After some discussion, they had decided that the afternoon's practice and conditioning would need to be skipped, and instead the girls would each pick a venue for their PV from the surrounding neighborhoods. Nico had said it best - it's hard to be an individual wearing a school uniform, and videos shot on Otonokizaka would, by necessity, be in uniform.

Eri's pick was further afield than expected, a small, isolated-seeming park along the Sumida river. It took some time for the group to find a suitable section of the park. The city would be visible from almost any angle, of course, and the sounds threatened to overwhelm the pickup mic, but Ranma eventually figured out exactly how to set up so that there was a small space, about two meters on each side, where Eri could move and talk freely without having to turn the camera on something that ruined the mood.

Sadly, that was the only thing that worked. Eri went stiff and formal the second the camera went live. "Hello. My name is Ayase Eri of Mu's, Third year at Otonokizaka Academy, and former Student Council Pres - "

"Cut." Ranma said, shaking his head and deleting the footage. Back in his male form and more casual clothes, the addition of a beret seemed to be all that was needed to give him some of the air of a real director. "No, no. Casual. You're not talking to your future boss and coworkers, these are friends."

Eri gulped. "They're not, though."

Ranma's voice went hard. "No, they are. That's the point we're trying to get to here, remember? We're trying to let people in, feel like they're part of our lives."

"In a controlled fashion," Eri pointed out in what she hoped was a persuasive tone. "I thought we were going for honesty here."

Honoka paused to give that consideration before she spoke. "Not...honesty, exactly. Sincerity."

Eri frowned. "I...I'm not sure I follow. How can you have sincerity without honesty?"

Ranma had to think about that one. "You can't, but that's not the point. You can have it the other way around."

Eri groaned. "Okay, okay, let's try again." They set back up, and Ranma counted down to a soft 'Action.' When Eri spoke this time, it was haltingly. "I'm Ayase Eri - "

"Cut." Ranma, Honoka, and Nico said at the same time.

Nozomi stood up, then moved right behind the camera. "Ranma, may I?"

"We don't got all day. Sure."

Nozomi smiled. "Thank you." She looked to Eri. "Okay, so, Eri, imagine that I got hit on the head, and after you've annihilated whoever did it, it turns out I have amnesia and can't remember you."

Eri frowned. "Well, okay…" She took a deep breath. "Nozomi! It's me!"

Nozomi shook her head. "I...I'm sorry, but I don't…"

Eri's expression got a little more desperate. "Come on...after everything we did?"

Nozomi blinked a few times. "Every...I...well, that doesn't sound so bad, but...can you just calm down?" Eri blinked, realizing she had just gotten pretty worked up by the game of make-believe. "Okay, good. Now...maybe if you told me something about you, I'd remember a bit. I mean, it's hard to believe I forgot a beautiful woman like you."

Eri laughed. "Nozomi, I'm…" She smiled a bit. "Okay, I'll walk you through it. I'm Ayase Eri. Third-year at Otonokizaka." She was about to say 'We were on the student council together' but remembered at the last minute she was also talking to the audience. "I. . . I . . . well, you know I like chocolate, and I'm always worried about the future. That's why I was on the Student Council. I've...well, lately I've kind of had to admit that I'm a little too serious most of the time, so I guess I should try lightening up. But…" She paused for breath. "I just want all of you to know...these guys, my friends...they helped me connect with all of you, why I wanted to dance in the first place. So...thank you, everyone, and for the next six months I will pour my heart into Love Live for all of you." She smiled softly. "I love you all, I really do."

Ranma smiled. "Cut. Got it."

It took a few minutes to get to Nozomi's turn. It was definitely because the lighting had changed and Ranma wanted to fiddle with the camera settings and not because Nozomi and Eri were making everyone uncomfortable with their starry-eyed gazes at each other.

When Nozomi did finally step in front of the camera, it was with a serene smile. "I'm told my name is Toujou Nozomi, and that I have the most wonderful girlfriend in the world. Which I can't remember at the moment."

Ranma didn't even bother with calling the cut. He just peered out from behind the camera with narrowed eyes. The camera light blinked off momentarily, then blinked on again.

"I'm Toujou Nozomi, and I joined Mu's because I wanted to be an exotic dan - "

Eri smacked Nozomi gently upside the head. "Take this seriously."

Nozomi shook her head. "Who said I wasn't taking it seriously that time?"

"I say it." Eri's voice was unexpectedly cold. "I can't stop your urge to flirt with everything female and about twenty percent of males in range, but that's beyond the acceptable limit." Nozomi leaned in to whisper to her. "...absolutely not." But she was turning beet red. More whispering. "Nozomi!"

Ranma sighed. "Nico, you're up. You two, go work it out." Nozomi turned a little red while Eri completed her transformation into a tomato.

Honoka rolled her eyes. "Nico?"

Nico walked stiffly in front of the camera. "Right, so, introductions? We should have done this months ago, now that I think about it…" She paused, and took a deep breath.

The world seemed to pause, and then, without warning, "NICO-NICO NII!" Everything about the third-year changed, going from serious to energetic and utterly without care. "I'm here to brighten your day with my Ni - "

"Cut!"

Nico jumped, as if needing a second to realize what had just happened. "Wait, wait, wait, I didn't mean to - "

Ranma frowned. "Y'know what? Nah. Start again and go ahead."

