Melée 10

At the same time. In a training room reserved for idols at the ES Dome

Tsukasa: That is enough!

You are disturbing our practice, Trickstar!

Subaru: Don’t say that! Let’s practice together, Kassie~ ♪

Tsukasa: I’ve asked you not to call me such a strange name! If you want to practice so badly, why not do it outside? Must you insist on joining us?!

I don’t mean to be impolite to my senpais, but you are in our way!

Subaru: Hmm? You haven’t changed a bit, have you Kassie?

Tsukasa: I don’t know anyone who goes by a name like that! If you have something to ask of us, you ought to show some courtesy first!

Subaru: Courtesy? Ohh, you mean money! How greedy of you! But we’re pretty much always broke, so we’ll have to pay with our bodies! C’mon, Ukki~! Sally~!

Mao: Don’t tell us to do that.

Makoto: Stop treating us like your Pokémon, Akehoshi-kun.

But well, at least you’re finally getting back to your normal self. It’s kind of a relief.

Mao: I feel like it’s more of a show. Still better than last year, though.

Subaru: Yup! Nothing is for sure yet, so there’s no point getting all worked up and making trouble for everyone, like an idiot.

Why would I think about things that haven’t become a reality yet?

I only think about shining, sparkly things like dreams and love and hope and truth!

Makoto: Fufu, typical Akehoshi-kun.

Mao: You’re not making trouble for us anyway. We’ll worry about things together and hurt together, and then we’ll overcome them together too—Subaru ♪

Ritsu: Maa-kun, can you stop flirting with people other than me in the room we rented out...?

Izumi: Exactly, it’s stressful! If it was just Yuu-kun here, I’d think he was just nervous before the show and came to be spoiled by his Onii-chan ♪

But what’s up with you other two? Are you trying to stress us out since we’re on opposing teams?

Do you want to throw us off our game or something? Look at the former champions, acting so sneaky!

Makoto: Ahaha. Knights wouldn’t get shaken up from something like this, not after all this time.

Arashi: Same goes for you. We’ve faced each other plenty of times before, and we always come out stronger.

Mao: ...It was easy for us with our seed rights, but I heard you guys had a rough time.

Arashi: I know, right? Those irritating little bees beat us black and blue.

We pulled through by the skin of our teeth in that Sudden Death extra round, but it still feels like we were bled out completely for our pride.

Times have changed, and the battlegrounds are different now. We can’t fight the same way we always have and still expect to win. We had to confront that in the Qualifiers.

Tsukasa: Indeed. They identified us as strong opponents and studied our every move, and then they plotted specifically to overthrow us.

From now on, we must be more aware of our position and find a new strategy for our survival.

I pray these are bitter pills we never need to swallow again.

Makoto: We feel the same way. When we saw everyone else’s reactions in Hokkaido... well, we’re no longer the same unit that we were before.

Tsukasa: I agree. Perhaps we both should have realized that sooner. One must know their enemy as well as themself to fight their battles without danger.

Makoto: Ahaha. As strong as Knights is, if you’re not letting your guard down anymore, no other units will stand a chance.

Tsukasa: The feeling is mutual in this regard, as well.

You all are a natural disaster which can destroy and swallow up the whole world.

Were you to make a calm, strategic attack, you would be an indefensible threat.

Makoto: A natural disaster with a will of its own, huh? Yeah, that’s pretty scary.

Tsukasa: You speak as if you’re uninvolved in it.

Well, we both believe the other a threat to us... I suppose that makes us equals in rivalry, Trickstar.

Makoto: It means a lot that you think so, Knights.

Subaru: Yuppers! Going at it with people on your level improves your skills, like in a shounen manga!

Which goes back to the main point: let’s go head to head to get ready for the Finals! We’ll give it all we’ve got and get stronger! Together!

Tsukasa: In that case, we must politely decline. We have no desire to be unnecessarily fatigued before the competition begins.

If we fight you now, lacking your leader Hidaka-senpai, it will seem we are bullying the impuissant.

Arashi: Ufufu. Trickstar is unmatched when you’re all together, but without Anzu-chan and Hokuto-chan, you’re basically at half strength ♪

Tsukasa: Speaking of, Onee-sa—the Producer isn’t here, is she? I thought she would certainly be working with you.

Subaru: Yeah, she came by once during the rest period so we’d know she’s okay at least... but since then, she’s been busy with work for the P-Association.

Tsukasa: Ah, she did visit us, as well. She must have gone to see all of the units, then.

Arashi: To give all of us proposals for what we should do with our units, I guess.

A girl in her position would have been able to give us all orders; I guess there’s some good and some bad that she wasn’t involved in that.

Mao: She knew giving us orders would only make us fight back, is how I understand it. When you think about it that way, the orders and secret orders were pretty counterproductive.

She wouldn’t want to risk us acting out like that.

Makoto: That makes sense for the most part, but I’m not sure about the secret orders... Even at Yumenosaki, no one pulled anything that malicious out.

No, actually, it reminds me of the War, even if we weren’t at the center of it. It got really nasty there at the end.

Arashi: Yeah, I feel like the real evil of it really popped out in the final days. For Leo-kun, though, I think it was pretty much the worst from start to finish, right?

Leo: ......

Subaru: ? What’s up with Tsukinaga-senpai...? It’s kinda freaky that he’s been so quiet and cooped up in the corner like that this whole time.

Izumi: Isn’t it just jet lag? He raked in good results back in Europe, so I guess he’s been insanely busy. ^[1]

Ritsu: He’s a hot commodity all over the world apparently, so he only got here today. Biiig difference from Secchan, who’s just a sitting duck at this point.

Izumi: Excuse you? Does it not matter to you that I’m here? And who the hell do you think you are, making fun of me when you’re the one who ruined Knights’s reputation?!

Ritsu: My bad.

Leo: Don’t blame Rittsu... It’s all our faults~ Well, it’s everyone’s fault but Sena’s~...

Izumi: Exactly! Everyone’s fault but mine!

Tsukasa: Leo-san, if you keep spoiling Sena-senpai, you’re going to make him even more arrogant!

Leo: But I already decided I’m never going to blame Sena ever again.