Getting Ready for the Show! (Yuki)

[Sayaka Motoyama]

Being the soloist for GEM247 was a really demanding position and got really rough when you just didn't feel a whole lot like doing anything.  Sayaka Motoyama had been dragged to her audition for the agency but had actually come to enjoy it quite a bit.  People liked how she sang, approved of her polite and demure demeanor and there were even the occasional female fans who said they wanted to be like her!  For a girl who'd crafted her persona based on what she thought people expected her to act like, these were all very welcome responses to it.  They showed that this really was a way of acting that was appreciated and supported.  Sometimes though she still didn't feel all that motivated to do much more than sit around with a new box set of anime, a double sized bag of chips and a couple litres of soda.  When this was the case her saving grace had been an older girl from the same group, Yuki.  Somehow Yuki always seemed to find a way to get Sayaka off the couch and back into the recording booth or practice studio.  Possibly it was some of that excess energy rubbing off on her and pushing her out of her comfort zone.

As much as Yuki was there to help her stay motivated and work hard, the girl also had some shortcomings.  She had trouble with stamina sometimes when they needed to dance for a show.  Much as Saya hated to admit it Yuki also seemed to be a bit discoordnated at times when they practiced dance routines for shows too.  She'd seen these problems and taken it upon herself to return the favor by trying to motivate Yuki when things got tough with dancing.  Between the two of them they'd been able to support each other pretty well whenever something came up that one or the other was challenged by.  Being members of a group that prided itself on bringing the show to their fans, they naturally had a lot of work.  Now was no exception; they had a big show coming up that involved a particularly difficult dance as the centerpiece to a new song.  Saya knew Yuki well enough to guess that she'd have a lot of trouble learning it; as such she'd made some preparations that would hopefully help her friend out.  It was a private practice, just the two of them at the office going through the dance for the first time.  That way she could make sure to give all the attention she needed to keeping Yuki motivated for rehearsal.  At the same time Saya had also brought some things as both a reward for hard work as well as just because she herself had a case of the munchies.

So that was why the room looked as it did.  A CD player with powerful speakers rested at one end of the room and had been prepared with the instrumental version of the song in question.  Nearby there were two large bottles of soda, this time fruity flavors that were special seasonal ones to make their reward a little bit more special.  Also a box of rather unremarkable chocolates that had only been purchased on account of being in the super discount bin at the grocery store the night before.  The centerpieces were a jumbo box of mixed flavor Pocky and the biggest bag of potato chips that Sayaka could find at the same store.  All in all it'd been a good shopping trip.  The chips were, of course, he favorite item in the small horde of junk food.  Somehow all the stuff she ate never really got to her figure no matter how much she ate in a single sitting.  Since they were going to be practicing dancing she'd elected to wear tights with a close-fitting tank top and lightweight skirt; honestly she thought she looked kind of like a ballerina about to practice for a recital.  Only the tennis shoes that accompanied her outfit shattered the image.  Which was fine by her because she really liked those shoes.

As she waited for Yuki to arrive, she munched on a handful of chips that she'd already removed from the bag.  Their salty goodness made her feel quite satisfied even though she might have otherwise wanted to be somewhere else.  Saya was banking on Yuki's inherent energy to get her motivated to motivate Yuki to dance.  Kind of weird but she was feeling a bit lazy this morning and had barely dragged herself out of bed to get to the agency early enough.  She hoped to be able to do something else later with Yuki but business came first.

[Yuki Minase]

