"Whoa…" breathed Kanon softly, almost inaudibly, almost to herself.

Their clubroom was full of gifts from everybody in school, boxes small and large, most of them stuff to furnish and decorate. Chisato and Keke went over to the smaller boxes and helped themselves to colorful glassy trinkets whilst Sumire admired the carpets and curtains. Ren lovingly stroked the violas in a pot by the window.

Before that, however, Ren had offered them a sumptuous chamber right next to the director's office for their new clubroom.

"I can't accept this," said Kanon.

The others were startled for a moment, but they didn't speak up.

"Will this mean our status as a club in this school is tied to favors from you, Madam?"

Ren smiled. "But the students regard you so highly already. Is it wrong for me to treat you accordingly?"

"Did they also want us to move here?"

"…"

"We want to stay closer to our audience. We'll remain at our present place. If you want a fabulous clubroom for us, we and the students will all make it ourselves."

'We,' huh? Ren took a moment's glance at Sumire, who simply raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

Ren then stared straight into Kanon's eyes. There was no wavering of resolve there. Mattaku. This girl. She's going to be a handful, isn't she?

Two days later, Ren was looking up from the flowers and staring at Kanon's eyes again, but now there was only bewilderment in those eyes. Well, what are you waiting for? Unpack all this stuff and do the clubroom. You asked for this.

Suddenly Ren burst into a giggle. Kanon's confused face was so funny. The poor girl was thrown off even more. "I-I-I-I-I'm gonna help!" And she went about opening more boxes. "But there's a lot!" wailed Kanon as she finally sank to her knees.

"NON-CHI," CHISATO HAD SAID back at the chamber as she and Ren stared each other down, "is it really alright to make Madam hole up with us in that old clubroom? She's really doing us a favor by joining us; maybe we must move up to her, after all?"

"Wha—ah, n-n-n-no! I-I didn't mean to—! Madam is still on a different level… Madam can just… she can just stay with us an hour a day? Or half an hour?"

Ren held back a laugh. "Oh my. Please don't mind me too much." She closed her eyes. "Alright. I will allow our club to remain there." She then held up a finger. "But on one condition.

"You must stop calling me 'Madam.' "

OP Song

Bouken Type A, B, C!

Lyrics: Aki Hata

Composition and Arrangement: Tatsuya Kurauchi

.

#9. Go! Riviera!

Students visited the clubroom everyday after school and helped the club fix up the place; within the week they were done.

That Monday, Riviera immediately dived into their first proper club meeting.

"A school idol should be versatile," explained Ren. "She should know not just how to sing and dance, but just about everything the audience will enjoy."

"So," said Kuu-chan, "if they like seeing death-defying stunts, we'll have to do it?"

"Ehehe," chuckled Ren uncertainly. "If. But I think there's a whole other kind of idol for that, so you need not worry about it."

"What about cooking?" ventured Kanon. "Everybody loves to eat, right?"

She nodded. "As expected of your café background. Yes, but since so many are doing it already, we'll need to put a twist to it."

"No, no, no!" insisted Kuku. "Let's return to death!"

"What?!"

"I-I-I mean, death-defying, desu! Let's make a gimmick which is kinda like a thriller."

"What could it be this time?" said Sumire planting her face in her hand.

"It'll be great! Just listen, OK? It goes like this…"

Sumire was surprised to find five pies on the clubroom conference table. A sign on the table said: ONE PIE PER PERSON. "What is this? Are we having a party?"

"Ku-ku-ku-ku-ku," said Kuku behind her. "It's a game. "All of Tokyo are playing a game."

"Hah?!" She turned round. "What nonsense is this?" she demanded. "I don't have time for..." She was even more stunned to find Ren, Chisato, and Kanon standing there with Kuku, and looking quite nervous. "What... What's gotten into you guys?!"

"We're on a struggle for survival, Sumire-chan," said Kanon solemnly. "We must play this game, or we will... we will..."

"And if I refuse?"

Everybody were horrified. "No can do!" cried Kuku. "Something from the sky will hit you on the head, zuura!"

"There's nowhere to hide," continued Kanon. "All of Tokyo is covered by a GPS signal that tracks your exact location. The only way to survive is to win a game."

