#nishizono honoka

[nanasis]

[animeenthusiastgurl]

[tokyo7th]

[tokyo7s]

[ri6es]

[amyure]

EPISODE LESCA BOOK 2

Let’s begin the second book of LeSCa. This is the "Kouhen", or “latter half”, of the story. - Esh

Um, I should be able to clear the backlog by 2034 at this rate…? Nah, I got more free time coming up so updates will be picking up. Will be doing much simpler editing on this one in terms of dialogue formatting etc. so apologies for that in advance (prioritising actually getting it done finally D:).- Nab

 The novel begins with Rena in her club room, opening her locker. While doing so, she was reminded of the time she had accompanied Kyouko; Kyouko had put her belongings in a Nanasis locker and there were many empty adjacent lockers, unlike here where Rena had her own locker merely because she’d won a janken game, and others had to share. A clubmate told Rena that she had gotten a call from their advisors, and said that Rena was appointed to represent their school for inter-high school regional high jump competition. Her friend praised her, "Wow! Ace! We expect a lot of you!", and Rena thought, am I even someone to rest expectations on? 

Over at Nanasis, Honoka came to ask Kyouko about her handmade meal, as Honoka felt it wasn’t good. Kyouko: "Well, duh, anyone can see it isn’t, even the salt in the onigiri isn’t mixed well, and as for the tamagoyaki-" and Honoka went Nuooo, but Kyouko said she was happy and thanked her. Kyouko went to serve her tea, Honoka went, “I will help!” but Kyouko was like, no no, this is thanks for the meal! Honoka went, no no I’m thanking you for eating it! Kyouko: "You strange girl, I am the one getting to eat it" Honoka: "Anyway Thank you!!" and Kyouko relented and let her help.

Honoka helped taking some snacks from the top shelves and Kyouko was like, ...you can reach that?

Honoka replied, "Yes, I can…? What's wrong?" Kyouko definitely minded their height difference. [lol 16 cm btw - Esh]

Honoka realized Kyouko had her textbook out on the table and apologized in case she had interrupted her studying. 

Kyouko said, “My test is next week. When are your school's?”

“Tomorrow,” Honoka replied.

“WHAT, WHY ARE YOU HERE THEN.”

“I-I studied but I just wanna know how you think about the cooking a-a-and…”

“Okay, then let’s study together.” 

Shihainin came after dark and offered to help but Kyouko already had to go. Shihainin said to Kyouko, "No training until the test’s over!"

"EH, WHAT?" 

"You overslept today, didn’t you?"

"How did you know?"

"Coney-san opens the gate every morning because she knows you will jog in everyday..." and yet today Kyouko had not. Shihainin continued, "Very late last night, I saw the training room lamp was on, on my way out to the store. I am sure you trained too late."

"But Shihainin!"

“No, you shall not have training."

Pouting, Kyouko relented... "W-wait, then what time did YOU stop working?! Did you sleep? Shihainin!"

Friday later that week, Honoka was slumped at her desk, knowing she'd fail the test, even if she had been studying real hard. She decided to go visit her favorite tonkotsu ramen chain, but didn’t know who to invite because a girl? tonkotsu ramen?! and decided to go on her own. On the way there, Honoka remembered Rena's school was close so she decided to go see her. There, Rena was lying on a mattress beside a high-jump bar, looking at the sky. A clubmate called, "Rena, do you know that girl?" Rena looked over the fence and said, "Nishizono-san?"

"Waa, look at that wave and reaction. Is she your girlfriend?" Rena’s clubmate joked.

"Haha, what are you saying. She's a friend."

Rena came closer and Honoka went, "Waa!! Amazing, Araki-san! I can't even dream of being able to jump that high!!"

"Nishizono-san, why are you here? Isn’t the station in the opposite direction?"

"I wanted to go to a tonkotsu ramen place and this school is on the way."

"Alone?" Rena noted how there was no one accompanying her.

Honoka went, uuu ikr, it's strange eh for a JK to eat tonkotsu ramen alone TAT and Rena went, "Then let me go with you."

