t it taste good?” Chinami slowly nodded and scooped ice cream for Momo who closed her eyes and held up her pinky as she reached for the food.
Momo leaned in but her body weight tipped the table over and Chinami rolled her off the table protecting her from any damage but she felt the table dropping on her knee. She bit down on her lower lip, trying to avoid the yelling to her partner. Momo had some help from other customers to push the table off her leg and called for an ambulance.
She felt the pain running down her leg and let out a yelp as Momo saw the bruise forming right above the knee. She tried to give an encouraging smile but the emotion came running out as soon as Chii smiled back.
“Gomen ne.” She bowed to Chinami with her left hand trying to calm her down.
The paramedics arrived soon after to treat the injury and escorted the peach over to the hospital for tests. A few hours after the accident, Chinami received a pair of crutches for her injury, and let them go home by taxi.
Momo sat in her seat quietly as Chii looked over with an irritated look, knowing how much Momo felt sorry for her but it was unusual to have that thought running into her head. Despite Momo’s personality, she had that reserved reflection within her especially after accidents. It was one of the few things that she had truly respected about her.
“Momo, do you drive Maasa nuts sometimes?” She smiled and nodded quickly.
“Maa-chan loves everything about you. I could never understand it but she had admitted one thing to me.”
“What is that?”
“She hates sleeping with you.” Momo scooted over to Chinami’s side.
“Why? Momochi likes sleeping with Maa-chan~” She jumped onto Chinami’s lap wanting to know the reason.
“Well, she thinks that you love to sleep on her.”
“It was only one time.” She complained as she took out her cell phone to call Maasa.
Chinami closed the phone and laughed it off as Momo’s panic entertained her until Chii’s destination. Chinami waived goodbye to the peach as Yurina stood out front with a jacket on and her arms crossed.
“How was dinner?” She asked and before she could reply, the dream broke, and woke up to the sight of the sunrise.
Chinami crawled out of her sleeping bag and grabbed her leg as she breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t bruised but was disturbed by the peach snoozing. She crawled over to Momo’s bed with quiet movement while observing the other group members as they were snoozing away.
Chinami sat by the peach waiting for her to wake up. The sun peeked through the window and gently touched each of their faces. Captain woke up first as she saw Chinami by Momo and slipped out of her sleeping bag to go to relief herself.
“Chinami! Why are you sitting by me? Did I do something?” Momo slipped out of her sleeping bag and bowed towards her as Chii gave a half-smile back.
“I was wondering if… you ever dreamed about me.” Momo sat Indian style tilting her head back and snapped back with her pinky up.
“You were eating one day and had asked if I ate. I answered that I wasn’t that hungry but you gave me an anpan anyway. I was happy because I had something to eat despite the unopened bento in front of me.” Chinami’s smile grew bigger.
“I knew it. I don’t feel guilty of dreaming about you.” Chinami walked away as Momo began to question Chii about the dream and unsuccessfully came away with the answer.
The group got ready for the morning activity of hiking through the trail behind the hot springs. They went by age order followed by their manager who was hauling most of the heavy items up to the picnic area two hundred feet above sea level. The area overlooked the river and beyond in the distance was a mountain accenting the beauty of the area.
The manager pulled out their lunches and gave to each of them individually as they each went to their partner except Risako who would face away from the group to view the scenery. The manager occasionally would partake in eating with her but it would seem to annoy her if she didn’t want company.
Rii was at peace by herself but the dream from last night bothered her as Miya was an impossible goal in her mind, even if she was approachable at times but she still had Captain. Captain was a kind leader and never got angry at anyone except for her comparison in height with Momochi who was still insistent that she was taller. However, she had a difficult look on her face as she faced Miya like she had something on her mind.
Risako ate through half of her meal before turning back to the group to discover Captain standing in front of everybody with her hand up in the air.
“Manager has told me that we have the hot springs to ourselves.” Everyone cheered as the manager held up her hand for recognition.
After they ate their lunch, the group hiked back down the trail and returned to the hot springs with an hour before their assigned time. Risako decided to head back into the sleeping room to find her swimsuit for the hot springs but Momo caught her from behind holding up her swim wear.
“Rii-chan, are you afraid that everyone will see your breasts?” She teased her as Rii dropped it and decided to strip down to nothing for the group.
When their time had arrived, they all wrapped the towels around their bodies and headed in a straight line to the hot springs. The manager wanted to stay alone so she took the mini one for herself leaving the group together alone.
Miya stepped in first followed by Captain. Maasa took Momo to the other side leaving the three in the middle finding an area to hang out. Chinami wanted the alone time but last night gave her a weird feeling inside and wanted to talk to Yurina who had listened to Risako’s dream the previous night too.
“Rii, are your feelings for Miya arising again?” Chinami asked as Yurina lowered her head into the water.
“I think so. Yurina was comforting me last night because of that.” Chii looked over at her and she nodded her head.
“I might as well say that Momo popped into my head last night but I don’t know why she has that effect on me.” Rii tilted her head to the side pondering over Chinami’s dream.
The three were quiet for a few minutes as they tried to decipher their dreams and didn’t notice Maasa was on the hunt from the right side and surprised the youngest member with a squirt of water. Risako sprung up with her towel stuck to the rocks and exposed her body to the rest of them. They stared at her for a few seconds before she pulled it off and wrapped it around her body again.
“Rii-chan is having the toughest luck during the trip.” Yurina pointed out as she halted her explanation.
“Does it matter now that we got to see Risako’s?” Captain stood up and removed her towel throwing it to the side before submerging back into the water.
One by one followed until they were all in their birthday suits joking around about their bodies but it was a sense of comfortable attire for a girls’ night in the hot spring. However, the time flew by quickly and took a quick shower before heading back to their room. Someone came from behind and tapped on Risako’s shoulder. Feeling the shock, she turned to find Captain nude in front of her.
“I guess it’s weird to be odd person out. I never expected that to happen so I made everyone feel the same way but I’m kind of jealous of your figure.” Captain winked at her as Risako stepped out of the stall.
“You look good too.” Rii said in a low voice as Captain smiled back.
“Thanks. You should love your body as much as everything else you do. You may not have a stable partner but you will find one who will make you happy.” She waved to the youngest member as she washed off the remaining soap off her body.
Risako arrived back in the room with her pajamas on and sat down on the sleeping bag as they all got ready for bed. The manager got roll call going before greeting them a good night but when the light goes off, a pair of red eyes gleamed from the shadows.
Aku watched them fall asleep as it concentrated on the next victim set in its mind. Once she felt comfortable, Aku was ready to jump in and look for juicy dreams to fulfill. It jumped from shadow to shadow until it was ready and swung into action.
