Chapter 5

Oh, woe is me… As the organizer for Setsubun Festival, I thought I should give a speech so as to reiterate the rules. But now I’m so, so weary; won’t someone make me some tea?

Here you go! Do you need any sugar or milk?

Oh, it’s black tea. I would have preferred green or something of the sort since Setsubun Festival is styled to be traditionally Japanese.

Well, no matter. It’s not as if we need to worry about maintaining the atmosphere when the cameras aren’t even filming us.

You don’t like it? Should Sora get you a different kind of tea?

No, no. It’s just fine, thank you. Good boy… I feel like I have a grandchild; how delightful ♪

Haha~ ♪ Sora will be nice to you, Grandpa!

How can you be so calm? Setsubun Festival has already begun; we should get moving.

If they assault us in such a small room, we have no escape route. We’ll be annihilated.

Now, now, there’s no need to rush ourselves… Playing tag is far too much for this feeble old man. Where is the fun if I run out of breath so soon?

We ought to keep an eye on the situation and move when the time calls for it.

This secret room is equipped with a device that emits a jamming signal.

The GPS signal that allows the staff to know the demons’ locations is also affected, so we should be safe here for the time being.

It should still be possible for calls to go through; for some unknown reason, it is only the GPS signal affected by the interference.

Or, to be more precise, it is transmitting false information.

In any case… it is the ideal hideout, as if someone set it up that way for this event ♪

That must be the “loophole” you were talking about earlier, Rei-nii-san.

Rather, I had planned on hiding out here without letting anyone know until time was called.

But instead, you just barged in here with all these other people in tow, Nii-san.

So now, if any one of us gets hit by the beans and switches sides, there’s a good chance the staff will learn about this location and storm it.

This is a problem; I’ll need to rethink my strategy.

Kukuku. You’re still young; get your blood pumping. It’s not healthy to stay cooped up like this ♪

You are one of my dear, precious children, Sakasaki-kun, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re rivals in Setsubun Festival.

It is only natural that we make every effort to reveal and counteract each other’s schemes in order to survive.

Don’t drown yourself in complaints; instead, use your head and try to catch me off guard ♪

I’d prefer not to fight against any of the Five Oddballs. I can’t win against my nii-sans, and it’s boring if I can’t come out on top~… But all right. If I must, I’ll take this seriously.

We never cut corners when it comes to games. Isn’t that right, Sora?

HiHi~ ♪ Yes! That’s how we do it in the game research club, right~?

Fufun, we participate in Setsubun Festival as individuals…

That said, the reward for winning is the right to perform on a massive stage at the end of the event. The details of the performance are determined by the winner.

In other words, should Sora or I win, we can declare that we’ve invited our unitmates up as guests, or something of that sort.

In short, either Sora or I must survive until the end.

And so we’ll be working toward that together, right Sora?

Everyone else will be fighting alone like idiots, without even searching for loopholes in the rules… We have an advantage because we’ll take them on together.

HuHu~? Of course, Sora will always be with Shisho~ ♪

But in that case, shouldn’t Senpai have joined us too~?

Ngh~ That guy’s a bumbling idiot; he’d just drag us down… And because Senpai is a third year, he’s up to his neck in matters concerning his career path.

If we claim victory, we’ll drag him up on stage as a reward.

We won’t have many more opportunities to perform with Senpai before he graduates, after all.

…Of course, It’s not that I expect winning at Setsubun Festival and performing will improve Senpai’s grades or give him an advantage once he graduates.

Don’t misunderstand me.

Right! It’d be nice if we could all perform together~ Sora’s excited ♪

Me, too.

…Now then, we’ll be changing locations now. This secret room is no longer a safe space thanks to you, Nii-san, so we have to move to another hideout.

Kukuku. It matters not where you try and hide; I know Yumenosaki Academy like the back of my hand ♪

Don’t think too lightly of me. You’re always treating me like a child… You’d best give this your all, Nii-san. Don’t go easy on me, because I certainly won’t be so lenient.

All right, I see how it has to be. Hm, you come off as such a gentle-hearted person, but you have quite the fighting spirit. You truly are a boy; how adorable ♪

…Now then. Hinata-kun, what will you do?

……

Let me reiterate: We are participating in this event as individuals. Though we are both in the light music club, there is no need for us to work together.

Do as you please; no one will stop you.

Umm~ I mean, you can say that all you want, but how am I supposed to know what to do…? You just came up to me and said we should do Setsubun Festival together.

So like, what do you want me to do~? Actually, why’s it just me? I thought for sure Yuuta-kun would participate too~

I should be the one asking that, no? Is something going on between you two…? Lately, you’ve appeared to be quite disconnected.

You two are supposed to be close, as if you are two beings living as one.

But your gears aren’t meshing. Rather, it seems they’re grating against each other to point that you’ve both begun to crack and destroy yourselves…

I don’t wish to be too meddlesome, but as it stands, I can’t bear to watch this.

If something is troubling you, then you can at least discuss it with me.

Nah… Everyone’s been saying that lately, but seriously, everything’s fine~

2wink has been doing so well it’s like a dream, like the underdogs are finally getting their rewards.

And like yeah, Yuuta-kun and I haven’t really… been talking all that much recently, but still.

Hmm. There is no tie between your success as idols and your own personal happiness.

Therein lies the cause of the dissonance. Though it is also my fault for leaving things be until the situation became dire.

I am not so learned in the human psyche, but this is no time for excuses.

I’ll try pulling my weight for once as your senior—your club president, and poke my nose into your affairs.

I don’t want to be left in tears with nothing but the broken remains of that which I hold dear after everything is over.

It may be inevitable that history repeat itself, but no one wishes to see a tragedy acted out again.

…?