“Super Live Show?”

“Yes. It’s a special we’re doing today, where we dress as superheroes and fight some of the other members who are villains.”

“So, that explains why Reika was acting like that.”

“I don’t think so…” Miichan said. “There was something off about her aura. She had a massive amount of dark energy surrounding her.”

“I saw it, too,” I added. “Do you think the Maou was controlling her?”

“If he was, we should be more careful. We’ll have to fight if one of his minions appear.”

Just then, Erika strummed a small ukulele in her hands.

“Nee, Minegishi-san, do we really have to fight?”

“Eh?”

“Erika-chan is a pacifist. She doesn’t like fighting.”

“No fighting~ I don’t wanna~ No no no~ I don’t wanna~” she sang as she played her little ukulele.

Now I understand why she has the “peace” fragment…

“How do you expect to save people without fighting them?”

“I don’t know. Turn them into good.”

“And how would you do that?”

“Mm~… I could beg.”

“That would make you look weak!”

Miichan stood up. “Look, the point is, we should be careful not to reveal our secret. Those other two were dumb enough to think all of Kazumi’s powers were CG effects, but there’s no way the others would fall for it.”

Dumb is kinda harsh, but I am rather surprised we were able to trick them so easily.

“Guys…” Nana rose her voice, rubbing her shoulders. “I just felt a chill.”

“Eh?”

“I have a bad feeling… Something’s wrong.”

“Kyaaa!” A scream was heard from outside the dressing room.

“That was Sayuri-chan!” Rina said. “Someone got her!”

…..

Matsumura Sayuri was being held back by a Shadow puppet, the possessed Yuuri watching over her.

“You’re mine now,” she chuckled, being controlled by Isako’s voice.

“No!” Sayuri pushed the puppet away and balled her fist. *“Sayuringo PUNCH!!!”

Once she punched the shadow, it disappeared.

Isako gritted her teeth as she controlled the strings on her puppet girl.

“Quite a feisty one, eh?”

Yuuri chuckled. “No matter. I’ll just do it myself.” she said before grabbing the latter and holding her arms under her shoulders.

“Kyaa! Sayuringo.. PINCH!!!”

…..

“Uh, guys.” Erika took off her hat and we saw her flower was glowing. “My head-flower’s going crazy!”

It shined brightly and before we knew it, she was dressed in a new outfit. It was a green dress, with a pink flower in the center of her yellow cape over her dress. Her ukulele had also gained a flower on it.

“Woah, that’s new.”

“You look like a flower!”

“Eh?”

“Un! An Eri-Flower!”

“Eri-Flower?”

“Kyaaa! Yuuri-chan, let me go!” We all heard Sayuri scream down the hall.

“Let’s go!”

When we got there, we all saw Sayuri being held back by another girl.

“Yuuri-chan?”

“Oh, it’s you again. Just so you know, I’m not that easy to beat.”

She held out her hand and formed a dark ball of energy. It came at us, but then Erika stepped us and blocked it with her ukulele.

“Huh?! Impossible!”

“Not even a scratch, huh…”

“What are you?”

“I am…” She looked at her ukulele and strummed it a bit. “Eri-Flower!”

“A flower girl this time, huh? No matter, I’ll just destroy you!!”

She ran over to attack her, but Erika spun and quickly dodged her attack. The ay she spun looked beautiful, like a flower dancing in the wind.

Yuuri ran to attack once more, but she dodged again.

“Why won’t you sit still?!”

Erika giggled and stood in front of her.

“*Sunshine Beam!”

Once she said that, a bright light emitted from her flower and shone on Yuuri.

“Ahh! Too bright!”

*“KO GO SAY!”

Yuuri suddenly screamed in pain as the dark energy surrounding her was being absorbed into her light, entering the flower on her chest.

“Ahhh!!! Darkness.. lifting..! Evil… fading…” Yuuri slowly collapsed to the ground, the dark aura completely leaving her body.

“Woah…”

“What was that?”

“I see.” Yumi came forward and examined the flower on Erika’s head. “This flower uses a special type of photosynthesis. Just like how flowers take in carbon dioxide and turn it into oxygen, Erika’s flower absorbs dark energy and turns it into light energy.”

