Guuuys! Sorry I'm late! But I've brought a special guest with me!

Oh. Hey, Kasumi!

A special guest? Who is it?

Oh-ho! Get those hopes of yours up because I guarantee I'll surpass them! You hear me? I guarantee it.

You said “guarantee” twice.

Ayumu, you might get so emotional that you bawl your eyes out!

Huh? Me?

Ah-hah! I know who it is now.

Kasumi! Hurry up with it!

My dear Shizuko, relax. Chill. I present to you our special guest! Come on in!

[Fade in/out.]

Hey everyone. How've you all been?

Prez!

Wait. Wh-Why? Weren't you supposed to be back tonight? I was planning on going to see you once you got back.

Yeah, that was the original plan, but my flight got canceled so I was placed on an earlier one. I dropped by today because I wanted to see everyone.

So that's what happened. *Giggle* No guest could be more special than you!

Welcome back! I'm glad to see you're looking great as well. How was your short-term study abroad program?

It was so amazing. The trip was full of new experiences, so I got inspired and learned a lot. I'm gonna do my best to apply this experience for everyone's benefit.

But I did get a little homesick while I was away. My experience reminded me of how brave you are for coming all the way to Japan all on your own, Emma.

*Chuckle* That's not true. I'm only able to stay happy and healthy because I've got you and everyone else around me.

W-W-Welcome home… *Sob*

Aww, Ayumu! Don't cry! I'm here now!

[Fade in/out.]

By the way, what's everyone doing up here? Practice on the roof?

So about that. A lot has happened while you've been away.

We lost our clubroom because of that Lanzhu girl!

WHAT?! Wh-What on earth happened?! Fill me in!

She's apparently the chairwoman's daughter and transferred to Nijigasaki from Hong Kong while you were away, together with a girl named Mia.

When they first came, Shioriko brought the two of them to our club. They came because they wanted to be school idols after seeing the School Idol Festival.

We were really happy when we heard that.

But when we invited them to work with us in our club, they told us they had other plans.

They said their School Idol Association would have the best staff and the optimal environment, so it would do what our club can't. They told us to get rid of our club and join her.

But there's nothing we can't do with our school idol club. We've done so many things that were only possible because of it. So that's why…

That's…certainly a shock.

You're telling me! She can't just do whatever she wants all because she's the chairwoman's daughter! She's gone too far!

The clubroom's off limits to us and we can't seem to get permission to use the auditorium or anything!

No way! Then what about your school idol activities?!

A condition of continuing to be a school idol at Nijigasaki is that we need to join the Association. If we don't, we're banned from it all. Rina-chan Board says, “Droop.”

And to top it all off, they've created an organization they call the “Monitoring Committee” to get in the way of everything we do!

They force us to stop when they find us practicing.

When they spot us, they blow their whistle and announce that they've caught the club practicing!

That's why we can't settle on a place to practice. Today we're on the rooftop, but who knows where we'll be tomorrow.

I had no idea any of this happened. Why didn't you contact me to let me know?!

It all happened so fast, and we didn't want to make you worry more than you needed to.

We had a meeting and decided to solve this ourselves by the time you got back.

But we didn't manage to…

We wanted to have more fun things to talk about with you when you got back.

I'm sorry this is how things ended up.

D-Don't worry about that!

It's messed up for her to take the liberty to decide on all that. I'm going to go have a talk with her.

I don't know if she'll be willing to talk…

She was moved when she saw the School Idol Festival, right? Then I'm sure she'll want to see everyone perform.

And if she does, I want to see what she thinks about everyone combining forces. And then I'll think about what to do.

Everyone performing together? You mean with all the members of the Association as well? I'm not sure how I feel about that.

That's right! I never, ever, EVER want to do anything with the likes of Lanzhu!

I feel like their take on school idols is different from ours. But I'm having a hard time articulating it.

Oh, you're back!

You should've at least messaged us when you landed. I've been waiting for you to get back.

Grrr! What's the big idea chatting to her like everything's fine and dandy?! Outsiders aren't welcome here!

Outsiders? Don't call us something so depressing. You know, we're just—

I don't wanna hear what you have to say! Hmph!