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Back at the Nakagawa apartment, Nana and Mrs. Nakagawa are together watching local news channels and eating over dinner. After the events of ‘Open Mind’, Nana was able to keep her bedroom as is without having to hide her hobbies from her mother. Although her mother is still reluctant to see her daughter share her hobbies around the house, Nana still knows her restraints. After the evening news, a music ranking show is playing the weekly songs that are popular in Japan. Mrs. Nakagawa is happy to hear that CHASE! made it to sixth place this week after the Guerilla Live Show happened earlier today.
“Were Yu and Ayumu good friends to you throughout the time as a School Idol?” Mrs. Nakagawa asks her daughter.
“The two were my best friends.” Nana answers, explaining how she became friends with them “I inspired them to become a composer and a School Idol. Yu-san supports any School Idol that she can do and she has a passion to play the piano so she became a composer for the School Idol Club. Ayumu-san became a School Idol because she wanted to express her love with everyone to her fans.”
“Yu-san has grown so much from the last time I saw her in elementary school.” Mrs. Nakagawa compliments the manager “It’s interesting that she still wears the same clothes as she does outside of school.”
“Ayumu-san helped her see the girly side of her fashion sense.” Nana recalled the time Yu and Ayumu went on their first date “You wouldn’t believe Yu-san gets to go on a date with Ayumu-san in a role reversal type of date.”
As Nana is washing the dishes this time, Mrs. Nakagawa continues listening to the music show and notices that Ayumu’s Dream with You made it to second place which is higher than her daughter’s CHASE! placement. Thinking over how long Yu and Ayumu have known each other, she remembers something and asks her daughter.
“Are those two on a date?” Mrs. Nakagawa asks, Nana almost pauses for a second and sees the potential of openness for the couple. She sets it aside for now and continues her dishes.
“Yeah…” Nana answers “They’ve been like that after the School Idol Festival.”
“Nana, have you chosen a path that you love to take?” Mrs. Nakagawa asks her question to her tomorrow “I will not force you to take what I took but you have to make sure you can pave your own path.” After washing the dishes, Nana rests on her chair to keep her legs relaxed.
“I have been thinking of becoming a recording artist after graduating to Nijigasaki High.” Nana answers “I love singing to my heart’s content and getting to be the voice of many characters in animated media would bring fans together.”
“Have you not been using ‘anime’ to describe your path?” Mrs. Nakagawa asks in a teasing manner.
“Animated media is more sensible to use than anime.” Nana says out of embarrassment, she then expands on her dream “I am not just taking singing, voicing, maybe a little bit of radio show hostess.”
“Nana, I watched a flying robot boy when I was a kid.” Mrs. Nakagawa adds, she then recalls her favorite supplements before going to bed “Have you taken your supplements?”
“Shoot, I forgot.” Nana realizes and stands up “I’ll take some before sleeping.” Nana takes a certain supplement in the refrigerator and takes one capsule as directed by the product. Drinking water with the supplement, Nana swallows her supplement and she is prepped up for tomorrow.
After some time, Nana and her mother eventually change their clothes to sleepwear and set off the night in a quiet whisper. Nana is still up to reflect on her guerilla live show and she receives many messages from seven to thirteen viewers. Some with flaming support, with lovely emoticons, and with her signature microphone. She is thrilled to see the comments. She then receives a phone call from Karin, she accepts the call and greets her.
“Hello…” Nana greets Karin, she then hears something drastic from the model “Your work is meeting up in the School Idol Festival?!”
In Nijigasaki High’s School Idol Club, Monday morning, Karin and two people are waiting for any of the club members to enter the club room. Many minutes later, everyone is gathered and they are meeting up with Karin and two higher ups from her company. To note, her company focuses on fashion, modelling, and lifestyle so the guests are here to see if they can gain publicity from a school-wide event.
“Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, it is an honor to meet you all.” Karin’s manager greets the students of the School Idol Club “My employee has been talking about your club activities and my associate and myself were watching Asaka-san’s performance at DiverFes.” With such an introduction, the members talk around each other and Kasumi and Setsuna are among the two who are focusing on their business.
“Why did you not tell us we were going to have a backing from a professional company?” Kasumi asks her senior who is confidently glancing at them.
“If you want to have your festival be known around the prefecture, you may need a sponsor to help you out on keeping it afloat.” Karin answers to Kasumi, and she whispers to Setsuna “This is not professional advice but my workmate said it.”
“Well worded there, Asaka-san.” Her manager compliments the tip, she then explains behind their business “We are here because our company has been interested in looking up idol activities around Japan. After watching live performances from various places in Odaiba, we thought we could meet up with your club to have a discussion.”
Setsuna looks up to her tablet and sees if she has a recollection of the previous School Idol Festival and she was able to find some in the tablet’s storage. She flips to the other side and shows the achievement to the manager and her assistant.
“So this is what the event looked like last time…” Setsuna says while flipping around the gallery.
“We also have recollections of our effort.” Kasumi chats around “The blueprints behind the scenes and how we practiced, alongside interviews for our school magazine.”
“What does the Flyer look like?” The Manager adds.
“Our flyer?” Setsuna asks “Didn’t we make one before last Summer?”