"You got to pick the exact pie with the key in it, desuu. Pick the wrong pie and your head go boom!"

Sumire facepalmed. "I'm outta here." She brushed past them and went out the door. No sooner than she stepped out-

Splat.

Sumire touched the top of her head and then looked at her hand. "B-B-B-Bird poo!" she croaked, and then fainted.

In the end, Sumire threw down on the table the schedule she and the others had fought over earlier. "If you don't mind, I think we can still use this." She gulped in embarrassment. "You can make changes, if you like, of course."

"That was masterful, Sumire-chan!" smiled Ren sunnily at her. "You're such a dearie. I never knew such a cutie will also be caring to her buddies!"

"What are you up to, Matsuura?!" lashed out a flushed-red Sumire.

"Well, I'm not wrong…" said a still smiling Ren, "…am I?"

"I don't need your compliments! I am already perfect the way I am! Grrrr…"

"But Ren-chan is right!" beamed Kanon, stopping the rage in its tracks. "You saved us. You don't have to be perfect. You're better than perfect. You're caring. And that's all that matters."

Sumire immediately turned away and tried to compose herself. "Are you guys… really alright with my plan?"

Kanon picked up the notebook and smiled at her again with it. "Of course! You make the most superb galactic plans! And now that it will be adapted to our own level, I'm sure our club can catch up and become truly professional!"

"Guh… I-I just want to make the planning faster and our meeting shorter." She walked out. "Excuse me, I need the toilet."

So the rest of the meet (sans Yazawa) was spent watering down the schedule. They were able to plan out activities till the end of the month, and the meeting did finish sooner. So Ren took them up to the chamber for dinner.

"Uwoooooo," said everybody.

On the table were all sorts of fancy stuff they have never seen before. "This is Gratin Dauphinois, and this is Confit de Canard."

"What is even a Canard?!" said Kanon.

"It's something meant for your stomach, obviously," said Chisato flatly.

"It's sounds like something you'd wear!"

"You're in a café and you have no idea?"

"Yoshi!" said Kanon suddenly ignoring her with a guts pose. "I will copy these treats and make them part of our menu!" She caught herself. "Er… If it's alright with Ma—I-I mean Ren-chan."

Sweet giggle. "Go ahead my little one!" she smiled rubbing her hair again. I want you to keep growing and growing!"

"Uh—um… I-I'm not small! At least I'm not that small… Urrrgh…"

Sumire placed her fingers on her forehead in exasperation again and took a fork. "Well, are you waiting for me to consume all this? I won't hold back, you know."

Kanon asked Ren for samples of her delicacies to make good on her decision to copy them for the café. "Mamaita will be excited to see this!" she said as she drew closer to home, tickled pink. And she hummed her way right into the house.

"Maman," she called out. There was nobody at the living room. She put down the food on the coffee table and fell onto the sofa. "Is she still busy with the customers?" It was already almost eight, things should be starting to wind down, though a table or two may get reserved from time to time well into the night, like that little party with Chihiro's university chums.

Aw, man, she grumbled inwardly as soon as she remembered her sister. She's gonna pick on these treats just because I was the one who brought them in. Tch. I must cover them up and show them only to Mamaita.

She found a bag and quickly loaded the stuff into it, and then lay back again. She waited for another twenty minutes. It's getting really late. Should I just go to bed and show her tomorrow? But Chihiro might find out if I put them in the fridge. Come to think, there isn't a sign of her, either. Was she helping out?

Suddenly, she was arrested by peals of laughter from the direction of the kitchen. Maman! She got up and dashed over. "Maman!" But the lady was a little too absorbed with the phone. "Mama?" she said approaching her. "I have something to show you—"

"Oh hi, dear! You wanna talk to your abuela? Oh! Gomene. I spent too many of her minutes already. Don't worry, I'll quickly put you on the phone next time. What matters is I told her the stuff that matters."

"What matters?!"

She suddenly turned back to the phone. "Oh yes!" beamed Mama. "Your cielita is a star now!"

Kanon gaped in embarrassment. "Maman! Cut it out! It's not like that. Moh…"

Hearty laugh. "I'll send you every last video of our girl that I can find. Oh wait! I'll just go to every event she performs in so I can record her myself and guarantee a steady stream of videos!"