"But the club?"

"It's just self training since it's test period next week anyway. No problem. Just wait here, I’ll be there soon."

"Is it really okay?"

"Yeah." As she turned back, Rena whispered to herself, "the wind is strong today, I wouldn’t have been able to jump well anyway..."

~~~And that end chapter 1 of Book 2, [which makes it chapter 5 LOL] "Sourashinshin”

Next chapter, Rena and Honoka both went for Tonkotsu ramen, served by this oji-san chef with a towel wrapped around his head.

"Why tonkotsu Ramen though, did you flunk your test and wanted to take revenge by eating or something?" Rena asked.

Honoka: Σ(゜Д゜) → (´；ω；｀)

"... Don’t mind it."

They talked again, about the performance they’d put on, and about idols. Honoka shared that she was still indecisive, while Rena told her of the upcoming high jump tourney. On their way home, they talked about their past and upcoming decisions. Honoka said that she had came to Tokyo-7, and subsequently Nanasis, to find out what she wanted to do in life, but she was unsure. Unsure if being an idol was really something she wanted, or if it was only another example of her tendency to ‘move with the current’. Honoka would like to know it for sure, she wanted to be so absorbed in the things she did, like anyone doing what they love feels.

Honoka finally said, “It's silly, eh?”

"I don’t think so," Rena replied. "I think how Nishizono-san is facing your own problems headlong is amazing."

"But Araki-san, too, aren't you very absorbed in high jumping? I look up to people like you."

".... Lately, it isn’t like that at all."

Honoka felt something was off but she wasn’t sure what, or how, to ask... It started raining suddenly, so the two girls had to run for shelter. As they ran, Rena got further and further in front of Honoka, as expected from someone from track and field.

"W-wait!" Honoka extended her hand towards that back, and in that moment, somehow it felt as if Rena would slip away, going far away to a place unreachable by her.

Back at her home, Rena took off her earphones and looked out the window; the heavy rain that had been going on since last Friday afternoon, had finally stopped on Sunday night. Her club had no indoor field, so during rain they only did stamina exercises like push ups etc. which got boring.

Rena sighed, "Well that can't be helped." She caught herself right after saying that. Since when had she ever have a ‘that can't be helped’ mentality when it came to the high jump? She used to think, if it was anything about high jump, she'd do it all. But since when, she wondered, did I start to lose that?

Her mother asked Rena to take a bath but she replied that she wanted to study and to let Dad go in first.

Her mom replied, "Eh, are you okay? You're an adult now."

"I don't mind," Rena said, and went back to her desk, picking her English book back up.

Her mom went, "Good luck," and closed the door.

A few days later, Kyouko, all smiles, came to Nanastar to find Shihainin; she’d gotten a super high score for her test. 

Kyouko said to Shihainin, "Of course I did! I can get that high easily. Your banning me from training gave me a bit of more time, of course. But I could have gotten as high without it too, okay!?"

"Sure, of course..."

Later, Honoka arrived just as Shihainin had to leave. Kyouko kept the test result in her bag and asked Honoka why Rena wasn’t with her. Honoka replied that although her tests were finished, Rena still had the inter-high competition so she couldn’t come.

“I see... You wanna watch me train?” Kyouko asked.

“Is it okay?”

“Yeah, Rena did too.”

And Kyouko made better progress than when she trained alone, she learned that now. As they went up the stairs, the girls promised to one day have moments like these again, but with Rena.

 However, one, then two, weeks passed and Rena never came back to Nanasis. Kyouko and Honoka sat in the office with a box of Viva Donuts, mulling over what could have happened. Whenever Honoka had asked her to come, Rena always rejected with half-hearted words, and always replied late at night. As for Rena’s club activities, the inter-high had already passed. Kyouko asked Honoka whether she remembered anything at all. Honoka did remember that time, right before the rain, when she had seen a distant look in Rena’s eyes as she said she was ‘not that into high jump’ anymore.

Kyouko also remembered how Rena used to come, always saying something along the lines of how her club ‘had no advisor, it was self-training,’ etc. From Rena's sun-burnt skin, it was clear she had been out in the sun too much, even in early spring, and it was hard to think everything was alright when considering that. But they were not Rena, and they could not know the answer until Rena said it herself.

Kyouko then stood up and declared, "Let's go."

"E-eh where?"

"To her place, of course!"

"B-but it's already half past 5!" said Honoka; the sun was setting and counting the commute, they would get there well after dark.