“We did and we were able to have it printed by the Life Design Club.” Emma answers.
“Yes, but this is a school effort.” Karin’s manager continues, in a sense of corporate figure of speech “We can do our part in advertising your event to increase interest in the industry. We met one of your associates, Kaoruko Mifune, who is fond of building her own company with talents like idols. Since we are focusing on fashion trends, we can cover your event for an upcoming new segment of our popular youth magazine.” She shows the draft of what the segment will look like without them initially and they are fascinated that some School Idols made it to the new segment, particularly Haruka Konoe giving the ‘New and Rising’ Award at a young talent show. Some include those from Y.G. International and Shion Girls Academy.
“This looks awesome!” Emma exclaims from such a gallery, asking to her junior “Setsuna-chan, what do you think?”
“Mmm… We may not have our final word.” Setsuna notes to the potential partners “We can accept help from Karin-san’s company, we just need to learn more before finalizing the deal. If we can accept the help, our school will monitor the activity partners.”
Given the school has since followed up their sponsorships with great interest, Karin’s manager wrote their proposed ideas needed for the club to organize the event with them. The club and Karin’s company then settle up the first step of their idea to partner up for the next School Idol Festival as activities continue with consideration. Yu, Setsuna, Ayumu, and Karin are in talks on whether or not they can bring in the first sponsor without breaking the bank. Yu had recalled that she provided the budget proposal to the chairwoman and accepted the deal, the latter will be meeting the manager of that company at a later time. Plans for the next School Idol Festival, due next month, are moving forward.
The second years have known that their senior members will be graduating this year. After their school lessons ended today, Ayumu walked up to Karin as they were in the cafeteria exterior. Yu and Setsuna are busy meeting up with Shizuku’s Theatre Club Leader to help out props for the stage play that will be part of the event. Glistening pool gazing ahead, Ayumu and Karin are watching the sun nearing its dusk.
“Karin-san, you will be leaving Nijigasaki soon.” Ayumu says with melancholy “We were indebted of having a sponsor for the School Idol Festival.”
“It’s not much of a big deal, Ayumu.” Karin says with a sweet giggle, looking up to her junior without teasing “It is just that my boss looks up to her associates and employees closer.”
“I feel like this will be something I have to expect when I join a company for an internship.” The second year girl says the inspiration. Karin has thoughts on Ayumu’s career, she is easy to read among other second years and has looked up on her strengths and weaknesses.
“Internship?” The third year asks “Do you have something in mind?”
“I wanted to become a host of a media show. Seeing my fanclub grow, I was able to keep up with my fans and Yu to improve above the rest.”
“Words of pride for a shy school idol that you want to just impress your childhood friend.”
“Come on, Karin-san!” Ayumu exclaims with a pout against her senior, the two then exchange laughter as their bond has never felt this good.
“Yu is going to be busy again.” Karin says “She will be occupied this week in talking to my company and Kaoruko to finish up the planning phase. Afterwards, we have to build up the School Idol Festival ourselves.”
“Yeah, is Setsuna-chan busy too?” Ayumu then asks her senior.
“Why are you asking me? Setsuna is slowly recovering from her family issues and has to study in my room to make a good transition. She is such a handful when it comes to entertainment.”
“I guess you two are going along well. I thought I would give her something to pay back for getting her into trouble.” For Ayumu to think of it, Karin took a serious turn and listened to her woes.
“What kind of trouble?”
Hearing Karin’s question, Ayumu flashed back the time she handed over the Visual Novel she unintentionally borrowed from Setsuna’s possessions and she did it in front of her mother. Looking at the issue unfolding by Yu herself, she felt sorry for her carelessness.
“I borrowed her Visual Novel but it is the wrong edition that I borrowed and I might have started her turmoil.” The second year answers.
“I don’t think Setsuna said anything ill will about you.” Karin questionably reminds “Weren’t you in the same year as her?”
“It wasn’t easy coping with the issue.” Her anxiety overtook her.
“I already had that issue with Emma.” Karin reflected on her time where Karin initially declined her wish to become a School Idol “Did I regret trying to shove her off? I did. I was too mature and stubborn to tell her I can be on my own. When I see Emma’s heart warm up, joining the club isn’t that bad to begin with. My manager is open to ideas other than modelling.”
“So to let it happen naturally is to be open with ideas?”
“If you think you’ve done something wrong, try something to soften the blow. Not the best advice but you get the idea.”
“Maybe I should go out with Setsuna-chan…” Ayumu then whispered her words to see Setsuna tomorrow.
“It’s your decision…” Karin then decides to break a secret kept by her junior “Did you two go on a date?”
“Yep, a few times.” Ayumu says without realizing that her senior knew that secret “Did Emma-san tell you that?!”
“Emma is not a good secret keeper.” Karin reveals the answer to that secret “She spouted out when I was going on training with Ai.” Ayumu blushes, covering her face in embarrassment, and Karin looks back at the time how it happened.
In another time at the same place, various students are gathering up to DiverDiva’s practice session. However, it became the talk of many when Emma approached them and asked what they were doing. It was obvious that they are practicing for the School Idol Festival, but Emma took the better of her when Karin decided to make a scene and flirt with her.
