Link! Like!: Episode 8 ~ Part 5 - MagiCircles/IdolStoryWiki GitHub Wiki
Kozue has set conditions for performing as a full group of four at the Nadeshiko Festival: to add a song showing their bonds to the setlist. To ensure a successful performance, the group begins training, but…
Oh…
They're… no longer in sync…
…I'm sorry.
It happens.
You were doing so well earlier, too…
Um… Tsuzuri-senpai…
…Sorry, Saya. You too, Kaho. This is our problem.
…Tsuzuri.
Uh… hey! Since we're taking a break, why don't I get you all some drinks?
Good idea! If there's anything you want…
I'm sorry. I'll try to do better.
U-Um, okay! I'm sure you can, but…
Well… by any chance, is there anything you think you're close to figuring out…?
I think I should just go out and say it.
!
…
…Hey, Kozu.
What?
….We did really well this morning, didn't we? We were able to talk about a lot of things.
…I… suppose so, yes.
I don't understand what you're feeling right now, Kozu.
Haa… is it because I mentioned getting scouted earlier? If that's your concern, you should know that my stance on it hasn't changed.
I said it earlier, and I'll say it again. I'm not going anywhere.
…I don't think that's how you really feel.
Tch… You've been going on and on about "how I feel" this whole time. What, are you saying that you know how I feel better than I do…!?
Of course I don't. You haven't told me.
And again, I said that I won't be leaving!
…You never tell me anything.
What are you… talking about…?
You always keep everything to yourself.
You just insist that you're okay, and then you work yourself too hard. I don't know what to believe anymore.
That's not…!
…how I feel, I'm pretty sure…
You're not completely sure?
I… always have that answer for myself.
So even if you say that you don't believe I'm okay–
That's another reason for me not to believe you, then.
…
…I'm leaving.
Your goal is to win Love Live!.
And yet, you're refusing the scouting offer, which means you're throwing away a chance to get closer to that goal.
The only "feelings" I hear from you… are just excuses.
Tsuzuri, I…
…
I… I want to believe you. But I can't trust your "I'm okay" anymore.
And if nothing else, I'm not okay.
Ah…! Tsuzuri-senpai! …Um…
Sayaka-chan!
!
…Kozue-senpai.
…It seems you've seen something quite unfortunate.
Hup…
…
Um… To be honest, I also think you're working yourself too hard, Kozue-senpai.
…
That's why I want to do anything I can to support you.
Kaho-san… I…
Kozue-senpai… are you okay?
I'm okay… I'm completely fine.
Come on, there's no way I could believe that when the look on your face says otherwise. That's why we're really worried about you two.
…
Hey, Senpai.
I'm not just here to listen to you, you know? Sometimes, I might even be able to help you.
Here, I'll be your roadside flower and lend you an ear.
…This is actually the second time someone in the club has been scouted by another school.
The second time…?
Yes. It was at the end of last year, just before the Love Live! regionals.
The student council president came and told me herself. Another School Idol Club was interested in scouting Tsuzuri.
Sachi:
"Our School Idol Club is interested in Yugiri Tsuzuri. We believe she would draw attention as a school idol here." …That's basically what the letter is about.
…If… If Tsuzuri accepts their proposal, what would happen…?
Sachi:
…If she did, I'm sure she would have a bright future as a school idol there. However…
…
Sachi:
…The Hasunosora School Idol Club would have to be disbanded.
…!
Sachi:
Yes, clubs are allowed to continue with very few members at this school. But even so, there's no reasonable way a club with only one member could meet the requirements to continue.
Sachi… senpai.
Sachi:
Yeah.
Is there a way… to avoid losing the club?
Sachi:
Well…
Sachi:
If Tsuzuri says she won't go.
If you really think so, then you should have called Tsuzuri here instead of me.
Sachi:
…
I'm sorry. I… don't think you've done anything wrong, Sachi-senpai.
But… I can't be sure that Tsuzuri will decline.
I can't help but think… if by some small chance she decides that she does want to accept…
Sachi:
Kozue, I…
That girl is very talented. And it shouldn't be my decision whether or not she'll accept the offer.
But…
I… I don't want to lose the School Idol Club…!
