"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Suzuko whispered anxiously at the lapel mic.
Everything was orchestrated by her childhood friend Emi Inami. The orange-maned sophomore saw to it that a plan completely her brainchild would be put into play. In fact, it turned out better than she intended; the whole operation bore her personal touch down to the last detail. The mic fitted awkwardly and quite noticeably below Suzuko's chin. The hapless girl wandered into the same corridor for the fourth time, and the ear bud was loud enough to turn a few heads. The coaching was equally excellent.
"If you say 'Oreo,' " instructed Emi, "I'm sure it will sound like 'Ohayou' so go ahead. Nothing like your favorite snack to soothe your nerves."
"I never did say I like Oreos!" she retorted. She was already breaking out in cold sweat. "And what will I say next?"
"Of course you'll tell them to be school idols!"
"Just like that?! You know I need to give a proper introduction!"
"It's your fault. I told you to go to your dorm mates so it'd be easier."
So this whole dilemma was her fault, huh? "Didn't I say they're into gymnastics and won't have the time?"
"Tch," she dismissed. "What's so hard with telling people to join some silly group? The clubs do it all the time. You make it sound like we're mugging people. Well, then. That might be a good idea. You can have the scariest faces sometimes."
"Emi!" she blurted, highly flushed. More and more strangers were glancing at Suzuko and the loud radio.
"I'll make you do it if you don't shape up."
"I don't even have any flyers, are you nuts?"
"We'll make them up later. Just use your spit and talk! If you don't use it, you lose it."
At a remote site under a tree Emi poised like a hawk over the radio set as her other classmate Aya Saitou watched on, more distraught than Suzuko even. But soon enough the mission resumed and the strained dialogue at the other end filtered through.
"U-Umm... Would like to be a school idol?"
"Huh? N-No, but thank you, anyway."
"..."
"I busted," Suzuko reported right away.
"Rats! Just like that? Interview more people!"
"It would be more successful if you didn't yell, you know. I've got half a dozen people already staring at me full time."
"Then recruit them! I'm sure they're thrilled to be stars, that's why. Go!"
There was no way to tell what sort of pained response she put on her face but the next thing was they heard her approach the onlookers. "H-Hey, you want to be school idols?" said Suzuko in a trembling voice. Then, a lengthy silence. That was enough to tell them the girls fled on the spot.
"I busted."
"Tch!" Emi wasn't exactly known for her patience. She opened her fifth can of soda and gulped it straight down.
"Emi," said Aya in concern. "You'll get fat if you keep at it."
"Bah! If I have to end up with the body of an orange I'll do it to save our school."
"Emi..."
Suddenly the radio crackled to life again. "Hey." It was another voice, a threatening one. "Are you getting people into this school idol thing?"
"Why, yes," said Suzuko hopefully. "We'd be delighted to have you on board!"
"Well, shut up and quit! There's no way school idols will ever take off here in Akihabara. If you don't back down I'll get the Student Council."
Well that flipped the mood pretty fast. "Hah? Who are you to thumb at us? And why are you having that face mask?"
Next they knew, the mic was knocked down, and then there was uproarious cheering and they didn't find out anything more than Suzuko being in a fight.
Aya could only facepalm, but she had to smile in spite of herself.
That day, before the great gate that led to the school, Aya Saitou froze in place even as students passed her by all around her, pleasantly chattering, unmindful.
"Do... Do you love this school?" she asked herself.
It seemed nobody but her knew that the school was closing down.
"I love it very, very much. But...
"But I guess things have to change eventually..."
The place that held so many memories was going to be disposed of like a banana peel just because there were not enough enrollees next year. What kind of thinking was that? She didn't care if they turned it into a juku or even a dojo, she would gladly attend whatever it has become, just don't close it down.
"Fun things, happy things, they all... They all change someday... Everything, everything had to pass away..."
"Then just go and find new things!" beamed a happy voice behind her.
Somebody heard me?! But there was to be more surprises. She turned to see a most unusual threesome: The one who greeted her was an orange-maned cutie who affected a one-sided ponytail just like hers, with her a dashing beauty of long, flowing bluish hair, holding a frightened, bespectacled freshman brunette of short, nondescript hair.
"We've got an enemy," declared orange-hair. "We must fulfill our mission in time, or the world will dissolve into nothing!" Before Aya could react she found herself dragged as the second victim. "Come on!"