Umi returned the frown with one of concern. "But we're trying to not be like that, right?"

Honoka grinned. "I think I get it. Nico, go ahead and get it out of your system. We'll do the real one afterwards…"

The sun had nearly set. Ranma turned off the camera over an hour before, but Nico just kept prattling on, somehow failing to notice she'd crossed the hundredth 'Nico-Nico-nii' about sixty minutes in. Finally, Maki couldn't take it any more. "Cut, Cut, CUT!"

Nico blinked, looking around. "Wait, when did it get so dark?"

Maki growled. Literally growled. Ranma actually looked around to make sure there wasn't a wild animal approaching. "Nico, you went at it for almost two hours."

"Two...what the heck?" Nico looked at the camera in total shock. "I...I don't know what to say…"

Umi and Honoka looked at each other, slowly. "Nico?" Umi asked. "How long did you practice that act?"

"Well, an hour or so a day…" Nico said reluctantly. "I had that camera in the club room. I never ran it, but…"

Ranma sighed. "I've seen this before. Never in a norm, but first time for everything." Nico looked at him in shock. "It wasn't idol practice. Guy I know from school decided to train by slicing up watermelons with his boken for a couple of days straight. Made him way faster and more accurate...and gave him a compulsion to smack every large round thing he saw flying his direction. I think he got over it, eventually, but . . . "

"You're saying that Nico gave herself...what, like a post-hypnotic suggestion like on TV?" Maki asked, incredulous. "Wait, no, that makes no sense. Why doesn't it happen when we record music videos or for practice?"

Ranma frowned. "I think it does. We just didn't notice because she practices the songs to the point where it's also enough of a routine that the act doesn't get in the way."

Nico blinked. "I...no, I think we can get around this." She took a deep breath. "We've got enough light for a special take, right?"

"Sure…" Ranma said. He turned on the camera with a gesture.

Nico immediately pulled her hair down. "Hey, everyone…" She wasn't bouncing in place, which was good, but Ranma immediately detected something was off. What followed wasn't the Nico-Nico act, but it was no less false, a gentle and caring voice that sounded...well, like a poor imitation of Kasumi. "I know how eager everyone is to talk to me, but I can't be an idol all the time. When I'm not, this is what I look li…" she trailed off. "...it's not working, is it?"

Honoka sighed and shook her head. "Anyone have an idea where we don't need light? There might be enough time for one more shoot if we hurry."

"Kotori, you sure?" Rather than the Kanda shrine, Kotori had dragged Ranma, Honoka, and Eri all the way out to Harajuku and the Meiji shrine across from the main shopping strip. Ranma, in particular, seemed worried. "We're really only going to have time for one take."

"Yes!" Kotori said. She had even stopped at a women's bathroom to slip on a yellow, flower-print yukata and put her hair up. She posed in front of some trees, the shrine itself barely visible in the far distance. "Better hurry, though. We should really make a thank-you offering too."

Ranma lifted the camera and held it as steady as he could. Honoka stood in the background, while Eri counted down to one. "Hi. I'm Minami Kotori," the blonde said. "I'm a second-year at Otonokizaka. And...I guess the reason you're watching this video is because I'm in Mu's! I'm also the fashion coordinator. I make all of our cute costumes for performances...uhm, it's all right if I don't claim credit for one specific set, right? That wasn't really my idea even if I helped make it." She was genuinely blushing at the memory of her involvement in that fiasco.

"I'm hoping to be a famous fashion designer one day," she continued. "But...even more than that, I want to be with my friends, all my friends, and I want them to be happy. That's why, before or after every trip to Harajuku, I stop here and make a little offering. I guess it doesn't always work, but I keep trying," she added that last cheerfully enough that Ranma decided not to stop her. "Sometimes, things are even a little scary, but I'm sure we'll always pull through."

Eri thought, then said 'Cut.' "That was getting into dangerous territory," she pointed out. "But if you want to put that out there…"

Kotori grinned and, as soon as Ranma had the camera away she ran over and gave him a hug. "Yeah. When Ranma's ready to make his video…"

Ranma was starting to look distinctly uncomfortable with the public affection, but he just said "Ain't happening."

Honoka chuckled. "Aaaand you just jinxed it."

Nico...was late. Oh, not for school. But for practice. Her early morning had been particularly stressful, for reasons she was intentionally putting out of her mind to prepare for dealing with performance practice. The reduction of conditioning training had been interpreted by her mother as more time to help out, when Ranma just wanted more time to learn new dances. So now she was stuck sprinting up the stairs.

And found Honoka sitting right on the ledge at the fence, a broad smile on her face. "Hey, Nico!"

Nico blinked. "Uhm...what?"

Honoka's smile didn't waver in the slightest. "We already ran through the set once without you. We'll be doing solo work tonight so we can do more recordings, so we're done." She patted the spot next to her. "I've got some daifuku from yesterday here."

Nico's eyes narrowed. "Honoka…"

"Tea?"

"HONOKA!" Nico shouted. "I know you hate your family's stuff…"

Honoka shrugged. "You don't. C'mon, let's talk."

Nico walked out slowly onto the roof. "Is this about yesterday?"

"A little," Honoka said. "I was hoping you could relax without the camera and decide what you want to say."

Nico swallowed, hovering in the doorway. "I...Honoka, I really don't want to talk to you. Or anyone."

