Summer Vacation

"Summer Vacation" is the eighth episode of StarLight. It was published on FictionPress and SparkaTale between 25 May and 26 July 2016, marking the end of the series' three-month hiatus. "Summer Vacation" focuses on Sanae and the White Star Fan Club as they go on a club trip together to mark summer vacation, with Inaba-sensei coming along to supervise them. It marks a significant increase in fourth-wall-breaking and meta-humour compared to previous episodes.

Episode 8 was originally intended to be "But It's For Charity!", a parody of viral challenges such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. This episode was replaced with "Summer Vacation" at the last minute as Nurse felt that the concept of "But It's For Charity!" was outdated.

Plot
During a White Star Fan Club meeting just before summer vacation, Hitomi proposes the idea of a club trip to celebrate the occasion. The members agree, with Inaba-sensei agreeing to supervise, and Hinata offering the use of her parents' summer house. On the day of the trip, it rains heavily, irritating Sanae; when their train arrives at the other end, it is raining even harder, and the six girls are thoroughly soaked as they wait for a bus up to the summer house.

With the continuing rain precluding any outdoor activities, the girls play a game of Reverse Old Maid (where the one holding the Old Maid at the end is the winner) in order to determine which take-out to order, before settling down for the night. In the morning, the rain has stopped, and the girls duly head to the beach for the "obligatory beach episode", including watermelon-smashing, several games of volleyball, and Mio groping Nagisa after the latter interrupts her mobile gaming.

Eventually, as night begins to fall, Hitomi suggests that the girls take part in a test of courage, using a trail winding round the surrounding forest. The girls go in pairs, with Hitomi partnering Sanae, Mio partnering Inaba-sensei, and Nagisa partnering Hinata. As Nagisa and Hinata enter the forest they are attacked by a giant snake monster, leading a petrified Nagisa to reveal that she is afraid of snakes. Sanae covertly transforms into White Star to save them, defeating the monster with ease; while Nagisa at first denies that she had been afraid, White Star helps her to realize that fear is nothing to be ashamed of.

The following day, as the girls take the train back to Mitsuzawa, it is revealed that Amaya has caught a cold from standing out in the rain. Kage, acting under the old adage "feed a cold, starve a fever", force-feeds Amaya an entire chocolate cake under the mistaken belief that it will make Amaya feel better.