Zenkai no:
Teana, Subaru, and Caro meet the residents of Otonokizaka! However, a surprise throws a huge monkey wrench in the TSAB's plans!
The bearer of bad news was, in fact, right. There were large signs announcing the closing of Otonokizaka Private Girls' Academy all over the hallways and bulletin boards.
"I don't know how we missed this…" Teana muttered, and beside her, Umi nodded in agreement. All of them had completely failed to notice either the messages or the general atmosphere until Headmaster Minami had announced it in the opening speech.
"See? It's terrible!" Honoka Kosaka exclaimed, pushing herself up to her tiptoes and fluttering her arms around. "We've got to do something! Don't you guys think so?"
"Like what?" Umi snapped.
The energetic ginger girl fell silent. She reminded Teana a lot of Subaru…not that it was a comparison she wanted to make. Dealing with one idiot was hard enough and now it looked like there was going to be another one running around all year.
Still, there was more to her than that. The huge blip that had appeared on the mana pulse radar earlier this morning was right where the posters were, and she had come bursting through the door only a few seconds later. Teana was pretty certain that Honoka was important to them in some way. She just wasn't sure why.
"Come on!" the perky second-year moaned. "Don't you want to help me out?" She suddenly turned, and her shiny blue eyes lit up, she pounced on Teana. "You two! Foreign people! Want to help us save the school?"
Teana didn't know what to say in reply. "Ehhhh…"
A low, menacing growl came from behind. "Ho…no…ka…" Umi looked absolutely furious with her friend's behavior. To Teana, it was quite justified.
The ginger second-year backed off quickly.
"It's okay, Honoka-chan," Kotori said. "We've got all year to think of something."
"Whatever, let's just get to class. We're going to be late," Umi harrumphed, and turning tail she marched on ahead. Kotori and Honoka ran to get on either side of her, but Teana and Subaru stayed a bit behind them.
Hey, Subaru, Teana muttered, turning her telepathic communication back on. Do you think Kosaka has something to do with what we're looking for?
Um, yeah, I think. Those reactions this morning were pretty big. I wish we could check the residue now, but there are too many people…
I'll set it to record and check it when we get home. Teana silently thought of the record magical pulse function, and Cross Mirage vibrated in her schoolbag to confirm it.
This was an unexpected development in their investigation. Now, as well as working against a presumed antagonistic force, the TSAB would be forced into a time limit. If Teana and her squadmates failed, it would be a mortifying blunder for not just Riot Force 6, but the entire division as a whole.
Yet she wasn't bothered by it that much. She had a lead, after all. Now the next step was just to confirm it.
Upstairs
Setting her papers and bag on the desk to the right of her, Fate took the attendance roster from the stack and looked out over her homeroom. They weren't all here yet, but most of them were either chatting or staring ahead blankly. They didn't seem to be much affected by the news that barring something extraordinary, they would be the final graduating class at this school. Of course it shouldn't bother them; they had other things to focus on.
Putting her paper down on the podium in front of her, Fate turned to the blackboard and began writing her name in yellow chalk, as big as she could make it. It had been so long since she had been to school in this country, she had almost forgotten how teachers introduced themselves to their class even though she could remember the katakana for her name just fine. She hoped she could remember enough from her childhood to be passable.
As she finished writing the last kana, two students standing next to her came to her attention. The one in the front was tall and stood authoritatively, with blonde hair pulled into a ponytail and an icy blue gaze; she didn't look very Japanese either, Fate thought. That was the good thing about a school in central Tokyo. The city was so diverse, there was already bound to be half Japanese and foreigners attending this school, so no one would bat an eye at three more.
The one behind the girl that Fate guessed was a half-Japanese was shorter and a bit more full-figured, with long purple hair pulled into two separate loose ponytails; unlike her stern counterpart she was wearing an easygoing smile and appeared to be enjoying herself. The two, just from Fate's first glance, appeared to be as different as a Zulu and a Viking, but it seemed they got along.
The tall, blonde one began. "Hello, my teacher. I am pleased to make your acquaintance," she said in very bad German.
"It is the same to you," Fate replied in equally bad French.
