Winging It With Sayo
is a BanG Dream! fanfiction written by Bass_Line.
It was a regular day at Hanasakigawa Girls' High School when Sayo Hikawa is suddenly approached by Kasumi Toyama with a sudden and out-of-place request: Be her wingwoman in helping her profess her feelings to one Arisa Ichigaya. After a lot of pleading from the other girl, Sayo reluctantly agrees and through a series of mishaps helps Kasumi in getting together with Arisa.
However that one situation leads to another, and then another, and then another, and now suddenly: Sayo finds herself playing wingwoman to a wide assortment of girls, winging it all the way all while realizing and pondering her own feelings for her fellow bandmate Lisa Imai.
Much romance and hilarity ensues.
Tropes found in this fanfiction:
- Beneath the Mask: Sayo reveals this to Hina in Chapter 16 (and later to Afterglow sans Ran in Chapter 17) about her insecurities towards her sexuality which she hides it by insisting that she is straight. Sayo also hides her lingering inferiority complex towards her twin by not mentioning her worries concerning Hina until it reaches breaking point.
- Implied in Lisa's case as she hides her heartbreak after being seemingly rejected by Sayo in Chapter 14, and seemingly brushes off the effects of heartbreak during her conversation with Sayo in Chapter 16.
- The Confidant: Lisa is Sayo's, by virtue of being the latter's de facto "partner" in her wingwoman business. Tsugumi also qualifies to a lesser extent.
- Date Peepers: Sayo and Lisa are this multiple times throughout the fic, usually as a way for Sayo to monitor the progress of her client either physically or from the distance courtesy of Lisa's bugging devices.
- Everyone in the cast (sans Sayo and Lisa) does this via bugging towards Sayo and Lisa's date in the final chapter.
- Deadpan Snarker: Sayo, several times in the fic especially when dealing with the girls she is playing wingwoman to and/or their respective love interests.
- Disaster Dominoes: Sayo's troubles started with her reluctantly agreeing to be Kasumi's wingwoman in the latter's attempts to confess to Arisa. It goes downhill from here.
- Extreme Doormat: Kasumi bluntly calls Sayo this in Chapter 4, referring to how the latter could easily turn down playing wingwoman to her previous clients and yet she doesn't.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Downplayed in Chapter 11 with Misaki being jealous that her girlfriend is spending more time with Hagumi and hiding things from her. Turns out Kokoro is trying to give Misaki a birthday surprise and approached Hagumi to pull it off.
- Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Whenever Sayo is inquired about her relationship with Lisa, Sayo would constantly deny them - citing she only has eyes for men and expects herself to get together with one someday. Nobody (not even Sayo herself) buys her claims one single bit. Chapter 16 later reveals that Sayo uses this as a way to mask her insecurities regarding her sexuality and also to avoid any possible heartache that relates back to her inferiority complex towards Hina: Fearing that Hina might and will take away any female she may have any romantic interest in simply because she can.
- Himari also qualifies to a lesser extent, and it is her confronting the truth about her sexuality in Chapter 16 that leads to Sayo's self-realizations about her own above.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Downplayed in Chapter 10 when Moca takes on the spicy ramen challenge in place of Tsugumi during their date. It's even more touching given that Moca dislikes anything spicy.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Sayo expresses and does this at the end of Chapter 7, after bearing witness to Yukina stripping in public in front of their social circle at the Hazawa Cafe after learning she (Sayo) and Lisa had bugged her clothes during her date with Ran (bear in mind, none of the girls are of legal drinking age!). Suffice to say, she immediately regrets it at the very beginning of the next chapter.
- Innocent Fanservice Girl: Yukina in Chapter 7 after learning that Sayo and Lisa had bugged the clothes she wore for her date with Ran. She wastes no time stripping to her bare underwear despite being at a public family cafe in front of others.
- Love Letter: Invoked in Chapter 8 when Eve confesses to Maya.
- Manipulative Bastard: Chisato was accused of this by Sayo in Chapter 4 after assuming that the actress wanted her to demoralize Aya so that she can step in to comfort her fellow idol. Subverted after Chisato admitted that the reason to why Aya was unable to spend time with her was because she wanted to free up time for a date.
