*BROADCASTING ROOM - NIJIGASAKI HIGH SCHOOL - ODAIBA - TOKYO*
*P.O.V SWITCH - AKIHIKO SUZUKI*
*LATER*
AKI: "Is this playable already?"
RINA: "Yeah, it should work."
SETSUNA: "Try playing it."
AKI: "O-Okay... I guess rhythm games I don't suck at as much as the others... To think that a song I wrote got turned into a game..."
MIA: "You couldn't make up your mind so we had to compromise on TOKIMEKI Runners. We could have saved time if we did that from the start."
AKI: "Yeah, true..."
MIA: "Now, c'mon. Let's see you give it a whirl."
AKI: "Okay, here goes nothing!"
...
*ONE PLAYTEST LATER*
AKI: "Ack..."
MIA: "Wow Babyboy, you suck..."
AKI: "I can't keep focus on nine circles at once okay!"
SETSUNA: "On the bright side, it really worked!"
RINA: "I'm glad the game runs without any issues. Rina-chan Board says, 'Phew'."
MIA: "The designs Setsuna came up with for the characters are super cute too!"
SETSUNA: "But the lines were a bit long. Maybe if I made them a bit shorter...
Ah, but then I won't be able to convey my burning passion!"
RINA: "I'll work on the text boxes some more. The characters and text are very important."
MIA: "How do you feel about the chart notes? Let me know if there's anything you wanna change."
RINA: "Hm... Would you enjoy playing with the notes arranged the way they are now?"
MIA: "I'd want to make it a bit more complex. I'm pretty good when it comes to rhythm games, after all."
AKI: "More complex?! But there's already nine circles, how many more could you want?!"
MIA: "I'm not talking about adding more circles, Babyboy. I'm thinking of adding more notes at a faster rate."
RINA: "Then, let's make a hard version as well."
MIA: "Okay!"
AKI: "So, I'm guessing I should just keep working on and fine-tuning these for now?"
RINA: "That's fine. The number of songs we implement will depend on how many charts we can make, but we should be able to get this much done before the deadline."
SETSUNA: "That's good to hear."
MIA: "We'll transcribe as many as we can, Babyboy. We'll make an easy and hard version for each song."
AKI: "..."
MIA: "You with me?"
AKI: "Yeah, I am! ...But we've been working for a while. We should eat something. I don't want you to neglect your basic needs."
SETSUNA: "Now that you mention it, I am pretty hungry..."
MIA: "Me too. Do we have any of that food Ayumu and Kasumi made left?"
RINA: "It's all gone."
MIA: "Damn it."
AKI: "Should we go out to get some to eat, then? We can freely enter and exit this room, but nobody else can enter."
MIA: "Me and Rina are getting hamburgers!"
SETSUNA: *Giggle* "I guess we should go to the usual place then."
AKI: "The Shinoda Family diner! Oh, and if you're watching this, thanks for the materials Kaito, and the rest of you too. They were a big help for our research!"
SETSUNA: "We'll grab something to eat and then dive right back into the fray!"
...
*SHINODA FAMILY DINER - VENUS FORT - ODAIBA - TOKYO*
There's always too many options for choice on this menu. I don't know how Kaito's parents keep up with these different orders.
AKI: "I'm stuck. What should I get?"
LANZHU: "SOME MEAT! Get some meat in ya!"
AKI: "GAAAAAAAAH!!!"
LANZHU: "You're gonna need more strength in those bones for round two, and for that, there's nothin' better than meat!"
AKI: *Pant* *Pant* "Phew... It's just you, Lanzhu."
She almost gave me freakin' heart attack!
KARIN: "She's not the only one here."
EMMA: "Ciao!"
AKI: "Eh?"
SETSUNA: "Wow, are you all going for dinner too?"
KARIN: "You guys said on stream that you were coming here for dinner, right? So we thought we'd join you."
Damn it, that was a rookie error on my part. At least it's the dorm family... Who knows who could have been watching the stream and waiting to ambush us?