It was very surprised about this woman’s dreaming and found many choices to pick on but there was one that made Aku smile the biggest and dug into it.
“Where am I?” She said to herself as she looked down and noticed she was barefooted and a sundress on her body.
She stepped out of the dressing room and saw the beach on a warm afternoon with a gentle breeze from the east. Kids were playing tag and men were on the side ready to approach her but they couldn’t move from their position. She looked on the other side and saw her with a green bikini looking at the waves with her surfboard.
“Miya, let’s catch a wave. It is small so don’t be scared.” She proposed to Miya and followed her to the coastline.
Miya quickly threw her sundress onto the sand and climbed aboard as Chii paddled out deep into the ocean.
“Chii, why are you here? I should be with Captain.” Miya thought of jumping off but her legs froze in place as Chinami pulled up and turn.
“Captain doesn’t surf. Also, the guys were wondering why you tease them.” She said with a smirk on her face as Miya looked at the crystal blue water.
She began to think of an answer but she had no answer that she would mindlessly flirt sometimes and get herself into trouble but Captain shielded her from those influences so they could be together. Without notice, Chinami charged at the wave and forced Miya to stand up and balanced on the board as Chii manages to maneuver through the three foot sets.
“Miya, do you have an answer?” Chii asked as she sat on the board.
“I don’t know, I guess I just gain people’s attention.” She looked up at Chii and scooted closer for no reason.
“Many people want that gift but I want something more important.” Chinami leaned in and pressed her lips on top of hers. Miya stood still as she took the embrace while thinking of Captain but gave in at the last second and closed her eyes.
Chinami broke the embrace as they both paddled out to get another wave as she wrapped her arms to catch another wave ending with a wipe out. Chinami emerged from the water with board in hand as Miya was on the other side and climbed on top of it as they went back to the beach.
Chii grabbed her board and walked up to the hut where the people were having drinks. They went to the non-alcoholic side and ordered sodas for each of them. They lounged back on their chairs watching the wave crash into the beach as the sun set in the background.
Miya glanced over to Chinami as she bent her head to get comfortable. She let out a laugh unexpectedly as Miya bent over for a sip of her soda.
“We are here together and you always are concerned about your looks.” Chii said as she winked to her.
“Your tan lines are nice, I can never get them as great as you.” Miya admitted as she slouched down on her chair.
Chinami loved the compliments but something still bothered her and got off her chair to move it next to Miya’s. Chii grabbed the younger woman’s hand and leaned in for a kiss. Her tender lips were coming closer to hers and as they touched, Miya woke up inches away from Captain’s face.
“Having a good dream?” Captain slyly smiled at Miya as she turned over to avoid any more embarrassment but the elder member knew she was acting it out in front of her.
After a few attempts of chasing her around, Miya finally gave in and explained the dream. She was amused that Chinami was within her dream despite being with her but it never irritated her like how Miya expected it to be. Captain knew where Chinami was sleeping and crawled over to her but Miya grabbed her leg and dragged her back to their area.
“Baka!”
“Chii should know that you were dreaming of her.” Captain said in a serious tone.
“NO!!! She doesn’t want to know.” Miya said loudly waking Risako across the room.
“Miyabi KAWAII!!” Captain rolled over in laughter as Rii’s comment came from left field.
Captain calmly quieted down and caressed Miya as the dream was bothering her and she slept in Captain’s arms for the rest of the night.
Aku was amused with the group and their dreams but it bothered him that they lacked an edge that he liked with his missions. His hunger was waning and decided to rest until tomorrow night where fresh dream were ready for picking.
Maasa woke up to find the peach sprawled out over her sleeping bag. She gently tucked her back into her sleeping bag and walked over to the bathroom. She sat down on the toilet to do her business and heard footsteps outside the stall. She peeked in the open space below the door and shook her head as she thought she was dreaming. Then, there was a knock to the side of her and saw feet in the other stall.
“Maa-chan, are you there?”
“Yurina, you startled me.” She replied as she finished up.
“Can we talk before we come back to the room?” Maasa let out an audible grunt and washed her hands before waiting outside the restroom.
After a few minutes, Yurina walked out with her hands dampened by the water and followed Maasa backed to the room but stopped right in front of it.
“Chinami and Risako had weird dreams being with other people. It seemed real enough that they panicked over the situation so we may have to dwell on other stuff to prevent that. Any weird movements could influence others to take on their dreams.” Yurina explained as Maasa opened the door and saw Miya snugged up to Captain.
“I think we all have those weird dreams with others.” She looked up and thought about Momo.
“It is normal because we have close relationships with each other but maybe we should stop playing with our past.” Maasa agreed and they walked back to their sleeping bags to finish up their sleep.
Risako woke up first to the sun’s entrance to the room as she looked at everyone still comfortably asleep. Feeling tired herself, she sat up to watch everyone slowly awake but the manager who usually let them sleep in during trips, woke them up unexpectedly with her screaming.
“Manager-san, are you okay?” Captain asked as she gently put Miya’s head off her shoulder.
“Daijoubu. Just a weird dream that you guys were attacked by monsters.” She let out a giggle as the rest sighed as there were sitting up looking at each other weirdly.
They freshened up and dressed to take on the trail again except they wanted to go a little further and two took on the challenge, Chinami and Yurina. The trail from the first stop was a little more rugged than the start but they managed to get through it without any problems and arrived at the next area in no time. As they ventured back down, Miya and Captain were prepping for their challenge.
“Are you ready?” Miya jerked her head side to side.
“Okay, maybe you can guide so I can watch you from behind.” Captain gently pat Miya on the back to get her started.
Miya pushed forward as Captain slowly followed behind and took each of the steep areas a step at a time. They reached a wooded area and headed straight following the markers which led to another steep hill. Miya had grown little confidence about the climbing the new trail but last night was starting to weigh on her that she paused for a break midway through the steep hill.
“Captain, why doesn’t it bother you?” Miya said under her breath.
“Eh?”
“Why doesn’t it bother you that I had a dream about Chinami?” She smirked at the question.
“Because… I know that you have a good friendship with her like with others too. Also, I fear that I, I mean we may need other sensual needs that others can provide.” Captain sat down across of the other woman.
“It bothers me if you do have dreams of others.” Captain smiled.
“At least I would tell you because seeing you jealous makes you even cuter and I wouldn’t throw you away because I did that.” Miya showed a half-smile.
“You would know that it would be nice to do something now.” Captain crawled over to Miya to deliver a kiss to her forehead.
Miya didn’t have to say anything else as she lay down on her back and Captain grabbed her hands as their lips met in the middle. Captain pinned down her partner’s hand as she slid the other hand under the shirt exposing the midriff. She gently traced her finger over the area but Miya grabbed her hand before she could move on any further.
