Thanks for gathering on such short notice, everyone.

Hehe. I'm always happy to have lunch with you, Airi♪

It's unfortunate Ichika isn't able to join us today.

She's got broadcasting committee stuff. Our hands are tied.

Anyway, I'll explain why I asked you all to gather while we eat.

So, Kusanagi has apparently been asked to lead the planning committee's stage performance for Shibu Schools Fest.

It's going to be a musical, and she needs a lot of people to help make it happen.

I see. I had a feeling that's what this was.

Huh?

The truth is, Ichi's already told us a little about what's happening!

Apparently, Kusanagi asked her if she'd like to help with this musical, too.

We've actually been talking about how fun it could be to work on it, since so many schools are going to be participating.

I really had no idea!

I'm sure Kusanagi would really appreciate your help.

Oh, but... I'm sure things are really busy for Leo/need right now, with your debut song becoming a big hit.

Yes, things are busy, and we have quite a lot on our plate at the moment.

But the record company did give us permission to participate, since they view this festival as an official school event.

So, we plan to enjoy being 100% high schoolers, at least while we're helping with Shibu Schools Fest♪

Hehe. That's great!

(It's nice to hear that their record company is letting them enjoy their school life like this.)

So, can I pencil you all in to help with the musical?

Yes♪

Yes.

Including Ichika, the four of us will be more than happy to help.

Thank you all so much!

While we're on the subject, have you already spoken to Shizuku about this?

The festival itself came up during dinner last night, but nothing about this musical.

I asked her to join us here today, but she had to take care of some committee business.

So I'll just tell her later.

We're sorta free right now, so I'm pretty sure she'll also want to join in on the fun.

I see.

Why don't you and Shizuku join the same team, Shiho?

Huh? Why would we do that?

Didn't you ask Airi if she'd already told Shizuku because you want to work with her?

That's not what I meant. I was just worried that she'd come up to me later and say, “Why didn't you tell me?” while using her puppy-dog eyes on me.

Hehe.

Oh, speaking of which, what about Hanasato and Kiritani...?

I do plan on bringing it up to them.

Unfortunately, they're scheduled to work during the period when we'll be preparing for the festival.

(I wish they could join us, but they've been working towards this offer for a long time now. Having them reschedule is basically impossible at this point.)

I see...

I was so looking forward to enjoying this festival with them!

But the best part about Shibu Schools Fest is the fact that we'll get to work with students from all the other schools.

Kusanagi's participating, which means we should get to see a bunch of other familiar faces from Kamiyama High, right?

Oh, now that you mention it, Tsukasa also talked to me about this festival!

Does that mean Toya's also going to participate?

Shiraishi also seems to like these kinds of events, so I'm sure she and Kohane will be participating as well.

What about Mizuki and Ena?

Ena? She might if a friend invites her...

This also seems like Mizuki's cup of tea. Even more so if Akito and the others are all gonna be participating.

Cool! That means we'll all get to work on this musical together!

Exactly! We might even get to make some new friends.

Opportunities like this don't come up often, so let's do our best to give our leader, Kusanagi, the support she deserves!

Right!