102. Muse Music Start!

As the sun sank in the west, a dim golden glow slowly spread across the land, while the delicate cherry blossom petals, pale pink touched with white, continued to drift down as they always did.

Watching the stream of students leaving the school gate around her, Sonoda Umi could not help feeling a pang of timidity, even though they were all wearing the same uniform.

For Umi, who had been raised since childhood under the strict expectations of a proper Yamato nadeshiko, handing out flyers in public seemed like an enormous challenge.

And when her two friends, Kousaka Honoka and Minami Kotori, pulled her into becoming a school idol, Umi had resisted from the start as well. Even in the end, she only joined because she saw Honoka so serious about something for the very first time, and Kotori looking equally full of enthusiasm; in a moment of impulse, she decided to go along with them.

After she joined, the daily practice was one thing. Long years of kyudo training meant Umi did not even consider that amount of exercise to be much of a problem. But the moment she thought of singing and dancing in front of a crowd, she felt a twinge of guilt and uncertainty, and the urge to run away would rise again and again.

What was more, now she had to stand at the school gate and hand out leaflets to the upperclassmen and underclassmen heading home, all in order to promote Muse's first live performance.

And yet... looking at how diligently and skillfully Honoka and Kotori were distributing the flyers, Umi could not help wondering: Why are you two so good at this?

No, wait. That was not the point.

Watching Honoka and Kotori working so hard to hand out the leaflets, a flicker of resolve passed through Umi's eyes. She was a little shy and easily flustered, but she did not want to be left behind by her friends. So she gritted her teeth, took out a flyer, and after hesitating and missing several passing students, she stopped a petite girl with twin tails.

"Please support us!"

After managing to say that, Umi discovered that this sort of thing did not seem nearly as difficult as she had imagined.

But who would have thought that the girl would only cast her a cool glance, toss out a flat "I don't want it," and walk away without another word.

That left Umi crestfallen, and she could not help wondering whether her smile had been too stiff just now, whether her manner had been impolite, or whether she simply was not suited to this kind of work at all.

Kousaka Honoka quickly noticed that something was off with her friend, came over, and gently shook Umi's shoulder. "That's no good!"

Umi looked up and saw that it was Honoka. Half complaining, half making excuses, she said, "Honoka has always been used to it because you work at the shop. But I..."

Honoka smiled at that. She knew that, at times like this, the only thing capable of convincing this friend of hers, who was so severe with herself and with others and scrupulous about everything, was something concrete right before her eyes.

She turned to Minami Kotori, who was still earnestly handing out flyers nearby, and said with a sigh, "Kotori is trying really hard too... Come on, Umi, come along as well?"

Then Honoka turned back to Umi, pointed at the stack of leaflets in her arms, and said with earnest energy, "And no sneaking off until all of those are gone, okay?"

"What? No way!" Umi immediately protested.

Honoka had already stopped in her tracks. Wearing an amused smile, she looked at the flustered Umi and said, "Umi~ when I said before that going up and down the stairs five times was impossible, what did you tell me? And what about yesterday's special training? Was all of that for nothing?"

Umi froze. The special training referred to yesterday, when the three of them had specifically gone out to Akihabara to hand out flyers for the first live performance, in an effort to help her overcome her shyness.

And the earlier remark had been from when they had only just resolved to become idols. Under her insistence and supervision, Honoka and Kotori had been doing training to build basic stamina every morning and evening, walking up and down the steps in front of Kanda Myojin Shrine five times.

Back then, Honoka had complained, "Going up and down the stairs five times is impossible~" and Umi had very seriously retorted, "As long as you set your heart to it, nothing is impossible. To put it plainly, Honoka, you're just too careless!"

She had never expected that Honoka would now use those very words to leave her speechless.

Looking at Honoka's smile, Umi clenched her teeth and said firmly, "I understand. I'll do it!"

With that, Umi gathered her courage, took the flyers in hand, and began distributing them to the students passing by on all sides. It was as though she had become a completely different person from the hesitant girl she had been before.

Watching Umi at work, Honoka wore a sly smile, as if she had seen through everything. One could not help but think: this doesn't suit your image at all. You're not the adorably clueless Honoka I have in mind!

Suddenly, a soft and pleasant voice sounded beside her, pulling Honoka back from her self-satisfaction.

"Um... I'll go to the concert!"

The girl had short dark-blond hair with side-swept bangs, and purple eyes that held a shy expression.

Honoka recognized her. She seemed to be a first-year student, though her name escaped her for the moment.

But such small matters were quickly cast aside. Honoka smiled at the girl before her and said, "Really? Thank you!"

Kotori and Umi, hearing this, also came over at once, excitedly asking, "Will you come?" and "Whether it's one flyer or two, if you want them, you can take all of them."

Wait a moment, what was that last line supposed to mean? Honoka shot Umi a look, then complained in mock displeasure, "Umi-chan~"

Umi had not really meant it that way. At the rebuke, she took the flyers back and muttered softly, "I know, okay~"

The sudden enthusiasm from the three of them left the underclassman a little at a loss, though she did envy the harmonious atmosphere between them.

...

After his part-time job ended that night, Jiang Yu rubbed his slightly sore fingers and walked home at an easy pace, enjoying the cool evening breeze.

The club's work had finally settled into a proper rhythm, and he was also getting along well with the people there. Now everyone was striving toward a clear goal, and for Jiang Yu, who had rarely taken part in teamwork in his previous life, that was rather enjoyable.

His phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. Thinking it might be the new club chat group—where those idle troublemakers were probably once again making a racket with picture memes—Jiang Yu took it out.

Ah, by the way, he did not exactly dislike that sort of thing.

After pulling out his phone and seeing that the message was from Minami Kotori, someone he had not expected, Jiang Yu paused, then opened LINE to check the message she had sent.

"Good evening! I don't know if I'm disturbing you by messaging at this hour, but tomorrow is our first live performance. Even though we've already practiced singing and dancing plenty of times before, I'm still feeling a little uneasy..."