“Let’s finish this up later on.” Miya suggested as they both headed up the final part of the trail to second peak.
They returned to the group with pairs of eyes looking at them as they missed out on a view of the waterfall that lasted for a few seconds. The group returned back to the hot springs for their lunch but without any afternoon activity, they were on their own for a few hours.
Captain and Miya took over the sleeping room as they wanted to for at least one day and started off from the position from where they were in the forest. The elder woman moved her shirt higher as she traced her body with her fingertip and along the rim of the shorts.
Miya guided her hand higher towards her chest holding close enough to hear her heartbeats but pushed it away playfully before getting a chance to remove any garments. The elder member tried to gain a controlling position but Miya powered her over and laughed as Captain was now in a submissive position.
“Captain! Where are you?” The voice called out as Miya slammed her body on top of hers.
“ITAI!” Captain screamed out and the sliding door opened to find Miya on top of Captain.
“You guys were starting… maybe I should witness this.” Chinami joked as she told the rest that they were in the room.
“Get out of here, Chii!” Miya yelled as Chinami closed the door and Miya looked at where Captain was supposed to be but she was up feeling the pain along her ribs.
“Maybe we should meet everyone here to discuss tomorrow.” Captain suggested as Miya turned away in disgust and everyone rushed in as Captain led the meeting.
The members wanted to travel outside the hot springs beyond the area but the manager was concerned for their safety so she compromised the idea of the group taking a tour of the nearby ruins. The group decided to make a menu for their trip and had asked the staff if they could help them with tomorrow’s meal and they gladly accepted them. The workers rarely watched the youth cook but they each took dish to make and prepped them with care.
After the prep work, the kitchen staff took over and finished up their work as they return back to the room for the night. Aku hid behind the pillar as the lights went off and it was on the hunt for a new victim. It tiptoed to a prime victim and dove into her head.
Aku struggled through the dreams as it was filled with fluff and barely survived the onslaught of soldiers in her mind but it finally found something it could hold onto and pried it open.
“Are you okay?” The voice opened her eyes and saw Captain watching over her.
“Captain, what happened?” She pointed toward the knee and saw a vicious gash.
“You tripped over a rock and slammed into the pavement. Sensei just called the nurse so stay still.” She stood still until a woman came running towards her way but the face was blurry.
“Tsugnaga-san, lie back down and let me clean out the gash.” She quickly got the alcohol and dripped it over the gauze to clean it out.
Momo initially let out a loud scream as the burning was overwhelming but soon got adjusted as Captain held onto her hand trying to keep the younger one from crying out. The nurse quickly patched up the gash and stood the girl up as Catapin let her rest her arm on top of the shoulder as they walked to the nurse’s office. Momo was bawling from the pain but she was glad that someone was helping her through the pain. They arrived at the office with Momo lying down on the bed as Captain waited nearby asking if there was any way to help the peach.
The nurse thanked her for her hard work and let Captain off back to class but the concerned girl hid behind the door as long as she could to see Momo resting from her injury. It took a few minutes before the nurse saw her revealing her face from behind the door and sent her away for good.
She returned to class with her head down and kept her mind solely on Momo as she went through the day until after school where she returned to visit her as the peach was cheerful again. Momo hopped off the bed and met Captain outside the room as they both headed home. The peach tried to keep up but her leg was giving into the pain and decided to rest at the store as the owner offered them juice for stopping by.
“Thank you for helping me to get home.” Momo looked over at the older member and motioned to her.
“It is no problem, it was my duty to help people.” Captain grinned as she looked at the wrap.
“Is it possible to say I have a crush on someone?” Momo sipped on her juice as Captain turned towards the peach.
She thought about who it may be and there were unusually a lot of cute boys in her opinion in the school. Captain tilted her head up to think of a boy that might have caught her attention not noticing the peach moving closer to her. Captain turned back to the peach as her finger poked the elder member’s nose.
“You are too funny Saki-chan.” Captain rubbed her nose as she stood up and helped the peach onto her feet.
“I think it will leave once we become older because you are only saying that.” Momo pouted at the girl.
“I think it will continue because you care for me and no one else has helped me with anything before.” Captain smiled and helped Momo home where her parents took the peach off her hands and thanked her for helping her back home.
Aku emerged from the dream with a weird, fuzzy feeling inside and wanted to rid of it quickly so it struggled through the sea again until it reached another one that seemed to be perfect and pushed through without any fight.
“Momo, wake up.” The familiar voice pulled her out of the bed and into her closet.
“Silly, you were just napping.” The peach turned to see the tall idol in Buono! costume.
“Oh really? Thank you Airi for waking me up.” Momo looked over to the mirror to fix her costume and then the door closed.
Momo looked around the room only seeing Airi on the couch looking through the magazines lay out on the table. She began to think that someone just closed the door for privacy and went back to fixing her collar without realizing Airi was behind her adjusting the lower part of her costume.
“What are you doing?” Momo shrilled at the tall idol whose crooked teeth smile grew wider.
“Helping you out of course.” She replied as Airi began to run her hands along her thighs and took a few steps back.
Momo was becoming concerned that this wasn’t Airi but she just couldn’t put the finger on what is in her at the moment and opened the door to find Miya with her fist up ready to knock. Without a greeting, Momo allowed her into the room as she looked over to Airi peeling the pages of the magazine.
“Where did you go?” The peach asked as Miya fixed her costume in the mirror.
“I was asking the producer about the time and he was politely asking the host to get it started so I watched the first segment. Then, I came here to say we are going to be up on stage soon.” Momo nodded and got the trio together to say a cheer.
They got the cheer off and headed to the stage where Airi rested her body on top of the peach. Momo felt the overbearing weight on top of her and poked Miya to ask about their band mate. She pointed to the youngest of them and Miya sneaked into Momo’s ear a whisper.
“Maimi just broke up with her.”
The news shocked the self-proclaimed leader and quickly turned to cheer Airi before the appearance but she turned on her genki switch and masked the sadness with her smile. Momo was amused by the change but she still felt weird about Airi moping around the dressing room about the situation and just had to go with whatever the result was.
After the interview and performance, the trio went back to their dressing room and Airi turned back to the saddened idol. Miya didn’t look toward that direction and was out of the room swiftly. Momo grabbed Airi and sat down with her as she tried to extract the concerns from her mind but was unsuccessful until she began to feel her hand as she tried to beg.
“Miya told you, that’s why I don’t want to talk.” The peach tilted her head.
“We should talk because it makes no sense if you are angry at her.” She shook her head quickly.
