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The play reached its conclusion and the curtain fell. Kou and Hijiri had been fully absorbed into the play as well, and they clapped loudly as all the actors waved before vanishing behind the curtain.

It was then…

“…Hey, you’re Mitsuki, right?”
“Huh?”

Someone tapped on Kou’s shoulder and spoke to her.

Turning around, she saw a familiar girl, a first year student from the public entertainment department who had also been there when Kurono was teaching Kou.

“Kurono asked me to get you, come with me. And your friend can come too.”
“Huh, okay..?”

The two stood up and followed the girl…who took them to the dressing room next to the stage.

“H-Hello…?”

They entered the room apprehensively, while Kou felt a strange sense of deja vu.

“Yayy, you came Mitsuki!”
“Ghyuh?!”

Kou was instantly hugged from the side by Ranka, who had already changed back into her school uniform.

“Enough, Ranka. And you, you realize you can always just kick away someone if they get too close, right?”
“I don’t know if I should do that to a girl…”

As usual, Ranka was clinging onto Kou and Kurono had to step in to rescue her. No matter how used Kou had gotten to being a girl, she still could not get herself to be rowdy towards other girls.

“I’m so happy you came to watch us.”
“Hahah…you noticed us?”
“I mean, you stood out a lot amongst the crowd.”

They laughed about it for a bit, but then the two older girls looked serious again.

“You came here to hide from all the reporters, right?”
“…So you could tell.”
“It wasn’t too hard to guess. Literally everyone was talking about the crazy cute girl that showed up.”

Kurono looked concerned, and Ranka sighed in disappointment.

“But anyway… Are you sure you don’t want to come over to this side of the school?”
“No no no, I could never do that!”

Kou desperately shook her head to stress how impossible that would be when they suddenly invited her like that.

“To be honest, you were really quick to learn, your appearance is impeccable, and I’ve heard you’re very athletic too so I’m sure dancing would be a piece of cake, there’s so much untapped talent in you…”
“If you ever change your mind about showbiz, just let us know and we’ll put in a word for you.”
“No, I could never, it’s impossible for me!”

Kou was becoming frantic with how insistent those two were, but she seemed to suddenly calm down as she spoke more normally.

“At least…I think I’ve learned something really important after spending those days here.”
“…Oh?”
“To be honest, I still get embarrassed too easily, and I get really nervous when I have to talk in front of people, that hasn’t changed…”

She placed her hand to her chest as she tried to find the right words to express her feelings. She had never seen or thought of herself following a career as an entertainer, so she did not think she was fit to enter that world now.

“But I’ve come to realize… I faintly knew this before, but now I’m sure that doing those streams in-game and being watched by so many people is really fun, and it’s something I enjoy doing. So…thank you for letting me understand that.”
“I see… Well, I’m just glad you were able to gain something from your stay here.”

Hearing that made Kurono nod with a satisfied smile.

“Aww, I really thought we’d be able to convince you to come here for good. It’s a bit sad but I guess that’s your choice.”
“I guess there’s the fact that a large part of your life will become public in this line of work, so it’s not something we can force you into.”

The two were somewhat disappointed, but they respected Kou’s decision.

“But well… You can always count on me if you need help with anything again.”
“Yes, let’s work on something again one day!”
“Ahahah, you’ll definitely be our first pick when that time comes.”

In the end, Kou was able to lighten the mood for them.

“Umm… Could I also join you next time?!!”
“Hijiri…?”

After being silent for the entire conversation, Hijiri suddenly raised her voice.

“Oh? Ohhh… I see how it is now, heheh.”

While Kou and Kurono were surprised by that, only Ranka seemed to notice something about Hijiri…a playful grin appearing on her face.

“…Not being able to stay together with your lover must feel lonely, huh?”
“…?!”

As Ranka whispered something into Hijiri’s ears, she went red all the way to the tips of her ears. Kou was starting to get flustered seeing that happen, and then Ranka tapped Kou’s shoulder and spoke with an admonishing voice.

“Ahahah, your girlfriend has a pure heart. Take good care of her.”
“Huh? Ah, okay…”

That was all happening too fast for Kou to comprehend, so she just nodded and agreed instinctively. But rather than explaining more, Ranka just said, “It’s your turn to figure everything out now,” and left Kou stranded in a sea of confusion.

“Anyway, I’m on board with her request. I would never turn away a maiden in love.”
“Hmm, I’m not sure what’s going on, but if Ranka says it’s fine then I’m okay with it too. Next time we’ll think of something for both of you.”
“ “Okay!” ”

Hijiri and Kou replied at the same time, which made Ranka chuckle a bit.

◇◇◇

That wrapped up their main discussion, and they spent the rest of the time chatting about random things.

“Ahhh…I’m so tired!”

Someone announced that loudly while barging into the room. It was Haru, wearing her school tracksuit, and having returned from performing as Kirisu Sakura on stage.

“Haru, welcome back!”
“Thank you, thank you.”

Kou gave her one of the sports drinks the other girls had brought, and Haru took it, opened it, and downed half of it in one go.

“Phew, that hits the spot! Though my real body was just lying in the waiting room the entire time. All my joints feel so deaddd.”

Her real body had been on top of a small resting bed while she performed as Kirisu Sakura, so now she was stretching and trying to get some movement while grumbling about it all.

“And the worst part of being a VR idol is they don’t get to burn any calories even when performing on stage for so long.”
“Yeahh, I’ve heard stories of girls who lost a whole kilo through a performance.”
“Ughhh, why is the world so unfairr!”

Ranka and Kurono’s comments only made Haru more upset. She was definitely not overweight, if anything, she was in really good shape. But by now, Kou already knew that girls were always overthinking about their weight.

“…Oh, I’m so sorry for yelling around like that. Thank you again, Mitsuki. You did really well on your first live performance!”
“Thank you…it was all thanks to everyone’s help.”
“Mhm mhm…it somehow went even better than we expected. I keep hearing about reporters going after you, I’m really sorry for that.”
“It’s fine, don’t worry.”

Haru seemed genuinely concerned about Kou, who once again repeated that she had fun herself and reassured Haru.

“Well, that’s that then… Everyone, good job getting through the first day!”

The 4:30pm bell rang just at that moment, announcing together with Haru that the first day of Morinomiya High’s school festival had reached its end…