"Look! There's a new competition thats taking applicants! Let do it."

It should have been that simple, but of course it wasn't. There was a big problem. That competition had a history of being quite... bigoted.

They didn't like anyone that was LGBTQ, but especially not those who were trans. And that was a problem for Aqours, well for one member at least.

Chika was trans. And that meant she wasn't welcome at the place. Sure... she could hide and no one would know, but she didn't know if she could. It would hurt her to have to go there, knowing about the way they view people like her.

So, she had to say no. She had to tell them they couldn't do it. But what could she give as the reasone except for the truth? There was only one thing she could think of.

"Sorry, guys. I don't think we should do it. They have a history of being very mean to any idol who wasn't cishet. I don't want us to be associated with them."

Chika felt that was a good answer. It had backing to it and she didn't have to out herself. Though, maybe she should tell them? It wasn't like they would hate her. They'd all accept her. She already knew that much.

"Really? Jeez..."

"That sucks... they were such a good opportunity too... but you're right that we shouldn't associate with them."

"Yeah."

Everyone was in agreement. That was good. That was exactly as planned. Now Chika just had to decide if she was going to come out to them today. She really should tell them. They deserved to know.

"Um..." Chika didn't know where to start, "We're a safe space... so... I do want everyone to feel welcome with us..."

"How did you find out about that info? Is it public knowledge or is it hidden?" Dia asked, "I just want to know if we can put any blame on the other groups who attend it or not."

"I... I always do a lot of digging around companies that do events for idols... and a lot of people were speaking out about it." Chika said, "Though, nothing was on their page."

"You sure are putting a lot of effort into that." Riko commented.

"Yeah... um... I..."

"Well, we know you're gay, so that's the reason right?"

"A-actually... there's another reason... I um... I'm a trans girl." Chika nervously mumbled.

She felt someone grab her hand. She snuck a glance. It was Yō. She knew already. She had been there since the start.

There was a lot of silence for a while. It seemed everyone was thinking over what they should say in response to that.

"Oh. Well, maybe we should step up our game in checking out venues and stuff."

"You already know you're still welcome here. We don't need to tell you that, do we?"

Chika shook her head, "No. I just needed to get that off my chest. I don't need too many words about it."

"Then how about we start practicing?"

"Sure."

"Let's do it!"

They all easily fell into their normal rhythm again. It was almost as if nothing had happened. And honestly, Chika prefered it that way. She really didn't want this to be a big deal.

Everything was good and that was all that mattered to her right now.