R-DAY PLUS 1

"A Tasty Morning"

Otonokizaka welcomes another autumn morning of being spared the chopping block. Its hundreds of students don their proud blue uniforms as they trickle into their beloved school for another day of learning. The idle chatter on the school's closure has been, by and large, replaced by other topics, the most talked about being the local idol group's next gig. Who knows where µ's will perform next: another live show at the heart of Akiba or the school roof? Where in Japan would their biggest fans carry the Otonokizaka name? They're chomping at the bit to go.

For now, books and notebooks beckon them to the classroom—including the µ's. Not exactly the kind of morning Honoka wants to wake up to. But between her and the nasty piece of work called life, it's obvious who the bigger cheese is. A slump replaced her usual cheery self, and the goddess of harsh realities known as Umi knows why.

"For the last time, Honoka, I won't let you copy my homework," Umi reiterated. "You brought this on yourself. You have to face the music."

"Come on, Umi," Honoka's reply lacked luster. "Teacher's gonna give me double the homework. Can you at least—"

"No means no," Umi cut her friend off. "Maybe after this, you'll finally take school seriously."

Honoka snapped out of her slump since leaving the house, locking her fiery gaze with Umi's stoic face. Look closely and you can see a little fire burning just behind her anime-sized cornea. Don't ask how. It just happened.

"But I've always been serious about school," Honoka said. "Have you already forgotten that the nine of us saved Otonokizaka from closing its doors? We're heroes, Umi. We deserve perks like immunity from homework…and stuff like that."

"Please don't tell me you became an idol just for that," Umi replied. "Whatever happened to 'I want to sing'?"

"That's still relevant, you know."

"On top of that, how do you think the fans will react to an idol who flunked high school because she was too lazy to do her homework?"

Nobody but Honoka could come up with this classic answer. "Um…inspired?"

Just like that, Umi exploded in a fit of rage. Way to start the morning, µ's leader. "Just HOW is any of that INSPIRING to you?!"

"Well, you see…I mean, not all love doing homework, and—"

"Stop. Just…stop, Honoka. I can't even."

Halfway to the shoe lockers inside, a sunny Kotori welcomed the two with warmth only a kotatsu could provide. "Good morning, Honoka. Good morning, Umi. Today's a lovely day, isn't it?"

"Good morning, Kotori," Umi smiled. "You seem to be in a good mood today."

"Of course," Kotori smiled back. "I can't wait for practice later."

The conversation was just holding steady when Umi decided to raise what might as well be taboo. "How did your flu shot go yesterday?"

"Well…" Kotori stuttered. "It went…well…I guess."

"For someone who works with needles, you sure don't like the ones used in shots."

"Well…they hurt and all. Why can't they just put it in a capsule or something?"

"Look on the bright side, Kotori. At least µ's won't be one less idol anymore at a critical time. We all should learn from what happened to Honoka a while back."

"Right."

Honoka curled up beside Kotori from out of the blue in a blatant attempt to butter the latter up into sharing the fruits of her hard work. A surprised Umi looked on, feeling like a failure for not paying attention to her lazy friend.

"I'm totally not gonna convince Kotori to allow me to copy her homework, Umi," Honoka gazed at Umi. "This isn't what it looks like."

Oh, is that it? Well, that's a relief. For a minute there—of course Umi's not gonna buy it. "Then tell me why you're curling up to her like some slithering opportunist."

"Umi! I am shocked to know that's what you think of me!"

A war of words soon broke out between the two friends, but Kotori simply chuckled at their antics, which ended the war as quick as it began. Under a soothing rain of cherry blossoms, Kotori looked up to a partially clear sky. Every cell in her body basked under the gentle warmth of autumn's light of day. Honoka and Umi could only watch their friend take in the morning, as if taking a hot bath.

"This morning," Kotori said. "For some reason, I find it…refreshing."

"Well, it's autumn after all," Umi replied. "But where did that come from?"

"I feel like I can do anything today," Kotori said. "Come up with new costume designs, finish student council work…"

"Let a friend copy your homework?" Honoka cut in.

"Just give it up already, Honoka," Umi sighed. "Don't try to ruin Kotori's day."

Kotori turned back to her friends with a smile. This day is begging to be full of it. "Come on, let's get inside. We don't want to be late."

"At this rate, I'd rather go home," mumbled a grumpy Honoka.

~O~

The day ticked away into the afternoon, the only time when the school exploded in extracurricular activity. Despite the day growing chillier by the hour, it only gave everyone from sports teams to the student council itself to work their butts off for warmth. The cold season is well-known for being a bane for any attempts at shaving a pound or two.

µ's is no exception. Twists and turns galore, they honed their routine nearly to the point of getting a career-ending sprain. But there was more to the Spartan regimen than keeping an attractive figure, as Umi pointed out with finesse. As in "drill sergeant" finesse.

"Listen up!" she glared at the members dropping from exhaustion and gasping for breath. "We only have less than a month before the big live show. People lining up to buy a copy of Sun and Moon will also be seeing our performance, so we have to polish everything."

"What?!" exclaimed a shocked Hanayo. "Sun and Moon's coming out this month?!"

"You had no idea, Kayo-chin?" said Rin. "You were looking forward to its release for months."

"I guess…time flies when you're busy with practice," Hanayo replied sheepishly. "Although I haven't decided which game to get."

Umi used her "Ahem!" of authority. It's super effective.

"Focus, girls!" she added. "The owner of the gaming store practically went through hell just to get us to perform. He expects us to give twice our all."

"Remind me again why we're performing at a launch of a game that I don't even know about," said a deadpan Maki.

"Simple. We owe him one," answered a calm Eli.

"Oh yeah," Maki digressed.

"Needless to say," Eli stood up and walked to Umi's side. "This live show will affect our chances in winning the Love Live regionals in December. We have to prove ourselves worthy of being rivals to A-RISE."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Umi replied.

Having heard the A-RISE question, however, the rest of the group fell silent. Even after coming this far, their chances of dethroning an established brand in the idol industry concerned them to no end. Their reaction hardly surprised Umi and Eli, who probably know this more than anyone else.

µ's needed a boost in morale. They got it from an unlikely source: Kotori jumping like a restless kid in the sandbox. "Come on, girls! Let's get back to practice! I'm all fired up!"

Her chirpiness needed no further explanation. But to the girls, this felt a tad too much, especially to Honoka's standards. "Wow, Kotori. Aren't you tired? At all?"

"Not one bit," Kotori continued jumping, her skirt flipping close to fanservice. "I can still do better! I haven't given my all just yet!"

"If Kotori's up for it, then let's get back to practice," Umi agreed.

"Oh geez," Honoka complained. "Where did you suddenly get this burst of energy, Kotori?"

"Definitely not from someone who thinks homework is a drag," Umi smirked.

Not minding the strain, the girls got back up one by one. Their dedicated practice drained the rest of the afternoon. Only the live show and the expected audience would determine whether or not their blood, sweat, and tears have been worth their weight in fame and glory.

But this early, someone was already watching them.

R-Day Plus 1. Subject seems to show an increase in energy reserves, possibly from the absorption of light energy from this morning. However, such observations cannot be verified, as there's a possibility of these being innate in the subject. Observation will continue.