Love Live and Kamen Rider 49

"Hmm... is that so?" Minami Kotori held her sketchbook, while various colored crayons and erasers were scattered in the space between her and Senba Gari.

"Kotori?" Umi watched what Kotori was doing, and Honoka Kosaka also walked up in front of the two of them, while Senba Gari curiously leaned his head toward Minami Kotori as well.

"Yes, it's exactly this kind of feeling!" With a proud expression, Kotori pulled her masterpiece back to get a better look. "Look, this is the stage costume I designed."

Kotori flipped the sketchbook around to show it to the three of them.

The drawing paper was filled with warm colors, and a small figure inside was wearing a pink and white dress. The upper edge of the skirt was covered by a red garment, and there was a large bow on the chest, though the art style was very XXX.

"Wow, so cute!" Honoka exclaimed in surprise, her eyes shining.

"Not bad, I didn't expect your designs to be this good, Kotori." Senba Gari also looked at the sketchbook in Minami Kotori's hands and praised her.

"Really? The curved part here is a bit tricky, I'll try to find a way to make it work."

"Mm-hmm! Even though I don't really understand it, I think it's amazing."

"Ko... Kotori."

"What do you think, Umi-chan?" Kotori pushed the sketchbook in front of Umi.

"Uh..."

"It's very cute, right? Very cute, right~"

Umi kept staring at the exposed thighs of the small figure in the drawing, then pointed at that area and asked, "What's with this part that looks so chilly?"

"Those are legs."

"Ugh!" Slightly startled, Umi leaned back and looked at that area with a troubled expression. "Does that mean going barefoot while wearing such a short skirt?"

Kotori nodded. "Because we're idols, after all."

"Mm, indeed, as idols, most of them wear clothes like this," Senba Gari added from the side.

"Ah..." Umi looked at her own thighs, feeling self-conscious.

"It'll be fine!" Honoka suddenly lunged at Umi's lap, looking at her face.

"Ugh!"

"Umi-chan, your legs aren't that thick at all."

"You have the nerve to say that to someone else?!" The girl, having been told about her own physique, immediately retorted.

"Uh... ugh... ugh-ugh." Honoka patted her own thigh as if measuring its radius (?). "Great! Let's go on a diet!"

"How exactly did you measure that?!" Senba Gari watched Honoka Kosaka's actions, his mouth twitching.

"You two are both fine as you are..."

"Sigh, there are still so many things that need to be resolved." Honoka sat back in her chair, calculating future matters. "Autographs, disguises for when we go out shopping..."

"There's no need to think about those things."

"You're overthinking it."

"Speaking of which..."

"Eh?" Senba Gari and the others looked toward Kotori.

"We haven't picked a group name yet."

"You've got to be kidding me?! You mean to tell me the three of you haven't even picked a group name yet?! Then how did you write that notice for the Love Live event?!" Senba Gari looked at Honoka Kosaka and the others with a look of astonishment.

"Uh... ha, haha." All three of them laughed awkwardly.

"Forget it, there's still time to think about it now." Senba Gari began to feel a bit exhausted.

As it turned out, Honoka Kosaka and the other two wrote down a whole bunch of names, but not a single one was to their liking.

"Why can't we think of anything..."

"If only we had a bit more character."

"The three of us have such vastly different personalities."

Indeed, people with different personalities will certainly hold different attitudes toward the same thing; it was quite difficult to come up with a name and reach a consensus.

"Then let's just combine the three of our names..." Honoka thought, circling her cheek.

[Honoka, Umi, Kotori, please treat us well~]

[We are Honoka!]

[Umi!]

[Kotori~]

"Are you guys planning on performing a comedy routine?!" Senba Gari quipped from the side.

"That's true..." Honoka also realized her method wouldn't work. "Oh, right!"

"Umi is Sea, Kotori is Sky, and Honoka is Land. Put them together and you get 'Land Sea Air'!"

Honoka, Kotori, Umi: [Protecting peace for the citizens until the very end!]

"Pfft! Ha, haha, hahahaha, no, I can't! Let me laugh for a bit, you guys are too good at naming things. Land Sea Air, are you planning on going to war? Hahaha, my stomach is going to cramp from laughing, hahahahaha!" After hearing the name Honoka Kosaka came up with, a scene suddenly flashed through Senba Gari's mind, and he began to laugh while clutching his stomach.

"Hey, Senba Gari-sensei, isn't this a bit too much? From just now until now, you haven't thought of anything for us," Honoka Kosaka complained to Senba Gari, who was laughing heartily.

"Whew~ well, haha, after all, this is your group. As for things like the name, that's something you have to think of yourselves, hahaha." Senba Gari explained to Honoka Kosaka, only to burst into laughter again.

"It doesn't look like an idol group at all..." Kotori Minami helplessly rejected the proposal.

"I guess so..." Honoka slumped powerlessly onto the table, then sat back up and clutched her head. "Then... then... right!"

[First LIVE Notice]

[Everyone is welcome]

[Location: In front of the Otonokizaka Auditorium] (In front?)

