ATTENDANT: "Ticket please."
AKI: "Here, it's a ticket for Odaiba to Numazu."
ATTENDANT: "Numazu? I've heard that the weather can be extremely hot there, the sunshine is a whole other experience to the city."
AKI: "Yeah, I look forward to checking the place out."
ATTENDANT: "Enjoy your journey, you should be able to see Mount Fuji along the way."
AKI: "Thank you."
And now I wait as the scenery passes me by. Two hours until I arrive in Numazu.
I still can't believe that we're actually going to be on the main stage at the School Idol Festival. If this is a dream, don't wake me up.
I remember every moment after the show finished.
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2 WEEKS AGO
AKI: "Good job on the show! It was fantastic."
AYUMU: "Y-You thought so? Thanks! I'm overjoyed to hear you say that."
KASUMI: "What, no compliments for me? That's unfair. You know I worked really hard too!"
AKI: "Ayu may have won... But you were awesome too, Kasumi. Everyone was shining so brightly up there. It was incredible!"
AI: "Ahaha! Your compliments give me so much dren I could fly to Saturn! Like whoosh!"
EMMA: "Dren? What does that mean? I've never heard of it."
AI: "It's short for adrenaline!"
EMMA: "Oh, I get it! There are still so many words I don't know. Thanks for explaining it."
RINA: "You really don't need to remember that one. Besides, it barely sounds like adrenaline."
KANATA: "The live show.....is over, right? Can I sleep now? Good night."
AKI: "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You can't sleep yet, we've gotta get ready to leave."
KASUMI: "Eeek! Why are you leaning on me?"
KANATA: "Zzz..."
SETSUNA: "The venue was filled with so much passion, and the audience with so much love...and we got to feel it directly! Ahh, there's nothing better than being a school idol!"
SHIZUKU: "I was nervous. It was all so different from acting in a play. My heart is still racing."
AKI: "Yeah, the passion of the crowd got to me, too. I couldn't stop shaking. And I was just on the sidelines... The pressure must have been so intense for all of you up there on that stage."
KARIN: "But we did it. We pulled it off. We can be in the School Idol Festival now."
SETSUNA: "The School Idol Festival. The dream festival that gathers the nation's school idols in one place!"
AYUMU: "I'll actually be standing on such a big stage."
AI: "The scale of it is so big I can hardly grasp it. Well, let's do it anyway!"
SHIZUKU: "I may have been nervous, but I can't wait for the next one! I'm going to practice more and work on my stage presence!"
EMMA: "I have to tell my family in Switzerland when we get back. They'll sure be surprised!"
RINA: "I might have to up the expressions on my Rina-chan Board."
KASUMI: "Might be better to work on not needing the board in the first place... KANATA, get off me already! You weight a ton!"
KANATA: "Zzz..cuddly...zzz..."
SETSUNA: "We'll perform at the School Idol Festival just like... No, even better than we did here!"
KARIN: "I won't let anyone upstage me. I'm going to capture the hearts of everyone there!"
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It's true. Everyone shined so brilliantly that day.
The culmination of all their practice. I honestly think that they all gave it 100%.
However, the School Idol Festival is a huge event with μ's and Aqours. Not to forget every other school idol group in the country that would have wished to perform on the main stage.
Just earning a spot on the main stage isn't enough, we have to prove that we belong there by handing μ's their first defeat.
Just like Setsuna said, in order to win an event like that they'd have to do even better than that day... They'd have to improve further!
But they're not the only ones that need to improve. I do too, I need to improve my songwriting ability. So I can help them write songs.
Somehow, I want to write the best song for everyone to sing proudly on that big, dream stage!
I've been wondering about something ever since I saw μ's and Aqours do a live show together.
How do their songs, dance and each and every expression strike me so hard? How are they so unforgettable?
Why did I get that feeling, that day... Like I was in some other world?
I need to know the answer to that in order to write the best song ever!
And I am prepared to sacrifice my summer vacation to get to the bottom of it.