"Hey you two," Rin said as she entered the deck, "Time for us to get off soon." Jun could now see that they were approaching a small, rocky island with a waterfall.

He tried asking her a question. "So, Shirosaki-san…"

"You can call me Rin, or Rin-Rin if it's nothing too professional."

"So Rin, what is it about this 'potential' you guys keep talking about? And how am I so special compared to other people in this department, anyways?"

"Let's see…" Rin took a deep breath, as if she were trying to meditate. "All people in this world are born with potential. It is not only the ability to see spirit, but to manipulate it as well. You see, so long as you have a soul, you can manipulate the souls of others. We are those who have dedicated themselves to awakening this potential to better service others, using eastern methods and western philosophy to achieve it. You just happen to have a higher potential than others. Your spirit is awfully high, and yet… somewhat unstable. Due to the unusual nature of your spirit, we have decided that you were one of the best candidates currently available."

When she finished, the three on the deck could hear Sugita's voice from the inside of the ship. "We have just landed on the island."

Rin smiled. "Now let's get going, Jun-Jun," she said.

At the island, the squad members were all in a formation with the cheergirls in the very back, followed by the backups and Jun, and Hayato was up front and center. Kaoru faced them as an instructor would.

"As we all know, we now have a new member in the ranks of our squad. Fortunately, we have been able to manage with only seven members, but a proper balance is necessary so there is less chance of fatigue. The best way to master an art is to ease into it, so for today we will focus on mind training. Physical training will come much later for you, but first we will see if your spirit is up to standard."

"Don't worry about it, I'm still here for you," Shinta said.

"First things first, though." Hayato said turning to Jun. "We may need to explain the exercise as for you not to panic. Not everyone was born with steeled nerves, after all. Now follow us and we'll tell you what's going to happen."

The squad got to the center of the island, on a small hill with a relatively flat top.

Hayato decided to tell Jun what to do. "Now, you can see that I have a cage right beside me. This cage contains a cat. Your job is to catch it." Before Jun could speak, Hayato added, "And you have to do it blindfolded."

The confused rookie was handed a blindfold by Moriyama, and he quickly put it on. He then heard Hayato's voice again. "Now then, let's begin your training."

Jun heard the sound of something sliding open. Next thing he knew, he heard a meow from behind him. He slowly walked over to where he heard the sound, only to trip on a rock.

"You can do it, Jun-chan!" Honoka yelled from the sidelines.

He heard another meow, this time from the side. He started to chase the sound until he felt like he was at an angle.

"Out of range," Hayato said. "It'll only run on the flat part, we'd know."

Jun kept on chasing the source of the sound, always getting some sort of notice that he wasn't even close.

"And did we mention that the cat can throw its voice?" Rin added.

"You could have told me that earlier!" Jun thought. "How am I supposed to catch a cat blindfolded if I can't even hear where it is? And why does it smell like ramen in here?"

"She's from the ramen store," he heard a voice say. "And you should probably stay still first; it'll help you to focus."

"Kikuchi-san!" Jun said quietly. "You can read my thoughts?"

"No, you just yelled out loud."

Jun felt rather flustered and almost tripped as a result. "Well, what do I focus on? If this is the easy training, then I'm pretty scared of what the later months will be like…"

"I'll try to help you a bit here, but you're going to need to find the cat yourself, alright?"

Jun nodded, and waited for some instructions.

"First things first: try to focus on everything, but don't focus on anything in particular."

How was he supposed to do that? He tried to clear his mind a little, and focus on his surroundings. He took in the general environment, minus sight, and could faintly sense… things around him. But just when he was able to grasp the positions of people, the sense quickly faded away. Trying to focus a bit more, he slowly went towards what he perceived was the smallest body and slowly tried to reach out for it.

"Gotcha."

"Hey, are you coming with us?" a chubby kid asked.

-Hanada Sho, age 14-

"Sorry, I have to do some extra stuff today."

He went inside the now empty classroom, with only him and the teacher remaining.

"Sho," he said sternly.

"Yes, sensei?"

"Your grades recently are… How do I say this… pitiful? Well, I think that you could do a lot more to improve your grades. I'll tutor you if you can prove something to me."

"What is it?"

