Chapter 3 - 3

I'd delivered countless addresses as Maki Amagi, and she had a wealth of statements and anecdotes I could draw on, but I was coming to realize that Makina Oda had none of her own. I had an almost shockingly small number of things I felt I could actually say. "And...as Yuna said a moment ago, I think I really might be a little nervous. I imagine that some of you have seen me perform under the name Maki Amagi as part of my work in the entertainment industry, but it's true that this is the first time I've openly performed under my real name since...elementary school, probably, when I went to audition at my agency. Frankly, I barely remember it at all." What had Yuna and Rinka talked about during their turns? I should have listened to them and followed their example. I hadn't, though, and when I forced myself to say whatever came to my mind on the spur of the moment, I ended up delivering a self-centered monologue that was totally devoid of substance. "I understand very clearly now just how much I owe to my agency and the other members of my group. I'm far less capable on my own than I ever realized...and while I thought that my experience would let me elevate the work of my classmates in this performance, the truth is that I found them helping me instead, time after time." What on earth am I even saying? Nothing that would ever come out of Maki Amagi's mouth, that's for sure. The me that the world wanted—that my coworkers wanted—never whined or complained. She stood at the front of the pack like it was the only place it made sense for her to be, pulling her teammates forward as their intrepid leader. But then, just when I thought I'd spouted enough platitudes to make it through my speech safely...my true feelings overflowed. "That's doubly true for my fellow performers, Yuna and Rinka. I've spent the past month and a half coaching them, yes...but in retrospect, I'm not sure they ever needed my help at all." "Oh, come on," said Yuna. "We wouldn't be up onstage right now if it weren't for you, Makina. I'm sure of it," Rinka added. The two of them had wasted no time in backing me up. It was a very light, low-impact exchange, and a few people in the audience laughed, maybe because that sort of humility was so unlike Maki Amagi. They might have thought it was a joke—but it wasn't. I was being entirely earnest. I said it because I was genuinely impressed by them...and because, deep down, a very small and cowardly part of me wished that I had slacked off on training them. "We only have one song left to share with you today, but I promise that I'll put everything I have into it. I'll rise to meet the expectations of everyone who helped make this possible," I said, bringing my speech to a close before I could let anything else slip out on accident. I turned my gaze downward...and was reassured by the sound of the audience applauding. I let out a sigh of relief, careful not to let anyone notice, but it wasn't over yet. There was still one song left. I'd never felt this sort of anxiety before. I'd never felt this sort of nervousness—this overwhelming urge to leap off the stage and run away. That was probably because those were my feelings, not Maki Amagi's. "Well, then, it feels like we only just started, but the next song will be our last," said Rinka, tagging in now that my speech was over. "That's right," said Yuna, "and we'll be finishing things off with an original song that everyone in our class helped us write!" "You might say it's the bonds of our class in the form of a song...which probably seems a little cheesy, I know, but nevertheless. It's a song that we hope will show all of you why class 2-A is the best!" "Don't look away—you won't want to miss a second of it! Right, Makina?" "Right..." I said. "Thank you for listening to our final song: 'After Adventure.'" Those words served as the band's signal. The drummer counted us in, and the song began. I still hadn't made sense of my feelings. I was as bewildered and anxious as ever, but I'd practiced for this moment more times than I could count. The choreography was deeply ingrained in my muscle memory. As the music played, the lyrics would spring to my lips with a will of their own. So it'll be fine. It'll be fine...! "After Adventure"—a name specifically written out using the English alphabet, to draw attention to the two capital A's. In other words, 2-A. The instrumentals were an arrangement of a song that I'd written previously, while the lyrics were brand-new. The song's most impactful moment came right after the second chorus, going into the third verse. There would be instrumental solos courtesy of the band, after which Yuna, Rinka, and I would each sing a solo of our own before coming together for the final chorus. It felt a little too jampacked, if anything, but I preferred to think of it as aggressive—or rather, adventurous. My solo... I thought as I sang. Would I be able to pull it off, in my current state? Yuna and Rinka had both improved so much. They were good, genuinely, and they were enjoying the performance from the bottoms of their hearts. It was a solo that would have to beat them. A solo that could win me Yotsy. A solo...that could cause me to lose her forever. And then, before I knew it, the moment had almost arrived. The second chorus was over. The band members took their turns in the spotlight. I'm scared. I hate this... I keep imagining the worst possible outcomes...and at this rate, they'll really happen! "It's all right." I felt a warmth on my shoulder...where it turned out Rinka had laid her hand. "It's all right," Rinka repeated. They were the same words she'd said to me just moments before, but this time, I noticed that her hand was very slightly trembling. Her gaze was fixed straight forward, but there was a stiffness to her expression now. "Yeah. Let's just do our best. No regrets, right?" said Yuna, who patted me on the back next. She was trying to help me be a little less tense...or maybe she was trying to distract herself from her own nervousness? That's right. The two of them are amateurs. They normally wouldn't be up onstage at all. Plus, they have something precious to them riding on the outcome of this performance as well. And I was the one who'd put them in that position. If I'd never transferred into their school, they would still be wrapped up in the same placid routine as ever. The cultural festival would have come and gone without incident. I knew that the two of them felt all the emotions you'd expect from a normal, well-adjusted person. They felt fear, and nervousness, and agitation...not to mention anger and resentment toward me, surely. They must have been even more distressed by what was happening than I was—so how could they stay so true to themselves in spite of it? I could understand them trying to distract themselves from their own anxiety, but why would they go out of their way to dispel mine as well? Why would they lend their enemy a helping hand? "Oh, and then there's the obvious. Right, Rinka?" said Yuna. "Right," Rinka agreed. "We have the world's greatest goddess watching over us." "A...goddess?" I muttered in bewilderment. Their eyes were shining with joy as they looked out into the audience— no, up. I followed their gaze, and at that exact moment, as the band's solos came to an end, I heard her. "Makinaaa!!!" "Ah..." There it was. The voice of my goddess. Her shout of encouragement pierced through the din of the crowd, clear as could be. Yotsy. Yotsy...! Yotsy!!! I really was incredibly simple. I'd changed far, far less since I was a child than I let myself believe. All the anxiety, fear, and confusion I felt were because of Yotsy...and that was why, from the moment I'd set foot on the stage, I hadn't been able to bring myself to look at her. What sort of face would she be making? Was she disappointed with me? Would she stop liking me after this? I was so worried, so scared, that I just couldn't look up at her. But then I heard her. She cheered for me, and I knew in an instant exactly how she felt. That was all it took to sweep away the churning darkness within me, revealing the world in all its colorful glory. Yotsy, the girl I loved...was watching me! It was ridiculous. How simpleminded could I be? I always worried that Yotsy was so blindly trusting that she could easily be taken in by someone with a silver tongue and bad intentions, but considering how easy it was to play me like a fiddle, I was in no position to worry about her. All it took was hearing her voice—realizing how she felt—to lift the weight that had seemed like it would crush me off my back. I'd never realized how easy to manipulate I was until that very moment. Listen to me, Yotsy! I want you to hear my songs...and to understand my feelings for you! I felt so light, it was like gravity had lost its grip on me. My heart was beating with such a heated fervor, it felt like it might explode. She'd only said one word—just my name— but that was all I'd wanted from her. My fears, apprehensions, and even all thoughts of the contest that had given rise to them were blown clean out of my mind. It was like I'd gone through my own personal big bang, rewriting the world and everything I'd thought I knew about it. Yotsy!!! Moments before, the thought of my solo had terrified me, but now I leaped straight into it. I sang and danced with everything I had...and in that moment, I was happier to be standing onstage than I'd ever been before. ◇◇◇ The concert ended in a roaring success. We stood there, bowing to the audience as they applauded and shouted for an encore, until the moment the curtain fell. An encore wasn't in the cards, unfortunately—there wasn't time for one in the schedule. We'd known that from the start, and had more or less anticipated that this would happen...but my feelings about that restriction had changed dramatically since the moments leading up to the performance. Now, I felt a little regretful that we couldn't give the audience what they wanted. I wished that I could stay on that stage for just a little longer. It was incredibly unlike me. "Nice work, Makina," said Rinka. "You as well," I replied after a moment of hesitation. "And you, Yuna." "Thanks, you too! Ahh, man, I'm wiped out... Nice work to all of you in the band too!" Yuna called out. "Great job, you three!" one of the band's members replied. "It was seriously incredible! I'm so glad I took up playing the guitar as a hobby... I'll never forget this as long as I live!" "Dude, are you crying?! Come on, cut it out! We still have to break down all our gear!" Now that the curtains had sealed the stage away again, we all chatted as we packed up and prepared to leave. Of course, unlike the band's members, the three of us didn't have anything in particular to carry off the stage other than ourselves. Throwing on an oversized coat that would mostly cover up my costume was all I had to do. "Gotta say, I really went all out at the end," Yuna suddenly muttered