Kanon planted her face into the wall. "Nobody will be left here if you do that."

"I will," said Chihiro with a wink. She was in an apron and she just came in from the cafe. "I'm doing paperworks mostly these days and my class schedule is not that tight, I can manage."

"No you won't! Why must you always make my life miserable?!"

"Because that's my hobby, you only noticed now?"

"I knew it, you're a creep!"

"Ooh," Chihiro said all of a sudden, fishing something out of her pocket. "What this? Mama," she said showing it—a photo of Kanon in costume with a decorative frame that said, "UR"—much to her sister's horror, "let's give Granny a foretaste of bomboncita's stardom."

Kanon rushed over and tried to take it from her. "Give it back! Where did you even get that?"

When Chihiro threw the thing over to Maman, Kanon grabbed her by the collar and shook her. "You're so mean, you're so mean, you're so mean!" And she cried in her sister's bosom.

"Kanon, is that how you treat your talent manager? My, you're so unbelievable."

"I didn't give you the right!" Weep.

" 'Right.' Heh, stop pretending to be a nobody when you're already talking like a celebrity."

Sniff. "It's your fault for bullying me."

"Once you have entered a course of action, you shouldn't be coy about it as if you still have a plan to turn back."

"I'm not somebody special."

"Then tell that to your audience."

"…"

"Now that you have dared step onstage, everybody's expectations are on your shoulders.

"Are you going to let them down, Kanon?"

She only stared, still speechless. Chihiro smiled fondly at her. "If other idols perform for their own glory, then prove that you're different. Prove that you're on stage for them, and not just for yourself."

Slowly, she smiled again as she let the words sink in. "You're right," she said wiping her tears. "I'm going to cheer up everybody. Uhm! I'll do my best."

"Ahaha! That's why I'm glad someone in the family is stepping into the public eye instead of moi so I can work quietly on winning the Nobel Prize. Ahahahaha!"

Shake shake shake. "You're so mean, mean, mean!"

"Chihiro," said Mama, "aren't you going to bring cielita to her fans at the table?"

At this, Kanon paled. "Hehhhh?! S-Seriously…?" She scrambled to come up with a refusal. "B-B-But I'm still in my uniform!"

"All the better!" said Chihiro. "Your friends are in their uniforms, too. There's even a fan with a little accent. She Korean? Maybe Hong Kong?"

Kanon felt more of her blood drain away from her face. Is the club actually here? Why must those people be the first to see her fresh out of humiliation? Oh man…

スーパースターズ! GO!

"Hallo!"

Everybody followed suit. There were about ten or twelve of them including Kuku; she was the only club member there, however.

"K-Kuu-chan…" she said bashfully. "I thought you're home."

"Did you think I was done with 'ya for today?" said Kuku with her face next to hers.

"You sure have a lot of energy left over after that feast," chuckled Kanon uneasily.

"Uhm!" beamed Kuku. "I feel like I can stay up for another 48 hours!"

"I see it's dangerous to let you have too much nourishment," mumbled Kanon.

Kuku stepped back and quickly plunked a fat envelope onto the table right in front of Kanon. "There! Five of us just received some hefty allowance, desu." She threw down another envelope. "And here's mine!"

"Takami-san," said one of the girls, "we want to celebrate with your club, so we asked Ming-chan to have a party with you here. We'll pay anything! Can we stay until after nine?"

So stay they did. They first spent their time on the food, fawning over the latest trendy additions to their menu. This portion Kanon pulled off well enough, she was good at small talk even with multiple groups. The whole affair should have passed rather uneventfully if not for Kuu-chan speaking up and

"Kanon-chan, sing for us!"

Everybody held their breath.

"…"

"…"

"Uh…" Kanon's throat seemed to be tied in knots. "Excuse me…?"

"We haven't heard your singing voice up close. This is a very good chance!"

These girls. First, they bully you into facing off with Sumire, then they pressure you to perform even with half a club, and now they casually tell you to sing out of nowhere in a café. At times like this, there's only one way to respond: Try to talk them out. "We're all tired from a long school day, and it's getting late. If I sing now, we might last into the night like a bunch of drunks. People might think our café is really an adult nightclub."

"Come on, Takami, it's not like you're putting throaty whispers in our ears or anything."