“Definition?”

“You turn bad into good.”

“Uwaa~ that’s great!”

On the other hand, Sayuri is…

“That was amazing! Is that what you’re going to do for the Live Show, Erika-chan?”

“Ah… yes! That’s right.”

“Yay~ Good luck!”

No problem convincing her…

…..

“Damnit!” Isako growled angrily as she pounded the table. “Why are there so many of them?! I have to stop them. But, first, I’ll need a new slave…”

She looked around and saw a girl dressed in a devil costume. She was another Nogizaka member, Saito Chiharu, and she was practicing with two of the stuntmen.

“Yes. Perfect.”

She decided that since the Shadow puppets were too weak, she would use the two stuntmen as her new puppets.

Using her strings, she possessed the girl and once she got a hold of her, used her own powers through her and controlled them, turning them into her minions.

“NOGI!”

“NOGI!”

“Mwah hahahaha! Let’s see those brats try to defeat me now.”

…..

“Look, Yumi!” Erika and Sayuri held up one of the costumes. It was a suit, like a salaryman would wear.

“Ah, that’s…”

“This would look great on you!”

“Yumi is so ikemen! She’s the master of danso in Nogizaka.”

“Is that true?” I asked.

Yumi just nodded her head. “Well… yea…”

Ah, she’s actually kinda girly and cute.

“C’mon, try it on!” They both pushed her into one of the changing rooms, and when she came out, she looked completely like a salaryman.

“Kyaa! Kakkoii~”

“You think so?”

“Of course! Yumi-chan is always ikemen!”

Kazumi chuckled a bit.

“What?”

“Nothing… Just, Yumi is actually very girly. I wish the staff would let her take a break from her boyish looks and all that and show her girly side more.”

“Really?”

“Here,” she got out her phone and showed me a picture of Yumi with a puppy. Her hair and clothes were girly and she looked really cute.

“Ah, kawaii!”

“I was thinking I could take her to get her haircut. I wonder what she’d look like with short hair.”

“Eh~? That’s nice.”

“KYAAAA!!!”

Oh no, not again!

“Now what?!” We all ran towards where the sound was coming from and saw two stuntmen were holding one of the members hostage.

“That’s Misa!”

“Mou~ Let me go!”

“Mwah hahahaha! You won’t escape me, girl!” A girl dressed in a demon costume cackled, holding a whip in her hands.

“Chiharu?”

“Someone help me!”

Yumi fixed her glasses and stood in front of the demon girl.

“Chiharu,” she said. “This is not appropriate. Please stop and return to rehearsals.”

“What are you? You look like a salaryman. Boys, get her!”

“NOGI!”

As the minions walked closer to us, Yumi took off her glasses and gave the two of them an incredible glare. Her right eye glowed red and a red aura shined on the two of them, making them freeze in their place.

“What?!”

“Woah, that’s awesome!”

“Fight, Wakatsuki!”

When the aura died down, they could move again, but it seemed as though they had lost interest in fighting and decided to head back to rehearsal.

“Hey, you two! Get back here! Where are..?” The two ignored Chiharu and walked on. “Where are you going?”

Yumi chuckled a bit. “Now, what shall we do?”

“You brat!” Chiharu was about to whip her, but now Yumi’s eye shone a blue light at her. A blue aura surrounded her and within seconds, her hands dropped.

“Now, tell us what we need to know. Who is your master?”

“I am a puppet of Isako, under the control of my Lord, the Demon King.”

“Isako,” Miichan repeated. “I should’ve known.”

“Who is she?” Rina asked.

“She’s one of the Maou’s servants. She must’ve been using her magic to control your friends.”

Yumi nodded. “Good. Now, when you wake up, you won’t remember any of this.”

She put back on her glasses and once she did, the dark aura left Chiharu and she woke up in a daze.

“Eh? What… was I doing?”

“I believe we were rehearsing for the Live Show.”

“Ah, right. Sorry, guys. I’d better go.” she said before heading off.

Misa smiled. “That was amazing, Yumi! Did you guys plan this the whole time?”

“That’s right. We were rehearsing.”