as we left the gymnasium. "I know what you mean," Rinka agreed. We'd made our exit through a back entrance to the building, before most of the audience could leave, and were on our way to our classroom, which had been designated as our waiting area. I had to admit that the two of them were right—their solos had both been fantastic. So fantastic that it was hard to believe they'd been nervous just moments before. They'd blown even their best practice sessions out of the water. There was just something about how they'd sung in the moment—a passion that I couldn't quite put into words. "But, I mean, how could I not, after Yotsuba shouted my name like that? I was seriously so surprised! It made me so happy too, though, and gave me a crazy boost of motivation...and I just went for it, I guess!" "Huh?" Rinka and I grunted in unison. "Hold on. I thought Yotsuba shouted my name?" said Rinka. "Huh? What're you talking about?" Yuna countered. "I know what I heard! She said 'Yuna,' plain as day!" What on earth are those two talking about? "Actually...she said my name," I insisted. She did! She shouted it out! I'm absolutely positive of it! Nothing in the world could ever convince me otherwise! "You too, Makina?!" Yuna yelped before pausing to think. "Wait... Oh. I see now..." she said with a slight snicker. "I think I understand what happened too," Rinka agreed, bashfully scratching her cheek. "Oh," I said. I'd finally caught on. In retrospect, there was only one possible explanation for the passion that I'd felt from them during each of their solos. I could feel my face flush in an instant. "Did she shout all of our names, but we only heard it when she said our own?" It certainly seemed that way. We'd all been caught up in the intensity of our performance. Being up onstage in the middle of a song puts you in a very unusual state of mind— a state of mind that, for instance, could have easily blocked out Yotsy's voice right up until the moment she said my name specifically. "Heh..." I chuckled. It was so purely ridiculous, of all of us, that all I could do was laugh. And before I knew it, Yuna and Rinka were laughing along with me. "Ha ha ha! You know, I'm starting to realize something about us," said Yuna. "Same," Rinka agreed. "We really might be birds of a feather." I had to admit, they had a point. All three of us, after all, were hopelessly head over heels for the same girl. "Oh, and by the way, Makina—I had no idea you could even make a face like that," Yuna added. "Huh?" I grunted. That was the moment I finally realized I was smiling just as broadly as the two of them. "You have always looked a little conflicted when you're around us," said Rinka. "I...have? Really?" "Yup. When you didn't have one of those suuuper fake smiles on, anyway," added Yuna. "I wouldn't quite put it like that...but I will say that the way you're smiling right now is downright lovely in comparison." "Oh, come on, Rinka! Playing the prince now?" Yuna jabbed. "Not intentionally, anyway. I really meant it," Rinka replied with a smile so dashing, there was no way she could brush it off as easily as she'd dismissed her flirtatious word choice. As I walked along with the two of them...I realized that I couldn't feel so much as a trace of the simmering discontent that had been building up in me before the performance began. Instead, I felt the refreshing sense of accomplishment that came with a successful show, the strangest sense of belonging...and the irrepressible love for Yotsy that burned within my heart. Chapter 5: Apologies, Conflict, and a Total Freak-Out "That was amazing, huh...?" "It sure was..." "And now it's over..." "It sure is..." Class 2-A's idol show was a wrap. The curtain fell, our class rep announced that it was all over, and the audience began gradually filtering out and dispersing across the rest of the festival. Mukai and I, however, remained in place. We were still too caught up in the heat of the moment to move just yet. The performance had been amazing. So amazing that "amazing" was the only word that could do it justice! Using popular, mainstream songs for the first two numbers had gotten the audience hooked, and then right when everyone was perfectly warmed up, the third song had swept in to knock our socks clean off! It was the best! Especially everyone's solos! Yuna was crazy adorable, and Rinka was just ridiculously cool in every possible way. And Makina was just...I don't even know what to say other than "overwhelming." Overpoweringly cute, cool, and beautiful, all at the same time. It was like some sort of divine entity had inhabited her, instilling her with its presence from top to bottom... Anyway, the point is that I was super, super, suuuper moved! Mio's nitpicking partway through the performance had made me a little worried for just a moment, I'll admit, but once it was over, I knew for a fact that it had been as super ultra satisfying as a show could be. The audience wouldn't have gone that crazy if it hadn't been! It was just...just perfect! I spent a little while basking in the moment, and by the time I thought to take a look around, Mio, Koganezaki, and Emma had all vanished. They sure were in a hurry, huh...? I thought before turning to Mukai, who was still nearby, and giving her an appreciative nod. "Thank you so much, Mukai!" I said. "What?" "You're the whole reason we were able to make this show into such a big deal and get the audience so excited for it! So, thanks." "D-Do you think so?" Mukai bashfully stammered. "I don't think I did anything particularly important at all, though..." "Are you kidding?! You so did! Super important!" I shouted. Not only did we have the illustrations she drew to thank for gathering up such a big crowd, it was also thanks to them that the class came together to work as such an effective team. Her art was where everything had started, more or less. "Okay, but in that case, you deserve just as much credit, Hazama! If it weren't for you, everyone would've just kept doing their own thing. I don't think it would've turned out nearly as well if you hadn't pulled us all together," said Mukai. There she goes, being humble again. She should be proud of how she managed to turn the event into this much of a smash hit! I really couldn't exaggerate just how well the advertisement Mukai drew had turned out. It was pretty, and adorable, and I felt like I could stare at it for hours on end if I let myself. Not to mention how high-level it was as a piece of art! It had a refined sort of elegance, and even knowing it was an advertisement, it felt like it had value in a way that a photo never could have accomplished...or, well, that was how Koganezaki had explained it to me. Plus, all that stuff about me having contributed? Like...come on, right? "Honestly, looking back? I think it would've turned out this way even if I hadn't said anything," I replied. "Huh?" "I mean, everyone wanted to make the most of the festival from the start, right? They wouldn't have been able to work together so well if they didn't. All I did was say what everyone was thinking in a kind of stuck-up sort of way, that's all. I guess I made it sound all pretty and stuff, but at the end of the day—" "That is not true!" Mukai shouted, cutting me off midsentence. It was loud enough that a few of the people who were still making their way out of the gym looked up reflexively, and I was so startled I completely forgot what I'd even been trying to say. "Maybe I have no right to say this... Actually, no—I do have a right to say it, more so than most people: You need to stop doing this, Hazama." "I... What?" "You were the one who told me you liked my art, remember? You gave me the push I needed. Your encouragement was the whole reason I could work up the nerve to put myself out there...and if it weren't for you, I don't think I'd have ever managed it." Mukai was mad. I'd been under the impression that she was the sort of person who didn't get angry at all...but somehow, I'd managed to upset her anyway. My deepseated negativity had set her off. "U-Umm, Mukai—" I began. "There's something I need to apologize to you about, Hazama," Mukai said, cutting me off again. "Huh...?" "Do you remember how back when we'd only just started preparing for the festival...I told you that I liked drawing as a hobby?" "Y-Yeah. Of course I do." "Well, the truth is...I only said that because I wanted to show off." "You...what? But it was true, wasn't it? How would telling me about a real hobby of yours be showing off?" "Because I only said it to prove that I was better than you. I...didn't want you to think I was the same as you," Mukai choked out as she looked away from me. Her fists were clenched so tightly they were trembling. I could easily tell just how much effort it was taking her to admit all of this. "You're always failing tests, and you never do well in gym either. I thought you, well...I thought you came across as a total screwup, so..." "Makes sense." Mukai paused. "You're...not mad?" "Well, it's all true, so..." Admitting that Mukai was pretty much spot-on with all that didn't quite feel the same as my usual pessimism. Everything she'd said was just the simple truth, and getting all indignant about her saying it to my face wouldn't un-fail any of those tests or make me into a capable athlete. I was doing my best to improve myself, for what it's worth...but that was still a work in progress. "I...looked down on you, Hazama. I'm gloomy, and don't have any friends. I wasn't excited about the cultural festival at all. Why would I be? I couldn't even participate in any of the preparations, really, and I wouldn't have anyone to walk around the festival with when it happened. I didn't fit in...and it hurt to think that everyone knew it." Tears had begun to dribble down Mukai's cheeks. They started out slowly enough, but then the dam burst and they really started to pour. Mukai wiped away at them with both her hands, still talking all the while. "That's why I thought I'd just go off into a corner somewhere and do random chores, even if it was all just for show...and that's where I found you. I was always lagging behind everyone else and could barely make any friends, but I thought that at the very least, I couldn't let myself be on your level...so I decided to tell you about my drawings. It was a way of showing that I wasn't like you—of bragging that at least there was something I was good at. I was trying to make myself look superior to you." "Mukai, did...did you...hate me?" I asked. "N-No, not at all!" Mukai frantically replied. "The only person I hated...was myself. How could I lack self-confidence that badly and be that stuck-up at the same time? The second I found someone who seemed worse off than I was, I used the drawings I love to reassure myself that I wasn't as bad as her. Isn't that awful...?" I nearly denied it reflexively, but I forced myself to swallow the words back instead. I didn't think that Mukai was awful...but