Happiness. 

Meru couldn't describe the feeling of euphoria inside her when the name HKT48 was announced on the top of the Senbatsu Sousenkyo announcement. 

And the first place, with 150K votes, from HKT48 Team H- Sashihara Rino! 

 

Excitement. 

Sashihara Rino was crying on the stage, everyone thought that no one could dethrone The Oshima Yuko after Atsuko Maeda left. But the variety idol proved this wrong. 

 

Insecure. 

Meru was happy, since HKT48 is the first one to dethrone AKB from this scary gambling game. 
 

"Sousenkyo is like gambling" Sasshi said to her, right after Meru congratulated her on the backstage. 
 

"You do your best, but your ranks might fall. Sometimes you don't even do anything, and tada! You raise in ranks and even outranked the Kami Members" she added, before putting her trophy on the dressing table. 

Meru suddenly felt bad of herself. She's the Center of HKT- not Sasshi. She's supposed to be the Face of HKT. 

"Oh right- about the sousenkyo dare" Meru whispered. Sasshi the cue, in which Meru stole this chance to kiss Sasshi's lips. 

Sasshi's body tensed. Meru teased Sasshi a bit by breaking the kiss and kissing Sasshi's nose. 

Sasshi broke the kiss and pinned Meru to the wall. Their face was so close that they could kiss. But instead of attacking Meru in the lips, Sasshi whispered in Meru's ears. 

Lovely. 

Meru never heard any words lovelier than what she just heard. Sasshi's voice- although it sounds blant and rude in theater performances or single recordings, sounds so delicate when heard in a very close range. 

"You know, it was fun teasing you, Tashima Meru" Sasshi said, smiling as Meru blushed. 

"And for the Sousenkyo dare, you did it intentionally didn't you?" She asked. 

"Eh? Senpai, I was serious back then! I thought your rank would fell- since you know.... The scandal" Meru bit her lips. 

"Hmm. Liar. You think a scandal will make me lose from a member who just debuted 2 years ago?" Sasshi raised her eyebrows. Meru struggled to break free, but Sasshi pushed Meru's wrist back to her position. 

There was a knock. 
 

"Sashihara Rino-san, its almost time. You got to get back to the stage!" The staff manager said. 
 

"Wait. Five more minutes" Sasshi growled, her hands pinning Meru on her position. 

Free. 

"You know, Meru. I prefer kissing than being kissed" Sasshi said, before letting Meru go. 

"Umm.. Senpai?" Meru asked carefully. 

"Hmm?" Sasshi replied nonchelantly while fixing her hair. 

"Since you like kissing more, you're free to kiss me anytime" Meru said. 

"Since you won the dare anyway. The dare was who win gets a kiss right? But since you like kissing more---" Meru stopped along the lines, since she wasn't sure Sasshi was listening. 
 

"Okay, okay I understood Meru. Since you like being kissed so much, I'll save it for later. OK?" Sasshi turned and smiled. 

Although Meru wasn't sure of why Sasshi smiled- either that she won the sousenkyo or the dare- she was still happy. 

Sasshi is being herself. 
Meru's forever sassy idol, Sashihara Rino. 

END.