Especially with Golden Calf on our asses, I shouldn't have been so careless...
Wh-What if he's here?!
No... I don't think he could cover that much ground in time... That old pervert...
I had a feeling I was being watched in here. But thankfully, it's safe.
EMMA: *Giggle* "Did we surprise you?"
MIA: "Sure did! You came all the way here for us?"
LANZHU: "Lanzhu couldn't just sit there, watching you all working your little hearts out.
But people outside of the group aren't allowed into the room for the contest, right? Once Lanzhu heard you were heading out for food, she thought it was the perfect chance."
EMMA: "We said we'd all come together to cheer you all on."
KARIN: "Well, we didn't really get to discuss it... Lanzhu and Emma just jumped up and ran off."
EMMA: "Huh? Is that how it went?
Luckily, we managed to make it here in time to see you."
LANZHU: "C'mon, give Lanzhu the lowdown on the contest. She's all ears!"
KARIN: "Hearing that the theme is 'Dreams' made me have flashbacks to the career path survey we did not so long ago."
EMMA: "I was nodding along listening to you all discussing that theme."
MIA: "You've been watching us that long?"
SETSUNA: "You don't mean...you've been watching everything from the start?"
LANZHU: "Of course we were! Lanzhu couldn't miss a moment of all your hard work.
You're killing it, Rina. Your ability to organize everything that needs to be done is incredible. The instructions you give everyone are so precise and easy to follow.
You're a leader they can all count on!"
RINA: "Um, thank you. I'm not sure how to respond. Rina-chan Board says, 'Blushy blush'."
LANZHU: "With you at the helm, Lanzhu knows your project is gonna be smooth sailing!"
EMMA: "It's not a side of you we usually get to see."
KARIN: "Right. The way you're gathering everyone's ideas to incorporate into the project..."
LANZHU: "That's usually the Captain's job!"
AKI: "I guess so."
LANZHU: "Yeah. You usually ask what everyone wants to do, put it all together, and make it happen. Lanzhu's always got a close eye on you, you know!"
AKI: *Chuckle* "Thanks, Lanzhu."
MIA: "Um... Our stream."
AKI: "What about it?"
MIA: "It's been offline for two minutes. Did the equipment bug out or something?"
RINA: "It shouldn't have. That's the best equipment the school had to offer."
MIA: "...Oh, nevermind, it's back."
AKI: "Guess these things happen sometimes."
MIA: "Anyway, the time for worrying is over. Order time! What'll you have Lanzhu?"
LANZHU: "Lanzhu'll get the steak meal followed up with a parfait!"
Sounds about right. This girl loves her meat after all.
AKI: "Oh hey, it's Kaito! We should thank him for the materials he gave us. Hey, Kaito, over here!"
TSUMUGI: "Hm..."
AQUA: "..."
...
*ONE MEAL LATER*
*BROADCASTING ROOM - NIJIGASAKI HIGH SCHOOL - ODAIBA - TOKYO*
SETSUNA: "That was a fun meal. I feel more energized now."
AKI: "Me too. I think I could even go for an all-nighter, especially with the meringue cookies Emma gave us for a late-night snack."
MIA: "Ever the workaholic, aren't you, Babyboy?"
RINA: "Hold on. I think we should get a good sleep tonight."
MIA: "Huh? I'm totally fine to keep going, though!"
AKI: "Yet you call me the workaholic."
MIA: "Hey! This is different!"
RINA: "We've made more progress today than we expected, so let's work on it until 11pm and then it's bedtime.
We have 48 hours, so it's important to pace ourselves."
SETSUNA: "I think you're right, Rina. All our hard work will be for nothing if we run out of steak in the second half."
AKI: "Right, then let's give it one last almighty push for today!"
RINA: "I'll adjust the text areas we were talking about."
AKI: "Mia and I will keep working on the charts. Let's see how much we can get done by 11pm!"