School Idol Tournament?

"Ahh—!"

Hanayo suddenly yelled. At this moment, everyone was still in the car.

"Kayo-chin, what's wrong, nyaa?!"

"Something's not right! Something big is happening!" Hanayo, holding a tablet, exclaimed with a puzzled expression.

Everyone exchanged glances, wondering what was going on.

"Love Live is about to start!"

"Huh?" Honoka looked puzzled. "What's up with our manga?"

"No! It's not our manga!" Hanayo's face lit up with excitement as he turned the tablet towards everyone. "It's this!"

"What's this? Love Live?" Nico also looked utterly puzzled.

"Wait a sec!" Nico suddenly yelled, staring at the tablet screen intently. "Love Live... Is it really starting? Seriously! It's Love Live!"

Surprisingly, she was super excited!

"So, like... What is this exactly? Isn't that the title of our manga?" Umi couldn't hold back her question.

Hanayo took a deep breath and, after exhaling, started to explain.

"A school idols tournament... That's 'Love Live!'"

"Among the school idol groups that registered for the tournament, the top 20 in the rankings get to perform!"

Her eyes gleamed incessantly.

"I've heard about it, thought it was just a rumor... I didn't expect it's really happening!"

"I see... Since many schools have school idols and each of these groups is quite popular, it's understandable that this kind of tournament exists..." Umi nodded.

"It's definitely going to be lively, nyaa~!" Rin chimed in happily.

"Judging from the current rankings, the first among the top 20 is obviously A-RISE... The second and third as well... It's like a dream event!" Hanayo squinted her eyes as if she was already at the Love Live venue in her mind. "When will the tickets go on sale? What will the special first-day bonus be?" 

"Nee, Hanayo, did you forget something?" Maki asked helplessly.

"Fue?" Hanayo snapped out of her reverie.

"We... our school idol group, Muse, has just finished our first concert, right?"

Nozomi nodded. "Right, so Hanayo-chan, why are you only thinking about being an audience? Aren't we school idols too?"

"..." Hanayo blinked her eyes and fell silent.

"Ahh! I forgot!" Hanayo acted unusually frantic. "Right! We're school idols too! We absolutely can't miss this grand event!"

"It's probably hard to believe, huh?" Eli shook her head. "After all, we've only recently formed as a full group. It's tough for our minds to switch to something like this all at once..."

"But now that we know, we must carry through!" Honoka's fighting spirit ignited.

"Yeah! Because we're school idols!" Kotori happily exclaimed.

"By the way, what's our ranking?" Umi walked up to the tablet in Hanayo's hands and checked the ranking. "Our situation doesn't quite seem to qualify us for this yet—"

"!!!"

""T-Twenty-nine?!"" Umi and Hanayo yelled together in surprise.

""Ehh?!""

Everyone in this car was stunned!

"Wait a minute!" Nico rubbed her eyes hard. "T-Twenty-eight?!"

*BOOM!*

It was almost like an explosion! In the blink of an eye, they went up another rank!

"What in the world…" Umi's face showed disbelief.

"Everyone, check the comments!" Honoka exclaimed.

...

"Ahh! You all are amazing!"

"So impressive! You girls don't look like school idols performing for the first time at all!"

"Muse! You're cool!"

"You've captured my heart!"

"Keep it up! I'll support you guys!"

...

Comment after comment, and they kept refreshing!

The girls were utterly dumbfounded!

"It must be because of our concert just now, nyaa~!" Rin affirmed. "In such a short time, we've gained such high popularity!"

"Or rather, this should be thanks to Homura-kun..." Eli shook her head, her emotions hard to contain.

"...Indeed, if not for Homura-kun, then whose credit is this?" Umi sighed.

"It's your own credit..."

"Homura-kun?" Kotori turned around in surprise, only to find Saori holding her phone with a smile on her face.

Homura's voice, coming from Saori's phone continued.

"Don't give me that credit. The people's reaction is entirely due to your abilities. The fact that people like you so much is because of Muse. It's your songs, your dance, your personalities, all your shining qualities."

"Why should I take credit? It's not me who makes those people like you. Do you think I'll go up to people and say—'If you don't like Muse, I'll beat you up!' or something like that? If that's the case, then of course the credit would be mine."

His words silenced everyone. It was only towards the end that Honoka and Nico burst into laughter.

Not just them, Saori and Tsumugi were also covering their mouths, unable to hide their smiles.

"Well, you can't really say that; you really helped us a lot, Homura-kun. If it weren't for you, we definitely wouldn't be like this now..." Umi said.

"All I did was make more people know about you... Even without me, you would have reached this point anyway, maybe even a higher level, just a bit later. I just shortened the time for you to become legends... The name of a miracle is not just empty words, y'know."

"..."

"That..." Saori scratched her face. "Hearing Homura-shi say those words straightforwardly makes me shy..."

"Hmm?" Homura spoke up. "I'd believe you if you took off your glasses, but now?"

"What do you mean, de gozaru?!" Saori yelled at her phone. "Are you saying I can't be shy in my current form?!"

"I didn't say that, okay!" Homura quickly denied it. "I just think this kind of thing isn't enough to make this version of you shy."

Watching Saori and Homura exchange banter from a distance, the girls all smiled slightly. Saori must have been intentional just now Otherwise, they really wouldn't know how to respond to Homura's statement earlier.

Homura and his friends truly had gentle hearts.

Without warning, Honoka patted her own cheeks strongly.

"Yosh! Since that's the case, let's work even harder! For this tournament, for the support of our fans and friends! And for our school! Let's do our best!"

""OHH~!"" (x9)

"Honoka, it's okay to do your best, but don't overdo it, okay? If you collapse from exhaustion, I won't go easy on you." Homura, who had stopped his banter with Saori, spoke up again.

"Ehh~?" Honoka frowned.

"Who told you to be so stubborn?" Homura quipped and continued. "If Eli-senpai hadn't talked to you last time, you would have been ready to charge in right away, no? Everyone, please watch over Honoka, all right? Tell me if she's being stubborn and overdo herself, I'll punish her myself."

"Let me think of a punishment... Ah, I know!" Homura grinned. "I'll make you sneeze in the manga, and a big snot bubble will appear. How's that?"

"..."

Honoka was speechless.