Chapter 3: We're Going To Become Idols?
"What could you possibly want so early in the morning?" Ayase-san asked as the four of us as we stood there.
"We would like to request permission to use the auditorium." Honoka replied.
"The rules outlined in the school handbook state that students are free to use the auditorium independent of club activities." Umi continued.
"They want to use it after school on New Student Welcome Day." Toujou-san read off the application form.
"What are you going to use the auditorium for?" Ayase-san asked us again.
"Well..." Umi spoke softly.
"A live concert! The four of us formed a school idol group and we want to hold our first live concert in the auditorium!" Honoka told Ayase-san.
"Honoka!" Umi tried to stop Honoka.
"We don't know if we're ready for that yet." Kotori admitted sheepishly.
"Wait, me too?" I asked in surprise.
"What? Sure we are!" Honoka turned to Kotori.
"Wait a minute! I haven't agreed to go on stage yet!" Umi protested.
"Hold on, I'm performing?" I asked again, seeing as that was never actually clarified.
"You guys don't seem ready at all." Ayase-san deadpanned.
"What? W-We'll be fine!" Honoka straightened up.
"The new student welcome party isn't a game." Ayase-san kept her face straight.
"They just want permission to use the auditorium, right? They won't be using it for a club activity, so the student council has no right to object to what they want to do." Toujou-san spoke up while walking to the window.
"But..." Ayase-san was starting to say but stopped.
"Excuse us!" The four of us chorused and quickly left the room.
"We did it!" Honoka cheered and ran off happily.
"She knows we still have class right?" I asked no one in particular.
"She'll realise it eventually." Umi sighed.
Honoka came into class five minutes late...
"Eh, Kotori, where'd Honoka and Umi go?" I asked as I came back from the toilet.
"Erm, I'm not too sure..." Kotori replied, her focus on her sketchbook.
"What's that?" I asked her.
"Costume designs for our live show!" She replied with a grin and showed me her drawing.
"Wow… That looks really nice!" It was a pretty cute dress.
"You think so? Now I just got to get feedback from Honoka-chan and Umi-chan when they get back!" Kotori went back to doodling on her sketchbook.
I rested my head on the table. I wasn't actually part of the idol group was I?
"Kotori?" I heard Umi's voice and turned up. Honoka and Umi came back to class.
"What do you think? It's our stage costume!" Kotori showed them her design.
"It looks so cute Kotori-chan! Doesn't it Umi-chan?" Honoka bounced excitedly.
"Uh…" Umi look closely at the drawing.
"So?" Kotori urged Umi.
"These curve lines are here are supposed to be…" Umi pointed at the legs on the drawing.
"Legs!" Kotori smiled.
"Y-You mean we're supposed to wear costumes with such short skirts and perform?" Umi fidgeted with her thighs uncomfortably.
"It'll be fine Umi-chan! Your legs aren't that fat!" Honoka pounced on to Umi's lap.
"Gah! You should worry about yourself Honoka!" Umi said defensively.
"Hmm… Huh… Alright! Time to go on a diet!" Honoka felt up her thighs a little before fist pumping into the air.
"I think you're both fine…" Kotori smiled weakly.
"Yeah, you'll both be fine." I averted my eyes from them and chuckled nervously.
"Now we got to figure out things like what disguises to wear when we go outside and how to sign autographs." Honoka beamed.
"No, we don't." Umi deadpanned.
"Actually, we have something more important to think about… Our group name." Kotori spoke up.
"Oh yeah…" Honoka smiled embarrassingly.
"Really, you forgot about that Honoka?" I facepalmed.
"Hehe… Well, I got so excited for this it kinda just slipped my mind." Honoka scratched her head.
"Sheesh…" Umi sighed.
"So what should our group name be?" Honoka asked as soon as we sat down around Kotori and my tables put together.
"Our personalities don't even match to begin with…" Umi scratched her head.
"Yeah…" Kotori muttered.
"How about if we just use our names together?" Honoka gushed.
"We'd sound like comedians or something…" Umi shook her head.
"Oh! Umi-chan's name means 'sea' so you'll get the sea, Kotori-chan's name means 'little bird' so you'll get the sky and I'll get the land. We could call ourselves 'Land, sea and sky'!" Honoka beamed.
"That… Kinda sounds like some kind of military thing…" I raised an eyebrow.
"Gah… This isn't working out…" Honoka slumped on to the table.
"Oh! I got it! Kotori draw a poster for us!" Honoka started folding a piece of paper.
"E-Eh? O-Okay…" Kotori started drawing a poster with us on it.
"Wait, should I be on the poster?" I asked nervously.
"Uh… I don't think so…" Honoka paused.
"Yeah, might be a good idea to leave Ijiu off the poster." Umi shrugged.
"Yeah, since I'm not exactly going to be performing with you guys… I could do some behind-the-scenes stuff to help though, I guess." I gave a small grin.
"Yeah, you could!" Honoka smiled warmly.
"Okay, I'm done!" Kotori held out the poster.
Honoka took the box she folded and Kotori's poster and ran out of class. We followed after her.
"Tadah! We'll ask for suggestions!" Honoka grinned as she set up the box and poster at the notice board.
"Really, that was your plan? Let someone else decide for us?" Umi groaned.
"It's not a bad idea seeing as we can't come up with one of our own." I shrugged.
"Now that that's settled, let's start practicing!" Honoka fistpumped.
"But where can we practice?" Kotori wondered out loud.
"Somewhere with enough space for us to dance?" Honoka mused.
"Oh, I know a place." I remembered the near empty rooftop I used to go to before I started hanging out with Honoka, Umi and Kotori.
"Where?" Honoka was practically bubbling with excitement.
"Follow me." I grinned.
"The rooftop?" Umi asked when we got to the rooftop.
"Yeah, I mean there's plenty of space!" I gave a 'not-good-enough?' shrug.
"Yeah, but we won't be able to practice when it rains though…" Kotori thought out loud.
"I guess, but I'm pretty sure we won't be able to get anywhere else seeing as we aren't an official club." Umi sighed.
"It's alright! We'll make do with this! Let's start with some singing practice!" Honoka beamed.
The three of them stood in a straight line. I hung back by the stairwell to the roof. They stood there silently for a while.
"Uh, what song should we sing?" Kotori broke the silence.
"I don't know any songs." Umi admitted sheepishly.
"Me neither." Honoka chuckled embarrassingly. I mentally facepalmed.
"Do any of you know any dances?" I asked nervously.
"Uh… No." The three of them murmured at the same time.
"So… What are we going to do now?" This was not going too well.
"Remember that year one, Ijiu? The crimson haired girl who plays the piano and sings really well?" Honoka bubbled.
"Uh, yeah. What about her?" I nodded.
"I was thinking we could get her to help us compose a song!" Honoka smiled.
"Oh…" That wasn't too bad an idea, I guess.
"Are you sure she can help?" Umi cocked an eyebrow.
"She plays the piano so well, I'm willing to bet she can compose songs!" Honoka's smile didn't waver.
"That's not what I meant Honoka." Umi deadpanned.
"Huh? Then what do you mean Umi-chan?" Honoka raised an eyebrow.
"She means even if that year one is that good, she might not agree to help us." I just realised that.
"See, Ijiu gets it." Umi shook her head.
"I'm sure she'll be willing to help!" Honoka seemed pretty confident about getting the year one to help us.
"And you'll be asking her to write lyrics as well?" I asked Honoka.
"Eh… I think we should try to write it ourselves?" Honoka seemed to have completely forgotten about that.
"Geez, you forgot about that didn't you?" Umi wasted no time in shooting Honoka down.
"N-No I didn't! Ehehehehehe…" Honoka chuckled nervously.