Honoka raised an eyebrow. "You don't? I thought the PVs were your idea."

"And it's a good idea." Nico said. "But...I need to figure out what goes in. Everyone's doing the same, right? Deciding what parts of their life are OK for public consumption and what parts are - no, you wouldn't get that. You have no sense of boundaries in either direction."

"...what about if I tell you something about myself for everything you tell me?" Honoka asked.

Nico pinched the bridge of her nose. "Honoka, I just said that's not a fair trade. It's...look, there's some stuff from the past year...even the past six months. I shouldn't have done it, I thought this was . . . it doesn't matter. The point is, I'm not proud of it. It was wrong, I know it, and I'm trying to figure out how to deal with it. But it was private, okay?"

Honoka smiled. "After Ranma? Nico, I'm not going to judge you. If it was illegal, I might have to do something just to not be a hypocrite….was it illegal?"

Nico groaned. "Yes, actually. At least it would be if I'd done it with any intention of it getting out. As it is, it's just embarrassing."

Honoka nodded. "Okay. Don't say anything, then. We'll just have a conversation."

Nico sighed. "Sorry." She walked out onto the roof...and twitched. "NICO-NICO-NII!" Ranma blinked. She was laying on top of the stair entrance, camera angled to give her a good angle on the spot where Honoka was sitting. "I'm here to brighten your day with a - " Nico froze up mid-sentence, breathing heavily as if stopping was a great exertion. "...How the heck did I know?"

"You're sure you want to do this in here?" Eri asked, looking around the music room.

Maki sighed. "We can't fit all this stuff into my room, or even my studio room at home," she pointed out. "And I don't really fit anywhere else."

Eri nodded and set up the tripod. It was probably a valid point - Maki was rich, but her home was in Tokyo and could only be so big. That she even had a home studio room was testament to just how much cash her parents had to spare on real estate. With the lighting and sound dampeners needed to turn the music room into a video recording space scattered around, it was clear that even a few pieces might interfere with the shoot. To keep it casual, Eri had allowed a little flirting with breaking the rules - Maki's uniform was hung up in the closet, and she had switched to a smart-looking black mini-dress from the costume collection that came down about halfway to her knees. It wasn't entirely school-appropriate outside of the context of performing, but it also wasn't anywhere near indecent and looked like something that might be worn at a serious concert.

Maki took her seat, and began playing. This part had been arranged with Eri as well. Maki would signal when she was ready to stop a few bars ahead. Rin just shook her head. "Just like Maki, I guess." She yawned.

"You'll get your turn," Hanayo replied back.

Eri gave the other two first-years a look. "Quiet on the set." Maki tensed up. "Not you. Go on, I know you need to build up to this." Maki kept playing for another six minutes before she gave the signal. The camera switched on, and Maki opened her eyes, feigning surprise. "Oh, sorry. I knew we were doing this today, but I just get so wrapped up in things. My name's Nishikino Maki. First year and Mu's composer." She blushed and looked away. "I'm not always really comfortable with talking to people about myself, and I guess I can be a bit rude. I'm really most comfortable playing the piano by myself...but I realized that if I don't share my music it doesn't mean anything. I haven't really decided whether to specialize in classical or jazz yet, but I have to admit that making music for all of you has justified putting off my decision for a couple of years. When I joined up, I wasn't sure, and a lot has happened to get us this far…" She trailed off. "I'll be looking forward to meeting all of you in person at our next concert."

Eri grinned. "Okay, got it. Are you sure you don't want to mention your...orientation?"

Maki nodded. "We'll save that for another time."

Ranma sighed, having changed out of her school uniform in her usual impossible time. Nico ran up to the school gates, still wearing her uniform. "You said you wanted to see me?"

Ranma nodded. "Eri's handling the camera back at the club room for the first years' interviews. We're going to do a version of one of the exercises I did as a kid."

Nico gave him a dubious look. "You realize I'm not that durable, right?"

Ranma chuckled. "Don't worry, we're scaling it way the heck back. The only way you get hurt is if you do it to yourself, promise." She pulled out her phone and pushed a few buttons. "Okay, I sent a map to your phone. Follow the directions on it. It should take you about an hour. Oh, and turn on the location service." Nico did so. "Okay. So, here's the deal. My version of the map has every security camera I could find marked on it. If you think you've got a camera spotted, mark it, and we'll compare notes."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Okay….so you trained to avoid cameras as a kid?"

Ranma sighed. "No, Nics. It was watching eyes...and sneak attacks." Nico winced visibly. "We'll be doing that bit too, minus the actual attack. I've got my hiding spots picked out. You think you see me, make a mark."

"I trust there's a point to this." Nico said with another sigh.

Ranma nodded. "I'm trying to get a baseline. Honoka's idea this morning was good, but we were too obvious. You'd have noticed me eventually." Ranma's grin was infectious. "This would take me ten minutes, so I'll give you ninety."

"You're sure it's all right if we film here?" Eri asked the woman behind the counter of the shop Hanayo had chosen. Eri had suspected shops like this existed. There were CD singles, BD singles, T-shirts, posters, candies, art-books, and even stranger items, every one of them branded with some idol group's logo.

Some school idol group's logo. The shop was absolutely enormous, too, taking up an entire floor of an Akihabara high-rise. It needed to be, to accomodate all of the groups on offer. Hanayo was still poking around and obviously restraining her fangirl squealing.

