The ocean! It's so beautiful, and Mt. Fuji is so close.

[Taking out phone.]

I should take some pictures and show them to everyone in the club. Now to focus…

[Putting phone away.]

(Blue sky, blue ocean, green scenery. Nijigasaki is close to the ocean too, but this place is totally different.)

Aqours get to see this every day. I bet a place with this much freedom really fills you with inspiration for songs.

Hm?

[Fade in/out.]

(Someone's down on the beach. Is it a tourist? Maybe it's a local.)

(She's just standing there staring out at the ocean. She looks like she's contemplating hard about something, too.)

I-Is she?! N-No, don't!

[Fade in/out.]

Eeek! Wh-What the heck?

Think things through! I'm here to lend an ear!

??

Umm, I think you're confused. I was just admiring the ocean.

Um, oh… Right. Good. Sorry for all the commotion.

That's okay. I'm sorry, too.

Huh?

Y-You're…Riko! You're Riko Sakurauchi from Aqours! Right?!

What? Y-Yes, I am.

Whoa…

It's really you. I actually met someone from Aqours at the beach. I can't believe it. Please shake my hand!

M-Me? Well, if you want to…

Thank you so much!

No, thank you. Hey, you don't have to be so formal. Just talk like we're friends.

A-Are you sure?

Okay. Um, I came here from Tokyo to meet Aqours.

All the way from Tokyo? To meet us?

Yeah. I saw your live show with μ's and just had to meet you all in person.

I was just at Uranohoshi High and someone told me I might find a member of Aqours at the beach.

Oh, so that's why I heard you get so excited about someone being on the beach.

So you came to see that performance. Thanks. I'm glad you came all the way out here to see us in person.

I was so…moved. That performance got me interested in school idols!

Now I'm in the idol club at the school I go to.

Really? So you're a school idol, too.

Well, not exactly. I'm in more of a support position.

And in order to support everyone even better, I wanted to talk to Aqours and learn from you.

What's practice usually like? Who writes your songs?

What mentality do you have when you're performing?

H-Hold on a sec! I can't answer all these questions at once.

Oh, sorry.

It might be better to ask all these questions when everyone's around. It'd be a pain to ask everyone separately, right?

But today is… Oh yeah, aren't you guys helping prep for the Summer Festival?

Yeah. We've been working late every day for a while, so we decided to take the day off.

I see. I guess that means I won't be able to meet everyone today. They're all probably relaxing on their day off.

I'm not so sure. Just because it's a day off doesn't mean they're actually taking it off. Especially considering the circumstances…

(The circumstances?)

Actually, you might be able to meet Chika today. She's my neighbor. Want to go?

Can I?!

Of course.

Sweet! That'd be great!

Okay, let's get going.

All right!

[Fade in/out.]

Hey, Riko… You looked kind of down when you were staring out at the ocean. Is everything okay?

What?

I know we just met, but it's been bothering me. Are things not going well?

I knew it was written all over my face when you got that worried about me, but am I really that easy to read?

Um, well…

*Giggle* I'm sorry. Something has been on my mind. The song for the Summer Festival.

A song? Oh yeah, you guys are performing, right? Are you going to sing a new song?

We haven't written one yet. We're working on the lyrics right now. Well, Chika is working on the words. I'm writing the music.

(They're working on a new Aqours song right now! I couldn't have picked a better time to come to Numazu!)

We've hit a roadblock with our song writing, though. I'm trying to come up with ideas, yet I'm drawing nothing but blanks.

So, I came down to the beach to try to clear my mind.

Does looking at the ocean do that?

For me, anyway. When I wrote songs, well actually when I was worried about my piano performances, listening to the sound of the ocean helped me clear my head.

Huh, I see.

So, I came back hoping to clear my head again and face the music, so to speak. Sorry if I sound weird.

Don't be. So that's how you write music. I'm excited. It feels like I've been let in on the secret to Aqours' music!

Well, I don't always do this. Just once in a while! Today is special.