"But wait." Eli Ayase's words shifted the atmosphere slightly.
"Hm?" Everyone looked at Eli Ayase curiously.
"If there are regional preliminaries, then that means... we'll have to face A-RISE head-on, won't we?"
"Ah!" Everyone, who had overlooked that point, looked at one another again.
"That's normal, isn't it? After all, they're not going to be satisfied with just one championship." Senba Gari, without even realizing it, stabbed the girls right where it hurt.
[Can i do?I take it,bady]
The song A-RISE had used to win the Love Live! finals back then instantly surfaced in the girls' minds.
"Uh..." In that moment, Hanayo Koizumi felt as though she saw the sun covered by dark clouds, a layer of black descending over her. All her strength drained away, and she knelt weakly on the floor. "It's over..."
"We're done for!" Yazawa Nico was so frightened she crashed into the bookshelf.
Kotori: "We actually have to beat A-RISE..."
Nozomi: "No matter how you look at it, that's just too..."
"Impossible." Maki Nishikino played with the ends of her hair with a relaxed expression, not a trace of unease on her face.
"Hey, hey, hey! It hasn't even started yet, and you're all just losing on your own already?!" Looking at the girls as their moods all turned ashen, Senba Gari was so exasperated he didn't even know what to say. All he could do was retort.
Hanayo Koizumi, who had thought they might be able to stand on that most dazzling, glittering stage, now had her dream completely shattered, smashed so thoroughly that not even scraps remained. All that was left were tears for a defeat that had already happened before they even began.
"Why don't we all just transfer schools together!" Rin Hoshizora said to Umi with a panicked expression.
"Stop talking