“Karin-chan, this is embarrassing to do.” Emma said in a weak state where she was cornered by Karin. Ai, Mia, and Rina are among the named witnesses to watch the scene.
“Look, Ai and I are just practicing, who told you that someone else was dating… Who?” Karin kept teasing her while cornering the wall, the students kept up the tension as her hand hovered to Emma’s chin.
“You were saying… what?” Ai asked with some word play on ‘what?’
“Ayumu-chan and Setsuna-chan are dating!” Emma confessed her secret to Karin, Mia, and Ai. Rina already knew the secret from her but everyone else gasped in surprise.
“I think you let out your secret badly…” Ai whispered to Emma about the situation, prompting her to go red and look around the students. The chatter grew louder, not only about DiverDiva, but also Ayumu and Setsuna. Emma, without a word to say, decided to leave the scene and Rina followed up. Karin, Mia, and Ai are puzzled as to wonder why Emma said that unnecessary secret.
“Emma walked back to her room and never talked to me for a day.” Karin apologizes to her “I’m sorry, Ayumu.”
“It’s no big deal.” Ayumu forgives her senior’s words and clears up her embarrassment “I should make a move for her.” The two then leave the cafeteria to wait for Yu, Setsuna, and Emma.
The talk between Ayumu and Karin may have taken them nowhere close to being close friends, at least they knew how their love partners are doing behind the scenes.
In the Dormitory, likely in Karin’s apartment, Setsuna is studying parts of her weak subjects, probably Science and History. With so much information drilled into her, she finished her time to review parts where she is usually incorrect.
“Hah!!! The next exam is close.” Setsuna says, exhausted from studying. “I wonder how everyone is going.” She opens her smartphone and checks on her circle of club members. She got so many unreads from Kasumi and she decides to grin as if she has an idea to discipline her at a later time. A screenshot of Kasumi getting an S-Rank of Nijiiro Passions! Expert and scoring above the voltage goal.
“Looks like I got a new high score in Love Live! All Stars” Kasumi captioned.
“Kasumi-chan, don’t post it to our group. Nana-san will catch you red handed.” Rina replied.
Of course, Setsuna knew the story and decided to warn the first years.
“Too late, Rina-chan, Kasumi-chan.” Setsuna whispers and sends her reply to Kasumi’s screenshot.
The student council School Idol then checks the time with only a few minutes to spend before sleeping off the night. She uses the time to check her luggage before she leaves Karin’s apartment. She makes sure she never forgets anything that she brought, notably her lingerie, costumes, and hygienic goods. With assurance, she makes her single futon one last time before shutting down her day. Of course, not without one last glance at her phone. She receives a message from Ayumu.
“Are you busy?” Ayumu asks “I wanted to go to VenusFort, I saw many posters promoting events so I thought we could see and find inspiration for our flyer.”
“Of course, we can take a stroll once lunchtime hits. We can be back before afternoon hits.” Setsuna replies in her SMS.
“Thanks.”
And the day ends ordinarily...
The next day, Setsuna prepares her coat overlaying her winter school uniform as there is a forecast of moderate snowfall around Odaiba. Before she made her way to a nearby bus terminal, she had a few things to take care of: Turn in her assignments in due time, Deposit her luggage into the Student Council room without being spotted by the chairwoman. If she has to recall, the chairwoman could suspect any student who has a large backpack. Studying in a school this advanced could usually mean that most students do not usually need to carry bags when attending academics.
As usual from her date with Ayumu, the latter always arrives late. Setsuna breathes the cold air and sometimes gets anxious whenever she is alone. She has nothing to worry about now that she met her best friends…
Or were they?
Setsuna wonders if she can live the day after graduation. Whenever she practiced alone or with others, she did not feel anything that disturbs her whether it be in a spiritual, physical, or emotional manner. At one point, she felt a weight on one knee. she had no idea how it happened but it was something that she has been bothering. If one day she performs live and dances CHASE!, she might find herself on the brink of collapse. Self-thinking and reflection is all in her head for the time being.
“I embarrassed myself in front of Mom.” Setsuna recalls a painful memory “My condition did not worsen but it is a sign that I can no longer perform strenuous activities. I can’t be this depressed, right?” Her imaginary self says. Seeing her hands getting cold from the air, she rubs her own hands to warm up.
“If we graduate, what am I supposed to do?” She continues “I wanted to get scouted by a music label and prove my performance to them. Now that I’m a school idol, I think they will see me in various media.” Flipping through her phone, she searches for ‘Uehara Ayumu’ and related articles from a young musician website that has the scoop and report about the next School Idol Festival. She then sees the next article seeing a few of Ayumu’s gifts given to Nijigasaki High every month. It even reported how many followers she has, talk about jealousy but she was also that popular but not on her level.
“Ayumu-san looks like she is handling a large volume of her fanbase.” Setsuna says she wants to continue the ego-search but she hears footprints on her right as Ayumu walks briskly to chase her.
“Setsuna-chan!” Ayumu calls and explains why she is late again “Sorry I’m late again. Kanata-san was helping me in cooking class and I wanted to copy her techniques on baking exotic pastries.”