The woman smiled. "I'm the manager, and since you're on the Nationals list, yes, you can film a PV in here. Just please be quick."

Eri nodded and set up the camera. The snickt sound of a tripod latch clicking into place caught Hanayo's attention and she turned around from the rack of blouses she was looking through. "Oh, we're good?" she asked.

"I hope you know what you're going to say, but yeah. We're good." Eri answered dryly.

Hanayo nodded, putting on her glasses. She was already wearing a simple blue blouse with the Mu's logo on it in sparkling pink. When the light on the camera went red, she spoke. "Hello, everyone. My name is Koizumi Hanayo. First year. And...well, I've always loved idols, so much I wanted to be one." She pulled the clothes aside and turned another blouse with an image of the band's logo outward. "I even helped with the design here, and I'll be doing more of this going forward. But to get here, when I was young I worked really hard on my singing on my own, but I was always a little too weak and sickly to really do the dance routines, and I could never get permission to apply to a talent agency because of it."

She grinned, and gently pulled her glasses off. "So, I guess you're kinda wondering what changed? Well, one, you don't need your parents to sign off on school idol clubs. And second, our wonderful producer knew just how to get everyone in shape, with some help from a doctor. I had to work really hard, but with her help I'm doing well enough to sing for everyone now. And I so, so want to see you at all of our concerts. I'm still a little clumsy, I might fall down. But I can't let that stop me anymore, after everything I went through to get here.

"So, please, cheer me on so I can be the best idol I can for you."

Eri shut down the camera. "Okay, got it. We'll have to run it by Ranma. He might not like being mentioned."

"...oh."

After twenty minutes of wandering around Akihabara's main strip, Nico was a nervous wreck. It seemed like every few steps there was someone else staring at her as she peered in all the store windows, making notes of the cameras on her phone.

It soon occurred to her that this had been a really stupid idea. She thought about texting a pause to Ranma, when it started.

The feeling was like a tingling up her spine, and a pounding in her head she couldn't shake. It wasn't painful, exactly, almost the opposite, like she was born to -

Before she knew it, she'd spun around in a seemingly random direction, her hands raised in the familiar gesture. "NI - " the two girls in uniforms from a school she didn't recognize, one with long chestnut brown hair and the other with a short, boyish cut in blue hair jumped away from her. Thinking quickly, she managed to cover her ear like she was pushing a bluetooth mic into it, hiding that there wasn't one. "IPPY! It's a bit too nippy out to go to the park." The pair gave her a very pointed look, then turned to wander off. "Weirdo," the shorter-haired girl said in a low, extremely rough voice.

"Now now," the taller one said in a voice that was almost exaggeratedly feminine. "She is far from the strangest person I've met, Aoi."

'Aoi' muttered "Tsubasa, you really need to get out of that uniform," in reply as they moved on. Nico groaned, and looked around, but there was no one. Then she realized she was twenty two minutes into the exercise and less than five percent of the way through. She started hurrying along. She stopped at one of the shops along the way to pick up the cheapest headset she could find on short notice to cover if that happened again.

Which it did as soon as she stepped out of the store. This time she spun towards a nearby side-street, trying to get a conscious glimpse of whatever was setting her off. But it was no good. "NI - " she managed to bite it off "nighter. Need to pull an all nighter…." she said, trying to stroll off down the street without it seeming too strange, but internally she was about to cry.

She had stopped even trying to track the cameras in favor of locking down her emotions and getting to the meeting place when she suddenly saw a red-head with a video camera waiting just inside a store front. At first she thought it was Maki, but her hair was too long, and she was much too short. Her golden eyes were peering out, and she gulped and ran in when she realized Nico had spotted her. "Hey!"

Nico started to give chase, when the girl was suddenly hauled out of the store by her collar. "No one under twenty," the proprietor said, and walked back in, shutting the door on the business, which Nico realized was a pachinko parlor.

Stalking up to the girl, Nico grabbed her before she could get her bearings and run off. "Who. Are. You?"

"RANMA!" The girl screamed. "Ranma put me up to it!"

Nico dropped her in surprise. "What?"

"My...my name's Sakurachi Riko," the girl said, tears welling up. "He wanted me to point the camera at you, wait ten seconds, then turn it on. There were five places on the street. He showed me how to get around the crowds and everything."

"You're…" Nico spluttered. "Sakurachi? You're the kid with a crush on Maki?"

It was Riko's turn to sputter indignantly. "I do not have a crush!"

Nico sighed. "I'm sorry...it's just, after everything that's happened...if you weren't just a kid…"

Ranma dropped down, in his male form, from the balcony of a nearby building. "Yeah, that's why I grabbed her." Ranma grinned. "Right, here you go." He handed Riko a bag. "Those are the right ones, yeah?"

Riko peered in the bag while being careful not to let anyone see. "...still sealed," she confirmed. "Thanks. My parents won't let me buy these."

Nico gave Ranma an incredulous look. "Ranma?! Buying those kinds of manga for a kid?"

Ranma snorted. "Don't be ridiculous, even I know better. They're just the romantic kind."

Nico eyed the red-head skeptically. "Taking advantage of poor, naive Ranma? I'd almost approve except Honoka will kill him."

Riko turned redder than her hair. "It's not! It's just...uhm…"

"All girls," Ranma said by way of explaining.

