KARIN: "One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Keep your arms up."
AYUMU: "O-Okay!"
KARIN: "One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Looking good. Keep it up."
AYUMU: "Got it!"
KARIN: "One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four."
...
SHIORIKO: "I'm the one who recomm Uehara, so this may be strange for me to say, but..."
AKI: "Hm, what is it?"
SHIORIKO: "I have caused disappointment again. Everyone was practicing with all of their might for the Club Introductions Live Show. But now Uehara is the only one who can perform."
AKI: "Disappointment? Seriously? Have you looked at everyone's faces?
I don't think anyone's disappointed."
SHIORIKO: "Huh?"
...
KARIN: "Okay, that's enough. Let's take a ten-minute break."
AYUMU: *Pant* *Pant*
EMMA: "I know you're still catching your breath, but make sure to stay hydrated. Here, drink up."
AYUMU: "Thank you." *Pant* *Pant*
RINA: "You should wipe off your sweat, too."
AYUMU: "Thank you, Rina."
KANATA: "I have honeyed lemon slices. Do you want some? It's important to get your amino acids."
AYUMU: "Sure, I'll have one then. Thank you."
SETSUNA: "Kasumi and I will be in charge of maintaining your costume for this performance!"
KASUMI: "With a little modification, it'll be cuter than ever! Please look forward to it, I'll do whatever I can to support you!"
AI: "Kasukasu, I know you think of Ayumu as a rival, so I'm really surprised."
KASUMI: "Hey! I think you need to take a closer look, because I'm not the kind of person you think I am."
AI: "Are you saying there's more than meets the Ai? Eye had no eye-dea!" *Laugh*
KASUMI: "That isn't funny. Also, don't call me Kasukasu!"
AYUMU: "Thank you all so much for giving me this opportunity. I'll work extra, extra hard!"
SHIZUKU: "I can't wait to see you in action. Don't push yourself too hard, though, okay? It's easy to injure yourself if you overdo it."
KASUMI: "Oh, if that happens, I can take your place!"
AI: "So you ARE aiming for her spot!"
KASUMI: "N-No, I'm not! I just thought Ayumu would have peace of mind and really be able to go all out if she knew she had a stand-in just in case of an emergency."
AI: "Sure, sure, we believe you."
KASUMI: "Hey, I'm telling the truth!"
AI: *Laugh* "Sorry, sorry."
KASUMI: "Please don't tease me!"
AYUMU: *Giggle* "If anything happens, I'll be counting on you, Kasumi."
KASUMI: "Leave it to me!"
KARIN: "No, no, I'll be the one to perform if that time comes. I will use my charms to captivate those prospective students."
SETSUNA: "If that's what it's about, I can share my love for school idols and tell the students how wonderful school idols are."
KANATA: "I love school idols just as much as you do."
EMMA: *Giggle* "We're having the same argument as before."
KARIN: "Oh, look at that. Well, unfortunately, this isn't our time to shine. Ayumu will see this through for us from start to finish."
SETSUNA: "Yes, that's right."
AYUMU: "Yup, especially since I have all this support from you all. It'll definitely go great!"
EMMA: "We'll be counting on you!"
KANATA: "Oh, I know! I'll bring you my favorite body pillow tomorrow so you can sleep really well at night. Um, do this pillow is..."
...
AKI: "See? Do they seem sad and disappointed to you?"
SHIORIKO: "Perhaps they're just trying not to appear that way on the surface."
AKI: *Sigh* "I try."
SHIORIKO: "You're turning away from me?"
AKI: "You just don't get it... Not everyone has an ulterior motive, Shioriko."
SHIORIKO: "I think that is often the case. However, not for them...
At the very least, I do not think it is possible to fake those smiles.
I do not understand. Everyone other than Uehara failed, so how can they happily help out like that? Don't they feel disappointed and frustrated?"
AKI: "I'm sure they're a little disappointed. And even though they're friends, they're also rivals. So I'm sure they feel frustrated as well."
SHIORIKO: "Then..."
AKI: "But they're not going to see this as a failure. I definitely wouldn't, if I were in their place."
SHIORIKO: "But Uehara was the only one who got her wish. That is an undeniable fact."
AKI: "Good grief, not everything is defined by success and failure.
There are still things they can be happy about and enjoy.
Even if something seems like a waste of time to you, that doesn't mean everything about it is useless.
That's what it's like when you're a school idol."
SHIORIKO: "School idols... I still do not understand them."
AKI: "I'd expect that. You think they're useless, so it won't suddenly all make sense to you. I just hope you feel something when you watch Ayu."
SHIORIKO: "Feel something?"
AKI: "Oh you'll see soon enough..."