Turns out the enemy was the five-storey main building. "We got no more than ten minutes," explained orange. "If we take the stairs we'd definitely be grilled when we come in. Four-eyes here will go on ahead and cover for us. She'll say we had an accident and the teacher will believe her 'coz we're not classmates or even the same year."
It sounded good... But...
"How are we going to get her up there in time?!" Aya had just blurted it out of outrage.
"There's no other choice!" Immediately she got pulled into a human trampoline formation with the freshman sitting on it and whining in fear. "You're our only hope," orange said earnestly. "Lead us to victory."
And then, "Se... No!" Off flew the freshman, up and away to the rooftop just a floor above their second-year classroom. She made it!
Except they themselves didn't. They ended up being harangued in front of the class as the freshman never did show up in their defense. But Aya was secretly thrilled. She never felt like this in a long, long time...
Evening at the dorm was refreshingly low-key, a respite from the zany events of the day. Aya was on to some knitting, having finished the homework. She wished she could have a roommate pretty soon, and in fact she had asked Emi and Suzuko, but for now visiting would do.
She texted them to come over at around seven. They came in a half-hour early.
"Have you made something?" greeted Emi upon entering. She has noticed the cafeteria downstairs was already serving dinner.
"Emi!" chided Suzuko. "Do you always have to talk food?"
Aya only giggled. The three of them were close enough for impolite antics to pass as a delight. "I thought I might get some macaroons from the fridge."
"Yes, please," said Emi as she plopped down on the sitting pillow. Suzuko could only sigh as she settled down as well.
They got around to talking about how the recruitment was going. "Nothing, man, nothing," grumbled Emi. "Totally no one even glancing at our poster when I passed by. They're more interested in the Drama club's with those ridiculous dango thingies. It's an insult. I hate dangos!"
"There was also nothing at the name suggestion box I set up at the second floor," lamented Suzuko. "At this rate I might have to look to an eighties band for an idea, and I'm not even a nineties fan."
"Oh, it doesn't matter," Aya cheered. "What we need most is put out a good song, and if they like it, they will volunteer."
"Then we should cook up some good lyrics. Hmmm. Where can we get inspiration?"
"Emi," Suzuko said tenderly, "You should draw on what you feel. You must develop that passion so you could produce only the purest words."
She was unimpressed. "Right now I feel like a mess. Couldn't we have something else?"
"Oh!" injected Aya, "We could draw on the thoughts of great people! If we have a number of uplifting quotations, we can borrow their feelings and come up with a song."
Suzuko wasn't so sure if feelings can be borrowed, but she gave it a shot. "Umm, maybe... 'A life without purpose is a life without worth?"
"You making a graduation speech?" Emi chuckled. "Make it pithier, like, 'In old Edo, people eat bread.' "
"No, no," countered Aya. "I'm sure it's not old Edo. A-And the quote actually said that bread eats people."
"Aya!" exclaimed Suzuko. "That's just terrible."
"No! It's true. That's what it really said."
"I can't believe there were monsters like that."
"No! It's a quote. You should learn to get the hang of figurative language, Suzuko."
She sighed. "It still sounds bad. To be honest, I'd rather be eaten by a ramen bowl."
"That's it!" Emi has just jumped up.
"What?" the two chorused. "Are you on to something?"
"Right now," she said in an unnaturally solemn tone, "a great saying was born."
I'd rather be eaten by a ramen bowl.
- Suzuko Suwa
Putting aside the issue of lyrics for the moment, they resumed discussion about the recruitment. "We will have to submit papers for our new group on Friday," explained Emi. "We still don't have a name, but we could have a chance with the student VP. It's Suzuki who's the purist.
"Still hates idol groups?" said Aya.
"I don't know about her! She thrashed me twice already, yet I saw a boy band album on an open drawer. Maybe she's just a girl-hater."
"Maybe the album was really Komiya-san's. Suzuki-san looks really busy."
"I'm sure we'd win her over if we have a song going," asserted Suzuko. "I'll be the one to talk to her when we do. She seems to be at ease with me. Well, at least when we meet on the hallway."
"Meh," Emi dismissed. "Student council presidents always smile at everybody."
"No, she isn't like that. She is really very cold on the outside, but she never fails to relax her face when she sees me."
"So Suzuko and a song is all we need. The lyrics will take care of themselves... if Aya takes care of it," she finished with a smirk.
Aya paled and was about to speak up, but then thought better of it. "I-I'll try."
"So all we need is a composer for music."
"I have this rumor of a virtuoso pianist at the music room," related Aya. "Nobody knows exactly when she rehearses there, but everybody has heard beautiful music there whenever nobody's around at the south wing."