Nico shrugged. "Well, all right I guess. As long as there's no funny stuff."

Riko blinked. "Wait, what?"

Nico shook her head. "If I had a problem with that I'd have gone crazy by now trying to work with Mu's. It is what it is, kid."

Ranma grinned. "And I don't mind paying in sappy manga. How's the project going?"

"I'm working on it," Riko said. "Takami wants me to go down to Uchiura to join the group, but…"

Ranma thought about it. "I'll take you in girl form some time, if that's what you want." He turned back to Nico. "Anyway, I got enough. Let's head back to school and we can talk."

"I can do this," Rin mumbled to herself. "For Kayochi." She took a deep breath, and turned to Eri. "This is fine?" She had changed out of her school uniform and into a pair of shiny green athletic shorts that matched her eyes and a cut-off T-shirt that stopped just above her navel. It was still warm enough for something like that, especially in the park she had picked. It had an open-air basketball court and baseball diamond in the background.

Eri frowned. "You'll need to start off with something athletic. There's still the beach incident to consider, but if you're wearing something to justify the outfit we're probably fine."

Rin grinned and reached down to her feet, grabbing a ball. "Okay. Let me know when you're ready." She nodded to the basketball court behind her. When Eri nodded and the camera's light ignited, she dribbled on the sidewalk a few times before running behind her to the court, before picking up the ball on her last footfall, jumping up, and quite clearly making a shot to put the ball through hoop. Eri slowly moved in after her, so all Rin had to do was smile at the camera. "Evening! It's Hoshizora Rin, of course. You're probably watching this video because Kayochi mentioned me...uh, that's Hanayo."

"We're...well, actually, we're not very much alike," Rin admitted. "But we've been friends since elementary school. She likes books and cute stuff, I've always been more into sports." She took a deep breath. "So, bet you're wondering how a girl like me ended up as a school idol. It wasn't actually that hard. I knew Kayochi would have a lot of fun, but at the time she was just too shy to do it alone, so I kinda went along. But, well, when we were training and rehearsing, we found we went together really well." Then she blushed, realizing what she'd just said. "Uh, not like that. I know some of our members are out, but nope, not me." She noticed Eri mouthing something behind the camera. "NO! Uhhh, I mean, no, I don't have a boyfriend either."

She paused for a moment to recover. "Uh...right, sorry, was that too much? I know, those are kinda some weak reasons...but it's also been really fun. So, I'm gonna keep being a school idol for now. Maybe I'll connect with some of you out there."

Back in the School Idol Club room, everyone save Eri, Hanayo, and Rin sat around and listened to Ranma's judgement. When he had finished, Umi looked at him skeptically. "Nico is a potential ki-user? Seriously?"

Ranma sighed. "No, Umi. At least not like us. Ki isn't magic, like Maki and Nozomi. Everyone has some. It's part of the processes of life. It's . . . "

Kotori grinned. "It's like the Force!" Everyone dropped their jaws at that. "...what? I know I'm not the only one who saw that movie," she squeaked out, blushing a bit with consternation.

Umi groaned. "I'm just surprised you remembered it."

Ranma stared at her blankly. "What movie?"

Kotori gasped, scandalized. "You've never seen Star Wars?" That did get some surprised reactions all around.

Umi sighed. "Okay, Kotori's costume obsession aside - " everyone except Honoka gave her a weird look. "...I guarantee you the only reason she remembered the movies so well is that there were a lot of detailed outfits in the newer ones." Kotori blushed. "...anyway, that does actually make sense, but if Nico doesn't have the talent to use it, how does that work?"

"Because you don't need an excess to use it, you just need an excess to do the superhuman stuff," Ranma said. "Enough training or, in this case, bloody-minded obsession, and you can learn to sense a whole bunch of things. 'Regular' martial artists, like, say, Honoka's kendo training, usually use it to sense enemies, but...Nico, you passed me three times while I tried to consciously project killing intent at you."

Nico gulped. "That doesn't sound good."

"It's kinda not," Ranma said. "But not that way. I was trying to...well, simulate someone about to chop your head off, and you didn't even twinge. Same with the hidden cameras, the security cameras, and the two times I tried to film you without projecting so much. But when Sakurachi, who doesn't have any training, tried to catch you suddenly you responded to her every time, even if you couldn't see her."

Nico nodded. "...so next we try filming in an empty room with no one around?"

"Worth a shot."

"Well, this is a fine mess." Maki said, sitting at the dinner table. Her parents weren't home, which just left her, Ranma, and Kasumi sipping at the traditional meal. "...Tomato-miso soup?" She asked the latter after taking a sip.

"I thought I would experiment." Kasumi said with a smile, although she was typing at a laptop one-handed. "How do you like it?"

"Well, it's certainly unique…" Maki said with a grin. "I like it."

Ranma grinned. "Kasumi's cooking is the best." He started eating from his salad. "Any ideas?"

"Percussive maintenance?" Maki said, sounding entirely serious.

Kasumi looked at her disapprovingly. "Maki, that's very dangerous, as you should well know."

Maki's next words came out in a jumble. "I was just kidding!" she finally spluttered out. "But seriously, how could anyone mess up their own head that much?"

"I dunno." Ranma said. "You're the one who can spend three weeks not talking to anyone, you tell me what that much time alone does to you."

