143. The Current Status of μ's

It was ten past nine in the evening, and the night was deepening.

After stepping out of Kato Akiko’s café, Jiang Yu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a sense of relief and walked briskly toward his home.

Just a moment earlier, having finished his shift for the day, Jiang Yu had felt somewhat awkward while settling his wages with Kato Akiko. He had asked about Megumi Kato, as she had not been at the café that day. Naturally, he had been forced to retreat under the weight of her playful gaze.

Of course, it was not entirely without gain. At the very least, Jiang Yu now understood why he had never noticed Megumi Kato helping out there before. Because they were related, Megumi only came by to help when she had free time or when Kato Akiko specifically called for her. This, perhaps, combined with her naturally subtle presence, explained why he had never encountered the girl.

Well... perhaps.

According to Kato Akiko, Megumi had been busy with something lately, spending her days at home curled up in her room, diligently studying a book as thick as a brick. Hearing this, Jiang Yu felt a touch of embarrassment, yet also a sense of gratification. As a mentor, seeing one’s apprentice work so hard was a great joy.

Well... hardly. Jiang Yu had never truly considered their relationship one of mentor and apprentice. He was simply excited to have found his first like-minded companion in this world. And, of course, he meant in terms of programming, not in the otaku sense. Although, he still hadn't figured out what actually drove her to learn.

Loosening his somewhat restrictive tie, Jiang Yu pulled out his phone to check the time, only to find a flurry of notifications on LINE.

Curious, he opened the app. At the top was a brand-new chat group titled "μ's," followed by a long string of messages from the girls.

Honoka: "Alright, let's start the roll call for the new-and-improved school idol group, μ's, now that we have new members! One!"
Kotori: "Two!"
Umi: "Honestly, how long are you going to keep this up, Honoka... Three."
Maki: "Four. If anything, it’s very typical of Honoka-senpai~"
Rin: "Five, nya!"
Hanayo: "U-um... six?"
Honoka: "Oh, come on, even if we can't see each other's faces, you need to be more confident, Hanayo-chan!"
Hanayo: "Ah—yes, I'm sorry."
Rin: "Rin likes Hanayo-chan just like this, nya!"

There followed a long segment of the girls teasing one another, which Jiang Yu skipped over, scrolling to the end. He checked the member list; counting himself, there were now seven people.

So, μ's was now a group of six? Looking at the list, Jiang Yu couldn't help but smile. He had witnessed the girls' hard work; they were no longer a club on the verge of being disbanded. From the bottom of his heart, he was happy for them.

However... were they all fond of using the romanized versions of their names as usernames? With a wry smile, Jiang Yu began to type on his screen.

Tusu: "It seems your club has reached the threshold to avoid disbandment. Congratulations! Also, could someone introduce the two new members to me?"
Honoka: "Ya—! The fan club president has appeared!"

Hey, hey—! I don't recall ever agreeing to that title, Honoka! Don't go pinning titles of non-existent organizations on people!

After finishing her extra lessons for the day, Maki Nishikino finally let out a sigh of relief. While waiting for her bath to fill, she lay on her bed playing with her phone. Suddenly, the chat group for the school idol group μ's, which had just been buzzing with activity, became active again.

Although she had been somewhat pushed into joining the group, Maki was now truly grateful for the decision and for Jiang Yu, who had been the one to initiate it. The people in μ's allowed her to experience a kind of unburdened joy she hadn't felt in a long time. Even though she was kept extremely busy every day—striving in her studies to inherit the family hospital while simultaneously training her stamina and dance steps for her work as a school idol—she was still happy and fulfilled.

Especially now that two new companions had joined μ's this week, Maki had two fellow club members in her class—or rather, two close friends. Though, she had been the one to notice how much one of them wanted to join and had recommended her to the upperclassmen, so it was hard for Maki to distinguish whether they had become friends first or club members first. Regardless, it was certain that she had been smiling much more lately. Her mother, who had been silently watching over her, seemed quite relieved by this.

"Honestly, what are they chatting about now... this group," Maki muttered, opening her phone with a genuine smile.

"Eh—?" The red-haired girl let out a sound of surprise. She had clearly seen the message Jiang Yu sent. As for how she knew it was him... well, who else but Kotori Minami would have suggested creating this chat group? It was only today, at Kotori's suggestion, that Jiang Yu had been added. Yet, until this moment, no matter how lively the chat had been, he hadn't said a word.

Seeing Jiang Yu's question, Maki began to type rapidly. Just as she was about to hit send, a message arrived before hers.

Kotori: "@Hanayo, this is Hanayo Koizumi, a first-year. @Rin, this is Rin Hoshizora, also a first-year. Everyone is using the romanized versions of their names as nicknames. Jiang-kun, you can read that, right?"

Hmm... does Kotori-senpai usually chat this actively, outside of responding to Honoka-senpai? Maki bit her lip and deleted the message she had just typed.

Jiang Yu read Kotori’s message and nodded in understanding. However... first-years? He recalled that Otonokizaka Academy only had one first-year class, right? So they were Maki’s classmates?

Tusu: "So they are @Maki's classmates? I'm Jiang Yu, nice to meet you both."
Hanayo: "Nice to meet you, Senpai."
Rin: "Nice to meet you, nya!"

Is "nya" the catchphrase of this girl named "Rin Hoshizora"? It really has the feel of a 2D idol~

Thinking this, Jiang Yu typed while murmuring to himself: "'If you ever run into any trouble, feel free to ask me for help~' That should do it? OK, sent."

A response came back immediately.

Honoka: "By the way, by the way, was this uploaded by you, Jiang-kun?"

Following the message was an attached URL link.