Bonus Chapter - A Pastel Yakiniku

### Tae-Eun

    "I think she's going to kill us. Things hurt that they didn't even teach us about in anatomy class." Mariya poked at her stomach, probably trying to narrow down which muscle was twitching.

    "It's not that bad, guys. It was only one rehearsal. We'll get used to it." Ai said, trying to sound optimistic as always.

    "She's a hurricane. An adorable little hurricane trying to destroy us. She has to have some sort of dark magic to have that much energy." Kohaku groaned from across the room, rightfully suspicious of our new member. Kohaku, Mariya, and Ai all have rooms on the fourth floor, and after that workout we made it as far as mine on the third before they decided they weren't going any further.

    "Ai, I've trained before. Really, really hard. Mrs. Park was a slave-driver. This girl is… I don't even know a Japanese word for it. She's completely michin." I didn't move anything more than necessary to talk. Just laid flat on my back on my mattress with my hair pulled over my face.

    "Yokai! She's definitely a yokai!" Kohaku shouted, still slumped over the back of her chair.

    "Yeah, she's probably one of whatever those are."

    Erika Horie had only been a member of the group for fewer than five hours - at my own urging, no less - and already it felt like we were all going to literally die. Normally, up until now, our rehearsals had consisted of running through the routines we'd created, stopping if they got too off course, identifying what went wrong, and then trying again. With Erika though, we just ran everything over and over with only a few seconds to reset, until she was satisfied we were "where we should be by now." Even though Mariya is still the leader. Even Mrs. Park didn't run me this hard, and she used to jab at my feet with her cane when I messed up. And we just did what she said, because…

    "I think she's really going to help though! I wasn't sure, but you were all right. I already feel like we're better than we were yesterday, and we're going to get even better tomorrow. I know we will!"

    Primarily because walking away from our dreams would be one thing, but having to look in Ai's sweet face and tell her that we weren't going to help her attain hers was an entirely different challenge altogether, and Ai is the one of us who is far too sweet and innocent to consider disappointing like that. Erika? She's lucky we aren't revolting right now. Mariya? Takes too long to make up her mind as our leader, so it would serve her right. Kohaku? She's probably done something to deserve it with all her spells and charms. Me? Of course I'd deserve it. But Ai is, objectively, a little cinnamon roll. I know what it's like to think you'd do anything to impress someone…

    So, I have a soft spot for the little redhead, ok? It's no big deal. We all do. She's like… our mascot or something. Plus I guess she's kind of my type, not that that has anything to do with it.

    "How did she already know all the music though?! Yokai!"

    "She's just really talented. And none of it's brand new yet, so she probably just knows the songs the same way we did. That's just proof that she's going to be really good at this. We made a good decision today."

    "How are you so happy right now after that beating? You know what, nevermind. We all know what you're thinking about." Ai turned bright pink at that, just like anytime anyone brings up her kamioshi who she also happens to have a huuuge crush on. Well, she had already been bright pink. We were all some shade of exhausted after that little devil put us through that marathon. But she turned a noticeably different shade of pink as soon as I said that.

    Damnit Tae-Eun…

    Why are you like this?

    "Ai, I'm sorry. That wasn't very nice of me… If that's what keeps you motivated, I shouldn't be poking you over it. I don't think I have enough energy to be nice right now…"

    "So that's been your problem this whole time, huh Tae?" Mariya razzed me a bit on behalf of her best friend. If I had the energy I'd probably have defended my honor, but as it was… meh. Whatever. It's not like I don't deserve it for embarrassing Ai like that. I'll let her get a lick in. Maybe it'll be good for morale.

    "Hey guys, can we get something to eat? I'm not sure whether my legs or my stomach hurt more right now, and I really don't want to risk the cafeteria tonight. There's some seriously bad vibes coming from it." Kohaku tried to sit up, only to slump right back down. "And it smells gross today."

    Contrary to the popular opinion, I don't find the food at the dorm cafeteria to be completely disgusting. Sure, the food was pretty bland until I figured out to keep a small bottle of gochujang in my bag at all times, but most of the time it's edible, and if nothing else you can grab some rice and miso for almost any meal. It certainly doesn't measure up to what I was used to back in Korea, but then not much of the food here does. Though I can admit that maybe it's exactly because of my opinion of Japanese cuisine that I don't realize how poor a job they do of making it in the cafeteria. Except on Wednesday, when-

    "Oh right, it's Wednesday. Yes, please. I can't handle that tonight. Not after that beat down. I need protein."

    Except on Wednesday, when this time of year it's inevitably something with a ton of green pepper - usually bell peppers stuffed with pork and breadcrumbs, which I've been assured numerous times isn't even really Japanese - which are often undercooked and still crunchy, bitter, greasy, and generally unpleasant enough that sometimes they even run out of rice. In short, not even close to the sort of thing you should eat after a workout like that. Not even I hate myself that much…

    "The usual?" Mariya posed the same question as always, though it was nice that she had finally accepted that where we eat after rehearsals isn't actually something that we need to vote on officially. We can just… go get food, like normal people. Like every time it was suggested, Ai looked embarrassed for the simple reason that, unlike Mariya, Kohaku, and myself, she relies entirely on her agency salary to live, while the rest of us are all fairly well taken care of by our allowances from our families. Except Mariya. She has daddy's black card, so she makes Kohaku and I look like… well, kind of like Ai does in comparison to us. Despite Mariya paying for nearly every meal - for good reason - Ai still always gets a bit embarrassed and insists that "anything is fine". An attitude I'm trying to break her of because, really, she's never going to get what she wants acting like that.