"Of course not!" Guh. Why am I more flustered than I should? "Guys, you must be sleepy from the meal already, let's clean up and call it a day."

Kuku, who by now knew a fair bit about her friend, proceeded to cut her off by hefting a portable speaker onto the table, with a matching playlist from her phone—holding those same μ's songs Kanon had sent to her! "Nuff chitchat. Let sing." And she played Cutie Panther.

"Wah? Hah… H-Hold on! When did you get that thing in here?!"

Kuku just turned the volume up, "Are you singing or not?"

"W-W-W-Wait!" Kanon was already in cold sweat, failing miserably at holding herself back. Singing with Chi-chan around, whether at a booth or onstage, was at least acceptable, but tonight instead of her Maman of all people was going to hear her. "I haven't practiced it yet!"

"Hmmmm…? You still gotta practice what 'ya already love? Gimme break, dude."

"Takami-san!" called out one of the customers. "Let's get it on! We've waited long enough!"

"W-Wait? B-But you're… you're not even thirty minutes here!" Even her perception of time was being affected.

"Takami-san, brighten up our day!"

"It's not even daytime!" Kanon, what are you blabbing about?! Get ahold of yourself!

Suddenly Kuku, with a wicked little sneer, scrolled down the playlist and picked another song. This time, as soon as the intro played, Kanon instantly melted. Kuu-chan! thought Kanon half-angrily, I'll make you pay for this! I'm gonna find your guilty pleasure and expose you onstage, I promise that!

And she finally gave in.

START:DASH!

Lyrics: Aki Hata, Composition and Arrangement: Hiroshi Sasaki

She hasn't even finished when the crowd started roaring. But she was unaware of that. She was in her own world. She was dreaming. In fact, she was still dreaming when the last line of the song was done. She only slowly awakened to the fact that she was someplace and there were people around her.

Everybody was cheering, smiling, applauding. Kuku went wild and hugging everybody whether she personally knew them or not. The café was ringing out with the sound of them—wait. We're in the café? We're not on a stage? And… I was… I was the only one singing?

Her frame began to quiver.

Her feet stepped back on their own, and before she could realize it, she had turned tail and bolted for her room.

Kanon was still up at eleven that night. She was huddled in her blanket hugging her μ's stuffies, zoning out every so often in between agonized musings of what had transpired that day at the cafe.

What am I doing?

"…"

Did I just run from my audience?

"…"

Why?

What's wrong with me?

She gazed at the ceiling for a while, thinking back on what pushed her into school idoling to begin with. Is it really the case? I only had the guts because of Chi-chan. I can also dance if I have a good enough partner like Chi-chan.

Does that mean I was doing everything for her sake? No, wait, that can't be completely right. There's something else. What was it…?

I'm doing this for the café?

"…"

I can cheer everybody up?

"…"

Well, how did that go? Sigh…

But it's my passion.

"You have already stepped on stage," Ren Matsuura had said. "You have already captured their hearts. Now, if anything happens to any of them again, I will hold you responsible, due to neglect."

Groan.

"No, Takami-san. We are connected. We are all affected. Since that is already so, let us make the most of it."

"Now that you have dared step onstage," said Chihiro, "everybody's expectations are on your shoulders. Are you going to let them down, Kanon?"

"Ahhhh!" And it had to be her who shows up in her most private ponderings. Alright, I get it! I'm an idol now. Sigh. Guess her passion is not hers anymore from here on. 'Make the most of it,' sure, why not? It's not like I wanted to let anybody down. But if I don't shape up now, I will actually let them down at some point. Uhm. I must get better at this.

She opened the drawer under her bed and took something out. Her headphones. She got her phone and found her μ's playlist. She closed her eyes and let the headphones shut her in whilst the music freely seeped, and then flooded into her consciousness. She felt each note, each tone, every last fluctuation of rhythm and allowed it all to saturate her body. Once she was fully soaked, waterlogged, the voice will flow out of her with a life of its own.

As the song went on, she felt another force… From within. A different sound.

A different song.

Her song. Her own song, which she had been building slowly in her heart.

The next morning, when she came down to eat breakfast, Mama showed her something. It was a speaker the party left behind last night. Kuku's.

