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"Kasumi... care to explain this?" Kasumi sheepishly scratched her head, with her guests seated in Arisa's basement. Arisa sighed, thanks to her girlfriend's pushy nature, Kasumi had somehow became a semi-permanent resident in her house. "Grandma may be okay with you practically living here, but I'm not! And why are there so many people in here anyways?!"
"Ehhhhh~ You don't mind whenever the rest comes over for practice!" Kasumi protested, gesturing to her guests to prove her point. Arisa groaned, she would be forced to concede if the guests were Saya, Rimi and Tae, but fortunately for her, they weren't either of the three girls. "So I figured, why not invite them over?"
"You invited Yukina-senpai, Moca-chan, Ran, Shirokane-senpai, and Okusawa-san! You invited five people over!"
"Okay in my defence, it's all on Yukina-senpai!"
"Doubtful." Arisa shot a glance at Yukina, who was intently glaring at Ran. "I would understand if it's only Shirokane-senpai... but the rest? No, absolutely not. Minato-senpai doesn't even interact with Okusawa-san!"
"And she doesn't. Toyama-san was the one who dragged all five of us here." Misaki replied tiredly, fervently wishing that she was at home. Or maybe being the third wheel to Chisato's and Kanon's train hopping dates. At least Misaki could prove useful to them. "All I got from her was that Minato-san was the one that was in trouble."
"I just told Toyama-san that my first anniversary with Lisa is coming up. I certainly didn't ask for this, and I wish to leave." Yukina corrected, with Moca snickering the background while Ran chopped the bread-loving girl's head.
"So... why are you still here then?" It was a question asked out of sheer curiosity rather than the lack of desire to be a proper host. In fact, four out of five of Kasumi's guests were capable of saying no, yet they were still here tolerating Kasumi's terrible ideas. "I mean, you guys are cool and all... but it's not like she's keeping you hostage in my basement right?"
"True, I'm just interested in Minato-san's love life~ Sounds fun y'know." Moca shrugged, pulling out a few coupons meant to be used at Yamabuki Bakery. "Hey Kasumi~ Go on a bread run for me?"
"E-Ehhhh... Didn't I just-"
"Bread run." Ran gave Kasumi a look that told her to just go along with Moca's whims, and Kasumi reluctantly went out to buy bread for Moca. "Anyhoo, it's Lisa-san we're talking about. Anything for my coworker slash friend y'know."
"Okay lemme get this straight, you're here for Lisa-san... Ran's here for you, Yukina-senpai's the root problem... so what does that make you Okusawa-san?" Five heads turned to Misaki, who was currently drawing a picture of Michelle. She quickly crumpled the drawing, but it was far too late. "... You actually like that bear huh?"
"It's actually a bear? It doesn't look like one." Yukina expressed her surprise. While she was aware that Michelle wasn't a cat, she figured it was somewhere along the lines of a dog or a lion. Misaki facepalmed at the comment, probably not expecting Michelle's species to be a source of confusion for some. "I'm pretty sure Hina once said that the Michelle statue at the plaza is a lion..."
"Hii-chan said that Michelle's a doggie~"
"Seriously you guys? How is it not obvious that I'm- Michelle's a bear?" Misaki asked, exasperated at the responses. 'I figured that Minato-san would think that I'm- Michelle's a cat due to her cat obsession, but what's with Hina-san and Uehara-san?'
"Maybe because you always wear a hat during lives. I mean, we weren't sure what exactly you were until that mascot race." Arisa shrugged, remembering Saya expressing surprise that Michelle was actually a bear and not a dog. "Most of us thought that Michelle's a dog if it makes you feel better."
"No it doesn't! My username is 'Mii-bear' for god's sake! Isn't that an obvious reference to Michelle?!"
"Moca set my username to 'EdgyIkebana' but it doesn't refer to me at all." Ran finally spoke up, almost shocking Arisa as she had forgotten Ran was there at one point. "I'm not edgy to begin with."
"Uh no, you totally are. With your dyed hair and constant brooding, you're totally edgy. You were even cheering Kasumi on in an edgy way back when we were buying time for Glitter Green." Arisa shook her head, denying Ran's claim. Moca was trying her best not to laugh while Yukina and Misaki averted their eyes away from Ran, all three of them agreeing with Ran.
"... Ichigaya-san has a point, your cheering back then was... well I guess I thought you were being broody then."
"Moca-chan thought the same too y'know~"
"... I agree with them, and that's considering Roselia's reputation as edgy."
"What the hell you guys?!"
"What took you so long Kasumi?" Arisa asked, having waited for 30 minutes with her five guests while Kasumi was out on a bread run. Kasumi chuckled apologetically, her hands were carrying not just bread from Yamabuki Bakery but also croquettes from Kitazawa Meat Shop. What was impressive was the amount of food that Kasumi brought back. "Holy shit, that's too much food!"
"Haha, about that... Aya-senpai and Hina-senpai are shooting some PasuPare promo at Hagu's place! So croquettes are on the house! That, and Aya-senpai ran away screaming after seeing the croquettes..."
"I'm not surprised. I remember seeing Pastel*Palettes surrounded by lots of croquettes thanks to Hagumi a while back, so Maruyama-san's trauma is warranted." Misaki recounted the day that the idol band went around eating food in the downtown district, with four out of five of them looking as though they wanted to throw up. Even Hina left Hagumi's place nauseous after they manage to devour the croquettes with Misaki's and the camera crew's help. "I think there were at least 100 of them then..."
