<♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪>

(Oh—)

(This is another dream, huh.)

<Let's all give our blessings! The winners of this year's SS, the idol industry's biggest event, are⁠—‌>

<Ra*bits, the unit everyone loves! Cute is justice!‌⁠1 Cute is invincible!>

<......♪>

(Ahaha, so we won SS? There's no way that could've happened, even if the world turned upside down.)

(Or rather, Nii~chan's part of Ra*bits too, so why's he acting like this has nothing to do with him and is just the host? I know I'm dreaming, but even this feels weird.)

<Congrats! I knew you guys could do it! I was sure everything would work out even without my help!>

("Even without my help"...? What? But Nii~chan's already been back for a while now...)

(He thought long and hard about what path he wanted to go down so he could live an honest life.)

(He came back after taking a break from college and putting up with everything.)

<Really, congrats! You guys are my pride and joy⁠♪>

(...Nii~chan.)

(Why are you always acting like you did nothing to contribute? The reason why we're all here in the first place is because of you, Nii~chan.)

(If it was just us, then we'd all just trip while we were taking our first steps and wouldn't be able to keep going forward. We'd just get lost and have no idea where to go.)

(Everything that happened so far was thanks to you, Nii~chan.)

<I love y'all! My precious, beloved Ra*bits!>

(I love you too. We all love you too.)

<......♪>

(...? Huh? Did he just walk right past me?)

(Can't you see me, Nii~chan?)

Nii~chan!

.........

...You.

Why are you here.

Huh? What?

This is all because of you.

......!

Huff... Huff...

(T-Thank God! It was just a dream! I knew it was just a dream!)

(I have no idea what it meant! Nii~chan was pretty distant to me—)

(I've heard that dreams usually have some sort of deep meaning to them, but what kind of fears and desires was that one trying to tell me about?)

Urgh, stop it! Forget about it! A dream is just a dream—it has nothing to do with real life!

Wait, huh?! Where the HELL am I?

Dammit! You did this, huh, Masked Perv! Come out wherever you are!

I am not gonna forgive you this time! It's about time you realize that using people as toys is a crime!

(...I need to calm down! That would've been true if this was last year, but Hibiki-senpai's become a much better person now!)

(He's too busy to pay attention to me anyways, right? So I don't think he's behind this! Probably!)

(I went to bed like normal, but then I woke up in some shady alley! This type of cryptic situation is kinda like something Hibiki-senpai would do, though!)

(Jeez, what the hell is happening? This is way too weird! Just yesterday, all the other ES idols and I were sleeping at the inn!)

(A lot of the idols here in Kanto were pretty demotivated, but we'll at least do our very best!)

(Even if we don't make it to the next round, we'll put in all of our effort to entertain and heal the people who came to see us!)

(That's the promise we all made last night, and we slept together side by side.)

(But how did I end up here? Am I dreaming again...?)

(I heard that things were pretty messed up in other places, but...)

(We're in Kanto, the kind of place where everything is normal. Peaceful, even.)

.........

(C-Calm down, Tomoya! You shouldn't start panicking or thinking about nonsense like this! Just clear your mind and chill out.)

(First, I should, um, call for help—)

(Wait, my phone's gone?! And I fell asleep while I was wearing my yukata... Since when did I change clothes?!)

(Ugh... What the hell is going on... This would be weird even for a hidden camera show. I heard that you still gotta get prior consent from the actors to do something like this!)

(...Oh, I know. This is that "old-fashioned idol common sense" thing. But I don't know how much of that can be applied to modern times.)

...Hm?

(What's that? There's something shimmering on the other side!)

(Is it the moonlight? It's an amazingly beautiful silver color—)

.........

Of course it was the Masked Pervert! I'm an idiot for thinking that your hair was some mystical object!

Oooh, what did you do this time? Is this a prank or something?

It's pretty much guaranteed that fine is gonna pass the qualifiers, so I bet you and the others have tons of free time right now.

But isn't playing around with me just a waste of time⁠—

.........

Um, heeellooo? Can you at least answer back...? You better not jump back up to surprise me.

I'm not dumb enough to fall for your tricks again, y'know?

.........

...Hey. You can really stop playing around now.

.........

.........

...No way.

Don't tell me that you're actually...d-dead...?