- Mistaken for Pedophile: Sayo invokes this towards Rinko, after she hears the latter's desire to make Ako's "first time" (as in her first date) be special in Chapter 5.
- Mistaken for Prostitute: Yukina mistakes Sayo for moonlighting as a prostitute after Lisa suggests that Sayo offer her "services" (that being her wingwoman services), much to Sayo's dismay.
- Nose Bleed: Ran has one of these in reaction to Yukina non-chalantly stripping off her clothes at the end of Chapter 7.
- Official Couple: Given the premise of the fic, there are several examples:
- Chapter 1 has Kasumi and Arisa.
- Chapter 2 has Kokoro and Misaki.
- Chapter 3 has Kaoru and Kanon.
- Chapter 4 has Aya and Chisato.
- Chapter 5 has Ako and Rinko.
- Chapters 6-7 has Yukina and Ran.
- Chapter 8 has Maya and Eve.
- Chapter 9 has Rimi and Saya.
- Chapter 10 has Moca and Tsugumi.
- Chapter 12 has Asuka and Rokka.
- Chapter 13 has Hina and Hagumi.
- Chapters 14-15 has Tae and Rei.
- Chapter 16-17 has Himari and Tomoe.
- And finally Chapter 18 has Sayo and Lisa.
- Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Kokoro. She offers Sayo one million yen in exchange for Sayo's wingwoman services (despite the latter's protests). It took a lot for Sayo to have her lose the two zeroes.
- Romantic Wingwoman: Sayo, albeit very reluctantly.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Kasumi serves as this for Asuka and Rokka in Chapter 12.
- Masuki serves as this for Tae and Rei in Chapter 14.
- Practically every girl in the fic is this for Sayo and Lisa.
- Stalking Is Funny if It Is Female After Male: Subverted. In Chapter 5, both Sayo and Lisa are caught spying on Ako and Rinko's date in public leading to suspicious looks from the public. Naturally this results in them getting apprehended by the police for suspected stalking behavior.
- The Stinger: Every chapter (barring the final one) ends with a character saying a line which is then immediately followed up at the next chapter. Most chapters also end with Sayo running into her next would-be client with their identity left unknown until the beginning of the next chapter where said character's identity is revealed.
- This Cannot Be!: Downplayed in Chapter 13 when Sayo expresses disbelief that Hina and Hagumi got together as a couple when listening in on their date through the help of Lisa's bugging devices.
- Trivial Title: The writer has mentioned on Tumblr that the chapter titles all have meanings, albeit trivial in the sense that they mostly hint which pairings will be the main for each chapter.
- Chapter 1's title Shooting For The Stars is to indicate that Kasumi is the one that approached Sayo, with the phrase's meaning of aiming high a nod to how Kasumi tends to aim high.
- Chapter 2's title Happy, Lucky, Love You, Yay! is a blatant hint to readers that Sayo will be helping someone from Hello, Happy World! with her romantic troubles in the chapter, with it being Kokoro as it's her catchphrase.
- Chapter 3's title A Fleeting March is an even more blatant hint that the chapter will be about Sayo getting Kaoru (as represented by her signature phrase) and Kanon (represented by the march from the song "Wacha-Mocha Pettan March") together.
- Chapter 4's title Yura Yura God Why Dance is an obvious hint that Aya and Chisato will be a pairing in this chapter due to "Yura-Yura Ring-Dong-Dance" being a duet between said idols, with "god why" being expressed from Sayo's POV.
- Chapter 5's title Gaming Buddies For Life (And More)! is to represent Rinko's and Ako's gaming hobby while informing readers that they will end up in a relationship after Sayo is done helping them.
- Chapter 6's title I Want To Punch Her Lips With My Own is taken from Yukina's declaration of "I want to punch Mitake-san's lips with my own" and made into a vague twist to give off the mystery of the featured pairing.