"Ahhhhh I should have stuck around then! Hagu's croquettes are so so yummy!" Kasumi whined, unperturbed by the amount of croquettes listed by Misaki. The latter shook her head, she wouldn't be surprised if Arisa told her then that Kasumi has a huge appetite. "Ah! I almost forgot that we're here to help Yukina-senpai with her anniversary!"
"How could you forget such a thing?!"
"Toyama-san, need I remind you that I don't need anyone's help?" Yukina chided harshly, irritated that her love life was getting meddled in. Ran rolled her eyes while Moca and Misaki took a bite out of their bread and croquette respectively. "I have nothing to worry about."
"Speaking of which Yukina-senpai, when's the anniversary with Lisa-san?" It was a question that Arisa had ever since she came back, she wasn't even aware that they were dating.
"It's... 1st April..." Rinko muttered, sending Arisa and Ran into a screech fest. "A-Ah! I-I'm sorry..."
"Holy shit I actually forgot that you're here too!"
"S-Same here..." Rinko smiled kindly, probably used to being invisible herself. Moca tutted, though it was likely that she had also forgotten about Rinko's presence given that she avoided Rinko's gaze. Only Yukina and Misaki looked as though they were clearly aware of Rinko's presence, even Kasumi seemed surprised to see Roselia's pianist sitting in the basement with the six of them. "So... why am I helping Minato-san with her love life?"
"It's her anniversary! Of course we gotta make it super awesome!" Kasumi replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. It wasn't to Arisa and for that, Kasumi earnt herself a chop to the head. "Ow! Arisa..."
"Sorry for Kasumi's meddling." All Arisa could do now was to apologise to Yukina, who was fortunately in a better mood than she was 45 minutes ago.
"Hey hey Minato-san, whatcha gonna do for tomorrow?" Moca asked, curious to hear what Yukina planned to celebrate the anniversary. "What is it for anyways? Six months anniversary?"
"Our first year together as a couple of course." Yukina replied, with a bit of pride in her voice as her lips quirked upwards. Kasumi and Moca were cheering, while the rest remained in silence. "I've managed to tell her how I felt last year, I have to make sure that she understands that my feelings towards her haven't changed."
"Um... that's great and all, but didn't you say that you confessed to her on 1st April?" Misaki asked, arching an eyebrow. Yukina nodded curtly, confirming what Rinko had told Arisa. "So uh... I guess we all wanna know how did you convince Imai-san that you like her?"
"What do you mean? I simply told her how I felt."
"Yeah but, how did you get her to believe that you're into her?"
"I don't see why am I repeating my answer." Yukina huffed, crossing her arms angrily while Misaki let out a frustrated groan. The rest were silent for a brief moment, with Kasumi swiftly changing topics to end the awkward atmosphere.
"A-Ahhhhh~! Speaking of 1st April, I was thinking of pulling a prank on Otae! Arisa, any ideas?"
"Sheesh... Leave me out of April Fool's Day will you?" Arisa groaned, secretly considering the prospect of pranking Tae. Moca nodded along, worrying Ran. "So Moca-chan's going to prank someone? I should warn that person then."
"Ehhhh? Arisa's so cruel~ 1st April is a wondrous day to have fun the Moca way~" Moca booed Arisa, with Ran smacking Moca's head with the back of her hand. "Ahhhh~ Moca abuse~"
"Don't think about it Moca. You scared Himari last year, leave her alone."
"Ehhhhh? I was thinking of Tsu-" Moca earnt herself another smack to the head, courtesy of Ran. "Boo..."
"Welp, I'm in deep shit then. I don't think Hagumi or Kokoro understand what pranking means and they might take it too far tomorrow... Maybe I should just come to school as Michelle..."
"Will... Michelle be able... to fit... into your classroom?" Rinko asked, more worried about whether the suit can fit through the door rather than the absurdity of the idea. The six of them were soon deep into their discussion of April Fool's, with Yukina the sole person who didn't participate in the conversation. "... Yukina-san? Are you... okay? You look... shocked..."
"I didn't know there's such a day dedicated to... causing trouble." Yukina muttered, uncharacteristically biting a finger as she spoke. "Is this a new occasion?"
"Nope! It's been around for quite a while Yukina-senpai! Tomorrow, people will tell outrageous lies or maybe prank people! It's really all in lighthearted fun, so don't worry if you get the short end of the stick!" Kasumi beamed, pulling out pieces of paper from underneath the sofa as she started to do up a plan to prank Tae. Yukina audibly gulped, as though she had came to a horrifying revelation.
"... I-I see..." The rest were unsure how to respond to Yukina's sudden disappointment, apart from Moca who went to pet her head like how Yukina would usually pet a cat. After a while, Misaki came to a realisation that explained the answers she had gotten from Roselia's vocalist.
"Minato-san, you confessed to Imai-san on April Fool's without realising it did you?"
"... Correct."
"Does that mean that Minato-san actually thought that they were dating all this time, and Imai-san assumed that her confession was a prank?" Ran asked Misaki, who nodded solemnly as she handed a croquette to Yukina. "Wow... that's sad. It's kind of your fault, but at the same time it kind of isn't..."
"By the way Shirokane-senpai, why didn't you find anything strange when you knew that their... 'anniversary' is tomorrow?" Arisa asked Rinko, who was texting someone over the phone. 'Man... why did Kasumi have to drag Yukina-senpai all the way to my house?'
"I thought... Imai-san would know... that Yukina-san was serious... due to her personality... and also because... the three of us were happy for her back then..."
