Arc 3 Ep-08
78
“Suuuuu. Hello~!”
“Hello!”
“Hello!”
"""…We are ‘Sistema Solare’!!"""
“Rinarin~~~~!!!”
“Tomomi-chaaan!!!”
“Mikuri~~~~!!!”
After we finished the first song, “Supercluster,” exactly on cue, we greeted the audience that filled the venue.
There were many Schus-Sola fans; cheers calling our names echoed from every direction and rose up to the stage.
“Thank you so much for gathering in such large numbers in this hot 2 p.m. time slot.”
“Please take care of your health. Don’t forget to stay hydrated♪”
“Well, we only have forty-five minutes. Let’s move on to the next song.”
“Yes! We’ll do three songs in a row, starting with ‘Southern Meteor Shower,’ then ‘variable,’ and ‘Supernova’~~!!”
“Uoooooh!!!”
“Kyaaaaa!!!”
These next three songs came early in the setlist, so I still had plenty of leeway.
I watched the others carefully and adjusted my pacing, making sure to conserve stamina for the latter half.
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After the fourth song, “Supernova,” ended, it was time for MC again.
“…It really is hot.”
“Everyone, hydrate in turns.”
“Understood.”
“Roger~”
We split up, with some members handling MC while others went backstage to drink water.
When I headed to the back of the stage to get my own bottle, Sumi Junko-san happened to be there too.
“It’s hot, isn’t it, Junko-san.”
“It’s summer. And it’s outdoors. Nothing we can do.”
She didn’t seem to harbor warm feelings toward me; we rarely spoke, and when we did, her tone was curt.
We overlapped in the orthodox-idol lane, and she had fallen from 3rd to 7th in the popularity poll, so the fear of dropping to Dwarf Planet was probably affecting her.
Mutsumi-san, who was in a similar position, didn’t act that way thanks to her leader temperament, and 9th-place Rio-san surprisingly talked to me quite freely because of her personality.
The greatest distance was with Tomomi-san, which saddened me because I wanted to be friends with beautiful girls.
Rina-san and I also hadn’t gotten as close as I had hoped.
“…Hurry back.”
“Understood.”
Prompted by Junko-san, I returned to the front of the stage. We switched with the members who had gone to hydrate, and I joined in on the MC.
“Is everyone okay~?”
“We’re okay~~~!!”
“Full of energy~~!!”
“Make sure you don’t push yourselves too hard, okay?”
I could sense from both the leader and Rina-san that they intended to stretch the MC longer than planned.
That probably meant we would reduce the number of songs from nine to eight.
As expected, even the other Schus-Sola members were struggling in this heat.
My right-hand injury wasn’t a problem, but as someone famous for poor stamina, this adjustment was extremely welcome.
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After MC time ended, we performed another three songs in a row. By the third one, which was the seventh song overall, things were finally becoming physically difficult.
Even so, I kept smiling, kept projecting my voice, and did not let the choreography falter.
If I could endure until the next MC break, I would be able to recover a bit.
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“Summer vacation is almost over, huh.”
“For us, that affects four people, right?”
“Yuka, you’re already out of that category!”
“Haha.”
“Yuka-chan is so cuuuteeee!!!”
“Be my little sister~~~!!!”
In the final MC, even after I finished hydrating, no one directed any topics toward me.
Everyone must have sensed that I was close to my limit.
“Oh! It’s already this late.”
“As expected, forty-five minutes feels short… no, long!”
“It’s because of this heat~”
“I’m hot too~~~!!!”
“It’s too short!!!”
“We want to hear more~~~!!!”
By extending the MC time, we managed to adjust the set so the eighth song would be the last.
I felt I had just enough stamina left for one final song.
“Sorry~. The next performers are waiting too~”
“Then let’s go with the final song.”
“Yeah. Everyone, give us your full power♪”
“Rina-chuwan!!!”
“Erika~~~!!!”
“Suzuka-samaaaa!!!”
The cheers pouring from the audience lifted my spirits and made me forget my fatigue.
Since it was the very last song, I resolved to give absolutely everything until I reached my limit.
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“…………”
“Mikuri-chan?”
“She’s not responding, just a corpse.”
“That’s such an old expression, Suzuka-san.”
“No way!? It was in a game I played recently, Yuka.”
“You play games…?”
“Oh? Mikuri responded.”
When we finally made it back to the heavily air-conditioned waiting room, I dropped into a chair and slumped forward onto the desk.
As expected, my first long outdoor performance in this heat had been nothing short of torture.
“As reported, Kayanuma-san’s weak point is stamina.”
“It was supposed to have improved from the beginning, but it still seems insufficient.”
I didn’t even have the strength to reply to the managers. Right now I just needed to stay quiet and recover as much stamina as possible.
“Phew… Even for us, this temperature is rough.”
“Exactly.”
“Yuka doesn’t want to stand up for a while either…”
“I want to shower off the sweat, but going there feels too tiring.”
“I want to stay in this cool paradise a little longer.”
The other members were also exhausted in their own ways; everyone had been beaten by the heat.
We were all collapsed in the chairs prepared for us, unable to move. We had to change and shower, but not one of us had the energy yet.
“…Well, today’s work is finished, and this waiting room is reserved for Fortissimo, so please take your time.”
“Yes… Since it’s reserved for us, did Dwarf Planet and Seven Satellite use it yesterday too?”
“Yes. Their stage times were close but not identical, so apparently it got quite crowded.”
“With twelve people plus managers, it definitely feels cramped.”
Right now we were nine Schus-Sola members and three managers — twelve people total.
Even that felt like the limit, so adding two or three more managers would certainly feel overcrowded.
“…Next is the new song, huh~”
“Recording, MV, music show appearances. Promotion events and autograph sessions, I suppose?”
“That’s how it will be. It’ll be your first time, Kayanuma-san, so things will get tough, but do your best.”
“……………Under…stood…”
Once the second semester of middle school starts, I have a feeling things will only get even busier.
They’re supposed to hold back on individual jobs, so I want to believe it won’t be too overwhelming, but who knows how it will actually turn out?