    After a short, torturous walk we arrived at "the usual", a little restaurant named Yakinikuniku-nii which Mariya introduced us to after our first successful rehearsal. The restaurant specializes, obviously, in yakiniku and other grilled dishes you cook yourself at your table. They also have the best kimchi that I've found within walking distance of the dorm, so I can't say I've really minded eating here a bunch. The decor is a little juvenile, being themed around celebrating the idols and artists of Starsphere and being barely one step away from a theme cafe, but what else would you expect?

    Mariya's family owns it.

    Kohaku is a fan of the okonomiyaki you can make on a small griddle they place over the wire grill, and I'm partial to what I suppose you would call yakitori, though it tends to be a little more upscale than the kind you get from a typical street vendor. More lean cuts of meat like the chicken's breast, less of all the more flavorful parts like the wings and liver, as you'd expect from someplace trying to seem upscale. Or at least that's what it looks like when other tables order it. So far, we've mostly eaten a lot of beef - though I'm sure our new member will put a stop to that indulgence soon enough - since Ai defers to Mariya's preference on everything about four times out of five, and Mariya has seemingly never met a cow she didn't want to chew on.

    Even though they were pretty busy, we were shown immediately to the table we almost always sit at - which I had a feeling Mariya was almost certainly behind - and sat in our usual configuration, the roommates on one side of the table with the rest of us on the other. The three girls with me all opened their menus and looked over what we all had to have read a dozen times already. I didn't have the motivation or the energy to go through the motions required by politeness, and just stared at the menu's cover and the restaurant's logo - a drawing of a cow jumping over a moon in the shape of the Starsphere logo, which the back of the menu explained is a reference to some story in whatever place the restaurant's owner's grandmother came from.

    Which is a complete and total lie. Two years ago, before the restaurant opened, Mr. Akiyama held a contest among the Kinmokusei art students to design a logo, which was voted on by the restaurant's operating board. Which, by the way, consists of Mr. Akiyama, Mrs. Akiyama, and a certain Miss Mariya Akiyama. So, really, you can imagine why she's always so keen to come here. Only girl I know who was given a steakhouse for her sweet sixteen…

    I just want some chicken.

    Or failing that, whatever would get me full and into my bed the quickest.

    But honestly, I really want the chicken.

    "What should we get tonight? We haven't tried the pork yet. Or the tofu, but that seems kind of like a waste…"

    "We're all too tired and hungry to do that tonight, don't you think Kohaku? You'll say one thing, I'll say chicken, Mariya will say beef, and Ai will end up deciding. So let's just make Ai pick." I was being overly blunt, I know, but why stand on ceremony when we all already knew how things were going to play out? If we were going to be eating beef tonight, then let's just get it in front of us as quickly as possible. "It'll be quicker that way, and we all know that's what's going to happen anyway."

    Ai looked as though she was sleeping sitting up, or perhaps just trying to stay extremely still so we'd forget she was there.

    "N-No. You all should pick. I'm-"

    "Fine with anything, yes yes. But you have to have a preference." I pushed her a little. We've done this plenty enough times for us all to know the script.

    "I'm pretty sure she prefers beef. That's what she usually goes for. Right, Ai?" Mariya, of course, was either oblivious to things or just really wanted to get her way.

    "W-Well, beef is fine. Really, anything is. I don't want to be a bother since I'm not the one… you know…"

    "Ai. Look at me." I reached across the table and tapped her on the hand. She pulled it away immediately in the skittish way she has, but it got her to look directly at me instead of at her menu. "Let's say we go on a date…"

    "A date?! You and me? Y-You want to go on a…" She turned, if possible, even more reddish than she had when I snapped at her earlier.

    "What?" I've never really thought about it seriously, but… "N-No. Let's say no. At least for now. Let's try this again. Imagine you're on a date with someone you really want to be on a date with." Obviously, that would be a very specific person, the identity of which we all clearly know, which isn't me. "They bring you here, and they insist on treating you to whatever you feel like. Ok? It's entirely your choice. What do you pick?" Her eyes glanced back down at the menu and scrolled over the options. This may actually work.

    "I-I can't…"

    "Ai! She's gonna leave if you don't make a choice. Are you going to let that happen?"

    "W-What? N-No! Don't go… Chicken!" A few heads turned and glared at us for disrupting the ambiance, but as far as I'm concerned it was worth it to make this kind of breakthrough. Plus it's not like they're going to kick us out. I'm not sure they could kick us out, actually. Can you kick out the owner? "I like the chicken best. I grew up helping care for cows, so eating them feels kind of strange sometimes…"

    "Ai, you should've told me you didn't like beef way sooner." Mariya looked a little embarrassed, which was understandable after how sure she had been.

    "I like it. I do, I promise. I just don't like to eat too much of it… But that's ok! There's always plenty of vegetables, and those are healthier anyway."

    "Well, still. Tae's right. We should all get to pick sometimes, even if it's Daddy's treat. So tonight we'll get chicken. No arguing."

    "O-Ok. Thank you. Can…" Ai started to speak up, then quieted down again immediately.

    "What is it, Ai?"

    "I… I was just gonna ask if we could get extra mushrooms."

    "Sure, I don't think that'll be a problem."

    "A-And some of that spicy pickled cucumber they make that's really good."

    "Of course."

    "And they make really good fried rice. The kind with egg in it…"

    "Tae, you created a monster."

    "So? Let her eat. She's gonna need the calories to fuel her annoying optimism if these rehearsals keep going like this."

  \_\_\_\_

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