I also barely knew anything about her at all. We'd only started talking when the cultural festival preparations began, and I had no clue what she'd been like or what sort of life she'd lived before that point. Even if I said she was wrong, my words wouldn't carry any weight at all. "But then you smiled at me. You told me I was amazing, right to my face, and you said you thought my drawings were pretty. It made me so happy to hear that, but it hurt just as much...and I ended up deciding that I wanted to be like you." "Whaaat?! Like me?!" "Yeah. You always think so hard about absolutely everyone except for yourself, right? You're a genuinely kind person, and that kindness gave me the courage I needed. I don't know if anyone else could have made me take a step forward like you did. And so..." Mukai said, taking hold of my hand with both of hers, "I'm sorry. It's taken me way too long to apologize to you. You were always just so nice, and I let myself keep kicking it down the road..." "No, no, you don't have to apologize at all!" I yelped. "I mean, I'm not even upset! I'm actually happy to hear all this, if anything!" "What?" "I mean, it sounds to me like you only decided to tell me about your drawings because I'm always such a hot mess, right? I know how hard it can be to open up about the things you like. There's always a chance that people will be nasty about it, after all...so no matter what your reasons were, I'm still glad they ended up convincing you to share your art with me." If I were the sort of person who seemed like she could do anything and everything, like Koganezaki, then Mukai never would have talked to me to begin with. I wouldn't either, if I ended up in that sort of position myself! And so...in a certain way, I actually agreed with her. Maybe me being the way I was actually had helped, just this one time. "Thank you, Mukai," I said. "Hee hee... And hey, feel free to open up to me about anything else from now on, if you ever feel like it! I really like the idea that I'm someone who's easy for you to talk to about these things, so go ahead and make yourself look as superior as you want! I'm always up for it!" "Heh heh... What's that supposed to mean?" Mukai chuckled. She was finally smiling again, and I was relieved to see it, even if she was still crying a little. I don't mean it in a self-deprecating way at all when I say that for once, I was actually glad that I was such a weak person. Even if I was weak, after all, I'd managed to be worth something in my own sort of way. Not that I was about to start declaring my weakness to be my greatest strength and get all stuck-up about it, or anything like that! "But...sorry," Mukai added. "For what?" "I can't open up to you about everything anymore. There's absolutely no way!" "Whaaat?! Why not?!" She spent that long talking me up, and now she's dragging me back down to reality?! I was so sure she'd be all for it, after everything she just said! While I was reeling with shock, Mukai sort of bashfully glanced away from me. She still had my hand clasped in hers, and was actually squeezing it pretty tightly. "I mean...I love you way too much to do that now," Mukai said. "I want you to think that I'm a cool, incredible person— more than I do with anyone else! I want you to be glad that we ended up being friends!" "Wait, but I already am! I'm super glad already, actually?!" I protested. "That's not enough! I want you to be even gladder!" Mukai pulled my hand toward her chest. Despite the tears that still lingered in her eyes, the smile on her face was both brilliant and remarkably bold. GUCHI GAWA тоJIN WAUDAL re "I'm going to do everything I possibly can to make you like me more than ever, Hazama—so let's stick together, okay?" said Mukai. "S-Sure... Let's, Mukai!" I replied as I squeezed her hand back. We'd met under the pettiest of circumstances, but now, looking back, I was thankful that the wild twists and turns of fate had ended up leading me to befriend such a wonderful girl. I wanted nothing more than for the two of us to stay friends for the rest of our lives. A moment later, Mukai let out a slight, sharp gasp. "I, umm... O-Okay, I'd better get going!" she said. It looked like everything she'd just said to me was finally sinking in, and judging by the blush on her face, her own speech had her pretty embarrassed. I watched as Mukai ran off on her way. I would've liked to take a little longer to let the concert and the exchange I'd just had with her sink in...but I barely had the chance to start before I got a text that made me realize this was absolutely not the time. Mio Kuruma is making her way toward Oda. I'm doing what I can to delay her, but you should hurry here as quickly as possible. "Wait, what?!" There's basically no way that Mio tracking Makina down right now could be good! Actually, it'd be bad in all sorts of ways! Makina will end up questioning why Mio's here in the first place, and then there's how Mio's trying to get Makina to go back to the idol industry, and...so...umm...! "Anyway, I've gotta run!" Thinking the situation through would have to come later. For the time being, I set off at a sprint! If I remembered the schedule correctly, Yuna, Rinka, and Makina would have gone back to class 2-A's room to take a break and get changed. Mio shouldn't have known about any of that...but it also wouldn't have been strange for her to check our classroom first if she was searching for them. "Oh! Another text... Gah, I knew it!" Koganezaki's follow-up text confirmed my worst fears: Mio really was heading straight for our classroom. Oh, jeez! Gotta hurry! ◇◇◇ "Makina!" I shouted as I burst through the classroom doors! "Yotsy...?" Makina said, her eyes wide with shock. And, standing across from her... Oh nooo, Mio's here already! And she took her wig off too! Yuna and Rinka were also in the classroom, looking completely bewildered. They definitely had no idea what on earth was going on. Koganezaki, meanwhile, was standing right beside the door, doing her absolute best to fade into the background. Those three aside, nobody else was around at the moment. "You're late," Koganezaki whispered in a sort of accusatory tone. "Umm... What's going on, exactly...?" I asked. "Kuruma barged into the classroom, and as you might expect, her sudden appearance threw the whole room into a state of pandemonium. Oda managed to calm things down, more or less, and had just coaxed all uninvolved parties to leave shortly before you arrived. As for me and those two...well, frankly, we missed our chance to leave at a natural moment." "O-Oh. Got it," I replied. That settles it. Mio's busted for sure! And wait—since I'm the one who snuck her in here, doesn't that mean I'm busted too?! Everyone's gonna know I broke the school rules! A-Am I gonna get expelled?! Wh- What should I do?! "Sorry, Yotsuba," said Mio. "There was just no way I could pack up and go home without saying something after that." "'Yotsuba'...?" Makina repeated, glancing in my direction. She must have been wondering why Mio was on a firstname basis with me, and judging by the looks they were giving me, Yuna and Rinka were as well. "Oh... I see. I was wondering why on earth you would be here, Mio...but whatever it is you're after, I see you've gotten Yotsy wrapped up in it." Makina shot Mio a frigid glare. The look in her eyes was so openly hostile, it actually made Mio's shoulders quiver. "I'd prefer not to consider it, but did you come here because you still haven't given up on convincing me to return from my hiatus?" asked Makina. "That's exactly right," Mio replied. "Of course. You're still not ready to accept it, then." "How the hell could I accept it?!" Mio bellowed. I reeled back with shock, of course, and even Yuna and Rinka looked caught off guard...but Makina's expression didn't budge in the slightest. "How... How could I ever accept you just up and leaving without even bothering to ask how we felt about it?! Our lives are riding on this! Don't you get that?!" Makina didn't say a word. She looked Mio squarely in the eye, never so much as flinching throughout the whole tirade. The air in the classroom was excruciatingly tense...and while part of me thought I had to do something to stop Mio, I knew that I was an outsider here. This was their problem, and none of the rest of us had any right to involve ourselves. "That's why...I went to Yotsuba," Mio continued. "I asked her to help me convince you to come back to us and work as an idol again." "You...what? Why would you go out of your way to pick Yotsy, of all people?" Makina asked. "Because you looked like you were friends. Pretty close too. I've never seen you call anyone by a nickname before." Makina paused. "Stage names are more or less nicknames." "Oh, don't even start. If you're that desperate to change the subject, it's pretty obvious I hit the nail on the head," Mio countered. This time, the look on Makina's face shifted ever so slightly. Mio seemed to catch it too, and probably took it as further proof of the influence that I held over Makina. "Don't blame her, though. She said no at first. Then she spilled the beans about you performing at the festival and I strongarmed her into playing along, but, well, she tried, anyway." "S-Sorry..." I muttered. "Don't apologize, Yotsy," said Makina. "Mio's always been like this. She just has to have her way, or she won't be satisfied." "Pot, meet kettle!" Eeek! The tension was unrelenting as the two of them traded verbal bullets. What should I do... What even can I do?! "Okay, everyone—let's calm down for a moment, shall we?" "Mio...Kuruma, right? Did you seriously come all the way here just to pick a fight with Makina?" Rinka! Yuna! The two of them dove straight in, not faltering in the slightest in the face of the oppressive atmosphere! "Oh... You two were the ones from the performance, weren't you?" asked Mio. "Yeah. What about it?" said Yuna. "Okay," said Mio. She finally turned away from Makina and walked over toward Yuna and Rinka. O-Oh jeez, oh jeez! Don't tell me she's targeting them next...?! Now I really, really have to stop her! "Wh-What?" Yuna stammered. She took a step back, intimidated by Mio's approach, while Rinka sucked in a sharp breath and stepped forward to stand in front of her. Mio, however, didn't even seem to register either of their reactions. She closed in briskly, step by step, until finally... "You two were sooooooooo good!!!" ...she raised her voice in such an elated, excited tone, it was almost hard to believe that she'd seemed about to come to blows with Makina just seconds before! "Huh?" grunted Yuna. "What...?" Rinka muttered. The two of them were completely bewildered. And, I mean, I was too! In fact, I think everyone was shocked...except Makina, apparently? "Was this really your first time onstage? Because you both looked like you belong up there! And wow, the way your voices projected! Oh, and even more than that, the way you were, like, totally in