Summer Arrives![]
Summer's finally here! Time to plan our vacation!
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Story 1 |
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| Hanamaru: Oooone... Twoooo... Threeeeee! *Gasp* That's all I can handle, zura!
Ruby: Way to go, Hanamaru! That’s a new record for push-ups! Yoshiko: Well done, Zuramaru. Yohane commends you for your efforts. Chika: Yay, Hanamaru! I think that performance makes you the MVP for today’s practice! Kanan: Once knee push-ups become easy for you, you’ll be able to do normal push-ups in no time! Hanamaru: Got it, zura! Maybe I’ll become a push-up expert! Riko: Kanan and You’s advice really worked wonders. You: Nah, it’s the fruit of Hanamaru’s labor. It’s important to build yourself up slowly, by practicing every day. Mari: Speaking of practice, we need to come up with a plan for summer vacation! Chika: Summer vacation’s a great opportunity for us to get Aqours more name recognition. Dia: I thought so, too. That’s why I spent yesterday researching events that we might be able to participate in. Mari: That’s our Dia. Always on the cutting edge! Kanan: With it being summer vacation, there must be a lot of family-oriented events. You: They’re doing a fireworks show at both the flea market’s and aquarium’s events. That sounds awesome! Hanamaru: I’m more interested in this gourmet food festival, zura. Yoshiko: You’re a sucker for food events, Zuramaru. Mari: This diving event’s a perfect fit for you, Kanan! Kanan: I’d love to go diving with all of you. Maybe I’ll set aside extra suits for everyone! Ruby: Being school idols who are also divers sounds so cool! Chika: I wanna put on a live show at one of the big events, like the fireworks show! Riko: *Giggle* I thought you’d say something like that, Chika. Dia: I’m going to work on the schedule of events next, so we’ll have to call up and get the details. Kanan: All right then, why don’t we split the workload? Dia: That would be best. Also, since this is our summer vacation, we should think about a trip- Chika: I’m in! I’m so in! Riko: Chika! Settle down! Chika: How can I? Dia said a trip. That means Tokyo! Mari: That’s not a given. Maybe we could go overseas… You: I’m in! I wanna go overseas. That sounds like a real adventure! Yoshiko: I can fly overseas with one flap of my ebony wings. Kanan: Mari, you’re not seriously think of leaving the country, are you? Mari: I’m just saying it’s a possibility, that’s all! Imagine, a group of school idols from Uranohoshi flying across the globe. It’s sensational! Dia: It definitely has a lot of impact… Hanamaru: A trip overseas?! The future is now, zura… Ruby: By the way, are there any events before summer vacation starts? Yoshiko: This weekend marks the end of the rainy season, so there ought to be something, right? You: Yeah, yeah! There is! It’s the start of beach season! Riko: Oh, that’s true. The rainy season ends and beach season starts around now. Chika: Uh-huh! And once beach season starts, it really begins to feel like summer’s here! Kanan: A lot of people are gonna start swapping their diving suits for regular swimsuits. Mari: I’ll need to pick out a new one for this year! Ruby: I wanna find a cute new bathing suit, too. Let’s all go shopping! You: Let’s do it! Chika: Picking out new swimsuits together sounds like lots of fun… Oh… Ah! Ah-haaa! Riko: Ch-Chika?! What’re you shouting about? Chika: Fame! Name recognition! Yoshiko: Name recognition? Like… for Aqours? Dia: I get it! She’s saying that we, the Uranohoshi Girls’ High school idols need to kick off the start of beach season! Mari: Oh! That sounds like a big-time project! Riko: They’ll be setting up a beach hut by the swimming area too, so I’d like it we could draw in lots of people. You: If we can kick off the start of beach season with a Big Bang, both summer and the beach will be even more fun than usual! Ruby: A start-of-beach-season event?! Th-This’ll be the first time I’ve ever done anything like this! Riko: Huh? Really?! Kanan: You don’t hear about too many large-scale events here in Uchiura. Hanamaru: The only one that comes to mind is the sea safety prayer, zura. Yoshiko: What if we take the standard sea safety prayer, and combine it with Yohane’s fallen angel sea safety prayer? Riko: Is that something fallen angels would normally do? Yoshiko: I-I was just saying. I was just saying is all! Chika: Now that you mention it, the swimming area near my house never has any kind of event to kick off beach season, either. Mari: Then why don’t we make our own? You: Yeah! Beach season’s finally here. If we want to start it with a bang, we should plan our own event, and do it our way! Mari: Yes! I’ll talk to my dad about how to handle all the little details. Let’s start brainstorming! |
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Story 2 |
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| Chika: Hmm... There's surprisingly little info about events celebrating the start of beach season.