"Sheesh Honoka…" Umi deadpanned and facepalmed.
"How about we go over to my house and come up with some lyrics then?" Honoka recovered well enough.
"Yeah, that sounds like a plan!" Kotori smiled warmly.
"You guys go ahead, I have archery practice right now so I'll join you guys later." Umi said.
"I got to run around some clubs and help out." I was like an advisor for a fair bit of sports clubs.
We all went back to class and went our separate ways for now. I headed to volleyball first. The volleyball club shared the indoor sports hall with the badminton club so I could maximise efficiency. I helped out with the warm ups and some basic practices for both clubs. Not at the same time, of course. Then I headed to the field to help with the track club and football (soccer) club. Finally I headed to the basketball court to help with the basketball club. Those were all the club activities happening today. I slowly dragged my body back home.
"I'm home!" I called out as I stepped into the house.
"Onii-chan!" Saki came running down the stairs.
"No." I replied hastily.
"What? I haven't even asked yet!" Saki whined.
"Yeah, I'm busy today. Get out of my way." I grumbled as I headed for the shower.
"Come on! You're never free nowadays!" Saki stalked after me.
"Yeah, I have club activities and such alright?" I stared squarely at Saki.
"You meanie!" Saki stormed back up to her room. I quickly took a shower and changed into some plain clothes.
"I'm heading out!" I called out as I put on my shoes and left the house.
By the time I arrived at Honoka's house, it was pretty late. The sun was setting already.
"Oh, hi Ijiu-kun!" Honoka's mum greeted me as I stepped into the shop.
"Hi Ma'am." I smiled back.
"Honoka and the rest are upstairs-" Honoka's mum started.
"IJIU-KUN! STOP UMI-CHAN!" Honoka's voice reverberated through the building.
I looked up and I saw Umi running down the stairs from upstairs. Honoka was chasing her.
"IJIU! MOVE!" Umi hollered as she ran towards me.
"IJIU-KUN STOP HER!" Honoka screamed from the top of the stairs.
"MOVE, IJIU!" Umi was trying to slow down and not crash into me.
CRASH! She still crashed into me. We went sprawling out of the shop.
"Ow…" Umi slowly sat herself up.
"Urgh…" I groaned as Umi shifted her weight above me.
"Umi-chan! Ijiu-kun!" Honoka ran out of the shop.
"Are you okay Umi?" I slowly sat myself up.
"Eh, I think so…" Umi's face was suddenly in my entire field of vision.
We sat there, or rather, I sat there and Umi remained on my lap. We just stared at each other. Our faces were incredibly close. I couldn't shift my focus away from Umi's brown eyes. It felt like time stopped as we just kept staring into each other's eyes.
"Umi-chan, Ijiu-kun, are you guys okay?" Honoka's voice cut through our little trance.
"E-Eh yeah!" Umi quickly scrambled off me.
"Y-Yeah!" I quickly got on to my feet as well.
"A-Anyway, why were you running away just now Umi?" I gave her a quizzical look.
"I-I…" Umi stood there twiddling her fingers shyly.
"Umi-chan doesn't want to write the lyrics for our song!" Honoka pouted.
"W-Well you came up with this idea!" Umi quickly countered.
"Er, can we go inside and you guys slowly fill me in on what I missed?" I realised we were standing outside.
"Hehehe, yeah okay." Honoka led the way back inside. Umi and I followed.
"Okay, so Kotori is busy with the costumes." I reflected on what they'd told me.
"Mm-hmm." Kotori nodded.
"But Honoka isn't really doing much so she could write the lyrics." I continued.
"Exactly! She got us into this." Umi crossed her arms.
"But Umi would do a better job of writing the lyrics than Honoka." I finished my summary.
"Yeah!" Honoka pouted at Umi.
"So, what's the problem?" I still wasn't too sure what the issue was. Was it getting Umi to write the lyrics or Honoka to write the lyrics.
"Umi-chan won't write the lyrics!" "Honoka should write the lyrics!" Honoka and Umi spoke at the same time.
"Er…" Kotori and I looked at each other nervously.
"Ijiu-kun, Kotori-chan, tell Umi-chan she should write the lyrics!" Honoka whined at us.
"No, Honoka should write it since this is your idea!" Umi protested.
"Uh…" Kotori and I backed away slightly from the two of them.
"Ijiu! You agree with me that Honoka should write the lyrics since she came up with the idea right?" Umi suddenly turned and gave me a harsh gaze.
"No way! Ijiu-kun, tell Umi-chan she should write the lyrics since she'll most probably do a better job than me!" Honoka gave me a really cute puppy face.
"E-Eh… I think Honoka is right, Umi. I mean you're agreeing to this so maybe you might want to come up with decent lyrics?" I cowered under Umi's stare after being overpowered by Honoka's cute face.
"See? Ijiu-kun understands!" Honoka beamed cheerily and smiled at Umi.
"And what about you Kotori?" Umi directed her stare at Kotori.
"U-Uh… I agree with Ijiu-kun… I don't think I want to perform a song with weird lyrics…" Kotori chuckled nervously.
"Kotori-chan that's so mean!" Honoka pouted at Kotori.
"I-I didn't mean any offence Honoka-chan…" Kotori had a nervous smile on her face.
"Fine!" Umi sighed in defeat. Then she suddenly stood up.
"But I'll be in charge of your training menus then!" Umi spoke authoritatively.
"Training menus? What for?" Honoka looked quizzically at Umi.
Umi reached over to Honoka's laptop on her table. She navigated to a music video (MV) of A-RISE, a really popular school idol group, and angled the screen so we could all see what was on it.
"Do you think it's possible for these girls to sing and dance like this so energetically just like that?" Umi pointed at the three school idols singing and dancing in their MV.
"Honoka, can you get into a pushup position?" Umi half asked, half requested.
"Like this?" Honoka hovered over the floor in a pushup position.
"Now can you smile?" Umi half asked, half requested again.
"Like this?" Honoka wore a huge grin on her face.
"What's Umi-chan doing?" Kotori whispered to me.
"Uh… I'm not too sure." I replied, though I had a slightly vague idea of what may be going on.
"Now please do a pushup." Umi requested of Honoka.
"L-Like this-?" Honoka started going down but her arms began to tremble and then she smacked her face into the floor.
"Ow!" Honoka sat back up and rubbed her pained nose.
"Seeing as I'm already in the Archery Club, I'm fit enough. But you two will need some training before you'll be able to keep up the energy whilst singing and dancing on stage." Umi stated matter-of-factly.
"Ahh… That makes sense…" Kotori muttered softly.
"Well, it's getting late so we'd better head home first. I'll get started on the lyrics. Meet me at the shrine steps tomorrow at 8." Umi picked up her bags.
"Eh, me too?" I quickly spoke up.
"Eh, i-if you could that'd help. I mean seeing as you help out with various sports club, it'd be really helpful if you could help with the training menu and such." Umi twiddled her fingers slightly, looking slightly away from me and blushed a little. My heart skipped a beat.
"Y-Yeah, sure. I'll try." I tried not to sound nervous or flustered.
"No fair! Ijiu-kun you have to come!" Honoka suddenly pouted.
"E-Eh? W-Why?" I was shocked at her sudden outburst.
"It's not fair if you get to sleep in while I have wake up early." Honoka grinned cheekily.
"U-Uh… Okay…" I nodded nervously.
"Well, it's getting late now so I think we can call it a day here." Umi got up and gathered her belongings.
"Mm." Kotori nodded and proceeded to do the same.
"Yeah." I got up as well.
Honoka walked us out.
"Well, whether or not you want to help out is up to you Ijiu, so…" Umi stared at the ground.
"I'll be there! I am going to be a member once we form the club after all." I should help out, especially since they're my friends.