Ready to Rock Dancing has never been Yuki's forte. Some things came easy to her, but when she wasn't good at something her first instinct  was to give up. She'd never say that, of course - it was always phrased along the lines of putting it off or doing something fun instead. It was lucky that as a business, GEM did not let you slack off and knew how to motivate the young girls. The girls themselves also helped each other out. Sayaka was doing that for Yuki today. She was flat out better at being an idol than she was, despite being a little younger. Not as young as Ayano, thankfully - that would be hard to live down. She had motivation issues as well, though of a different nature. They helped each other out and had fun doing so, which worked out great. So when she struggled with the new dance, they arranged for some practice with just the two of them in their own time. It probably wouldn't be as serious as a proper practice session, and have more breaks, but she was bound to learn from it. Yuki turned up on time in her proper GEM247 uniform. Blue and red top with plaid skirt. She liked dressing up, and besides, she'd be performing in this anyway, so why not? She pushed open the door and yelled out "Yo!" The door swung open and hit the wall, but thankfully Yuki entered the room fast enough to not be hit by it swinging back. Sayaka was already there, of course, and she'd apparently brought snacks. Very much an informal dance session. She was already getting into them, too.  "Haha, it's lucky we've gotta be so active, or else all this junk food would screw up over!" Yuki said as she walked over to her friend. Idols had a curious balancing act of needing to eat a lot of high energy foods in order to be physically able to last the practice sessions and performances, while also maintaining a trim figure. It was the former that was harder, at least for Yuki. She had a weak immune system, so she got sick easier than most people, and found long sessions tough on her body. If she didn't have such high willpower it was likely she'd have dropped out. "So, Saya-chan! Or should it be senpai right now? Whatever, where should we start?" She asked as ate one of Sayaka's chips. All she'd eaten was a small bowl of rice since if she was doing any practice in the morning she preferred to eat a proper breakfast afterwards.

► Sorry for the delay, it  seems like I have some writer's  block.

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF BTN AND GS

[Sayaka Motoyama]

Sayaka grinned widely as Yuki made her appearance at last, already dressed up in her full GEM247 uniform as if this was an official group event.  That made her giggle uncontrollably for a bit since she'd done her best to ensure it was a casual practice.  Keeping things light was probably best in the interests of learning an otherwise pretty difficult dance.  Otherwise there would've been no reason to bring along potato chips, chocolate and soda to the studio.  She also realized that bringing all of that junk food was the type of thing that would give an agency rep stomach ulcers; idols were supposed to watch their appearance, take care of themselves and stuff like that.  Eating tons of junk like this was decidedly on the wrong side of 'take care of yourself', not that Sayaka's body seemed to notice.  After she'd managed to stop her fit of giggles Sayaka held the bag out for her friend to take some chips.

"Yo, Yuki-chan!  It's nice to see you're really serious about learning this dance," Sayaka responded in greetings to the other girl, "I hope you don't think I'm too casual for this.. but if I'm your senpai for this maybe that means I can have some liberties when it comes to how I dress?"

Then she set down the bag of chips after removing a handful more, munching on them as she went through their new routine in her mind.  Considering her friend's problems with dancing she would only be able to keep Yuki really motivated for a certain amount of time before she tried to give up.  Each time Sayaka had to pick her back up and get her going again might kill their joint resolve to do something intensive on what'd normally be a day off.  She had plans for the aftermath as well but first they really needed to get through the practice so they'd look good when the time to perform arrived.  A strategy was forming in Sayaka's thoughts as she finished the final chip in her hand and then brushed the crumbs away from her fingers.

"Just Saya like normal is fine, Yuki-chan.  Now, I think what we should do is take this dance in parts.  It's way too hard to try and do all the way through right now and neither of us wants to try that anyway.  There are parts that we did okay the first time so for now let's just leave those be and focus on the tougher stuff, work that out before anything else.  Then when we're done the okay parts will improve because we've figured out the most difficult things," she proposed, feeling proud of herself for figuring that out, "And each time we get something really hard right, we can have one Pocky.  Does that sound good?"

[Yuki Minase]

Ready to Rock "Haha, totally! I just like getting dressed up anyway." Yuki said in response to her remark on clothing. Normal clothes, while practical, weren't as fun as something more elaborate or frilly. Cosplay was a big one - her Gerbera Tetra Kai costume was the complete opposite of practical, for example, although she'd done a few other things that made more sense. Either way, style over substance was the name of the game!  She started stretching a bit to limber up as Saya went over the plan. Dividing it up into parts was standard stuff. Practice one part down until you got it, then move on to the next, and occasionally starting from the start and moving along with what you know. By the end of it you were dancing the entire song. This time, however, they were focusing more on the tough parts. Saya probably decided this so they could work on her temperament. She was in a good mood right now, so now was the time to get the hard stuff out of the way. The girl nodded in agreement at the end of the soloist's explanation. "I've just got one question before we start, though." Yuki said seriously as she finished warming up her body. "What flavour Pocky?" OK, maybe it wasn't the most serious question, but she DID want to know what she'd brought. She'd probably be fine with anything so long as it wasn't something really, really out there, like natto flavoured. Did they even have that flavour? If they did she certainly couldn't imagine it being anything other than a limited edition flavour.

