Y-You guuuys!

Oh, welcome. Why are you in such a panic? Is something wrong?

You're all sweaty again.

Here's a towel and some water for you.

Th-Thanks.

Forget about me! Look at this! The girl from before sent us a letter!

What?! Already?

Show me!

Nico, read it out to us! Quickly!

I know! *Sigh* I'm kinda nervous too.

[Fade out.]

I'm gonna read it now.

Okay!

[Fade in.]

“Dear μ's. Hello everyone. I'm the one who sent the email about not having fun at school before.”

“I watched the promo video you uploaded for the School Idol Exhibition and I thought that maybe it was a message for me, which is why I'm writing you.”

“First off, there's something that I have to apologize for. What I wrote in that email wasn't what I really wanted to ask.”

“What I truly wanted to know was if there was anything I could do so that I'd find things interesting and fun.”

It's just as Honoka said.

Yeah…

“I've loved shogi since I was a kid and would always go to my local shogi center to play with the elderly folks there.”

“When I started middle school, I created a shogi club in hopes of finding friends that I could play with.”

“But I couldn't find any. I think it was because everyone thought it looked hard or that it was just a game for old people.”

“So I've been hiding the fact that I love shogi ever since, even after I started high school. I've never been able to pick up any hobbies that everyone else likes either.”

“That's why I haven't been having fun at school. Every day, I'd think about how I wanted to hurry up and go home to work on shogi problems or go to the shogi center.”

“But when I saw your promo video, I began to feel jittery and excited. I started to want to go out there and do something like all of you have.”

“I put my foot down and brought my book of shogi problems to school, even though I knew it could be as fruitless as ever. And then a girl came to talk to me.”

“She told me that she didn't know the rules, but she's been hearing about shogi a lot recently. She was curious about it and asked if I could teach her.”

Whoo! Nice!

“So I've been teaching her shogi during lunchtimes. Another girl saw what we were doing and came to talk to us.”

“Now I have friends to play shogi games with on my phone. We don't have enough people to make a club, but now I'm having fun at school.”

“It's turned into something that even I can enjoy and love about school. I've included a photo of me with my friends so please take a look.”

And that's it!

Waaah… *Sniff* What a good girl! You did it! See, you can do it if you just set your heart on it!

Honoka was right. She really did have something she loved and wanted to do.

Yeah. Looks like it.

She's amazing. We sent her the message that we wanted her to take that step, but she's the one who actually gathered the courage to do so.

I had Umi and Kotori with me, but she did this all by herself.

She's way braver than I am. What a superstar!

That may be so, but there's no doubt that you were the ones who gave her that push.

Hey, take a look at the photo. She's got such a huge smile.

Wow! She really does!

She looks like she's having fun.

That's the face of someone who's found people to share her joys with.

Isn't this wonderful, Honoka? All of your agonizing paid off.

Hee hee hee. I couldn't have done it without you all!

Hey, can I write a reply to her?

Yeah, of course. I think she'd be so happy.

I wonder if I'd be able to get the hang of shogi… Oh, I think I could manage that phone game!

I could tell her that I'll learn how to play so we could maybe have a match sometime?

I think that's a fantastic idea.

I didn't think you'd be so eager about me playing a game.

Shogi is a game that requires a lot of critical thinking. If you got into the habit of using your thinking skills, perhaps your studies may become slightly easier as well.

Whaaat? Playing games and studying are totally different things!