sync with each other! You can't make that sort of coordination happen without crazy amounts of practice! And it's even better because you're such totally different types, and you present yourselves in such wildly different ways, but then when you look at the two of you together you end up thinking, 'You know, those two just mesh' anyway! I wanna see you put on a whole show by yourselves now! If you ever do one, you've gotta tell me, okay?!" "U-Umm," grunted Yuna. "Th-Thank you...?" said Rinka. "Mio," Makina sighed. Yuna and Rinka had been totally befuddled by Mio's rapid-fire, impassioned impressions of their show, leaving it to Makina—the only person present who was still keeping her cool—to intervene. "What, Maki?" Mio snapped. "You know what. We were having a conversation?" "Sure, but you have to share thoughts like these as soon as you have them! It's not the same otherwise. Hey," Mio continued, looking back to Yuna and Rinka, "do you two want me to put in a word with our agency for you? I know for a fact you'll have a ton of fans in no time if you give it a try! You think so too, right, Maki?!" "You know what...? Fine," Makina sighed. "You really never change, do you, Mio?" Ah! She gave up! Apparently, Makina had been in the same group with Mio for long enough to have a pretty solid grasp of her personality. No wonder Makina hadn't been surprised by her outburst. "Oh, but you totally sucked, Maki. It was super obvious you weren't even paying attention, and you dropped out of sync a few times too. Your timing was so bad, it was like you were trying to get in their way! And when you weren't the one in front, you looked so stiff, I could barely even believe it was you." "Ugggh," Makina groaned. I'd thought that things had gotten a little less intense for a moment, but then Mio pivoted on a dime to go back on the offensive. Suddenly, the atmosphere went right back to excruciatingly uncomfortable. You know...I never would've guessed it at first, but I'm starting to think that Mio might be the sort of person who says whatever she's thinking without considering the consequences at all? It's like she's barging through this encounter with all the conversational skills of a charging wild boar! And looking back, it kind of feels like most of the things she's done so far have been off the cuff and impulsedriven...? "It was weird, though. The way you were acting today, you seemed so...so...different. Like you weren't the Maki that I—that we—know at all," Mio continued. Makina was silent. "The Maki I know is a perfect super-idol who does everything flawlessly without batting an eyelash. You keep it up backstage too, and take practice more seriously than any of the rest of us. You never screw up, and you never let your nerves get the better of you. You're basically invincible...but at the same time, you still have that certain something that makes idols endearing. I always knew that you were the sort of person who deserved to be a top idol, and I was happy to get to support you as your second-in-command." It was instantly clear to me just how much faith Mio had in Makina—and now that I thought about it, that was one thing that Mio had been completely consistent about from the start. She'd made it very clear that she and her fellow idols needed Makina. Of course that meant she held Makina in incredibly high esteem. That was also, however, why she had no reservations about saying that Makina had done terribly when she saw it that way. The higher the expectations you had for someone, the easier it was for them to disappoint you. Mio had been watching her more intently than anyone—and by "her," I mean the idol Maki Amagi. Makina was still silent. She hadn't said a word. Makina... She'd barely reacted at all ever since Mio had turned the conversation around on her. I quickly realized, however, that it wasn't that Makina didn't care. She was just keeping her emotions on a tight leash—hiding them away. She looked unmoved and expressionless at a glance...but there was something bitter in her eyes that made me suspect she was enduring a painful surge of emotion. On the one hand, it seemed like Makina was rejecting Mio with every fiber of her being, but on the other hand, that very fact just went to show how significant Mio's presence was in her mind. Mio had kicked things off on a really harsh note. She'd softened up her delivery quite a bit by now, but it still felt like she wasn't getting through to Makina in the way she wanted to, and I knew it was only a matter of time before Makina's stonewalling set Mio off again. We'd end up going through the exact same process, from the top. And in that case...there's only one choice! "Hey, umm, Mio?!" I exclaimed. "Yeah...? What, Yotsuba?" "What did you think of the performance?!" "Huh?" Mio grunted, turning to face me with a look of indignant incomprehension. Makina looked over at me as well, apparently just as confused. Yuna and Rinka blinked with astonishment, and I assumed that if I'd taken the time to glance at Koganezaki, she'd be in the same boat. They weren't wrong to react that way, of course. My question had been so sudden and so seemingly clueless that anyone would. "Uh," said Mio. "Yotsuba? We're kind of in the middle of —" "I risked getting expelled to sneak you into this school, didn't I?!" I exploded! "And I told you that, right?! I told you how dangerous this was! And what did you do? You strolled on out of the gym the second the concert was over without saying a word to me! And then just when I realize you've disappeared, I learn that you decided to barge in here and ambush Makina! Do you have any idea how risky that was?! Did you have a plan for how you'd make it up to me if you ruined my life with this stunt, or were you just gonna wing that too?!" "Y-Yotsuba?" gasped Yuna. "L-Let's calm down, okay?" said Rinka. "Shut up for a minute, you two! I'm really, really mad right now!!!" That's right. I'd thought as hard as I could about how I could shift the prevailing mood in the room...and the solution I landed on was to flip the heck out. It was the only solution, in fact! Flipping the heck out would solve everything!!! After all, the natural response when you encounter someone who's acting out in an even louder and more intense way than you are is to lower your own intensity level...or so I read somewhere, at some point, I think. Makina and Mio were unmistakably the stars of this particular show. This was their conflict—their stage. If we let them continue along the path they'd been traveling so far, though, they'd keep talking past each other forever. The only way to break the stalemate would be for some unexpected outside factor to throw things for a loop. And that factor...was me! If someone who had nothing to do with the dispute shoved her way into the middle of it and started flipping her lid, then of course they'd be too flustered to carry on with their endless argument! "And while I'm at it," I continued, "what was up with you storming into this classroom like that?! Right, Koganezaki?" A pause ensued. "What?" Koganezaki finally said. "You told me that you had to drive everyone out of the room to get some privacy a minute ago...meaning that there were plenty of people here beforehand, right? Meaning that my whole class saw Mio, right?" "It stands to reason." "See?! See?! Everyone knows you're here now! What were you thinking?! If any of my classmates decide to spill the beans, even once, the whole school will know the news in minutes!" "Umm," said Mio. "What do you mean, umm?!" "I, err... Sorry." I'd succeeded in strong-arming Mio into apologizing, and I was confident that she wouldn't be charging through the conversation like a wild boar anymore...but I couldn't relax just yet! I had a whole new, extremely important priority to keep in mind now: making sure I didn't accidentally turn around and look at Koganezaki! If I slipped up, took a peek, and realized that she was glaring daggers at me, there was a very real danger that I'd lose all momentum and wither up into a husk on the spot! Also, and equally importantly: I had to not look at Yuna and Rinka either. I'd been pretty darn harsh with my response to them a moment ago, and even if it was in the heat of the moment, I knew that one glance would be all it'd take to make me feel really, really bad about it. I'll apologize as many times as it takes later on, so...for now, sorry! "Apologies can come later," I said. "You have something more important to do first, right? And that's telling me exactly what you thought of everything you saw today, in detail!" I said. I might've heard someone whisper, "So pointlessly obstinate" from behind me, but I firmly ignored it! "Okay, but I did, didn't I?" said Mio. "I literally just said what I thought of the show a moment ago..." "Oh, really? Remind me what exactly you said?" "That...those two over there did really well." "Yeah, that's right. You did say that, didn't you?" I admitted. Hearing her praise Yuna and Rinka had made me feel awfully proud, but that wasn't what I was talking about right now! "And? What else?" "That Maki was awful...?" "Yup, I heard that too!" "Well, then...I did give you my impressions after all, didn't I?" "You're missing the point on purpose, aren't you?" I asked. I also leaned forward, glaring at her with all my might, and pinched her side while I was at it! And since I wasn't an idol, I had no idea how to not make it hurt! There'd be no holding back on that pinch... Wait, what?! Why does she feel so hard?! Are those her abs?! W-Wow... I guess that's an idol for you. Did every idol you saw singing, dancing, and jumping around onstage in a cute, frilly little outfit have the toned abs of a trained athlete hiding beneath it? One way or another, it was pretty clear that my unexceptional pinch- strength wasn't going to deal any damage to her at all! No...you can't let her intimidate you now! Stand strong, Yotsuba Hazama! Getting mad was scary. I hated criticizing people. I'd scold my little sisters from time to time when they did something that they absolutely shouldn't, sure, but that was just because we were family. It was a big sister's job to tell her siblings when they'd done something wrong. Whenever I did, though, one look at their expressions as I scolded them would be all it took to tear my heart in half. Knowing that I was the one who'd put those looks on their faces made me so guilty, I felt like I might throw up. I knew I wasn't scolding them because I wanted to make them feel bad, though. I did it because I thought it was what was best for them. Because I wanted them to be happy in the long run, even if it made them unhappy with me in the short term. And so... You can do it, Yotsuba Hazama! I psyched myself up as well as I could, telling myself that I could—no, would—pull through, and focused all my strength on keeping my knees from buckling on the spot. I didn't like getting mad, and I certainly wasn't good at it, but now that