Crown 19

Rinne: “Gyahahahaha ☆ A big hello to all the viewers at home! It’s ya boy Amagi Rinne, the same one who’s always shocking people that he’s still an idol!”

Is everyone enjoying SS this year? No dice? Aw, too bad!”

“And it’s no wonder! Someone’s fucking up everyone else’s end-of-the-year fun at the biggest festival in the idol industry, SS! They’re making it all boring! And don’tcha know that’s the root of all evil?”

“Unless we take that bastard down, we won’t be able to ring in the new year with a smile!”

Madara: ...Just what do you think you’re doing?

Chiaki: Um, Amagi-senpai—

Rinne: “Oh, shut up! I’m not talking to a hitman! And I’m not talking to Mr. ally of justice, either! A snake knows a snake best, so how about you just sit down and wait your turn?”

Chiaki: Well, it is our turn, actually.

Tetora: ...Does this mean they’re sending up Crazy:B as the representative instead of Double Face?

Madara: Nooooope. I didn’t hear anything about that, and I’m not going to accept it, either.

Rinne: “I don’t care what the peanut gallery has to say!”

“But sure, I thought about putting off your showdown so I could have some fun up here—”

“But that’d be real boring for the audience too, don’tcha think?”

“This is supposed to be a big ol’ festival; just watching me playing around forever wouldn’t be any fun at all.”

“So let’s make this official. Hey, Double Face: how’s about you let us be the reps for the fourth match?”

Madara: Hm? I can’t say I’m jumping to accept the offer when I don’t even know your intent behind it. Besides, we’d be going against the oracle, wouldn’t we?

The representative for the fourth round will be us, Double Face. That’s what the oracle said.

Rinne: “Then just hand the little card with the oracle on it over to me! I’ll scribble out the instructions and write new ones instead!”

“It’s not like the oracle is law. We never had to follow it from the start.”

Madara: I can’t argue with that. But the other units, including me, aren’t going to allow this. We’ve been following the oracle because it benefits us, too.

Rinne: “Gyahaha! And that’s the exact premise I’m tryna smash to pieces!”

Hiiro: —Nii-san! What are you doing?! Explain yourself!

Aira: Hey, Hiro-kun! Don’t run off while the cameras are rolling! You’re gonna get caught up in this thing! Stop him, Akehoshi-senpai!

Subaru: Huh? Me? Why? I’m actually getting excited ‘cause I can’t figure out what’s gonna happen... ☆

Aira: Oh, come on! I swear, every single one of you people at ES are so...!

Subaru: —Besides, Rinne-senpai probably won’t start anything this time around.

He came up to us earlier with some info.

So he’s probably trying to broadcast it to the whole country with this live feed.

In that case, we should just let him do what he has to do. It might even be good for us.

Aira: ...? ...?

Hiiro: What does that mean, Subaru-senpai?

Subaru: Just watch and see. Man, I’m jealous. That was supposed to be our job, yanno.

Hokuto: Hmph. Our title as the previous SS champions gets in the way of that. While we’re in this SS period, we can’t act like we usually do; we learned that much in Hokkaido.^[1]

I’m ashamed to do so, but this time we should let that cocky new guy take the spotlight.

Aira: No, hang on. Nothing you’re saying makes any sense?! I finally thought Rinne-senpai was pulling his life back together. If he messes up here, then—

Hiiro: Yes. Nii-san has changed a little. He no longer carries that same destructive aura that he did during the summer.

Should I just put my trust in him and watch what he does? I’m worried, though...

Rinne: “Yep. Just sit back and see how cool your onii-chan is, Brosef ♪”

“Actually, you guys haven’t gone to battle yet, have you? I don’t care whether it’s Trickstar or ALKALOID—”

“But one of you, come out and take Ryuseitai’s place as the Red Team’s rep.”

“We can have some fun singing and dancing together. We’ll go down in history, make legends, the whole shebang. Whatcha say?”

Hokuto: We can do that.

Subaru: Waaaait a sec, Hokke. Should we let ALKALOID do this?

If Ryuseitai and Double Face go at it later like they planned, the only ones left on the White Team are Eden and Knights.

But Eden’s the commanding unit, so they’re going last. That just leaves Knights.

Wouldn’t it suck to pit these newbies against a Big Three powerhouse like Knights? We’re their senpais, and the champions of SS—

So we should face down Knights. Crazy:B is also new to the game, so they can fight on even ground.

Hokuto: Hm. When you put it like that, it seems like the smart thing to do. We did originally plan to set ALKALOID against Crazy:B according to the oracle, anyway.

Amagi Rinne usually does whatever he wants, but he should probably let up against his little brother.

Hiiro: Fufu. Nii-san isn’t one to spoil others.

Aira: Hey, don’t just decide things for us! Is someone gonna ask how we feel?! You senpais are always doing this!

Hokuto: Do you have a problem with it?

Aira: Nothing but problems! I–I’m not ready to go on stage yet...!

Rinne: “Gyahaha. Well, talk it over for a bit. This newbie here’s gonna handle things up here until you’ve got it all figured out.”