"What the..?!”{C}

Yuko tried to get the bucket that just poured cold water on her head, but then she slipped on a banana peel and slid halfway across the room, crashing to the ground.

Just then, loud laughter was heard. I looked and saw Nagisa standing there, cracking up.

“That.. haha… was awesome!”

“Nagisa!”

“Come on, it was just a little prank!”

“Still, it hurt,” Yuko said as she slowly took off her jacket. “’Scuse me, I’m gonna go change.”

Ayaka walked over to Nagisa, an angered look on her face.

“Nagisa, that’s no way to act.”

“What?! It was just a harmless little—”

“That’s not the point. Even though you aren’t the leader, you’re the oldest in Tentomu chu. You need to take more responsibility.”

“I can be responsible.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! Guys, tell them,” she said to me and the others.

“She’s right, Nagisa,” Nana said. “What if something happened to the rest of us?”

“Umeda-san does have a point. If you were the only one left to take responsibility, what would you do?”

“I…”

“Look, we’ll brush this one off, just don’t let it happen again. Get the place cleaned up before the others get here.”

“Y-yes ma’am.”

As we helped Nagisa clean up, Ryouha, Mio, and Meru all came back, looking at something. It was a folded envelope with a heart-shaped sticker on the flap.

“Hey, what’s that?”

“It’s a letter.”

“The manager of the building said it was for Umeda-san.”

“Lemme see,” Ayaka walked in and looked at the letter. Even smelled it. “Ah, rose perfume. This is from Yukirin.”

“Eh? Yukirin, as in, THE Kashiwagi Yuki?!”

“Yup. She’s been working in Osaka for a while now, and she often sends letters to me when she has time,” she said as she opened the letter.

“Dear Umechan, How are you doing over in Tokyo? I’m doing fine. My work over in Osaka has become busy, but I’m keeping my head held high. Check out these pics from our most recent concert. :)”

The seven of us looked through all the photos. They all looked so cute.

“Hope everything is going good on your side. I’ll always be watching. -Sincerely, Yukirin <3”

“Yukirin is really nice, huh?”

“Yup. She was formerly a miko at a shrine in Kagoshima before moving to Tokyo and becoming an idol. Apparently, she was also close with Mariko since they were both from Fukuoka.”

“Maybe you should write her back and see if she can contact Mariko-san.”

“Good idea. I’ll do that,” she said as she folded the letter back and walked out of the room. “Oh, also… Nagisa.”

The sound of her voice had a tinge of anger to it.

“I’ve got some chores for you to do.”

“…H-hai…”

…..

“Those little brats..!” Isako growled lowly to herself as she pounded her fist. “This time, it will be their end.”

“Good luck!” Momo said as she took out a pink lollipop from , catching Isako’s attention.

“What is that?”

“Oh, this? Hayate stole some of these things called ‘sweets’ from the human world. They call this a Dum-dum Pop.”

“Our enemies are defeating us, and all you can think about is candy?!”

“Obaa-san, you need to relax and eat some of these,” Hayate said as he sent a basket of cookies and sweets floating down to her side. “Humans love these.”

“Humans do, huh…”

Isako reluctantly picked up one of the cookies and got an idea.

“Interesting~”

…..

I wonder when Nagisa’s supposed to get back…

“Hey, Mako-chan!” Miki and the others suddenly ran in as I was looking over my notes. “Check it out! A fan sent us a gift basket!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and it looks so good~” Meru said as she quickly unwrapped the plastic around the wooden basket.

“It’s nothing but sweets! Cake, cookies, and chocolate!” Mio cheered happily.

“Who sent this?”

“I don’t know. The card was anonymous.” Nana said, examining the card.

"For Tentomu chu!!, good luck with your future career. <3"

“Whoever they are,” said Miki, already stuffing her face with sweets, along with Mio and Meru, “They know a great gift when they see it!”

I took one of the cookies and bit into it. It was really sweet and crunchy around the crust, and the rest of it was chewy and gooey from the chocolate chips.

“This IS good!”

“It’s nice we finally have some time to relax after what happened yesterday.”

“Oh, by the way, where are Ayaka and Yuko?”

“I think they had something to…” Meru’s voice suddenly went silent.

“To what?” I looked behind me and saw her and Mio asleep on the couch. It looked so cute…

But, something felt off.

“Miki-chan? Miki-chan, what’s wrong?” I looked and saw Nana trying to wake Miki up, who had also fallen asleep.

I looked closely and saw Ryouha sitting on the table with her head laid down. I slowly shook her, calling her name. She was fast asleep.

Before my vision went blurry, I saw Nana slowly collapse and then everything went dark…

…..

“Phew! All errands, done.” Nagisa sighed to herself, wiping the sweat off her forehead. “I could really go for some takoyaki right now.”

She looked up and saw Ayaka and Yuko walking together into the office building.

“Umechan!”

“Eh?” Ayaka looked up, since it seems the nickname referred to her.

“I have finished all the chores you asked me to do!”

“Good for you. Now, maybe, you’ll be a bit more responsible with—”

“WHAT THE?!”

They were suddenly taken aback by Yuko’s sudden scream.

“Yuko?”

“What’s…?” They looked and saw a small child hugging Yuko’s leg. “Eh?”

“Who’s this?”

“How should I know?!”

“Onee-chan, let’s play!” the child said.

“Onee-chan? Is she your little sister?”

“No. I don’t have one.”

Nagisa picked up the girl and looked at her. She smiled, she just couldn’t help it. She was so CUTE. Her clothes, the ribbon in her hair, that smile, it all reminded her of…

“Wait…”

She took a closer look at the girl’s face. Her sparkling eyes and her bright smile…

“Uso… Mako?!”