Of course, Setsuna forgives her rival. Now that they are alone outside school premises, the two went off to VenusFort. Conveniently, a bus made it in time for them to hop on. On their way to their destination, the two bonded over showing how many cards they collected in Love Live! School Idol Festival All Stars and heard announcements of a synchronization between Japan and Overseas versions. Setsuna was glad she collected so many event points that she made it to Top 500 in an event ‘Panic in the Lab of the Future’ that Ayumu managed to collect a Limit Increase of her UR card. The rest of their time is then spent on managing resources on their target UR card to upgrade. With the bus stopping by the nearest terminal, the two made it to VenusFort.
Entering the mall, Ayumu and Setsuna were looking among the visitors keeping the mall alive. Setsuna notices various posters placed in single file in brick and mortar stores. Some even offered food discounts or special deals. Just seeing customers thrive in the mall could let Setsuna get lost in the ambience. A hand grabbed hers, turning her around is Ayumu. She is keeping her gripped so that they can explore around.
“So what posters did you say that inspired you to remake the School Idol Festival poster?” Setsuna asks her, the tall girl points at the poster.
The two walked where Ayumu pointed and saw various characters illustrated to appear for the live event.
“Virtual Idol Party. The design looks like we are expecting a techno concert.” Ayumu answers. “There's some more posters I would like to find before I can find a reference for them to use.”
“So about the flyers and posters, you sure like anything that says Entertaining! And Exciting! I saw you design in the costume club, wouldn't it be a good idea that you take the lead?”
“Yu and Ai were going to design the poster themselves and I needed to find some references for them to draw.”
“Judging a book by its cover could be my pet peeve. If I was making posters for the first live performance, I would just do basic photo editing and that is it.”
“Have you used a painting software before?”
“No.”
“I see then… Setsuna-chan-” Ayumu turns around Setsuna “I can't find an idea for Yu and Ai.” Setsuna chuckles out of humor and the two continue searching shops, and recreation areas.
After ten minutes of walking and checking posters that can be found around the area, Setsuna starts to feel a bit light on her legs. Ayumu is still holding her by the wrist and Setsuna supports herself by grabbing Ayumu's shoulder. She was startled by her, she glanced worryingly.
“Can we sit by the bench?” Setsuna asks.
“Setsuna-chan…?” Before Ayumu asks, she puts her in a nearby bench.
“Sorry if I didn’t tell you earlier...” Setsuna apologizes “I cannot seem to stand longer than thirty minutes.”
This is news for Ayumu. Considering that she usually sees her without any tiredness or hardship, she comforts her by side.
“Did I make you worry about saying this?” Setsuna asks.
“No, I was surprised that you're a bit down.” Ayumu answers, pretending that she is concerned.
“My studies are okay, I don't have a problem.” Setsuna explains. “I didn't tell you this because I kept my condition to close friends. I haven't considered Kasumi-san or Karin-san as close friends but you and Yu-san do.”
“Was it a long-term condition?” Ayumu asks.
“Yes, One of my legs has a joint issue.” Setsuna answers, she extends the reason “I may have a lightweight marrow on the knee that may hit my nerves to slowly give up on standing.” A short explanation of her hidden trauma/condition began.
“When I first auditioned for a stage play, I was in Elementary after the incident, I wanted to play as a superhero in an urban city setting. I remember those shows where the Rangers do slicing moves, punches and kicks. I can be that guy, I could be the one to act like a hero to everyone. And in return, I can show them that I can help everyone too. Not every hero has their strengths covered, everyone has a weakness, including myself. The producer chose me to be the Yellow Ranger. It’s not a big deal because you still get to play as a Ranger, it is still a dream come true. On the day of the Stage Play, I acted as the Yellow Ranger, everything went well until… A strenuous move that I have to do starts crumbling my dreams apart. My leg gave up holding on to my weight and I collapsed.”
Thud…
“Nana?” Mrs. Nakagawa said her daughter’s name, the audience were shocked that Nana collapsed without a warning or sign. The other cast members were mortified by the situation.
“Even embarrassing is that my father was there to see my humiliation.” Setsuna continued “The condition was left hidden to my mother because, if she told my father that if I have one, he could have been concerned and provided emergency funds at his expense.”
The doctors checked on Nana’s vitals. While her vitals were fine, even with a hidden trauma, she has another obstacle to face for her lifetime: a weak joint in her thigh. When the doctors diagnosed the patient, Nana and her husband eventually went into a ruckus back at the apartment.
“Dad left my Mom to discipline me until I enrolled in Nijigasaki High.” Setsuna narrated “It was a traumatizing story but the condition I have was the reason my parents split. Back then, I never had friends even with high grades because they thought my Mom could argue with their parents if something happened to me. When I studied in Nijigasaki, she assured me that I’ll be fine as long as I become the Student Council President. Here I am, I stepped down as a Student Council member.”
Back to reality, Setsuna soothes her leg a bit from standing but Ayumu wants to make sure she can walk after Setsuna tells her exposition.
“Is that why your mother initially didn’t approve you to start a club?” Ayumu asks if Setsuna does what it began.