"Determination. Like what your brother had, but more. You will have to do various tasks while taking my supplementary lessons. If you get 100 questions right on your test, I will pass you. If you don't, then…"

"Consider your chances at a future minimal."

Sho was backed into a wall. He didn't want to fail and disappoint his parents, but his teacher was known to be downright cruel in his lessons. His only solace was that his brother was able to get through him, but…

"O…"

"O…"

"…"

"Ouendaaan!"

"Is that our cue?" Jun asked, hearing the faint yell in the distance.

"One other thing we forgot to mention." Hayato said. "We only cheer on this side of the river. Across the river is Yuuhi-cho, and therefore under the control of their squad."

Jun thought a little. Looking at another squad might help him later on. "Is it okay if I can see them in action?"

"Of course. It won't take too long to get to the location, and you have proven yourself for today. Let us travel onward back to the Yuuhi River."

At the Hanada residence, Sho's parents were watching a manzai routine in the same living room they always watched TV on. A guitar line springs up as a door slides open.

"Osu!"

— A Student's Way To Success! Work Hard and Follow the Older Brother's Footsteps!—

Sho's teacher was in his room, pointing to a stack of papers on his desk. "First, study all the supplementary material!"

"Yes, sensei!"

"Ikuze! San, ni, ichi, sore!"

Minareta machinami itsumo no nakama ga
Hanareteku nante tabidatte yuku nante
Jibun wo sagashite kodoku ni obiete
Tomo ni sugoshita saikou no taikutsu na hibi

"Why do I hear the sound of laughter?" the teacher asked.

"It must be my parents again…" Sho thought.

"Ahaha, our son is at it again!"

"He's just like his brother, isn't he?"

"At least he tries hard. I'm sure he'll make it!"

"It seems you have your parents' support as well," the teacher said.

"I'm thankful!" Sho replied.

"Well, now you should try and pass the physical part of the training. Study these first."

Owatta hazu no yume ga mada bokura no senaka ni
Semaru kizamareta omoide ga sawagidasu
Kagirareta ai to jikan wo ryoute ni dakishimeru
Semete kyou dake wa kienaide

"Do you think you've got the fundamentals down? Then answer this sheet while crossing this beam!"

"D-Do I really have to?"

"YES! Walk and write!"

Sho carefully treaded on the beam, writing as many answers down as he could.

"… Record time. With an 80% mark, too."

"Hey, maybe I can get through this!"

"Well, now's a good time for a mock test. You have 30 minutes to study."

Madamada da ore ga tomaru tokoro ja nai kara
Asahaka na aoi omoi wo daite ita no ka

Ugokihajimeta ressha no naka ni itsu demo kimi wa iru kara
Ano toki ano basho de mata aeru ka naa
Shinjitsuzuketa hitomi no oku ni itsu demo boku wa iru ka na
Umibe ni saita hana no you ni takumashiku

At a desk, Sho's teacher marked all of his papers… "Hmm… These answers are pretty good. It covers a lot of the material… Maybe he's finally ready."

The teacher met Sho after class again. "Sho?"

"Yes, sensei?"

"You're ready for the test."

Owatta hazu no yume ga mada bokura no senaka ni
Semaru kizamareta omoide ga sawagidasu
Kagirareta ai to jikan wo ryoute ni dakishimeru
Semete kyou dake wa kienaide

Tomatta jikan wa yuugure bokura no mirai wo terasu
Nido to modorenai yo no naka de
Itsu mademo kataritsuzukeru eikyuu to kibou no uta wo
Tatoe ima dake to wakatte itemo

The teacher sat in his desk. "Testing time is over. Please hand your papers in."

Sho reluctantly handed his paper in to the teacher, who closely looked at every bit of the papers.

"You'll get the results tomorrow," he said coolly.

The next day, after school, Sho timidly came up to the teacher's desk. An awkward silence followed, until the teacher slowly handed back Sho's test.

"… Good job. You aced it."

Sho looked at the papers and saw a huge "100" at the very top of it. "S-sensei! Thank you so much!"

The teacher gently smiled. "You're the one who tried his best."

Jun looked silently at the whole scenario. "That was… really cool. So those guys were the Yuuhi squad? That guy's hair… was on fire!"