"Really? Thanks Ijiu-kun!" Kotori smiled.
"It's only right…" I scratched my head shyly.
"Well, you better not be late then." Umi said a little fiercely.
"Y-Yeah! I won't…" I promised nervously.
We split up and headed our separate ways home.
"I'm home!" I called out after entering the front door.
No reply came. Huh, I guess Saki should be in bed by now. Where's Mom though? Is she also asleep already? Hmm, there's light coming from the living room.
"Geez Mom… You should have just gone to bed if you were this tired…" I sighed softly as went over to carry Mom back to her room.
Careful not to disturb her sleep too much, I brought her back to her room. After tucking Mom into bed I headed back to the living room to switch off the lights. I quickly prepared a bath and took a quick shower. I headed up to my room and pulled out some homework.
"Ijiu!" I heard a voice calling my name.
"Bwuh?" I stirred slightly.
"Ijiu, answer your phone!" I registered the voice as Mom's.
My phone? What? Wait, something is ringingly rather annoyingly… I fumbled for my phone and answered it.
"Hello?" I yawned.
"Ijiu?" I heard a girl's voice. Why is a girl calling me so early in the morning?
"Who is this?" I rubbed my eyes a little.
"I-It's Umi." Umi replied.
"Oh… Morning, Umi. What's up?" I yawned again.
"Er, yeah, good morning. You're coming right?" Umi asked. Coming? Oh crap.
"Y-Yeah! I'm heading out right now!" I lied as I snapped awake. Darn, I completely forgot to set an alarm last night!
"O-Okay! It's okay if you're a little late though so don't rush yourself." Umi's voice came rather softly.
"Oh, er, alright. I think I'll be there in about fifteen minutes." I quickly made an estimation.
"Alright, see you then." "Yeah, bye!" The call ended.
I quickly got up… From my desk. Great, I fell asleep doing homework again. I quickly packed my bag and grabbed a change of clothes. I headed to the bathroom. Saki just finished her bath.
"Eh, Onii-chan? Why are you up so early?" Saki raised an eye at me.
"Helping my friends out with something." I replied curtly before heading into the bathroom, preventing Saki asking me any more questions.
"Are you free anytime soon?" I was greeted by Saki as soon as I stepped out of the bathroom.
"Why?" I asked warily.
"Just wondering!" Saki replied with an all-too-innocent smile.
"I don't know." I answered honestly.
"Eh? Why wouldn't you know?" Saki seemed genuinely surprised.
"How am I supposed to explain something I don't know?" I shrugged.
Saki stalked off in silence without saying another word.
"I'm heading out!" I called out after grabbing a slice of buttered toast.
"Take care!" Mom called back.
I quickly checked the time. 7:56 a.m. I could make it to the shrine in time if I ran, but I have this toast. I brisk walked as fast as I could while chomping down on the toast.
I finally arrived at the shrine a somewhat late. Umi had already made Honoka and Kotori start their training.
"Hey, sorry I'm late." I apologised whilst finishing up my last mouth of toast.
"It's fine, Ijiu." Umi chuckled a little.
"So, er, what can do to help?" I swallowed that last bit of toast.
"Well, I came up with this training menu last night, and maybe you could refine it?" Umi presented a piece of paper with writings on it.
"Wow…" I wasn't sure how to tell Umi this was a little bit too intense even for the likes of me.
"What do you think?" Umi smiled innocently.
"Well… Er… Are you going to be doing this with them at some point in time?" She had to right?
"Why? I'm already fit enough." Umi gave me a look of what seemed like genuine surprise.
"W-Well… Erm…" Okay, she would probably get upset if I told her…
"What is it? Is it not good enough?" Umi suddenly gasped.
"No! Definitely not!" I quickly denied.
"So what is it?" Umi regarded me with a curious stare.
"Well…" I was looking for words to phrase this such that Umi wouldn't be too offended.
I heard Honoka and Kotori footsteps as they jogged up the shrine steps.
"Morning Ijiu-kun!" Honoka and Kotori greeted me when they saw me.
"Hey, morning." I greeted them back. They headed back down the shrine steps.
"So what's wrong with it Ijiu?" Umi persisted.
"Well, I think this is a little too intense for them." I gave up and just told her straight up.
"Too intense?" Umi didn't seem to understand what I was saying.
"Yeah. You're making them train so regularly with such high intensity. They might not be able to take it." Did Umi really think about this menu of hers?
"Really? But this is a pretty standard training menu from what I gathered from my sources…" Umi still didn't seem convinced.
"And what were your sources?" Please tell me she didn't get this off the internet…
"Well, from my parents!" Umi proclaimed proudly.
"Eh… Isn't your father a martial arts trainer?" Okay… I see how this came to be now…
"Yeah, and my mom is a dance instructor!" Umi said proudly.
"What did you tell them this was for? The training menu, that is." I don't think Umi gave them all the details…
"For training of course!" Umi giggled as if I said something funny.
"You didn't tell them it was for Honoka and Kotori to build up stamina?" I questioned.
"O-Of course I did!" Umi gave a rather nervous looking smile.
"You didn't, did you?" I was not convinced.
"T-That's not the point! Why do you say it's too intense?" Umi quickly evaded my question.
"Well, for most of the sports clubs in school, they normally do half of what is listed on that menu. Slightly less than half even. I mean I get if this is for a grown adult wanting to train, but it's too intense for regular high schoolers." I let her evade the question. That isn't the issue afterall.
"R-Really?" Umi seemed unconvinced.
"Well, I may have exaggerated a little when I said half." I admitted.
"S-So there isn't much need to change the menu then?" Umi smiled a little.
"Under exaggerated, that is. I think they do about a quarter of that training menu." I'd recalculated the numbers. Half was an over estimation.
"R-Really? This menu is that intense?" Umi still didn't seem convinced.
"Well, I don't even think I could do half of this." I admitted quite frankly. I was fit, but not THAT fit.
"O-oh… Maybe it is too intense…" Umi reluctantly admitted.
"Well, it's simple enough to fix." I quickly pulled out my pen from my bag and made a few changes.
"How does this look?" I presented Umi a revised version of her menu.
"T-That looks okay?" Umi seemed unsure.
"Well if it's not up to your expectations let's try to work out a way for it to meet your expectations?" I offered a suggestion.
"N-No, it's that Honoka and Kotori are already on their sixth set." Umi admitted sheepishly.
"Oh. WAIT WHAT?" I quickly went and peered down the shrine steps. Honoka and Kotori were struggling up the steps.
"I can't move my legs anymore!" Honoka groaned as soon as she made it back up the steps and crumpled to the floor. Kotori was panting really heavily.
"Well, you're done for now so rest up." I quickly passed them both their water bottles.
"Eh? Didn't we have more sets?" Kotori seemed confused.
"W-Well, Ijiu convinced me the menu was a little bit too intense…" Umi sheepishly admitted.
"Ijiu-kun! Thank you so much for coming! I think I would have died if I had to actually complete Umi's training menu!" Honoka suddenly pounced a hug on me.
"Oof!" I grunted as Honoka knocked into me a lot harder than I expected.
"Amazing Honoka-chan! I don't think I can even stand up right now…" Kotori gasped and panted, still trying to catch her breath.
"Yeah, where'd all that energy come from?" Honoka seemed exhausted just moments ago.
"Well, I'm just so happy we didn't have to finish up the whole menu!" Honoka let go of me and crumpled back down to the ground.
"You probably shouldn't have jumped up like that." Honoka seemed even more exhausted than before all of a sudden.
"I'm… Fine…" Honoka wheezed as her body swayed a little from side to side.
"You're swaying a little Honoka." Umi pointed out to Honoka.
