R-DAY PLUS 5

"Contingency Plan"

One week left.

By the time the girls realized the deadline for Kotori's antidote would fall danger close to the day of the live show, it was too late. They had already given their word, and that of the mad doctor, as well. The best that could happen to them would be Sun and Moon's launch being pushed back by weeks, if not months. Then again, that didn't happen in real life, so fat chance. The second best thing was to perform with the little bird, although none had any idea how. They already had a song and the steps done. Changing everything and winging it before the live show would basically be having their cake and eating it, too.

See, this is what happens when cooler heads don't prevail in tense dialogues. The weight of the µ's consensus bore down on Honoka, who delivered the decision in a neat package. Nico was right: the girls risked their bid at the Love Live regionals with this, but there would be no turning back now. All they could do is pray to every god they know that everything turns out well.

"It's not like I don't want us to enter Love Live," Honoka took a bite of her favorite bread. "But I just don't want Kotori to stay like this. If anything, I'd rather not enter Love Live with one less idol."

"You do have a point," Nico sighed. "Our objective is to win Love Live with all nine of us, after all."

"Still, we can't turn away from the upcoming live show," Umi said. "If we pull out now, it'll look bad on our current standing. It's just as Nico said: this live show is as important as Love Live itself."

Skipping lunch in silence, Nozomi looked to the cards for guidance. Since drawing the flaming tower days ago, however, the result kept repeating itself. "No good. It's the same card over and over."

"What does that even mean?" asked Honoka.

"Something about a 'great change,' at least according to Nozomi," Eli explained. "Not horosho if you ask me."

"A great change, but not without great turmoil," Nozomi said without missing a beat on her focus.

"You think Kotori's the great change, as predicted?" Umi asked.

"I thought it was, at first," Nozomi answered. "But the cards kept telling me of another. I don't know how our situation can possibly get any worse."

Failing to qualify for Love Live? Losing favor after a disastrous live show? Shit falling from the sky? Take your pick, µ's chess master.

After looking at a chirpy Kotori for one minute too long, destiny endowed her with the craziest plan to date. "What if…we make Kotori our center?"

That's one way to make everyone's heads turn and say "What?" in shocked unison.

"Hear me out, girls," Honoka explained. "We're performing on the launch of a new Pokémon game, right? This is the perfect time to put our little bird in the limelight. We may need to revise our music and steps, but it'll be worth it if we can pull it off."

"IF we can pull it off," Nico protested. "In case you haven't noticed, there's only a week left. There's no time for an overhaul. We'll be a mess if we do so."

"On top of that," Umi added. "How would you teach a bird how to dance?"

Honoka turned to a clueless Hanayo. "Don't forget that we have an expert on board."

Preoccupied with feeding something irresistibly cute, Hanayo picked up on the attention coming at her a little later. "Err…why are you all looking at me like that?"

~O~

For the record, Honoka's idea was as crazy as it would get. Give it enough craziness, however, and it might just work. To everyone's surprise, especially Hanayo's, Honoka had tapped into one mechanic of the franchise that filled all but their live show needs. In fact, they saw the similarities as soon as Hanayo explained it in detail and showed them videos of—the Pokémon Contest.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Umi admitted. "But I think Honoka may be onto something here."

"I know, right?" Hanayo agreed with gusto. "I never thought we could incorporate Pokemon Contest mechanics into our performance. This might just work."

Nico, however, was one tough nut to crack. "Regardless, we're short on time. This still involves huge changes to the score and choreography. Are you girls sure about going for broke?"

"Don't worry, Nico," Honoka grinned. "We're all masters of winging it before the big day."

Rin's opinion sided with Nico. "I don't know. The current choreography's already hard enough, nya. Making a new one now might blow our chances at Love Live."

The group grew more divisive as more insights flooded in. Everything is now a gamble at this point, not just Honoka's plan. The discussion soon reached an impasse, four (Honoka, Umi, Hanayo, and Nozomi) voting for and four (Nico, Eli, Rin, and Maki) voting against it. Kotori sensed the tension in the air but the tasty carrots turned her attention away. No way in her situation was she fit to break any impasse, much less contribute to the discussion other than perching above the girls' heads.

Friendly debates are a wonderful thing. Too bad they're as common as leprechaun gold these days.

For all the tension it made, however, the two sides didn't seem rigid with their stands. Eli—drawing on her student council experience—came forward with a tiebreaker. "Maybe we don't need a major overhaul of our choreography."

"What do you mean, Eli-cchi?" Nozomi asked in reply.

"We'll find a way to fit in Contest moves into our current choreography," Eli explained. "All Hanayo has to do is to give the proper command and we'll react instinctively."

"Is it even possible? Our current choreography's isn't even about…well, Pokémon," Nozomi said.

"I believe our problem from the start lies there. We never took into account the event itself. Instead, we focused everything on putting on a live show."

"You do have a point there, Eli-cchi."

"We'll stick with our original number. But if push comes to shove, this will be our contingency plan."

"A contingency plan?"

Eli held her heart close and an alumnus's wisdom closer. "I remember what the last student council president told me. Always have one for the other. At first, I didn't know what she was talking about. I think I understand now."

Kotori, after flying above the girls' heads, landed gently onto Eli's head and tucked herself in. It was a sign, no doubt. What other explanation could there be? A random moment? That's a lazy answer.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Honoka rose up and faced her fellow idols.