"Hmm... Is that so?" Kotori held her sketchbook, with crayons in various colors and an eraser laid in the space between her and Senba Gari.
"Kotori?" Umi watched what Kotori was doing. Honoka also walked up to them, while Senba Gari curiously leaned toward Minami Kotori.
"Mm, this is the kind of feeling I'm going for!" Kotori proudly held her masterpiece farther away to look at it. "See? This is the stage outfit I designed."
Kotori turned the sketchbook around to show the three of them.
The page was filled with warm colors. A little girl on it wore a pink-and-white dress, with a red garment over the top of the skirt and a big bow at her chest. The art style was just... unusual.
"Wow, it's so cute!" Honoka exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.
"Not bad. I didn't expect you to be so good at designing, Kotori." Senba Gari also praised the sketchbook in Minami Kotori's hands.
"Really? The curves here are a little tricky. I'll try to figure out how to make it."
"Mm-hmm! I don't really understand it, but it seems amazing."
"K-Kotori..."
"What do you think, Umi-chan?" Kotori pushed the sketchbook in front of Umi.
"Uh..."
"Cute, right? It's really cute~"
Umi stared at the little girl's bare legs in the drawing, then pointed at them and asked, "What's this part that looks so cold?"
"Those are legs."
"Gah!" Umi leaned back in surprise, then gave the drawing an uneasy look. "You mean she's supposed to wear such a short skirt without stockings?"
Kotori nodded. "Because she's an idol."
"Yeah, that's right. Most idols dress like that," Senba Gari added.
"Ah..." Umi awkwardly glanced down at her own legs.
"It's fine!" Honoka suddenly flopped onto Umi's legs and looked up at her.
"Eek!"
"Umi-chan, your legs aren't that thick."
"You're one to talk!" The girl whose figure had just been criticized immediately retorted.
"Uh... Mm... Mmm." Honoka patted her own thigh as if measuring its circumference. "Great! Let's lose weight!"
"How did you even measure that?!" Senba Gari watched Honoka's antics, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"You two are both fine..."
"Ah, there's still so much we need to figure out." Honoka sat back down and started listing the things they'd need to do. "Like autographs and disguises for when we go shopping."
"There's no need to think about that yet."
"You're overthinking it."
"Speaking of which..."
"Hmm?" The three of them looked toward Kotori.
"We still haven't come up with a group name."
"You're kidding! You three still haven't picked a name? Then what did you put on that Love Live! announcement?!" Senba Gari stared at the three girls in disbelief.
"Uh... Ha, haha." All three laughed awkwardly.
"Whatever. We still have time to think of one." Senba Gari was already starting to feel exhausted.
In the end, Honoka, Umi, and Kotori came up with a whole pile of names, but none of them felt right.
"Why can't we think of one...?"
"It'd be nice if we had something that made us stand out."
"The three of us have completely different personalities."
It was true. People with different personalities would naturally feel differently about the same things. Coming up with a name everyone could agree on wasn't easy.
"Then we could just combine our names..." Honoka mused, circling a finger around her cheek.
[Honoka, Umi, and Kotori, please be kind to us~]
[We are Honoka!]
[Umi!]
[Kotori~]
"Are you getting ready to perform a comedy routine?!" Senba Gari quipped from the sidelines.
"Yeah, I guess..." Honoka also realized her idea wasn't working. "Uh, I've got it!"
[Honoka is land, Umi is sea, and Kotori is sky. Put them together, and you get 'Land Sea Air'!]
Fruit, Bird, Sea: [We'll protect the peace for all citizens!]
"Pfft! Ha, haha, hahahaha! I can't—I need a minute! You're all so good at naming things! Land Sea Air—are you preparing to go to war? My stomach's killing me! Hahahahaha!" After hearing Honoka's suggestion, an image suddenly flashed through Senba Gari's mind, and he doubled over laughing.
"Come on, Senba-sensei, isn't that a little mean? You haven't helped us come up with anything this whole time," Honoka complained to the laughing Senba Gari.
"Whew~ I mean, haha, it's your group, so you should come up with the name yourselves. Hahaha." Senba Gari tried to explain, but started laughing again.
"It doesn't sound like an idol group at all..." Kotori said helplessly, rejecting the idea.
"Yeah..." Honoka slumped over the table, then sat back up and held her head. "Then... then... Oh, I've got it!"
[First Live Announcement]
[Everyone is welcome]
[Location: In front of the Otonokizaka auditorium](In front?)