“I started it while I was the Student Council President.” Setsuna says as she is close to concluding her story about the club’s opening “After Kasumi, Shizuku, Emma, and Kanata joined the club, I then go under Nana whenever I’m in school activities. As for my condition, it didn’t feel like any burden, but I still need to watch for my health or otherwise- My mom would be calling the chairwoman to take me home.”
“I guess she is caring about your ambition but, to protect you, she has to keep you from pursuing your ambition.” Ayumu starts to think over what Setsuna had struggled through, it is what she could have been if she and Yu were to separate one day “Not everything is a happy ending to live for.”
Of course, the girls cannot be sitting forever. Setsuna tries to keep the mood even from a terrible exposition. She stands up and Ayumu looks at her.
“I can stand up every now and then. Wanna grab some lunch before heading back to class?” Setsuna cheers Ayumu up and she follows along.
Ayumu and Setsuna understand each other, both being close friends and girlfriends. After eating lunch from a nearby food chain, the two found some inspiration to design a poster for the School Idol Festival and they have spare time to go back to school.
Back at school, while Setsuna and Ayumu are meeting Yu and Ai. In the cafeteria, students from various academic tracks are in talks of an upcoming School Idol Festival. They are spreading rumors that Kanata, Karin, and Emma will leave the group and graduate, others said they might continue their club activities and study at a higher education institute that Nijigasaki High affiliated. No matter the topic, things are spicing up.
Throughout the lunchtime, rumors spread around the juniors talking about Ayumu Uehara as she has been going out with Yu Takasaki and Setsuna Yuuki in the last few days. Some are good, some are funny, others are a bit concerning.
“Ayumu-san is such a princess in her live shows.” A girl compliments her favorite idol.
“Really? I’ve been rooting for her.” Another girl chats “Heck, she congratulates Yu-san as if she is her Anata.”
“Anata… Doesn’t this word mean darling?” The previous girl starts theorizing about the relationship “Are they secretly dating?”
“No! No! She cannot be dating her.” A third girl defends and uses her school idol narrative “It’s against the idol playbook.”
Kasumi, Shizuku, and Rina are watching random students talk about Ayumu, the trio had been aware that their seniors are secretly dating but not fully detailed that would make the school fall apart over a trio that secretly violated the usual idol playbook: Never date with a love partner.
“Ayumu-san seems to be overtaking the popularity among us.” Shizuku wonders.
“Ayumu-senpai is getting popular to talk about from the juniors.” Kasumi says in jealousy, her foot tap to wait for Rina as the three usually eat lunch together “I don’t know if it may be a bad thing but I like seeing her lead the club.”
“Kasumi-chan, mind if I take a seat?” Rina asks as she is holding a tray “Kyoko-chan and the others are taking extra time to finish up their cooking classes.”
“Sure, take one.” Kasumi agrees. “I can't wait to try out Rina's-”
As Kasumi offers a seat, someone else budges Rina in the back, due to her hands being inside her sleeves, the tray where she has lunch fell into the ground. Shizuku and Kasumi glanced at the boy behind Rina. While his uniform is a standard school uniform, the unique physical trait he has is a single strand standing out or an ahoge.
“My lunch…” Rina picks up her lunch tray again. Fortunately, her lunch did not flip so most of her food is fine.
“Oh sorry…” a boy apologizes to her and bows, he leaves pretending it did not happen.
“Rinako, do you know those guys?” Kasumi asks her in a protective manner, Rina did not hesitate to know that Kasumi is curious and defensive against a boy and a girl.
“Yes… That’s Reiwa Mishima.” Rina answers while the boy goes to his friend's table “He is one of my classmates in Information Processing Track, that girl over there is Minnie Katsuragi, one of Setsuna’s classmates in General Track.”
“Did Mishima-senpai spill Rina’s lunch?”
Two random girls who chatted about Yu, Ayumu, and Setsuna shift the conversation, much to the first year's dismay.
“I got her red-handed but be careful…” Shizuku, with keen eyes on the pairing, says the truth. “Reiwa-san and Minnie-san are indirectly involved in an accident.”
“Eh?!” Kasumi asks while Rina raises her board ‘Shocked’
“Lend me your ear, guys.” Shizuku whispers at them, she then points both with a spoon to indicate they are eating shortly “I'll talk about this after we eat.”
“Oh okay…” Kasumi keeps herself silent so as to make herself not be noticed by the two students, in her mind… “Shizuko knows how to control the crowd. I can eat and not react impulsively.”
In terms of scandal scale, Shizuku, Kasumi,and Rina saw what they got first involved in and it was one of the upperclassmen. It is normal for idols to have at least a portion of their fanbase to criticize them, but a very small percentage could do way more than it was expected to be. Because Shizuku has an instinct to investigate before she can jump to conclusions. How the coming days will unfold very soon.
In the School Idol Club, Ayumu and Setsuna arrived back earlier than usual. Their plan is to brainstorm designs for the School Idol Festival, but without Yu and Ai, it is up to them to provide them references for the time being.
“Yu-chan and Ai-chan are still busy with Shioriko-chan and the others.” Ayumu says, she puts away her bag and Setsuna pulls out her phone. She took enough pictures of various posters to think.
