Love Live! Reunite!

Chapter 53: What If I Fail...

"Amazing, nya!" Rin yelled as soon as she got off stage. She twirled in a circle happily.

"We did it!" Nico fist bumped the air. "We performed our first song!"

"Did you hear the way the audience cheered and applauded?" Nozomi asked, placing her hands on her red cheeks and grinning. "That was amazing!"

"I didn't expect that much of a reaction," Umi admitted. "But I'm so glad everyone still supports us!"

"One song down, and two to go," Maki said. "Let's make these next performances even better!!"

"Let's go get changed into our next costumes," Eli suggested, clapping her hands in order to get everyone's attention.

"Which song are we doing next?" Kotori asked, wiping her forehead, a huge grin on her face.

"Bokura wa Ima no Naka de," Honoka beamed.

Hanayo gasped. "Next...?"

"Yep, your centre song!" Honoka cried, grabbing Hanayo's shoulders.

"It's going to be amazing, Kayo-chin!" Rin yelled happily. "Nya!"

Hanayo gulped nervously and her voice cracked. "Um... Yeah..."

"Let's get changed then," Eli said, rushing everyone back to their building. "The other school idol groups will be here waiting to perform, so we mustn't get in their way!"

Honoka let everyone go ahead and was about to follow on, when she accidentally bumped into someone. The girl she bumped into was much shorter than her, and had had short ginger hair with a tiny plait at her left side and red shining eyes. She was dressed in an orange dress with a blue belt which trailed down her front. The top of her dress had red and white stripes by the collar, and the sleeves were short, but the same fabric was wrapped loosely around the lower half of her arms. She was wearing long white socks and black shoes with laces that wrapped around her ankles.

"Ah, I'm so sorry!" Honoka said to the girl. "Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

The girl looked down at her dress. "No, I'm the one who should be - " the girl looked up and saw Honoka's face, and gasped. Then, she remained silent, and just stared at Honoka.

Honoka gave a nervous laugh. "Are you performing next?"

The girl slowly and timidly nodded her head. "Um...yes..."

"Well, good luck out there," Honoka said motioning to the stage. "You'll do an amazing job!"

"Chika-chan!" A voice from behind Honoka said. "Are you coming?"

The girl - who Honoka now knew was called Chika - glanced behind Honoka. "Sorry, Riko-chan, I'm coming!"

Honoka grinned. "What's the name of your idol group called, Chika-san?"

"Um...Aqours... There's nine of us in total," Chika said.

"Aqours?" Honoka smiled. "What a beautiful name. And there's nine of you? Well, good luck to you and your group, Chika-san! Faito da yo!"

Chika bowed. "Thank you very much, Kōsaka Honoka-Senpai!"

"Senpai...?" Honoka repeated, but Chika had already hurried off to catch up with her friends, so Honoka ran to catch up with hers.

Honoka and everyone else hurried to the building to see their new costumes. Their original outfits for the performance were white blouses and short puffy skirts that were half red and half black, with red suspenders and red fingerless gloves with love heart shapes cut out by the back of the hand, and a different bow or tie for each member.