“Sugoi~ I can’t wait to see it for real! Bye~”

As she walked off, Yumi fixed her glasses and suit again. “It seems we have quite a few gullible members in our group.”

Well, gullible is a bit harsh, but she is right.

“So, now what?”

“Well, now that we know Isako is the one behind this, she’s bound to pull out the big guns on us. We should be extra careful.”

“Right.”

…..

It was finally time for the girls to go on and perform the Live Show. Everything went smoothly, and nothing seemed to be out of hand.

Since some of the members were convinced that our “superpowers” were special effects, the three of them had no choice but to go on as their new selves.

Meanwhile I looked and saw Ikoma was staring at her Dark Flame.

“What’s wrong?”

“Is this my only power? I don’t feel like I can do something incredible like the others.”

“I think your power is pretty cool.”

“But… even you have more amazing powers than me.”

I shook my head. “That’s not true. I’m just a normal 16-year-old girl. I just happened to have gotten into this by fate, just like you and the others.”

“Still, I can’t make people freeze in their spot or turn people from bad to good. I don’t even know how to use this thing…”

I turned to face her.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll find it.”

“Eh?”

“Your true power.”

She smiled, blushing a bit. “Th-thanks…”

“KYAAAAA!!!” Just then, we heard a scream from the TV.

“Oh no…”

There were three girls tied up, one of the members circling them. I looked and saw Rina staring at the screen with shocked, sad eyes.

“Mai-chan…”

…..

Isako chuckled as she controlled her newly possessed puppet.

“Listen, humans. Soon, the Demon King shall rise from his prison and take over your world. Prepare for a world of darkness!”

A magic circle surrounded the three as their energy started being drained.

“Hold it right there!”

The camera looked and there was Sayuri, standing with a triumphant look on her face.

“Who is this little one? Does this girl think she can stop me?”

“Let me show you my true form.”

She pulled out one of her cards and swiped it through the scanner.

“Henshin!”

Immediately, a bright light shone around her and she had transformed. Her outfit seemed to represent a white lily flower, and a screen covered her eyes on her helmet.

“A passionate heart, regardless of appearance. I am the angel in disguise from Saitama. SayuRanger is here!”

The audience and other members as Sayuri finished her introduction and stood in front of Mai.

“This time, I shall be victorious.” Isako said through her possessed puppet.

She summoned Shadow-like creatures at her side and had them attack. Sayuri held out her hand and summoned a long, green onion.

“*Hisatsu! *Green onion sword!”

She slashed the monsters one by one and destroyed them. As the possessed Mai summoned more, Sayuri didn’t even flinched and kept attacking, until they were all gone.

“Now… you’re the only one left!”

“Hahaha! Don’t underestimate my power, little girl.”

Sayuri held out her onion sword. “Here I come!”

She ran up to attack her, but Mai saw her and was able to dodge it, pushing the girl away.

“Wh-what?!”

“Hm, not as strong as you thought, eh?” Isako said as she pulled the strings of her puppet.

The two circled each other, then Sayuri ran up for the attack. But then, Mai had grabbed her sword and was able to resist her attack.

“What’s wrong, SayuRanger? Is that all you got?”

She pushed the lily dressed girl back and she fell to the ground.

“This is your end.”

Isako was about to pull her final attack when…

“Mai-chan, no!”

“What?!”

…..

When we both got to the studio, we saw Mai about to attack the fallen Sayuri. Rina ran up and stood in front of her, protecting her.

“Mai-chan, no!” she screamed.

“Huh? Now who is it?”

“Mai-chan, please stop! This isn’t you! You’re being controlled!”

“Don’t even try, child. This girl is too far gone to hear you; your voice won’t reach her.”

“I know you can hear me. I know you’re in there, Mai-chan! Where is she?! Where is my friend?!”

Ikoma-chan…

“Please, Mai-chan, I can’t lose you! You’re my best friend!!!”

“Best… friend?”

I saw a new light being kindled in Mai’s eyes. Rina was reaching her.

“Please, Mai-chan!!!” Rina activated her Dark Flame and touched Mai’s chest. The flame engulfed her and produced two Mai’s. One good, one evil.

The original Mai collapsed, unconscious in Rina’s arms as the younger girl cried.

