After what Ritsu said, the girls from Otonokizaka really did feel considerably more relaxed.
"Budokan, huh..."
Minami Kotori murmured to herself.
Although Tokyo Dome had long since replaced Budokan as the largest sports venue in Japan, Budokan's historical significance was difficult to shake. After all, it had witnessed the golden age of Japanese music.
Almost every young person who wanted to become an idol or singer began their journey with the goal of holding a concert at Budokan someday.
"Hehe, our goal is to hold a concert at Budokan too!"
Ritsu said with a brilliant smile as she scratched her head.
Kosaka Honoka's eyes immediately lit up. "Then why don't we do it together when the time comes? You can play the music for us, and we'll provide the backup dancing for you. Then we'll all perform together at Budokan!"
"Oh!!!"
Ritsu let out a long exclamation. Her eyes widened as she looked at Kosaka Honoka, shining with excitement.
"Great idea! We'll hold a concert together at Budokan!"
This...
The people nearby stared blankly at these two passionate idiots.
Neither of them made the slightest attempt to conceal themselves during their conversation, and their loud voices carried quite far.
Quite a few visitors cast curious glances their way.
Those looks made everyone else feel as though they were sitting on pins and needles. They all lowered their heads, wishing they could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. It was so embarrassing that they felt like scratching the wall.
"Honoka..."
"Ritsu!"
Sonoda Umi and Mio respectively grabbed hold of their friends, then gave each other apologetic looks.
"Eh? Umi (Mio), what are you doing?"
"Shut up!" ×2
The two of them pitifully closed their mouths.
Seeing how pitiful they looked, Sato stepped forward with a helpless smile and said, "What they said isn't entirely impossible either, but for now, let's focus on what's right in front of us."
"Yeah! Sato is right!"
After taking a deep breath, Minami Kotori nodded. Her gaze was resolute.
"Let's take the first step first."
Having said that, as if to demonstrate her determination, she suddenly raised the bag she had been carrying all this time. She turned to Kosaka Honoka and Sonoda Umi and said, "Let's change clothes and perform!"
"Clothes?"
Sonoda Umi looked at Minami Kotori in astonishment.
"Yeah!"
Minami Kotori nodded seriously. "I brought the clothes we're going to wear for next week's performance."
"What?!"
Sonoda Umi stared at Minami Kotori with her mouth hanging open. Her eyes instinctively drifted toward the bag in Minami Kotori's hand, and through the gap she could see the colorful clothes inside.
"Let's go. We'll change in the restroom over there first."
"Okay!"
Sonoda Umi instinctively wanted to back out, but seeing that the other two had already started walking toward the restroom, she pursed her lips and ultimately followed them.
"Yahoo! I'm really looking forward to this!"
Ritsu exclaimed as she watched them leave.
"Yeah!"
Yui nodded as well, suddenly making a gesture as if she were holding a guitar.
After closing her eyes slightly and maintaining a solemn expression for a while, she began producing a deep, resonant rhythm with her mouth.
"Strum strum strum... strum strum... strum strum..."
Everyone present helplessly watched her performance. They had no idea what tune she was even playing.
After entertaining herself with her imaginary performance for a while, Yui suddenly stopped. Then she opened her eyes and spread her arms as though welcoming flowers and applause. Tears filled her eyes as she gazed passionately at the empty space before her.
"Thank you! Thank you, everyone! I'll continue working hard on this path! Thanks to everyone's support, I was able to fulfill the wish I made when I debuted by performing at Budokan! Arigato!!!"
Everyone: "..."
Ritsu helplessly slapped Yui on the back of the head, snapping her out of her fantasy.
"Yui! At least try to face reality!"
"Putting everything else aside, are you sure you've really been working hard all this time? You're the most slothful person in our entire clubroom, aren't you?"
Yui pouted when she heard this. "But everyone's the same!"
You know it too?!
Sato and Nakano Azusa couldn't help complaining inwardly when they saw this.
After glancing in the direction Kosaka Honoka and the others had gone, Sato turned to the members of the Light Music Club and said, "I'm going to buy some drinks. What does everyone want?"
"Orange juice!"
"Just get me any bottle of soda."
"I'm fine with anything too."
"..."
After gathering everyone's requests, Sato looked around to determine the direction, then headed toward the vending machines inside Kanda Myojin Shrine.
He had remembered where the vending machines were the last time he visited Kanda Myojin Shrine.
Sure enough, Sato found the familiar vending machines beside one of the shrine's outer walls. They stood beneath blue-tiled roofs and red walls, with several branches of pale pink and white cherry blossoms reaching out from within the shrine grounds.
Petals were scattered across the bluestone path in front of the vending machines, and whenever the wind blew, they rustled and raced along the ground.
Since he did not know what Kosaka Honoka and the others wanted to drink, Sato bought some of every kind of beverage. Fortunately, some of the girls in the Light Music Club did not care what they drank. Otherwise, he really would have had trouble deciding.
"Clunk!"
With the final can of drink dropping down, Sato picked up the full collection of beverages. He suddenly realized that there were simply too many to carry conveniently, mainly because he could not hold all of them at once.
He tried anyway and felt somewhat troubled.
Just as he was wondering whether he should use some supernatural power, a gentle voice suddenly came from beside him.
"Do you need some help?"
Sato turned his head and saw a shrine maiden dressed in red and white.
The shrine maiden was tall and slender, with a slightly plump figure. Her waist-length purple hair was tied with white shide paper and fell down to her hips.
This shrine maiden seemed somewhat familiar...
It was the shrine maiden he had encountered the last time he came to buy omamori!
The purple-haired shrine maiden crouched down slightly and placed the other two cans of drinks lying on the ground into Sato's arms.
"Thank you!"
Sato politely thanked her.
The purple-haired shrine maiden smiled at him and suddenly asked, "Haven't we met somewhere before?"
"Yeah, probably around New Year's, at this shrine."
"I see... Then it seems this is the guidance of fate."
"Hm?"
Sato looked at the girl strangely.
What was this... a confession?
The purple-haired shrine maiden looked at him with a smile and blinked.
"I have a feeling we'll meet again in the future."
After saying that, she turned and left.
Sato watched her retreating figure and suddenly called out, "May I know your name?"
The purple-haired shrine maiden turned her head and looked at him, appearing somewhat surprised. Finally, a smile blossomed across her face.
"Nozomi Tojo."
Nozomi Tojo?
Sato watched the shrine maiden walk away and silently opened the system to check her information.