Good morning Monday.

As one could see from the bags under my eyes, my parents kept me up the whole night by thoroughly investigating me. With all my luck, I managed to hide the big truth from them. Have I ever said that they didn’t approve of a job like an AD?

My idol merchandise did get found out, but…yea, somehow, I was safe. With the note that I had to get at least a blink of sleep for work, I escaped.

“Yuuuuuuriaaaa~”

I found my peace with that Kizaki Yuria. We both arrive slightly early--which meant I managed to sneak past my questioners who were at the moment sleeping. Quickly, I pounced upon Yuria, tears welling in my eyes. Oh, my Peace!

Then, Ogi-chan punched me in the gut. Some people have no hesitation.

Seeing my pained face, Yuria worriedly asked, “Kumi…are you okay?”

I choked out, “Yea…I’m fine…”

Somehow, she didn’t seem to have seen the punch. Yuria was so innocent.

Also, Ogi-chan’s beautiful girlfriend, Yukko, was so nice. She chastised Ogi-chan for doing that. Well, I’ve seen the small-faced girl do more of the chastising for other topics though.

Then with a bit of ruckus in the morning, the filming and whatnots started up again.

It was normal as always. I wonder when was it that the romantic crack started to build up. When Yukko’s character nearly kissed Nakanishi-kun, I think I heard a snapping sound within the camera equipment. The good thing was that the scene didn’t seem to need any audio from the actual filming part. Unfortunately, broken cameras are bad for me.

Then again, because the script-writer decided to make the story turn into a manga at some point, Nakanishi-kun is stuck with the role of a mini-harem-king. Yuria’s character had to confess and then steal a fake kiss from him.

Ogi-chan, I so understand your feelings. No, I probably didn’t. There probably wasn’t any love between Yuria and I. Even though I held affection towards her and found my heart pounding so hard and found my cheeks burning up once in a while when I saw her, it probably wasn’t love but just being a fan.

Still, when that scene happened, even though their lips didn’t even come in contact, there was another snap. This time, that snap was a pencil in my hands.

I wasn’t jealous okay?

Ah…more problems for me it seems.

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Later...

It looked like I fell asleep after the filming finished. I was trying to finish up some things after all. I didn’t want to go to my house after all. Adding to that, I was already tired.

“Kuuchan…,” a voice murmured to me.

Another voice, “Sayachan…are-”

“…This is the reason I’m here after all…”

This was probably some kind of weird dream involving people I knew. I thought it was a lucid dream. Then the dream began in full entirety.

The SayaMizu duo, a kind penguin plus a rabbit girl who I didn’t start off on the right foot with, was standing right there in a large open meadow. Mizuho came over and touched my all of a sudden. I yelped and jumped away.

“What the heck!? …could it be that I’m a weird person, so my dreams are like this too?”

“…Mizuho-chan…,” Sayaka then pouted, the penguin hood drooping over her face.

Mizuho then sheepishly apologized, “…Sorry.”

“…Wait…what…?”

She was pretty confusing as she explained, “Yagami-san, this is indeed a dream, but a dream is just another doorway to yourself.”

She sounded so serious and solemn. Mizuho then let out another sad whisper, “Soon, I guess I’ll have to wake up from my happiest dream…”

Before I could even ask, the scenery changed.

“KUMI!!” That familiar voice yelled out uncharacteristically.

I turned around quickly. There was a blaring car charging towards my way. I was frozen. Then, I felt a force against my body. It didn’t hurt. My eyes were wide open as the pressure hit. I couldn’t speak. Then I saw blood.

It wasn’t mine. It was her’s.

“…n-n-no…this can’t be right? Nee-chan…SAYAKA-NEE-CHAN!!!”

“T-this….,” I gasped as I found myself thrown out of the scene.

It did happen, but not in truth at the moment. I looked at the one who saved me. She was someone important, but I had somehow forgotten. She was the same kind person as the one in my dreams before, and she saved me at the cost of her life.

A lone tear rolled down my cheek.

I could clearly recognize her face. I turned to look at the penguin girl, Sayaka. She looked back at me with her soft eyes. And of course I knew.

“Kuuchan…,” her quiet voice was so clear now. I can’t even remember clearly, but she hasn’t changed a bit.

Mizuho let out a wry smile. I was still a bit shocked.

Yet another scene started, I barely remember it, but my mother was always like this, “You’re the heir to the company, so you can’t go chase after such a dream. Ugh, I can’t comprehend how the two girls in this family both want to do such a job like an idol or showbiz person.”

Sayaka mumbled, “Because…they make dreams and smiles come true…”

“What?” My mother looked so terrifyingly demanding.

“It’s nothing. Of course, I’ll take charge of the company and won’t let any flaws in myself or others go by.”

Now, Sayaka murmured shyly, “…You heard?”

I went over and hugged her. Even if it was a dream, I could feel her warmth, the one that disappeared years ago. Yes, Niidoi Sayaka was my adopted elder sister and a very close one too.

I just nodded as I began to cry into her shoulder.

We went through many of my deep memories, so many of them. When the three of us finished, I had this tugging feeling in my heart. I couldn’t ask anything. Sayaka smiled the way she always did and said, “Just chase your dreams, Kuuchan.”

Through my tears, I could see her cry a bit and I could see Mizuho’s sad expression.

Still, I even got a word of encouragement from Mizuho, “Do it.”

By now, I’m around the same age as Sayaka and probably still older than Mizuho. I felt a bit embarrassed, but there was no reason to be embarrassed. With that, I awoke.

“Sayonara…”

Nee-chan’s penguin hoodie was on me, acting as a blanket. On my papers, there was a little doodle of a penguin.

A few hours had passed.

I hugged the hoodie and sighed. I can’t regret the past now; she’d get mad anyways.

After I’m done with being an AD, I guess maybe I should try…just one more time. And, I forgot about one little detail that may have caused that to be a little harder than it seemed to be.