"I... I'm... Fine..." Honoka laid on the ground.
"Well you two shouldn't be sitting or lying down immediately after you finish your exercise..." This was another issue of overworking them...
"Guys." A rather familiar voice called from behind us.
"Vice President?" It was the student council vice president. What was she doing here?
"Eh, why are you here Vice President? And why are you dressed like that?" Was she in a shrine girl's outfit? That looked like a shrine girl's outfit.
"I help out at the shrine whenever I'm free. It's a place full of spiritual power after all." Toujou-san smiled warmly at us.
"Spiritual power?" I don't think I understand... Honoka, Umi and Kotori looked confused as well.
"Since you all are here, why don't you visit the shrine?" Toujou-san suggested.
She led us to the altar or something.
"Please let our first live be a success!" We chorused together.
After washing up a little, we headed off to school ahead of Toujou-san because she said she had something to finish up.
"Are you sure about this, Honoka?" Umi seemed really hesitant.
"Yeah! It won't hurt to ask!" Honoka smile cheerily.
"Well, this is definitely the class then…" Seeing as how we only had one class of juniors under us second years…
Honoka opened the closed classroom door and we all stepped in after her.
"Hi juniors! I am Honoka, Otonokizaka's school idol!" Honoka introduced us.
We were greeted with silence as the juniors looked at each other in confusion, some even averting their gazes from me when looking at us.
"Eh? No one's heard of us?" Honoka seemed to be in a slight disbelief.
"Why would they have heard about us?" Umi sighed.
"Anyway, where is this girl you were talking about Honoka-chan?" Kotori reminded Honoka.
"Eh…" Honoka looked around the room. I didn't see the crimson haired girl…
The classroom door opened. The crimson haired girl stood in the doorway.
"Ah! It's you!" Honoka rushed over to the girl.
"Eh?" She barely had time to react before Honoka started leading her away from the class.
"We'd better follow them huh…" I started heading out the classroom.
"Yeah…" Umi quickly followed behind.
"Excuse us!" I could hear Kotori say before her footsteps followed.
"Could you help us compose a song?" Honoka asked the crimson haired girl when we finally caught up to them on the roof.
"I refuse." She replied curtly.
"Eh? Why? Is it because you can only play and you can't compose?" Honoka seemed really surprised.
"Of course I can! I just don't want to." She folded her arms.
"Please? This is to attract more students to enroll in the school and-" Honoka started pleading.
"I'm not doing it." She cut Honoka off before walking back to the stairwell.
"'I'm not doing it.' That was just like you Umi-chan." Honoka pouted.
"That's a very normal reaction! Even more so that we don't even know her." Umi shook her head.
"Man, these lyrics you wrote would go to waste if we can't find a good composer." Honoka sighed, holding Umi's lyrics in her hand.
"What are you doing with that? Give it back!" Umi quickly lunged at Honoka and started grabbing at her lyrics.
"What? Why? We'll be singing this when it's done!" Honoka was trying her best to keep the lyrics out of Umi's hands.
"It's still embarrassing! Give it back!" Umi kept grabbing at her lyrics.
"Excuse me." A really familiar voice came from the stairwell. It was the student council president.
"Student Council President." Umi and Honoka stopped fooling around.
"Are you guys serious on saving the school? If you guys are, do you really think it is so simple? Otonokizaka has never had school idols before, so what if you guys become school idols and fail? What kind of impression will that leave on Otonokizaka? I understand that you guys want to save the school from closing down, but I also want you guys to understand that saving the school won't be so simple. So please, just forget about this and continue with your regular school life." Ayase-san lectured us and left immediately.
Honoka, Umi and Kotori all seemed pretty dejected. The bell signaling the end of our break rang. We made our way back to class. The rest of the day passed by rather quickly…
"I guess I didn't realise how big an issue trying to save the school actually is…" Honoka sighed with her bread in hand.
"Really? You just realised?" Umi sighed as well.
"But I wasn't fooling around… I've been following Umi-chan's and Ijiu-kun's training menu even though my legs hurt…" Honoka munched a little on her bread.
"Yeah I can see it. And I think Umi can see it too, right?" I turned to Umi.
"Yeah." Umi nodded.
"We're all trying hard! But if we can't get a song by the end of the month we might have to perform a song that was written and composed for other idols…" Kotori sighed.
"Yeah…" Honoka, Umi and I nodded in agreement.
We finished up our snacks and headed back to class.
"I'm going to go keep the name suggestion box, you guys head back to class first." Honoka sighed a little.
"Alright." Umi nodded. Kotori and I just walked along silently back to class.
"We should probably try to come up with a name…" Umi sighed when we got back to class.
"Yeah… But we've already brainstormed before, haven't we?" I shrugged.
"Eh? Why do we still have to try to come up with a name?" Kotori seemed surprise.
"We probably aren't getting any name suggestions…" Umi sighed.
"Oh… Yeah you're probably right…" Kotori sighed as well.
"We got one!" Honoka announced when she got back to class.
"Eh?" The three of us were in shock.
"Really?" Kotori asked.
"Yeah!" Honoka held out one piece of folded paper.
"What's written on it?" Umi asked.
"U's?" Honoka read out the name.
"I don't think so. I think it's read Muse." Umi took a look at the paper.
"Oh! Like the soap brand?" Honoka suddenly realised.
"No." Umi shook her head. Kotori chuckled a little.
"It's probably referring to the nine goddesses of music in Greek mythology." Umi thought aloud.
"It sounds good! I like it!" Kotori smiled.
"Yeah, it's doesn't sound too bad! Plus if it's referring to the goddesses in Greek mythology, it's got a lot of meaning behind it." I nodded in agreement.
"Muse…" Honoka mumbled the name softly.
"So we're in agreement of using this name?" Honoka asked.
"Yeah!" Kotori chirped.
"Sure!" Umi smiled.
"Mhmm!" I nodded.
"Well, now that that's settled, I've got to go for Archery now, so I'll head off first." Umi picked up her belongings.
"I've got something I gotta do as well." Kotori got up as well.
"Alright, see you guys at the stairs later." Honoka sighed a little.
"Yeah, see you." Umi and Kotori left.
"Ijiu-kun, I'm gonna go ask that junior again." Honoka suddenly said seriously.
"Eh? Okay? Why're you telling me?" She could just go, I'll have to help out at the clubs soon anyways.
"Erm, could you come with me before you go help out at the other clubs?" Honoka gave me an embarrassed look.
"Yeah, sure!" I had some time to kill anyways.
"Yay! Let's go!" Honoka grabbed her things and got up.
I followed after her as we headed for the juniors' classroom.
"Eh? She'd not here?" Honoka sighed as we looked in the near empty classroom.
"Are you looking for someone, nya~?" An orange haired girl suddenly popped out of nowhere. I jumped a little. Honoka didn't flinch.
"Yeah, that girl?" Honoka answer vaguely. How would she know who you're referring to Honoka?
"Who?" The orange haired girl tilted her head in confusion. I don't blame you...
"D-Do you mean Nishikino-san? The girl who sings well..." Another light brown haired, spectacle-wearing girl spoke up from behind the orange haired girl. Woah, you managed to figure out who Honoka was talking about?
"So her name is Nishikino-san?" Honoka asked.
"N-Nishikino Maki-san." The light brown haired, spectacle-wearing girl answered.
"Do you know where we can find her, if she's still in school?" Honoka smiled.
"She's usually in the library during breaks, and after school she goes to the music room, so maybe you could check there?" The orange haired girl answered.
"Oh… Thanks!" Honoka smiled and headed off.
"Thanks!" I smiled to them as well.
"Erm!" The light brown haired, spectacle-wearing girl called out from behind us.
"Eh?" Honoka and I turned around.