Maki sighed. "I don't think that's it. I just kinda get… over energized, I guess. It's not like I was happy with it, exactly, but being with everyone's enough to make me want to dive under a futon cover with my music player and not come out till I've composed a full symphony in my head."

Ranma gave that one some consideration. "You know, I actually kinda get that. I mean, everyone needs some time like that, just for you it's. . . more?"

Maki sighed. "Maybe it's something like that. The point is, I don't think Nico's like me at all that way. She's more normal, she wanted to spend time with people, but she's so. . . controlling."

Ranma frowned, some stray thought nagging at him. "I don't know if Nico's ever really been in control of things…"

Maki shrugged. "Who is?"

Ranma shrugged. "May surprise you to learn, but when I'm actually in a fight, I usually feel like I have a grip on the situation." Maki snorted. "Okay, okay, I usually wasn't in control leading up to it, but once I'm ready for the brawl, I have something I can do to change the outcome."

"What about . . . erm, the fight at the dojo?"

Ranma and Kasumi winced. It was Kasumi that spoke. "I don't think that we shou - "

Ranma slumped down. "I. . . think something like that depends on how you choose to look at it." The others waited quietly while he thought. "By the most literal terms, I lost. But. . . I had choices. Saotome - " Kasumi's grip suddenly tightened on her chopsticks. " - was just trying to force me to take the ones she liked the most. I picked something different. Ain't perfect, but that sounds like victory to me."

Maki sighed. "Do you really think Nico just. . . couldn't do what she wanted, and that's . . . Ranma, I don't get it."

Ranma sighed. "I don't either, but there's only one way to find out."

"I already tried it," Nico said, irritated. "...and, to be fair, setting up the camera when I was alone in my room didn't set off the idol act."

"So, what did happen?" Eri asked, in a tone that indicated she desperately wanted this to be over with.

Nico sighed, and turned to the club's computer. Everyone was there, looking at her expectantly. The video played, with Nico just sitting there, her head down, with her skirt gathered up into balled fists. "I couldn't think of anything to say that wasn't...you know. This is totally a different way of being an idol than I thought it was going to be."

"So, what did you think it was going to be?" Honoka asked. Ranma fiddled with her phone for a bit, looking lost in thought.

Nico's head dropped, just like in the video. "Look, no offense to you guys, especially Maki and Umi - "

"None taken," Maki said quickly.

Nico nodded. "In a way, what you guys do is almost too good. It's not going to win any professional awards, but if we stick together after high school and we get better, we'll be on Kohaku before the first years are out of college for sure. We can be just sophisticated enough to pull right out of idoldom and into real music."

Umi sighed. "What are you trying to say?"

"Idols aren't about the music, or at least not really. It's about...about selling the dream. That anyone can make it. You don't need talent, or hard work, or anything like that. You can make people happy just by being you and doing your best on stage." She looked up with a self-deprecating smile. "And yes, I realize exactly how hypocritical I sound. It's part of the game."

"Well…" Honoka said. "Can you talk about that?"

Nico nodded. "Maybe. But...Maybe I need to think about why I'm in Mu's at all for a bit. Anyway, we still need to do you guys, right? Get going, I'll figure it out."

This time, when the camera opened on Nozomi, she was at the Kanda shrine they usually practiced at, dressed in her shrine maiden outfit. "Wow...it's really been awhile," she noted in passing. "Oh, hello. I imagine you're wondering why I'm here. Well, there were some rumors that I can see the future. They offered me training in exchange for helping out, and I accepted. Of course, now they pay me a little money too. I had to take some time off for spiritual matters, but I'm back here whenever I can to make up for lost time."

"Oh, right, my name's Toujou Nozomi. I'm one of the performers with Mu's, at Otonokizaka High School. I'm planning to go to college next year and take religious studies. Hobbies...oh, I like taking naps," She winked at the camera. "And very occasionally I do some gaming, but it's not very often and as a result I'm not very good. Being an idol doesn't leave a lot of time for that. And being an idol let me meet all sorts of new friends. Will you be one of them?"

Ranma nodded. "Much better."

Nozomi giggled. "What, did you think I was going to mention my favorite napping spot behind the shrine?"

Eri rolled her eyes. "After our last try, I thought it might come up."

"You, girlfriend, are welcome to interrupt," Nozomi said with a grin. "Sorry about that one. I knew we were on a schedule, but I didn't think Nico would have so many problems."

Nico set up her phone camera on a spare tripod, directly across from the mirrors in the practice room so she could see herself from every angle. She put the music on the jukebox to the song on a time delay repeat. She went to the mat, stage right, and assumed her position, eyes closed, and waited.

Then she heard a pair of feet padding across the mat to the place for her partner. "Maki? Why aren't you - "

Maki's voice was a little exasperated. "I finished my shoot, obviously. Aren't you supposed to be working on yours?"

Nico shook her head and hit the stop button. "I need to work on this too."

"And if I'm not here, it's pointless," Maki countered. "You don't even like this song."

Nico sighed. "No, I just find doing it with you a little uncomfortable," she pointed out. "We don't know each other that well, and I don't really swing that way. Why'd you write it like that, anyway?"

"I was just looking to write a song for you. Umi's the one who thought the lyrics were funny," Maki pointed out. "And when we were done it was too good to throw out with all the songs stolen. But only if you're okay with it."