I'd started, I had to see it through to the end! It'd be really rude to the others if I backed out now! "You said that Makina sucked—but did you think that the whole way through the show?" I asked. Mio took in a sharp breath. "I didn't see whatever made you think she was doing badly from the start. I thought she was super graceful, and awesome, and so amazing I almost couldn't believe that we're the same age. But then, in the last song...she was even better!" All I could say about the final song of the set, "After Adventure," was that it was good. I was a total amateur when it came to music, and I wasn't at all prepared to judge the objective value of its composition or lyrics, or its potential as a song on the whole. What I could judge, though, were Yuna's, Rinka's, and Makina's solo parts that came after the band's big moment. I wouldn't forget those for as long as I lived. Words couldn't do them justice. It was like all three of them had let their emotions burst out in an explosion of song, racing together toward the ultimate finale that was the last chorus. I—and, I'm sure, everyone else in the gym— had been spellbound. I was convinced that everyone there had felt grateful that they'd gotten to see it, and I had a feeling that Mio was no exception. She'd seen the same show that I had, so how could she be?! "Did you really have the exact same opinion at the end that you did halfway through? Did you really still think that the time Makina spent here—the time she spent with us— was all worthless once it was over?!" For a moment, Mio didn't respond. She closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths...and then smiled. A weak, listless smile, so feeble it almost seemed like she might burst into tears. "Yeah, okay. You got me, Yotsuba," said Mio. She rifled through the pockets of her uniform for a moment, then pulled out a handkerchief and blotted my cheeks with it. "Huh...?" I glanced down. The handkerchief was stained with tears. "Am I crying?!" "Yeah, you are. Bawling, really." "No way?!" I thought I was holding back so well! That means I totally ruined my own freak-out, doesn't it?! "Hey, Yotsuba?" Mio said. She paused, pulling the handkerchief away again. "Wha— Waugh?!" I yelped as she...threw her arms around me?! "Sorry. I think I got a little too worked up," said Mio. She squeezed me tightly, her arms trembling. I could smell my own lingering scent on the uniform she was wearing, but also her distinctive scent beneath it. Her hug was so warm, and the aroma so calming... Wait, no! This isn't the right time to be calm at all! "HHey! You know I'm angry, right?!" I yelped. "Right, right. Sure you are," said Mio. As if the repetition wasn't bad enough already, she also patted me on the head in the same sort of way you'd comfort a child throwing a tantrum. Oh, come on! What's the big idea?! I'm mad at you right now, really! And we're the same age! I did try to struggle as best as I could, but Mio was hugging me pretty darn tightly, and I just couldn't seem to shake her off... Ah?! It feels like someone's staring at me from behind, and not in a good way...?! O-Oh, jeez, I feel it for sure! And not just one person! There's one, two, three...a-anyway, a lot of them! "You were right, and I'll admit it. I really was trying not to say everything that I thought about the show," Mio said without letting me go. Huh? Wait, we're just gonna keep talking like this? "Maki?" said Mio. Makina hesitated for just a moment. "What is it?" "Your last solo was really good." "It...what?" Makina said, gaping at Mio in shock. "What're you making that face for? It's not like I never compliment people," Mio awkwardly muttered. I had a feeling that it wasn't the fact that Mio had complimented Makina that surprised her. It was the way she'd complimented her. I couldn't see Mio's face at the time, though, seeing as she still had me firmly pinned in her grip...and her tone of voice had been so uncharacteristically gentle that I couldn't even begin to imagine how she'd looked. "I said before how I always thought you could do everything perfectly and never got nervous at all, right...? Well, if you want to put it another way, I could've also said that you sorta seemed like a robot to me. Today's show, though? That was something totally different." Mio squeezed me a little tighter. I could tell that following this thought to its conclusion would take a lot of courage for her. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's just like you to somehow pull off an above-average show while you have a case of the nerves so bad, you'd think you'd never performed before at all. But the end, though...I've never seen anything like it from you. It was emotional, and passionate, and just...just so human." "Mio..." said Makina. "Ha ha ha! You know, I was planning on saying this eventually, even if Yotsuba hadn't jumped in like that...but I'm not so sure I would've actually managed it. I probably would've lost my cool and flown off the handle again instead. To me, you're a rival and a teammate, all in one. I can't imagine Shooting Star without you in it. And that's why...I wanted you to feel like you belonged with us. And then when I saw you up on that stage, I started wondering what we even were to you, and it got under my skin so badly..." Mio released me. I finally got a chance to look at her...but just for a moment, before she buried her face in my chest. Almost as if to hide the tears that had started pooling in her eyes. "Sorry, Yotsuba," Mio choked out in a voice so quiet, only I could hear it. Only seconds later, though, she jerked her head right back up again with exactly the sort of determined, perfectly idol-like smile on her face I'd come to expect from her. "I've lost our bet. It really was an incredible show." "Huh...?" I grunted. "Heh heh—honestly, I didn't think there was any chance I could lose at first, and even if I did, I figured I could just lie and say I won anyway. But after that show? I just can't. I have to admit it. It's my total defeat!" There was something sort of refreshing about her tone of voice, but there was a certain sadness to it as well. She wasn't celebrating how the bet had turned out, of course, but she also wasn't in despair over it. It was clear that she'd thought this through and processed the whole event before finally coming to the conclusion that she'd lost, so all I could do was nod in agreement. "Yeah..." I said. "What, are you gonna cry again? Need a hankie...? Oh, but I guess this was in your uniform's pocket, so it was yours from the get-go," said Mio. "It's okay... You can use it." "What for? I don't even need it." "Umm, Mio...? And Yotsy too," Makina sort of hesitantly spoke up. "What bet? What are you talking about...?" O-Oh. Right. I still have to explain that whole thing to Makina and the— "Oh, it's not a big deal or anything. I just made a bet with Yotsuba about whether your show would be good enough to satisfy my quality standards. The deal was that whoever lost would have to do whatever the winner asked them to." "What?" said Makina. "Huh?!" gasped Yuna. "I'm sorry—Yotsuba...?!" said Rinka. Three slightly accusatory gazes swung in my direction. For what it's worth, that wasn't exactly what the actual stakes of the bet had been...but it wasn't totally wrong in the grand scheme of things either. But. Well. Yup. I definitely deserve those reactions, don't I? Anyone would get upset if they learned that a performance they'd worked that hard on had been used as fodder for a bet without their knowledge. Even I'd get mad about that! Probably. That said...the fact that Mio had seemingly gone out of her way to not mention that the point of the bet was to drag Makina back into her idol career was probably her way of being nice—assuming she hadn't just dodged that part because she was too embarrassed to admit it, which also felt pretty plausible. "Excuse me, anything?!" exclaimed Yuna. "What's that supposed to mean?!" "What exactly were you planning on telling her to do, Yotsuba? And what do you suppose she was planning on asking from you?" asked Rinka. "Wh-Whoa, calm down, okay?! Please?!" Gaaah! Yuna and Rinka are both super mad?! "Anything means anything. Right, Yotsuba?" "Mio?!" "And as for your order for me...well, let's talk about it later on, okay? In private, where we can really take our time. Sound good, Yotsuba?" Mio said, watching Yuna's and Rinka's overblown reactions—plus Makina, who had seemingly frozen solid—very closely. She was definitely enjoying it, and was definitely being as obviously, intentionally provocative as possible... Smooch! ...and then five gasps rang out in unison. Sh-She kissed my cheek?! B-But why...?! W AB! Class 26 "Okay! I've said everything I wanted to, so I'm gonna go home now," said Mio. "Thanks for today, Yotsuba. Oh, and, uhh—Yuna and Rinka? If you two have any interest in debuting as idols, go ahead and reach out to me any time! Yotsuba can put us in touch. And Makina...? I'll see you later." Just like that, without letting any of us get a word in edgewise, Mio strolled out of the classroom. And left in her wake... "Oooh, Yotsuba? Again? Really? Again?" "A-Again what, Yuna...?" "Genuinely—how many people do you think you'll have to seduce before you're satisfied? We'll have to place you under house arrest pretty soon, at this rate." "Rinka?!" Why do both of their eyes look so weirdly vacant...? It's kinda terrifying, actually?! "Hee hee! That's a great idea, Rinka. Nobody will be able to hurt her if she's safe and sound in my house, after all!" "Yuna?!" "Ha ha ha! We'll have to start polishing our housework skills, in that case. Getting to eat Yotsuba's home cooking would be lovely, but I like the thought of her eating our cooking almost as much." "I'd really love to eat your cooking, actually, but you two are still kinda scaring me right now!" It's the laughter! It's so dry, and the look in their eyes is so totally mismatched with it! Those aren't laughing faces! Clearly I'd touched a nerve—or, well, more like I'd grabbed a whole bundle of nerves and squeezed as hard as I could. In any case, my only choice was to apologize, and that was exactly what I did. Repeatedly. Some time later... "All's well that ends well...or close enough, I suppose," Koganezaki muttered with a sigh of utmost, utterly heartfelt apathy. Chapter 6: The Cultural Festival: Day Two! After all sorts of twists and turns, the first day of the cultural festival came to a close. Mio's less-than-authorized intrusion, in the end, wasn't exposed as badly as I'd feared after all. Her disguise had apparently done its job; nobody who'd seen her had realized that she was, in fact, Mio Kuruma. It also helped that Makina got in touch with everyone who'd been in 2-A's classroom during the Mio Incident and asked them to keep quiet about it. When all was said and done, nobody learned about my misdeeds. Yuna and Rinka did let me know that they wished I'd at least said something to