► Gonna try and write  posts faster

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF BTN AND GS

[Sayaka Motoyama]

The pair of GEM247 girls also seemed to make up for each other's short fallings when it came to their wardrobes as well.  Yuki undoubtedly liked to dress up for most things while Sayaka was perfectly happy to keep things low key and casual.  If she was going to something more official she'd dress up, or if she were hanging out with Yuki in town she might too.  Who knew who might see you when you were out on the town?  They'd expect to see a certain kind of Saya, so she'd give them exactly what they wanted to see and dress cute and preppy.  Saya was perfectly comfortable dressing like that even if her idea of ultimate comfort involved jeans or sweatpants with a t-shirt.  This had proven to be a 'stupid Saya decision' by the traditional rubric if she did it in public, so she always made the effort to dress up a bit when going out.

Yuki's question about the reward snacks was an important one of course.  Saya wanted these to encourage her friend to work hard at learning the dance, and if the Pocky wasn't a satisfying flavor then the motivation wouldn't be there.  You could substitute a handful of chips for a Pocky stick but that only went so far.  Besides, Saya was hoping to be able to save some chips for later when she planned on inviting Yuki over for a bit of an anime marathon at her place.  Chips were necessary and vital to that kind of thing.  She pulled a large, already opened box that bore the markings of regular chocolate Pocky.  Inside, though, were a wide array of different colors.

"I made us two Ultimate Flavor Samplers from all the boxes I found at my place, including chocolate, strawberry, almond crunch, green tea and the seasonal fruit flavors.  No stone was left unturned in the quest to bring you the best, most comprehensive selection of Pocky today," Saya explained helpfully, then pointed to a slightly darker chocolate looking one, "I even brought Men's Pocky.  In case we want it for some reason."

[Yuki Minase]

Ready to Rock Yuki laughed. "So, random chance, with Men's pocky as a rude surprise." She knew that it was supposed to be a brand of Pocky FOR men, because they didn't like sweet things as much, but the lewd puns still existed. Maybe jokes like that wouldn't be allowed in public - innocence wasn't making double entendres - but here there was absolutely no problem. However, this could easily distract them from actually practising. "OK, enough about the sticks for now. I've gotta get this dance down or else I'll cop a mouthful from the manager." Yuki said with a straight face before laughing a few seconds later. Get your mind out of the gutter, Yuki! You'll have time for that later. It didn't take her too long to compose herself. "But seriously, I think we should start with the bridge of the song. I think the choreographer went nuts trying to one-up Pyrite Heart and just made the most complicated sequence ever." Personally, she didn't think the new dance matched up, but maybe it'd turn out to be a hit with fans. It was hard to tell what would be a hit and what wouldn't. Some demanded songs that were new and daring, while others just wanted the classics. In reality, it was more likely that they didn't know precisely what they wanted, but as long as their favourite idol was there, they'd cheer until they were hoarse.

► Haha, I  know that it isn't as bad as it sounds, but still,  men's pocky!

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF BTN AND GS

[Sayaka Motoyama]

Sayaka was quite the connoisseur when it came go snack foods, so she was fully aware of why there was such a thing as Men's Pocky.  There was a basic belief, no matter how unfounded depending on individual, that men didn't like sweet flavors as much.  Enter a slightly more bland, bittersweet flavor that would cater to their tastebuds.  Her own opinion was that it wasn't anything special and that you were probably better served just getting some normal Pocky.  The fact that it was 'Men's Pocky' opened it up to be the butt of jokes, which Yuki was so expertly showing off in her response.  As she was in charge of this practice session Saya tried her best to keep a straight face when her friend kept making dirty jokes based on the product's name.  Try as she might she couldn't keep it up and started giggling as well, though she distracted herself by turning to the music player and queuing up the instrumental track for the new song. 

