CHAPTER 7

Yume No Tobira

Nijigasaki High School,
Odaiba, Tokyo Prefecture,
February 21

It was not even half way through Nijigasaki High School Spring Festival, but the audience was already electrified by Aqours' opening song Aozora Jumping Heart. Aqours had been using the song as the 'appetizer' in their concerts, to warm up the fans of what would come later. And it worked. The audience, which mainly consisted of high school students, danced and sang and waved their glow sticks in sync with the song that had been so familiar with them.

The Aqours girls fed on the crowd's enthusiasm and deliver their second song: Kimi No Hitomi O Meguru Bouken, a heart-pounding pop-rock that sent the audience to orbit. Led courageously Riko, the girls danced their heart out. Hanamaru was still shaken by her bad romance, but with the encouragement and support by the rest of the group, she was able to pull herself together and performed, although far from her best. But nobody made a big deal. They were just glad Hanamaru could sing and dance.

The final chords ramped up to a rousing finale, and the crowd roared. Riko waved after all 9 girls bowed politely, then led the group to exit off stage. Ayumu Uehara from Nijigasaki High School greeted them at the end of the corridor, congratulating a job well done. The audience, in the mean time, did not let Aqours go quietly. They screamed and chanted Encore! to ask for more appearance from the girls from the small town of Numazu.

"That was a masterful performance!" Ayumu chimed. "That last song really set the tone of this festival! I'm glad you can come and perform at our school!"

"We were not that great," Kanan replied. "We are still far from our best performance. We botched the choreography here and there."

"I did not sing well, zura," Hanamaru added, trying to hide her reddened face.

"That is alright, Maru-chan, you all performed great," Ayumu said. "The audience loved it. Just listen! They're asking for an encore from you. I will have to consult the committee if we can add one more performance from you. That, only if you're OK with it."

The girls listened to the rhythmical chant by the audience, asking them to return to the podium. While feeling flattered, they couldn't help but notice that somebody had been outscreaming the crowd. His voice thundered over collective shouts of hundreds, demanding Aqours to return to the stage.

"Wait a minute…" You perked her head like she recognized the loud voice in the crowd. She climbed to the stage behind the curtain and took a peek. Her eyes bugged out and her lips curled into a cringe. "Oh no…" She turned away from the curtain and gave Riko a dirty look. "Did you tell him we are going to Nijigasaki? How does he know we're here?"

"What?! Who?" Riko followed You to the stage and stuck her face between the curtain's opening. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Inasa Yoarashi leading the crowd to chant Encrore! Encore! "Oh My God…"

"What? What is happening? Who are you talking about?" Ayumu muttered.

"He's a student of Shiketsu High School," Chika let out an exasperated sigh. "He's been stalking Riko-chan since our concert at UA High School." She turned toward Yoshiko. "Did you mention anything on our social media channels?"

"No, not this one," Yoshiko shook her head. "With everything that had happened for the last weeks, I think it is best for our fans not to know about our Nijigasaki trip."

"He must have some 'eyes' inside Uranohoshi," Kanan mused. "Somebody that knows our plans."

"It doesn't matter now," Dia tuned in. "What are we going to do about him? He's not going to shut up until he sees Riko again."

"Should I call security?" Ayumu said with concern in her voice.

"No, no, no! He's a very strong Pro Hero in training!" Riko replied solemnly. "Any attempt to remove him from this premise could end up in violence. It's me he wants. I can handle this. You guys just go back and proceed with our agenda for the day."

"Riko-chan, you don't have to do this…" Chika followed Riko to the stage.

"You have nothing to do with this guy," Riko smiled bitterly. "Let me take care of this problem. I can do this."

"Alright, but please be careful," Chika muttered. Her voice was riddled with concern. She leaned forward toward Riko, making sure nobody else could hear her. "We almost lost Maru-chan. We can't lose you too."

"You're not going to lose me," Riko whispered back. "Now go with the others and line them up. I will handle this."

