‘Unlucky’ is an understatement when Rio found herself being interrogated by two members of Hey! Say! Jump who could easily put her behind bars for trespassing. She fiddled with Ryosuke’s jacket and felt guilt enveloping her when she caught a glimpse of her best friend. This was all her fault and she wanted to make it right.

The two boys started to massage their temples when Amu and Rio explained the whole story. They started from when Rio got the tickets to the show and were mistaken to be staff members up until her missing hospital ID badge – every little detail from start to finish.

“Let me get this straight… you just entered a ‘staff only’ door and they mistook you as staff members?”, Yuto clarified. It took him a few seconds to absorb everything the two girls said. He should be telling the authorities about two random girls trespassing their jimusho but somehow, he doesn't have the guts to even lay a hand on them, “You’re really a doctor?”.

Rio slowly nodded without giving eye contact, “Well, I am yet to finish my last placement. The only reason why we kept coming back is to find my ID badge. If someone reported me, they might not give my licence”.

“How about Amu-chan?”, it was Chinen’s turn to ask.

The two girls exchanged nervous glances at each other, but they knew that there is no point lying anymore. Amu took a big gulp before speaking, “I’m a… journalist”, her voice was hushed but felt that the two boys were surprised at this. She knows that this is enough to lose their trust.

“Did you come here to make stories about us?”

“NO! Of course, not! I didn’t even know Hey! Say! Jump until I came here. Please believe me”, Amu said, almost pleading, “Rio-chan and I treasure everyone in Jump. We would not deliberately do anything to harm any of you”.

Silence.

Seconds felt like hours to Amu and Rio, waiting for the two boys to utter a word… something – just anything!

After a few more moments of silence, Rio finally broke the ice, “If you give my badge, we promise you won’t see our faces again. We just don’t want to cause any more trouble”. Rio held her breath and patiently waited for either boys’ answer. It was then when Yuto inched closer and leaned down to her level.

“I’ll give your badge back in one condition…”, he paused but somehow smirked in the process. The almost-teary girl looked up before feeling both her eyebrows link at the centre, “You’ll continue working here”.

“Eh?”, the two girls uttered in sync.

“I don’t want to show up at work not being able to see your face. So, if you don’t want us to expose you, then you must stay. Besides, we’re short staffed so we need all the help we can get”, Chinen replied. In normal circumstances, he would have immediately charged the two with ‘misdemeanour’, but something inside him trusted both of them. He knew that Yuto felt the same and agreed to help the girls.

“Agreed… and I want to see Yama-chan jealous, so I think it would be fun”, Yuto placed his arm around the clueless Rio.

“Make him jealous? The guy hates me”

“Both of you really are clueless ne?”, the boy continued to tease.

“Hmm… but how about our real jobs? We can’t really come here every day. We’re lucky we have a few days off this week”, Amu chimed in.

“Leave that to us. Just come in whenever you can and we’ll cover up for you”, the two boys reassured, leaving Amu and Rio both relieved but at the same time doubtful of what the future holds.

--

It’s been a few days since Yuto and Chinen found Rio’s hospital badge. It seemed like everything went to normal, but the two girls still could not help but feel anxious about lying to the rest of the group. Amu and Rio found a way to fix their schedules in their respective jobs in order to fit working at the jimusho. Despite juggling the workload, they did not complain and just enjoyed the boys’ company.

Various activities were pushed to them and for today’s menu, Amu and Rio are dragged to a shooting location 2 hours away from Tokyo. Due to the whole day’s hectic work schedule, the crew arrived at the site a little after 8pm. The sky was already dark but our two heroines are still able to look at the place in awe. They saw two massive cabins in the middle of a forest where they have been told to stay overnight.

“It’s nice to have 2 girls in this trip. Last time, it was a total sausage fest”, Hikaru complained but earned multiple whacks from Yabu, Yuto and Chinen. They laughed at their silliness and the other members couldn’t help but join in.

“What do you mean? There were girls last time too”

“You mean Honda-san and Chika-san? They’re both married… and I think one is already on menopause!”, Inoo referred to the senior members of staff in the crew. He then joined his friends as they arranged their luggage inside their cabin. Amu and Rio assisted the boys in carrying equipment in the same room and couldn’t help but to listen in to their silly banters.

--

“It’s just a shame we wouldn’t see Yama-chan until tomorrow. I was hoping we could do something fun tonight”, Yuya remarked and gained Rio’s attention. It was only when they arrived on the shooting site when they have been informed that Ryosuke would not be joining them due to an unexpected drama shooting. Rio felt disappointed and a bit empty not being able to see him.

