Riko couldn't sleep at all last night because of that email.
Sakurauchi-san. I've read up on you, your experience with the piano and your talented ear for music. Your group, Aqours, is aiming for Love Live, if I'm not mistaken. This may not seem like much, but I wish you the best of luck, and please rest assured that you have my full support.
The person's username was "Scarlet Princess".
On their way to the bus stop, Chika noticed Riko's expression as her mind wandered.
"Hm? Riko-chan, something wrong?"
"Mm? Ah, uh, no, it's nothing." Chika tilted her head slightly, and shrugged it off after a moment.
"Everyone accounted for?" Ayase Eri asked, doing one last head-count.
"Yep!" μ's leader, Honoka, exclaimed. "We're all here!"
Sonoda Umi spotted the bullet train, and waved everyone over. "This is it, everyone!" The nine members filed into the train and piled their luggage inside.
Maki sat near a window, while Eri and Umi sat beside her.
"Still, I can't believe your father agreed to pay for our entire stay in Uchiura," Eri said.
"Well, we have a villa there, so he didn't mind, as long as we would be staying somewhere for this trip," Maki said, twirling her hair. "It's gonna be a long stay, I know that…"
"I don't see what the big deal is," Yoshiko said, crossing her arms over her chest. "All of us get individual messages from fans all the time on the website."
Classes had ended for the day, and Aqours were all assembled in the clubroom, Riko still pondering that email.
"Don't you think you may be overreacting just a bit, Riko?" Kanan added. The redhead sighed softly.
"But, what I don't understand is… this person made it sound like they had only just heard of us."
"We get a lot of fans like that," Yoshiko shot back. "Coincidence?" Riko blew a breath, and ran a tired hand through her hair before standing up from her seat.
"Agh! I'm not gonna keep racking my brain over this!" She stepped towards the doorway.
"Where are you going?" Dia asked.
"The roof; gonna get some air."
Riko walked through the halls of Uranohoshi, and up some flights of stairs till she reached the roof. She breathed in the fresh air, and leaned overhead, staring longingly at the faint view of Mt. Fuji. She slipped her MP3 player from out of her pocket, and went through her playlists. She placed the earphones into her ears, and listened intently to a melody that she had cherished more than anything, despite the darkness behind it.
Umi ni Kaeru Mono…
As the final chords of the melody played, she rested her hand to her cheek, before feeling a damp sensation. She quickly pulled her hand away, and sniffed, wiping her tears. She took a deep breath, and exhaled, letting her shoulders drop.
She grabbed her phone from her schoolbag, and went to the internet to access Aqours' website. She went through the fan mail that was sent to her. She moistened her lips before clicking on the username "Scarlet Princess". She blew a breath before typing…
Scarlet Princess-san…
After two long hours, and another hour of heading to the villa, μ's had finally settled into Numazu.
Maki settled herself into a room and was in the middle of unpacking her things, when Eri walked in.
"This is a nice place, Maki."
"Thanks. The best part about this place is the overlook of the ocean." Eri sat beside Maki on the floor.
"That view is pretty breathtaking." The blonde Russian noticed her former underclassman's thoughtful expression and nudged her shoulder, catching her attention. "Something on your mind?"
"These girls… they had just recently got notice that their school was getting combined and shut down, right?"
"Yeah. And sometime after that, they had acquired their last three members. Matsuura Kanan, Ohara Mari, and Kurosawa Dia."
"They're all going through the same thing we did, but… for different reasons." Eri furrowed her brow.
"What d'you mean?"
"Otonokizaka was in danger of shutting down because of the declining birthrates, right?" Eri nodded. "Don't you sometimes feel like… I don't know, maybe we had it easier? Because, I mean, we were in Tokyo, so it wasn't all that hard to gather people in for that open house when our group finally came together."
"But, the difference with Aqours is that…"
"Uranohoshi is so far off… Not to mention, the fact that they didn't receive any votes from that first performance in Tokyo." Maki shook her head. "I can only imagine what that did to their morale."
"You have a point."
"And their composer… Sakurauchi Riko…" Maki bit her lip slightly before continuing. "I'm thinking of reaching out to her. I can tell she's in a bit of a rut right now, considering Mijuku DREAMER is only their second song. Plus… did Nico-chan tell you she used to be a student—"
"At Otonokizaka, yeah. Everyone had already graduated, though." Maki nodded before nipping her nail.
"Do you think I may be jumping the gun a bit here?" Erii chuckled.
"I'd be lying to say you aren't." She placed a hand on Maki's shoulder. "You should just wait it out. Maybe until they release their next video." Maki nodded. "Nico — and Hanayo — will keep us posted, anyhow." The redhead shared a laugh with the blonde, before hearing a cheerful voice from downstairs.
"Maki-chan! Eri-chan! Let's go check out the beach!" Rin yelled. Maki smiled softly at her friend's usual happiness, before Eri stood up from the floor, reaching her hand out.
"Let's go."
"Un," Maki said, taking Eri's hand.
As the two left the room, Maki's cell phone had pinged, signaling a notification, a reply from none other than…
Aqours' composer, Sakurauchi Riko.