"My name is Ayase. I'm the student council president here. If you don't mind me introducing myself, I'd like to know if you'll be available for any meetings with us in the future, since we're the liaison between the student body and the staff."
"No problem," Fate replied. "I'm Fate Testarossa, and this is my first year here. I was born in Italy, but I went to school in Japan for most of my life, so I know my way around, don't worry. I might see both of you for English." Fate was glad she had remembered the Earth country her alias was supposed to be born in. What Military Intelligence had concocted for them seemed like a huge amount to remember, but she had apparently remembered most of it.
"Are you with the Embassy's exchange program that I heard about?" the student council president asked, curiously. "It seems like a great idea to me…it's just a shame it had to happen now. We of the student council have been working hard to solve it, so I really hope you're not out of a job after only one year…but honestly I don't know at this point."
You tell me. This bombshell of the school being closed put Fate and her students' backs up against the wall. "Yes, I'm leading the exchange. I personally selected this school; we don't have any third years, but so far the students seem to be enjoying it. Come to think of it, I'm not intending to be rude or anything but are you foreign as well?"
"Yes. My mother is Japanese and my father's Russian. I was born in Volgograd but I moved here before I started high school. I like Japan so far."
Fate pulled her attendance roster off the podium. "Is that why…your previous teacher left a note you romanize as Eli, not Eri, right?"
"It's short for Elizaveta," she replied. "My mother picked mine and my sister's names out; they work well in either language."
"Oh, that's interesting. Who's that with you?"
The stocky girl stepped forward with a smirk. "I'm Tojo, the student council vice president. I'm Elicchi's silent support!"
The president didn't say anything, but Fate thought she looked slightly annoyed.
Her subordinate continued. "I'm a shrine maiden at the Kanda-myojin just down the road, and I can tell your fortune too if you like…"
Eli pulled her vice president over to her, and whispered loud enough for Fate to hear every word: "Nozomi! You're going to make another teacher think you're weird!"
"She tends to get a bit passionate when she can talk about her hobbies," the half girl explained.
She paused for a second, then did her best attempt to smile in a friendly way. It wasn't very good, but Fate did think she at least tried. "I hope to see you at our meetings. We have to go sit down now."
The two scurried to their seats. The classroom was nearly full at this time, and shortly the bell chimed for the start of the day. After nervously introducing herself in much the same way she had done to the two student council members, Fate took up the attendance sheet at the podium. Hesitantly clearing her throat, she began to call roll.
"Ayase?"
"Here." Eli raised her hand.
"Kanou?"
"Here."
"Takanashi?"
"Here."
"Yazawa?"
No reply.
"Nico Yazawa?"
There was still no reply. "Okay, absent then?" Fate asked no one in particular, before marking that student down and returning to her roll call. The monotony of names passed her by quickly, until she was almost at the end.
"Toyama?"
"Here."
"Tojo?"
"Here," Nozomi replied lazily, raising her hand too.
"Nonohara?"
"Here."
"Morikawa?"
"Here."
That was the end of the roll, and Fate put it back down as she prepared to switch classes for the first time. She was the only English teacher in the building, so she'd be paying the second years a visit first.
She hoped, at least, that Teana and Subaru were behaving themselves.
Downstairs, Class 1-4
"Kayochin! Kayochin! It's like we have our own little sister! She's so cuuuuuuuuuute!"
As soon as Caro ru Lushe had entered the first year classroom, she had become the center of attention whether she wanted to or not. An eleven-year-old in a room full of fifteen-year-olds was not a common occurrence at all, and most of them reacted to her with awws and squeals as if she was the definition of cuteness. The problem was, she didn't want to be cute or like being the center of attention. But thanks to her prodigal skills as a summoner in the TSAB, attention had always followed her wherever she went, and it didn't look like it would change here, even though none of these students had any idea she was a mage at all.
Right now, she was being set upon by two overeager classmates, and was so shocked she could barely utter a word in response to the girl with short orange hair and a boyish demeanor who looked like she was about to pick Caro up and snuggle her like a teddy bear. She didn't look like she had any idea what personal space was. Caro wasn't too thrilled about that.