Ruby: I looked through last year’s news, but it’s like Hanamaru said. The main one is the sea safety prayer. Hanamaru: I thought Tokyo would’ve had all kinds of events, but I forgot there’s not much in the way of beaches there, zura… Yoshiko: Why don’t we just ask Riko what the beach scene is like in Tokyo? Riko: Huh? Me? You know, I don’t think I ever swam in the ocean much… Kanan: Without anywhere close by to swim, I don’t blame you. Do Tokyoites usually go all the way to Kanagawa? Dia: That’s a long way to go for a day trip. You: Now I see why the pools in Tokyo are always so crowded. Mari: Soeaking of pools, I hear night swimming is all the rage in Tokyo now! Hanamaru: Night swimming? That sounds so trendy, zura! Ruby: Swimming at night… It sounds like something grown-ups would do for fun. Yoshiko: That might be the perfect spot for my next fallen angel’s recreational retreat. Chika: That’s Tokyo for you. They’re in a completely different dimension. Riko: I feel like we’re getting further and further away from talking about the start of beach season… You: Whoa! Th-This is… Riko: You, did you find something? You: Look at this! A hot spring boat! Kanan: So you use a boat like a big bathtub and fill it up with hot water. Maybe we can use that instead of showers? Dia: Then we’d still get customers even if the sea is too cold to swim in on the day beach season starts. Hanamaru: Wearing a swimsuit in a hot spring sounds kinda neat, zura. Ruby: And little kids will like it because it’s kind of like a kiddie pool! Yoshiko: But where are we gonna get a boat? You: I’ve got this! I’ll go ask my dad! Chika: And I’ll ask my family if we can get hot spring water from our place. Mari: That will at least give us one big selling point! Is there anything else we can use as inspiration? Kanan: Big beach openings always have major sponsors. What about a big bingo game where guests can win fabulous prizes? Dia: I’m not sure we’ve got the funds to provide the kinds of fabulous prizes you’re thinking of… Hanamaru: Why don’t we try watermelon splitting? We get lots of watermelons at my house as gifts every summer. Riko: Doing watermelon splitting as a group sounds like a blast! Ruby: A treasure hunt would be exciting, too. We could bury cards with prizes written on them in the sand! You: I bet the younger kids would really enjoy that. Dia: The problem is, what do we have to offer as prizes? Chika: I’ll talk to the beach hut operators. We’ll get them to let us do the treasure hunt in exchange for helping out. Kanan: You’re aiming to get them to give us discount tickets for their snow cones and fried noodles to use as prizes? Chika: Yup! Still, it we’re gonna do this, I’d like to make the whole thing feel like an Aqours production. You: What if they have a limited time, beach opening-only menu? Yoshiko: Mu, ha, ha. Yohane shall create your menu. And just this once, I shall put my full power into it! Just you wait, little demons! Hanamaru: Yoshiko, way in the world are you gonna make, zura? Mari: Nice idea! If we each think of one menu item, we’ll have nine different prizes to use for our treasure hunt. Chika: A treasure hunt with a beach opening-only menu… Yeah! I like it! Dia: Sounds like our plan’s almost complete. Mari: If two heads are better than one, nine heads are better than anything! Ruby: Uhh… Umm… Hanamaru: Ruby? What’s wrong? Ruby: Just thinking… it’ll be nice if we’re able to show the community what Aqours is all about. Chika: We will! This event is to spread Aqours’s name far and wide! Dia: Indeed. We’re getting so excited about the start of beach season, we’re forgetting our original intent. Mari: I think we need to plan to put up a stage, and do a live show! Kanan: What kind of show should we do? It oughta be related to the start of beach season. Yoshiko: I see the time is also nigh to unseal Yohane’s sandy stage show. Who will wade into the sea and fall into the depths with Yohane? Hanamaru: Having a bit of a homemade feel to the show