"It'll be ok."

 At Rena's school, Rena said to herself, "I'll jump,” like a chant that she repeated over and over every time before a jump. She had the form etched in her head as she ran towards the bar, which was set at the highest height she had ever gotten, and never got past anymore.

The bar clanked as it fell onto the ground. Rena lay on the mattress and looked up at the sky. "It's still no good today, eh..."

"Rena!" her clubmate called her. "It's time!"

"Ah, I'll be here a while more!"

"Aren't you the hard worker. Why don't you lower the bar a bit?"

"It's self-satisfaction,” Rena offered as an explanation. “The coach did say that too."

Her clubmate gave up and left her to it, wishing Rena good luck, and helped set the bar for her, which she thanked her for. And Rena stood up again, saying to herself, "Well, let’s try again, shall we."

...The sky was dark, the bar laid beside Rena again; she’d failed yet again on her last jump. Suddenly, the field spotlight came on, shining on her. 

She sat up, surprised, and a pair of unexpected voices rang out, "What are you doing, training in pitch darkness!" and, "Good evening, Araki-san."

Standing there, with the light behind them, were Honoka and Kyouko. Rena was so surprised she could not say anything, and that shocked expression was the first thing they saw. Apparently, Honoka and Kyouko had asked the security to help light up the spotlight, promising that they would turn it back off after, because Rena was still training by the grounds. Rena broke into a sad smile, thinking the security man must have known that she had been trying and failing for days, over and over.

"Why did you come here?" Rena finally said.

"Of course, because we're worried!" Kyouko replied.

"I already said I'm busy."

"You never gave us a reason, you can't just expect people to accept it when you’ve been gone so long."

Kyouko asked Honoka to gave Rena some drinks. As it turned out, the two girls had bought onigiri and some jelly drinks, suspecting Rena had not had dinner. Rena asked if they had had theirs. Honoka answered that they had enough for everyone; they had bought loads because they ‘didn’t know Rena's tastes’. Rena peeked into the convenience store bag and said, “That is enough...?” while looking at Honoka, who went red and went, "I-I don’t eat that much! I..."

Kyouko sighed and said, "I don’t eat much for dinner, I eat a lot in the morning for that."

Honoka went >_< and Rena chuckled.

Honoka explained, "On the way here we passed the convenience store, and Uesugi-san said we should buy some for you."

Rena looked at kyouko and felt like she had a really good motherly side. She accepted the jelly drink bottle, looking straight at Kyouko while saying, "Thank you." Different from usual, the words had a certain weight to them.

 Rena smiled and drank from the PET bottle, feeling how it was different having them there versus having the club member there. Honoka watched her side profile, noticing a distant expression she had never seen Rena make before, which saddened her. Kyouko asked Rena why she had not come to Nanasis and had not told them why. Rena answered brusquely that she thought it was ‘not that big of a deal’ to talk about.

 With Kyouko and Honoka on each side of her, however, Rena finally started to open up. She told them that she had began high jumping in middle school when she was introduced by a friend to the club. That time, she was still relatively bad at it and just went with her other friends. Being generally good in sports from the start, Rena found that she was beginning to like it, and she began to think that it would be great to just do high jump, and that she would still like it. In a short while, she became the best among her peers and at that time, her interest and source of enjoyment went from ‘just being able to do high jump’ to ‘just how high can I go’ and she began to seriously study and train. She was appointed as the representative of her school. But although Rena was the highest jumper in her school, it was not so in the inter-high. So many other kids could jump higher than her with no sweat, it seemingly did not matter if she had trained day and night. And earlier in the year, she had begun to not be able to jump over her highest record anymore. Is this my limit? Rena had asked herself.

 Then around that time, she had met Honoka. She saw how Honoka ran with all her might to catch a bus, observing how she gave it her all. She also learned how Honoka properly faced her questions and problems, unlike Rena who, at that time, turned her back to her problems. Then, she was scouted. It was not as if she had no genuine interest at all in being an idol, but it would also not be wrong to say she was just running away from what was bothering her, that she thought ‘it might good to just try out being an idol’. But Rena had felt that it was not right, it would be an insult to Kyouko, or Shihainin.