"Rin-chan, maybe you should-" The tomboy's friend, a small, mousy-haired girl, took one look at Caro and immediately double took. "She's adorable…"
Fortunately, Caro was saved by the school bell ringing, and a stern homeroom teacher who rapped his ruler on the podium to send the students back to their seats. Caro breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe for now, although she wasn't looking forward to lunch. She wanted to use her time to talk to Subaru and Teana, and being surrounded by every girl in the first year wouldn't help at all.
After the bell, the teacher called for the introductions of the class, and soon it came to be Caro's turn. As she shyly walked up to the blackboard, she heard a few slight oohs and squeals, but she had expected them after what happened earlier. She hesitantly turned to the blackboard and wrote the name that the character she was playing had been given, although she couldn't reach the top of it. A little bit peeved about her lack of height, she turned back to the class.
"My name's Shizuka Takigawa…" she said softly, averting her eyes as usual. "I'm an exchange student from France and I skipped three grades, so please take care of me…"
She didn't like speaking publicly, and the awws that followed her introduction only made her more embarrassed. She shuffled quickly to her seat, trying her hardest to take the attention off of herself.
After a few introductions, Caro was starting to tune out, when she heard a familiar voice at the front of the class. The tomboy was standing at the blackboard, as cheerful as ever. "I'm Rin Hoshizora! I'm in the track club! Nice to meet you!" she said, before striking what Caro thought was a pose. Before sitting down, she passed right by Caro's desk and smiled. The young dragon summoner pretended not to notice. She just didn't get along well with hyper people. That was disregarding Subaru, of course.
One more name passed, then the teacher called another one. "Koizumi?"
There was no reply, so the call came again. "Koizumi?"
"Hanayo Koizumi?"
"Uh, sorry!" a soft voice exclaimed, and the girl that had been checking out Caro with Rin earlier nearly tripped trying to get up from her desk. She quickly made her way to the center of the room. "Um…hi…I'm Hanayo Koizumi…I don't know what to say about myself, so nice to meet you, I guess…"
She was as shy as Caro herself, but it looked like she could get up to a lot more mischief if her friend was around. Nonetheless, Caro thought she might be nice to get to know if only Rin wasn't around.
The next two periods went without any incident, until the lunch bell rang. She excused herself quickly, trying to find her way to where Teana and Subaru were without running into the duo she really didn't want to see any more of. Fortunately, she was moving fast enough to have lost them, but her squadmates weren't anywhere she looked, not on the roof, not in the cafeteria, and not upstairs. Finally, she stopped in an open courtyard with tables, looking around dejectedly. There weren't that many people outside in April, so maybe they were just getting their food and coming out here.
"There she is! Kayochin! Kayochin, comm'ere! Kayochin!"
Oh, crap.
Rin Hoshizora was racing across the courtyard toward her, with Hanayo panting behind close in tow. They were the last people she wanted to see, even though she knew they just wanted to be friends. But they were annoying, and she couldn't get rid of them.
Caro was resigning herself to a lunchtime of being shook around like a pillow when a voice came from her side, young but biting. "Do you two have nothing better to do than harass kids?"
"Aww, Maki's mad…" Rin muttered, the enthusiasm stopped in its tracks and replaced by an apologetic grin. "Come on, Kayochin." The two took their lunches and disappeared around the corner.
It occurred to Caro that she had better get a look at her temporary savior. When she turned around, she exhaled suddenly. The girl standing in front of her was almost supermodel beautiful. Her brilliant red hair, a far redder shade than Rin's, hung to her shoulders, not too long but not too short. Her eyes were deep purple, and her skin was smooth all around, showing off her jawline, her cheekbones, and every other attractive feature of her face. She didn't look like the kind of person who would associate with commoners, Caro thought. But at the same time, Caro owed her, so she had to say something.
"Um, I don't think I've seen you before…"
"Maki Nishikino from class 1-1," the girl replied coolly. I think that name's written "princess", Caro thought. It fit her.
"Were they bothering you?" Maki asked, surprisingly caring.
"Um, yeah, kinda," Caro replied. "I'm Shizuka Takigawa from 1-4. They wouldn't leave me alone since I walked in this morning. I haven't seen you…did you come in late?"
"Yeah, I had a doctor's appointment. I don't understand why they would-" She stopped to take a closer look. "Wait, how old are you exactly?"
