Orihime and Hikoboshi – Cloudy Sky
Chapter Index
Ch 1 - Ch 2 - Ch 3 - Ch 4 - Translation Notes
Chapter 1
Location: Gym
Next day — After class, during Basketball Club activities…
Defense, defense~☆
Come at me, Akehoshi! Show me that you can overcome the high wall known as I! You can do it, you can! Because it’s you!
Burn the flames of your soul red! Make a large river with the sweat of your youth! Become the Basketball Club’s star that will shine throughout the entire universe, Akehoshiiii~!!! ☆
Hey, hey Sally~ If you don’t plan on drinking that, then give it to me! I'm feeling really thirsty from the heat! ♪
Okay sure, but. Could you pay attention to our captain?
I am, though~! I’m distracting him, and then while I hide the ball behind me… I shoot a goal from the back! ♪
How naïve of you, Akehoshi! I see you tried to play your trump card, but you can’t get past me like that!
It was still a very nice idea! I really thought you were ignoring me for a second there…!
Woah, nice defense! You're not that tall, Buchou1, but you make up for it by being really good at jumping.
Heheh~♪ Overcoming your weaknesses is what it means to be a hero~☆
Tch, so it didn't work. And here I thought you had finally let your guard down now that we're almost done practicing.
Fuhaha! I'm always at a climax from start to end!2 I'll always be charging to the very last moment!
You won't get me with surprise attacks! I'm always taking a close look at how your muscles are moving!
I don't have to hug you to feel your breathing or your pulse! After all, you and I are unified as one~! ☆
Uh, that’s gross… Mmm~ I mean, I can't hide how my muscles move…
Guess I still can't score a goal on you, huh?
Of course not! I plan to be you guys' unsurpassable wall for the rest of my life!
But I want you to keep trying harder and harder! And then, you’ll be able to fly higher than you could today! ☆
Ahaha, whenever you're playing, you just get more and more hyper, Buchou…
You don’t get tired at all, huh? I'm honestly envious, the heat’s already getting to me.
There’s no way I could handle Student Council work, unit activities, and club activities without exhaustion.
Ah, man~ It’s just nuts for me lately.
Like, I even helped Anzu with the plans for Tanabata Festival 'til it was perfected.
It was really tough… I’m glad it was approved in the end.
Same here… I’m exhausted… I’m so tired of summer… I just wanna stay inside my room with the AC on all day…
What's up, Takamine, what's wrong!? Why are you slouching in the corner there!? Did something sad happen to you? Alright, don't worry, I’ll share my energy with you! ☆
Ack— You’re hot! It's not suffocating — it's literally like you're a burning hot pan…! Are you okay, Morisawa-senpai…? Do you have a fever…?
Ahh… You have been acting and talking weirder than usual today.
Are you forcing yourself to look okay when you're actually not? 'Cause it’s kinda failing.
W-What are you on about…? I'm just fine! I’ll never let myself fall! Not until I bring back peace into our world!
There's nothing to bring back, though… It's been generally peaceful…
The school felt dark and depressing back in spring, and I was stressed over how I might’ve messed up and joined the wrong school…
But lately, it’s been calm and quiet… So I’ve been pretty happy…♪
Fuhaha! I see, I see! You too are a hero who loves peace! ☆
I feel the same way Takaminee~! We’re the same! We're two hearts beating as one! Let's keep working hard together! ☆
Ahh you're hot, you're insanely hot! Are you some heat power generator…!?
…Are you really okay, Chi~chan-senpai?
Mm… Akehoshi, Isara, do you have time after this? I have something I need to ask of you.
Huh!? Where did this come from!? Please spare me from dealing with any problems…
Ah, no. It's just something I don’t want Takamine to hear, so we'll talk about it in a café.
Wha…? What does that mean? Why am I being left out…?
Hey guys, look over here~! There’s bullying happening in the Basketball Club!
D-Don't say it like that, it makes me seem bad! I just want to talk about something only adults should know! It isn’t for kids to hear!
Mm… Sounds even more suspicious now… But whatever… I don't really wanna be involved in any problems anyway…
Chapter 2
Location: Café
A few hours later…
…So, what did you want to talk about?
Before that, you guys should order something! This café has authentic burgers and French fries!
It’s my favorite place to eat at right now!