“Guess we have no choice…” Setsuna replies, she grabs her tablet which she left in the club room.
The two spend the next thirty minutes drawing various doodles of what the next School Idol Festival should look like. Ayumu and Setsuna have conflicting ideas and they cannot make the same idea together. While Ayumu likes heartwarming, cute things, Setsuna likes fiery, exciting things. The two barely knew the others so they ended up using their symbols to anything else related to them. Setsuna is not much of an artist so she can draw quick doodles in a minute where Ayumu draws very well and takes half an hour to perfect it.
Spending over thirty minutes is just a pile of Setsuna’s drawings, good or bad, with various ideas that will not work for the others. Ayumu just draws only a half of what she had.
“I guess your drawings are just as good as your cooking.” Ayumu meekly complimented her drawings in similar fashion to her cooking.
“I don’t know why Rina still didn’t like my cooking… Even after Valentine’s Day, cooking with Yu-san.” Setsuna says, her mind puzzled from how bad her mockups are. She could see that Yu and Ai would react.
“Rest your hands. We can try again later.” Ayumu says while she collects Setsuna's doodles, she starts talking about the future onward now that she heard the Third Years are packing bags “Few months down the line, we will become third year and we have to get new members to keep the club alive. I don't know how long we will keep the trend going.”
Hearing what Ayumu said, Setsuna felt that she kept the truth from her.
“Ayumu-san…” Setsuna asks “Do you think we can hold this secret to Yu-san for a long time?”
“Yu-chan understands what we do because you've been close to her for half the year.” Ayumu continues “If anything, we can share what we have before- the school knows that we were dating…”
“That's not what I meant, I want to know Yu-san more- Both of us do. I think the school knows we are dating.”
“Yes, that's what I said. Sei-chan told us that there may be a time where we may never get to see each other again. The river flows forwards, there is no way to rewind your mistakes. Sei-chan is your sister… right?”
Ayumu clarifies. As time nearly passed the sun as slow as a water dripping down a grass, Setsuna felt it was a good time to let Ayumu know her secret.
“Sei-chan is not my sister.” Setsuna confesses “She is like a sister figure, an imaginative figure that I made.”
“Eh? Sei-chan was my best friend from my perspective.” Ayumu says what she can recall about Sei “She had been getting along with us in various games. We sometimes play each other in a School Idol Festival game.”
“I am still playing the School Idol Festival game for a long time. The events after the fourth year of updates is where I slowly gave up on playing the game actively. Sei’s profile showed when was her last log in.”
“You still live with or know your sister, am I not wrong?”
“I don’t have a sister, I was lying.”
Setsuna firmly faces Ayumu with two hands on her shoulders. She does not have to avoid eye contact because my heart trembles to tell the truth. It is not as dramatic as expected to be, she wanted to make it subtle and not grasp her too much.
“Sei-chan is me.” Setsuna answers “I did not have long hair when we first met back in elementary. I kept this secret from you and Yu-san because… I’m not ready to let you realize the truth until we are done with the School Idol Festival.” Ayumu opens her eyes and realizes the resemblance of Setsuna and Sei. To no confusion, Sei grew long hair from her childhood flashback. She still remembers her eye color and how she spoke when she was a child.
“I figured.” Ayumu says with her eyebrows lowered “I somehow knew you were Sei-chan. Deep inside, I wanted to tell you things we did not get to share. I missed you. I am waiting to let you confess because- I want to protect your smile.”
Setsuna, hearing Ayumu’s desire to protect her smile, blushes a bit harder and acts weakened by the fact that there was someone else who tried to keep her happiness. Not just Yu, but also Ayumu.
“Ayumu-san… You're still a caring friend. Even as long as I can remember that you wore that bunny onesie at school.” Setsuna recalls to her when she was ‘Sei-chan’
“Ayu-pyon da pyon!”
On the day that Ayumu bought a bunny onesie, Yu and Sei were on their way to school, only to see the beautiful girl dance as a bunny.
“I am Bunny Ayumu.” Ayumu cheered along her onesie “I hop as high as I can to reach the sky-bun. All it takes is one step forward to your dreams-bun.”
“You’re so cute! Ayu-pyon!” Yu cheered “I can be your Yu-pyon!” Yu teased her as she made bunny ears out of her hands placed above her head. It amused Ayumu but a bit embarrassed,
“Come on, Yu-chan.” Ayumu said “Maybe I can wear this and our classmates will see me as a cute bunny. Right, Sei-chan?”
“I guess so.” Sei said with a small chuckle, looking at how cute Ayumu had been “Hold on- My princess.” Sei said with her hands on Ayumu’s shoulders. Yu watches the moment where Ayumu puts Setsuna’s arms down and holds her hands. “I mean, we have soft hands so take care of yourself.”
“Of course. And Sei-chan will be my working lady.” What words Ayumu said later resonated to the present. Ayumu saw this as a fairytale, Yu saw this as a romance-like scene, and Sei saw this as a scene straight from a Shounen anime.
Ayumu puts Setsuna's arms down and holds her hands. She can feel Setsuna's smooth and soft hands the moment she remembers Sei's. Ayumu then remembers that time she, Yu, and Sei were playing tag in their elementary school. They visited a garden where they walk back to school before class starts.
