[Fade in/out.]

Our dance moves are getting a lot more in sync. I can't wait until they're perfect.

Yup. Especially the pose everyone strikes at the end. When I saw you all land it at the same time, I got chills!

Thank you very much. Practice felt more like we were doing a real performance because you took time to come watch us.

Having someone watch really does help us get in the zone. Oh yeah, and that pose at the end was Mari's idea!

It was? It turned out great!

Thank you so much. I wanted to make sure our Aqours appeal was turned up to the max. I'm glad that came through.

Though, other than your last idea, everything else you suggested was way over the top and got rejected.

One of your ideas was to have us stand on each other's shoulders and backflip off each other starting with the person on top. That's more like acrobatics than dancing.

But wouldn't it have been great if we could've pulled that off?

*Laugh* Oh yeah, didn't Aqours start as you, Dia and Kanan? Did you always discuss everything together like this, even back then?

We did. We always strove for the shining glory at the end of a distant road, and every day we pushed each other with shiny, devoted passion!

We always chat and have a good time like this now, but at the start we weren't like this at all.

Really?

For starters, Mari had no idea what a school idol even was at the beginning. Kanan and I taught her as much as we could.

Thanks to them my body and mind were completely rebuilt from the ground up.

That's a weird way to put it.

So that means Aqours wasn't Mari's idea to begin with? That's not what I expected. She seems like the type of person who'd come up with such an idea first.

*Chuckle* Surprised? I was too when Dia and Kanan invited me to join. Being an idol at school wasn't something I ever considered.

But once I started practicing, I became obsessed. I loved singing and dancing so much. I wanted to keep performing as Aqours, but…

Hm? Did something happen?

Yes. Aqours actually broke up at one point. The Aqours we have today is made up of the members Chika pulled together. A brand new Aqours.

Huh?! You broke up?! What happened?

Well… A lot, actually.

Kanan had to cover for me about some things, Dia hid some things behind her back, a lot of stuff.

You tried to perform on stage with an injury and turned down a study abroad opportunity to be a school idol. How could we not worry about that?!

I was fine with it so why do you care?! Besides, if you were so worried about me then you should have said something. Why did you have to keep quiet?

That is quite enough you two! Yelling at each other like that is a public nuisance!

S-So you guys have a lot of history too, huh.