them, of course, but for some reason, they didn't press me for more information on how or why I'd ended up tangled up in a bet revolving around their performance. In fact, they didn't even bring it up at all! In short, I ended up with an awful lot to feel relieved about. I won't be getting expelled after all! Thank goodness! And then the second day of the festival arrived! Our class's project was over and done with, and most of the merch we'd made had already sold out the day before, so pretty much all of us were free to spend that second day doing whatever we felt like. That left me, Yotsuba Hazama (position in class: background loner), with a pressing dilemma: Should I, or should I not, wear our class's festival T-shirt today? "Oh, Yotsuba!" said Rinka. "You wore your uniform today? Why?" And I completely guessed wrong! Per our school's cultural-festival rules, everyone was supposed to gather up in their classrooms each morning before things kicked off. I figured the idea was just to make taking attendance easier? Anyway, I headed straight for my classroom when I arrived...and stepped inside to find everyone except me wearing their class T-shirts! "Wait, you're all wearing them?!" I yelped. "Well, of course we are!" said Yuna. "I mean, how many chances do you think we'll get to wear these after the festival's over?" "That's...a really good point, yeah," I admitted. When she put it that way, as soon as the festival was over, that shirt would be doomed to spend the rest of its days in the pajama pile. What else would you even wear a class T-shirt for? A trip to the amusement park? I'd sure never heard of anyone using them for anything like that. In my defense, though, it did still feel a little wrong to wear those T-shirts on a day when our class wouldn't even be doing anything for the festival! "Plus, we spent all yesterday in our stage costumes," Yuna continued. "We barely got to wear these at all in the end." "Very true," said Rinka. "It would feel like a waste not to wear them, considering our classmates went to the trouble of making them for us." "Oh, right..." I said. Does that make this better for me? I'm really not sure. "Good morning," a voice rang out. "Ah!" I exclaimed as Makina stepped into the classroom. Her arrival wasn't what had me excited, though. No, my attention was drawn straight to what she was wearing! "You came in your uniform!" I'm not alone! I have an ally after all! "Oh! Good morning, you three," Makina replied as she stepped over to us. She took a look around the classroom...then took a final, longer look at me. "I see everyone wore their T-shirts." "I know, right? It felt so awkward up till a second ago," I replied with a beaming smile. Now that I had an outfit in common with at least one person, I felt much more comfortable again. Up until she'd shown up, I'd been completely isolated! It had felt like I was cheering for the wrong team! "Why did you wear your uniform today, though?" asked Yuna. "To be honest, I was so distracted yesterday that I threw my T-shirt into the laundry without thinking about it," Makina explained. "I'm just glad I'm not the only one." "That's not quite the same reason why Yotsuba left hers behind, though," said Rinka. "Oh, really?" Ugh... In other words, Makina did know that she was supposed to show up in her T-shirt today. They should've just made an announcement or something! Put it in the official cultural-festival policy: Class T-shirts are to be worn across all days of the event! And so, the curtain was raised (on a kinda inauspicious note) on the second day of the festival. ◇◇◇ "Thanks for waiting, Yotsuba!" "Aoi! And Sakura too! Did you have trouble finding your way here?" "We're not toddlers, Yotsuba. We can walk across town without getting lost," Sakura said. "Ha ha, fair enough!" I met my sisters, both of whom were wearing their middle school uniforms, out front by the school gate. Outside visitors were allowed at the cultural festival on its second day, so they'd stopped by to hang out and see what it was all about. My class's offering was already over and done with, of course, so we'd really just be walking around together and looking at everyone else's. "You're looking around with your friends in the afternoon, right?" I asked Aoi. "Yup!" Aoi replied. "And Sakura's gonna be going around with hers too." "My friends and I are here to see the school just as much as the festival, though. Entrance exams are right around the corner and all," Sakura added. Basically no one from our middle school had tried to get into Eichou High back in my day, but apparently, a surprising number of students were now taking a shot at it. It wasn't like the entrance exam had gotten easier or anything, so why was a bit of a mystery... But in any case, it was probably a good thing it hadn't been that way back when I was applying. Going to a high school that none of my middle school classmates would end up at had sounded really appealing at the time, and if a bunch of other kids had signed up for the entrance exam, I probably wouldn't have followed through with my accidental application and tried my luck on it. "You're looking around with Yuna and Rinka this afternoon, aren't you?" said Aoi. "Yeah," I replied. "Sooo, does that mean you went out of your way to make time for us in the morning?" "I sure did!" "Yaaay! You're the best!" Aoi exclaimed, clinging tightly to my arm. Yup, yup! She's adorable! "Well, then, no time to waste! Let's get a move on," Aoi continued. "Your class already finished up yesterday, right?" "Yeah, unfortunately," I replied. "No kidding! I would've done so much to see Yuna, Rinka, and Maki all up onstage together!" "Okay, but you know how much trouble there would've been if they let the public in for that," commented Sakura. "Okay, then—I wanna go see Koganezaki's class!" Aoi said as she flipped the festival's pamphlet open and browsed through its offerings. Astonishingly enough, she'd picked the very same maid café I'd gone to with Mio the day before. "Can you imagine her working in a maid café?! It's so not her style at all, but I'm sure she'll look awesome in the outfit anyway!" "I kind of want to see that too, actually," Sakura added. Aoi and Sakura had met Koganezaki the month before, when we all got together to model for Mukai's illustration. Koganezaki had been in a relatively chill sort of mode at that time, and apparently, the two of them had come out of the encounter with the impression that she was a really nice person. Not that they were, like, wrong about that, or anything! It's just that they didn't know she could also be really strict and incredibly terrifying from time to time. "Okay, then! Let's go!" Buuut, that said, I didn't have any reason to turn them down. I could've stared at Koganezaki in a maid outfit all day without getting bored, after all! Plus, I knew that at the end of the day, she always went easy on her underclassmen. As long as I had Sakura and Aoi with me, I wouldn't have to worry about getting the sort of frigid reception she'd given me the day before! Heh heh heh! Watch as the genius tactician Yotsuba Hazama uses her little sisters as human shields! This plan is a masterstroke! Koganezaki will be laid bare—or rather, laid out in a maid uniform—before me! Bwa ha ha ha haaa! ◇◇◇ "Whoa... That line is crazy," I said. "I guess it's not surprising that Koganezaki's class would draw this sort of crowd," said Sakura. "It's so popular!" Aoi exclaimed. We'd arrived at class 2-B's room to find a line extending all the way out into the hall. The place had seemed pretty empty the day before, but now it was packed to capacity. This, I had to assume, was the power of the second day being open to the public—and, well, also the power of class B's maid café having really cute, well-put-together uniforms, I guess. "What do you think? It sounds like we'd have to wait a half hour or so to get in," I explained. "Ugh," Aoi moaned. "It kinda feels like a waste, doesn't it...?" "No...let's wait," said Sakura. "We've come this far, and if we leave now, I'll end up wondering what it would've been like later." "Yeah, you're right! I'm in too!" Aoi agreed. "Okay, then, let's line up!" I said. My sisters were in control here—I was just along for the ride. Little sisters are higher up on the chain of command than big sisters, after all! That was a well-established fact that everyone knew! "Huh?" A moment after we got in line, I noticed a very familiar, brightly colored head of hair bounce briefly into view up ahead of us. Then, a second later, out from the line stepped...Emma! Emma was here! "Ah! Yotsuba!" "Emma!" And then we gave each other a big ole hug! And everyone lived happily ever after... "Hmm." Ah! Those stares! They're so frigid, it hurts! N-No, Sakura, Aoi, it's not what you think! Emma's... Emma's an exception, okay?! I can't help it! "And good morning indeed, Sakura and Aoi!" Emma continued as she looked over to my sisters—while still hugging me, by the way. "Good morning. It's nice to see you again, Emma," said Sakura. "Emma! Morning!" Aoi added. I'd known that they knew each other, of course, but I hadn't expected Emma to remember their names. That's so impressive! Good girl, good girl! "Wait..." I said a moment later. "Hold on! You were lined up too, Emma?!" "Indeed! I had a great need to see my sister dearest's figure with my own two eyes!" Emma explained. "Okay, but are you sure you want to give up your spot? You were way up ahead of us," I asked. Her spot, of course, had already been filled in as the line shuffled forward, so it was a little too late regardless. "Indeed, it's okay! I sensed all of you, and thought I wanted to talk," said Emma. "But...am I bothering you, indeed?" "No, no, not at all! Right?" I asked. Sakura and Aoi both nodded immediately. "If you don't mind, it'd be nice to have an upperclassman here with us," said Sakura. "Yeah, yeah!" Aoi excitedly agreed. Oh, wooow! My little sisters are so sociable! That's so impressive! Good girls, good girls! "An upperclassman? You don't have to see me that way, indeed," said Emma. She'd started fidgeting bashfully, and I had a feeling that she wasn't used to the idea of being treated like someone's senior at school. "But you literally are one for me, so..." Sakura said with a shrug. "Sakura's going to be taking the entrance exam for our school this year! She's doing her best to go here with us," I explained. "Indeed?!" Emma gasped. "Yeah, and me too!" Aoi chimed in. "It's a little sad that I won't get to go to school with Yotsuba, even if I do make it in, but at least I'll just barely have a year with you, I'm pretty sure!" "Aoi too?! I can hardly wait, indeed!" None of this was set in stone yet, of course, but my sisters were both way more capable than I was, and they also apparently talked with Yuna and Rinka on the phone pretty often to get help with their studies. I guess it'll be a year and a half before Aoi gets the chance, though, won't it? Maybe