"G-Good luck… With the idol thing…" The light brown haired, spectacle-wearing girl blushed a little.
"Mm! Thanks!" Honoka smiled warmly. I just nodded.
We headed towards the music room. Sure enough, when we got near the music room, the soothing sound of the piano and Nishikino-san's voice could be heard. Once we got to the music room, we just stood outside listening to Nishikino-san.
When Nishikino-san finally finished, we applauded. She seemed shock to to see us.
"W-What do you want?" Nishikino-san regarded with her arms crossed.
"We came to get your help!" Honoka beamed. Honoka, she's probably gonna say 'no' again…
"You don't know when to quit, do you? Nishikino-san crossed her arms. Called it.
"Hehe, I get that a lot from Umi-chan…" Honoka shrugged. I'm glad you know...
"I already told you I'm not interested, my answer isn't changing." Nishikino-san seemed pretty firm.
"But why?" Honoka wasn't just about to give up.
"I listen to more jazz and classical music, idol music isn't really my thing. It's also a rather shallow form of music…" Nishikino-san explained.
"I think I understand what you mean… I used to think that too…" Honoka nodded a little.
"Hey, I bet you can't do a push-up, can you?" Honoka suddenly said. Honoka, what're you trying to do?
"W-What? Of course I can!" Nishikino-san removed her jacket and got into a push-up position. You're seriously falling for her ruse too?
"1… 2… 3…" Nishikino-san counted out her push-ups.
"Wow! You can do even more than me when I started!" Honoka gushed.
"See-" Nishikino-san started to say.
"Now do it smiling!" Honoka instructed. Ahh… Not bad Honoka.
"What, why?" Nishikino-san grumbled.
"Just do it!" Honoka urged.
"Grr…" Nishikino-san began struggling as she managed one push-up.
"Not very easy, is it? See, being an idol isn't just about fun and games!" Honoka smiled.
"Huh? You're not making any sense!" Nishikino-san sounded a little grumpy.
"Here, take a look at the lyrics!" Honoka forced Umi's lyrics into Nishikino-san's hands.
"E-Eh? I said I'm not doing it!" Nishikino-san said in surprise.
"I know, but at least take a look at the lyrics? I'll come back and ask you again later, and if you reject me then, I'll leave you alone." Honoka set an ultimatum.
"Honoka…" I'd kept quiet until then, but I felt the need to speak up.
"Yeah?" Honoka smiled innocently at me.
"We shouldn't force this on to Nishikino-san like this." I walked up to Nishikino-san.
"You don't have to look at the lyrics if you don't want to. I'm sorry for disturbing you." I held my hand out.
"I-I didn't say I wouldn't look at the lyrics! I-I'll consider helping you guys after I've read the lyrics…" Nishikino-san grumbled slightly.
"Really? Thank you!" Honoka beamed.
"I-I didn't say I'd help! I'll consider after I've at least read your lyrics." Nishikino-san blushed really hard.
"Man, I'm so glad Nishikino-san agreed to help us! Now I can go enjoy some more bread! Oh! You should come watch us practice at the shrine stairs sometime!" Honoka sighed happily as she started to leave the room.
"W-Wait! I didn't agree! And why would I go watch you guys practice..?" Nishikino-san tried to object but Honoka had already left.
"Hehe… She does that sometimes… I'm really sorry for us inconveniencing you…" I bowed slightly.
"I-It's no big deal!" Nishikino-san's blush turned brighter.
"Well, I got to go help out some clubs now, so I'll get out of your face!" I smiled and turned to leave.
"S-Senpai! Y-You are my senpai right?" Nishikino-san blurted out.
"Eh, yeah. Why?" Did she not realise I was her senpai?
"Y-You're a guy?" Nishikino-san seemed a little uneasy.
"Ah… That's a kind of a long story, maybe I'll tell some other time when I get the chance!" I smiled before I headed off.
She seems like a nice enough girl. Hopefully she decides to help us. And maybe it'd be nice if she joined us too! What with her having such an amazing voice.
Only the track and soccer (football) clubs had activities so I headed for the field. I finished what I had to help out with fast enough. But I didn't have time to head home for a shower. So I headed straight for the shrine stairs.
Honoka and Kotori just started their training under Umi's supervision when I got there.
"So did the junior agree to help us?" Umi asked me when I got within earshot.
"Her name's Nishikino Maki-san, and I'm not really sure. I think she probably would though. She seems nice enough." I shrugged.
"Well, I'm not surprised if Nishikino-san refuses to help. She seemed pretty adamant about not helping us from the beginning anyways." Umi sighed.
"Haha, cheer up Umi! I'm sure she'll be touched by your lyrics and help us!" I smiled reassuringly.
"Eh? What do you mean?" Umi seemed confused.
"Oh, Honoka passed her your lyrics and asked her to look at it!" I nodded.
"Ah? Nishikino-san has my lyrics now? HONOKA!" Umi shriek at Honoka.
"She'd still have to look at it later on if she chose to help, wouldn't she?" I gave Umi a 'it's-kind-of-unavoidable' look.
"Y-Yeah… I-I guess…" Umi sighed in defeat.
Honoka and Kotori came back up the stairs.
"I'll go down with you guys to get drinks." I quickly joined them and jogged down the stairs. These girls can be pretty forgetful sometimes.
"Er, thanks!" I heard Umi call out from behind me.
"Thanks…" Honoka and Kotori panted beside me.
"Save your breaths for the jog! No problem though." I smiled back.
Honoka and Kotori headed back up the stairs when they reached the bottom of the stairs. I continued to the vending machines a little bit ahead. I got ten bottles and headed back.
Is that Nishikino-san? She really came to watch us practice? Does that mean she's going to help us compose a song? Eh? Is that Toujou-san? What is she-?
I choked as Nishikino-san screamed in shock as Toujou-san grabbed Nishikino-san's breasts.
"They're not ripe yet… But they still have time to develop. Don't give up hope." I could hear Toujou-san say.
"W-What are you talking about?!" Nishikino-san shrieked a little as she got out of that awkward position.
"You can lend them your help in secret if you're shy." Toujou-san smiled warmly.
Nishikino-san stood there quietly.
"Eh? Yoshitaro-kun? Did you see that?" Toujou-san seemed to have noticed me and there was a somewhat evil look in her eyes.
"I- Er- Well- It's-" Oh crap… What is Toujou-san going to do to me?
"You didn't see anything right?" Toujou-san smiled really scarily.
"Y-Yeah! I didn't see anything! Er, you want some drinks?" I quickly took the chance Toujou-san was giving me.
"Sure! Thanks!" Toujou-san smile sincerely when she thanked me.
"N-Nishikino-san?" I held one bottle out for her.
"F-Fine. T-Thanks." Nishikino-san accepted a bottle as well.
"W-Well, I'd better get up…" I chuckled nervously as I made my way up the stairs.
Honoka and Kotori were on their way down the stairs as I went up.
"Did you see what happened just now Ijiu?" Umi asked me when I got up.
"H-Huh? What do you mean?" I smiled.
"That scream sounded like it was coming the bottom the stairs, did you happen to see anything going on there?" Umi raised an eyebrow.
"N-No? I didn't see anything, but I heard it though… Haha…" I tried not to remember that scene.
"Oh… I see…" Umi nodded.
"Here!" I quickly passed Umi a bottle of water to divert her attention.
"Thanks!" Umi took it and started drinking.
That was really weird… In a lewd kind of way… Okay, stop thinking about that.
"One more set!" Umi called out when Honoka and Kotori came up the stairs.
"Good job guys!" I cheered them on.
Then I noticed something as they were heading back down the stairs… Their white training shirts were becoming slightly translucent… Oh crap…
"Ijiu, are you okay?" Umi's voice cut through my thoughts.