“It wouldn’t matter because she has someone to care for now.” Momo began to think about the prospects and instantly hit one and threw out the factoid.
“Mano-chan is terrible at intimate stuff.” Momo paused as Airi bit down on her lower lip.
“How did you know?”
“Intuition, I guess because she always wanted a date with Maimi one day.” Airi nodded.
“I never knew that, she rarely is around so out of the blue she decided to break up with me for her.” Momo held up her hand.
“Don’t underestimate her, Mano-chan is a serious fighter but she will learn of Maimi’s ungodly deed and will send her back to you because she wants to make sure it is done for good.” Momo felt Airi’s arms wrap around her and busily packed her bag before their trip back to headquarters.
The group looked outside at the scenic trip back and they all managed to sleep on top of each other. The driver was oblivious to the passengers and left them in the car as he went to the restroom. Momo woke up first in the group noticing the car had stopped and was ready to wake everyone but instead crawled over to Airi to observe her sleeping.
“Airi-chan, please wake up.” She said softly.
Airi turned over in her seat placing her hands on Momo as the peach slowly rolled her back but the younger member opened her eyes realizing Momo was next to her. She flashed a grin before turning away but internally she was torn between Momo’s kindness and Maimi. Airi turned back to see Momo was patiently waiting for her to wake up and exited the vehicle to avoid more contact with the peach.
“Airi went into the building.” Momo said to Miya as she stretched out her arms to the ceiling of the car.
“What did you say?” Miya rubbed her eyes as the peach exited the car and headed into the building with her mind in trying to find Airi before anything would happen but it was too late as she heard rumbling in the dance room.
Momo ran into the room followed by Miya where Airi was face to face with her former mate. They were in a fierce stare down with the other members of C-ute scattered around as they tried to become a buffer between the two singers. The two remaining members walked up to the duel and watched them carefully as they moved in a circle still with their eyes leering at each other. Nakky held her position as she waited for the next move with the two younger ones ready to pounce but the voice from the door broke the duel.
“Airi, don’t blame her.” Momo saw Mano-chan holding her hands together and ran up to the group.
“Why?” She yelled as Momo grabbed the younger member by the arm.
Airi stared down at the peach’s hand and held it up to her face with enough leverage to pull it away but remembered her words in the dressing room. Airi lowered her arm and turned toward Momo as she fell into the peach’s arms. Then, the image dissipated in front of her which caused her to wake up.
Momo looked across the room as the rest were still snoozing away and went to the bathroom to relieve her bladder. She played back the dreams in her mind as it was an image of the past but it didn’t happen in then or any time or place. The peach was certain of it and sat in the stall reflecting over the dreams as it seemed like a deep desire against her own will and closed her eyes again.
She woke up finding another member in the other stall doing her business and flushed the toilet startling the peach. Momo pulled up her bottom and rushed out of her stall feeling the ring around her backside and held it until she saw Captain looked at her strangely.
“Momo, were you sleeping in the stall?” She had no answer but it looked obvious that she was in there and placed her hands in front to conceal the injury.
“I just had two weird dreams. One was with you when we were younger.” Momo explained as Captain held her hand right at her forehead.
“Was it about you being taller than me?” Captain joked as Momo grew irritated.
“NO!!!!!!!!!!! I scraped my knee and you helped me around the school. Then, I told you that I had a crush on you because you were kind enough to help me. However, I still treasure you as a friend and confidant.” Captain nodded as she moved onto the second dream.
“Airi had broken up with Maimi and I helped her recover. I don’t know why I am having these dreams.” Momo held her head and shook it violently as Captain placed her hand on her shoulder.
“I think you are kind-hearted so you do kindness when needed but never show it when it really matters.” Captain explicated with Momo slowly accepting her explanation.
“Maybe it is telling you to be kinder to others or to Maasa. She is trying to have that same energy but she tires out sometimes, maybe rest a bit so she can have fun too.” The peach nodded again.
Momo and Captain to talk out the images in her dreams and found a lot of deep crooks in the peach’s mind that no one had knew about and gave a new found side to the peach. It was helpful but exposed the peach of her weaknesses in her personality. Both had a mutual understanding that it shouldn’t be discussed further and returned to the room with enough time to get some shut-eye before the sun.
The sun pushed its rays into the room gently waking everyone up. The group got dressed and packed up their lunches before heading out to the ruins. The group picked around the old fort built in the Ashikaga period before being burnt down in the warring period. They were amazed by the items that were left from the fire and how they managed to survive 500 years of time until today.
“This is… not interesting at all.” Miya spoke as the manager turned with a disappointed look and headed to another area.
The manager tried to find a place where there was something unique but the realization of safety blocked them from going into any of the structures and unsuccessfully left with no other sights to see. The group exited the ruins to the small park where they could eat their lunch.
The kitchen wrote down everyone’s name in hiragana on plastic wrap to indicate whose bento it was and smoothly went through passing the right box to the person and they all let out a yell to eat. Each of the bentos was uniquely made based on their preferences and nosily went through their meal except for Risako and the manager.
“It looks good, Rii.” She said as she placed her chopsticks on top of the cover.
“Thanks.” She replied as she observed her other group members.
“Why do you sit alone? You can talk to the others.” She released a half-smile to the elder woman.
“It is a matter of choice rather than force. They talk to their mate more than to me unless there is something I can only do for them.” The manager moved her head in understanding the situation.
“I see. If there are any problems, you can always speak to me.” Rii nodded.
After the conversation, the group placed their empty boxes into the bag and headed back to the hot springs where they had the group time again. They rushed back as fast as they could to get their items ready for the onsen and one by one stepped into bath and created a circle as they all looked at each other with greeting sighs.
Miya placed her head on top of Captain’s shoulder as everyone wanted to do the same but looked back at Risako with a guilty face. Risako avoided the eye contact and tilted her head up as she didn’t notice the gesture and left everyone frozen in between.
The rest whispered the situation between everyone until Risako decided to remove herself from the hot spring and washed up for bed. They left the two lovebirds to one side of the pool and watched them cuddle with each other. Momo looked around in paranoia as they steam started to get to the peach and Maasa lifted her out to prevent any more exposure.
“Thanks, I think my dreams are making me think about why I feel lonely sometimes.” Momo wiped her face with the towel and took a seat on the bench.
“You are here with me and I think I try to keep you company.” Momo smiled as she leaned onto Maasa.
“I don’t like to be annoying but if I can entertain people, it makes me happy that they can smile because of my performance.” Maasa placed the peach’s face in her hands and lifted her up from the bench.
“I like you because you don’t care about other people’s feelings towards you. You face everyone the same way and then you attack them with your butt.” Momo bunched up smile got Maasa to relax her grip and let the peach back down to the bench.