“You used to sometimes refer to us with -chan. You were so perfect, we were inspired by you. From childhood to when we started to be School Idols.”
“I inspired both of you.” Setsuna says while looking at Ayumu’s eyes “After all this time, I think I found where my heart belongs. I remembered the same moment we made a vow.”
“I see myself in a mysterious door and the door I opened has my friend inside.” Ayumu peacefully says, she is in the trance that Setsuna is on her lap “Do you think you'll keep our memories?”
“I cannot let go of you, Yu-san is also precious.”
Setting the mood, Setsuna and Ayumu synchronize their heartbeat without noticing. Alongside a cool breeze from the dying winter, it does not take long to feel that they are chilled in the club room. Ayumu moves her spine forward, closer to Setsuna so that her head is in close contact. Setsuna cannot make any advances.
“Are you going to tell your secret to Yu-chan?” Ayumu whispers.
“Later.” Setsuna whispers before Ayumu can think for a second. Originally, Setsuna wanted to kiss Ayumu but she does not want to keep her hanging. She just avoids contact and keeps her lips inches from Ayumu's.
“Are you not going to kiss?”
“No, I've shared so many secrets today.”
Setsuna pulls away from Ayumu. She decides to do this for another time. Their first kiss was made by her, the second one was also by her accidentally, and the Valentine's date was done by Ayumu. She may have dominated more than her.
Ayumu and Setsuna have so much mind to think over that they need to go into discussion on showing the mockup designs. Setsuna and Ayumu pick the draft that can best suit Yu and Ai. They filtered it down to around 5 designs that could work, three of the designs from Ayumu and two from Setsuna. The door in front of them opens with a slight creak. Ayumu and Setsuna took some time to organize the designs and the Second Year squad arrived before the other members did.
Sometime later, Yu, Ayumu, Setsuna, and Ai discuss the designs that could work to advertise the next School Idol Festival. Yu is the brains of the designs while Ai is the brawns of the designs. Setsuna and Ayumu are their contestants. The time the second years have to think over is fascinating. While they did not get a conclusion needed to start working on the School Idol Festival poster.
“Yuyu is going to take another hour to think over the designs.” Ai explains briefly to Ayumu and Setsuna, the girls are leaving the club room so that they can move on to their studies. “I like that your artistic creations are artfully great.”
“Yu-san is confident to have your back.” Setsuna notes “The whole hour of me and Ayumu had been about brainstorming ideas to give you guys a headstart on designing a poster.”
“The hour became a comedy bar.” Ai snickers “Yu is mostly smiling the moment she helps out anyone. ”
“She always has been, Ai-chan.” Ayumu adds.
“While you two are at the mall-”
As Ai is ahead of Ayumu and Setsuna, the two glance at each other and slowly hold their hands. If they can recall, this is not their first time they tried to hold hands, especially in school grounds. Ai continues talking about her time with Yu. The following hour, Ayumu, Ai, and Setsuna return to their classes and pass the time for the time being. Ayumu and Setsuna may have shared things that Yu cannot see. They can predict one day that one of them will be opening their heart to Yu. As usual, after their classes, they found Yu waiting for them and returned home.
In the Nakagawa residence, Setsuna is still up without her braids. Looking at the veranda, she wanted to breathe some cold air before sleeping. Looking at her own hand, she still feels Ayumu’s warmth enveloping what could have been a budding romance. At the same time, a development unbeknownst their future. Setsuna can sense a cycle looping from seeing a normal outcome. Setsuna is a bit restless so she calls Yu if she can be open with her. Yu is currently working on Setsuna’s song ‘Yada!’. Unlike other songs, she needs to find the contrast of what Setsuna usually does: Cute, Hot-and-Cold, Outgoing, and Spunky. She took some ideas from Ksaumi after the time Setsuna wanted to learn cute things with Kasumi where it did not go well until that day of misunderstanding. It went well for a moment as Yu is about to play a few notes, only to hear her phone ring from Setsuna. She picks up the phone.
“Yu-san, are you asleep?” Setsuna asks.
“No, just composing a new song for you.” Yu answers, her hands fidgeting did not help the fact that she is working by the hour, but it is her decision. If there is someone to tell her to rest, it would be from either Ayumu or Setsuna. “I've already made six songs out of ten. Mia-chan has two songs covered for herself and Lanzhu-chan.”
“I wanted to open up but I think it’s obvious that I wanted to talk.” Setsuna downplays her talk with Yu because they spend time talking about their hobbies, but this time it is about how their past will unfold. “Remember that we used to play a game: Protect the Princess?”
Upon hearing the game, Yu starts thinking that she might be talking to her childhood friend in the past. But then, her voice sounded familiar because she was talking to Setsuna and not Sei. Her mind is not playing that Setsuna is the one talking to her.
“Setsuna-chan?” Yu then recalls if she is talking to Sei or not as she asks if Setsuna knows the game “Isn’t this game Sei-chan used to play with us?”
“Yes, I was familiar with the game, Sei shared the rules of the game with me before she left.” Setsuna did not want to stir further into the rabbit hole so she tried to swap the subject. “Or so… I was thinking of it. What do you think the progress for the School Idol Festival has been?”