 In these days where idols are practically gone, those people who kept the idea of idols alive must really be putting their heart into it, Rena felt. Halfheartedly going for it, just because she did not want to face her own problems, wasn't what she wanted. And so Rena had decided, if she had the chance to go to Nanasis or be allowed to be there, she would only come once she could get over the height she could not surpass.

"It may be just my selfishness though," Rena wrapped up by saying.

Honoka responded, "Then I am just the same as you." As Honoka had came to Tokyo, leaving her family to look for what she wanted to do. But in the end she had not gotten her answer, even wondering if being an idol was only her ‘going with the current around me’. Unlike Haru, or Kyouko.

 Listening to both of them, Kyouko finally said, "If you ask me, I don't think ill of either of you.”

"Even my reason is nothing big,” Kyouko continued, “Even you, Rena, didn’t you say you tried the high jump because your friend asked you to? Would you find first timers who start having interest in high jumping insulting?"

"... No, I don't think so," Rena said.

"Reasons to begin can be anything. It's the end that counts.”

"You think so?"

"Definitely," Kyouko said.

Rena looked at the clock and said, "Well, time to try once more." Her earlier jump was supposed to be the last, but with Kyouko and Honoka even turning the light on for her and being there, she knew she had to try just one last time. Under the nervous gaze of the two, Rena prepared. Honoka was so nervous she started fidgeting and Kyouko went, “You’re not the one jumping, though.”

 Honoka explained, "But when I thought about how Araki-san isn’t going to come to Nanasis if she can’t jump over it, I..."

And Kyouko, if was to be honest with herself, was nervous too. She had never felt that before; when Shihainin auditioned her for the first time, when she danced in front of Coney the first time, there were many instances where Kyouko had felt extremely nervous, but it was the first time she was nervous for someone else.

As for Rena, seeing their faces made her happy that they were nervous for her sake, and she felt somehow different with them there. She felt that, even if today’s time is over, it would be alright. Tomorrow, or the day after, there are still chances, she could keep trying.

"There are always possibilities," Rena said quietly to herself. The air, that had been still moments before, was now filled with a wind that felt like it gently pushed her from the back.

"I'll jump," Rena said, and started running. This time, it felt like she could take a little bit longer of a stride, take a little higher of a step. With all her might, Araki Rena「flew」.

 [By the way, "Jump" and "Fly" have the same reading in Japanese, "Tobu". However, jump is written 跳ぶ and Fly is 飛ぶ。The original wording, 荒木レナは全力で「飛んだ」, uses the latter of the two. - Esh]

 The stadium lights had been turned off, and everything was dark. Rena was lying faceup on the mattress, and so was honoka. Kyouko came over and said, "I’ve turned off the lights and you guys still haven’t tidied the mattress up?!"

"But we're tired,” Honoka replied.

"Why are you even tired?!"

"I was nervous."

And yet, Kyouko went over to lie on the mattress as well. The three girls looked up into the night sky.

Rena said, "Thank you, for being with me tonight."

"Don't mind it. We came here ourselves anyway," was the reply from the other two.

"And... I thought being with someone else isn't that bad after all,” Rena added.

 Kyouko decided that she would not tell Rena to stop trying to jump over the bar, nor would she go against Honoka on her choices. She could not jump for Rena, nor could she choose for Honoka. Kyouko had always thought that ‘something that one achieves, must be something that one reached out for’. At least, that was why she had been doing things alone for all this time. However, today she could buy something for Rena, or tell Honoka more about idols, and be nervous together for Rena. In turn, in the past Rena had helped her dance training, and Honoka had cooked a meal for her. Same for Shihainin and Coney as well. Something that one wants to do, perhaps must be undertaken by that person themselves. However, it might be possible for others to be understanding and help each other. Surprisingly, Kyouko realized that she was not against that. And she knew the two people beside her also felt the same way.

 As the girls were on their way home, Rena looked up at the sky and said, "Ah, it's finally a clear sky." All three of them looked up at the starry sky in silence, not knowing the names of those stars.

 The next day, Rena and Honoka went to Nanasis, finding Shihainin there. Shihainin looked at Rena and said simply, "I am glad you are fine." And waiting for them were the Viva donuts that had been prepared for when Rena came back to Nanasis.

 Sat across from the two girls, Shihainin began, "Araki-san, Nishizono-san, I would like to ask you two, once again. Would you be interested in being idols?"