Chika gave Riko a pat in the shoulder to let her know that her courage was a great deal for Aqours, then led the rest of Aqours off the stage. Riko waited until the other girls were on safe distance, then walked up the stage and bowed at the audience. The crowd broke into a mix of cheers, while Inasa Yoarashi roared his excitement, overpowering the rest of the audience.

"Everybody! Thank you for the invitation to sing for you again! We are deeply honored. Unfortunately, the rest of the group cannot grant your wish, and they send their deepest apology…"

"That's alright, Riko-chan!" Inasa yelled from the crowd. "We just want you! Sing for us one more time!"

Riko winced despite the warm applause from the audience, supporting Inasa's comment. "I will be honor to sing for you again. But after this song we have to let other groups to sing, so please let us go and enjoy the music. You can catch Aqours again in our next performance." She paused briefly, gauging the crowd's reaction, then bowed one more time. "Arigatogoazaimasu!"

As the crowd gave her approving cheer, she took the piano at the corner of the stage, then started a soft, mellow number that she held dear, because it was the song that really inspired her to become join Aqours.

Yume no tobira zutto sagashi tsuzuketa
Kimi to boku to no tsunagari o sagashiteta

Riko's voice sounded like a mother's lullaby, settling the restless crowd into a calm, serene group of good-behaving fans. Even Inasa, who had been the 'eye of the storm', was seemingly taken aback by Riko's virtuoso performance. Riko's calming vocal and kick-ass arpeggio on the piano went on for roughly 4 minutes until the rousing finale:

Yume no tobira daremo ga sagashiteru yo
Deai no imi o mitsuketai to negatteru
Yume no tobira zutto sagashi tsuzukete
Kimi to boku to de tabidatta ano kisetsu
Seishun no puroroogu

As soon as Riko played the last note, the crowd exploded, reverting back to the raucous wild animals, but only to give Riko their highest appreciation. Riko bowed and waved at the crowd, then exited from the back of the stage, running away to regroup with the rest of Aqours.

"Riko-chan! Wait! Riko-chan!" Inasa broke through the crowd and chased down Riko. Riko ran as fast as he could, but he intercepted her easily. He gave her a wide smile and a bouquet of 'Pink Perfection', carefully picked to represent Riko's image color. "Riko-chan, this is for you. An appreciation from your most devoted fan."

"Ow," Riko was utterly flattered, and her face turned pink like the flower. But she hesitated to accept it because she didn't want to give Inasa the wrong message. "Yoarashi-san, thank you very much. You have been very kind to me. But forgive me, I cannot accept it. I don't deserve such complement."

"Why not?!" Inasa bemoaned. "It is customary for fans to give flowers to their favorite performer. Please take these as a token of my deepest admiration of you."

"Yoarashi-san, I am very flattered, but…" Riko tried to find the correct words to express her feelings. She knew that Inasa was not just admire her. He was trying to 'own' her, and the thought terrified her to the core. "I am not ready for any commitment. The only commitment I am willing to make is to Aqours. I want to sing with Aqours for as long as fate permits. Please understand, I love having friends like you but I am afraid I can't return your devotion the way you expect me to."

"There's no need to return anything, Riko-chan," Inasa either didn't understand what Riko was trying to say, or didn't care. "Everything I do for you, I do it out of respect, admiration, and passion. You and your music have changed me for the better man, and this is the least I can do. So please accept this as a proof that I am as passionate about our relationship as you are about your music."

Riko had a feeling that to make him go away she had to be blunt, perhaps to the point of being rude. But Inasa was a big boy, twice as broad and three times as bulky as her. His presence was intimidating. Plus, he possessed a superpower. She was scared that rejection would end up in somebody getting hurt.

"I accept your gift," Riko grabbed the flower with trembling hands, "but you have to promise. Please don't do this again. I am not comfortable, and my friends are not comfortable too. Please leave us alone."

"Ah, they are all jealous!" Inasa chortled. "Well they should be! There's no man more passionate than I am! Alright, I will let you go. But at least let me take you to your friends. Who knows there are some villains lurking in the shadows, waiting to hurt you! You will be safe with me!"