“Setsuna-chan, don’t change the subject.” Yu prevents her from escaping, using the knowledge that she got from the time Setsuna stormed away from her apartment “I think your mother hinted to me that you are Sei when we were young.”
“How did you know?” Setsuna says in a surprising manner. With a resounding yelp, Yu then reveals how she knows about Sei and Setsuna in one person.
“I looked into a cabinet of achievements and a few awards belong to Nana Nakagawa.”
“Stop teasing me, Yu-san.” Setsuna embarrassingly says “Of course I did not think it through when I initially shared my awards. You can’t fake your identity and get an award.”
“Is it time that we can be honest with Ayumu?” Yu asks “Ayumu needed me more than ever but she also needed you too.”
“Yes, I was with her the whole day.” Setsuna then starts the plan from Valentine’s Day “We should make another surprise for her, but this time, you go with her.”
“I don’t know if this plan will work.” Yu denies with a smile to make sure she does not let Setsuna down.
“It worked last time on Valentine’s Day. But we switched who will go out with her first.”
“Okay, this time… Do not deceive Ayumu.” Yu plays along with her demand.
“I will not, Yu-san.” Setsuna says confidently to her. In response, Yu laughs on the phone and she exchanges it back.
Yu and Setsuna share an undeniable bond after they resolved Setsuna’s conflict at the start of their school year. The moment they glance, their minds clash as if it can hold a new mindset. When Yu and Setsuna became close to the point of being girlfriends, they started their intimation. Their plan to surprise Ayumu again will develop in the coming days.
While White Day is near approaching, the School Idol Festival is scheduled near the end of the month. Yu and Setsuna will be planning a surprise White Day Gift for Ayumu. The Night ends well after their talk and Yu completes Setsuna’s song. It captures her image well and she is planning to start helping out the rest of the school idols for another time.
Earlier…
In the late afternoon, Kasumi, Rina, and Shizuku are heading home. They meet up at a bus terminal, far away from where most students at school would frequent. Rina and Kasumi are following Shizuku as she is trying to distance themselves from Minnie’s line of sight.
“There is a news article that a young girl fell into an accident.” Shizuku explained the incident from her side “They said rumors that a girl with bright salmon pink hair picked up an heirloom and led that girl, who is her best friend, to a vehicle accident and saved her life. She was traumatized that it happened and then a mother sued the elementary school for not safeguarding the safety of their students, instead of dealing this with legal action, the school director decided to expel the suspects behind it. Among the suspects is a girl with drill twintails, some say that she changes hairstyles to get away with the incident.”
In the street block before reaching the next Bus Terminal, the three proceed but Shizuku is about to finish her story by telling small details on Minnie.
“Minnie is known to make fake news about her students, some even successfully planned so that she gets the things done by her words or even letters.” Shizuku reveals who Minnie is on her side of the story “Minnie is a narrative manipulator. Kasumi-san, Rina-san, if you see anything bad from any of the students through negative words, shit happens when Minnie-san makes a foil out of us.”
“White Day is in a few weeks.” Kasumi, who was curious to hell, recalls the days to remind and then asks “School Idol Festival will follow up before April ends. How did Shizuko know the suspected people?”
“Sorry if I keep this to you, Kasumi-chan.” Rina then confesses that she was with Shizuku before the day it happened “We didn’t want to take away your smile when we told you the rumors. We want you to know her last because Minnie does not know that you were among the most loyal members towards Yu-san, Ayumu-san, or Setsuna-san.”
“Minnie’s parents were divorced once they knew their children got expelled.” Shizuku continues so that Kasumi can be far away from Minnie. Fortunately, they are away from other students. Only themselves. “Minnie is a runaway child, seeking to bully kids at school until she was chosen to study at Nijigasaki High. The reason I keep this a secret is because she could be here to spread rumors around the club.”
“So, if all else passes, she might go for either Ayumu-senpai, Yu-senpai, or Setsuna-senpai.” Kasumi
“Shizuku-chan, do you have knowledge on them in the past?” Rina asks with suspicion. Shizuku would not lie but she can tell a lie without a board on hand.
“No, I was in a different school when I heard the rumors but-” Shizuku answers as she browses an article she kept on her phone. When she sees her name, she shows it to Kasumi and Rina. “I was one of the witnesses of the incident that Setsuna went through. For the sake of our senpai, we need to stop Minnie from interfering with their lives.” Reading the news article further, they saw Ayumu Uehara and Yu Takasaki’s names. With the words they see leading to their traumatic past, Rina and Kasumi are now caught up with the events. Shizuku may be their underdog that Nijigasaki High School Idol Club may not expect. Kasumi’s fists clench as her insight on her senpai has been tainted by a rumored student in the shadows.
“Okay guys, we have another task in our hands.” Kasumi lends her hand to them “Let’s work together.” Rina and Shizuku lend theirs too and together they reach up to the sky and commence their secret mission: To watch over Yu, Ayumu, and Setsuna and slow down Minnie’s tracks.
Next Part will be a timeskip to Yu, Ai, Ayumu, Setsuna as Third Year. It will be a roadtrip to the countryside of Japan.