"Wait, 'three'? There's you and obviously Ako, who's the third one?"
"Achoo!" Lisa chuckled, offering a packet of tissue to the teal-haired guitarist sitting opposite her. The latter refused, tweaking her guitar strings. "The weather has been getting cold recently. Don't you agree Imai-san?"
"Ahaha, I guess so! Thanks for agreeing to help me with my bass Sayo, are you sure it's not too much trouble?" Sayo shook her head, idly strumming her guitar as a basic warm up. "Where's Hina?"
"With Maruyama-san. They're shooting a promotional video for their band, so she'll be back later."
"Hmm, makes sense~ Anyways, I'm surprised that Yukina told us that there isn't any practice tomorrow! I thought it was an April Fool's joke!" Lisa laughed, breaking one of her strings in the process. "Shoot, that was my last one..."
"Didn't I tell you to not put so much pressure on the strings?"
"Yeah... but I've been practicing a lot lately to make up for lost time..."
"Still not an excuse. Anyways, I'll text Hina and ask if she could buy some for you. You're still using the one I recommended last time right?" Sayo sighed, setting her guitar on her bed as she reached out for her phone.
"Yup, sorry for the inconvenience... Hold on, does Hina even have enough money?"
"Hm? I'm sure she could borrow from Maruyama-san or the camera crew..." Sayo muttered as her fingers flew across the screen, hoping to catch Hina before she arrived home. Within seconds, she received a reply from Hina. "You're in luck, she's done for the day. However, she's begging me to let Maruyama-san stay over..."
"Why not? You could stand to talk to people from your school every once in a while."
"I talk to Shirokane-san often."
"I mean outside of our band Sayo." Sayo grumbled, agreeing to let Hina bring Aya over. It wasn't that she disliked Aya, she just wanted to practice one of Roselia's songs with Lisa in peace. "Ahaha, don't look like that. We can still practice with them around."
"I suppose that's true... Very well then, I trust that you and Minato-san have no issues?" Lisa was confused to why Sayo would suddenly spring such a question on her, it just wasn't like Sayo at all.
"We're good... though why the sudden question?"
"Hm? I suppose it's because of tomorrow. It's an important day for both of you after all." Lisa blinked, she had no idea what Sayo was talking about at that point. She knew that tomorrow was 1st April, AKA April Fool's, but nothing came to mind when involved Yukina. "Will you be doing anything special tomorrow?"
"E-Eh? I uh... not really?"
"I see. It does make sense, Minato-san isn't the type who prefers overly romantic gestures."
"U-Um Sayo, you know tomorrow isn't Valentine's right?"
"I do. I suppose overly romantic gestures are what you see on Valentine's Day, which would most likely put Minato-san on the spot..." Lisa wasn't sure what to make of Sayo's words, she had absolutely no clue to what the guitarist might be referring to in the first place. She didn't want to ask though, it sounded important given that Sayo of all people was concerned about whatever event that was supposed to happen tomorrow. "Are you going to be giving her cookies?"
"I-I uh, sure? I'm... I'm totally going to give Yukina cookies?" Lisa gulped, now she had to bake cookies for Yukina. Not that she minded, but she preferred to have enough time to go on an ingredients run instead of being forced to spend the night baking cookies. "Y-Yeah, I hope Yukina will like them..."
"I'm sure Minato-san will love it." A loud slam could be heard from the entrance way, a faint 'I'm home' accompanied with 'sorry for the intrusion' heard in the background. "Ah, Hina and Maruyama-san are here."
"Onee-chan and Lisachi! I got the bass strings that totally wasn't paid for by embezzling PasuPare's funds!" Hina entered Sayo's room with a pack of bass strings in hand, Aya hiding behind Hina timidly. Sayo glared at her twin, while Lisa hurriedly pulled out bills out from her wallet and shoved it on to Hina's chest. "I said I didn't embezzle!"
"H-Hina-chan, you shouldn't have worded it like that..." Aya mumbled behind Hina, her words went barely heard by the two Roselia members. Both of them heaved a sigh of relief, thankful that Hina hadn't committed a crime. "Anyways Lisa-chan, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, I wanted to practice and Sayo offered to help!"
"You're gonna serenade Yukina-chan tomorrow?! That's so boppin'! Hey hey Aya-chan, will you like it if I did that to you?" Lisa was taken aback, why did Hina assume that she was going to serenade her best friend tomorrow? She had decided that enough was enough, and had to clear the air else she was going to end up in a huge misunderstanding.
"Okay, hold the phone you guys. What's going on with Yukina and I tomorrow? As far as I know, tomorrow's April Fool's and apart from that there's nothing going on. So why are you two talking about romance tomorrow?" Lisa's words stunned the trio, clearly a reaction that Lisa didn't expect. "H-Hey, what's going on? Like seriously, tell me please?"
"Imai-san... you... Oh dear god, I knew it was too good to be true!" Sayo groaned, facepalming herself at Lisa's question. "I told Minato-san to do it either the day before or the day after April Fool's but she insisted on doing it on that day!"
"Onee-chan, it's not your fault! Besides, you know it took Yukina-chan a lot of guts to say it right?"
"Hina, Imai-san's walking proof that her attempt failed!"
"W-What should we do? Should we tell Yukina-chan?!"
"Maruyama-san, the last thing I would do is to break Minato-san's heart into a million pieces."
"WILL SOMEONE PLEASE JUST TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Lisa didn't want to raise her voice, but they were all ignoring her pleas to answer her question: what was so important about tomorrow that involved her and Yukina? Eventually, Sayo replied, though her tone was far more tired than it was usually. "S-Sorry, I just-"
"Tomorrow marks one year that you and Minato-san have supposedly been dating."
