She scanned through the participators, the other couples were all older than them and they were holding each other hands except for her and her ‘friends’.  The other couples looked all so loving and warm. But  her hands were empty. Daiki who was standing beside her, had his hands in his pocket.

 

 It would be good if we can hold each other’s hand…

 

 Later  the lady  the separate the participators the girls had to be on one side while the boys were on the other side. All of them were sitting facing the audience in a row.  The participators  sat on the chairs provided.

Whiteboard and marker…So they are starting with questioning and answering. Rin thought to herself.

“Let’s begin the game with answering these questions!” The lady’s cheerful voice distracted Rin to where she was.  As I thought… Daiki and I are not even a couple so it is likely that we will be out from the very first round.

Then Rin’s eyes met Daiki’s. Daiki showed Rin a ‘Ganbare’ hand action, wearing a big smile. Rin smiled back in return. Then Inoo and Ryutaro, who are sitting beside Daiki , joined in by copying Daiki. Daiki pouted in his frustration or rather embarrass.

 

The cute sight of the crush made Rin let go and soft laugh. Since I am already here, I will give this a shot!

 

“Rin-chan, you okay?” Sayuri enquired, sending Rin a weird look.

 

“Don’t disturb her happiness, Sayu. Rin is having fun with her Daiki. By the way, Sayu, your stick man calling you.” Miyu said trying  very  hard not to grin.

 

 Sayuri turned to wave at Yuto while Rin send a cold glare at Miyu.

 

“Haha…Gomen. Gomen. Don’t be so sensitive.” Miyu laughed, covering with her right hand.

Rin smirked in respond, “How about that ‘Buta’? Doesn’t it a waste for a romanticist and a  pragmatist to be together?”

“He is not a pragmatist! He can be romantic! And since when am I a romanticist?” Miyu raised her voice.

“Since you can’t live without day dreaming about your perfect love life?”

“But still… I just talk to myself… and Ryo-chan is so cute! He is not a pragmatist!”

“Just talk to yourself? You were screaming something like ‘ I love  you’! And your Buta is a Baka. You know that.”

“You two stop arguing will you? My Yuto is the best!” Sayuri joined in.

The two girls stared at Sayuri in disbelief. Yuto? Nah…

The lady then explained to them the game. They have to answer using the whiteboard and marker provided. The lady will asked the question and the couple will have to answer.

“For this round, the boys have will answer first. Our questions are not  asking about your girlfriend’s birthday or  her favourite food… Our questions are really special and unexpected.” The lady smiled cannily.

Suddenly, the scene became so silent as excitement arose as everyone was waiting for the question. Every participants looked so tense, Rin could not help but to feel the same. 

“The question is… What is your girlfriend  thinking right now?”

The question made everyone stunned. Time seems to have stop since no one is moving or talking. The boys and the girls stared at each other hardly. The first one to start writing is a man at the furthest right.

As expected… He must have know his girlfriend long enough… Rin bite her lips, staring at Daiki. Daiki too stare at Rin. Rin then saw Inoo and Chinen started writing down their answer. Rin then saw Miyu picking up the marker so she too pick up the  whiteboard and markers.

Rin continued to bite her lips… What am I thinking right now…? I am thinking that we will  never pass this stage? Rin looked up and noticed that many participants were already writing their answer now. She turned to face Daiki. Daiki was scratching his head. Daiki looked at Rin for a while before writing his answer down.

Rin bite her lip again and wrote her definite answer down…We are going to lose…For sure.

Miyu was staring at her feet, What am I thinking right now…? What am I thinking… I am thinking what I am thinking right now? Miyu snickered at herself, she think that no one will know that if it is her answer… Eh… I think I know…

Sayuri was panicking and shivering.  She write down her answer after looking at Yuto for the ‘last time’.

“Mm… Seems like everyone have finished writing!” The lady shouted to her microphone. She sashayed to the  furthest man on the right and asked for his answer. “You are the first one to write down your answer, so may you expose your answer?”

“What my girlfriend is thinking right now, is that  we love each other.”  The man said confidently.

“Hm...” The lady turned to the man’s girlfriend. “So… please show your answer.”

The man’s girlfriend turned her board, beaming with pride.

“It is correct! Both of you passed!”