should make it more endearing, zura. Riko: Why don’t we just perform right on the sand? Chika: A live show against the backdrop of the Uchiura sea. If that’s not totally Aqours, I don’t know what is! You: It’ll be a great chance to show off the results of all our hard work. Ruby: Wow, we’ll be singing and dancing while at eye level with our audience. What’s that gonna feel like? I think my heart’s starting to beat faster… Chika: I’m sure it’s going to be incredible. We might even discover something we couldn’t from up on a stage! Dia: We should be able to borrow audio equipment from the school, as well. Mari: The Aqours is officially going to have its start-of-beach-season live show on the beach itself! This is going to be a show like we’ve never seen! |
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Story 3 |
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Ruby: Done! Ruby's special fluffy-wuffy strawberry snow cone is complete! 
Hanamaru: Ooh! It really is fluffy, zura! And the little stars you put on top are super cute, zura. Dia: I see you used cotton candy as a topping. Only my little sister could create such a cute concoction! Ruby: Well, your green tea and sweet bean milk snow cones are brilliant. It’s such a grown-up flavor! Chika: Nothing says summer like snow cones by the sea! I’m making my secret mikan orange snow cone recipe, with mikan syrup and canned mikans! You: I’m done, too! Have some of my signature Niceoodles! Chika: Finally! They were so yummy last time you made them, I’ve been dying to have them again! Riko: So this time you’ve got the fried noodles with sauce, a fried egg, and sausages cut to look like little octopi! That’s one hearty, delicious meal! Mari: We’ll be winning everyone’s hearts via their stomach. Mmm… So delicious! Yoshiko: Open, kettle of hell! Bring forth unto me… The forbidden dinner! Heh, heh, heh. Kanan: Yoshiko, what the heck are you making? Hanamaru: I’m sure it’s another fallen angel disk, zura… Yoshiko: Mu, ha, ha. Oh, my sinful little demon. You’ve come to gaze into the abyss of this pitch-black feast, yes? Ruby: E-Eek! S-Something’s simmering in there! You: It smells good, but it really is pitch black inside that pot, so I can’t see what’s inside… Yoshiko: Heh, heh, heh. Behold! Take this mountainous feast, breathe in the white steam, and prepare your taste buds for a journey into the darkness! Dia: Is this… curry? Chika: Now that you mention it, it does smell like curry! All righty, don’t mind if I do! Umph… Riko: Ch-Chika?! Chika: I-It’s good… Yoshiko, this is crazy delicious! Yoshiko: Huh? Err, I mean, of course it is. This forbidden dinner is considered a great masterpiece in the underworld. Mari: Ooh! It’s a sweet curry, matched perfectly by the starfruit topping. Good job, Yoshiko! Yoshiko: D-Don’t call me Yoshiko! I’m Yohane right now! Yohane the fallen angel! Ruby: It’s so yummy! And it’s not the least bit spicy, so I can eat my fill, too! Kanan: I’ve never been happier that my first impression was so wrong. I think I might go for seconds! Hanamaru: We’re witnessing the birth of a new page in Yoshiko’s fallen angel cuisine cookbook, zura. Yoshiko: Now do you see the magnificence of Yohane’s cooking? What’d you make, Zuramaru? Hanamaru: Me? I made these, zura. Yoshiko: They look just like… balls of mud. But they couldn’t be… Could they? Dia: Looking very closely, they appear to be dumplings. Are these black sesame dumplings? Hanamaru: Yay, Dia! You got it, zura! I took inspiration from my memories of making mud and sand balls on the beach when I was little, zura. Chika: That’s awesome, Hanamaru! They’re so realistic, I actually confused them for the real thing! You: Whoa, there’s black sesame sweet bean paste in the middle. And the outer layer is so chewy and sweet. Riko: I bet the kids will be playing house on the beach later on… Ruby: Maybe they’ll pretend to make their own dumplings! *Giggle* How fun! Kanan: My contribution should be done cooking any second. For