- Chapter 7's title I Want To Pin You Down And Scream My Name is taken from what Hina found out in Chapter 6 about Ran's sexual fantasy involving Yukina, which is for Ran to pin Roselia's leader down and hear the latter scream Ran's name.
- Chapter 8's title Drum Beat Of A Warrior's Heart is to hint to readers that the chapter will be about Maya (represented by the drum beat) and Eve (represented by the warrior), with the title serving as an allusion to how one's heart rate quickens around her crush.
- Chapter 9's title Your Love's As Sweet As A Chocolate Cornet is an obvious hint to readers that combined with the ending of the previous chapter, the girl Sayo will be helping is Rimi. Also, Rimi's favorite chocolate cornets come from Saya's family bakery, which makes it even more obvious that she'll be shipped with Rimi.
- Chapter 10's title Lemme Show You Why Coffee Buns Are The Best is less obvious as compared to other chapters, with the tone used serving as an indirect hint that Moca will be featured. Coffee buns were specified by the writer as fans usually associate coffee with Tsugumi's family cafe, who is shipped together with Moca in this chapter. It is also mentioned that Moca's love for bread is used to imply the amount of love she holds towards Tsugumi, while informing hopeful Sayo/Tsugumi fans that said pairing will not be featured.
- Chapter 11's title You're My Treasure! is based off Hello, Happy World!'s "Sekai Nobbinobi Treasure!" as well as Kokoro's reassurance to Misaki after the latter revealed that she was jealous that her girlfriend was spending more time with Hagumi.
- Chapter 12's title Another Kind Of Sparkling Pounding Feeling is to hint that Asuka will be featured in the chapter, with the Toyama last name serving as a representation of sparkling pounding feelings.
- Chapter 13's title The Most Boppin' Star-Shaped Croquette is a direct hint that Hina (represented by her catchphrase and fondness for stars) and Hagumi (represented by the croquettes her family sells) will be the main pairing of the chapter.
- Chapter 14's title Shine! Wakana Electric Bass!!! is based on "Kagayake! Hanazono denki gita!" from Tae's "Hanazono Denki Guitar!!!" with a Rei twist to hint to readers that the main pairing will consist of Tae and Rei.
- Chapter 15's title Bunnies Love R.I.O.T is based on "Passions run R・I・O・T" from RAISE A SUILEN's "R・I・O・T" with a Tae twist (represented by her fondness for rabbits) following how the titles for Chapters 6-7 were done.
- Chapter 16's title Denial And An Umbrella Of Painful Truths is mentioned to refer to numerous details. The writer mentions that the denial listed in the title refers to both Himari's and Sayo's denial towards their sexuality and feelings towards their crushes. The painful truth in the title refers to the truth that Sayo has to face when confessing to Hina the actual reason to why she denies her sexuality as well as the painful truth to how Lisa views her feelings for Sayo. The umbrella was chosen to reference the umbrella Lisa lent to Sayo near the end of the chapter as well as a subtle link to "ONENESS", with said song being indirectly referenced when Lisa describes falling in love as "a wave motion that first makes your heart tremble". This line is loosely based on the song's actual lyrics of "WAVE-MOTION that makes my chest tremble".
- Chapter 17's title The Value Of A Sunkissed Rhodonite is to indicate the focus of the final pairing as well as the sunkissed rhodonite representing both Sayo's and Lisa's unsaid feelings to each other and how much those feeling meant to themselves. The phrase is also based on Roselia's "Hidamari Rhodonite", which is commonly viewed as a love song between Yukina and Lisa and as such, used to show that Sayo actually treasures her own sunkissed rhodonite, which is Lisa in this scenario.
- Chapter 18's title Winging It With Sayo is to showcase Sayo literally winging her date with Lisa instead of her winging it as a wingwoman, while blatantly hinting that the result would just be as successful as all the other girls she helped in the past.
- Twin Switch: Invoked by Sayo in Chapters 8 and 10.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: Yukina and Ran in Chapters 6-7. Due to their rivalry: Neither one is willing to confess to one another despite being blatantly attracted to one another. And then when said sexual tension gets resolved...
