Hey, thanks for waiting!
I'm all set!

Welcome back, An.
I'm glad you found something you liked.

Alright, where to next?
It's past noon so...

Oh, you're right!
How does lunch sound?

Yeah, sounds good! I'm starving!

Also, Minori, I did promise to tell you more about Haruka from way back when.

Yes, please! I'd love to hear more about her!

You promised to tell her more about me...? When did you two decide this?

So, Minori seemed really jealous about me being your childhood friend...

I promised to tell her more about you from back then, but totally forgot last time.

I see.
Hehe. Don't tell her too much, okay?

I... I'd like to hear more about An from back then too...!

M-Me?

Yeah...!
I really want to know what you were like when you were little.

I mean, sure...
But I don't think I was that different, you know?

I-Is that a no?

It's just, well...
Pretty embarrassing, you know?

Hehe. If you plan on telling them about me, then that makes your past fair game too, right?

Yeah, I guess so.

Anyway, let's continue this after we find a place to eat.

Yeah, let's go!

Alright, where should I start?

Question! When did you two first meet?!

Second grade, right?
When we were in the same class.

Yeah, but we weren't really friends at that time...

But started talking more when were put into the same class again as fourth graders!

And that's when you became friends?

“Friends” might not be the right word...
Our personalities were like oil and water.

Yeah... We were in totally different cliques too, so we didn't really get along right off the bat.

Wait, really?

Really. But she really caught my attention during music class one day when we all had to sing.

Most of our classmates didn't take it seriously, but Haruka was different. She took that more seriously than anyone else...

It's hard to describe, but she wasn't like the others. It's like she really cared about music, you know?

That's amazing, Haruka!
You've really always taken music seriously!

I wasn't doing anything special...
But I was serious about learning to sing properly since I wanted to be an idol...

That's incredible...

Hehe. I felt the same way back then, so I decided to try and out-sing Haruka by being louder than her.

And it was hard not to notice.
I mean, every time our class sang together, your voice always overpowered everyone else's.

Oh, was I that loud?

I can totally see you doing that, An.
Your voice has this natural echo to it.

Haha. Thanks, but I feel embarrassed now...

But that did make me want to hear you sing more.

Really? That's a first!

Well, I've never told anyone that before.

Why didn't you tell me sooner?!
I would've loved to have heard that from you back then...

I'm saying this now because I couldn't then.

...

Aww, I wish Haruka would praise me like that more...!

Not just current Haruka, but little Haruka too!!

M-Minori...

Haha!
You really can't help it, can you, Minori?

It's adorable how much you admire Haruka, you know?

Yes, I really do!

So, you two became friends through music class?

No, that didn't happen until much later.

Right. We still weren't really “friends” yet...

If anything, we were more like rivals.

Rivals...?

Yeah, we were playing basketball but on different teams this one time during P.E.

Yeah, I remember that!
That was a really fun game.

It ended up being a tie, but we really started going at each other after that. That extended outside of basketball too.

Yeah, from P.E. to music... Oh, remember when we had a contest to see who could eat lunch the fastest?

What?! Haruka doing an eating contest?!

Actually, maybe I shouldn't be that surprised...

Really?
I find it pretty hard to believe...

Hehe. I can see why.
I also remember challenging you to a studying contest and immediately turning me down...

Because that would've been so boring!

An...

I think I'm with An there...
I wouldn't stand a chance if schoolwork gets involved.

B-But I think I'd be willing to try if it's against you, Haruka!

Oh? Can I hold you to that?

Yes, please!

How about us, An?

Huh? Us, well... Eventually!

Oh, An...

Hehe...

But we really did have a lot of fun back then. We'd challenge each other and the loser would pick the next one...

Yeah.
And we never really got to determine who was better at basketball.

That's right!
Who do you think would win right now?

Would you be up for a free throw contest sometime?

Yeah, totally! You're on!

Wow, they're so close...!

Hehe. They really are.

Also, it's really interesting how they're so evenly matched at everything...

(An's always there to push me in the right direction, but their competitiveness is what drove their growth.)

(Almost like Haruka should be her...)