You like junk food like those, don't you… You’ll get pimples if you keep eating greasy food, y’know?
Fuhaha! That's completely okay! It's perfect for high schoolers! Pimples are the badges of youth! ☆
Yeah, but we're idols too, so I dunno about that~ Anyway, I wanna eat dinner at home with my mom, so I’ll just order a drink.
Right, then I’ll get a dessert. It’s pretty hot, so ice-cream sounds good right now.
Okay, have you decided on what you want? I’ll call over a waiter! Excuse meee!! ☆
You're always so, so energetic… Seriously, what did you wanna talk about?
Well, see… There’s something I really have to talk to you about—
Oh wait, the waiter’s here. Let's quickly order first.
This is all over the place… Meh, guess that’s just like you, though.
Ahaha, yeah, and meanwhile people like Isara are really good at efficiently getting things done! It’s impressive! I should learn from him…! Life is all about learning! ☆
Alright, now that we're done with our orders, it’s time to talk about this.
I want you, Trickstar, to take care of my juniors in Ryuseitai for a bit.
Hweh? What do you mean?
Mm… You might've noticed by now, but my body hasn't been in good shape for a while… I’m going for a checkup at the doctor’s this weekend.
C-Checkup? You okay? Actually, wasn’t your health in a wreck around this time last year too…?
Yeah, so I'm having one as a precaution. Depending on the results, I may have to take a break and rest at home.
But I can't let my comrades rest during that time, too.
It's a really crucial time for us right now — I can't make everyone stop in their tracks all because of me.
Ryuseitai has been slowly matching pace with one another, and we've been performing well in DreamFes.
I believe that we'll keep going higher and higher, so I couldn’t possibly let them fall back down now.
Other units have been getting more active too, so any careless step could put us behind.
Ahh, we're going through the same thing… If we stop even for a moment, we'll be buried.
Yeah. It's great that everyone’s getting more and more motivated, though. It's all thanks to the your accomplishments, Trickstar, so be proud of it.
Still, that doesn't mean you'll always be treated special.
If you guys don't keep producing results, someone will eventually replace you. Everyone wants to be the protagonists, after all.
Also, while you have a strong unity since you’re in the same year…
You aren't used to dealing with seniors and juniors for that same reason.
It’s fine for it to be like that right now, but if you plan to get into the entertainment business, then you’ll be meeting all sorts of people.
It's good to learn the tricks to success while you still can.
Well… Isara can do anything and deal with matters pretty well no matter what, but I'm worried about you, Akehoshi.
I love you, so I don't really mind how you treat me, but if you treated other seniors that way, you'd get kicked out.
Mm~… That’s true. We may each have seniors and juniors we talk to, but we don’t really interact with anyone as Trickstar.
We aren't used to the idea of working in a senior-junior hierarchy relationship for a job.
Yep, that's why I want you to try it out by taking care of my unit's first years. Try to lead and guide them, and take care of them properly.
I'm sure this will come in handy for your future. My juniors are earnest, good kids — I’m certain they'll be easy to handle even if you're new to this.
They're following after someone like me, after all.
Of course, if the checkup shows no problems whatsoever, I'll take care of them myself, like I always have.
But just in case something does show up, I want to entrust them to you guys.
For now, I want you to guide them in practice sessions for the upcoming S1 — the Tanabata Festival. I’ll tell them about this myself.
It isn’t like I’m going to die, so if you need anything, feel free to contact me anytime.
I'll also take care of any expenses you need once I'm back in shape.
Hm… That's actually a big help. Since we haven’t been able to do much lately, we’re getting low on funds, so it’s honestly a godsend.
(If this was a request from the Student Council Prez, I would assume there was something bigger behind it all… But this is Buchou we're talking about, so I doubt he has an ulterior motive.)
(In fact, this is really good for us — we won't lose out on anything.)
Hm, I don't really have any problems with this, but could I tell you how we feel about it once we've talked to Hokuto and Makoto?
Subaru and I can't just decide what to do next on our own, after all.
Yeah, of course. I’ll wait to hear back from you guys, Isara.
…Huh? Wait, isn’t there another third year in Ryuseitai?
Shinkai-senpai, is it…? Couldn't you ask him to guide the first years?
Ohh yeah, true. You don't need us for this, do you…?