Nico grabbed her phone and walked into the club's meeting room next door. "Yeah, have you noticed how much this hobby panders to the guys? For some reason they find stuff like that hot."

"I really don't care one way or the other about the guys," Maki said. "I mean, they're fans, right?" Then she noticed Nico was looking over the collection. "Nico, can you focus?"

"I'm looking for something." Nico said. "It's important."

"What's with this collection, anyway?" Maki grumbled. "And you've got three of them?"

"Most things." Nico said. "About two thirds of it is everything released since I was born. And I mean everything. My mom used to be a big collector too. Which helps. The rest…" She put her hands on a few laserdiscs, then smiled. "Mint condition Koizumi Hatsue. Well, not quite." She noticed a slight scratch. "...Hanayo should have this one," she decided. "Unless she already does."

"Huh?" Maki blinked. "That's….uh...how much is it worth?"

"Even with the scratch on the case, about a hundred thousand. I've got one in the archive." Nico said. "Which is stupid."

"Stupid how?" Maki asked. This is starting to worry me...there's something wrong here.

Nico laughed. "An archive. An archive. Maki, I'm treating these things like they're...they're...they're priceless mystic treasures! How...How ridiculous. It's completely, wholly ridiculous….I'm ridiculous…" Maki thought for a second about what Honoka would do, then moved around the table to the space in front of the shelves to squeeze Nico's shoulder, but Nico just continued. "That isn't what this stuff is for at all. I've got a complete history here, all the greatest…" She leaned down into the corner, and pulled out an old Betamax cassette, in plastic wrap that was starting to discolor and crinkle. "Rare." She showed it to Maki, who grabbed it feeling like she should be handling the ancient bit of technology with rubber gloves and tweezers.

She squinted at the printing, faded from even the limited sunlight exposure of the club room and wherever Nico had kept it before. "...Is this…?"

Nico grinned. "A French copy of Aidoru o Sakase. Or...I guess they call it - "

"Cherchez l'idole." Maki mumbled, reading the title easily. "Why?"

"Started it all, really," Nico shrugged. "I doubt it even plays."

Maki tilted her head. "Want to find...no, this thing's got to be…"

Nico thought about it, and grinned. "Sure. There's a player in the rack somewhere, I think."

Maki's jaw dropped. "You're considering destroying a piece of your collection?! C'mon, let's get you to Doctor Tofu."

Nico shook her head sadly. "What good does it do anyone sitting in the plastic wrap? I've watched the movie on streaming three times. A year ago, I might have killed someone for a movie reel copy."

Maki blinked. "And now?"

"...you're probably right. It would be stupid." Nico took it from Maki, considerably less carefully than she used to handle her collection, never mind a prize like that, and put it back on the shelf. "It's easily replaced. Hell, the replacements are superior. The only value in that is a piece of a piece of film history."

"Nico…" Maki sat down, her frustration evident. "Maybe I'm just no good as a sounding board. What are you getting at?"

"I don't know…" Nico finally admitted. She gestured. "The rest of the shelf...well, this shelf, anyway...it's history too, sort of. A record. It took me almost every hour and yen I could spare in elementary and middle school to build."

Maki frowned. "Nico, this is sounding less and less healthy by the minute."

Nico nodded. "When I was doing it, I thought it was a history of...of something worth loving. But...no."

Maki threw up her hands. "Nico, what are you trying to say?!"

Nico smiled. "Let's get this shelf out of here," she decided. "There is some genuinely valuable stuff here. I want it out of the way. Then we call the camera in."

Maki took note of the slightly crazed gleam in Nico's eye. "Whatever you're planning, forget it."

Nico gulped. "You're right. We'll save that for a separate PV or something. I don't wanna be here after the gate closes cleaning up either. Still, we've got some time to kill. Wanna help me make sure everything's here? I should really be sure how valuable the research library is...and we're going to need to move some of the tables into the practice room for a bit..." Maki shook her head as Nico trailed off, but she did start rolling chairs out of the room while Nico examined the discs.

Ranma looked at Nico, who was sitting at the only chair remaining in the room when they got back. She took another glance around. "Nico, you sure? We tried to make sure these weren't in the school." The others followed Ranma in, saw the setup, and quickly crowded into the far corner, out of the way.

Nico smiled her predator's smile. "I'm sure. I've got this. Be prepared to follow me out." Ranma nodded, and bent her knees to match the height of the tripod. Nico watched her take a few steps, and was satisfied the motions would be smooth, then she turned around. Her expression was calm. "Call it."

The red light on the camera turned on. "Action."

For a moment, eight girls held their breath. Nico's eyelid twitched and her breath hitched slightly. Then, the moment passed and her lips quirked up, not in the exaggerated smile of the Nico-Nico persona, but something rather like herself. Another moment passed before she spoke. "Surprised? I know everyone following this series was expecting the usual. But I think you all know who I was. The old Otonoki school idol club stuff should be back in the archive by the time this video's up. It was stupid. It was embarrassing. It happened, and I did it."

Nico gestured back at the wall. "For so long, I practically worshipped these girls behind me. They were successful, they were special, everybody loved them and I wanted to be just like them. And, when that didn't work, I tried to crawl back into my egg. This room. I just stayed here and imagined how it could have all worked out differently. And, until today, I didn't realize that was my problem." She turned. "Come, follow me." She turned and walked out of the Idol Club's room, Ranma slowly following.

