Sato carried the little parasol into the Light Music Club room. The moment he opened the door, the activity room suddenly fell silent.
His footsteps paused involuntarily, and he let out a slight sigh. Even with his eyes closed, he could guess the reason for all this.
The next second…
"Sato, was all that real?"
"Hoh hoh ha hey! Was that kung fu you used?!"
"That spinning kick of yours was so cool!"
After the brief silence, the girls of the Light Music Club along with Yuigahama Yui suddenly crowded around him excitedly, chattering nonstop all at once. The noise gave Sato an instant headache.
Had these people all mastered the Sonic Wave technique or something?
Not far away, Yukinoshita Yukino and Hikigaya Hachiman, who were still seated, kept glancing over at him as well.
"It was a movie! It was all just filming for a movie!"
After everyone calmed down a little, Sato raised his voice to explain.
"A movie?"
The girls blinked. Ritsu slapped Sato on the shoulder with an exaggerated look of shock.
"That's way too huge of a career jump! Since when did you suddenly start filming movies?!"
"Could it be… a talent scout?!"
Yuigahama Yui's eyes suddenly lit up as she turned toward Sato.
"Did a talent scout discover you?"
Huh?
Everyone really was pretty sharp!
Sato sighed inwardly in relief. Everyone's ability to fill in the blanks was truly impressive.
"Yeah, exactly. A talent scout found me."
Sato nodded and accepted the explanation.
Look at that, everyone had already completed the entire storyline for him on their own!
"Sugoi!"
"That sounds amazing!"
"Tch! Nohara, your luck is way too good! Why hasn't a talent scout discovered me instead?!"
Ritsu sighed gloomily, clearly feeling that the scouts must have something wrong with their eyesight.
"Yeah, yeah!"
Yui nodded in agreement.
"..."
The room suddenly fell silent again.
"Eh?! What's wrong, everyone?"
Noticing the abrupt silence and all the eyes staring at her, Yui jumped in fright. Shrinking her neck like an ostrich, she cautiously asked:
"What's wrong?"
"Yui, do you want to debut too?"
"That's impossible, right? Yui's way too airheaded, she'd definitely get tricked by people."
"But Hirasawa-san is very soft and fluffy. Maybe she could work as decoration… like a mascot?"
Everyone discussed enthusiastically among themselves. No matter how they looked at it, Yui and becoming an idol simply did not match.
"Waaah… you guys are so mean!"
Yui pretended to sob as she buried her face into Kotobuki Tsumugi's ample chest.
"Then Sato, when is your movie coming out?"
"Uh… about that. Yesterday was only the audition. Filming hasn't even started yet, and honestly, I don't really want to continue with it."
"Nani?!"
Ritsu looked shocked.
"Why?"
"Because I don't really like the feeling of being the center of attention. Having every move watched by other people feels really uncomfortable."
Not far away, Yukinoshita Yukino nodded as though she completely agreed.
Sato walked over to the table in the Light Music Club room and curiously looked at the pile of magazines spread across it.
He casually picked one up and glanced at it.
This was… a travel magazine?
"What are you all planning?"
"Autumn break! Autumn break!"
Ritsu reminded him excitedly.
Oh!
Sato nodded in realization.
Right, autumn break started next week!
Whether a Japanese school used a three-semester system or a two-semester system, they all had four relatively long vacations: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Autumn break took place in October and usually lasted four or five days.
Actually, when you thought about it, the country across the sea technically had autumn break too. After all, there was that seven-day Golden Week at the beginning of October. If you traced back further, there had even been something like a spring break. Many people had probably forgotten that Labor Day used to be a full seven-day holiday.
"So you all are planning to travel nearby?"
"Not 'you all,' it's 'we!' We!!"
Ritsu pointed solemnly at Sato and then at the girls of the Light Music Club, emphasizing every word.
"This is a club activity!"
She quickly added that afterward.
Sato did not object.
Next Thursday he was going to attend Kanna's sports festival, and autumn break only started on Friday. He did not have any particular plans for the break anyway, so going out with everyone from the club sounded perfectly fine.
"So have you all decided where to go?"
Sato looked at the magazines spread across the table. Many places had already been circled in red marker.
"Yep, what do you think about this one?"
Ritsu smiled brightly as she held up a magazine in front of him.
"A hot spring inn?"
"Exactly. What do you think?"
"Where is it?"
"It's in the mountains within Chiba Prefecture, about one or two hours from Chiba City by car. There just happens to be a three-days-two-nights group discount recently, and the inn even provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner!"
"That actually sounds pretty good."
Sato rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Hot springs were extremely common in Japan after all. The country sat right on a seismic belt, and even around Asahigaoka there were several wild hot springs.
They just had not been properly developed because the area was too remote.
"See? I told you this was a great choice!"
Hearing Sato's approval, Ritsu immediately broke into a huge grin.
Mio looked at her helplessly.
"No one said your choice was bad, Ritsu."
"Hehe!"
Ritsu laughed smugly, then looked toward Yukinoshita Yukino in the distance.
"Yukinoshita-san, have you thought about it yet?"
Hm?
"What does this have to do with Yukinoshita?"
Sato could not help asking.
"Well, as comrades who share the same clubroom, of course we should all go together!"
"Yukinoshita-san, come with us!"
Ritsu ran over and clung to Yukinoshita Yukino.
Yuigahama Yui and Yui quickly followed, surrounding her from all sides.
"Come on, Yukinon! I really want to go!"
"Yukinoshita-san, come with us!"
Yukinoshita Yukino pressed a hand against her fair forehead with a headache. As someone who liked peace and quiet, she felt as if ten thousand bees were buzzing inside her head.
Under the relentless verbal assault from everyone, she could only nod helplessly in the end. As everyone knew, Yukinoshita Yukino could not handle soft approaches.
"Yay!"
"Woohoo!"
Seeing Yukinoshita Yukino agree, all the girls cheered happily.