"Eh, yeah! W-Why?" I turned to look at Umi.
"You seemed to be spacing out a little." Umi said.
I couldn't answer. Umi was perspiring a little as well. My eyes wandered somewhere they shouldn't have.
"Ijiu?" Umi's voice cut through my thoughts again.
"Y-Yeah?" I quickly snapped myself out of my trance.
"Do I have something on me?" Umi regarded me with an innocent look.
"H-Huh? Wh-What do you mean?" What was she talking about?
"Well, you were staring at me rather intently…" Umi seemed confused.
"ER- I- You see… It's- Erm... Well…" Don't look back there! Look anywhere but there.
"Ijiu, you… Weren't looking anywhere you shouldn't have… Right?" Umi suddenly gave me an apprehensive look.
"N-NO! WH-WHAT MAKES YOU SAY THAT? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA… NO!" Oh crap. She noticed. I'm dead.
"O-Oh... Okay…" Umi sighed a little.
"Y-Yeah…" Wait… Is it just me or does Umi seem a little disappointed?
"Done…" Honoka panted as she trudged up the last few steps.
"We did it…" Kotori wheezed a little.
"Good job you guys! Here, drink up!" I passed them each a bottle of water.
"Ahh! Thanks Ijiu-kun!" Honoka started gulping down the water.
"Thanks Ijiu-kun!" Kotori started downing the water as well.
"Hey Honoka, slow down a little." I warned. Honoka was gulping down the water incredibly fast.
"Ahh! That hit the spot!" Honoka finally put the bottle down, after finishing it.
"Y-You finished it? So quickly?" Oh my gosh, please don't puke or something.
"Do you have any more water, Ijiu-kun?" Honoka smiled at me.
"Yeah, but I'm not giving it to you yet." I'm gonna need to be firm now.
"Eh? Why? Please! Ijiu-kun!" Honoka pouted and begged.
"No means no, Honoka! You drink anymore and you're gonna puke!" I have to stay firm.
"Ijiu-kun! Pretty please! I'll only take a few more sips! Please!" Honoka made a cute pouty face.
"F-Fine. But I'll feed you that few sips!" I opened a new bottle of water.
"Thanks!" Honoka started gulping down the water.
"Ok! Stop!" I quickly withdrew the bottle from Honoka's mouth. Some water spilt out.
"Ijiu-kun! You meanie!" Honoka pouted cutely again.
"I'm do this for your own…" My eyes fell to the water soaked region of Honoka's top.
"Ijiu-kun?" "Ijiu-kun?" "Ijiu?" Honoka, Kotori and Umi were calling me.
"Huh?" I snapped out of my trance.
"What were you saying?" Honoka looked confused.
"M-More importantly, Ijiu, what were you staring at?!" Umi shouted a little.
"EH? N-NOTHING!" I quickly turned away from the three of them and started laughing, a little hysterically.
"Ijiu-kun? Are you okay?" I heard Kotori.
"Umi-chan, what did you mean by Ijiu-kun was staring at something?" I heard Honoka.
"N-Nothing! I was just imagining things!" I heard Umi.
"Alright! Let's move on to the next set of exercises!" I turned back with a smile.
"Okay!" Honoka and Kotori echoed together.
"I want to talk to you about something when we're done, do you have time to stay back for a while?" Umi had said to me in the middle of the training session.
Now, Honoka and Kotori had left and Umi was standing with her back to me. For some reason, I can feel a rather strong murderous intent coming from somewhere.
"Oh, you two aren't going home yet?" Toujou-san came out from nowhere.
"E-Eh? V-Vice president!" Umi jumped a little.
"Yeah… Umi wanted to talk to me about something." I smiled while trying to avoid looking at Toujou-san.
"Oh… Alright, I've still got chores to do so I'll leave you two to talk!" Toujou-san smiled before leaving.
"I-Ijiu… W-Were you…" Umi suddenly started saying.
"W-Was I..?" I tried not to look at Umi.
"Why aren't you looking at me?" Umi sounded a little more fierce.
"I- Er- Sorry…" I forced my eyes to look at her head region.
"Y-You were looking at Honoka's chest just now, weren't you?" Umi glared at me.
"I- Er- Y-Yeah…" I admitted sheepishly. No point in try to deny when she clearly caught me just now.
"A-And Kotori's too?" Umi's glared seemed to be even harsher.
"N-Now you're making sound like some kind of pervert!" I objected.
"S-So you admit you were?!" Umi's glare suddenly intensified even more.
"No! I didn't! I swear!" I really wasn't looking…
"B-But… You didn't…" Umi's glare suddenly became a gaze of disappointment.
"Eh?" Why does she seem disappointed now?
"Ijiu, you pervert!" Umi shouted before running off.
"W-What?! H-Hey!" What the heck was that all about?
"Hmm, I didn't know Yoshitaro-kun was a pervert…" I heard an oddly familiar voice emanating from behind me.
"Eek! W-Who?-" I jumped, spun around to see Toujou-san standing there.
"So you're a pervert who likes to look at girls' breasts? Is that why you said you wouldn't transferring out?" Toujou-san smirked at me.
"K- N-No! That's… That was an accident…" I didn't mean to stare or anything, my eyes just wound up looking there…
"Take it easy! I'm just teasing you!" Toujou-san laughed.
"T-That's not funny…" This would be very weird if anyone else was around…
"And what about me?" Toujou-san suddenly sounded rather serious.
"Eh? What do you mean?" What about her?
"What about my breasts?" Toujou-san smirked.
"EH?!" My eyes instinctively looked down a little. Crap. That's an impressive bust… Wow…
"So you are a pervert that likes to look at girls' breasts!" Toujou-san giggled.
"N-No! Y-You asked me what I thought about your breasts!" I wasn't even going to look there if she didn't say anything about it.
"You're so cute blushing like that!" Toujou-san smiled.
"I-I'm not blushing!" What's up with her? She seems to be really enjoying this.
"Hey, may call you Ijiu-kun?" Toujou-san smiled.
"Eh? Er, yeah, I guess…" I don't really mind I guess.
"Alright, then call me Nozomi too!" Nozomi-senpai walked up to me.
"N-Nozomi-senpai?" I gulped a little nervously.
"Just like that!" Nozomi-senpai gave me a pat on the head.
"Well, I've got a few more chores I need to do, so I'll see around sometime yeah? It's getting late so you should probably go home now." Nozomi-senpai smiled warmly.
"Yeah, okay… See you around!" I waved and headed home.
Oh man… I'm going to need to make sure my eyes don't wander to places they're not supposed to anymore… Or I'm going to get into some serious trouble…
"I'm home!" I called out when I got home.
"Welcome back!" Mom called out from the kitchen.
"Do you need help, Mom?" I poked my head into the kitchen.
"It's fine! Saki's helping out already." Mom turned to smile at me.
"Wow Saki. Not bad." I nodded.
"Of course! I'm going to be a wife one day, you know?" Saki said proudly.
"Right…" So what if you can cook… You've got some other really bad habits as well sis…
"Oh please, Saki! Just knowing how to cook doesn't mean anything!" Mom chuckled.
"What?" Saki seemed offended.
"It's still too early for you to be worrying about these things anyway, so forget about it!" Mom continued chuckling.
"Fine! I'm not helping anymore!" Saki huffed and stormed to her room.
"I'll help out after I take a quick shower Mom!" I shook my head.
"Oh it's fine, Ijiu. She'll come back to help later." Mom went back to whatever she was doing.
"I'll go take a quick shower. Be right back!" I headed to my room.
I grabbed a change of clothes and my towel and went to the bathroom. I took a quick shower and headed back to the kitchen.