[At the same time, we are accepting suggestions for our group name]

Now, a small box for suggestions had been placed beneath the poster on the bulletin board.

"That should do it!"

"You're just dumping it all on everyone else..." Umi Sonoda said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Honoka, you've refreshed my worldview once again." Senba Gari's mouth twitched as he looked at Honoka Kosaka.

"This way, it's easier to pique everyone's interest, right?"

"Maybe?" Kotori Minami said with a helpless expression.

"I'm starting to regret becoming your advisor."

"Alright! Next, let's practice singing and dancing!"

Everything was just beginning!

When Senba Gari followed the three girls, Honoka Kosaka and the others, to the playground.

They saw that the playground was already occupied by other clubs.

"It seems like we'd be bothering them if we stayed here."

Next, they went to the gymnasium, but it was also occupied by other clubs.

"This place is taken too..."

The three of them went to an empty classroom in the school, but...

"Ugh—" Honoka Kosaka pulled hard on the door.

"It's locked..."

"It looks like the empty classrooms are off-limits."

"Tsk, what a pain. Besides, this doesn't seem to be under my jurisdiction. Why don't you go find Yamazaki-sensei, who is in charge of those things?" Senba Gari suggested from the side.

"Alright."

--Scene Change--

At this point, having no other ideas, Honoka Kosaka and the two others had no choice but to listen to Senba Gari and go to the teachers' office to ask Yamazaki-sensei.

"You want to use an empty classroom? What for?" Yamazaki-sensei asked, looking at Honoka Kosaka and the others with confusion.

"For school idol practice..." Even Honoka Kosaka found it a bit hard to say those words now.

"You lot? Idols? Hmph~"

"Ha! We got laughed at?!" The faces of the three girls immediately turned red with embarrassment, and Umi Sonoda's face turned as red as an apple.

Then, the three of them walked out of the teachers' office feeling dejected and blushing. Senba Gari, who had been standing at the door the whole time, saw them and let out a soft sigh.

"It looks like there's only one place left."

--Scene Change--

On the rooftop, after Senba Gari opened the door, he led Honoka Kosaka and the others inside and spoke up.

"This is it. I reckon this is the only place left where there's no one else."

"Yeah, it seems this is all that's left..." Kotori Minami looked around, "There's no shelter, so we won't be able to practice if it rains, but we can't be picky."

"But if we're here, we don't have to worry about the volume." Honoka Kosaka then clenched her fists in front of her chest and said, "Alright! We have to work hard and practice!"

The three of them stood in a row with serious expressions, while Senba Gari leaned against the wall by the rooftop door, watching them.

"Let's start with vocal practice."

"Yes!" Kotori and Umi replied in unison.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Uh, what about the song?" Kotori asked in a low, awkward voice.

"Uh, I don't know..." Umi Sonoda said, feeling equally awkward.

"Uh, me neither..." Honoka Kosaka said, feeling just as awkward as the other two.

"Are you kidding me?! First you forgot to pick a group name, and now you're telling me you don't even have a song?!"

Senba Gari was dumbfounded as he watched Honoka Kosaka and the other two standing on the balcony like idiots, mouths agape, having done absolutely nothing. He nearly fell over.

Furthermore, he felt as if he saw a crow flying across the distant sky, and most importantly, the look in that crow's eyes was filled with disdain.

-Crow flying by-

"Oh..." Hanayo Koizumi stood in front of the bulletin board, looking at the posted LIVE poster. "Idol..."

"Hanayo-chan~" The cat-like girl who was always clinging to Hanayo walked out of the classroom.

"Rin-chan!" Startled, Hanayo looked nervously at the approaching Rin Hoshizora.

"What's wrong?" Rin Hoshizora looked at Hanayo Koizumi with some confusion.

"Eh, ah, uh, uh... no, no, it's nothing..."

"Then, let's go home~" Rin Hoshizora glanced at the LIVE poster before heading toward the stairs.

"Mm..." After taking a step forward, Hanayo looked at the poster again. At this moment, Yazawa Nico walked up behind her.

"Wah..."

"What is this?" A serious yet youthful voice asked.

"Who, who knows..." After saying that, a bead of sweat rolled down Hanayo's forehead.

--Scene change-

On the rooftop, Senba Gari's mouth twitched as he looked at the awkward Honoka Kosaka and her two companions. Finally, he sighed and said.

"Sigh~ I really give up on you three. I've found today to be exhausting in every way. Forget it, just go back, but I'm giving you two days to get a song ready. Otherwise, I'd like to see how you plan to handle the Welcome Party."

"Yes..." Honoka Kosaka, Umi Sonoda, and Minami Kotori left the area looking quite dejected.

"Sigh~" After they left, Senba Gari sighed as he looked at the scenery of Otonokizaka bathed in the setting sun.

〖Master, what's wrong? Sighing constantly isn't your style, is it? Could it be because of those three girls?〗 Silver Phantom's voice then came through Senba Gari's Bluetooth earpiece.