"Welp, she's fucking screwed. So why are we helping her?" Misaki asked, her face sent reeling from the pain inflicted by Kasumi shoving a piece of paper to her face. Misaki grumbled in pain, flipping the paper over such that she could see the contents written on it. "... No. You suck at planning. Ichigaya-san, tell Toyama-san that she sucks at planning."
"Kasumi, you suck at using your brain." Arisa repeated, putting her own spin to it. Kasumi pouted while Moca gave Arisa a thumbs up for the comment, Ran was too busy to supervise Moca as she was racking her brains to help her rival. Rinko was trying her best to reassure Yukina, who was clearly upset that her feelings didn't reach Lisa at all. "Um... Yukina-senpai? Why don't you uh... go pet the cats at the park or something?"
"Ehhhhh?! I wanna pet the cats too!" Kasumi whined, throwing up a stack of papers which sent them flying around the basement. Thankfully for the more rational girls, the scattered papers were contained within an enclosed area and thus was easy to gather. Arisa shot Kasumi a steely glare, threatening to murder her should she pulled off another similar stunt. "Urk."
"... No need. I will rectify my mistakes, and I do not have the luxury of time to spend my time doing anything else." Yukina said, reaching out for a blank piece of paper to pen down her ideas on. Rinko nodded, mimicking Yukina's actions while the rest helped Yukina with her situation. "Rinko, was this the reason why Sayo advised me to not confess on 1st April?"
"U-Um... y-yes... You were determined to... confess before you lose... the will to do so... hence why... Hikawa-san chose to let you go..." All of a sudden, Kasumi stood up (without scattering the papers this time) and snapped her fingers. "T-Toyama... san?"
"I got it! So we covered that Vocaloid song with the apple right?"
"Kasumi, it's 'Romeo and Cinderella'. Not 'Vocaloid song with the apple'." Arisa corrected, with Kasumi ignoring her. "Anyways, what about that song?"
"So I was talking to Hina-senpai and Kokoro the other day, and they said that there's one verse that they really really liked after our cover!"
"Hmm... I guess that song does fit Roselia's image, but how does that solve the problem?" Misaki asked, acknowledging that Kasumi might have a good idea since she decided to form Poppin'Party, and even that wasn't really the best idea given Saya's family concerns back then.
"So the verse is 'show me everything', and I figured that if Yukina-senpai says that to Lisa-senpai in a cool way, Lisa-senpai would fall in love with Yukina-senpai and thus solving the problem!" The rest blinked, having varying emotions to what Kasumi had suggested. One thing was for sure, they all thought that it was the worst idea any of them could come up with.
"That's the worst idea I've ever heard of!" All but Kasumi, Moca and Rinko yelled, having no qualms expressing their thoughts on the admittedly disastrous suggestion.
"Ehhhhhh?! I thought that was a good idea!"
"Anything from Kokoro is a terrible idea. Besides, that would only work if they're actually dating." Misaki rebuked, shooting down Kasumi's idea as quickly as it appeared. Moca snickered, which directed Misaki's attention to her. "Aoba-san, any better ideas?"
"Well... if it was Minato-san getting upset over her grades, I would suggest her to sing Afterglow's Vocaloid table cover~ But it isn't, so Moca-chan doesn't have a clue." Moca shrugged, unfazed by Misaki. She had Ran as practice after all, though the latter would probably kill her in her sleep should that ever got out. Yukina looked at her as though Moca has just kicked a kitten, which made Moca confused. "What? You're ranked in the bottom few in your year while Moca-chan on the other hand..."
"Yeah yeah, you're super smart. Not relevant to Minato-san's love issue here though." Ran shot back, messing up her hair in frustration as she hit a dead end. "I don't understand why can't she just confess to Imai-san again, but on a normal day?!"
"I did that last year, now look where we are."
"You confessed on April Fool's."
"I didn't know such a day existed, therefore it was a normal day to me."
"You-!"
"Alright you two, break it up. Sheesh, and here I thought I could get some practice in..." Arisa sighed, a headache starting to come in thanks to the mini argument. "Okay, any other ideas that's preferably not from Kasumi?"
"Uh..."
"I can't believe it, all this time I thought Yukina was playing a prank on me last year!" Sayo offered Lisa the same packet of tissue that the latter had offered an hour ago, with the crying bassist accepting the offer. "T-Thanks..."
"But I can't believe it Lisachi, you cruelly rejected Yukina-chan!"
"Hina." Sayo curtly warned, shutting Hina up instantly. Lisa blew her nose onto a tissue, sobbing as she did so.
"No... Hina's right, I really didn't know... and I led Yukina on..." The trio observed Lisa in silence, their decision to not meddle in her affairs crumbling with every sniffle from Lisa. The one that felt the guiltiest was Sayo, who knew that she could have put in more effort into convincing Yukina to not confess her feelings on April Fool's. "I-I mean... I really love her, but I made Yukina think that we're dating for almost a year!"
"B-Back up, you love her too?" Aya asked, sincerely praying that she didn't hear Lisa wrong. Lisa nodded, affirming that she felt the same way as her best friend. "Oh my god, this is great! We can just pretend that today didn't happen!"
"But I led Yukina on! She needs to know that I wasn't aware that we're dating! I have to give her a year's worth of affection back!" One thing they had found out about Lisa was that she could be surprisingly stubborn for the most surprising things, the current turn of events was one of them.