 ~~~This is the end of chapter 3, ‘Seikananchuu’.

 In summer, Rena rolled about on the studio floor while going "Aaah, the floor is so cold, feels so nice," spurring Honoka on to do the same. A while later, Kyouko came with their drinks and kind of went seriously, you guys? Rena took the drinks, saying, "Thank you, Kyouko."

"Don't mention it,” Kyouko replied.

Rena took a sip, then looked at Honoka as she passed the bottle, saying "Here, have it... Honoka." She naturally, casually, called her by her first name without a honorific.

Honoka, blushing, answered, "Thank you, A-Ara... R-Rena-chan."

"Well, I am not the one buying though?" Rena pointed out, gesturing at Kyouko, who averted her eyes.

Honoka got nervous, Kyouko got nervous too. And Honoka finally said, "Thank you, K-Kyouko-chan."

Rena just laughed at that and Kyouko went “It's your fault being so nervous for Rena using your first name and now I’m nervous too!”

And so, the girls ended up banning polite talk between themselves.

That night at her school field, Rena had been able to jump over the bar, and at that moment, when she saw Honoka and Kyouko, she had decided that perhaps, by being with them both, she would be able to reach even higher. She just felt that way.

As for Honoka, she could not yet say with certainty that she had found what she wanted to do. When all three of them had looked up at the night sky together though, from the bottom of her heart she had wanted to be with Kyouko and Rena. If being an idol was the way to achieve that, she might not be able to call it ‘what I really wanted to do’, but that was fine.

As the girls were chatting about Honoka's weight, Kyouko's chest, and Rena's slender body, Shihainin came in and told them to go to the office after showering and cleaning up. In the office they found Shihainin, who had been waiting with Coney beside him, munching on donuts. When the three of them sat on the opposite sofa, Coney set the donuts aside on a plate, and they knew instantly it was something serious. Shihainin started by explaining how there was a venue, Karoen park, that Nanasis had registered, with its registration deadline being last night, for 777 sisters.

However, news had came in that morning that another venue Nanasis had booked long before, at a poolside, had a change of schedule and ended up overlapping with the Karoen Park one.

 When Shihainin was done, Kyouko immediately asked, "What do you want us to do?"

Shihainin smiled and said, "As expected of Kyouko. We only need 5 minutes. We have a song that doesn’t quite fit any of the other units, and the lyrics can be made to fit yours. Coney has prepared costumes."

The event was less than a month away. Shihainin went on, "I wanted you three to make a debut."

Both Honoka and Rena went EEEEEE but Kyouko, instead, stood up and said, “Let’s do it.”

Rena and Honoka started protesting, but for Kyouko, she had always been looking at someone's back. She had came into the idol world and looked at Haru's, Musubi's… the whole of 777 sisters’ backs. However, with Rena and Honoka she now had someone to walk beside her, not in front of her. It was not like she had no confidence of herself, but Kyouko had always known she could not fill the shoes of 12 people alone.