Honoka whispered to Umi, "What's she doing?"

"Shh," Umi said, and gestured for the club to follow.

Ranma began to struggle as Nico reached the stairs, her short stature as a girl having difficulty keeping the camera angled for proper modesty. Nico kept talking, the sounds of the school creeping into existence. "Otonoki's a small school, but you can still tell there's people here. People who have their ups and their downs, who laugh, cry, and a few of us even find love." She gave Maki the briefest of glances. "In this era, nothing wrong with that even at an all-girls' school, yeah? But I was just sitting in my egg, waiting to be reborn." She reached the roof door, and opened it. "After all, isn't that how Idols work? They're trained in studios, carefully selected for exactly the right appearance, the right attitude, the right amount of talent, then they're born in a single moment at a debut performance? If I just waited long enough, someone would find my egg and I'd be a star, right?"

Nico stopped talking long enough to walk to the fence facing out over Kanda. "Bullshit." Then she grinned. "That's how it used to work, sure, but in the age of School Idols every one of us is a real person. We work hard. We're your classmates, your neighbors, even your best friends. We have boyfriends, or girlfriends, hobbies, and lives. We're people, just like you. I want to put that old stuff back up because I want everyone to know what it means to improve. And, starting today, I swear to do just that.

"It'll be hard," Nico continued. "But it will be real. I want to break out of the shell and see who I can really be. And, some day, hopefully, I'll be able to fly."

Nico gave the camera a smile. The first genuine smile from her heart for her audience in three years. "My name is Yazawa Nico. Will you come with me to that day?"

Ranma waited a moment before she lowered the camera. "...Nics...uhm...wow."

Nico stepped up to Ranma, and gave her a hug, careful not to disrupt the redhead's grip on the expensive device. "Thanks, ya big lug." Then she disengaged, and spread her arms. "Ah, heck, I don't get this sappy behind the camera often. C'mon."

Nobody moved for a moment, until Nico began to pout. Then they all engaged in an embrace that lasted until the sun had finally set.

Umi collapsed onto Honoka's bed at the after-dinner study session in Honoka's room. "The last few days…"

Ranma, back in his male form, leaned back against the closet door. "You said it. I'm exhausted. Anyone else wanna just skip today and put on some music?

"Fine with me," Kotori flopped back from where she'd sat at the low table. "That bit with Nico...I'm not sure I like this new girl."

Honoka chuckled. "I think it'll mostly be the same Nico we've been dealing with behind the scenes all along. She really does want to make the best idol group out of us she can."

Umi shook her head. "We really shouldn't do this…" she said, but her tone made it plain she wasn't really arguing. "Does anyone have anything due tomorrow they haven't finished? There was the math and a history paper."

Ranma frowned, but checked his calendar. "Right. Math teacher's too predictable and repetitive. I got the whole week done. Figured this might happen."

"Me too," Honoka admitted. Umi just flopped one hand out to accept the papers. Honoka groaned, but passed them over. "I notice you didn't check with Ranma."

Umi pulled the loose leaf close and flipped through half-heartedly. "If Ranma says he did it, he did it. I don't have the energy to check these thoroughly tonight, I'll look them over before school if you don't mind me skipping practice."

"Don't make me get the ping-pong gun," Ranma said with a chuckle. "They sell an upgraded spring for that thing, by the way."

Kotori made a squeaking sound and hid behind Honoka. "Don't you dare!" Honoka blinked as she felt Kotori's fingers on her shoulders, ready to move her as a human shield.

Ranma chuckled. "Relax. I might need it for Umi pretty soon. She's improving, and we're probably going to do pain resistance training soon."

Umi finally handed the papers back to her friend and completely turned over on the bed. "So not looking forward to that, by the way. Let's not talk about it."

Honoka managed to get out of Kotori's grip. "Have we checked on the new web site format yet?" She flipped her laptop open. "May as well before we collapse."

Ranma blinked. "Well, I've looked, but knock yourself out. I should probably head home, at least."

"Oh screw it," Honoka said. "We're safer with you in the room than we would be any other way."

Ranma smirked. "Your parents don't agree. I think we talked them down from a shotgun wedding, but that's about it." He rolled over. But if you're serious, Umi, I stuffed some supplies up in the ceiling space. Pull down the two sleeping bags?"

"Why don't you do it?" Umi asked.

Ranma chuckled. "Two reasons. One, it is good training for you at this stage. You could need to boost yourself any second, right now it's taking you almost an hour to get into the swing of it. The other is that I need to change back into a girl if we're gonna fit everyone in here for a sleepover and that's with someone sharing the bed."

The sound of a laptop snapping shut hard grabbed everyone's attention. "Uhh...How's everyone coming with the lit paper?"

Honoka's three best friends stared levelly at her in reply.

Honoka coughed. "Uhm...my Love Live inbox is...uh...a little full of fan mail."

"How full?" Umi asked, tapping her fingers.

Honoka gulped. "Uhm...five?"

Ranma's eyes narrowed. "Five what?"

"Digits." Honoka said sheepishly. "Uhm...the first few were...uh…." Ranma grabbed the laptop, spun it towards him, and eyed the notifications. The polite ones were all asking her on dates. The less polite...were less polite.

"We knew it would happen eventually," Umi and Ranma said together.