"So give her your cookies. That works."
"Or serenade her! You wrote 'Rose-lisa' right? Sing that to her!"
"First of all, how did you know about that song?! Second of all, why would I sing her a terrible song to someone I love?! Third of all, I give cookies to her like it's water!"
"I didn't give my plant water for three months. It survived." Hina helpfully added, shooting finger guns to emphasise her point.
"... What plant was that anyways?" Aya asked, deciding that she should be the leader she should be and not gawk at Hina's unnecessary comment.
"A cactus, why?"
"Putting aside the fact that cacti can survive without water-"
"For three months!"
"I water Spiky once a week Hina." Sayo replied, casually letting it slip that she had at one point formed an attachment to Hina's plant. "Anyways, putting Spiky aside... serenading Minato-san does sound like a reasonable idea. Of course, please do so with some other song."
"Ouch, I knew it was bad but did you have to remind me again?" Lisa mock-gasped, placing a hand over where her heart would be. "Besides, what song could I use to serenade her?"
"Well, 'Sunkissed Rhodonite' works? It's the least edgy song Roselia has, and the song that has the most emotion!" Aya suggested, with Sayo nodding in agreement. Though out of the corner of her eye, Sayo had also shot her a disapproving look, most likely because Aya had labelled Roselia simply as 'edgy'. "H-How about it?"
"... If I have to play that song flawlessly, I would have to start practicing right now!" Lisa, now back to her usual self, was filled with determination as she started to change her bass strings with those that Hina had bought. "Thanks guys! Sayo, back me up on vocals!"
"Sure... but will the song still sound good with just the bass?"
"... Good point. Sayo, help me with the serenading then!" Sayo wanted refuse, she didn't want to get in the way of Yukina... but the puppy eyes that Lisa were giving her shattered her resolve just enough to agree with Lisa's begging. "Thank you so much! Let's hope Yukina's heart won't be broken when she finds out that I didn't take her seriously last year..."
"Okay so... explain to me what this... kabedon mean?" Right now, Kasumi and Moca were explaining to Yukina what kabedons were while the rest tried to come up with any other solutions.
"It's basically wall slamming~ Lookie here~" Moca said as she placed both hands on a wall that Kasumi was in front of, trapping Kasumi. "See, this is what you call a kabedon."
"... That looks intimidating." Yukina replied, failing to see the appeal of kabedons. Moca shook her head, not knowing how to go about it. "Do people really do this?"
"Yup, here's the manga Himari lent to me. Lots of kabedons in this one." Ran said, pulling out a manga from her bag and handed it to Yukina. Yukina flipped through the book, her eyebrows knitting together the more pages she flipped. "Minato-san, you're reading it the wrong way. You're flipping from the back."
"Oh. Right, I knew that." Yukina cleared her throat, starting from the actual beginning of the manga as though she didn't read it wrongly at first. The manga contained many scenes where the heroine was caught in numerous kabedons, ranging from the bad boy to the football star with a sunny disposition. "Are guys the only ones initiating this kabedon?"
"Hii-chan's a repressed lesbian, so don't mind her testosterone reeking manga~" Moca waved off Yukina's question while simultaneously answering it. Yukina nodded, flipping to another page which depicted the student council president performing said action while saying 'show me everything' to the heroine of the manga.
"Aoba-san, why is this girl not wearing her school blouse? Also, why is the president not saying anything?" Within an instant, Moca slammed the book shut and shoved the book back into Ran's bag.
"That manga is not meant for teens." Was all she got from Moca before her lessons on kabedons continued. "Now Minato-san, kabedon Kasumi here!"
"Ooh~ Yukina-senpai's gonna kabedon me! Arisa, isn't it exciting?!" Kasumi giggled, with Arisa shrugging off Kasumi's excitement. Rinko's face was bright red thanks to Yukina's description of the last scene, while Misaki was doing what she dubbed the 'Michelle Jiggle'. Yukina wasn't sure how she should go about it, but she knew that she had to do it eventually if she wanted to learn from her mistakes. With that thought in mind, she slammed her left hand on to the wall while leaning close to Kasumi. "... H-Holy... whoa..."
"Was that satisfactory?"
"V-Very... Moca-chan, what should I do?"
"Hmm~ Dump Arisa?"
"Hell no! By the way, would Lisa-san appreciate kabedons?" Arisa asked, a question that neither Moca nor Kasumi stopped to consider. "Like, you can teach Yukina-senpai the perfect kabedon but it's useless if Lisa-san hates kabedons..."
"Are kabedons considered romantic?"
"Well sure... but Minato-san, I think that's an acquired taste." Misaki replied, still dancing in an attempt to relieve some stress. She wished she was wearing the bear suit though, dancing was embarrassing especially in front of a group of people.
"Then Lisa would like it. She likes reading romance novels."
"That's a very general line of thinking... but whatever floats your boat." Ran said, texting the rest of her bandmates for love advice. All she received were messages from Himari, which was to tell Lisa that she was fashionable. "Anyways, tell Imai-san that she's fashionable."
"How do I do that?" Ran, Misaki and Arisa facepalmed, wondering how did Lisa manage to put up with such a socially inept girl.
"I'm bored..." Hina whined as she watered Spiky, with Aya nudging her to stop watering the cactus. "Thanks Aya-chan."
"Go do your homework."
"Done~"
"Eat more croquettes then."
"KYAAAAAAAAAA!"
"Onee-chan, I told you to not say the 'c' word in front of Aya-chan!"
"Fine, eat more fried 'c' words then."