"Saki isn't back yet? What can I help with?" I walked into the kitchen.
"Not yet! Hmm, help me slice the chicken?" Mom was busy stir-frying some greens.
I washed my hands and starting slicing.
"Are you done yet, Ijiu?" Mom asked after she finished the stir-fry.
"Yeah, just about." I quickly sliced the last bit of chicken.
"Those are good slices!" Mom took the chicken slices from me.
"It's only 'cos I have a great teacher, Mom." I smiled as I watched her dip the sliced chicken in a batter.
"I didn't raise my son to just have a sweet tongue, did I?" Mom smiled at me.
"Hehe, maybe? Anything else I can help with?" I shrugged and smiled.
"I've got it from here! Go do your homework or something!" Mom urged me out of the kitchen.
"Alright, alright." I headed back to my room and started on some homework.
"Onii-chan!" Saki burst into my room.
"No." I replied without looking up from my work
"What? But I haven't even asked anything yet!" Saki whined.
"I've got homework to do, so no, I'm not accompanying you to Akihabara." I replied curtly.
"I get it. You're too busy with school to spend any time with your little sister. Fine! I hate you, stupid Onii-chan!" Saki suddenly cried out before running out of my room.
What… Was that all about? I guess I haven't really spent much time with Saki after I started going to Otonokizaka… But did she really have to say that she hates me? Is it that big a deal to her? Gosh, even though I'm busy these days I guess I shouldn't neglect her as much as I am… I better go apologise to her.
"Saki?" I knocked on her door.
"Go away!" I heard Saki crying in her room.
"Jeez, why do insist on being difficult, huh?" I opened the room door.
"I SAID GO AWAY!" Saki flung her pillow at me.
"Hey, don't do that." I caught the pillow and walked over to her bed.
"Leave me alone, you meanie!" Saki kept crying on her bed.
"Look, I'm sorry alright? I'll go to Akihabara with you tomorrow." I sat down on her bed.
"R-Really?" Saki stopped crying and was sniffling.
"Yeah, I promise." I patted her head.
Saki pounced on to me and started hugging me.
"Alright! Get off! I got to finish up a little more work today so I have time to go with you tomorrow." I tried to push Saki off.
"You better not break your promise, stupid Onii-chan." Saki sniffled as she let go of me.
"Yeah, yeah. My dearest, most precious and only little sister. I promise." I patted her head again.
"Okay…" Saki got off of her bed.
"Where're you going?" I got up as well.
"To help Mom with dinner!" Saki smiled, eyes a little puffy.
"That's my little sister!" I patted her head one more time before heading back to my room to do my work.
"Alright, dinner's ready!" Mom called out about half an hour later.
I put my work aside and headed down for dinner.
"Thanks for the meal!" I said before digging in.
"So, how is it, Onii-chan?" Saki looked at me earnestly.
"You helped Mom make this? It's pretty good!" It was just a little bland, but I couldn't tell her that.
"See, Saki? And you didn't believe me." Mom sat down and started eating as well.
"Hehe…" Saki sat down as well.
"It's quite bland isn't it?" Mom quickly whispered to me. I nodded a little.
"Are you guys sure it's okay?" Saki asked after taking a spoonful.
"Yeah!" Mom and I chorused together.
Dinner went by rather quickly as we talked about this and that.
"I'll wash the dishes." I volunteered after we finished.
"Alright, I'll leave you to it then." Mom brought some dishes to the sink before heading out of the kitchen.
"Need my help, Onii-chan?" Saki helped bring some dishes as well.
"Nah, it's fine." I brought the remainder of the dishes and started washing. Saki headed out of the kitchen as well.
Washing the dishes barely took 20 minutes before I headed back to my room. I finished up my work and headed to bed.
I woke up with a start.
What just woke me up? I looked around my room. I don't have an alarm clock… Neither Mom nor Saki were at the door…
I rubbed my eyes and got out of bed. I got ready for school.
"EH?!" Saki shrieked a little.
"Huh?" I jumped a little.
"Onii-chan, what're you doing up so early?" Saki stared at me in disbelief.
"I don't know, I just woke up…" I yawned as I replied.
"O-Ohh…" Saki seemed to be in shock.
"You're going to use the bathroom now right?" I yawned again. Even though I'd showered, I still felt sleepy.
"Yeah… You better not forget your promise, okay?" Saki pouted.
"Yes, my dearest, most precious and only little sister." I patted her head and sidestepped past her.
"Hmph!" Saki puffed and went into the bathroom.
"Oh my, you're up early today, aren't you?" Mom said as I walked into the kitchen.
"Huh? Oh yeah… Not sure why though, just sort of woke up." I shrugged.
"Well, breakfast is ready so dig in!" Mom pointed to the dining table.
"Thanks for meal!" I said and dug in. I can't remember the last time I've sat down and ate breakfast like this since I started going to high school.
I finished as Saki came into the kitchen.
"We'll meet at the train station later, okay?" Saki said as she sat down for breakfast.
"Yeah." I brought my plates to the sink.
"You two going somewhere?" Mom asked.
"Yeah, I'm accompanying Saki to Akihabara later. We probably won't be back for lunch." I informed Mom.
"Alright you two have fun. And Saki, don't spend so much money, alright?" Mom folded her arms.
"Yeah." Saki replied nonchalantly.
"I'll make sure of it, Mom. Plus I'm in no mood to help her carry all that stuff anyways." I assured.
"No way! Onii-chan, you promised!" Saki whined at me.
"Yeah, that I'd go to Akihabara with you. That's it." I stared her down.
"Hmph! You meanie!" Saki grumbled before starting on breakfast.
"Alright, I'm heading out!" I called out as I put on my shoes to leave the house.
"Okay, see you!" Mom called back.
"Don't be late!" Saki poked her head out of the kitchen.
"Yeah, yeah." I left the house.
I got to our meet up point. Yeap… Way early… Oh well, just gotta wait I guess.
"Morning, Umi!" I waved when I saw Umi coming along.
"M-Morning, Ijiu… You're early…" Umi seemed a little uncomfortable.
"Haha, sort of just woke up earlier today." I smiled.
"Ohh… Okay…" Umi nodded a little.
"Erm, about yesterday, I admit I was staring at your chest as well… I'm sorry!" I blurted out.
"Y-You were?!" Umi gasped.
"Y-Yeah… I'm really sorry!" I bowed to almost 90-degrees.
"I-It's fine… I-It's not like you touched me or anything… A-And since you're apologising, I'll let it slip this time. B-But don't ever do it again..." Umi folded her arms and looked away from me.
"Yes ma'am!" I heaved a sigh of relief.
"Umi-chan! Ijiu-kun!" Kotori called out.
"Oh, Kotori!" Umi waved.
"Hey!" I waved as well.
"Honoka-chan isn't here yet?" Kotori asked.
"Like you need to ask, Kotori…" Umi sighed.
"Hehe… I guess…" Kotori smiled.
We waited around and discussed homework. Honoka finally arrived after about five minutes, holding something in her hands.
"Ah, sorry for making you guys wait!" Honoka panted.
"It's alright… Anyways, what's that you're holding?" I asked.
"Oh, I don't know! It was in the mailbox… But it says 'Muse' on it though..." Honoka held out the enveloped disc.
"Did you bring your laptop so we can see what's on it?" Umi asked.
"Yeah, that's why I took a little longer… Hehe…" Honoka stuck her tongue out embarrassingly.
"Well, let's get to school then. We'll see what it is after school." Umi started for school.
School went by rather uneventfully as we anticipated what was on that disc. Finally school ended and we gathered on the rooftop.
"Ready?" Honoka asked, ready to insert the disc into her laptop.
"Yeah." Umi, Kotori and I nodded.