After a few minutes, the two put on their sleeping clothes and headed to the room as Risako was looking outside at the moon with the light on. Her hands were pressed together like she had been praying but in a weird posture that doesn’t relay praying but another form of spirituality.
“What are you doing?” Momo asked as she took a seat next to the youngest member.
“Just been thinking about stuff and wanting to ask Airi if she would be interested to have lunch with me.” Momo started to giggle while Maasa rolled out her sleeping bag.
“Like a date?” Momo suggested but Rii shook her head slowly.
“We usually had lunch together before we split up but after it is rare to have the same schedule so hopefully she can say yes.” Momo rubbed her back as she gave a confident nod.
“Don’t worry, we can accomplish any goal as long as you have confidence to ride on.” Risako flashed a smile and slipped into her sleeping bag.
The rest of the group returned to the room soon after and set up their beds like usual. They turned off the light without realizing the manager’s absence and quickly went to sleep. The manager had dozed off in the hot spring and was feeling the effects of light-headedness as she wandered back to the room. She heard footsteps going toward the room and halted her walking.
“Who is there?” She asked as the steps stopped and continued as she ventured forward.
She asked again with the same answer of quiet but now she was pacing toward the room and eventually found the group sleeping peacefully. She rolled out her sleeping bag and went to sleep instantly.
Aku began its journey to the next member and dove in with ease. It began to notice that this one was clear-minded and lacked any usable dreams or enough to fill its hunger. In frustration, it jumped into a dream that had potential but the hope was it could blossom into something more.
“Wake up sleepyhead.” The high, squeaking voice could be of one person and she awoke to Momo handing over a bag to her.
“What’s in the bag?”
“Your breakfast made by Momochi~” Momo pranced away and she rolled out of bed feeling the ground below but it was unusually awkward to feel it being lower.
She ran over to the mirror and realized that she had shrunk down a few centimeters. She ran outside to see Maasa had just finished up her breakfast and was heading to the sink to wash her plate.
“Maasa, what happened?” She asked as the older member gave her a strange look.
“Yurina, you don’t remember the fall?” She shook her head as saw Maasa at eye level.
Maasa explained that she had fainted during practice and was rushed to the hospital for heat exhaustion. It was also found a growing tumor that was causing her height to stunt a bit every second. Doctors were amazed by the tumor and kept her under observation until she was released a day ago.
“They say it is slowly shrinking you down until the tumor dies or gets removed again.” Maasa explained as Kumai walked back to her room with her head hung down and was ready to let out her frustrations.
She closed the door behind and jumped into bed as the pillow became her only ears for the few minutes as she wondered why she got cursed for an illness like that. Then, a knock at the door brought in Chinami who was the most concerned of the members, she began to rub her back trying to soothe the pain she had in her.
“Chii, why did this happen to me?”
“Don’t blame yourself for this, we all feel the same way about it. Everyone shed a few tears as we heard about it but we stayed confident that it would stop soon enough.” Yurina turned over on her bed.
“When?” She asked as Chii flipped her hands up.
“We may never know but here’s a kiss for strength.” She pecked her on the forehead before leaving her room as she tried to fight the tears that were millimeters from leaving her.
Kuma-chan began to check the mirror periodically as the height change was slow and consistent. Every centimeter was three hours and slowly she began to battle the mental side of things by resisting the fact of her disease. The members came in one by one continually giving her support until the doctor came in got an official measurement.
“It might be going away soon. You’ll probably be more average height than anything else.” He gave her a smile as she smiled back with confidence.
As night approached, she got accustomed to the height change and headed out to the room where it was unusually dark for the day and she walked into a surprise party for her courage in the events leading up to the disease. All the members showed off their creation for their fellow member as they each made a dish to accompany the party.
They knew that the fight was not over but with the seven members it was proof that people still had a heart for someone who was abnormal. Then, she shot up realizing that it was a dream, surprising Aku, who was still inside her head. Aku rolled up into a ball and waited to exit as Yurina stood up and headed to the bathroom.
“Kuma-chan, are you up?” The manager rolled to her side and waved at her through the dark room.
“Yes, I will go and come back.” She politely replied as she closed the door behind her and moved her head side to side.
Aku was jolted out its place and was rolling between dreams. Throughout the adventure, it managed to hang onto whatever it could grab and then popped out onto the floor. It closed its eyes realizing the hall was lighted and wobbled to find a dark place but for a few feet, it had determined that every place was sealed off, and hoped for a peaceful death. As it was ready to surrender, the slit into the owner’s door had appeared, and slid under to avoid any more exposure.
Yurina returned a bit lighter from the bathroom but she began to think about the dream. Despite being the tallest of all the members, made her stand out but it also made her freakish among the community. She was shy around others and tended to not face people in some cases as they would just look up to her. However, she liked to take cues from the older members and used them to get her noticed beyond her height.
She walked back into the room and looked down realizing that her bed was on the other side of the room, she tiptoed past most of the members until she arrived without waking anyone but the sound of cats came roaring in keeping her awake an hour later than usual. However, she was enjoying the nature of the night luckily it took away the stress of the situation.
The next morning everyone headed to the dining room for breakfast on behalf of the owner. The tables were filled with many small pates and a fish fried in oil. The group surrounded the tables and each scooped a bowl of rice before digging into their food. It was unusual for the group to not be noisy but the day was filled with dark clouds leaving them inside for the morning.
After breakfast, they returned back to their sleeping room watching the rain pound the walls and roof. They all looked at each other as they tried to brainstorm ideas but ended up sleeping in as the rain didn’t let up for the rest of the day but the ideas for the next day could be manageable if the weather cleared up.
Hours later, they all decided to take a nap while the rain slowly died down and the afternoon sun pulled through lightly hitting the women’s skin.
“It stopped raining.” Captain noticed through her half-opened eyes.
“That was a nice nap.” Miya added as they all agreed.
Rii and Maasa walked out to the front lawn as they felt the dampened grass below their feet after the downpour. They walked over to the tree as the leaves were beginning to shake off its residual liquid and looked up at the glimmering sun through the plant.
“Rii-chan, I was wondering if you don’t mind me asking if we bother you sometimes.” She shook her head.
“Does Momo annoy you?” Her question entertained the elder member and she just nodded without a pause.
“I wish if she could not be so hyperactive, but that wouldn’t be her, and if she could be a combination of you and her, we could make a very interesting couple.” She elbowed the youngest member as she smiled for a short while.
“I think I rather have Chinami because you would choke me if I play around you too much.” Maasa let out a giggle as few more of the group came out to find them under the tree.