"I'm eleven."
Maki's expression changed to a little bit surprised. "Oh, now I get it. Don't mind them. Hoshizora and Koizumi tend to bother anyone who interests them. I've been in school with them a long time."
Maki drew a yellow can out of the bag she was carrying with her bento in it. "I forgot. I bought a couple of these before I went outside. You want one?"
Caro nodded yes, opened the can, took a sip and nearly spit it out. It was so bitter. Even though she didn't know what sane country would consider this dark liquid a suitable drink for high schoolers. Nonetheless, it would be rude to refuse someone who had been so nice to her, so she made an attempt to keep drinking.
As she drank, something crossed Caro's mind. "You bought two drinks, but you're alone, aren't you?"
"Yeah." Maki took a seat on the back of one of the benches that surrounded the tables and opened hers.
"Are you waiting for someone?"
"Not in particular. I just kinda had a feeling I'd meet someone today."
"But nobody in particular?"
"Yeah."
"Don't you get lonely?"
"I don't mind," Maki shrugged. "It's nice being by myself. You're not like the rest of them. They're all so superficial and annoying."
"I'm not?"
"Nah, you're nice."
Caro practically glowed. This sort of compliment, coming from someone so beautiful…she had never thought she was good enough to have a friend like that.
Oh, crap! I still have to talk to Teana and Subaru, and lunch is over soon! She had been so engrossed in conversation she had completely forgot.
"Um, Nishikino-san…" Caro muttered. "Sorry, but I have to find some friends of mine…I'd like to stay longer, but it's important…"
"No problem," the pretty red-haired girl replied, just the faintest hint of a smile playing out across her face. "Anyway, I hope I talk to you again."
Hurriedly thanking her classmate, Caro ran ahead to find her friends.
Outside the second-year wing
"What are we going to do? What are we going to do?" Honoka moaned before starting again. "We need to think of something! Kotori-chan! Umi-chan! Think of something! You too, Subaru-chan and Hibiki-chan!"
Ever since the announcement in the morning, the ginger second-year had been like this all day. Subaru was a bit surprised. Sure, the school was important to the students, but she hadn't expected one to be this serious about it.
"Guys, if we don't do something, the school is going to close!" Honoka exclaimed. "Come on, help me think of something! You want to save it too, don't you?"
"Honoka-chan, I think you're overreacting…" Kotori muttered.
"Just asking other people to help you isn't going to do anything," Umi said coldly. "You've got to come up with something yourself."
While probably well-meaning enough, it was harsh to the point Honoka stopped talking for a second. Subaru felt a little twinge of frustration. It was rather uncalled for.
"Yeah, she's right," Teana said, moving to keep the conversation going and avoid the awkwardness. "You've got to come up with something yourself too."
"Well, okay…" Honoka replied quietly. "I don't know what to think of, but I'll do my best…"
"Look, Honoka," Umi said curtly. "I'm just going to tell you the truth. I don't think we can do anything. The attendance has been declining for ten years. When we entered, there were only four first-year classes. Now there's only two. Nobody wants to send their daughters to an expensive private same-sex music academy anymore. It's going to close. We're nothing but a relic. And besides," she paused for a second. "With Utagahama a kilometer and a half down the road, all the kids who would go here are going there instead. We can't compete with them."
"Utagahama?" Teana asked.
"Utagahama Technical Institute," Umi replied. "They call it UTX for short. They're a big new school with technology and tech integration everywhere. They specialize in STEM education...they're with the times and we're not." She sighed. "Everyone wants to go there. My dad wanted me to go there, too, but my mom thought I needed a more traditional education."
By her, Honoka looked at the ground, extremely downcast.
It was almost as if Subaru was seeing two different people. The Umi Sonoda who had been so shy in the morning was now dealing out brutal honesty to her best friends.
Well, maybe if you know each other for a long time you can get away with that, she thought. Still, it didn't make much sense to her.
"Cheer up, Honoka-chan," Kotori said in her cheerful, high-pitched voice. "It's not like we're going to be separated or anything."
"I know…" Honoka lamented. "But I like this school so much…and we just now got the chance to meet people like Hibiki-chan and Subaru-chan…"
It was strange hearing Teana referred to by another name, and having to call her that too. Subaru wasn't sure how far she was going to go without slipping up.