Honoka inserted the disc. Her music player launched. Music started playing. This is the song Umi wrote! And that voice… I'm sure it's Nishikino-san!
"This is…" Umi seemed really stunned.
"This is…" Kotori also seemed stunned.
"This is our song…" Honoka seemed to realise who sang it as well.
"She actually made it a song…" Honoka seemed a little overwhelmed.
We sat in silence as we listened to the song play out.
"Now we've got a song to practice!" Umi said after the song ended.
"Yeah…" Honoka and Kotori nodded.
"Well, I'll have to come up with a choreograph for this…" Umi said to nobody in particular.
"So what about practice?" Honoka asked.
"I think we'll have to cancel today's… I'd like to come up with a choreograph for this as soon as possible so we can start practicing that alongside our regular training." Umi didn't seem to happy about cancelling training today.
"Really? Yay!" Honoka cheered.
"If that's the case, may I make a move first? I promise Saki I'd take her shopping today." I muttered sheepishly.
"Oh, yeah sure!" Umi nodded.
"I've also got plans, so I'll head off too!" Kotori smiled.
"Okay, see you Kotori." Umi nodded as well.
"I'm gonna go too!" Honoka chirped.
"No, since you dragged us into this, I want you to help me with the choreography." Umi glared at Honoka.
"Eh? That's not fair!" Honoka whined.
"No, it's totally fair!" Umi growled a little at Honoka.
Kotori and I headed off first.
I could hear the two of them arguing as I headed back to class to get my things.
Kotori and I walked to the gate together.
"I'm heading to the train station, so I'll see you tomorrow, Ijiu-kun!" Kotori smiled.
"Oh? I'm going to the train station too! Wanna go together?" What a coincidence!
"Oh, sure!" Kotori nodded and we headed off together.
We chatted about work and stuff as we walked to the station. Without realising, we boarded the same train while chatting.
"Eh, you're going this way too, Ijiu-kun?" Kotori asked.
"Oh, yeah, I'm heading to Akihabara!" I nodded.
"A-Akihabara? W-Weren't you bring your sister shopping?" Kotori seemed really nervous.
"Yeah, she's a little bit of an otaku… Are you okay, Kotori? You seem a little nervous…" Was something the matter?
"Oh… Y-Yeah, I'm fine!" Kotori chuckled nervously.
"What about you? Where are you going?" I smiled.
"A-Akihabara…" Kotori muttered.
"Oh, wow! What a coincidence!" I laughed a little.
"Hehe, yeah…" Kotori seemed really uncomfortable.
"I'm not going to ask why if you don't want to tell me." I patted her shoulder.
"O-Okay… Thanks!" Kotori smiled.
We finally got to Akihabara. Kotori went on ahead with her business while I waited for Saki.
"Onii-chan!" Saki called out as soon as she arrived.
"Hey." I walked over to her.
"Did I make you wait long?" Saki asked.
"Nah, it's fine. Anyways, anywhere you want to go to first?" The faster I can get through her shopping, the faster I can get some lunch.
"Remember that maid café I was telling you about the other time?" Saki gave me a 'you-totally-have-no-idea-what-I'm-talking-about-do-you' look.
"Er… Yeah?" I think I vaguely recall her saying that?
"I want to go have lunch there!" Saki smiled.
"Right now?" Wait, I can get food already?
"Yeah! There's isn't really anything want to get today…" Saki shrugged.
"Wait… So all this time you just wanted to eat at this new maid café?" Seriously? This was it?
"Yeah!" Saki smiled innocently.
"Okay…" You've never bugged me that much just because you wanted to check out a café before…
Saki led the way to the café as I followed closely behind. The city around us bustled with life.
"Is this the place?" I asked Saki when she finally stopped.
"It's up the stairs." Saki headed up the stairs.
I quickly followed her up.
Wow… The decor for this café is pretty cozy.
"Welcome master and mistress! May I get you a table for two?" I heard a rather familiar voice as I was looking around the café.
"M-Minalinsky-san? A-Are you really Minalinsky-san?" Saki gushed.
"Kotori?" I turned and faced 'Minalinsky-san'.
"EH?! I-IJIU-KUN?! W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Kotori gasped in shock.
"I'm having lunch with my sister…" I gulped a little as I tried not to stare too much. Kotori looked adorable in that maid outfit.
"U-Uh… I-I'll show you to your seats!" Kotori smiled awkwardly.
"Y-Yeah, thanks." I followed Kotori.
"Onii-chan, you know Minalinsky-san?" Saki gasped.
"Do you really now recognise Kotori? You've seen her a couple of times when you came over to my school…" I groaned…
"Really?" Saki seemed really shocked.
"You remember my little sister, right Kotori?" I asked Kotori.
"Y-Yeah!" Kotori smiled nervously.
"Kotori, are you okay?" Please stop behaving so nervously, you're extremely cute right now. I'm not going to be able to keep myself from staring!
"Please don't tell anyone about this!" Kotori lowered her head.
"Yeah, sure." Is that what you were so nervous about?
"R-Really?" Kotori blinked in surprise.
"Yeah! It's no big deal to be working a part-time job. But if you don't want anyone else to know, I'll keep quiet about it." I shrugged.
"Erm, Minalinsky-san! Or Minami-san?" Saki suddenly spoke up.
"Eh? Yeah Saki-chan?" Kotori turned to Saki.
"May I get your autograph?" Saki held out a signing board.
"Only after you've accumulated enough points and beat me at a game!" Kotori smiled.
"O-Oh…" Saki sighed.
"We just have to keep coming back and accumulate points right?" I clarified.
"Yeap!" Kotori smiled.
"Well, I don't mind. Since I get to see such a cute side of Kotori." I decided to tease Kotori a little.
"E-Eh? I-Ijiu-kun? Y-You think I look cute in this?" Kotori blushed quite cutely.
"Y-Yeah… Even more so when you're blushing…" I gulped a little nervously.
"O-Oh… T-Thanks…" Kotori lowered her head a little.
"Y-Yeah…" I scratched my head a little awkwardly. Crap, I didn't think Kotori would look so cute…
"OH! This is your seat! I'm so sorry for the wait!" Kotori suddenly exclaimed.
"I-It's fine!" Woah, you startled me there Kotori…
Saki and I settled into our seats. Kotori took our orders and served us.
It feels weird having Kotori serve me, but I guess she's just doing her job and I happen to be her customer… But that maid outfit though… STOP! Don't even go there. No. Alright.
Our meal came soon enough, and it was a rather delicious meal. After we finished I made my way to make payment.
"Ijiu-kun, remember to keep this a secret, alright?" Kotori smiled nervously.
"Yeah! No worries, I won't tell anyone." I gave Kotori the most reassuring smile I could.
"And you don't go telling everyone you know Minalinsky as well, Saki." I glared at her.
"I won't! I don't exactly have anyone to tell anyways…" Saki laughed a little. Well, I guess her interest aren't exactly a popular interest amongst others her age…
"Alright, bye Kotori! And keep up the good work!" I waved one last time as we left.
"Thanks!" Kotori waved back.
We left the café.
"So, where to now?" I asked Saki.
"I guess we can home." Saki shrugged.
"Really? All you wanted was to visit this café?" You were serious?
"Yeah!" Saki nodded.
"Alright, let's head home I guess…" I headed back to the train station.
A/N: And that's chapter 3! Or episode 2, whichever way you want to look at it. So sorry for the delay on this, but I just hit so many blocks while writing this that, well, delayed it this much… Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I'll try my best to update a little more often from here on out with the remainder "A Place To Go" oneshots, random fun oneshots and main story chapters! That'll be my resolution for 2016, I guess. To write and upload more. Alright, see you guys in the next update and have a great 2016 ahead!