Hayato grumbled a little. "Oh, Ippongi… That man is my rival, and his hair isn't actually on fire. Actually, we all have counterparts in Yuuhi. Would you like to go and meet the squad yourself?"

The conversation was interrupted by a gruff voice. "That won't be necessary!"

Hayato rest his head on his hand. "Ippongi… I should have expected you to come in uninvited."

"If it makes you feel any better, we did say we were coming today. Didn't you get the message?"

"No… I blocked you on my cell phone."

"How rude!" Ryuuta looked at Jun for a moment. "So… this is the new kid, huh? He looks kinda…"

"Don't finish that sentence."

Jun slowly walked in between the warring leaders. "N-no, it's fine! I mean—"

The two of them now glared at Jun. "Don't get between us."

"S-sorry! I'll leave you two alone for now…" Jun backed into what felt like a wall and turned, only to find an irritated, intimidating-looking man behind him.

"S-so sorry for that, too!" He quickly ran to the deck of the boat and saw a person with the same uniform the other Yuuhi members had, with the distinctive accessories that marked a lead cheerer.

"Oh… I never expected anyone to be on the roof."

The other cheerer smiled. "Well, seeing how our leaders are having one of their arguments again, I decided to get some peace and quiet." He turned to Jun. "So you're the new Asahi member, huh? My name's Tanaka Hajime. I'm the Yuuhi rookie, even though I've been on the squad for eight years now."

"Oh… Kashihara Jun. It's nice to see someone from your squad I don't feel like running away from."

Hajime laughed. "They may look tough, but they're all good guys on the inside."

"Well, you guys did save the world twice, and you have to at least be a little good to do that."

"Speaking of which…" The fellow rookie's expression turned serious for a moment. "It seems strange. Last time… Wasn't there something that went wrong?"

Jun, having recently learnt how to sense spirit, could faintly feel a presence behind him.

"Tanaka-san…"

"D-did something happen between the two of them, too?" Jun thought.

"Well," Hajime said, "I suppose I may just be worrying too much. It was nice meeting you for the first time, though. See you later."

"Hmm…" Jun thought. "Maybe it's best not to ask this time." He turned to the presence. "That guy seemed pretty nice. Do I really have to be rivals with him?"

"Well, the whole 'rivalry' thing is really just a formality. I think sempai and Ippongi-san are the only people who actually act on it."

"I see… So, Kikuchi-san…"

"You don't have to be so distant-sounding with me, you know… Shinta is fine."

"A-Alright… Shinta… What is your relationship with Tanaka-san?"

The former rookie would have turned bright pink to his ears if he weren't a pale blue afterimage right now. "T-Tanaka-san? W-We're…We're just friends! He's probably referring to that time their squad had to push ours out of the way!

Jun connected that event to the present. "I didn't doubt that, you know. But I just had an idea: if Tanaka-san could connect my appearance to something that reminded him of you, maybe we could get other people to remember you with stronger hints!"

"That's a great idea, Kashihara-san! But how are you going to do it?"

Jun smiled. "If I can call you Shinta, then you can call me Jun. And trust me; I have my way of putting this plan into action."

OH YEAH! Seventh Chapter COMPLETED! It took a long while and a lot of inspiration, but I pulled it off! From now on, I'm going to put these author's afterword thingies in the actual document in case I need to add changes. I'm switching back to the Mizuki arc now, and it'll hopefully have 20% more plot! The song used in this chapter is "Pikanchi Double" by Arashi. I think it's just a coincidence that one of the guys there is named Jun, because I had the prototype scenario in my idea book since… before summer 2010, I think. I definitely knew about Persona then, though.

In some news: Innocent Sin on PSP coming soon! If I ever get it, I am probably going to faceplam at my characterization of Jun… How was I supposed to know he was a "romancist" without that Japanese wiki? But at least I think I've gotten everyone else's characterization okay. Honoka-chan will get better, honest.

EOA got more members! Now I'm not as much of a net-hikki anymore! But it would be nice if you joined, you.

To a fellow Ouendan/EBA fan I know: my characterization of Rin is surprisingly similar to yours… even if my Kaoru isn't. I hope you finish that fifth chapter of yours!