Is Ai okay?

I've never seen her stopped in her tracks like this before, so I'm worried.

We should cheer her up at a time like this. Let's be reliable like Kasumi.

It's dependable, not reliable.

And I corrected that yesterday already! I'll cheer her up as a cute mascot!

Everyone! I've decided on the metaverse I want to create! I want to make a world like Nijigasaki!

Whaa?! What do you mean?!

Like Nijigasaki? You mean a school?

That's right. A place that incorporates all the fun parts of school!

I figured it out talking to Misato yesterday. What's important when it comes to having fun isn't what you're doing, it's who you're doing it with.

And since school is the place where the people that make everything fun for me are, I want to make a place like this!

And all sorts of people go to school, enjoy their youth, and meet people that they want to keep in touch with even after they graduate, right? What do you think?

So if it's a school…don't tell me you'll have to study too?

Wouldn't that be interesting?

GYAHHH!

If there were people like teachers who could tell you anything you wanted to know, it might be fun.

Wouldn't you want to teach people about makeup or about cute accessories, Kasukasu?

That's great! I'd be happy to teach people about things like that!

And it's not Kasukasu, it's Kasumin!

Hey, does that mean I could hold a sweets-making class?

That's right, you could!

Ooh! I'd have to invite Tsumugi too…

I hope Karin will hold a design course. I could listen to her talk for hours!

I can handle that.

Maybe I could teach a class on children's songs. I'd like to sing children's songs from around the world with everyone.

I bet you could put on stage performances in the lecture room too.

It would be nice if you could watch that while chatting in the cafeteria.

Since it's in the metaverse, you could watch from wherever you like, right? I'd like to see lots of people gathered in the student council room.

I want to play games, of course. What kind of games can you play at school, I wonder… Tag and treasure hunts?

I think you could make sports games like tennis and baseball.

Yeah! Let's all play baseball!

Yeah, let's do everything we want to do!

Of course, you'll be able to have school idol live shows too!

I want to put on a show like you've never seen before! I'll decorate the entire school! Nijigasaki itself will be the stage!

Now that I want to see!

*Giggle* Right? When I told Misato about this, she said she'd want to go to a place like that.

She said she was too unwell to go to school much.

The three years we get to spend here feels like way too little time to me.

I can't believe there's time limits on a place this fun.

But even once we can't come here anymore in real life, we'll still be able to come back in the metaverse.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a place you can always return to, no matter where you live or what you're doing?

No matter how old I get, I always want to enjoy my youth with everyone here at Nijigasaki!

I'll be rooting for you to make that world, Ai. Rina-chan Board says, “Serious!”

Yeah. There's all sorts of things I want you to teach me, Rinari.

And all the rest of you too!

My metaverse… I'll call it “Ai-verse”! I promise I'll make it someday!

[Fade in/out.]

Ai! Ai!

Hm? What is it, Shio-ti?

Thank goodness. I was looking for you.

Um, actually, I wanted to interview you, if that's okay.

Huh?

Please!

Sure, I don't mind…