Wonder Game - infinite 5

Location: In front of the Auditorium

Natsume: WeLL~… It’s hard to explaIN. To put it in a slightly misleading wAY, you could say we were asked to take part in collusiON.

Sora: ? Collision?

Natsume: NO, collusiON. You could also call it match-fixiNG. Right nOW, Yumenosaki and CosPro hold the most influence over the trends in the idol industRY…

The proposition was whether WE, as their representativES, Switch and EdEN, would like to dominate the board known as “Wonder GaME”.

By making arrangements with Eden in secrET, we could collude and take control of the flow of “Wonder GaME”, effectively having free reign over IT.

If we could manipulate the results of “Wonder GaME”, a giant project that’s used to predict the future of the idol industRY, in our favOR…

The benefits we would gain from that would be unfathomabLE.

But this all doesn’t sit right with me for some reasON. It’s definitely evidence that during the recent “Rebirth LiVE”, they colluded with some influential people in order to manipulate the results to their likiNG, tOO.

Maybe they got a taste for it thEN, and want to use the same trick once moRE?

Jun: ...What are you looking at me for~, I wasn’t the one who did those kinds of nasty calculations.

Wasn’t all that stuff spearheaded by Hidaka-sensei, Ibara, and your student council prez?

Natsume: (...TruE, this is the kind of method our revolting stuco prez would uSE.)

(Maybe I should agree to thIS, since it’s the “grown-up thing to DO”, just the way my Nii-sans of the “Five Oddballs” did with the former fiNE.)

(BuT. Back thEN, wasn’t I the one who struggled in vain trying to find some other option because I just couldn’t bear IT?)

(Didn’t I run myself ragged trying to think of something and doing everything in my powER, just to end up exactly where I startED? OR, to put it in better worDS, just to end up in the same place as my Nii-sans from back thEN?)

(I don’t want thAT… It’d be as if that whole year was nothing but a dreAM.)

Tsumugi: Excuse me! Sorry for being late~ ♪

Natsume: ...SenpAI.

Tsumugi: Ah, I’m back, Natsume-kun! What a relief~, I heard there was some discord between you and the others, so I was pretty worried!

But from the looks of things you’re having a friendly chat. I’m so relieved ♪

Natsume: ...PueH! (He spits on Tsumugi’s glasses.)

Tsumugi: Gyaah, a new technique!? Please stop it, this is quite the troublesome attack!

Sora: HiHi~♪ Sora always says this, but this is probably not an attack, but an expression of love~?

Tsumugi: I can’t bring myself to believe that… Uuu, at least refrain from doing this stuff to anyone else but me, okay?

Depending on the country, spitting is the rudest possible act a person can do, you know?

Ibara: I think it’d be rare to find a country where it isn’t considered rude, actually…

Ah ha ha, to think that you would forgive even such an act, you must really be so close that you need no reservations around each other! How enviable!

Hiyori: Aah, Ibara, you’re finally here. Thanks for your hard work in guiding the other idols here.

But how come I don’t see Nagisa-kun anywhere? Didn’t you come here together?

Ibara: Oh-oh? The moment His Excellency stepped off the bus, he suddenly said something like, “I remembered something” and went ahead without me, though...?

I was sure he was heading to Your Highness Hiyori’s side, but he doesn’t appear to be here. Hmhm~, I wonder where he went off to?

This is the greatest mistake of my life! Aah geez, His Excellency has been behaving sensibly lately, so I let my guard down! I-I will go look for him at once, okay~?

Tsumugi: Ah, I think there’s no need for that. Nagisa-kun said something about Jabberwocky, didn’t he?

Sora: Ja... baworky? Senpai, what’s that?

Tsumugi: You could say he’s the personification of wordplay, a character from “Through the Looking-Glass”.

...Because of that, well, I think Nagisa-kun is headed for the animal pen.

Natsume: ? How do you figuRE? I can’t follow your leap in logIC.

Tsumugi: Aah, I’ll explain it later. It’s nothing, really… Just something from back when I was in fine.

Fufu, this means Nagisa-kun also still remembers those days~♪

Natsume: ….? I don’t really get IT, but you seem stupidly happy lateLY, SenpAI. So you’re really overjoyed to be doing activities with those guys from the old fine after aLL?

Tsumugi: Eh, do I seem like that?

I wasn’t really aware of it… We met a rather sad end together as fine, which is why I’m really glad that we are able to laugh together like this now ♪

Natsume: ………….

Tsumugi: Excuse me, I’m going to head to the animal pen to meet Nagisa-kun!

Saegusa-kun, please lead the other idols who arrived backstage, I’m sure they all want to put down their luggage.

Ibara: Yes Sir! What splendid instructions, just as expected of the old fine’s manager! The central figure of the revolution of Yumenosaki Academy! I deeply respect you ♪

Tsumugi: Eh? Nono, I was just something like middle management back then!

Ibara: No need to be modest! It’s the powerful ones whose work goes unnoticed who are the most vital for an organization! I strive to be like that myself one day. Maybe I should even call you my teacher!?*

Tsumugi: Hoeh? Oh no, you’re flattering me way too much, I’m just used to doing assistant work like this...♪

Natsume: (...What the hell is thIS? Seems like you’ve gotten quite cozy with the enemy while I wasn’t lookiNG, haven’t yOU, SenpAI?) 

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* He says “Shishou”, like Sora calls Natsume.