That Saturday's dance practice was as rigorous as ever. Chisato can be a harsh taskmaster, and she did look a bit intimidating when barking out orders.

They even did headstands.

As soon as she called for a break, the club members sank down on the spot and heaved loud sighs of exhaustion. It was here that she became quite self-conscious about how tough she was.

"G-Guys, are you OK? Let me treat you to some jello."

But they were too busy letting the fatigue drain away from their bodies. Kanon and Ren were savoring the wind on their backs, whilst Kuku and Sumire quickly napped leaning back-to-back against each other. Urrrgh, this won't do for the next session. I got to think of an icebreaker…

She sat down by herself on a bench and tried to rummage in her head for something.

Unfortunately, there was only one gimmick she could remember, one she played with Tanya-chan and the girl's own classmates. As those girls weren't always the nicest in their pastimes, suffice it to say it wasn't the most sensible.

But Sumire had a laptop right now…

"Hiyah, guys!" yelled Chisato with an unsettling cheerfulness that jolted everybody awake.

"What's got into you all of a sudden?" asked Sumire.

"Ahahahaha! Don't worry, we're going to relax this time. Sumire-chan, can I have your lappy?"

"Sure thing!" said Ren. "Are we having a game? Bring it on!"

"Why are you the one loaning my stuff?" muttered Sumire.

As soon as they have gathered on the grass around the computer, Chisato accessed an image search for flowers. "Whoaaaa," said Kuku. "Are we going to look over flowers? So coooool!"

"Nah, I'm setting up our game. You see, we're gonna search for images of a particular word."

"You mean meme?" scoffed Sumire.

"It's not a meme! It's a game! Here's the rules. You know the captcha image board? Where you must check every square that has so-and-so in it?"

"Why? Is Riviera doing a Cybersecurity Month PSA, too?"

"No-No! What I mean is you do it like that."

"What exactly is it?!"

"A drinking game."

A momentary breeze whistled by in the silence of the park.

"So much for relaxation…" grumbled Sumire. "You should have said it's a challenge, not a game."

"I'm in!" beamed Kuku. "Let's have it! I got the toughest stomach in Shanghai, bring it on!"

Chisato smirked at them, especially at the curious looks on Kanon and Ren. They don't look daunted, either. "Select a word: anime, manga, movie."

"Anime," said Kanon.

"Oh…? Looks like Kanon spoke up first. You'll be the one to try the game first."

Everybody turned to her, but she only looked clueless. "Eh…?"

"See this image search? I will dictate a word you will search."

"Eh? Didn't I just pick 'anime?' "

"Nah-ah. That's just the first category. The final category comes from me."

"What's a first category for, then?" complained Sumire.

"Since you said the word 'anime,' for every picture that pops up with anime in it, you'll have the privilege of taking a shot of this lovely Rocket Fruit Punch!"

It was when Chisato showed everybody the punch—which was of a yellowish hue that seemed to change its shade of yellowness every few seconds—that Kanon and the rest began to realize the depth of her involvement. "H-Huh? What fruit is that, exactly?"

Smile. "Himitsu desu."

"Uh—Wait! Are we actually gonna drink that?"

"Ahaha. Silly you. You can't really drink this; it will kill you. That's why only shots are allowed."

"Huehhh? Uh, but, but are you sure you won't rig the game by saying a studio name?"

"No, I promise, no studio names!"

Kanon sighed in relief. "Alright."

Chisato sported a villainous smirk.

Kanon blanched. "Ch-Ch-Chi-chan, y-you're not up to something, are you?!"

"What I promised is what I promised. No anime names, no studio names, sweat drop, cross-veins, or any such cliche."

Kanon gulped one last time and finally steeled herself. "I'm in. Gimme your best shot." With the mentioned keywords out of the way, any random image should be manageable.

Chisato reached out and typed a word on the search bar.

Uchiura

Suddenly, Kanon scrambled to her feet and tried to get away, but Chisato was quick to catch her; she was also strong enough to hold her back as the girls looked on with blank faces. "Get me out! Get me away from here! Save me!"

ED Song

i-n-g, I TRY!

Lyrics: Aki Hata; Composition and Arrangement: Takeshi Masuda

.

Next Time! #10. At Last, a Song!