Chapter 1

Hm hm hm h~mm… ♪

(It’s so nice out! It feels so good~ It’s been really cloudy recently, so looking up at this perfectly clear sky is really lifting my mood ♪)

Nin nin ♪ And, jump~ ☆

Gyaah?! Wh—Someone fell out of the tree?!

Wawah, I am very sorry for startling thee~!

…Oh, Yuuta-kun? Wow, how fortuitous to meet thee here~ ♪

Ahaha, so it was you, Shinobu-kun.

Are you doing some ninja training? It’s not snowing anymore, but there still might be some on the trees… It’d be bad if you slipped.

C–could it be that thou art worried about me?

Of course I am. You’re my friend, Shinobu-kun.

Ehehe… ♪

Ah, I shouldn’t be so happy! I apologize for worrying thee!

Once before, I climbed a tree and was unable to get down… I had to get Nito-dono and Anzu-dono to save me.¹

I’d be a failure of a ninja if I had to keep getting help forever! Therefore, I’ve been doing secret training, so that I won’t trouble anyone.

Nn~ Shouldn’t you just stop climbing trees then? I used to go tree climbing a lot too, but I don’t anymore.

Nay, I am a ninja. I want to learn all of the necessary ninja arts at any cost.

More than that though, Yuuta-kun. Allow me to treat thee to something to apologize for surprising thee!

I got a lot of gifts for New Year’s, so thou canst ask for anything. ♪

Oh, how generous~♪ Then maybe you could get me some juice from the vending machine?

Eh—That’s it?

That’s it ♪ Oh, what if we sit on that bench over there? Looks like the sun is shining on it, so save me a seat Shinobu-kun!

I’ll go run and get the juice!

Wait—Yuuta-kun?!

Ohhh, I can’t see him anymore… Yuuta-kun sure is fast.

I didn’t even give him the money… Well, that’s fine. I’ll pay him back when he returns.

(Ummm, is that the bench he was talking about?)

(It certainly seems that the sun is shining on it~ I’ll have to be careful not to fall asleep!)

I’m back~ ♪

So quickly?! Yuuta-kun, hast thou already bought the juice?!

Yep, I took a shortcut~ Want some oolong tea?

My thanks! Uh, will this cover it?

Don’t worry about it~ It’s my treat ♪

Gulp, gulp… ♪ Yeah, this habanero fruit juice is pretty good.

Y–Yuuta-kun, how canst thou drink such a suspicious beverage? My tongue wouldn’t even be able to tell whether it was sweet or spicy.

You want some, Shinobu-kun? It’s got an addicting flavor in its own way ♪

Nay, I shall refrain.

Too bad. Anyway Shinobu-kun, you really like ninjas, huh? When I asked before what your special skill was, you told me it was jumping through rings of fire.²

You said you practiced it because it was a necessary skill for a ninja to have, and it ended up becoming your specialty… It’s just like what you were doing by climbing that tree. I’m pretty impressed by just how much you love ninjas, Shinobu-kun.

Ehehe, I’m quite embarrassed to hear thee say something like that~ ♪

…Hey, I just thought of something. What do you wanna be, Shinobu-kun? An idol or a ninja?

Ohh, That is a hard question… I love both ninjas and idols equally.

Ah—Then I’m going to become a ninja idol! Mhm, I’d be super-duper happy if I can do both ♪

Ahaha, so greedy~ But you’re always so modest about every little thing, so you must really love them both to say something like that.

…Right now, we’re all on the path to become idols. But what would we all be aiming for if that weren’t the case?

Ahh, that springs to my mind every so often, too.

Nn~ Thou art light on thy feet, so perhaps being a circus performer would suit thee ♪

If that’s what you think, it wouldn’t even be much different from now. I was a street performer until just a little while back.

You seem like you’d be good at raising animals~ I’ve heard it through the grapevine that you take care of the animals out in the pen even when you’re not on cleaning duty.

Even Marron got attached to you back when it was left in your care. It sounds like the perfect job for you, since animals love you so much~³

Nay, it was quite the struggle to get it to trust me at first.

And besides, cats don’t like me very much… Ah well, I’m not very good with cats either, so I’m relieved they keep their distance.

But I like a lot of other animals. Raising animals might not be such a bad idea… ♪

Ah! Speaking of which, thou canst play guitar, correct? Then maybe thou wouldst join a band?

Thou art super cool, so thou wouldst make a name for thyself in no time at all and become a best-seller~ ♪

Mm jeez, you’re way too good at sweet-talking people~ People don’t say I’m cool very often, so that makes me kinda happy ♪

Nay, nay! I truly believe this! Yuuta-kun, thou art the coolest guy in the whole world… ☆

You’re definitely overestimating me~ But well, thanks. I’ve always liked playing instruments, so I guess I really could have joined a band.

Fufu, it’s pretty fun to talk about what-ifs like this.

We all came to Yumenosaki because we wanted to be idols, but there’s still the possibility of like, what if we took a different path?

Yes, yes!

…But, had I chosen something different, I might never have met thee, Yuuta-kun. And that would be a lonely existence indeed.

Shinobu-kun…

Wawah—! Why art thou hugging me? It hurts~!

Sorry. But I’m sure that if I’d never met you either, I’d be really lonely too. I’m glad we both met here at Yumenosaki and became friends.

Let’s be besties forever too, Shinobu-kun ♪

Yes! I would be friends with thee even without thou asking~! Ehehe, you and I are besties ♪

Yep yep, besties~ ♪

Oh, the class bell’s gonna ring soon. Time really flies when I’m talking with you~ I guess it just shows how much fun it is.

Let’s keep doing this, again and again, okay? There’s still so much I wanna know about you, Shinobu-kun, and there’s still so much I want you to know about me.

It’d make me happy if we can become even better friends than we are now… ♪