A soft voice came from beside her. "So that's where you were…"
Subaru recognized the voice as Caro's before she saw the figure of the tiny first-year, her blazer a bit too big for her and the blue bow she wore, different from the second-years' red bows, matching her skirt.
Seeing Caro always cheered her up. Subaru smiled and announced: "Ca- Shizuka! Hi!"
Honoka's downcast expression completely disappeared. "Who's that? She's so cute!"
Caro didn't seem too pleased, but Kotori was beaming as well, and even Umi appeared to be a bit lightened by the eleven year-old's presence. The young dragon summoner tended to do those things to people. Subaru remembered how many people at Riot Force 6 headquarters wanted to pat her on the head or hug her.
Subaru jumped to her feet. "Everyone meet the final Embassy exchange student! This is Shizuka Takigawa, who's from France, and she's eleven!"
"E-Eleven?" Honoka blurted out. "How'd she get in here?"
Umi sighed. "You know it's possible to be smart enough to skip grades, right?"
"Well, she is smart!" Subaru smiled. It wasn't an exaggeration. Caro was the best of Riot Force 6, and possibly one of the best in the TSAB, on the written parts of mage examinations despite being so young. Since she wasn't a fighter (her dragons did all the work for her), it made sense that she'd have more time to study.
"Sorry I'm late," Caro said. "There were a couple of first-years who wanted to hug me and they were really annoying…I'm glad I found all of you…By the way, who are they?"
Subaru pointed the second-years out in sequence. "Honoka Kosaka-" the energetic girl waved. "Kotori Minami-" the ash-blonde girl smiled. "-and Umi Sonoda." The regal girl just bowed her head.
Caro straightened for a second, and Subaru knew Teana had just mentally messaged her something about those three being important.
"So what are you guys doing?" Caro asked.
"We're thinking about saving the school! Shizuka-chan, you can join us if you want!"
"She's the only one doing that," Umi muttered.
"Uhh, thanks, Kosaka-senpai…" Caro sat down. "Lunch is almost over, isn't it?"
"Yeah, we've got a few minutes though," Umi replied. "I'll go throw my stuff away, though."
As Umi got up, Subaru looked toward the bushes nearby.
It was hard to make out through the foliage, but she was almost certain that there was what looked like a tall, dark shadow standing behind the bushes, completely black except for what appeared to be a red mask on its face. Hurriedly, she turned to her squadmates to see if they'd seen anything. Caro and Teana didn't appear to be disturbed at all, so she knew she was the only one that had seen it.
She turned back and there was no one there. Her mind was racing with questions. She was sure she had seen someone just seconds ago…but how had they disappeared so fast?
Fate had warned against enemies, but she wasn't even sure what to make of this one.
Shaking her head, she went back to her lunch and tried to keep as normal an expression as possible.
Later that night
One of the best parts about living in a house over her parents' candy store was that Honoka Kosaka got to eat sweets a lot. Of course, she tended to gain weight from that, but she wasn't really overweight so it was a small price to pay for how delicious they were.
However, she couldn't eat them all the time, even though she wanted to. Her parents made her eat normal food as well, as were on her plate at dinner. She was busy slowly spooning peas into her mouth and trying to look like she was at least indifferent about them, even though she hated everything green.
Her mother, who Honoka had gotten most of her looks from, sat across the table from her. To the left was her little sister Yukiho, who took after her father (sitting at the head of the table) more. In contrast to Honoka's happy-go-lucky personality, Yukiho seemed to be way more concerned with responsibility than any girl her age should be. She was the grown-up one. Honoka's parents would always compare the two, and it was starting to annoy her.
Sure, 'she's responsible', 'you need to be like your sister more', sure. I get that already. Can't I just be myself for once?
It wasn't that big of a deal though. Yukiho had her flaws, and so did Honoka.
And one of those flaws was vegetables. Honoka's little sister hated them even more than she herself did.
"Yuki, eat your peas," Honoka's mother commanded as Yukiho looked down at the vegetables with an expression of complete disgust. It was funny seeing Ms. Young Adult finally show that she was, in fact, a middle school student. Honoka wanted to see more of that.