 "Rena, aren't you here despite having to balance club and idol responsibilities? Against all odds?" Kyouko began. "Honoka, aren't you here, far away from home, looking for something you want to do? For me, if there is a chance, I want to take it. I want to believe in possibility. I’m only able to want to do this because it's with both of you. With the two of you, I know we can do it." She quickly added, “B-but don’t you get me wrong, I would still have solo debuted eventually, okay!”

 Rena went alright, alright. And they all, together, decided to do it. As if on cue, Coney immediately exclaimed, "TIME TO WORK ON THE COSTUME! GUUUUUTS!" and Shihainin took out his notes. He suddenly stopped though and asked the three girls, "Wait, what will your unit name be?”

 Close to a month later, Honoka woke up late. She hurriedly went to the shower room and would have brushed her teeth sloppily if her aunt had not told her to brush it properly and helped brush her hair. Honoka made several faces throughout the process and went, "Yosh!"

"You done?" Honoka had almost forgotten her aunt was there.

After taking an onigiri bento that her aunt had prepared for her, Honoka ran out the door. Her aunt sighed to herself, “Oh, how much Honoka resembles  her mother now…” and remembered that she too should make sure not to be late. By the bus stop, Rena was waiting as the bus came. It was going to be either missing that bus, or wait for Honoka with a huge possibility of being late. Rena then saw Honoka running frantically from afar while saying, "Waaait!".

Rena stepped onto the bus and said, "Excuse me sir, would you mind waiting for my friend over there?"

Kyouko was waiting near the office and berated them for being late; after all, it was finally their debut day. Shihainin went off to do prepwork. Kyouko announced that her mother, despite her busy schedule, somehow said that she would come. Rena said her parents and clubmate would as well. Honoka said that her aunt would be able to make it too.

Kyouko went, "Do you two know our unit’s name yet?"

"Nope," they answered.

"It's a stylization of ‘Lemon Squash’."

Honoka and Rena went what? They didn’t even drink it that much.

"Refreshing, sweet, with a tinge of sourness,” Kyouko went on, “Shihainin said, ‘it's the image of youth.’"

"I think I like it,” Rena said.

"Me too," Honoka said.

On that note, the three girls’ possibilities and hopes unfolded.

 End of chapter 4 --- Hikouhoukou

 ---’EX Chapter’. Houeikouya

 At the usual Tonkotsu ramen place, Honoka ordered a ‘super big bowl, with extra broth, extra nori, extra topping’.

Kyouko went, “You’re eating all that?!”

"Eeeh, people don’t usually??" Honoka seemed genuinely astonished.

Rena, laughing, said, "One regular for me, please."

"Me too," Kyouko added.

 After their debut, and after watching 777 Sisters perform, the three decided to have a celebratory meal together, but Shihainin had said that they would have it on another time. Honoka really wanted tonkotsu ramen though, so the three of them went there.

On the way, Honoka had said, “Will Tonkotsu + lemon be a good combination?”

The others went like what?

“I meant,” Honoka clarified, “We could have a joint collaboration with the ramen place."

Everyone went, “????? No way it’d taste good!"

"Eeeh but the possibility of a collab... hmm, lemon and tonkotsu ramen..." Honoka seemed enamoured with her idea.

 After having ramen, the three girls were full and content. They left the restaurant as the sun was setting, and the three of them, somehow as one, looked up at the sky and at one particular star in the distance.

After this they would go back, Rena to her home, Honoka to her aunt’s, Kyouko to her dorm. That realization made them feel.. lonely.

"WELL THEN!" Rena suddenly circled her arms around Kyouko and Honoka by her side as she said, "SHALL WE GO FOR DESSERT?"

"E-eh?" Honoka was caught off guard.

"It's the other stomach!" Rena went on.

"I don’t mind, I think,” Kyouko said.

“I want ice cream!" Honoka said.

 With that, they managed to fulfill their wish of being with each other for just a little while more.

 ~~~End of book~~~

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[gachagachaart]

[laguzmage]

[fistofart]

by Umeno (Shio1205)

[akroglam]

[nanasis]

[animeenthusiastgurl]

[tokyo7th]

[kamishiro-sui]

nishizono honoka icon!

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