AKI: "Yu?"
YU: "Akihiko?"
EVERYONE: "...?!"
AKI: "Wh-What are you doing here?!"
YU: "I could ask you the exact same thing."
No way... I see why Shioriko said that we BOTH didn't want the Transfer Student to fail.
KASUMI: "Wait, Senpai, how do you know each other?!"
SHIZUKU: "I'm curious to know that, too!"
AI: "Prez, tell us the deets!"
YU: "Prez? Wait... You're the President of the School Idol Club here?"
AKI: "..."
YU: "So... You're a school idol now?"
AKI: "No. I'm just the manager, I take care of all the behind the scenes stuff."
YU: "I see... I thought you would be in the debating club or classical music club. But of all places, I didn't expect to see you here."
AKI: "Likewise. My Mom is out on a business trip, my Dad is in America. Nobody told me about you transferring here."
YU: "...Surprise?"
KARIN: "Boss, it's not nice to keep secrets from us."
RINA: "Rina-chan Board says 'Stare'."
AYUMU: "Aki, you should tell them."
EMMA: "Wait, is she...?"
AKI: "Yes... Yu, can you please introduce yourself?"
YU: "Sure. Nice to meet you, my name is Yu Takasaki, I recently transferred here as a second-year student."
AKI: "She's my cousin."
YU: "Hey, I was just about to say that."
AI: "Your cousin?"
KARIN: "Well, I can certainly see the resemblance between the two of you."
Thinking about it, I couldn't find any free time to use the music room because someone was already playing the piano inside.
I guess that person was Yu all along.
AKI: "Okay, Yu... Sorry to interrupt our family reunion here, but what brings you to our School Idol Club? No, actually...rewind a second. What brings you here to Nijigasaki High School?"
YU: "Well, after my Mom found out how great the general curriculum is here and the extra music courses they offer, we agreed that I should transfer here right away."
AKI: "Did my Mom tell her that?"
YU: "Sure, Aunt Aiko was so happy with your recent improving grades."
Mom seems to find the time to talk to her brother, but not her own son...
YU: "So I transferred here, the Student Council President made the process run smoothly."
AKI: "Of course she did... Now, why are you in our clubroom?"
YU: "Oh, right. Since I got here, all I've heard about is how the School Idol Club lost three times in one night.
I want to fit in here, so I could have something to talk to people about. Though I had no idea what a 'School Idol' was."
AKI: "..."
YU: "That's when I did some research and watched videos all night long. They were all so cool and cute! They were all shining! They just...grabbed my heart, you know?"
AKI: "Y-Yeah, I know...exactly what you mean. But did your research convince you to join our club?"
YU: "Er, I'm not actually looking to join. I was just wondering if our school still had one after they lost."
AKI: "You're not looking to join? Well, what brings you here, then?
Are you here just to remind me of our losses?"
YU: "Well, there's a deep reason for... Ah okay, it's not that deep. I was just thinking that if this school still had idols, I wanted to cheer them on."
AKI: "Huh?"
KASUMI: "D-Deja vu! She's totally your cousin!"
YU: "Wait, what?"
AKI: "I said something similar to Kasumi when I first discovered school idols. I searched for the clubroom to see if the school had a School Idol Club. When I found it, I told her about how I didn't want to join and only wanted to support school idols."
YU: "Yet here you are as the President."
AKI: "I brought this club back from the dead, if anyone was going to lead it, it's me."
YU: "Sorry to say this Akihiko, but it doesn't look like things are going too great for you."
AKI: "Think I don't already know that? I'm trying my best here."
YU: "I'm sure you are. It just looks like that isn't resonating with the fans. Almost everyone is talking about how the club lost."
AKI: "Yeah, our reputation isn't the greatest after we lost three times.
We almost lost everything because of it."
YU: "You bet the club? Why do you always rush into things like that? Don't you know the damages that can cause?"
AKI: "I'd never bet the club, but I bet 2 of our members' spots on the Main Stage at the School Idol Festival."
YU: "Wait, THAT School Idol Festival?!"
AKI: "Yes, we're going to perform alongside and competing against μ's and Aqours."
YU: "...Are you sure that's a good idea?"
AKI: "Excuse me?"
YU: "It's just that...those μ's and Aqours girls are on a whole other level. Comparing their performances to your club's, it shows that."
AKI: "Yeah..."
YU: "But I think that the solo performances your club gave were great. I know that these girls can do great things, it's just...frustrating to see them with this bad reputation.
Are you sure that you know what you're doing, Akihiko?"
KASUMI: "Hey, my Senpai knows exactly what he's doing!"
AKI: "Kasumi, everyone, can you leave us both to talk for a second?"
AYUMU: "Okay..."
...
YU: "You didn't have to empty the room."
AKI: "I just don't want them to get the wrong idea about you."
YU: "The wrong idea?"
AKI: "We're still dealing with the last outsider to step foot in our clubroom. I don't want to create tension between us Yu."
YU: "I see... Looks like you still care about me. Just like you care about those girls."
AKI: "What I want to talk to you about is a touchy subject. I want to talk about it alone with you."
YU: "What's on your mind?"
AKI: "I guess I should come clean and say that my Mom doesn't know about my love for school idols."
YU: "You're keeping secrets from Aunt Aiko?"
AKI: *Sigh* "Yes..."
YU: "But why? I'm sure she'd understand you if you'd just tell her."
AKI: "It's not my Mom who would have the problem. I don't want her to find out because she'll tell my Dad."
YU: "Oh, I see... He's a little old fashioned, isn't he?"
AKI: "A little? He's completely out of touch with reality. Thinking everything that's fun is a waste of time..."
YU: "He wasn't like that before his big promotion. I'm sure that Uncle Takehiko's old self is still in there somewhere."
AKI: "Nope, he's long gone. To cut to the chase, I want you to keep my involvement with school idols a secret. Please don't tell your parents about my job, I cannot risk them telling my Mom.
Can you do that for me, Yu?"
YU: "Sure, your secret is safe with me. But, the least you could do is just one thing..."
AKI: "If it's just one."
YU: "I don't want you to give up on these girls. I want to cheer them on.
But nobody can do that with a reputation like this. So, I want you to turn that around with the live show at the Club Introductions."
AKI: "Tell you what, if I can't turn their declining reputation around, then I don't deserve to lead them. If I fail then you can tell your parents all about what I do."
YU: "Are you sure?"
AKI: "Do we have a deal?"
YU: "I guess we do."