me, nothing beats roasted corn at the beach! Mari: Mmm, it smells heavenly. And it’s just like you to make something a little healthier. Chika: Riko, what’re you cooking in that pot? Yoshiko: D-Don’t tell me you’re making a forbidden fallen angel feast, too?! Riko: N-No… I thought oden sounded good, so I’m making chilled oden. Hanamaru: Ch-Chilled oden?! That sounds so trendy… Like something they’d eat in Tokyo, zura! Dia: All the ingredients are cut so finely, too. It really looks like a higher-end dish. I think I’ll help myself to some daikon radish. You: Mmm, the konjac’s absorbed so much flavor. Yummy! Riko, can I try some of the daikon radish, too? Riko: Sure! I made a whole bunch, so help yourself to as much as you like. Chika: Yippee! H-Huh? Where’s Mari? Kanan: She was just here a second ago… Yoshiko: There she is! In front of the takoyaki cooker! Mari: Ah, ha, ha. You got me. I was trying to surprise you all. Dia: Surprise us with what, exactly? Mari: Ta-da! I’ve been biding my time and waiting for the perfect moment to reveal my latest world-class dish! Ruby: Eep! S-Something’s flying out! Hanamaru: T-Takoyaki, zura? Mari: That’s right! An absolutely gorgeous take on takoyaki that’s packed with all kinds of high-quality ingredients. I call it “Gorgeous Takoyaki”! Chika: S-Spiny lobster… Abalone… A-Are those truffles?! Yoshiko: It’s the best of the best… Freaking rich people… Riko: It definitely looks like the most filling dish out of everything here. Dia: Mari, the toppings are much too large. They make the takoyaki look like toppings themselves. Kanan: Maybe you should make a version without the takoyaki, too? Mari: I thought so, too. That’s why I also prepared my famous Stewshine!
Together: Stewshine again?! |
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Story 4 |
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| You: Welcome, everyone! Trade your tickets for You's special Niceoodles right here!
Ruby: R-Ruby’s fluffy-wuffy strawberry snow cones over here! Mari: Gorgeous takoyaki, right this way! Act now and get a helping of Stewshine at no extra charge! Chika: Welcome, welcome! Anyone not exchanging tickets for a free prize, this way! Riko: We’ve got lots of options outside of the limited-time menu! Kanan: The weather’s so nice. We’re getting more and more customers as the day goes on. Dia: Which has been a big relief. We were smart to coordinate with the local vendors to advertise. Hanamaru: Doing the treasure hunt right after the official beach opening was a good idea too, zura. Dia, you scheduled everything perfectly. Yoshiko: Clearly my all-seeing, all-knowing fallen angel’s eyes have already proven their worth. Chika: Yeah, Yoshiko’s unique ideas really added a lot. I never would’ve predicted a fall from heaven as a way to kick off the first swim of the season! Dia: Speaking of scheduling, I believe it’s almost time for the watermelon splitting contest. Mari, is everything ready to go? Mari: Of course! I’ve got a very exciting watermelon splitting game prepared. Hanamaru: I’ve done all my watermelon prep too, zura! Kanan: Then it’s time for us to split up and get the crowd going for each of our events. Mari, Dia, and I will handle the watermelon splitting… Chika: Riko, You, and me are in charge of the boat bathtub. Shima’s helping us with the hot spring water, so we’ll be all right. Yoshiko: Leave the fallen angel’s restaurant to yours truly! I’ll fill the little demons’ stomachs, then seize their souls! Hanamaru: Yoshiko, we’re running a beach hut, zura… Ruby: I’ll do my Rubesty to make up for yours and Chika’s absences at the snow cone station, Dia. Dia: We’re counting on you.  