“Rii, we were wondering if you were planning an excursion.” Captain ran up to the youngest member as she shook her head.
“The only place we hadn’t gone to is the pond. It is a reflection pond so it doesn’t require any equipment but it would be cool to just hang out.” Rii agreed to the idea and followed them back to the dining area for a snack by the kitchen staff.
The kitchen staff was usually appreciative with groups that would take along vacations at the hot springs. They would know that the group would take their complementary snacks if it were left out but since there were fewer people that came to this particular hot springs, they made fresh mochi filled an or strawberry halves. The waitress served it to them with green tea that was conventional with mochi.
“Manager-san.”
“Yes.”
“Tomorrow, can we go to the pond?” Manager nodded her head as she downed an an-filled mochi.
The group bobbed their heads as their mouths were filled with tasty mochi and finished the first bowl in less than fifteen minutes and the waitress handed out one more which was still complementary. The group began to enjoy the atmosphere it had provided and the gentle winds were perfect for comfortable sleeping compared to the noisy city.
Meanwhile, Aku made its move with the storm as the dimmed lighting made it manageable for its return back to their sleeping room but it heard a voice and was immediately summoned to its master, Koji. Koji stood at god’s level infinitely higher Aku and looking up Koji struck down his disapproval.
“To determine your sex, you must decide on the path. As you mold the dreams, you have to decide on how they should turn out or die without being one or the other. It is essential that you pick one.” Aku looked up and nodded.
“Master, I can’t decide on them. They are nice women and would never harm anyone in their lives either with their bodies or their actions.” Koji struck down again.
“It is your decision to transform.” The last words echoed in its brain and it was sent back to its home within a hole in the wall dark enough from the sun rays.
It began to think about what it could do for its path. A female’s path is through war and suffering. A male’s path is through conquering and sexual needs. Aku began to think about what it should do with the last two as it cannot enter into the same human twice unless they went through a dynamic change, which opens the portal again but it could not depend on such actions. However, the women dream it was molding was of romance or childhood desires so it gave the only thing fit a try.
After their snack, they returned outside to get the last glimpse of the sun before it leaves horizon in its cycle and Captain looked out stoically with a smile.
“What are you thinking about?” Yurina asked as she changed her expression.
“Every day is new to me like everyone else. I like how everyone has changed and developed into unique characters but I have a burning sensation within me.” She looked up at the taller member.
“Miya?” She shook her head.
“We weren’t planning to do anything this week, she knew that because she is occupied with something.” They looked around and realized that she was nowhere to be found.
“Oh… I guess it was meant for relaxation.” Captain nodded.
“She rarely gets time off and it is the same for Momo but she has a lot of spirit within her but after a while I have seen her lose it a few times.” Momo waved at them as their attention turned to the peach.
Kuma-chan slowly nodded as she went over to Chinami, who was staring at the sunset. She wrapped her arms around her waist and gently constricted her to gain her attention. Chinami turned back to find the younger member trying to gain her attention and they went back into the room to wait for dinner to be served.
Risako ventured back to the tree again as it felt its young bark starting to feel firmer by the second after the sun had been hitting it for a few hours. She leaned onto the tree as she let out a sigh watching the sun lazily go back to its home behind the mountain. She quickly closed her eyes and began to think about her past which wasn’t too clear but she liked to see how she got here.
The group met back in the dining area with their dinner set out in porcelain trays for each of the members and their manager. Each of them complemented the meal as they chatted with each other until a couple came into the room and greeted them with a bow. Captain walked over to them apologizing for their noise before but they didn’t mind the talking and thought the young women were cute.
“They were wondering why a group of girls would be here.” Captain returned with a grin on her face.
“Is the hot springs haunted?” Miya asked.
Captain looked at her partner straight in the eye and quickly shook her head. She began to explain that there are little people within the walls that like to play around with dreams. The legend mentioned that they have to choose one path in their lives or face instant death. They had to choose between war and peace to determine their sex and in the end many end up in between because of the hard choice.
“I hope they all are female.” Momo shouted out as Maasa argued for males.
The group started to chat again about the legend and exhausted themselves back into their room. Despite the early exit, they were feeling good about their meal and the legend drew their attention away from their personal problems. The lights were turned off and Aku came out of its hiding place.
“Koji-sama, I don’t know what I’ll be.”
“Aku-chan, you have a few days until your decision.” Aku turned to find another being behind it.
“Oama-chan, konban wa.” Aku turned to the female being and bowed towards her.
“Aku, what is on your mind?” Aku sat down and started to chant as the smoke from its body created the picture for Oama.
The screen was of its desires, stuck between war, peace, violence, and sexual tendencies. Every path was laid out in front of it and two more it had to face before deciding its fate. Oama went down into her stance and added the persuasion of her decision but blocked it out before making a stable choice.
“Aku-chan, I hope to see you on the other side.” Oama walked backwards to the darkness as Aku went for the nearest member and jumped in.
Aku swam through her brain as it tried to find the image of its life and dove in with the intention to spin it into a dream. The white, milky smoke blew into the dream and shrouded it into something different.
“Get up!” She turned over feeling the mud behind her head and the gun in her hands; it was warm like it had been recently discharged.
“Yes, sir.” She yelled out.
The air was filled with smoke and the smell of blood and urine filled the air as she walked through the bunker. An explosion startled her as she stuck her head out with her gun facing toward the explosive’s direction. She held her finger over the trigger and then through her vision she saw a guy holding a grenade and let it run as he went down on the battlefield.
She ventured down the bunker to the next station where Chinami had been stationed and crouched down to discuss the situation.
“Maasa, what are you doing? Get back to your area.” She commanded as a grenade came over the bunker and exploded behind them as the woman threw one back in return hearing a scream targeting her enemy.
She scurried back to her position and placed her gun to her side as she started to breathe harder with the smoke bellowing over them. Maasa quickly positioned her gun along the bunker and tried to guide through the smoke her enemy but it was too thick to find anyone coming near them so she had to trust the sounds which were difficult because of the gunfire.
She was disappointed about the wind and just had to trust instincts to attack the forwarding enemy. The smoke slowly lifted to the sky and saw a group of them hunched over near a tree. She had a clear view of one of them and released a round toward that direction drawing them from their hiding place and the rest were taken apart by the oncoming bullets.
“Good going soldier.” Her commander yelled at her as she saluted him.
Another hour had passed before the next sweep would come in and the grenades were halting them as the guns came out blazing. She looked up at the gray sky assuming it was in the early afternoon and the front was approaching them soon enough but too far away to charge them. Maasa leaned on the muddy area as she began to listen again to the battle and voice came into her head.
“Expose the weak side.”