"Tell me about it!  Pretty soon they'll be coming up with choreography that is humanly impossible at the speed the song's performed.  For now this is tough but definitely doable," Saya replied, trying to be sympathetic while still motivational.  Yuki in a good mood for dance practice was rare enough, you didn't want to waste the opportunity such a mood provided.

She skipped ahead to the bridge on her player, trying to remember all the steps and moves that went with it.  Important to remember what was going on in that if she wanted to have any chance to impart knowledge on her friend.  As her player found the bridge Saya paused the music and looked over to the redhead and nodded.  It was time.  Maybe the most difficult part of the song but it was best to start with the hard things and go from there.  Fans wanted to see an idol who could dance with talent as well as sing, so this was extra important to get down right.  Trying to show it'd be okay she smiled to her friend and then hit the 'play' button, jumping right into the part just before the bridge and doing everything she could remember from their choreography lesson.  A couple of times she stumbled a little, but overall she wasn't doing too bad considering the relative difficulty of the routine.  That said she backed the song up afterwards and looked over at Yuki.

"Should we take it one step at a time?  I'll show you what to do, just copy me and I'll make sure you get it right," she offered, realizing her initial approach might not be such a good idea.

[Yuki Minase]

Ready to Rock Seeing Sayaka try and restrain her laughter and fail pleased Yuki. For some reason it was funny when people tried not to laugh. Or maybe she just liked that she was able to make her friend lose herself a bit with her terrible puns. Still, she held herself together well enough to get things underway. She laughed at the girl's remark. "Yeah, and then they'll realise their mistake and go for super-simple next time, which would just be boring." They were exaggerating, of course, but it was fun being able to bitch a little about management when they weren't around. For the most part they were fine, and were supportive, too, but they were also quite strict. Being able to vent a little bit was healthy, so long as no-one important heard, or it wasn't too harsh. Sayaka pressed play and started the dance. She thought about joining in as well, but she wasn't ready for it, so instead decided to simply watch the soloist closely. Yuki at least knew the steps in theory, and some of them were moves she already knew, but it was still quite a fast song. She did see a few mistakes, but they were at parts where she had either stumbled or gotten tied up. All in all it was very impressive how she'd done that in one go.  The girl grinned and applauded the performance when she turned the music off. She nodded at the suggestion. "Yeah, that sounds good. I'm sure I'll be able to get it with you helping." Yuki sounded confident, but she was definitely a bit concerned. How long was it going to take her to get this down? What if she couldn't? Still, she assumed the position that she would be in at the start of the bridge, and gave Sayaka a thumbs up. "Ready when you are!"

► Sorry, had to do stuff  to get ready for classes

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF BTN AND GS

[Sayaka Motoyama]

It was reassuring to see Yuki being so enthusiastic about getting started on their actual rehearsal of the dance.  This could so easily devolve into her friend having absolutely no motivation for trying to learn the dance at all, so she had to martial this finite resource carefully.  Any missteps and it would be hard to pull Yuki back from the void she'd fall into due to how difficult the new routine was.  Saya just smiled and waved off the applause her friend gave her once she'd concluded her demonstration of the difficult part of the dance, aware that she'd made those mistakes.  Though she was also aware it wasn't terrible either, she just wanted to isolate the problems so that she could eliminate them and better instruct her fellow idol.  Plus the sooner they got this part right the sooner they would then be able to enjoy a Pocky each, which made all the difficult efforts worth it.

"Great, Yuki-chan!  So this is how we're going to tackle it: first I'll just take you through it one step at a time without the music and at a normal speed.  Anytime you wanna slow down or something just let me know and I'll do it," Saya told the redhead while she assumed the position to the girl's left, "Then once we've got it down we'll move to the song's speed and after that, only then will we turn the music on.  I think it might get a little distracting to have it going before we've been able to get the steps down first."