Hanamaru: *Sigh* A hot spring foot bath in a boat… This must be how the other half lives, zura… Ruby: And it comes with an ocean view, to boot. It’s so relaxing! Yoshiko: It’s so nice, I’m ready to descend into this boat bath. You: I’m so glad I got my dad to drop it off for us. And by making it a foot bath, we can all use it at once. Chika: We can thank Mito and Shima for that. In fact, we got a lot of help from a lot of people for this event. Dia: And we were blessed with perfect weather. I’m so happy everyone’s having fun going for their first swim of the season. Chika: Me too. We sold out of our limited-time menu items before lunch! Hanamaru: Yup. Every item we thought up was super popular. Everything was gone before we knew it, zura. Yoshiko: Even Ruby was serving customers like it was nothing. Dia: Yes, indeed. Regardless of whether or not you had help from the beach hut staff, you really did an excellent job. Ruby: *Giggle* I had too. Everyone kept going on and on about how delicious everything was. I couldn’t disappoint them! You: The snow cones were a monster hit, too. People looked so happy trading scoops of all the different flavors together! Chika: I heard a lot of positive reviews of the Niceoodles, the Stewshine, and the Gorgeous Takoyaki. Hanamaru: I don’t think Riko’s chilled oden and Yoshiko’s fallen angel’s curry lasted more than a minute. It seemed like they went instantly, zura. Kanan: Yeah… Maybe I ate a little too much during the taste-testing. But they were so addictive, I couldn’t help myself. Yoshiko: By the way, how’d the watermelon splitting go? There was such huge crowd, I couldn’t see what was going on. Hanamaru: All I could hear was a chant that the people really had a blast with, zura. I think they were saying… “Shiny!” Kanan: Yeah, that was Mari’s idea. Doing a chant together really got everyone in the spirit of the game. It was a lot of fun! Mari: *Chuckle* Good thing I kept trying to think up ways to make the watermelon splitting game more exciting right up till the last second. Dia: And there it is! I still can’t believe you planned that as a way for everyone to naturally get excited about the game. You: You put the watermelon splitting in as part of the obstacle course, right? That really caught everyone off guard! Chika: I’ll say! We just watched from the boat bath, but I never would’ve expected it to be so much harder just from mixing in beach balls and water balloons. Yoshiko: Methinks Yohane will have to personally recruit any little demons who cleared that grueling trial. Riko: And when the watermelons finally did get split cleanly, everyone got to enjoy eating them. Dia: Honestly, I never would’ve thought of cutting a notch in them beforehand. Hanamaru: Someone taught me that during a big Bon festival gathering a long time ago. I’m glad it worked, zura. Kanan: I still can’t believe you found watermelons big enough to feed all those kids. Wasn’t it tough getting them down here? Hanamaru: Nope! Thanks to my daily Aqours training, lugging around a few watermelons was easy-peasy, zura. Mari: That’s what I like to hear! Now then, it’s about time for us to put on today’s main event! Riko: Everyone seems to be totally absorbed with playing in the water. Are we okay to start? Chika: It’ll be fine! After all, the water’s edge is our stage today! Kanan: Our formation’s specially designed to be equally enjoyable from both the beach and the water. We just need to focus on performing! Dia: Yes. We’ll be able to make full use of everything we’ve practiced. Mari: Aqours’ singing and dancing is the perfect way to kick off beach season with a bang. Let’s give the crowd something to cheer about! You: I’m all charged up after that boat bath. Full speed ahead! Aye aye! Ruby: Eep! Tons of people are pouring in from the beach hut! Hanamaru: Ruby, this is your chance to show all your customers what you’re capable of, zura! Yoshiko: I see the little demons are responding in droves to my summons. Riko: With so many people watching, Aqours is bound to boost its reputation after this. Chika: This beach live show is gonna blow everyone away. Now, everyone hurry up and get ready! Mari: The forces of good can never rest! After everyone’s changed, the show starts the moment we all gather on the beach. C’mon! Let’s go! Together: Yeah! |