"Honoka," her dad said, in his usual gruff voice, "how's school going?"
"Well," the ginger second-year looked down at her plate, "Headmaster Minami said they're going to be closing the school after this year. I don't know what I'm going to do…"
Honoka's mother looked as downcast as her daughter. "I hate to hear that. I loved it so much when I went there-" Honoka's mother was the president of the Otonokizaka alumni association. Beside her mother, her father chewed on his pork loin, apparently unaffected by the news. "Did you hear that, dear?" her mom asked. "Otonokizaka is closing after this year. We'll need to apply somewhere else for her final year."
"Is that so, Homura?" her dad muttered, unaffected. "Well, that's pretty bad news." His tone of voice showed that he seemed not to care at all.
"Hey, Yukiho," Honoka said curiously, "do you want to apply to Otonokizaka anyways? If you do, maybe you can convince your friends and we can get enough applications and save the school!"
"Sorry, Onee-chan," she muttered, "I'm already going to apply to UTX."
UTX again. There it was. Honestly, what did UTX have that was so great compared to Otonokizaka? Why was it taking all of Otonokizaka's prospective students?
"Darling," her mother said, "I'll have to talk to Mikoto about this…I had no idea she was planning to shut the school down before poor Kotori-chan finished.
Her father grunted in reply. Honoka wasn't paying any attention, though. How could she figure out why everyone wanted to go to UTX? How?
A sudden flash of inspiration crossed her mind.
"Mom, Dad," she asked, suddenly standing up from the table and pushing her chair in, "can I go over to UTX tomorrow and check it out? To see if I might want to transfer there if the school closes. Of course, that's not going to happen, but it's nice if I have a backup plan."
"Honoka," her mother said with concern, "you can't just go by yourself."
"I emknow that," Honoka huffed. "I'll text one of my friends and see if they can go. Tomorrow's Saturday, anyways."
Unfortunately, Honoka had no luck with either of her friends. Kotori was going to see her grandmother in Akita, and Umi had to clean out her parents' judo dojo. She didn't know of anyone else she could talk to and ask to go.
I know! Subaru and Hibiki! She was fortunate she had asked for their phone numbers the first day of school. But which one…
After a quick deliberation, she decided she would ask Subaru first. No offense to Hibiki, but she seemed to get along with Subaru better. Hibiki was more Umi's type.
Nervously, she pressed the keys on her phone's touchscreen. This would be the first time texting the American-born girl, so she was a bit nervous. Slowly, she tapped out:
"Subaru-chan, I'm going to UTX tomorrow to check it out for my sister. Do you want to go too? We can get something to eat on the way back, or go to the arcade or something…it'll be fun!"
To her surprise, the reply came back: "No prob! Just let me ask Fate about it..."
"Fate said it's ok! What time?"
Fate must be her guardian or something. Wait, does she mean Fate like our English teacher? Nope, no way.
She texted back "How about 1 PM?"
"Yeah, I can do that! I have to go now, see you tomorrow!"
For the first time since that morning, Honoka felt happy. She was growing closer to Subaru, she was making steps toward finding out things about her little sister, and maybe, just maybe she could figure out what to do to save their school after all.
Next afternoon
The square in Chiyoda was crowded, as Tokyo always is, although the flowing rivers of people were a bit less numerous than on a weekday. Many of the businessmen and women rushing to their next job were home today, so there was enough space for Subaru to make out the shape of her friend approaching.
And true to her word, Honoka appeared, running through the crowd to reach Subaru, who was standing against a lamppost at the center of the square. Honoka dodged a couple lines of people and then came to a stop next to her new friend. "Subaru-chan! Sorry I'm late!"
Her casual outfit was rather nice, Subaru thought. It looked like something she might wear; not too fancy, and free-flowing enough for movement. She caught the Japanese girl's eyes flicking over her outfit. "Hey, Subaru-chan, isn't that shirt a bit too short?"
Subaru looked down. Showing skin wasn't that big of a problem for her, but since she had been warned that this country saw any midriff exposure as indecent, she made sure her shirt was enough to cover her belly, but it did ride up when she raised her arms. Whatever. She wasn't embarrassed.
"Come on, let's go," Subaru said excitedly. "Where's UTX anyways?"