With that she smiled and got into the right pose for the bridge of the song.  Everything was pretty much set up the way it would be when this number was actually performed aside from Saya's outfit being much more casual than an actual concert would allow.  With a wink to Yuki she took her first step forward, sliding slightly to the side and cheating out to the `audience`.  A very simple step to begin with but it would lead to much more difficult steps very shortly.  Maybe its being simple would be a good way to help build up Yuki's confidence enough to carry them through the next few.  Those next few took as much time as they needed, with Saya helpfully pointing out what Yuki had gotten wrong and then repeating them as many times as necessary.  Only once the first set of steps were accetpable did Saya reach over and pat her friend on the shoulder, signaling a break.

"You're doing great!  We just need to get through the rest of the steps and I think this'll be just fine.. but boy could I go for a handful of chips right now," Saya remarked, glancing longingly at the open bag just sitting there on the floor.  Its top was gaping open, taunting her with its presence and yet denying her the salty goodness contained inside.  She hadn't declared it a snack break yet, and they should really get a couple more steps down before she did so.  Still.. chips were within her reach..

[Yuki Minase]

Ready to Rock It made sense to refine the dance slowly, at least so long as she didn't get used to the speed. Unfortunately, that meant no music, so she'd have to try and keep beat herself. Yuki could do it, but it was just another little thing she'd have to pay attention to. Still, it was something she'd have to do if she wanted to be able to perform the song on stage. GEM247 may have quantity of members, but that didn't matter if they weren't able to do what was expected of them. Even if it was hard. She copied Sayaka as best she could. She made mistakes, from small ones like not raising her hand high enough, to potentially disruptive ones like stepping too far in one direction. She also managed to get a little tangled up in a cross-step, but progress was being made. Yuki felt like it was more the soloist's attitude than her method - when practising all together, and with an instructor, it was tough being corrected in front of others. She didn't like to be wrong, especially in front of others, and she couldn't help but feel a little resentment towards the instructors, whether they were strict or not. It was irrational, and she tried not to let it show, but perhaps it came out in screwing up even more. Yuki grinned when Sayaka recognised her efforts at getting through a segment. The other girl sounded hungry, and she was a little bit herself. She was about to agree, but thought better of it. Not for practice reasons, however, mind you. "Could you now? But we haven't finished this part yet. I definitely have to get this down right." The smile she now wore was a mischievous one, and the way she spoke made it obvious that she was denying her food for the fun of it. Not that Yuki would screw up practice on purpose, but still, it amused her to do this. She giggled. "Don't worry, I'm sure I'll have the rest down in a few minutes. It's easier when I don't have to worry about messing things up for others."

► Another post~! Wasn't sure what  to write

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF BTN AND GS

[Sayaka Motoyama]

The inherent advantages of acting as Yuki's instructor for this dance were apparent from the get-go.  Saya knew pretty well just how far you could push her before she would just give up on it, that was why there were snacks as motivation.  Where a normal instructor might've gotten close to the limits of motivation with the redhead Saya thought things were going rather swimmingly.  Even though she wasn't the leader of the group it still made sense for her to contribute whatever she could to its success.  Besides, any reason to spend time with her friend was a good enough one to take and run with.  It encouraged her to see Yuki grinning after the compliment, that meant that she could probably squeeze a bit more out of her friend today than she'd originally thought.  Perhaps they really would get through the whole song okay today!  Regardless her stomach felt like it was running on empty and that could only be solved by grabbing some more snacks her body could convert into fuel.

In fact she was already reaching for the big bag of chips when Yuki interrupted her with an argument that was hard to counter.  Sure Yuki was just teasing her, but there was a lot of truth to what she'd said in jest.  Yuki had to get this down right before the concert which would creep up on them faster than they realized.  The last thing Sayaka wanted was to see her friend get lectured or even cut loose because she couldn't get the dance down.  Saya really wanted some chips right then but more importantly Yuki really needed to learn the dance right.  With a little sigh she dropped her hand and moved back to Yuki's side, looking kind of pouty as she assumed the position for the bridge of the song again. 

"Well, if you say so.  But if the headlines read 'Motoyama Sayaka Collapses in Harajuku Studio' tomorrow, my ghost will be haunting you," she replied, sticking her tongue out in a jesting manner that showed she understood it wasn't serious.  That aside she still went through the whole section of the song twice more with Yuki, expression incredibly focused as she made sure they got things right.