Emma will have brushed up on her Japanese and done away with her "indeed" tic by then. She picked up that habit from Koganezaki back when they were both going to a rich-girls' school, right? It'd actually be a little sad if she got over it. "Me indeed, an upperclassman..." Emma quietly murmured to herself. It seemed like she was savoring the feel of the word as it passed through her lips. "Okay, but what about middle school?" I prompted. "You must have had underclassmen then, right?" "Back then...I was all alone, indeed." "Wha?" "My dearest sister left, and I still barely knew Japanese, indeed," Emma said with a smile that didn't strike me as totally sincere. Wearing a smile like that was so unlike her, I realized instantly that I'd asked a question I probably shouldn't have. Koganezaki...well, she hadn't really told me much of anything about her time in middle school, but I'd more or less put the pieces together well enough to realize that she'd gone through something pretty traumatic. Emma had stayed at that same school long after Koganezaki left, looking up to her all the while...and it wasn't hard at all to imagine how that could have been a pretty unpleasant environment for her. "Sorry, Emma," I said. "I shouldn't have pried, huh? My bad." "It's okay, indeed!" Emma insisted. For just a moment I wanted to tell her that I'd been all alone in middle school too, but I decided against it. It seemed pretty likely that we'd been totally different types of loner. "Well, my little sisters are both really good girls," I said instead. "You can go ahead and act like a big, tough upperclassman with them, any time you like!" "I really don't like the idea of agreeing with Yotsuba about that...but she is right, basically," said Sakura. "Both of us really like you a lot, Emma." "Ah, I know! Let's trade contact info! I never found the right moment before, but this is the perfect chance!" suggested Aoi. That's my sisters! Unlike me, you've got social skills to spare! There's no way in heck I'd ever have the guts and resolve to talk with a (super ridiculously ultra cute) upperclassman like that! Boy, do I ever respect that about you two! "And why are you smirking in perhaps the most unsettling manner conceivable?" "Oh, I was just thinking, is all," I replied. "My personal angels are getting along with an actual, real-life angel, right before my eyes, so I was sorta moved, I... Wait, whaaat?!" "What yourself," said Koganezaki (maid edition), who'd shown up beside me at some point without me realizing it at all! In addition to the uniform, she was carrying a sign that had "Come See What the Fuss Is About! Class 2-B's Maid Café, Now Open!" written on it. "The line is getting unwieldy, and I'm here to manage it. It's a far easier job than serving customers," she continued, though I had to note that she'd come to a dead stop beside us and wasn't doing much managing of the line at all. Then again, she just looked so darn pretty that the other customers in line—and, for that matter, most of the passersby in the hallway—were too focused on her to cause any issues. "Ah! Sister dearest!" Emma exclaimed. "It's very nice to see you again," said Sakura. "You look so great in that maid uniform, sister dearest!" added Aoi. The sister squad had quickly caught on to our visitor. "It has been a while, Sakura, and thank you, Aoi. Do not call me that," Koganezaki replied...in a way that really did feel nicer than how she usually acted! She really was a big sister. There was just something about being a big sister that made people like, well, that. Emma, incidentally, had let go of me at some point along the way and now had her arms flung firmly around Koganezaki. Oh wow, that speed...! Not even I noticed when she moved! "I see the two of you are keeping Haza—Yotsuba company today, then. That's very kind of you," said Koganezaki. "Hey! Why are you acting like I'm their pet puppy?!" I whined. "I would never intentionally compare you to something that cute, but in terms of disposition, I have to admit the comparison does stand." Mean! She wouldn't even let me keep the cute part of the metaphor! Meanwhile, Sakura and Aoi were watching us very closely. "Umm, excuse me, Koganezaki," said Sakura. "You're friends with our sister, right?" "Huh?" I grunted. S-Sakura? Where did that question come from...? Oh no—don't tell me that Koganezaki acted so curt with me, she has you questioning whether or not I'm getting bullied at school?! "S-Sakura! That's, umm, just her way of showing affection! It's nothing—" "Yes," Koganezaki cut me off—though not before hesitating long enough to let me babble out half of an excuse. "We are indeed friends," she continued. The look on her face was so inexplicably kind that I was captivated...and forgot what I'd been planning on saying entirely. The same, it seemed, was true of my sisters. Aoi and Sakura were just staring, eyes wide, until finally... "Oh... Okay." ...tears began to pool in their eyes. "Well, umm—I know she's not very reliable, I guess, and can be pretty bad at taking a hint, but, well..." said Sakura. "But she's really considerate! She's always putting other people first, even though she's a super awkward crybaby herself..." Sakura? Aoi? Are you trying to convince Koganezaki to stop being friends with me right now?! I mean, yes, I am kind of a mess in all sorts of ways, but come on! "But you know," Sakura continued, "she really went through a lot in elementary and middle school! So..." "If you don't mind, keep being friends with her from now on!" Aoi concluded. I was speechless. Speechless and thoughtless, in the sense that my train of thought had ground to a screeching halt. I'd been a loner up until I got into high school, but only now did I realize that my former friendlessness weighed on my sisters as much as—no, more than—it did on me. I felt really guilty for being pathetic enough to make them worry like that...though at the same time, I felt touched by their kindness. I also knew that, really, I should probably have been scolding them for putting Koganezaki on the spot for no good reason like this. I glanced over at her...and found her gazing at my sisters with a shockingly gentle look on her face. She sighed deeply, apparently reaching some sort of conclusion, then looked at me. "You really managed the third option," Koganezaki said. "What?" "I once told you that you had three options. You picked the third...and it seems it turned out well for you." "Ah," I quietly gasped. The third option. She's talking about when Sakura and Aoi found out about my two-timing, right...? "No need to worry," Koganezaki said as she turned back to my sisters. "I'll admit that she—that Yotsuba can be unpredictable and unreliable, in more ways than one...but I'm well aware of how many people she's helped in spite of those traits." "Oh, but just one thing," Sakura added, slightly more quietly than before. "You're not allowed to love her too much!" "Right, that! Keep it nice and restrained!" Aoi whispered as well. I knew very well that the "love" they were talking about wasn't the platonic sort, and Koganezaki quite possibly knew it on an even more profound level than I did. "Yes... Of course," Koganezaki said with a smile after an ever so slight pause. "I'm only interested in faithful people, regardless." Rude! What, are you trying to say I'm unfaithful or something?...is what I really wanted to say, but I held it back! After all, saying that would've made it look like I wanted to end up in that sort of relationship with her! N-Not that Koganezaki wasn't a lovely, appealing person or anything! It was just that I...er... Okay, so maybe I'm not faithful, like, at all. That realization stung a little, but as I watched the four of them chat away happily, the pain was replaced by an appreciation for how nice this sort of thing was from time to time. ◇◇◇ My sisters, Emma, and I finally made it into the maid café, where we enjoyed our fill of Koganezaki's service. After that, Emma broke off to stay with Koganezaki while my sisters and I set off to explore the festival. Sakura and Aoi were particularly interested in the cultural clubs' displays and led us to the home-ec club, which had set up a stand where they sold snacks, and the drama club, which was putting on a play. Before I knew it, the morning had sped right on by. "I've been thinking of joining a club when I get into high school," Sakura commented. "That's a great idea! You should!" I said. "Me too, me too!" said Aoi. "That's why I'm planning on looking at all the other displays with my friends later!" "Neither of you ended up joining a club in middle school, did you?" I noted. A small part of me wondered if, just maybe, they'd refrained because they didn't want to rub salt into my middle school wounds... "It is not anything like what you're thinking," said Sakura. "You weren't even there anymore when I got into middle school!" noted Aoi. "I just didn't join a club 'cause I wasn't interested in any of them." "O-Oh! Okay!" My thoughts had been written all over my face yet again, clearly. They'd shut my theory down before I could even mention it. "But, you know...the fact that I'm thinking of joining one now might actually be because of you," Aoi continued. "You've looked like you're having so much fun ever since you started high school, after all! Right, Sakura?" "Yeah," Sakura agreed. "First things first, though—I have to pass the test!" The two of them looked elated at the prospect of the futures they were pursuing. They had them all planned out, and I was really impressed. The future, huh...? I'd tried to think about my future tons of times, but those attempts had always ended in failure. I was in my second year of high school. The more proactive kinds in my class had already started studying for their college entrance exams, apparently, but here I was, just barely treading water when it came to preparing for my high school tests. I really do have to give it some thought, don't I...? The cultural festival would be over in a flash, and once the school trip—which was coming up next month—ended as well, all of us second-years would be in nose-to-thegrindstone exam prep mode. All the more so considering Eichou High was a prep school! Incredibly unreliable though I was, I was also my sisters' role model, and I had to set a good example...or, well, I had to at least put up a show of doing my best, anyway. I'd be a miserable excuse for a big sister if I didn't. "Okay, we should split off now," said Sakura. "Don't have too much fun this afternoon, Yotsuba!" Aoi added. "I know," I said. "You two take care too... I mean, get out there and have a blast!" My worries about the future were still lingering in the back of my mind, but I saw my sisters off with a smile anyway. I didn't let so much as a hint of gloom infect my expression. After all, no matter how things turned out for me, as long as my sisters were happy, healthy, and moving forward day by day, that was enough to