Link! Like!: Episode 12 ~ Intermission - MagiCircles/IdolStoryWiki GitHub Wiki
The Rindou Festival performance will play an important role as the club’s entry in the Love Live! regional qualifiers. However, in the midst of preparations, Club President Kozue falls ill with a fever!
Alright, my next class is in another room. At least music class can be pretty enjoyable–
Ah, Megumi. Perfect timing.
Hm?
Would you mind staying behind in the clubroom after practice this afternoon?
Uh, okay…?
Alright, I’ll see you later, then.
S-Sure. …Huh? What did I do?
The wind is gentle today, so the clouds are relaxed. I’m sure the night stars will be happy, too.
Night… Hmmm… Dark… Dark, dark… Light switch… mmm… futon… I’m getting kinda sleepy.
Tsuzuri, could I have a moment?
Sure. Do you feel sleepy too, Kozu?
I want to talk to you after our club meeting.
Huh…?
That’s all. I’ll see you then.
…Did I do something wrong again…?
Ah… the wind… it’s gotten a little colder… I think…
Thank you for staying behind, you two.
…But why are both of you sitting so far away?
Well…
We don’t know what you’re scolding us for…
Scolding? Am I supposed to be scolding you? For what?
Well, with the way you asked us, what else were we supposed to think!?
Huh…? I thought I invited you here pretty normally…
Nope! It was exactly how the guidance counselor would do it!
Definitely.
…Do you two get really called to the guidance office that often…?
Never mind. I asked you two to stay today because I wanted to discuss something less than pleasant…
We really are getting scolded…
I have two sheets of paper here with me.
…Are those withdrawal forms for me and Tsuzuri…!? …ah! You’re planning on weeding out misbehaving club members!? Is that it!?
Deepest apologies. I will listen intently in class starting tomorrow.
Should I forget my textbooks, I will go back to the dorm to get it instead of just waving it off with an “Oh well”.
Those are all things you should already be doing, though… But nevertheless, it seems there’s been a misunderstanding.
What I wanted to talk about today was…
The promise the three of us made…
…To go our separate ways and not interfere with each other after we withdrew from nationals.
This is what the three of us decided after advancing beyond the Hokuriku qualifier. The paper that Megumi wrote, and that we all signed our names on.
Last year I truly believed that this was the best path forward.
Megumi was injured, and we lost Sachi-senpai.
And in my desire to protect the club and advance past the sectional qualifier, I hurt Tsuzuri.
…
We argued countless times in what we could only call clashes of ideas, yet in reality, we were only pitting our egos against each other.
This is the proof of our prior naïveté… Our sapling certification, if you will.
…I wanted to once again have an earnest discussion about this.
If there is anything you two have not yet told me, I want to hear it so I can come to terms with it.
If I could have done things a little differently, a little better, then maybe…
What, you would have stopped me from getting injured? You would’ve stopped me from separating myself from the group for a year?
I…
You’re so arrogant, Kozue.
Megu…
The only cause of my injury was my injury. The only reason I couldn’t dance was because I couldn’t dance.
That’s it. There’s no hidden meaning behind those things.
And despite all that, the two of you still helped with my rehab. You cut into your practice time, and even your own personal time for me.
That’s why I stopped being a school idol. I decided that myself.
You don’t see it? Right there, on the text we signed our names on.
Maybe you’re the club president now, but to us, both the Kozue then and the Kozue now are just a classmate who’s a little more dependable than our other ones.
And yet you still try to harbor our burdens, every single time. It’s so irritating.
…Megumi…
I don’t think I have as much say on this as Megu. It was my fault you forced yourself to do all those things.
When I think about what happened last year, it feels like my body’s sinking. Like I’m going deeper into a dark ocean, and the light’s getting further away.
If this is what regrets are like, then I’ve always regretted it. If only I talked to Kozu more… Megu too.
Yeah.
And maybe I could even take the role of president.
No, I think that’s a bit much…!
…You two.
Alright, enough with all this downer talk! The three of us were missing useful life experience, so things weren’t ideal! That’s it! Any problems with that!?
But…
I said, no more! Do you plan on spending the rest of our lives apologizing for what happened last year!?
I’m happy the way things are now, so there’s no use reopening old wounds!
I think you should learn how to take things more lightly, Kozu. Like a cloud.
Whether it’s your relationships with other people, or your studies, or your school idol work, you always treat everything the same. If there’s something you can’t do, you keep at it until you can.
You think you can’t do things because you’re not working hard enough.
T-That’s… well, isn’t that the way it is?
If I were you, I’d give up after an hour.
I’d give myself five seconds.
But… It upsets me, too. When I’m not up to things, it always ends with someone sad.
If I could, I’d like to be as perfect as music is.
Like a piece of sheet music, if even one aspect is missing, then it ceases to be perfect.
Tsuzuri, grab onto Kozue’s cheeks and pull!
Nyoooom.
Scyoosh me!? (Excuse me!?)
Now you’re no longer perfect! Far from ideal, eh!?
Come on! I was trying to have a serious conversation! …good grief… hmhm…
…But thank you. Everything feels a little lighter now.
Only a little?
Progress is progress. Kozue likes carrying everything on her shoulders, after all.
I don’t… think that’s true.
So, what about this… sapling certification, you called it? What do we do with it?
Hmmm, rip it up into a million tiny pieces and throw them away? If we don’t do anything with it, Kozue will probably frame it on her wall as a “warning” or something.
B-But, reflecting on one’s mistakes is important for personal growth…
Wait, you seriously were gonna do it!? If you keep punishing yourself like that, you’ll sound like someone with one of those hobbies!
It’s not like I really was going to!
Yeah. Anyway, let’s just take it home for now.
Having nothing around the school makes the stars look really pretty, huh?
I appreciate this path back to the dorms. You can see a variety of different stars in each season.
Huh? Didn’t you say you had two papers earlier? What was the other one? I wasn’t just imagining it, was I?
…I didn’t forget about it. There just wasn’t a good time to show it to you.
An entry form for Love Live!
It’s just like last year’s.
Naturally, things are different this year. Last year, only Tsuzuri and I were registered to perform.
This year, we’ve got six people! Three subunits!
DOLLCHESTRA can perform.
That’s right. This year we can do what we really wanted to do.
Well, naturally, that isn’t to say that I didn’t learn anything from performing with Tsuzuri last year… but I digress.
The way you said that reminds me of Saya.
The day Mira-Cra Park! can change the world is finally here!
Cerise Bouquet can surely rise the ranks and become the strongest of school idols. Just as I dreamed that day.
But no matter who wins or loses, no grudges, okay?
Yes, of course.
But Saya and I are the best.
Oh? Is our genius here calling her shot already~!?
Mhmhm… Sometimes I can’t tell if you two are each other’s best friends or worst enemies.
…But the three of us have a truly irreplaceable bond. If a single one of us were missing, we wouldn’t be the “Hasu Big Three,” after all.
Hasu Big Three.
Tsuzuri…?
I had a great idea.
Let’s fold a star.
?
Let’s do our best today as well!
Low population density means a happy Ruri!
Good morning. I look forward to today’s club session.
Huh? What’s this origami star?
Oh, you’re right… This wasn’t here yesterday, right?
That used to be a sapling. But now, it’s a beautiful star.
Sayaka-chan, translation please!
Huh!? Sorry, I don’t know, either!
And its name is the Hasunosora Big Three.
But there’s only one star!?
…I mean, it sounds nice, but…
I think it’s a great idea. Rather than destroying our past, we’ve turned it into a star.
…Heh, maybe.
I think so. In any case…Everyone!
Let’s give today’s practice our best!
Okaaay!