"It should be around this corner," Honoka said, reading off her phone as they walked. "It's past the Tamachi train station, and then at the intersection of highway 409 with the Minato road…there should be a post office and a grocery store next to it."
They took a left, and a large, glass and metal box loomed ahead of them. It had to be at least eleven stories high.
"Is that it?" Subaru gasped.
"Yeah, it says it is," Honoka replied, trying to keep her own mouth from falling open. "No way they go to school in that!"
The two had migrated over underneath the large building, and Subaru, noticing a video screen and music playing, pointed to it. "What's that?"
Honoka looked up as well. Three girls were dancing on-screen to a remarkably catchy tune. It was impressive how fluidly they moved and danced.
"Who are they?" Subaru mused, completely unaware of the small figure who had come to stand next to her.
"Ha! You don't know A-RISE?" Subaru turned to see a small girl (or at least she assumed it was) with jet-black twintails, wearing a heavy gray overcoat and sunglasses, with a mask over her face. She looked strange. Was she in a costume, or was she sick, or what? Yet another thing about this country she didn't understand.
"A-RISE?" Honoka looked confused.
"Seriously, I can't believe you two…" she muttered. "A-RISE are the ones up on that screen. They're the winners of the first two Love Live competitions and they singlehandedly saved their school from shutting down! They got popular enough and now everyone wants to go to UTX because of them! I applied, but I got rejected…" the girl growled.
"Love Live? What's that?" Honoka asked.
"Look it up yourself," the other girl snapped.
Honoka brought up her phone, tapped a couple times and began to read. "The Love Live…a competition to find the best amateur idol group in Japan…beginning with thousands, progressing through the regional competitions it will end with only one. The finals will be held in the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. First place prizes are…a trophy…a lifetime supply of free Lantis records…a record label deal with Lantis and ONE MILLION YEN?!"
"Subaru-chan, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Honoka's cornflower eyes had lit up. One million yen could likely keep their school afloat for several more years.
"Let's be idols! Let's get Kotori-chan, and Umi-chan, and Hibiki-chan too! Let's save the school, as school idols!"
Part of Subaru wondered why she should care so much. She wouldn't be here after one year. She wouldn't get to see the school stay alive, if it even did. Still, the part inside of her that cared about her new friends wanted them to be happy.
"Okay. I'll do it."
"Yes!" Honoka exclaimed, grasping Subaru's hands in hers tight and pulling her close. "We're going to be the best idols possible!"
What will Fate think?
"They all turned us down," Honoka moaned.
When Honoka, full of excitement, had brought the idea of an idol group up at the previous day's lunch, they hadn't gotten any takers on the idea except for Subaru. Kotori had politely declined, and Umi had told them that the idea was ridiculous. Teana hadn't said anything, and they didn't know where Caro was at all.
So the morning after their idea was shot down, Honoka and Subaru were practicing alone at the top of a set of concrete steps just outside the school. It was early in the morning, so they didn't have to worry about traffic.
Surprisingly, when Subaru told Fate, her superior officer had laughed a little and told her to go for it. Subaru definitely didn't expect that kind of reaction.
"Honoka, are you really sure you know what we're supposed to be practicing?"
"Yes, I do!" the hyperactive girl replied. She pulled out a few sheets of paper from her backpack. "This right here is the dance to Perfume's 'Laser Beam'! This is AKB48's 'River' dance! And this…" she pulled another sheet of paper out, "are the steps to A-RISE's very own 'Private Wars'!"
Subaru had zero clue what any of those were, but she knew from experience the best things to do were to smile and nod.
"Okay! Let's study them for a few minutes and then try them out!" Honoka beamed.
It was pretty hard to get the grip of dance moves on paper. After studying them, Subaru thought she had at least one of them down, but immediately fell the first time she tried one. She was athletic, but this idol thing took more skill than she thought. Honoka wasn't having a good time herself. She was shaky in her movements, but she was hitting more fluid combinations of moves than Subaru. emShe must have practiced before, Subaru thought.
The two continued for a few more minutes when Honoka stopped to check the time on her phone. "Oh, Kotori-chan!" she waved. "We're practicing!"