Once the music stopped again Sayaka smiled, "Well you're definitely better at it now than when we started.  At this rate you're going to be a better dancer than me, Yuki-chan!  Then you'll have to teach me the hard moves for whatever crazy thing the choreographers hand us."  The very moment she said this her stomach audibly growled, a low and menacing rumble that defiantly erupted from the girl.  Blushing a little she had to use a lot of her willpower to not reach for the bag of chips.

[Yuki Minase]

Ready to Rock Yuki just waved her hand in a dismissive gesture and laughed off the complaint of her friend. "That's fine~! My grandma's friends with the local priest, so we'll get a good deal on laying your soul to rest." She clapped her hands together "Namunamu, may Saya-chan's spirit rest in peace." They did a bit more practising, and the student actually did pretty well. Perhaps her motivation to deprive her friend of food was helping with her dance moves. It probably wasn't the best way to learn, or the nicest, but evidently her sense of humour brought out a hidden font of strength. Sayaka's compliments did not fall on deaf ears. Yuki laughed at the growling of the other girl's belly, but also blushed a little at what she said. "Haha, no way. You're way better at dancing than me." Still, she smiled at the praise. She did feel like it was getting easier to do. But, everyone had their strengths, and this wasn't one of them. Perhaps she was being unfair on herself, since she was an idol, after all, which meant that she'd beaten out many other girls for the position. However, that just meant that she compared herself to those who were better than herself as she struggled to do what they could do. "But yeah. I'll definitely help you out if you ever need it!" Not just for dancing, but for other things, too. She didn't make it a habit of letting her friends get into trouble without her being there to make things worse... or better, depending. "I think we can take a bit of a break now. Can't let these snacks go to waste now, can we?" Yuki said as she grabbed a box of Men's Pocky and started chomping on the chocolate sticks. It wasn't as good as the normal stuff, but it was still chocolate.

► OK, NOW we can eat~!

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF BTN AND GS

[Sayaka Motoyama]

Sayaka had stuck her tongue out at her friend's joke about putting her soul to rest.  Getting to share rehearsal time like this meant that they could goof around and be okay so long as they eventually got on task. Not only was that sort of environment well suited to getting Yuki motivated to practice, it also was a relief for Saya. Out in public, at home or at school she always kept up the full act of cute Saya-chan the next-door girl who worked her hardest to become a successful idol. If it were just herself and her redheaded friend she could get away with being a bit more laid back and casual without too much fear of it getting her into trouble. Not that she was above playing pranks and jokes on other people but time spent in Yuki's company was time where she was free to be more closer to her true self than any other time. This showed on her face as she was smiling happily pretty often even during the hardest steps in the dance where she had to stop and do them over a few times.

Eventually they managed to get it down well enough that the manager was bound to be surprised next group rehearsal. While they had certainly not perfected it things were a lot better off now than they had been previous to this private session. Normally it might've been Yuki who was more worn out, but Saya's condition after the intensive practice might give her a run for her money. Not eating really had deprived her of the valuable fuel you needed if you were going to do any large amount of exercise early in the morning. So after the music had finally stopped, after they held the final pose long enough to allow imagined photographers in their audience to snap pictures, Sayaka let herself kind of collapse in the corner.  She at first just leaned up against the corner but then slid down to the floor and sighed in relief. It was over. Done for the day most likely.

"That was a really good practice Yuki-chan, I'm sure the manager's going to be really surprised next time we have to rehearse this number. Now we're experts!" she commented happily as she shoved her hand into the half-full bag of chips, pulled more out and began wolfing them down. Any image of the cute idol was gone and replaced by her tired, snack food eating alter-ego. 

After swallowing, she joked, "I'm sure glad Rinko-san isn't here or she'd probably say something about how many snacks I've been eating. People just don't realize that Pocky, chips and other stuff are the fuel that propels Sayaka forward and energizes Sayaka to make their favorite music. Maybe I can get an endorsement deal or something!"

With a giggle, she held the chips out for her friend, "Want any more, or should we get going before the dance instructor shows up to make us do all that again?"