keep me satisfied. ◇◇◇ "Hey! Sorry I'm late!" "Nah, it's fine!" "Yuna and I just arrived as well, actually." I'd split up with my sisters and had just jogged up to Yuna and Rinka. That's "up" in the vertical sense, since they'd told me to meet them on the staircase landing by the door to the rooftop. "So, we put a lot of thought into how we could make the most of the festival with you," said Yuna. "Like, should we all walk around together? Or should we draw up a schedule and take turns going on dates with you?" "But when we were walking around ourselves this morning, it struck us that both of those options would pose difficulties," said Rinka. "What do you mean...?" I asked. "You know—since we're the Sacrosanct?" Yuna said so plainly and confidently, I could almost hear the dramaticemphasis sound effect in the background. The hand-on-hip pose she struck didn't help with that. It occurred to me that, on the whole, the two of them didn't call themselves by their own nickname all that often. "People were talking to us all over the place—expecially people who came to see the performance yesterday... And, I mean, I'm glad we made an impression and all, but it definitely feels like having you with us in public right now could attract some not-so-great attention." "Attract some not-so-great attention," I presumed, was code for "make people think, 'Who's that loathsome little insect clinging to the Sacrosanct and how are we going to squish her?'" "Okay, that's a good point," I admitted. "Wait, what about Makina? How does she play into all that?" "You haven't heard?" said Rinka. "She's spending the afternoon looking around with a few of our classmates." "Oh! Okay." I hadn't heard. In fact, I hadn't spoken with her at all since this morning in the classroom...and even then, it had sort of felt like she was trying to avoid me. She wouldn't look me in the eye in the weirdest, most deliberate-feeling sort of way...but then again, that might have just been my usual negativity coloring my impression. "So, yeah—going around the festival together's probably not such a great plan," Yuna continued. "Which, for the record, I'm not cool with! We finally get together, but can't make the most of it during our own school festival? Come on!" "Right...? But, wait. Does that mean you went out of your way to meet up with me just to tell me that we can't hang out after all?" That's so thoughtful of them! They could've just sent me a text. It's a shame that we can't look around together, sure, but I definitely don't want to cause trouble for them, so— "No, not at all," Rinka said. "Huh?" Rinka shook her head, then brought a hand up to my cheek. "If we can't go around the festival with you, then we won't do it at all." "What...?" "In case you haven't noticed, Yotsuba...we're well past our limit." "Your limit for wha— Mmph?!" Just like that—so naturally I hardly even realized what was happening—Rinka kissed me. "Ah, hey!" Yuna yelped. "No getting a head start, Rinka!" "Mmph... Ah... Yotsuba..." "Get off her already! Come on!" "Whoa!" It almost felt like Rinka was trying to straight up inhale my lips until—with some difficulty—Yuna dragged us apart again. Wh-What on earth...? And wait, we're at school right now, aren't we?! "Seriously, getting too worked up here is just asking to be caught," Yuna grumbled. "What do you think we borrowed this for in the first place?" "Ugh... Sorry. I couldn't help myself," said Rinka. "You may come across all mature, but you've always been such a kid deep down, I swear. You've got no restraint at all!" "I do too! Just...not when it comes to Yotsuba. She's the one exception," Rinka sulkily pouted. Pouted with the lips that had been pressed to mine just seconds before. "Hold on," I said, "what was that about borrowing something?" "Heh heh! That would be this," Yuna said as she proudly brandished what looked like a perfectly ordinary key. "It's— drumroll, please—the key to the rooftop!" "Huh?!" "I have no clue why that one girl—Koganezaki, I mean— had it in the first place, but she loaned it to me. She said that nobody else would be up there during the festival, so we could get some peace and quiet. I'd never really talked to her before and I sorta had the idea we wouldn't get along, but it turns out she might be pretty nice after all." That reminded me of how Koganezaki had used the rooftop—or, really, had shown up on the rooftop after Emma abducted me—the very first time we'd had a proper conversation. In retrospect, she must have already had the key back then...though that still left the mystery of why she had it unsolved. "Okay, but even if we have the key, that doesn't mean we're allowed to go out on the rooftop whenever, right...?" I protested. "Do you really have any right to say that?" said Yuna. "You were the one who snuck Mio into school just yesterday," Rinka pointed out. "Well, yeah, but..." "And now Rinka and I are your partners in crime!" Yuna cheerfully declared as she swung open the door and stepped outside without the slightest hint of hesitation. A chilly autumn breeze blew into the landing through the open doorway. Oh. Do they think that I'm still worried about getting in trouble over the whole Mio thing...? This isn't my first time on the rooftop, though, and I've used the student guidance room without permission a bunch of times lately. I'm already dancing on the brink of academic oblivion when it comes to this sort of thing, so honestly, I'd rather they stayed back where it was nice and safe instead of getting themselves involved... "Ahh, the wind feels so nice!" said Yuna. "Good thing it's sunny out. Come on, Yotsuba, let's go," Rinka said as she took me by the hand. "S-Sure," I replied. Rinka pulled me out onto the rooftop. The blue sky stretched out overhead in its full, vast glory. The whole space was incredibly open, and while I could still hear the hustle and bustle of the cultural festival down below, it felt like we were cut off from the rest of the world... Kachk! ...Yup. Cut off from the rest of the world. "You locked it?!" "We wouldn't want anyone else coming out here, now would we?" Rinka replied with a casual grin. Oh. I guess, yeah. It wouldn't be great if anyone caught us out on the roof without permi— "Yotsubaaa!" "Whoa! Yuna?!" I yelped as she flung herself into my arms with no warning whatsoever. I did manage to catch her, just barely, and the next thing I knew she was nuzzling her face into my chest. "Aaaaaahhh," Yuna practically groaned. "Finally! This is so relaxing, I swear..." "U-Umm...?" I grunted. "You're not gonna complain about this, are you, Miss Tried-to-Get-a-Head-Start?" asked Yuna. "Go ahead," Rinka replied after a reluctant pause. "With pleasure!" That little exchange of theirs struck me as pretty suggestive, and the moment they were finished, Yuna tilted her head upward and pursed her lips. "Mh!" Yuna grunted. "Yuna...?" "Mmmh!" she grunted again, more urgently this time. I hesitated for just a moment...then gave in to her coaxing and kissed her. "Mnhh... Ahhh!" Yuna gasped. It must have been a little hard for her to breathe in that pose, and I tried to pull my face away, but her arms were wrapped very firmly around me and I couldn't move an inch. "Honestly, Yuna, you can be such a baby. Which...is a little conflicting to watch, from a childhood friend's perspective," Rinka said from right behind me. Wait, when did she get there?! "Personally, I'd rather be the doter than the dotee," Rinka added as she wrapped her arms around my waist. I felt the heat of her breath on my ear a moment later, and no sooner had I realized what was happening than... "Hyeek?!" ...her tongue touched my earlobe?! That certainly got a weird little shriek out of me. It didn't feel bad, to be clear...it just really, really tickled, basically. "Hee hee! I can feel you trembling... You're adorable, Yotsuba," said Rinka. "Come on, Yotsuba! I'm still here, you know—don't just focus behind you," urged Yuna. I had been totally caught up in Rinka's whispered voice, but now Yuna's begging was vying for an equal share of my attention. "Gah?!" I yelped—as if things weren't already intense enough, Rinka's hand crawled up my uniform and onto my chest! "R-Rinmmph...!" "Mhh, mmph..." I'd barely had a moment to be surprised before Yuna seized my attention again—this time with another kiss, complete with tongue! Meanwhile, the sounds in my ear were growing distinctly louder and wetter. Rinka must have picked up on Yuna's renewed aggression and was going on the offense herself, licking and even straight up sucking my earlobe! Wh-Wh-What is even happening right now?! The noise of the festival now felt like it was far, far off in the distance. The sky was blue, the autumn wind that blew across the rooftop was bracing, and I...was sandwiched within the most Sacrosanct of spaces. We're doing this here. Outside. At school. I... I th-think I'm gonna be sick... A mixture of embarrassment, anxiety that we'd get caught, and—more than anything else—pleasure was setting my body aflame. I let out a quiet moan as my legs gave way and I crumpled to the rooftop. Yuna wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she looked down at me, her eyes sparkling with the ravenous intent of a true carnivore. She looked incredibly cool and cute, all at the same time. "We had a thought, you see," Rinka said from behind me as she laid a hand on my shoulder. Her grasp felt comforting and considerate...but at the same time, it felt like she had a very firm grip on me that would not let me get away from her. "Being up onstage was way more fun than I ever imagined, but the past month and a half of preparations were also really hard on us. I'm sure you already know that, right?" "Y-Yeah," I said. "Of course I do." "The show was a huge hit!" said Yuna. "The audience loved it, and everyone in class said we did an awesome job. You thought so too, didn't you?" "Y-Yeah... Of course..." Yuna crouched down, bringing herself eye to eye with me, and laid her hands on my cheeks. It felt like she was guiding me toward a very particular conclusion, in the strangest sort of way. Not a bad way at all—just a strange one. "And sooo..." said Yuna. "We thought it would only be fair to ask for a little reward," Rinka concluded. "Y-Yeah, you're right! Totally! I think so too!" I said. "Right? So, go ahead! We're waiting!" said Yuna. "Huh?" I grunted. It wasn't until she'd very directly urged me to hand over her reward that it hit me: I didn't have a reward for her. I hadn't prepared anything at all! "Ah, err, can I, umm, get back to you on that after I—" "Nooope! It has to be right now," said Yuna. "Agreed. We've waited for so long already," added Rinka. "O-Oh, right. Well, umm... In that case..." Uhh... How much money did I have in my wallet again...? I very briefly wondered, but before I had the chance to actually attempt to buy my way out of trouble, Rinka laid a hand on my chin, tilted my head to the side, and kissed me. "Do you