Chapter 132: Cherry Blossoms Fill the Earth, Bound to My Heart; Butterflies Dance in Flight, Prayers Follow!
...
"It's fine. If they know, they know."
Seito waved it off. Kaede Honjou and Risa Shiramine weren't fools; they knew what was safe to repeat and what wasn't. Having them in the loop wouldn't cause any trouble. Hearing this, Sora dropped the subject.
Breakfast finished quickly. The Sora-Shiro siblings yawned their way out of Seito's house to head back for some sleep. After Seito and Kirukiru Amou finished the dishes, they headed out with Kanade Tachibana, bento boxes in hand. Little Sun-Moon hopped onto Seito's shoulder for the ride.
Twenty minutes later...
They strolled into Sobu High. Seito reached his classroom, stashed his lunch in his desk, and promptly slumped over to nap. Finding things dull, Little Sun-Moon curled up right next to him and drifted off as well.
Time skipped ahead to the lunch hour. Seito woke up slowly and glanced at his desk. Little Sun-Moon was gone. He reflexively checked the connection to his pet ring—she wasn't in there either! Scanning the room, he finally spotted her over by Yukino Yukinoshita. Seeing she was safe, he didn't worry.
He grabbed his bento and headed to the Year 1 Faculty Office. Just as he arrived, Sae Chabashira stepped out, naturally lighting a cigarette.
"What brings you here?" she asked.
"Chabashira-sensei, I'm heading to the Great Auditorium to help out, so I'll be skipping the rest of the classes," Seito explained with a smile. He needed to prep for the afternoon; with μ's performing, he couldn't just sit in a classroom.
Sae nodded. "Fine, go ahead. I'll let Hiratsuka-sensei know the reason."
"Thanks a lot." Seito smiled and turned away. He didn't go straight to the auditorium, though. Instead, he made a detour to Class E.
Class 1-E.
Seito walked right in and shouted to the room, "Iori! Hidenori! To the Great Auditorium!!"
"Coming, coming!"
"Brothers! Let's move!"
Iori Kitahara and Hidenori Tabata jumped at the sound of his voice, grabbed two large bags, and ran to his side. They weren't alone—a good number of other boys from Class E followed them. Seito was genuinely surprised; he had no idea how those two had convinced so many people, but the results were promising.
The group left the building and soon entered the Great Auditorium. They found the girls of μ's already there.
"Seito-kun, what is... all this?" Honoka Kousaka was stunned to see him leading a small army. She didn't see the need for them; the sound techs and stage crew were already set. The other eight girls looked equally confused.
"You guys keep rehearsing. I'm hosting this afternoon, so I can't let you do all the heavy lifting alone. The Principal has hyped this up, so there's going to be a huge crowd," Seito explained.
Honoka nodded, and Seito shot Iori a knowing look. The boys followed Seito to the backstage rehearsal room. Seito opened his bento and started eating as they walked.
"Are you guys absolutely sure about this?" he asked one last time. He still found it hard to believe these guys were going to dance in skirts in front of the whole school.
"Positive!" Iori opened his bag. Seito peeked inside and saw a mountain of skirts.
"Tsk, tsk." Seito clicked his tongue, looking at them as if they were legendary heroes.
"Hehe," Hidenori grinned. "Brother, we're really putting it all on the line here. Once your Empire is established in the game today, can you hook me up with a City Lord position?"
So that's the play. Seito realized. He nodded. "Sure. It's just a City Lord title; take whichever one you want." His Empire was massive and crawling with players; he could just put Hidenori in charge of managing them. As for how he'd manage them? That wasn't Seito's problem.
Hidenori and Iori both broke into wide grins.
After School.
Most students didn't leave. Instead, they swarmed toward the Great Auditorium. The teachers followed to maintain order. Since the Principal had personally endorsed the concert, expectations were sky-high. Half an hour later, the hall was packed—a sea of students that looked like a professional concert venue. Teachers and school leaders stood on the second-floor balcony to watch, giving the students space to enjoy themselves.
The hall grew dim as the curtains were drawn. Seito, looking composed, walked out from backstage. The crowd fell silent instantly.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for coming to the debut performance of our school idols, μ's!" Seito projected. "I am your host for this event. You can just call me Kirito-kun."
(Kirito: Why are you still wearing my alias?!)
Seeing the captive audience, Seito's lips curled. "Of course, while this is μ's' show, they are our headliners! So..." His voice rose in volume. "For our opening act, I'll be bringing you something explosive! For those who understand my next words, I want to hear you scream!"
His gaze sharpened as the massive screen behind him flickered to life. He roared:
"Cherry blossoms fill the earth, bound to my heart!"
"Butterflies dance in flight, prayers follow!"
"I present to you... the Sword-Drawing Divine Melody!"
.....
Thank you for reading.