SHIZUKU: "He's taking today off, too?"
AI: "How many days has it been since he told us he won't be able to come to club meetings because he has something to do? It's so boring without him!"
SETSUNA: "Yes, we do miss the Chief, but I'm sure he's being a responsible Club President and is working hard on our behalf. So we mustn't whine about it."
KASUMI: "What exactly is he doing?"
KARIN: "He's contacting everyone who didn't show up to the info session."
RINA: "Whoa... But that's so many people. He's contacting every single one of them?"
EMMA: "And he's not just calling them. If he can, he's going to meet them in person."
KANATA: "He's been working so hard until late every single night. I feel pretty worried."
SHIZUKU: "So that's why I saw him going to the park..."
AI: "Ayumu, have you heard anything? You're neighbors, right?"
AYUMU: "Yeah, but I haven't talked to Aki for a while since he told me everything he was doing... He's leaving the house early every morning. He'll text me back briefly at night, but doesn't seem to ever have any time to talk."
KARIN: "I do hope the Boss isn't running himself ragged."
RINA: "I'm worried... Rina-chan Board says... No, even she's too worried to say anything..."
KASUMI: "I'm definitely worried too, but more than that I miss him! If my Senpai is watching me practice, then I feel like I can work even harder!"
EMMA: "Yeah, I agree. And there's been almost no new entries in that notebook of his lately."
SHIZUKU: "I remember how we used to joke about how it's almost completely filled up..."
SETSUNA: "Whenever I looked at that notebook, I'd feel such a rush of inspiration. I loved it."
KARIN: "I really do want him here with us."
AYUMU: "Leave it to me. I couldn't get through to him last time, but I'll set him straight."
...
*THE NEXT MORNING*
AKI: "Yes? Oh, I see. No... Thank you. Sorry for bothering you."
*HANG UP*
*Sigh*
*RIIING*
AKI: "Hello? You lost interest... Okay, fine... Thank you."
*HANG UP*
Why won't they understand that this is all for the greater good?
AYUMU: "There you are!"
AKI: "..."
AYUMU: "I heard a voice outside and wondered if it was you. Were you on the phone?"
AKI: "Oh, yeah, I was... Was I so loud you could hear me? Sorry about that..."
AYUMU: "No, I wasn't thinking that at all. It's more like... It's been a while since we last talked. You haven't been coming to the clubroom, and everyone misses you."
AKI: "Oh... Sorry. I've been making you handle everything. But right now, there are other things I have to do."
AYUMU: "About those other things... Would you let us help you with that? I think it'd go much faster if we could all work on it together."
AKI: "You think that... But you need to realize that what you THINK might work is just too uncertain.
Don't worry about me. This is my job to do, for everyone's sake."
AYUMU: "Oh, but..."
AKI: "If we're too blindly naive again, we'll just end up right back to square one again. If I don't take this seriously, we won't get 1000 people and the School Idol Festival will die.
I won't let that happen."
AYUMU: "But please let us-"
AKI: "I'm the manager here... It's not your job to help me.
Just focus on whatever you should be doing. Focus on your fan club or something.
Meanwhile, I'm going to contact every volunteer I can."
AYUMU: "Aki, wait..."
AKI: "Good night."
*SLAM*
AYUMU: "He's acting strange... He didn't look me in the eyes once. He didn't even look at me..."
...
Ugh, just hold on, everyone. Please understand that I'm doing this for all of you.
This is all for the greater good. This will all be worth it in the end.
Your dreams will all come true because of me.
*RIIING*
AKI: "Hello."
CALLER: "I got your message, I didn't think it would be such a big deal that I changed my mind."
AKI: "Well, it was. And it's not too late to change it again."
CALLER: "I'm not. I want to attend the festival as a fan."
AKI: "Because of people like you, there won't be a School Idol Festival."
CALLER: "Excuse me?"
AKI: "You're thinking that someone else will do all the work for you, right?"
CALLER: "That's not what I'm saying at all."
AKI: "It sure sounds that way, you knew what you were signing up for."
CALLER: "I don't like your tone."
AKI: "Excuse me for being pissed off that over 1000 people I was counting on suddenly changed their minds..."
CALLER: "I don't think I want to attend the festival at all now."
AKI: "Fine, you clearly don't care enough about school idols to help them. Why should I care? You'll see that we can hold the School Idol Festival without you."
*HANG UP*
Guys like that are the reason why we're in this mess...
AKI: "...?!"
AIKO: "School idols, hm? You're going to explain everything to me, Akihiko."
AKI: "M-Mom?!"