The Story We Realize With You

Invitation

"It's not like that at all! We've just... known each other for a long time; we're not... dating or anything, really!"

"Really?" Rikako-san drawled.

"It's the truth!" I outwardly exclaimed, in Japanese. Everyone's eyes widened at the tone of my raised voice, and I couldn't help the blush that tinted my cheeks. "Mou..." The girls giggled.

"Kurisu-chan, you're so cute!" Aina-san exclaimed, going over to hug me. "We, unfortunately, don't have much time left in America, so we'd love to get to know as much about you as possible! Right, girls?" The other eight members nodded, and Nanaka-san motioned for Leo and I to come over and sit beside her on the couch.

"I'll be counting on you for translation, Ms. Rachel," I said politely to our translator as she nodded.

"Of course."

We spent about forty minutes making small talk. I told them about all of my hobbies, besides them, of course. That I sing, play piano, and am learning Sign Language (shuwa in Japanese).

"Do you mind if we hear you sing?" Arisa-san asked eagerly, as the other girls nodded, smiling. I turned to Rachel.

"They wanna hear you sing," she translated. I immediately felt my body heat up.

"Eh?!" The girls chuckled at my reaction. "B-But, I-I haven't sung in a while..."

"Leo-kun, too! You sing, don't you?" Shuka-san asked.

"Wha— me?!" he exclaimed, pointing at himself.

"C'mon, Leo! Help me out here!" I said eagerly, clasping my hands together. "You're singing with me!" Leo pursed his lips, before letting his shoulders drop, sighing heavily.

"Alright, okay. Fine."

We decided to sing the theme for the film "Uchiage Hanabi, Shita Kara Miru ka? Yoko Kara Miru ka?" I figured that song suited Leo's voice the best. I started the song off.

Ano hi miwatashita nagisa o

Ima mo omoidasun da

Suna no ue ni kizanda kotoba

Kimi no ushiro sugata

Yorikaesu nami ga ashimoto o yogiri nanika o sarau

Yuunagi no naka higure dake ga toorisugite yuku

Patto hikatte saita

Hanabi o miteta

Kitto mada

Owaranai natsu ga

Aimai na kokoro o

Tokashite tsunaida

Kono yoru ga tsudzuite hoshikatta

We snapped our fingers along to the beat, and I looked to Leo. He nodded and sang his part of the song.

Ato nando kimi to onaji hanabi o mirareru ka na" tte

Warau kao ni nani ga dekiru darou ka

Kizutsuku koto yorokobu koto kurikaesu nami to joudou

Shousou saishuu ressha no oto

Nando demo kotoba ni shite kimi o yobu yo

Namima o erabi, mou ichido

Mou nido to

Kanashimazu ni

Sumu you ni

Hatto iki o nomeba

Kiechaisou na hikari ga

Kitto mada

Mune ni sundeita

Te o nobaseba fureta

Attakai mirai wa

Hisoka ni futari o miteita

Patto hanabi ga (patto hanabi ga)

Yoru ni saita (yoru ni saita)

Yoru ni saite (yoru ni saite)

Shizuka ni kieta (shizuka ni kieta)

Hanasanaide (hanarenaide)

Mou sukoshi dake (Mou sukoshi dake)

Mou sukoshi dake

Kono mama de

Ano hi miwatashita nagisa o

Ima mo omoidasun da

Suna no ue ni kizanda kotoba

Kimi no ushiro sugata

Patto hikatte saita

Hanabi o miteta

Kitto mada

Owaranai natsu ga

Aimai na kokoro o

Tokashite tsunaida

Kono yoru ga tsudzuite hoshikatta

I took a breath, and Leo placed his hand on my shoulder. I looked around the room, and was just surrounded by the brightest smiles.

"You're both so good!" Kanako-san squealed.

"Do the two of you go to karaoke often?" Aika-san asked. We shook our heads.

"Unlike Japan, you don't find very many karaoke places close to home."

"Hmm... well, maybe the two of you could come back with us to Japan someday!" Anju-san teased. I waved my hand dismissively.

"Plane tickets from California to Japan are extremely expensive, especially for two people!"

"Three, actually," Rachel said. "The girls are inviting me, as well. Then again, the two of you can't be unsupervised in an entirely different country." Leo's eyes widened.

"Wait, so does that mean—?"

Arisa-san pulled out three plane tickets and winked.

"If you've been listening to UraRaji, our Hibiki radio station, then you would know about the contest that we'd been holding for foreign fans." Anju-san and Aika-san smirked.

"We pulled out a random username, and guess whose name came up?" I looked that the three of them and pointed at myself. The rest of the girls giggled.

"So, then—"

"Kurisu-chan, you won the contest, so you and two other people — Leo-kun and Rachel-san — get to spend the rest of the month with Aqours!" Aika-san said. Everyone in the room applauded, and Leo and I just sat there, speechless. "Now, these tickets are scheduled for next week, seeing as you still need to enjoy the remaining days of Anime Expo."

"We'll follow the two of you on Twitter," Rikako-san said, "so we can keep in touch."

"We'll figure out a way to make it so that your messages are the first ones we see," Nanaka-san added. I nodded.

"Did that surprise you?" Ai-san giggled. Leo and I nodded.

"Leo... we're—"

"We're goin' to Japan!" he exclaimed, hugging me.