32: Our Time to Shine

"Wakey, wakey!" I awoke to Yu-chan shaking my shoulder gently, looking down on me with a soft and sweet smile on her face.

"M-morning, Yu-chan…" I suddenly became super self-conscious and hid under my blankets, remembering everything that happened yesterday.

"What, why are you so shy? We literally slept in the same bed already…" Yu crawled into the covers with me. She nuzzled my cheek with her nose.

"Sorry… it's just a little shocking…"

"You're so cute… but we have to go to school now! My uniform is still at my house, so we have to stop by there first. Oh, and Emma bought us both buns for breakfast and went on ahead by herself… She also bought milk for us, but for some reason she only got one…" I looked over at the table, where there was a small carton of milk printed with special Hello Kitty pictures and hearts. "Also, she said that it was your turn to take care of Mikan."

Mikan meowed within her carrying case. Emma had taken care of her while I was in the hospital, and we had decided to take turns caring for her.

"Wow. I haven't seen Mikan in forever!" I got up and opened the case, letting her free and giving her some food. "Well, let's get going!"

Yu and I went outside and walked to the station, where we ate our breakfast while waiting for the train. We shared our little milk carton, and I wiped off the little milk mustache that appeared on Yu's lips.

"Thanks…" she said, licking her lips. We made the trip over to her house, and I waited outside as Yu rushed in to change into her uniform.

"Sorry for waiting!" Yu cried as she came back out toting her bag.

"Have fun at school kiddos!" Mrs. Takasaki called out from the door, waving at me. "Take care of my daughter!"

"Stop it, mom! Bye!"

We headed for Nijisaki Academy in the fresh dawn, overflowing with hope and expectation.

As we entered the school gates, Yu-chan grabbed onto my arm.

"Uh, Yu-chan!? We're at school now… people are going to see!" I said in a panic, staring around. Yu didn't reply, and just had a smug smile on her face. "O-okay…" I resigned, heart racing.

"Hey you two!" We bumped into Ai and Karin, and they burst into laughter.

"Uh, hi!" I said, frantically trying to pry Yu's arm off. "This isn't what it looks like!"

"Hahah, don't worry, Derrick. You don't have to be afraid, both of us are experienced enough." Ai winked at me.

"Gosh, why can't I hold onto one of my best friends?" Yu replied, shaking her head.

"Because I'm a boy, and everyone's gonna start spreading rumors," I replied. Karin and Ai just looked at each other and laughed.

"You think I care?" Yu released her grasp on my arm, and instead intertwined her hand in mine. "There."

"Wh-what!?" I felt my face burn up, and I looked at the girl in shock.

"You're gonna be late for class! Let's go." Yu pulled me along, and looking at her swinging twintails in front of me made my heart crumble.

We made it to my classroom, and Yu let go of me.

"Have a great day! I'll see you at practice!" She said, waving and skipping away.

"B-bye, Yu-chan!" I entered the class, to see everybody staring at me.

"You're late," the teacher said, hands on her hips.

"S-sorry!"

"Broooooo! Who's that chick you were with!?" One of the boys in my international class shouted.

"Yeah, dude! Woo hoo!"

Emma tried her best not to giggle, her hand over her mouth as I sat down at my seat.

"As you know, March is coming to a close, so the third years will be graduating," the teacher announced. "However, since you all are in the international class, your term will end in May, according to your home institutions. How are your video reports going? Have you finished?"

I just remembered the project I had to do with Setsuna, making the video to record the different things I did during my exchange. I still have to get that done… but, we're gonna have a lot of fun vlogs to put in after we win Love Live!

After school, we hit the club room, where Setsuna was already busy singing.

"Hey Setsuna!" I called, sitting down next to her on the couch.

"Oh, hi, senpai! We have to get practicing!"

"Yep. I remembered today that we still have to make that video thingy."

"Ohhhh, yeah! Don't worry, we'll have a ton of footage from our world tour after we win Love Live!" Setsuna grinned.

"That's exactly what I was thinking!"

"Yeah… I think about it every day," Setsuna replied. "To make people all around the world smile, to let them hear what true love sounds like."

"Don't worry," I said, patting her on the shoulder. "You will. Hey, you already touched me with your music, you'll definitely be a world sensation."

"But you're you, Derrick-senpai," Setsuna laughed, nudging me with her shoulder.

"What do you mean? Hahaha," I replied.

"Well, to be honest, at the very beginning, I didn't really approve of you being in our club…" Setsuna chuckled awkwardly. "I thought you would cause trouble because you were a boy…"

"But aren't you the one that asked if I wanted to stay and see if I liked it?!" I replied.

