Wow, that's incredible.
You get to open for a really famous band now.

Not only that, an arena is a pretty big venue, right?

Yeah, it seats fifteen thousand people!

Fifteen thousand?! Wait, how many people is that...?

Well...
You'd probably need ten of this school's gymnasiums to fit everyone.

What?! That's gigantic! You really get to play at this place?!

To be fair, it's only because Mr. Shindo introduced us to them.

Still, it's also because you have what it takes to play there. He may've helped make the connection, but this band wouldn't choose just anyone to open for them at an important solo concert.

So, what kind of music does Free Cluster play?

Well, their music is really powerful...
Like their sound hits you head-on.

Head-on...?

I know what you mean!
I get so excited every time I listen to their music!

Really...?
Now you have me curious.

Would you like to see a video of them playing live? There should be some online.

Yes! I wanna see! I wanna see!

I'd like to as well.

Hehe. Alright, I'll play it now.

♪————!!!

Wow...!

They're singing and playing at full throttle right out of the gates!

*Nod*
They're running like the wind...

They're really cool...

(Yeah, they really are an incredible band.)

(It doesn't matter that we're watching them on a screen. My eyes and ears are totally glued to them. Ms. Naruse and the others have completely sucked me into their world.)

(The crowd looks like they're having so much fun. Most are smiling while waving their hands, while others are just enraptured...)

(I want us to play this way.)

That guitar solo partway through was so cool!

Yeah, you can tell she poured everything she had into it.

And what a singing performance.
They really just blast you with all the energy they have, don't they?

They draw you into their world right away and never let go until the end...

*Nod*
Thank you for sharing this with us, Honami.

No, I should be thanking all of you.
Watching this together really taught me a lot.

Same. It really is amazing how Ms. Naruse can sing with so much passion and play with such precision at the same time...

She really is the coolest!
And she's gonna come coach us! Talk about living the dream!

Wait, what do you mean?

Oh, that's right. We still haven't told any of you.

The thing is, the lead singer and guitarist you saw just now, Ms. Naruse, is going to come personally coach us.

Wait, that sounds like a really big deal.

We know. It's a valuable opportunity for us to learn directly from a pro on the cutting edge.

And even though she's probably really busy preparing for her band's solo show, she's taking the time to come coach us.

Right.
That means we have to make the absolute most of this opportunity.

Oh, do you know what your practices with Ms. Naruse are gonna be like?!

So, we don't actually know the details yet...
She's apparently going to decide after she sees how we play.

She's asked us to start by doing our set normally, as though we were playing a regular show.

Okay, which songs are you going to play?

The one from our commercial, “Blue Moments”, and our debut song, “star trail”.

So, starting today, we're going to focus on those two songs in practice.

I see. Let us know if you need any of us to help.

We can do sessions with you, keep an eye out for points to mention, and anything else you need us to do!

Thank you all so much!

Alright, let's start practicing.

Yeah! Let's do everything we can to make sure we sound perfect for that practice!

I'm done tuning my guitar.

I'm ready as well.
Everything else seems to be set to go, so all that's left is for us to wait for Ms. Naruse to arrive.

Still, I wasn't expecting to have a whole live house booked just for this.

Me neither. I know that she wants us to put on as real a performance as possible...

B-But I'm starting to get a little nervous...

I know how you feel...
But we won't be doing anything different from usual.

We're going to do everything we can to give our audience the best performance we possibly can.

Hehe♪ You're so cool, Shiho!

Hehe. Let's just play the way we always do, shall we?

Hello.

Oh...

Ms. Naruse...!
H-Hello!

We are the members of Leo/need, who will be opening for your solo show.

We look forward to working with you, and we promise to do our very best!

Haha. There's no need to be so formal.

Mr. Shindo's told me all about you girls.
He tells me that you're very good.

What...?

I'm looking forward to seeing a good performance out of all of you.

Of course!

Anyway, would you all mind starting for me?

Approach this like a real show.
Give it everything you have from start to finish.

Understood.

Ready, everyone?

We're Leo/need!
Thank you all for coming to see us today!

Here's our first song! Blue Moments!

♪——! ♪————!

(We're off to a good start.)

(And Ichika's projecting her voice really well.)

(Those two also seem to have found a good groove.)

(Honami's leading the way, while Saki helps raise the temperature... It's business as usual.)

(But...)

(We can do better than this, can't we?)

(Wow, look at Shiho go...!)

(Yeah. We need to make sure our music really connects with Ms. Naruse here...)

(Which means more power! A lot more!)

♪————~~~!

Interesting...

Thank you very much!

(I'm pretty sure that was everything we had...)

...

Yes, you all played very well just now.

Your individual sounds and emotions meshed together perfectly.

Mr. Shindo was right.
The way you play is honest and compelling.

...!

Thank you very much...!

But I can only say that about the playing.

As far as the “show” you just put on goes... You're not there yet.

Huh...?

You're all missing something very crucial.