“I should’ve stayed in Tokyo with Ryo-chan”, she thought to herself, worried about the Ryosuke’s wellbeing. However, Rio shook this thought off when another member of staff called her to their respective bedroom.

--

“You two should get some sleep soon. We have a big day tomorrow”, their senior instructed before hearing the door close.

--

“Rio, worrying about Yama-chan will only give you wrinkles”, Amu teased, having sensed the older one’s behaviour since they left Ryosuke back in Tokyo. As if reading her mind, Rio was first to slump her whole body on top of her own bed opposite Amu’s.

“That guy is never nice to me, but here I am worrying like I’m his girlfriend! I’m hopeless”, she took one of her pillows and buried her face on it. All she heard after that was her friend’s giggle.

“That only proves how much you like him”

“Then… do you worry about Dai-chan the same way?”, it was Rio’s turn to tease and wiggle her eyebrows. The girl was taken aback at her comment and felt a sudden blush touch her cheek. Rio did not have to look her way to notice that she had struck a nerve, “Maa~ all I know is that Chii worries about you the same way”.

Rio had hit two birds with one stone when the younger girl felt the urge to bury her face on her own pillow, copying what the older one did earlier. Amu was about to counter Rio’s teasing when both heard a loud knock coming from the outside.

The two glanced at each other with doubtful faces before Amu took the initiative to open the door. Rio followed behind her, curious on who needed their attention this time of night.

As soon as the young girl twisted the door open, she felt an abrupt pull, twirling her around and covered her eyes with a cloth, “Eh?! What’s happening?”. She could not see Rio at this point, but she knew that her friend was also held hostage by the boys.

“Just come with us!”, the two girls heard Hikaru, Yuya and Keito’s voice, “We want to play a game”.

Amu and Rio did not have much choice but to follow their lead after shutting their vision. Despite having cloths inhibiting them to see, they deduced that they were led a few minutes outside the cottage. Both Amu and Rio felt the boys cover their shoulders with jackets at soon as they reached the outside.

--

“Welcome to the hunger games!”, Inoo, the master of all showmanship started and instructed Yabu to remove Amu and Rio’s blindfolds. The two girls had to squint to get rid of red spots in their vision. Soon, their eyes landed on eight boys, with Kei Inoo standing in the middle acting like a ‘Game Show’ host.

“What’s going on?”

“It will be a shame not to do anything on this trip so… We’ll be playing a game!”, Inoo excitedly said. The other members did not know how they were pulled to do this in the first place, but playing with Amu and Rio might not be a bad idea, “Within the forest, I’ve hidden 3 red flags”, he started and pulled his cap where he had folded pieces of paper with numbers written on each, “I will divide you in pairs. The game is simple. The couple who brings a flag back, wins. There are 4 pairs hunting for 3 flags, so whichever pair is unable to bring a flag back to me, will have to suffer a punishment!”, he concluded before asking his friends to pick a number from his cap.

“But there’s 9 of us. One of us would have to go alone?”

“Yup, one of you will be going alone”, Kei smirked as if enjoying his friends’ torture. The rest felt chills when Inoo said this. Going around alone in the middle of a dark forest is something no one wants!

“Whoever is paired up with Amu-chan or Rio-chan are lucky! They’ll be able to hear a girl squeal and maybe get a hug!”, Hikaru pointed out and gained a whack from the two girls.

Just like he read Daiki’s mind, he prayed before taking a number from the hat. He wished that his number will magically pair up with Amu. However, his spirit was drained out when the first pair was called out.

“I’ll be pairing up with Amu-chan”, Chinen announced after confirming his number with the girl. The rest then found their matches, each taking flashlights and a very vague map provided by Kei.

Hearing this, Daiki slumped his shoulder and just cursed his luck, “Is God helping Chinen, or am I just unlucky?”, he pouted and soon grunted after realising that he is the only one going alone in the woods.

The pairs went as follows:

Chinen and Amu

Yuto and Rio

Yuya and Keito

Yabu and Hikaru

Daiki = loner

--

After this, the pairs (and Daiki) went their separate ways towards the dark woods.

“Oh, by the way… I forgot to tell you guys”, Kei almost shouted, seeing his friends’ growing distance, “I heard there are bears around here so be careful”.

“He’s only telling us now? I’m going to kill Inoo!”, Yuy