Airi, Emu, welcome to my house!

Thanks for having us!

Yeah, thanks for inviting us over!
Still, Saki, your house is so big!

Oh stop!
But...

...?
Is something the matter?

It's just... I can't help but feel a little anxious since you're really here at my house, Airi...!

Hehe. I'm glad you're so excited about having me over, but we have a busy day ahead of us and don't have a minute to waste!

So let's make sure our chocolate cakes put a smile on everyone's faces!

Yeah!

Wow, your kitchen's also pretty big!
There should be more than enough space for us to bake our sweets!

Yeah!
What are we gonna start with, Airi?!

The sponge cake base is gonna take up the most time, so we'll start by baking those. After that, we can start making decorations and stuff for them.

Right, because it's the basis for everything we're doing! But it still seems really hard...

I know.
But there's no show without a stage, so we'll need to make ours before anything else can happen!

I get it!
Because there's no show without the Wonder Stage!

Alright, I'm gonna do my best!

I need... One, two, three eggs...
A pinch of sugar and... Done!

So we whisk the eggs now?
That sounds really fun! I wanna try!

Be careful when using an electric mixer. Things are gonna start flying all over the place if you don't keep a close eye on what you're doing.

Yes, ma'am!

Once you feel the dough's nice and mixed, can I have you start working on the cookies?

Oh, I've made some before so I know how!
Except, I remember having some trouble kneading the dough...

Saki! Saki!
I'll help you☆

You will? Thank you so much!

Yay♪ I'll go get the flour and stuff!
Be right back!

Okay, cookie cutting complete...!

Hey, those look really cute!
Why don't we start making the marzipan next?

Marzipan...? Isn't that the stuff they use to make the edible Santa Clause dolls you see on top of Christmas cakes?

Yup. My plan's to make dolls of everyone from MORE MORE JUMP! for the top of my cake.

You know how to make edible dolls? That's so cool, Airi!

Um... Can I try helping with that?
I know your cake means a lot to you, so I wanna lend a hand where I can...

Saki...

Thanks!
In that case, we can work on it together!

Okay! I promise to try my best!

So add a couple of drops of red food coloring to the marzipan and... Oh no! I put in too much! It turned bright red!

That's okay. Marzipan's pretty easy to make, so you can just try again with a fresh batch.

As for this red marzipan... Hmm...
What if I turned them into hearts for us to use as extra decorations?

You'd do that?
You're a lifesaver, Airi!

The macarons seem ready too.
And it looks like none of them broke!

Wow! They're perfectly baked!
They really look like plushies!

Emu, can you start piping the ganache onto the macarons? They don't need much so go a little bit at a time, okay?

Okay!
A little bit♪ A little bit♪ A little bit of love♪

Haha♪
Oh, Emu. Singing while piping ganache!

Hehe♪ I can't help it!
Everything feels so sweet and delicious right now!

I even talked about doing a really sweet show with everyone the other day♪

A sweet show...?
I wonder what that would be like.

Sweet♪ Sweet♪

Hehe. Looks like our chocolate cakes are gonna turn out amazing, and it's all thanks to you, Airi♪

But... I'd like to be able to bake one on my own next time.

Oh, why's that?
I'll always be willing to help, you know?

A-As tempting as your offer is...

I'm always relying on my friends for help, especially during band practice since I'll run out of stamina sometimes...

Which is why I want to learn to be able to bake and make gifts like this on my own one day!

I see...

You want to give back to others all on your own... There are times when I want to accomplish something by myself, so I totally get how you feel.

But it's also okay to ask for help when things get tough.

Huh...?

Idols aren't exempt from that either. There are plenty of things that we can't do on our own, but we're able to grow because we have each other.

Things that you can't do on your own...

I'm not saying it's bad to set out on your own. I'm saying that you're not alone and you can always ask for help whenever you think you need it.

Be it baking sweets or anything else, we can try everything together!

Airi...

Yeah, you're absolutely right.
I convinced myself somewhere along the way that I had to be able to stand on my own.

But this is why you're the best, Airi!
You're sparkling just the way you did on TV... No, I think you're even brighter than before!

I'm so happy that I got to meet you...

Hehe. I'm not that great or anything, but thanks, I really appreciate it.

Stand the cookies up like this...
And add a couple of dragees...

Hmm...
How should I line up all the plushies...?

They're so focused...

Rin, you can take a peek now, but try to be discrete, okay?

<I'm here♪
Hehe. I snuck out of dance practice to see this♪>

<Oh wow!>

So, what do you think? Baking looks fun, right?

<Yeah! And your cake's adorable, Airi!
It looks just like a stage for idols!>

<It even looks delicious.
I'm sure everyone will love it!>

Hehe. Thanks.
I'll be making some for you too, so you'll have that to look forward to.

<Yay♪
Thank you so much, Airi!>

Is something the matter?
You two seemed awfully startled when you were by the intersection just now.

Saki seems to be acting a little strange is all...

Saki is?

Yes, I was told that Ichika and the others would be going over to our house...

But she seems to have told them that she won't be able to make band practice because she had a family outing to attend to...

I see...
But why would Saki ever lie like that...?

I have no idea...
Nothing like this has ever happened before...

(Oh, so yesterday...
I may not have been imagining things. That really might've been Airi.)

Arrgh! This isn't getting us anywhere!
Let's just call her!

Phew... I'm done decorating mine!

Me too! Me too! That was so much fun☆

Great work, you two.
Those look really amazing!

Now we just need wrap it in plastic after everything hardens and settles. Make sure not to touch it once we do that, alright?

Okay, I'll start doing the dishes in the meantime... Hm?

Saki, your phone's ringing.

Yeah, it is.
Tsukasa's calling...
But why?

Hello?

<Saki, where are you right now?!>

What's wrong, Tsukasa?
I'm at home like I said...

<What's wrong?!
I bumped into Ichika just now and she said that she has band practice today...>

What?!

<But she also said that you wouldn't be able to make it because we were going somewhere as a family. Why did you lie to us like that?>

I, um.. Well...! It's just...
Some things came up and...

What's going on, Saki?
Is everything alright?

Shh! Not now!

<Hm? Who was that just now?
You're with someone, aren't you?>

No, I'm just... Uhh...!

<Is Airi there with you by chance...?>

<What? Momoi's with her?>

(I-Ichi? And was that Shizuku?)

Ts-Tsukasa!
There's nothing for you to worry about!

We're... I'm not doing anything suspicious... Oh no!

<Saki?!>

Are you okay, Saki?!

Y-Yeah. The bowl just fell and...

<Are you in some kind of trouble?!
I'm heading home right now, so sit tight!>

Wait, Tsukasa... H-He hung up!

What happened, Saki?

This is bad! What do we do?!
Tsukasa said he's coming home!

What?!

Also, it sounded like Ichi and Shizuku were there with him...!

Wait, that means they might all come here together...

Oh no!

What do we do, Airi?!

We have to hide our cakes!

B-But we're not supposed to move them, right?

Right. We can't box them up or put them in the fridge yet. If they do actually all come here, it's game over...

Noooo! Isn't there anything we can do?!

(Sounds like they're in trouble...!
Isn't there anything I can do to help them...?)

<Oh, I know! Hey, Airi...!>

Rin...?