Good morning, Kiritani.

Morning, Haruka!

Good morning to both of you.

Oh, I'm sorry about not being able to make it to your show yesterday. But thank you for inviting me.

No, it's okay. We know that you were busy with your stream.

You were nice enough to cheer for us by text instead, which helped fire us up!

Hehe. Minori sent us a lot of stamps too.

Yeah, she did! A bunch of different characters saying, “You can do it!”

Hehe. I was with her when she sent those, so I had her send some in my place.

Haha. Now it makes sense!

So how'd your show go?

We managed.

The crowd seemed pretty into it too.

Bravo, huge success♪

Is what I want to call it but...

Nobody still knows who we are so it's only natural.

But get this! We sounded awesome when we played our original song!

I agree.

And as we practice playing it more, it might even start becoming something that can really touch people's hearts.

I see.

Hehe. I'll be looking forward to your next show.

Oh, also...

Do you remember that advice you gave me the other day, Kiritani?

Yes, I do.

What advice?

Well, I told her the other day about how I was having trouble writing lyrics for our song and said that I should just take things one step at a time.

By doing that, I'd be able to see my progress in real-time and even figure out what's giving me trouble.

Oh, that's pretty cool!

Yes, it really is. Soon after that, I found out exactly why I wasn't happy with what I was doing.

Really?

Yes, really. I was so convinced that I needed to make my lyrics rhyme well or sound cool.

But...

I was scared of just saying how I felt. I was scared of feeling embarrassed.

In a way, I didn't have any confidence in just showing who the “real me” is...

But I thought what you came up with in the end was totally you, Ichi!

Your lyrics are an absolute 100% perfect match for my song♪

S-Saki!

Hehe.

Our real selves...

I've actually been thinking about that and me as just a regular high schooler.

Oh, like Haruka Kiritani the idol versus Haruka Kiritani the girl?

Yes. I was sure that I'd been separating my personal and professional lives well until now, but my groupmates showed me that I really wasn't.

Wait, really?

But you just seem like you whenever we have lunch together...

Yes, and I believe that I am just being me right now.

But being an idol has become so ingrained in my life that I can't really detach myself from it...

Sometimes, I have trouble making that switch between the idol me and regular me.

So I can empathize a little with how you felt about showing who you are through your lyrics, Hoshino.

I never thought that Haruka Kiritani would be bothered by something like that.

In a way, I'm sort of glad that you're no different from the rest of us.

But you're both super cute just the way you are, so I don't think there's anything to be embarrassed about.

Kiritani, sure. But me?

Yeah, of course!

That puzzled look you just gave me is absolutely adorable♪

What? Okay, no more. You're gonna make me blush.

Hehe. Oh, before I forget.

Do you know when your next show is going to be?

No, not yet.

Then, would you mind letting me know when you do? I'd love to be there to cheer you on.

I'm sure Minori, Airi and Shizuku would be too.

Yeah, totally!

I'm sure Shizuku's dying to see her sister play.

Very true. She'll be her number one fan.

Hehe.

Haha!

But this is so cool...!

We might actually get a chance to do a show with professional idols in the crowd!

Right. We'll need to keep practicing to make sure they see a good show.

You don't need to give us any special treatment.

Still, our goal is to make and play music that can move people's hearts.

Original songs included.

I want more people to hear our music.

So let's keep giving it our best, Ichi!

Yeah!