All rise!

(Oh no...!

Class is already over! I must've dozed off...)

(Am I more tired than I realize...?)

Class is adjourned! Thank you very much!

Thank you very much!

*Sigh*

(We still have to practice and get ready for our show later, so I should head over to SEKAI now...)

(Shiho said she's going to be late because she has to turn some assignments in.)

(So, maybe I'll ask Ichika and Saki to join me as I head over...)

Ichika? Saki? Huh...?

They're not here...

Did I just miss them?

Oh, are you looking for Hoshino and Tenma...?

Kiritani...!

Hoshino and Tenma may not be back for a while. Some things came up...

Wait, what do you mean?

Oh, it's nothing serious.

They both fell asleep during art class is all...

They fell asleep?

Yes. They were supposed to finish their drawings today, but couldn't. As a result, they have to stay back to work on them.

They seemed very tired...

They were really dozing off during class.

Oh...

(Practicing and preparing for our show is a lot for them to handle...)

(I wish I could do something about that, but I don't think there's anything I can...)

Hm...? Is something wrong?

Oh, um... It's just...

We've been very busy preparing for our solo show, which is probably why they fell asleep today.

A solo show?

Yes...

We were approached by someone from a record company and they suggested that we do one.

Really...?! That's great!

Thank you.

However, as happy as we were, the hard work of practicing and preparing for it is starting to take its toll on us...

I see...

The first one's always the hardest.

Having to do everything yourselves makes it just that much...

Oh, that's right...

You and your group did one as well, yes? How did it go?

It wasn't easy for us, either.

There was so much we had to do, which was really tough...

But it went really well since we were able to become one with our fans...

I see...

Congratulations. That's wonderful to hear.

Actually, if possible...

Would you mind telling me how you all prepared for it or what you watched out for on the day of?

I know that things can be pretty different between bands and idols... But I was hoping that you might have some tips for me.

What we watched out for...?

Well...

This is just me talking...

But I did my best to not let my mind wander.

What?

Compared to joint shows, you have to think much more carefully about solo shows and do considerably more work, yes?

So, it's pretty easy to become overwhelmed by all the things you need to do...

However, the people who come to see you only have one thing in mind.

They just want to see an incredible show.

*Gasp*

So, I thought only about putting on the best performance possible and making sure our fans have fun. Nothing else.

And we did everything we could to make that happen. Including asking others for help when we couldn't handle things on our own.

You asked for help...?

Yes. Some of our supporters decided to lend us a hand in terms of operations and such for the show.

Other than that... We ran surveys on stream to ask what people wanted to see and asked acquaintances for suggestions regarding set lists...

I never thought about asking others to help us with things outside of our performance...

Hehe. I was the same way at first.

In particular, I had reservations about asking our fans to help us directly.

However, things turned out well in the end...

They were all really happy.

(What is this I'm feeling...?

I can't quite put it into words...)

(But Kiritani and her group are so...professional...)

(They want their fans to genuinely enjoy themselves and get their money and time's worth no matter what...)

(They're prepared to do everything in their power to make that happen...)

(My level of thinking was nowhere near that...)

(I want our solo show to be fun...

But I also kept thinking about succeeding so that we can go pro or trying to reduce everyone's workload.)

(I failed to prioritize the people who'd actually be coming to see us perform.)

(After all, that's our primary goal...

To play music that moves people's hearts and put on fun performances for them...)

Actually, there was one other thing on my mind...

Huh?

We want to enjoy our show from the bottom of our hearts, just as much as our fans do.

If you fall into the trap of thinking “our show has to be fun”, it ends up being pretty dull and the audience will notice right away.

So, it's important to do something that you yourselves enjoy and are satisfied with. We really tried not to forget that.

In summary...

Put on the best performance you can that your audience will enjoy, and have fun yourselves.

That's what we told ourselves.

Have fun ourselves...

Yes, I agree...

Of course, because you're taking what you do seriously, it's not always going to be smooth sailing...

But even so, I believe it's important to remember to keep having fun.

Right...

Thank you very much, Kiritani.

I now see that I was letting my mind wander far too much...

I'll think more about putting on a solo show that we and our audience will genuinely enjoy...

Hehe. I'm glad I could help.

Good luck with your show.

Thank you!

(This is my new starting line.)

(This is where I'll really and truly begin doing everything I can do!)

*Sob*

The teacher didn't have to yell like that... Oh, Hona, hi!

Sorry for being late.

Were you waiting for us?

Yes, but that's okay.

Because I received some wonderful advice while I was at it!

Huh?

I'm going to try even harder moving forward! So, you two, let's go practice...!