“What do you mean?” She asked as the commander but his finger to his lips.
“The group will be in a trap if you move to surround them.” The voice disappeared and she ran over to the commander to tell him about the voice.
“We cannot be exposed, I’m sorry, you just have to trust us.” Maasa nodded and observed the plain.
She began to see the plan unravel in front of her as the advancing group marched to the strong side of the line as they started their fire fight. Maasa climbed out of the bunker with help of two other soldiers and began to attack them from the blind side. They were circled quickly when the grenades hit their marks and the group surrendered in front of them.
“Sudou, great work. I should have listened to you when I began to see the formation.” He bowed as she walked back down into the bunker and the shots came out again.
Then, in a split second, one was gunned down right next to her. Maasa walked over the body avoiding the sight and went back into position but a loud explosion finally shook Maasa out of her sleep.
She looked around seeing the rain come down again and quickly lay on her back as the image was still lingering in her head. It was unusual that she thought of war or any type of battle but the seed was planted deep in her mind causing a weird reaction within her mind to produce a vivid dream. Maasa closed her eyes again and opened them to the darkness, she knew the dream had awoken her, and maybe for a while.
Aku rolled out and landed in the dark area as it started to develop a feminine figure. It had one more to pursue for the next day but the effects were happening quickly. Aku began to feel the tenderness in its chest as the sensual feeling developed within its body and it stopped quickly.
“What happened?” The shrill in its voice was an indicator of its metamorphosis.
“You have to do it one more time or face death tomorrow.” Oama’s voice echoed through its head as it headed into the darkness still with half of its transformation to go.
Maasa stood up and stepped outside into the hallway as she tried to gather her thoughts. The first thing she began to remember was the explosion. It blasted near her as she saw the rubble hit her helmet and nose, she shielded what she could but most came in contact with her. The next one was Momo praying for her safety and the voice was an indicator of her angel watching over her. Finally, Chinami released a grenade to clear out the enemy after the blast thus escaping with only a few bruises.
“Are you okay?” The owner waved towards her as Maasa waved back indicating no issues within her mind but she was worried that she couldn’t go back to sleep.
She started to pace the halls as a slow pace to prevent any random noise to wake up the rest of the people. To kill time, she spent a few minutes in one place, moving onto another until she felt tired enough to go back. Maasa returned to the peach waiting by her bed with a frown on her face.
“Where did you go?”
“Walking around, clearing my mind of stuff.” Momo nod her head in comprehension.
“It is scary out there.” She snorted as she slipped into her sleeping bag.
“I know but not enough to make me think of you sometimes, Ms. Marshmallow.” Momo showed her partner a pout before sliding her bag next to Maasa.
“I will stay here because you can’t be trusted outside.” Maasa snickered at the statement as she slowly fell asleep.
Oama was awaken by a sound of summon and was sucked into a portal to meet up with Koji. Filled with drowsiness, Oama approached the mantle to Koji’s poker face.
“Why are you helping Aku? You cannot influence his change.”
“I wasn’t helping him at all, Aku needed a push towards transformation, so I assisted in balancing out its thoughts.” Koji shook his head.
“You cannot tell me that making Aku into a girl will help your status among the board. So, it has to be something that you want in return.” Oama lowered her head.
“Aku needs to be released into my care, Koji-sama. It has no guidance and even if it succeeds in the last one, it will die because of the rules.” She explained to Koji’s disapproval.
“Let it die. You have no right to help Aku out in any way even if you are siblings. You did well in transforming into a female and if Aku wants to it could do too. However, no help from you.” Koji closed the door and Oama was sent back to its original place.
Aku woke up seeing Oama land hard back onto the floor and helped her to sit up as she tried to gain back her breath. She looked over at Aku and gave it a concerned look. Through her eyes, Aku began to see she was being strained by something but couldn’t see passed the façade. Aku saw she was gaining back her composure and sat next to her as it wanted to know what happened.
“Koji refuses for me to help.”
“I can do it by myself, I should be alright.” Oama lowered her head.
“I’m concerned that the last one won’t be sufficed to finish the change and you can die within any day.” Aku let out a laugh.
“I know if I don’t succeed, I will die but at least I tried.” Aku smiled at her and returned back to its resting place as Oama continued to think about Aku’s result after the last woman’s dream.
Miya woke up everyone the next morning for breakfast as they made char siu buns for the patrons. They each took one and slowly nibbled on it as they removed themselves from their sleepiness. Maasa was the most exhausted of the bunch didn’t show it through her energetic mood but Captain was feeling hot and tired.
“She has a fever.” One of the workers yelled out as they grabbed cold compressions to cool her down.
The rest of the group surrounded her as her expression didn’t change for a while and she began to groan after every slight movement. She blinked her eyes for a few seconds and slowly closed them as they workers started to cool her down.
“Captain…” Miya said softly as Captain ventured off into another world.
Aku began to grind its teeth thinking about the opportunity to get the final person before death and decided to take a chance. It scurried to the dining area to see the woman resting on the floor with the towel on her head. Aku had only one shot and climbed to the top and prayed that it landed in the shadow below her head. It took the leap of faith and rolled into its landing under her neck.
It crawled into her ear and began its search and instantly found one but as it began to prepare to twist the dream, it began to realize that the magic was not its own power. Aku dropped the items and went into the dream hoping for a miracle.
“Are you okay?” She woke up and looked around as the location smelled like rain.
“Yeah, however my body is sore.” She replied.
“I will heal you.” She followed the older woman into a rundown shack and lay on the bed filled with dust.
The woman began to rub every inch of her body, the soothing massage opened up her mind away from the pain. Captain felt relaxed as she went from her back down to her legs and then to her feet. She began going up and grabbed her behind gently causing Captain to shoot up in surprise.
“Sorry to startle you, you feel really tense in your legs and your core. It needs more pressure to release your stress there.” She smiled at her as Captain went back to her position and felt her behind being grabbed harder. Before she could turn again, she pulled down her underwear and started to dig her fingernails into her backside.
“Please stop!” She pleaded as her underwear was thrown to the side. The woman looked at the exposed backside and slapped each side once to the woman crying.
“Does it hurt? You cannot cry for a massage.” The woman stared at her with her cold eyes and she took the opportunity to escape from the table but her arm was caught her hand. She pulled her back and was swung into the table.
Captain looked up holding her head and delivered a kick to the right knee hearing the joint crack. The woman screamed in pain as she held her knee and Captain managed to escape with only her robe on her body. She ran to the next room where a woman had the same look on her face. Captain sped away on foot until it reached a store where she had a chance to grab a fresh pair and walked to the restaurant where the girls were being fed.
“Miya, what are you doing here?” She asked as she turned away from her.