Honoka looked down to see Kotori standing there; she had been watching them for what she guessed was a longer time than just a few seconds. "Do your best!" she called out to them.
A few seconds later, Umi walked up. "What are they doing…" she muttered, loud enough for the two at the top of the stairs to hear.
"Look! They're trying their best!" Kotori exclaimed. "They are serious about this! Umi-chan, don't you want to join them? It looks so fun!"
"Like I said yesterday, no I don't."
"What if I join them?"
"I still won't."
"Suit yourself, then. I'm going up there to join them." By this time, Subaru and Honoka had stopped, totally engrossed on the conversation below them.
"No! Do you know how ridiculous you're being?"
"Look at her!" Kotori exclaimed, in a tone that surprised Subaru a little. "Look at how much she's enjoying it! Are you saying seeing your best friend happy doesn't make you happy? Not even a little?" She immediately turned and walked up the stairs toward Honoka and Subaru.
"Fine! Okay!" Umi replied strongly. "I'll do it! That's what you wanted, isn't it? I'll be an idol! I'll be serious about it! I'll do it!"
She stormed up the stairs and confronted Honoka, her face less than a few centimeters from her friend.
"Honoka, please let me be an idol with you." She bowed her head after she asked.
"Me too!" Kotori did the same thing.
In her mind, Subaru turned on her telepathic communication and reached out to find Teana.
Tea!
What is it…
Come quickly! There's something going on that you need to see!
Okay, I'll be over but this had better not be a prank…
Honoka was speechless for a moment. Then she cried out, "Of course! Thank you for being school idols with me, Kotori-chan, Umi-chan!"
The two smiled a bit after hearing their friend praise them.
"Honoka," Subaru said, piping up, "we're forgetting someone. I know someone else who wants to join."
"Okay!" Honoka smiled. "I know who you're talking about…we'll give her the welcome she needs!"
Four minutes later, when Teana arrived, breathless, she turned to the group up the stairs to ask what this was all about.
But before she could opened her mouth, she was drowned out by the four schoolgirls saying as one: "HIBIKI! BE A SCHOOL IDOL WITH US!"
"Absolutely not."
The student council president forked the club application back over to the five disappointed girls as they stared glumly at it.
"First off, you have to have five eligible students. Exchange students are not eligible due to the fact that the school counts them as already participating in a club. Therefore, you only have three eligible students.
"Secondly, our school has a bit of integrity to uphold. That does not include silly, childish dances and bubblegum pop. I don't want any perverted idol otaku at our school, and I certainly don't want such a black mark on our school's reputation as a superior music school.
"Trust me, we are doing the best we can here at the student council to save this school from closure. When you are ready to present me with a serious idea, I'll consider it. For now, leave," the blonde girl spat, gazing upon them with her ice-blue stare.
The five trudged dejectedly out of the student council room. As they went, the vice president passed them, her long purple trellises fanning out from her body.
"Um, excuse me!" Honoka piped up. The vice president stopped. "Is there any way we can get the student council to reconsider?"
"Sorry," the vice president grinned. "Rules are rules. Maybe you should try bringing it when Elicchi's in a better mood, though." She turned down the hallway and continued.
"Well, that was disappointing," Umi sighed as the five girls made their way back out of the courtyard. "Maybe I was right."
"It's okay," Honoka smiled, still dejected. "We'll just have to get better. We'll get more members, and we'll show the student council president that we are serious!"
"What about a composer and a songwriter?" Teana piped up.
"Well, ehm," Honoka smiled sheepishly. "I'm working on that!"
As Umi leaned over and sighed, her backpack fell from her shoulders. A small blue notebook dropped out of it, which she had accidentally left unzipped.
"Umi-chan, are you okay?" Honoka cried as she bent over to help her friend pick up the supplies.
Then, her hand hovered over the blue notebook and she grasped it. "What's this?"
"Honoka! Give that back!" Umi exclaimed, bristling.
In response, the ginger girl flipped it open. "What's in here…Lyrics?"
She giggled. "Ehehe- I guess you wanted to do this all along, didn't you?"
Umi had turned red, unable to get out even a word.
"It looks like we found a songwriter!" Honoka said happily. "I know! This one looks like a good song! Let's all sing it together!"
