Chapter Text
"Shinobu, wake up."
Shinobu rubs her eyes and looks up at the girl shaking her. "Come on, Yuka, it's way too early for this."
"Don't be like that. We all agreed to our final rehearsal early this morning. Because we're on the first slot of the day."
"That's right," Esora chimes in. "The audience can vote for their favourite unit at any time, so going first would maximise our chances of winning."
"Is that necessary, though? We're good enough to swipe all the votes regardless. We don't need to steal an advantage like that."
"Usually, I'd agree, but this time we're going against Call of Artemis," says Kyoko. "I don't want to leave anything up to chance."
Shinobu grumbles, "Well, if Kyoko says so, then I guess it's fine. Getting up this early is still a bother. I'm not built for mornings."
Yuka sighs, "Well, you'll have to get over it just for today. Hurry up and get ready, we have a rehearsal to attend."
"I'm coming, I'm coming."
The four of them get ready and head to the rehearsal room. There, they perform the set they had prepared for the stage in full.
Kyoko exhales in relief once they finish. "I think we did a good job here."
"We did," replies Yuka. "There were no mistakes in that one. In fact, this might turn out to be our best performance yet."
"It may be a bit too soon to say, but there is a good chance we could win with this," says Esora. "That said, Shinobu, are you not going to play keyboard like you did last time?"
"I only did that at the time because I was desperate," says the girl in question. "We levelled up our performance this time, so I don't think that's necessary. It's best if we stay with what we usually do."
"That's fine. Shinobu is a better DJ than I am, anyway," says Kyoko.
As Yuka begins her cool-down stretches, she asks, "So, what are we going to do now? We still have some time left before we go backstage."
"There's no point in burning ourselves out before we go on. Let's just go out to some of the stalls and relax for a bit," Kyoko suggests.
Esora responds with, "Good idea. Being in a good mindset is just as important for performing well as practice is."
"Well, then, let's go," says Shinobu. The group clear out the practice room and walk out.