“We are being recruited for the sex trade. Everyone was pooled and sent out to different mama-san around Japan for the men to have sex with us.” Miya explained to her partner.
“So, women are being sent out to older women for money. Why can’t we fight back?” A pot flew across the room and cracked the glass behind her.
Captain fled the restaurant and headed to the harbor where there was a group of them being packed onto a ship and their cries started to get to her as she tried to find a safe boat. However, the harbor was filled with guards watching everyone coming and going out of the area. She had to decide on a plan to sneak herself out of this place and quickly before anyone else caught onto her.
She despite being a woman, she had some masculine properties that would pass an eye test, and slipped into a side shop where there was clothing for men and took it from the rack without anyone witnessing the act and went into the bathroom to change. She threw everything on and splashed an old musk bottle onto her as the place was filled the smell and hid her head as she headed out to the streets.
Captain wasn’t aware of the signs they were flashing so she carefully approached the men as she tried to flash the signs in respect to the communication and seemed to get enough to pass by but getting passed the guards would be most difficult. She wrote down each detail mentally as she began her path back to freedom and walked into an old store where an old guy held her hand over his nose.
“Smelling good for women, I like that, and you must be ready for the big time. I have to flash a picture of you first and give me five minutes to make good fake documents.”
The flash blinded her eyes as she stood by the counter waiting for her documents and then a man walked through the door with a cigarette in his hand as he looked at Captain with an awkward look. She resisted to turn but was prompted to by his command and held up his hand to his nose.
“Too much young boy, indeed too much.” She commented as Captain took a sniff and turned her head away with a sour look.
“You’ll learn one day, girls love men who are trim and neat. Smells come and go but the better women just want everything about you.” He killed the cigarette in the ashtray next to Captain.
“By the way I’m Nico. I came here two years ago before the revolution.” Captain began to think about what had happened and turned her attention to him.
“What happened?” Nico smirked as he shook his head.
“I guess you just came here on the boat because this guy can make all the necessary documents quickly for men like us. Well, in short, the emperor passed on and an illegitimate child declared anarchy.” Captain turned her head to the fuzzy television screen to see a chestnut-haired woman yelling out orders.
“Tanaka-san!” She muttered as Nico got up from his chair.
“You know her? Why did you lie for?” She positioned her hands up to declare innocence.
“I don’t know her, I just read characters.” Her slight intonation caused Nico to stare at her again but the smell was overbearing that he kept his distance.
As Nico went back to his seat, the guy handed over a stack of cards to her and she waved goodbye to him as he walked up to the guy. Captain looked over the cards and began to remember the names on the cards. She flashed one in front of a guard at one of the check points and let her through to the new palace built for the new leader. The outside was painted yellow with black lining and she managed to get to the door where the new leader was stopped by Captain.
“Can I help you?” She asked as Captain took a step towards her and stared into her eyes for a few seconds before backing off.
“If you are just going to stare at me, then you should wait in line like everyone else.” The leader winked at her as she was guarded by her entourage and stepped into the car.
Captain watched her leave the gates and she headed to the garden to the right of the entrance and found a hidden path covered with shrubs. The guards had no concern about the person trespassing and she was amazed by the boats docked near the ocean. She took one of the plastic cards and started to saw the rope slowly but it was not affecting the twine so she began to make a fire with the cards and burned through the rope as she ran onto the boat and started up with ease. She revved the engine and sped off to the sun not knowing where she was going and popped up back in the room.
“Where am I?”
“We are in the sleeping room.” Miya responded as she was the first one to grab to hug her.
“You were sick, so we decided to stay in to watch you because we couldn’t enjoy the pond without you.” She had a lopsided smile on her face as the rest followed.
“Thanks, I really am happy you are here because my dream was weird.” The members started to circle around Captain as she explained her story.
Aku stumbled out of the dream and hit the floor exhausted from its travel but the weakened state only meant that the transformation wouldn’t be completed in time. It sprawled out as the sun hit its body and slowly specks started to leave its body as Oama watched from a distance as her sibling was disintegrating away into the sunlight. Aku smiled as it saw the specks flying away from it and closed it eyes to accelerate the action disappeared just as Captain finished her story.
“That sounded weird.” Maasa scratched her chin as the manager got off the phone.
“We need to head back tomorrow morning.” She announced as the collective moans built around her as she grinned at them.
The rest of the group lounged as the day slowly was coming to an end and they all headed to their final session of the hot springs. They all sat in a circle different from all the other times as they talked to each other as a group. The trip was winding down and the group was gluing back together slowly as their time together would end after the trip because of their busy individual schedules. After the hot springs, they all met in the dining room for dinner and continued their chatter as the owner thanked them for visiting.
The group headed back to their room for their final night at the hot springs but they weren’t ready for sleeping yet. The women talked about their adventures and inner desires they wished they could do and some they could rid of like Momo’s pinky and her attacking of her behind. However, they agreed that Momo should keep at it because it is quite entertaining to the others. The night grew noisier with the owls hooting and the crickets causing raucous throughout the room.
“Can they be turned off?” Chinami complained as they all laughed.
“I don’t think so but it isn’t that annoying, Chii.” Captain replied as Miya grabbed her by the neck.
“I think Captain wants a night filled with noise because we bother her a lot.” Miya joked as the group grinned to each other.
“We should be happy that we can spend a vacation together for once.” Risako’s words triggered everyone to let out a sigh as they were happier about the group trip despite being cut short.
Each greeted the group a good night and slept without a winking. However, Oama was above them watching from above with evil intentions on her mind. She jumped from the upper ledge and landed on the floor as she took a review of the area and sighed when there were no openings for her to invade.
“Oama, why are you taking my territory?’ The voice was familiar and she looked behind her as a shadow approached her.
“Who are you?” She asked as it revealed itself as a ghost.
“It is Aku here to stop you from revenging my death.” It let out a laugh that startled Oama.
“You shouldn’t have died, you have done everything to complete your transformation.” Aku floated towards her.
“Yes, but I decided to die because it would make me miserable to choose, so I decided to become neutral in the other world to tell them to make a choice before they pass onto the next world.” Oama tilted her head towards it and began to pray.
Aku looked up to see a light and was taken away from the earth without any problem. Oama crawled back to the wall without any words said to anyone and watched the women rest on the floor.
The next morning the group woke up and quickly packed up their stuff for the bus ride back to the city. The manager took the longest because everything was scattered around and each boarded the bus one at a time as the manager checked before leaving. Once the okay was given, they all looked back and waved at everyone for their nice stay at the hot springs. The seven members looked at each other thinking it might be the last time they could enjoy a trip together as they were off back to their individual schedules again.