"Sayo, that sounded weird."
"We brought back lots of fried 'c' words!"
"Imai-san, your fingers are bleeding." Sayo pointed out to Lisa's bleeding fingers, the bass strings stained a bright red as Lisa rummaged her bag for plasters. "I think we should stop for now. We should have dinner."
"Ehhh? Croquettes for dinner? That's unhealthy." Lisa winced as Aya shrieked in the background, she had forgotten about Aya's new croquette phobia just now. "Don't you have anything healthy in the fridge?"
"... Do fruits count?" Sayo asked, with Hina nodding in agreement.
"NO!" Lisa exclaimed, shocked to hear that the Hikawa household had nothing healthy in the kitchen. "What kind of parents allow their kids to eat unhealthy food every day?"
"Parents that are overseas and totally not around to supervise us." Hina responded, a cheeky smile appearing on her face as she examined Lisa's bass. "Wow, your strings look as boppin' as your bass Lisachi!"
"Hina, bloodied strings aren't supposed to be a good sign."
"Well, your strings are pretty much red!" Indeed, Sayo's guitar strings were stained a dull red, indicating months of hard work at the cost of Sayo's fingers. Sayo huffed, placing her guitar on her bed so that less attention was drawn to the blood red strings. "Ah! We have something else other than fruits!"
"Which is?"
"Baking ingredients!" Lisa wanted to cry, she had half the mind to report to the Hikawa parents that their daughters were terrible at eating healthily. With a sigh, she kept her bass and dragged Aya out of the residence with her, wincing once again as they passed by the bag of croquettes. "Where are you two going? We have dinner ready!"
"We're going out to buy proper ingredients. That means no fried 'c' words and cookies for dinner!"
"... I was looking forward to having croquettes and cookies for dinner though. All we ate the past week was sugar, salt, and bananas." Sayo mumbled, her words went unheard by Aya. Lisa frowned, resolving to make a healthy dinner for the Hikawa twins as well as themselves. They left the house, leaving Sayo and Hina behind to stare sadly at the croquettes. "... Should we place the croquettes in the fridge?"
"I thought it goes inside the freezer."
"Wherever it belongs, let's stuff them in before Imai-san comes back."
"Eh?! All 66 of them?!"
"Just do it."
"Ichigaya-san... your grandmother's cooking is on par with Lisa's." Yukina commented, a small smile on her face as she complimented Grandma Ichigaya on her cooking. Thanks to her kindness, the six guests were allowed to stay for dinner and possibly for the night.
"Of course! Grandma's cooking is the best!" Arisa beamed proudly even though it wasn't her own cooking to begin with.
"I know right?! Her white rice is so fluffy!" Kasumi added, earning herself a chop to the head. "Hehe~ I would live here permanently if only it doesn't mean leaving Acchan alone!"
"I feel sorry for your grandmother." Ran teased, a rarity for her. "Dad's probably gonna be pissed, but I couldn't care less."
"Aw, don't say that~ Daddy Mitake's very lonely without his precious Ran~" Moca grinned, shooting finger guns at Ran. Five seconds later Misaki and Arisa had to restrain Ran from bludgeoning Moca with Kasumi's favourite microphone. "No Moca abuse allowed~"
"... Thank you... for the meal... Ichigaya-san... The hot milk... was wonderful..." Rinko smiled serenely, expressing her gratitude towards Grandma Ichigaya and Arisa. Misaki simply wondered how did Grandma Ichigaya knew of their food preferences, as the latter had apologised for her food not being similar to those found in family restaurants.
"I-It's fine! Man, I forgot about you again. Why don't you try doing the Michelle Jiggle? Maybe that could increase your presence." Arisa suggested, slightly guilty for forgetting that Rinko was there with them. Rinko furiously shook her head, her face tinged red with embarrassment.
"I... I can't dance... in front of so many people..."
"It's okay, we'll probably forget you again anyways." Moca grinned, resulting in what Moca has dubbed as 'Moca abuse' from Yukina. "Ahhhhh~ Not Moca-chan's beautiful face~"
"Don't say that Rinko will be forgotten. She's important to Roselia and to Ako."
"Okay okay~ Anyways, let's get back to helping Minato-san~"
"Himari said to compliment Imai-san's fashion sense. So we could try that?" Ran said, reading through the messages Himari had sent before. Tomoe and Tsugumi haven't read Ran's messages yet, but it was better than nothing. "Kasumi, go be Imai-san or something."
"Roger~!" Kasumi cheerily replied, bouncing about as she waited for Yukina to get ready. Yukina remained silent for a moment, as though deep in thought. "Yukina-senpai, make sure you say I'm fashionable!"
"Sure." Yukina nodded, performing a kabedon shortly afterwards. "Toyama-san... I'm fashionable."
"No no no! What the hell was that?!" Arisa exclaimed, facepalming as Kasumi slid down the wall she was trapped with, a blush on her face. Yukina cocked her head in a way that indicated that she didn't know what Arisa had issues with. "First of all, we told you to pretend that's Lisa-san! Second of all, you're supposed to tell her that she's fashionable!"
"Oh. That does make more sense." Yukina agreed, making Arisa and Misaki wonder if she even understood what Ran had told her to do. "Is that all I should tell Lisa?"
"Tomoe says that you should tell her that she's sexy." Ran continued, reading out a message that just came in from Tomoe.
"Which part of her should I say that is sexy?"
"... Dude, just be general." Misaki sighed, and here she thought she was the worst at flirting. "Why can't you just say the three magic words to her?"