“How could this be?!” The evil one said. “No matter. I’ll just destroy BOTH of you!”

Then, Sayuri stood up and faced the camera, her face seen by everyone.

“Everyone… lend me your power!”

I heard everyone starting to chant her name.

“Sayu-nyan! Sayu-nyan! Sayu-nyan! Sayu-nyan!”

As the chanting grew stronger, a huge orb of light formed in her hands, growing larger and larger as the voices supporting her flooded into her.

“The *Nogizaka power I have attained from everyone’s hearts… GO!!!”

The light shot at the evil Mai, completely surrounding her.

“This is.. too much!!! AAAAAAHHH!!!”

The light engulfed everything and I was blinded for a second.

“******!”

Eh…?

What was that? I felt like… something.. someone was calling me.

As the light finally faded, the evil Mai had disappeared. Even though everyone was stunned for a second, they all stood up and cheered at Sayuri’s victory.

“Justice shall always win. Sayu-justice!”

More applause.

“SAYU-NYAN~”

“Good job, SayuRanger!”

“I LOVE YOU, SAYU-NYAN~~~”

I smiled, seeing how everything worked out.

Yet, there’s still something strange. What was that all about with the light..?

…..

The next day, we watched the TV show being broadcasted and saw the girls performing their song “Nandome no Aozora ka”.

“Nogizaka has once again done an amazing performance.”

“It’s amazing how everyone was so easily convinced everything was CG effect.”

“We had to erase some of their memories of what happened, but it looks like we were able to pull it off.” Miichan stated.

“Well, now what?” Rina said, who was leaning against the wall.

“Ikoma-chan, since you know about our powers, you have to ABSOLUTELY keep them secret, okay? Same goes for yours and the others. You can’t tell your fellow members you have superpowers.”

Rina nodded. “Understood.”

“Good.”

“Don’t worry, Ikoma-chan.”

“Yeah, you can trust us.”

She giggled. “Thank you.”

"Wait… trust?" Miki spoke up.

"Eh?"

"Hey, that’s it! Ikoma-chan’s Heart fragment is trust!"

Trust… that seems fitting.

"What do you think, Ikoma-chan?"

"Sounds perfect."

"Good."

Suddenly, the door burst open and Umechan ran in. She collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.

“Umechan?!”

“What’s wrong?”

“S-Sae… she..”

Before she could answer, we all walked out and saw Mocchi and Yui kneeling down at an unconscious Sae. They were trying to wake her up, but the girl wouldn’t respond.

“What happened to her?”

“When we were… in the *Spirit Realm… she…”

“Spirit Realm?”

Mocchi felt of Sae’s wrist. “She still has a pulse. But, it’s weak…”

Umechan came back out, holding the edge of the door for support.

“Umeda-san,” Nana spoke before anyone. “How did this happen?”

“Sae isn’t physically injured… but, her soul is trapped in the Spirit Realm.”

What? Her soul…

================================

Footnotes

*1. “Sayuringo Punch” – An “attack” used by Sayuri to appeal to her fans.

*2. Sunshine Beam attack – An attack that allows Erika to use the light absorbed in her flower to absorb dark energy through photosynthesis, and turn it into light energy. This attack reverses the dark magic’s effect and turns cold-hearted villains into kind people.

*3. “KO GO SAY” – A spell said to activate the Sunshine Beam’s power, and removes the dark energy possessing a person’s heart, turning them good, and is absorbed into Erika as light energy. (Side note: The word comes from “kougousei”, which means “photosynthesis” in Japanese.)

*4. “Hisatsu!” – A phrase often said when a superhero activates a certain/special move or attack.

*5. Green onion sword – A weapon used by SayuRanger, where she literally uses a green onion as a sword on her enemies.

*6. Nogizaka power – The full power attained when everyone’s hearts are connected and create a bright light able to erase all darkness. It might be the true form of the Light of Hope…

*7. The Spirit Realm – An alternate realm(sometimes referred to as “the realm of souls”), or an “in-between” realm. When people outside enter the Spirit Realm, they do not physically enter; only their souls do. However, if they become fatally injured, they can fall into a coma or die in their own world while their soul is trapped in the Spirit world.