Rival

In the early morning, as usual, all the members of Muse gathered together at Kanda Shrine to do their morning work out.

As their producer, Haru also didn't miss this morning's workout and also did it together with everyone.

They put their hands together and started to count.

"Yosh, let's start!"

Honoka: "One!"

Umi: "Two!"

Kotori: "Three!"

Maki: "Four!"

Nozomi: "Five!"

Nico: "Six!"

Eli: "Seven!"

Rin: "Eight!"

"..."

Then everyone stared at Haru who had been silent.

Haru sighed and wondered whether he needed to do this every time, however, he noticed that there was one member missing among them.

"Wait, where's Hanayo?"

When they heard Haru's words, they quickly realized that they had missed one member of their group.

"Rin-chan, do you know where Hanayo is?" Kotori asked.

Rin shook her head and said, "I don't know. She has told me to go to the shrine first."

"Hmm.. it is very rare for Hanayo-chan to be late for a morning workout." Eli felt that it was quite weird when she didn't see Hanayo in the morning.

"Yeah, it is quite weird." Nico also knew that besides her, it was Hanayo who had the most obsession with school idols and she felt that it was quite weird for her to be late for their training.

"Rin, can you call her?" Nozomi asked.

"Well, I will call Kayo-chin." Rin nodded and was about to call Hanayo, however, they quickly heard the sound of footsteps from the stairs of the temple.

"Help! Help! Help!"

They heard a loud "help" from a familiar voice and then they quickly realized that it was Hanayo who was running toward them in panic.

"Hanayo, what's wrong?" Umi quickly walked toward Hanayo and felt worried when she saw Hanayo who was panicked.

"Big... Big...."

Hanayo wanted to say something, but her breath was too short and she was too tired from running a long distance.

"Calm yourself." Haru patted Hanayo's back and said, "Take a deep breath and say it calmly."

Unlike in the past where Hanayo would get nervous when she was with Haru after she spent a lot of time with her producer, she also felt comfortable with him. She nodded, following her instructions, and started to take a deep breath like how a pregnant woman did.

"Ha Ha Hu... Ha Ha hu...."

"....."

There were a lot of things that they wanted to say, but they quickly shut their mouths since they knew that when Hanayo was in a panic, there must be something big about to happen.

"Big - Big news!" Hanayo showed a letter in her hand and said, "We - We received an invitation!"

Nico raised her eyebrow and said, "What's wrong with an invitation? We're a popular school idol group, what's so weird about an invitation?" However, from her voice, everyone could tell that this girl was quite excited. "So who has invited us to perform?"

However, Hanayo quickly shook her head. "No... No... It isn't that kind of invitation!"

"Then?" Eli asked calmly.

"We have received an invitation from A-Rise!" Hanayo said, full of excitement.

"What?!" Nico was in shock when she heard Hanayo's words.

Even Honoka, who was usually very clueless and stupid, also became serious when she heard Hanayo's words.

However, some of the members of Muse seemed to not understand Hanayo's words.

"Huh? A-Rise? What is that?" Maki asked while twirling the tip of her hair since she didn't really understand who this A-Rise was.

"Ha?!" Nico was in shock, looking at Maki when she heard that this girl didn't know who A-Rise was. "You - You don't know who A-Rise is?"

Maki was uncomfortable by Nico's gaze, but she quickly snorted. "Who is that? Is that a famous group or something?"

"Of course! It is more than famous!"

It wasn't Nico who said those words, but rather it was Hanayo who had always been nervous like a scared dear who said those words.

"A-Rise is the most famous school idol group! They also won last year's Love Live! Or rather they're the most popular school idol in this country!"

Hanayo closed the distance between herself and Maki with a strong gaze. Her breathing was very heavy which made Maki even more uncomfortable.

Haru quickly saved Maki by holding her shoulders and moving her behind him.

"I understand." Haru nodded and asked, "So you're happy to receive their invitation?"

"Of course! I am their fan!" Hanayo said without hesitation.

"You too, Nico?" Haru asked.

"Yes!" Nico nodded without hesitation.

"But they're our competitors, you know?" Haru said calmly.

"....."

Nico and Hanayo were stuck in place when they heard Haru's words. That's right. Both of them might be their fans, however, at this moment, they were competitors on Love Live.

Everyone also regained their calm when they heard Haru's words since it meant their competitor had something that they wanted to talk with them about.

"So do you know why they have invited us?" Eli asked.

Hanayo shook her head and said, "I don't know. When I was at school, I received this letter saying that it was an invitation for all of us."

"Where are they going to meet us?" Nozomi asked.

"It's UTX Academy." Nico took the letter and said, "It is where A-Rise is studying and they have invited us in the evening."

"So do you want to meet them?" Haru asked.

"....."

Everyone was in silence for a while until Honoka seemed to have made her decision.

"I think we should meet them."

"Honoka?" Kotori seemed surprised by Honoka's decision.

"They're going to be our rivals in Love Live so it is better to meet them!" Honoka thought that since they had kindly invited them it was better to meet them and she was also curious about an A-Rise since her decision to become a school idol was also because of A-Rise.

"I agree with Honoka." Eli nodded and said, "I think we should meet them."

"Good, let's prepare before we go!" Nozomi said with a smile.

"Rin is also curious about their school, nyaa!" Rin showed excitement.

Then they had made up their minds to visit A-Rise, and the most exciting one would be both Nico and Hanayo since they would meet their idol.

"Haru, is that alright?" Umi asked.

"Why not?" Haru nodded and said, "But let me remind you that you need to keep my identity a secret, alright?"

"Huh?" 9x

Nine members of Muse seemed confused by Haru's request.

"Why? You're part of our group! There's no way that we'll hide your identity!" Honoka said.

Everyone also agreed with Honoka's words.

Haru sighed and knew that he needed to tell them that...

"Let me tell you that if you tell me that I am your producer then they'll think that you're all cheating."

"Huh? Why is that?" Kotori was confused.

"I might be your producer, but I am also the owner of the television network that aired Love Live," Haru said.

"....."

Everyone was in silence and they weren't sure what to say for a moment.