It  is not very surprising for Rin as the other couple have passed. There were other 5 couples except for the Hey!Say! Jump! Members and girls since there are no couples since there more boys than girls. 3 boys for Rin, Inoo, Ryutaro And Daiki.  For Miyu, Yamada, Chinen and Yuya. For Sayuri, there is Yuto. Since the Jump and the girls and sitting the nearest to the audience, they will be the last.

Sayuri and Yuto. Rin , Daiki , inoo and Ryutaro. Then Mai, Yamada, Chinen and Yuya.

 Out of the 5 couples,  1 couple is already out. Since the girlfriend wrote her answer as “ What kind of question is that?” while her boyfriend wrote something else.

Now, It is Sayuri’s and Yuto’s turn. Rin can see that Sayuri is very nervous and anxious. Rin too can’t help but to feel the tension too.

“The Horikoshi boy, with sunglasses, Your turn!”

“My turn… Sayuri… No, My girlfriend is thinking whether we will win this game or not.” Yuto mumbled as he stare at Sayuri, observing her reactions.

The lady went to Sayuri, who seems to be blushing. She turned her board and…

“Wow! Totally correct!” The lady in the bright red dress shouted.

Rin heard Miyu let out a sigh. Rin too feel relief. Yuto beamed, showing his white teeth. Sayuri showed a peace-sign to Yuto while Yuto give her a thump-up.

Now, Rin feels so uncomfortable. She can feel her palms  turned clammy and she is sweating cold sweat.

“Oh! Another boy with sunglasses! Wait, All of you are wearing sunglasses!”  The lady pointed to the role of Hey!Say! Jump members, from Yuto to Yuya.

As expected, Inoo had a brain wave.  “Because, last night, we have a summer party and we drew on each other faces using permanent marker. The ink won’t come off easily. So…yeah, let’s why we are all wearing sunglasses.” Inoo lied, smiling.

“OH! It is so fun being a youth nee? Ok! Your turn! Since there are three boys fighting for one, you all will just have to show your answer on the board. Need not to read them out. But I am not stopping anyone from reading! Anyone want to express their feelings through words? ”

Someone sitting directly opposite of Rin raised his hand slowly.

“One brave guy!” The lady passed the mike to Daiki.

 He  was so panic that the microphone he was holding was shaking with him. “Eto…Eto… My-my… girl- is thinking that we won’t be able to pass this round…” Daiki skipped some words as he uttered. Daiki swallowed his saliva.

Silence filled the mall. Daiki’s answer was shocking as No couple had the same answer as Daiki. Even if Yuto and Sayuri’s is close, Daiki’s answer is unexpected. Inoo and Ryutaro can be seen that they are  somehow annoyed, even behind their sunglasses.

“Ok… his GIRL, so what is your answer? The guys please turned your board to show your answer.”

Daiki, Inoo and Ryutaro  turned both their board and face to Rin. Their answers are almost the same. Rin let go a heavy sigh. Bye… bye… My…

Rin turned her board slowly. Everyone  eyes’ widen as the lady in red read out her answer clearly and loudly.

“I think that this game is stupid for making  me think that I will failed the very first stage...”

“Eh?!” Yamada ‘screamed’. Rin glare at him. I will kill him later.

Miyu and Sayuri laughed.

“So did we passed!?” Daiki, Inoo and Ryutaro asked in sync after standing up together.

The lady shrugged awkwardly.  She then looked at the judges sitting in front of the audience. The judges  whispered to each other. Serious looks on their face. The lady went down the stage. The male judge then whisper into her ear. The lady went up the stage and said in her energetic voice, “ The judge had decide and here is their result…”

Suddenly, there is sound of drumming to back up the anxious atmosphere.  Rin can hear her heart going ‘Doki! Doki!” and somehow she regretted putting the 12 words.

“ The judge disagree to let you  FAIL!”

Daiki, Inoo and Ryutaro somehow cheered. They looked like they have forgot that they are rivals.

 A sudden heat rushed through Rin’s face. Rin could not believe that they passed! She was at first very disappointed because she thought that they will fail. Somehow, Rin is getting excited with this game. She wanted to win despite her ‘I am fine with winning or losing’ personalities.

Then, it was Miyu’s turn. They passed except that Yuya failed. Yuya is rather disappointed because he was going to write Miyu’s answer when he changed his mind.

Here is Miyu’s answer, “I think they don’t know what I am thinking.”

“Ok! We will come back this questioning and answering game! We will proceed to activities!” The lady in red smirked.