"Yeah… sorry… I was actually just trying to be nice… but don't hate me, okay?" Setsuna quickly grabbed my hands, as if expecting me to punch her. "I realized that, once you first decided to quit our club, that you had already changed our club for the better. It wouldn't be the same without you… after you showed up, there was a new drive in everyone's actions. As if, maybe, because there was a boy in the club, they… became more productive or something. Maybe because they didn't want to look bad in front of a boy! Or something like that. Hehheh. At least that's what happened to me!" Setsuna grinned shyly.

"So you literally didn't care about me until I said I was gonna quit!?"

"Yeah… I saw your resignation letter… and when I did, I realized that you were already one of us. I'm sorry for being insensitive…"

"No, it's fine. I wouldn't expect a girl to trust some loser who joins an idol club!" I laughed.

"Gosh, you're so kind," Setsuna replied. "See? That's why you're different. I feel so comfortable around you."

"Are you guys gonna flirt all day or are we gonna start practice?" Yu said, grinning as she appeared beside us.

"Yu-chan! You're the one who flirts with senpai all the time; give me a chance too!" Setsuna laughed, and everyone joined in, in high spirits and smiles.

"Okay, let's go! Finals are around the corner! Ayumu-chan, you can go with those two to the music room! You're already good enough at our main feature," Setsuna said, and we all split off for practice. Ayumu, Yu, and I went over to the music room, where Yu took a seat at the piano. I prepared my guitar, and Ayumu began warming up her voice.

"So, Ayumu-chan, how's it going with Takeshi?" I teased, and she suddenly cracked her voice.

"Ehh? What are you talking about!?" Ayumu started blushing and covered her face.

"You don't need to hide it," Yu said, grinning as she played some scales on the piano.

"Yeah, we all know," I added. "It's so obvious."

"Am I that obvious!?" Ayumu squealed, face red. Yu and I nodded in unison.

"Wahhhhhh!" Ayumu buried her face into my arm. "So you guys were shipping us the whole time?!"

"I wasn't shipping you guys," I said.

"Me neither," Yu replied.

"So what do you mean?!"

"We weren't shipping you guys, cuz' it's a disgusting match, but we knew what was up," I explained.

"O-oh… I mean… I can't deny that…" Ayumu looked at me with a sad expression. "I'm sorry about that day at the park, senpai. I shouldn't have kept bringing up Takeshi when you were so lonely and depressed about Yu-chan."

"W-what now!?" Yu said, curious. "You were depressed over me?"

"Uhhhh…" I looked at Ayumu, unsure of what to say.

"Well, after your fight, Derrick was really sad, so I bought him some chicken nuggets and we had a picnic… but I feel bad because I made him feel worse… talking about Takeshi and all…" Ayumu looked at me nervously.

"No, no… first of all," I explained, "Yu-chan, of course I was depressed. How could I not, when I tried to protect my friend but ended up hurting her?! And second of all, Ayumu-chan, you don't need to apologize. I could care less about Takeshi, but it was wrong for me to be bitter just because you had someone who liked you. After all, I did kinda… try to pull up your shirt…"

"Eww, what a pervert!" Yu remarked. "But you're right. I guess there's a lot of mistakes all of us have made, right? But I don't think we should dwell on them, because they're meaningless. We're together, and that's what matters!"

"Yeah," Ayumu agreed. "And what do you mean, 'just because I have someone who likes me?' A lot of people like you, Derrick-senpai!" She patted me on the back. "I like you. Yu-chan likes you. See, even Setsuna-chan likes you. And don't think I haven't noticed both Shizuku-chan and Kasumi-chan acting like your little fangirls."

"Lol, what!? Whatever you say, haha," I replied, awkwardly.

"Don't worry," Yu added, "As long as you're with us, there'll be someone who likes you. Because that's what friends are for!" She grinned her characteristic grin. "Even though we've fought a lot, even though there were many painful moments between us, I feel like they only made us closer."

"Yeah," Ayumu agreed. "We're the closest of friends. Nothing will come between us ever again."

"Okay, okay, can we start practice now? I've got a lot of catching up to do!"

With that, we began our practice, day after day, late into the afternoons, when the sun would begin to set, bathing the city in a brilliant orange.

Those last few days, before Love Live, flew by in a blur of excitement, worry, and determination.

We had no idea what the future had in store for us, but we were sure that everything was going to be okay.

Those days of trying our very best, of crying together, of rejoicing together, would forever be etched in our memories, a nostalgic yet melancholy time in our youth.

And before we knew it, the day of Love Live was upon us. Everything that we had worked for for the past year would be decided today. Finally, it was our time to shine.