[We are also accepting suggestions for a group name]
Now there was a little box for suggestions at the bottom of the poster on the bulletin board.
"That should do it!"
"So you're leaving it all to other people..." Umi said, a little embarrassed.
"Honoka, you've once again changed how I see the world." Senba Gari stared at Honoka, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"This might get everyone more interested, though."
"Maybe?" Minami Kotori said helplessly.
"I'm starting to regret becoming your advisor."
"Great! Next, let's practice singing and dancing!"
It was only just beginning!
When Senba Gari followed Honoka, Umi, and Kotori to the schoolyard...
He saw that the other clubs had already taken up the whole area.
"It looks like we'd get in everyone's way if we practiced here."
Next, they went to the gym, but that was occupied by other clubs too.
"This place is taken as well..."
The three of them went to an empty classroom, but...
"Ugh—" Honoka tugged hard at the door.
"It's locked..."
"Looks like we can't use the empty classrooms."
"Tch, what a pain. Besides, this isn't really my responsibility. Why don't you ask Yamazaki-sensei, the teacher in charge of this sort of thing?" Senba Gari suggested from the sidelines.
"Okay."
—Scene change—
With no other ideas, Honoka, Umi, and Kotori followed Senba Gari's advice and went to the staff room to ask Yamazaki-sensei.
"You want to use an empty classroom? What for?" Yamazaki-sensei asked, looking puzzled.
"To practice being school idols..." Honoka found it a little hard to say those words now.
"You three? Idols? Hmph."
"Huh! Did he just laugh at us?!" All three girls' faces immediately flushed with embarrassment. Umi's turned red as an apple.
The three of them left the staff room, feeling dejected and embarrassed. Senba Gari, who had been waiting outside the door, saw them and sighed.
"Looks like there's only one place left."
—Scene change—
On the rooftop, Senba Gari opened the door and led Honoka, Umi, and Kotori inside. Then he said, "This is it. I guess it's the only place that's empty."
"Yeah, looks like this is all that's left..." Minami Kotori looked around. "There's no shelter, so we won't be able to practice when it rains, but we can't be picky."
"But here, we don't have to worry about being too loud." Honoka clenched her fists and held them in front of her chest. "All right! We have to work hard and practice!"
The three girls lined up, their expressions serious. Senba Gari leaned against the wall by the rooftop door and watched them.
"Let's start with singing practice."
"Right!" Kotori and Umi answered.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Uh, what song?" Kotori asked quietly, a little awkwardly.
"Uh, I don't know..." Umi said awkwardly too.
"Uh, me neither..." Honoka was just as embarrassed as the other two.
"Good grief! Are you three kidding me?! First you forgot to come up with a group name, and now you're telling me you don't even have a song?!"
Senba Gari stared blankly at Honoka, Umi, and Kotori, standing on the rooftop with their mouths hanging open and doing nothing. He nearly fell over.
He could almost see a crow flying across the distant sky. What stood out most was the look of contempt in its eyes.
—A crow flew by—
"Oh..." Hanayo Koizumi stood by the bulletin board, looking at the posted Live announcement. "Idols..."
"Hanayo-chan~" The catlike girl who was always attached to Hanayo came out of the classroom.
"Rin-chan!" Startled, Hanayo looked at Rin as she hurried over.
"What's wrong?" Rin Hoshizora asked, looking at Hanayo with confusion.
"Eh? Ah, um... N-no, it's nothing..."
"Then let's go home~" Rin Hoshizora glanced at the Live poster, then headed toward the stairs.
"Okay..." Hanayo took a step forward, then looked at the poster again. Just then, Yazawa Nico came up behind her.
"Waaah..."
"What's this?" a stern but childish voice asked.
"W-Who knows..." A bead of sweat rolled down Hanayo's forehead as she replied.
—Scene change—
On the rooftop, Senba Gari looked at the three awkward girls in front of him, the corner of his mouth twitching. After watching them for a while, he sighed and said, "I give up. You three have worn me out in every possible way today. Whatever, go home. But I'm giving you two days to get a song ready. Otherwise, what are you going to do at the Welcome Party?"
"Okay..." Honoka, Umi, and Minami Kotori left, looking dejected.
"Ugh..." After they were gone, Senba Gari looked out at Otonokizaka, bathed in the sunset, and sighed.
Master, what's wrong? Sighing all the time isn't like you. Is it because of those three girls? Silver Phantom's voice came through Senba Gari's Bluetooth earbud.
Before you continue