"Talk about ghosts," grumbled Emi. "You're putting me on a Bigfoot hunt. We don't have time for that!"
"No! I mean she really isn't totally a rumor... She's really a student here, a freshman. And whenever she plays, people peek in, they say, and see her there on the piano. But then she senses if someone's watching her, and then she leaves and don't play again for about a month. Its a shame."
"Do you know her name?"
"Umm, not many knows her full name, but she calls herself a stage name... Umm... Err... I think it's... Guile?'
Guile?
Emi was thunderstruck. Because her music goes with everything?! Woahhhh!
"So!" Emi stood up with a determined air. "We're on another high-level mission. "You just wait for us, Guile!"
At that moment Aya's heart went out to her. She loved it so about Emi. For her, everything was a quest. When she told her about the school closing down, she jumped right in and drew up a plan, never one to miss out on anything that can be missionized.
"Well then," concluded Emi, "We'll make a more complete approach tomorrow. After we have the group approved we'll split up and look for talent individually. I'll be the one to go to the music room."
"Won't you have some tea?" asked Aina Komiya, Student Council VP.
Emi and company didn't answer, subdued by the air of the tastefully furnished council room. The place itself was already an embodiment of the president, and Yoshino Suzuki didn't lend herself to warmth. Aina affected a knowing smile and wordlessly led them to the desk. It gave her a perverse pride in seeing people intimidated by the president.
Going right to business, "I heard you put up posters without us knowing. I was going to send out a team to take them down today."
"Err," began Emi, "That's why we have this." She handed over the registration papers.
Aina only stared at it in amusement before turning to adjust the window curtains. "This is your fifth time, isn't it?"
"Uwo- Hey I only came here twice."
"Ahaha. Learn to take a joke, will you? You all look so stiff."
Well, it's not our fault, thought Emi. "Are you taking this?"
"I thought you said you've been here already."
"Emi," whispered Suzuko holding her back by the shoulder. "We're asking a favor."
"An idol group, huh? Welp, I guess it's all the rage now in Tokyo. Though it's a pity ours is the last school to cook it up. Even more of a pity now that we're about to shut down."
"Is it fine with you?" Emi was putting into words what Aya was too polite to actually voice out. "Maybe you're even glad about it? Just because you're graduating this year?"
"The most pity," she responded, unmindful, "is that you think it can actually do anything. But if you want to make a final party, I don't see anything wrong with it."
"But Miss Vice President," said Suzuko, "We should be doing something, right? At least think of the freshmen. It will be hard for them to constantly shift around."
"But the board has spoken. You really think simply making the school popular will revoke a decree like that?"
"It's all about enrollment, right?"said Emi bitterly. " They said it's because of enrollment. The other schools are successful, so why can't we?"
"It's not a matter of enrollment, Inami-san." She cast an all-enveloping gaze that further hushed them, though Emi was still seething. "When a school loses its spirit of community, it loses its relevance. If it no longer speaks to a student's heart, what must you expect of me?"
Aya was struck. She remembered seeing so many blank faces on campus. Going to school has been an empty ritual. It was not the second home it was touted to be. At least not now; it was not the school her mother attended, where there were fond memories and photographs she saw back home. Suddenly she wondered if it was a school worth saving.
"If you want an idol group, we'll tear down this building and make the campus into a concert grounds so you could also perform here next year. It takes more than just recognition and popularity and cuteness to bring hearts together."
She paused for a while and watched them take in her words, before giving a broad smile and taking the papers.
"You don't want this to end up with Yocchi, now." With another look at the window, "She is not a person you would want to tick off, you know."
"Yay!"
Emi spun round and round all over the hallway. "We did it!"
"Now we must break up according to plan," said Suzuko. "Aya could ask her classmates casually. I will just spy around in secret places. And Emi will..."
"Kick back and sun myself on the rooftop."
Her face fell. "Now that you mention it, though, that might be a good place to start."
"I'll go to the music room after classes right after the crowds thin. I'll stay behind maybe an hour or two."
"I might not turn up any results fast enough," worried Aya. "My classmates really have no interest i n singing and stuff."
'We're not in a hurry, Aya. Our priority now is have Emi get Guile on our side...
"Emi...?"
She's gone.
"Ohhhh... And she just said she's going after class."
That wasn't really necessary. The music room was isolated enough as it is during lunch. Emi walked in gazing everywhere as though seeing the room for the first time.