"You mean 'please and thanks'?"
"No! 'I love you'!"
"Are you trying to cheat on Tsurumaki-san with me?"
"I'm saying that the three words are 'I love you'! Why would you think that I'm confessing to you when we all know you have a thing for Imai-san?!" Misaki asked, exasperated with Yukina. The rest were trying their hardest to not laugh, including Rinko. "Guys, stop laughing and help me."
"Minato-san... why not... try all three...?" Rinko suggested, the most helpful thing Arisa and Misaki had heard the whole day. The rest agreed, at that point they were already desperate enough to take whoever's suggestions for Yukina to try.
"So kabedon, fashionable, sexy. It sounds manageable." Yukina nodded in agreement, turning to face Kasumi. "Toyama-san, will you help me practice again?"
"H-Huh? Oh, sure!" Kasumi replied, standing right in front of Yukina once more. "P-Please don't make me melt again..."
"... Alright?" Yukina wasn't sure what Kasumi meant by 'melt' since the basement had an air conditioner installed, so she assumed that Kasumi was encouraging her to do her best in her own way. With one swift movement that could only be possible with much practice, Yukina had once again trapped Kasumi to the wall with a kabedon. "Lisa, I'm fashionably sexy."
"NO MINATO-SAN THAT'S NOT WHAT SHIROKANE-SAN MEANT BY ALL THREE."
"So in the end, you're giving cookies to Minato-san." Sayo commented as they waited for the cookies in the oven to be done. Lisa nodded, a troubled frown on her face that didn't go unnoticed by Sayo. "What seems to be the problem this time Imai-san?"
"Just wondering to myself how could I be so dense to not realise Yukina's feelings. I can't believe I call myself her best friend!" Lisa sighed, tears threatening to form much to Sayo's dismay.
"Imai-san, save the waterworks for another day. Just confess to her your feelings and everything will be fine. Probably." Sayo replied, her skills in reassuring people needing much more practice. Still, Lisa appreciated Sayo for it. "... I was thinking that we could go through with the confession immediately after your last class."
"Don't you need time to reach Haneoka?"
"Have you forgotten who my sister is? She has numerous wigs of me in her room. I can easily dress up as her and vice versa." Lisa gulped, while she believed that Hina could imitate Sayo, she wasn't sure if the reverse was true. Then again, it was extremely rare of Sayo to offer such help to Lisa. Which led to Lisa agreeing to Sayo's suggestion.
"G-Good point. Will you be able to keep up with classes?"
"It'll be fine. Just make sure you don't fucking screw up this time. You won't believe how hard it was to get Minato-san to confess last year."
"I can imagine. Thanks for supporting Yukina."
"It was nothing. Now if you would excuse me, I would have to discuss swapping identities with Hina..." Sayo murmured, leaving Lisa alone in the kitchen. It gave the bassist some time to reflect on Yukina's confession last year and her reply to it.
"Lisa, there's something I wanted to tell you." Yukina called out, grabbing her best friend's attention almost instantly. She had noticed Yukina interacting with the rest of Roselia in hushed tones a few days before that very day, and as such Lisa had expected the vocalist to attempt a prank that would fall flat. Of course, she would play along just to give Yukina encouragement.
"Sure, what is it?" Lisa had expected something along the lines of 'I've done the housework in my house' or 'I've passed the recent Maths test'. Anything that was clearly hard to believe. What Lisa didn't expect was Yukina saying something that was not only ambiguous but also something that got her hopes up.
"I love you, please be my girlfriend." Lisa tried to see any betraying emotions in Yukina's golden eyes, but failed to spot them. In fact, the confession seemed to be the real deal, with Yukina staring back at Lisa as she waited for an answer. Her tone was calm and composed as usual, a determined look in her eyes that made Lisa think for a brief moment that her best friend was being serious. Of course, she knew that she can't take anything seriously on April Fool's, regardless it came from her best friend or not.
"Sure thing!" That was meant to be a vague response to what Lisa had presumed to be a joke, and the bright smile on Yukina's face went misread as her way of appreciating Lisa for going along with her joke. Had Lisa known that Yukina was 100% serious on that day...
"Imai-san, the cookies are ready." Lisa snapped out from her thoughts, how long had the cookies been left in the oven? Sayo raised an eyebrow, picking up that Lisa was out of it then. "Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah. I'm fine, just... remembering how Yukina's confession went last year." Lisa shrugged it off, pulling out a perfect batch of cat-shaped cookies from the oven. Sayo nodded, ever since Lisa found out that Yukina was dead serious with her confession, she had been noticeably out of it and Sayo wasn't one to push things. So she remained in the kitchen with Lisa in silence, allowing Lisa to wrap the cookies. "Romance novels haven't prepared me for this you know."
"I'm sure it didn't."
"Now that I think about it, it was pretty romantic considering it came from Yukina. Straight to the point, yet with that hint of softness underlying beneath... What would Kaoru say, 'how fleeting'?" Sayo grimaced, one of the few things she had in common with Chisato was that they both didn't appreciate Kaoru's dramatic personality.
"I'll have you know that I taught Minato-san to say that."
"... Uh." Lisa didn't believe Sayo, but the look on the latter's face indicated that she shouldn't question it either way. "Riiiiight."
"I see that you don't believe me, and that's fine. As long as the two of you date... to be honest, I should have figured something was wrong every time you don't seem to be clinging on to Minato-san as much as we expected..."