[Yuki Minase]

Ready to Rock It really was a relief to get the dance practice over and done with. The shorter session and a good mood on Yuki's part meant that she was holding up better than she normally would. Bad days could be particularly bad, and she'd been worried when she was in training still that she wasn't cut out for idol work, but eventually her body became stronger. Well, a little, anyway.  Still, she ended up grabbing a box of juice and drank deeply through the straw as she wiped sweat from her brow. The girl let Sayaka ramble as she drank, occasionally responding with a thumbs up at mention of them being experts, or vigourous nodding at the idea of an endorsement deal for Pocky. Yuki instantly thought of a way to make such an endorsement sound wrong, but refrained out of a desire to finish off the last bit of juice left. Yuki tossed the empty carton at the bin, and her face fell slightly when it hit the rim and fell to the ground. "Damn." She grabbed a small handful of chips off of Sayaka and fit them into her mouth. "Mmmurpfh..." The girl eloquently stated, before quickly chewing and swallowing most of what was in her mouth. "Ah think we should get going. Jus' give me a sec to change!" After all, she was in her GEM247 uniform, and she'd just been dancing. Yuki rushed off, and quick as a flash was dressed in something more casual - a tartan skirt with long stockings almost all the way up her thighs and a green jacket that had a symbol on the back with the words "Principality of Zeon" on the back. "So, with our dance mission a success, what do you want to do now? Grab a proper lunch?" At which point she started to rap on her throat and altered her voice. "Or did you become an alien that only eats air?"

► She shoots, she... misses!

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF BTN AND GS

[Sayaka Motoyama]

Spending one's morning working tirelessly towards perfecting a dance routine had a way of wearing down even a surprisingly dedicated Sayaka. Lurking in her mind was the possibility that somehow Yuki would want to do it a couple more times for some reason. That would just about kill any motivation that the soloist had for doing anything remotely resembling a constructive effort. Both her lack of eating breakfast and lack of snacking combined with strenuous exercise to truly render the poor girl depleted of energy. Thankfully Yuki was satisfied and tired enough from the practice herself that she too was gorging herself a little on the snacks. Having said her peace Sayaka took the bag of chips back from her friend and shoved a handful of salty starch into her mouth. This was still crunching as the redhead suggested they get going, to which Saya just responded by nodded in agreement. Oh, potato chips, where would Saya be without you?

Realizing a beat late that she should also change out of her practice outfit. Dressing not unlike a ballerina in rehearsal was totally cool for the purpose of practicing dances but not necessarily walking around in public. She knew that people expected her to dress in a certain manner that was somewhat preppy, generally cute and not at all as casual as she might have liked otherwise. A leotard and light skirt weren't going to cut it in public. So after shoving still more chips into her mouth she hurriedly went about changing into her street clothes. A cute light blue blouse, floaty pink skirt with striped leggings and a horribly mismatched zip up hoodie with the words 'Best in the World' stenciled in yellow across the back. Sayaka was just pulling the skirt on as her friend returned from changing herself.

The soloist froze in place half bent over and clutching the skirt by its waist as it was halfway up her legs. As if someone had chosen to preserve the supremely awkward moment forever by creating a Sayaka statue in a state of getting dressed. She blinked once, twice, three times. Only her jaw moved slightly as she continued to munch on the chips in her mouth. Her cheeks were rosy as she at last began to move again, pulling the skirt the rest of the way up and buttoning it in around her waist. As she stood erect again she seized the bag of chips and wolfed down the last couple handfuls while she tried to forget the embarrassment of someone walking in while she was changing clothes. Thankfully it'd only been Yuki. Then again it did give her a story to tell Hayato which, with a few details removed, would make a juicy story to use as a mean joke.

"Rnch? Gbbrn mn," she responded to the proposal of lunch, swallowed the last chips and nodded vigorously. She then picked up the bag with the remaining snacks and smiled, "Lunch? Absolutely! A girl can't live on potato chips alone. I know, I've tried a few times.. it's just not a good idea no matter how awesome it sounds."

Then she giggled uncontrollably at her friend's voice alteration, "No, I was still Japanese the last time I checked.. so.. food? Please?! Sayaka is hungry and nothing will stand in her way of satisfying the terrible monster in her stomach which craves satisfaction!"