Sachi:
Kozue…
Knowing you, there has to be a reason why you only called me about this. Sachi-senpai, please tell me.
Sachi:
…It's just…
…
Sachi:
…That other School Idol Club said that they wanted to poach Tsuzuri from our club because Hasunosora hasn't produced any results yet.
So conversely…
If she was explicitly "Yugiri Tsuzuri, from the Hasunosora School Idol Club"...
If that was what people thought of when they saw her, then there would be no reason for those discussions…?
So for example, if we were to win the Love Live! regional qualifiers, then…?
Sachi:
Yeah. There would be no reason to scout her in that case.
…My goal from the very beginning was to win Love Live! Regardless of what goal I pursue, my course of action will remain the same.
Sachi-senpai, I don't want to lose the School Idol Club… not after I've made so many memories here…!
I'll do whatever I can to avoid that.
Sachi:
…Then you'll have to bear the weight of this conversation alone.
Not just now, but for a while to come.
…I'm sure I'll be okay. Thank you for talking to me about this.
I knew that at the qualifiers, as long as I danced as I expected I would… then everything would be fine.
But you know, Kaho-san? Even having said all that, I still couldn't do well.
Sachi-senpai retired, and Megumi… the other member in the club, got injured and stopped performing as a result. That left just the two of us…
But we still decided we'd try our best… and at that critical time, with that song Tsuzuri so spiritedly made for us…
I wasn't able to dance well.
Kozue-senpai…
But I had to win, no matter what. So I… I decided to change our choreography at the very last minute.
But… why…?
Tsuzuri's original idea was based on showing what we worked together to achieve. I changed it to focus solely on her.
I thought that we would have the highest probability of winning with that.
But what about Tsuzuri-senpai…?
Naturally, she wanted to know why I changed it. But, until the very end, I dodged the question by telling her that I was okay with it.
And we practiced, and practiced, and practiced… Yet, I never reached a level where I would be satisfied dancing next to her.
Hm…
When we won the regional qualifiers, Tsuzuri became well-known for being "Yugiri Tsuzuri, from the Hasunosora School Idol Club."
And to ensure the club's continued existence, I betrayed Tsuzuri… So when she says she doesn't believe my "I'm okay"... I suppose she's right.
Why?
Huh?
Why did you do that!?
I don't understand at all!
Even if you didn't win, you still gave it everything you had, so as long as Tsuzuri-senpai refused the scouting offer… as long… as…
Exactly. It's just as you say.
…
If Tsuzuri accepted the scouting offer, then the club would have been disbanded. Maybe I could have said so and used the survival of the club as leverage.
But there was no way I could… I could never be so callous to her just for the sake of the club.
…No. I wonder if I was just thinking she would be like that. Maybe she would have just shaken off those threats and left anyway.
Maybe in the end, I was just afraid she would respond how I would.
Nn…gh… Kozue-senpai!
That doesn't make any sense!
Didn't you say you were rejecting their scouting offer this time!?
…Kaho-san.
My goal is to win Love Live!.
Winning… Love Live!...
Come to think of it… I don't think I've said that in a while. I just noticed that I'd never even mentioned it to you.
…
Did you know? Tsuzuri didn't have a clue what Love Live! was.
Around this time last year, I ended up showing her a wide variety of videos from Love Live! We were so engrossed we ended up staying up all night.
…So you had times like that too, huh?
We most certainly did. It feels… quite nostalgic now. I remember it so fondly… as does Tsuzuri, I'm sure.
If my dream is to win Love Live!... then to achieve that dream, I should accept the offer to join a stronger School Idol Club… huh…
Compared to me, who may have ruined her opportunity to take a large leap forward… she's the exact opposite.
…It's not like you were trying to hold Tsuzuri-senpai back.
Please don't say things like that.
Thank you.
Of course, I didn't feel like I was. It's much the opposite, actually… I was…
I was… just…
Kozue…senpai…?
…I… see… I see now…
I didn't understand anything at all…!
I'm sorry, Kaho-san! I-I have to…!
Go!
…Good luck, Kozue-senpai.
I am Otomune Kozue. It is a pleasure to meet you. My goal… is to win Love Live!!
…Oh, it's already morning… I had fun, though…
…I did it because I wanted to win.