"H-Hey! I'm not clingy!" Lisa protested, a furious blush spreading on her cheeks and Sayo chuckled good-naturedly. "Geez... don't make me out to be some clingy girl!"
"That's one of your many charms according to Udagawa-san."
"Ako?! Since when do you listen to her?"
"Since we agreed to help Minato-san with her confession, which would be around my birthday last year."
"I'm surprised you agreed."
"It's hard of me to say no when Minato-san got down on her knees..."
"Wait wait wait, Yukina begged you guys to help her?!"
"Indeed. Minato-san threw away her pride back then, hence I agreed to help her." Lisa was shocked, she underestimated the extent to which Yukina loved her. She knew her best friend, and it took something extremely important for Yukina to swallow her pride to ask for help. "... You're one of the most important things in Minato-san's life, possibly the most important in fact."
"Then I gotta make sure the serenading is top-notch! Let's practice again!" Sayo smiled, impressed by Lisa's motivation.
"Yes, let's practice again."
"Lisa..." It was April Fool's, and Yukina had listened to Lisa's (and Sayo's) version of 'Sunkissed Rhodonite'. She was surprised at Lisa's actions, but nonetheless appreciated it. Lisa beamed, the small smile creeping onto Yukina's face a clear indication that the serenation worked. Not that it was needed, but the end justified its means after all. "It must be tough on you."
"Ahaha~ I'm good. Oh yeah, I brought you some cookies! I hope you like 'em!" Lisa held up a wrapped bundle of cookies, with lilac ribbons printed onto the clear wrapping as decoration. Yukina accepted it, admiring the package with great interest. "It was rather last minute, so I could only obtain chocolate as its filling! Sorry about that..."
"No, I'm thankful." Yukina replied, carefully placing the package onto the nearest table. As much as she would like to savour the cookies there and then, it was the perfect opportunity to show off the fruits of her practice. In one swift movement, Lisa was backed into the nearest wall with Yukina placing her left hand beside Lisa. "Lisa... I love you. Will you go out with me this time?"
"I-I..." Lisa's reply was caught in her throat, too flustered by Yukina's kabedon. She was certain she had told no one about her secret kabedon interest, so it took her by surprise when she was caught in one. Yukina didn't show it, but she was growing increasingly nervous with every passing second spent in silence. After what seemed to be five minutes, Lisa managed to fumble out her reply. "O-Of course! I love you too Yukina!"
"Really? This is not some April Fool's joke right?" Now that Yukina had heard of April Fool's, she had to confirm that it wasn't a cruel joke played by her best friend. Lisa nodded resolutely, sending Yukina into uncharacteristic smiles. "I'm glad my feelings reached you Lisa."
"I-I'm sorry about last year... I didn't know that you were being serious then! That was cruel of me wasn't it?" Lisa apologised, with Yukina shaking her head in response. "You have every right to be angry at me though..."
"I should have listened to Sayo back then, she always has a reason to her actions."
"I'm glad that you're aware of that Minato-san." Sayo coughed, reminding her two bandmates that she was still in the classroom with them. "Moving on, I'll be heading home now. Please take care on your way back."
"Ahaha~ Thanks Sayo, ever tried serenading someone?" Lisa teased, a certain brown-haired keyboardist coming to mind with regards to the topic of romance. "Maybe a keyboardist from Afterglow?"
"I-Imai-san!" Sayo gasped in embarrassment, storming out of the classroom in a huff. Lisa chuckled, her right hand loosely holding onto Yukina's left. Now that Sayo was gone, Lisa was free to give Yukina a quick peck on the cheek, startling the latter.
"L-Lisa?!"
"Hm? What's wrong? We're dating now right?"
"T-That's true... but..."
"But?"
"... I would prefer if you did it here..." Yukina pointed to her lips, sending Lisa into a blushing mess as she pressed her lips onto Yukina's, taking great care to not injure her girlfriend. They parted almost instantly, but the sensation of each other's lips lingered. "... That's better. Now, shall we go home?"
"A-Ah yes!" Lisa agreed, but Yukina was already making her way out of the classroom without her knowing. Lisa blinked, she was sure that they were holding hands so when was it that Yukina released her grip? Once Yukina exited the classroom, Lisa hurriedly grabbed her bag and ran after her, not wanting to be left behind. "Wait up!"
"... Hey Ran, when will you make my heart race like that?" Moca murmured, stepping out from the locker in the classroom Lisa and Yukina were in. Ran tumbled out after Moca, a bright blush forming on her face. "Ah, I guess it was bold of you to stuff us in the locker though~ That was pretty Ran-tastic."
"What did you want me to do? There wasn't anywhere else we could hide!" Ran protested, crossing her arms in annoyance. "Besides, you're the one who wanted to see how Minato-san's confession would go!"
"Oh please, Ran calling the Moca bread."
"That's not even a phrase."
"Whatevs~ I didn't expect Lisa-san to find out that last year's confession was the real deal though..."
"I'm guessing the rest of Roselia told her, most likely Sayo-san."
"True, though why did she infiltrate Haneoka?" All of a sudden, Moca let out a loud gasp. "Oh my god, is she here to steal my one true love?"
"Why would she steal me away? Didn't Imai-san mention that she's interested in Tsugumi?"
"What? No, not you. I meant my bread." Ran quirked an eyebrow, walking away from Moca a second afterwards. "W-Wait, where are you going?"
"Giving you some quality time with your true love." Ran deadpanned, ignoring Moca's cries asking her to wait. "Hmph."
"R-Ran~! I'm sorry, that was just an April Fool's joke! Don't be mad at meeeeee~!"