"That's alright, Yoarashi-san, thank you for your concern, but I am alright."

"I insist! I just want you to be safe, Riko-chan! No villains would harm you if you are coming with me!"

Riko knew Inasa would not take 'no' for an answer. With the hope that Inasa would leave her alone if she agreed, she nodded and let the imposing Pro Hero from Shiketsu lead her to regroup with the rest of the girls.


Meanwhile, the rest of Aqours had their own problem. As soon as Ayumu left them, a group of boys approached. They were all skinny young boys; two of them died their hair blonde, one had long curly hair, and one wore a baseball cap backward. The tallest one, a dark-skinned buzz-cut boy, looked at Aqours with a derogatory smirk on his face.

"So, we heard that you're competing in the Love Live Finals," the tall boy said. "With this performance, you think you have a chance?"

"Uhm… we hope we can win, but if we can't, we hope to bring our school's good name to the nation," Chika replied, appalled by the boy's pejorative attitude. "To etch the name of Uranohoshi in Love Live history."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, kid, but we will win Love Live Finals," the boy with baseball cap grinned.

"You? Who are you? And how can you say you'll win before the finals even begins?" Mari blurted, obviously aggravated by the boys' attitude.

"Have you heard of Yon*Machi before?" one of the blondes replied.

"We're big in Canada," the other blonde added. "Our concert at SkyDome broke record attendance by teenage girls. Surprising you haven't heard of Yon*Machi, but totally expected, since our coverage may not have reached small cities like Numazu."

"Yon*Machi," Ruby cringed. "Pigi, it's the number 1 idol group in the nation!"

"Boy band, not idol group!" the tallest one smiled pompously. "We're joining Love Live Finals, and we're taking home the trophy!"

"Buu buu desuwa! Everybody has the same chance in Love Live Finals!" Dia snarled. "Why don't you go on stage and perform and we'll see how good you really are!"

"Sorry, we don't give free show," the curly one snickered. "But we have a concert at Yoyogi Park next week. You're all invited. You can see how the pro's do it. Now you girls be good, and see you next week… maybe."

As the 5 boys turned around, the girls watched them in silence. Nobody said anything.

"Shinjrarenai," Kanan sighed. "We're up against Yon*Machi."

"I watched their VEVO channel, zura," Hanamaru tuned in. "They're really good, zura. We're never gonna make it, zura."

"Girls, Yon*Machi is only one of other idol groups that compete at Love Live Finals," Chika tried to encourage her friends. "We have the same chance to win Love Live Finals as any other group."

"Didn't you hear what they said? They broke records!" Yoshiko added. "What record have we broken?"

"They only broke one record, and breaking a record is not a measure of somebody's chance to win a competition. Come on, girls, don't let our hard works be wasted because of something that has not happened. Nobody knows what the future brings, but I'm sure it will be fun. That's what we always sing, right?"


When Inasa escorted Riko to regroup with Aqours, he could see that the girls' mood had turned for the worse. Everybody seemed to harness self-doubt, visible from their eyes. The only one that still maintained positive attitude was Chika, and even then she looked like she wasn't sure about things anymore.

"What is going on?" Riko asked.

"We just brushed shoulders with Yon*Machi," You explained, "and their attitude was not very encouraging. Some of us think that we have no chance against them in Love Live Finals."

"Why that's just… ridiculous," Riko bemoaned. "We can't waste our hard work because we fear some boy band will beat us at Love Live Finals. If anything, they should make us more determined and work harder to win."

"I agree with you, but let's just get back to the hotel and cool off," Chika tried to defuse the situation. "Maybe if we sleep it off, we'll feel less stressed out in the morning."

As the girls left, Inasa turned around and went into a hunting mode. The Yon*Machi walked around Nijigasaki High School like they owned the place, disrupting the concert underway. Inasa couldn't just let it happen. The boy band bullied and intimidated the girl he fell in love with, and it was time to draw the 'hero' card from his pocket.

His lips curled into a sadistic smile as he left the crowd.