Mmm… Kanata doesn’t seem used to dealing with the first years either, and he's busy during summer — circumstances with his home, you see…
So I'm not sure if he could do it.
But yeah… I'll tell Kanata about it. If he joins in with your activities, I want you guys to lead them together with him.
The thing is, he can be harder to deal with than the first years if you mess up… But I guess you’d get to practice dealing with a troublesome senior too…?
Either way, I want you guys to grow further while connecting and bonding more with everyone, including your seniors and juniors.
If you don't do that, you won't be able to overcome your next hurdle — the SS.
I'm always cheering you on, so do your very best. Don't worry — I'm certain you guys can do it.
Chapter 3
Location: Classroom 2-A
A few days later, early in the week…
Hellooo, Chi~chan-senpai~? Iiit's Subaru! ☆
How’d your checkup go?
Mhm… Ooh, good, that's good. I didn't hear from you, so I got worried. So they didn't find anything serious?
Ah, but you've exhausted your body, and it's weakening your immune system? You'd easily get a cold like this…?
So just in case, you need to rest for a whole week or so…?
Okay, got it! Take care, okay~?
Mhmm. Just as we’ve discussed before, we're gonna take care of the first years.
Yep, Hokke~ and Ukki~ both said they were fine with it. …Right?
Yeah. It's true that we need to learn how to treat our seniors and juniors.
There's no loss in doing this, so there's no reason to refuse.
Yep~ We're kinda at a low point right now, so we need to pump ourselves up, and work hard for Tanabata Festival.
If we’re going to work side-by-side with Ryuseitai, it'll be very reassuring.
I'm kind of worried we won't be able to communicate very well with them, but…
Anzu-chan’s on good terms with them, so maybe she could be our middleman?
If this was Knights, I might've hesitated, but this is Ryuseitai we're talking about — I’m sure they're good boys like Shinobu-kun. I think we’ll be fine.
You heard 'em! We're all pumped for this, so don't worry, Chi~chan-senpai~♪
Mhm, mhm, so you’ll rest as much as you can, and come back as soon as possible?
No one wants to catch a cold, so make sure it's only after you're back in perfect shape, okay?
Oh— Right, right. We kept on trying to find Shinkai-senpai, but we never managed to spot him.
We can’t contact him, either — not even Anzu knows his phone number.
How’s he like? Would he join in on practice?
Huh—? Chi~chan-senpai, you're in Shinkai-senpai's home? Why? Is that why I couldn't reach you by phone for a while?
W-What's going on…? You're not involved in something bad, right…?
Huh? C-Chi~chan-senpai? Hello? Talk to me!
Uhh~? What just happened? The call was cut off all of a sudden!
…Mmm, he won't pick up no matter how many times I call. I have a bad feeling about this… I'll try calling him again later.
I-Is everything alright? It sounded a little shady.
I dunno… Chi~chan-senpai sounded more energetic than I thought he’d be, so I’m relieved about that.
But I feel like he got himself involved with something weird again…?
I’ll call the police if something bad ends up happening, but I doubt it'll be that bad…
Well, I’ll try to call him again when I can, and check to see what’s going on.
Anyway, we've been entrusted with the first years, so let’s make sure to look after them.
Fuhaha~! We'll show ‘em our senior power!
…Yeah, that's top priority right now.
We're meeting them at the practice room Morisawa-senpai booked, right?
We'll introduce ourselves to them, and start making plans on what to do.
First impressions are crucial; show yourself properly to them so they'll take you seriously. Especially you two, idiot duo — don't mess around.
Uuu… I'm starting to feel nervous. But it's not like we don't really know the Ryuseitai kids, I guess.
We've talked to them personally before, and we were both in the same big job.
But I just feel like we’re still not used to working with another unit.
Will we really be able to properly act like seniors…?
No problem-o! We'll manage it somehow, yes we will! Nothing to lose here, so we may as well bump heads with them and break apart!3 ☆
What'd we get out of doing that… They're still first years, so let's treat them kindly and carefully, like gentlemen.
I'll be in my prince mode for today, and treat you all like princesses.
Heheh, so it's not just me, but you guys, too… We're all hyper about this. Ahh~ It’s weird to see us like this~♪
We can't let ourselves go through first-time experiences in our all-time important event — the SS. We need to get used to all sorts of things while we still can.
That's right, everything can be an experience. I plan to do everything as properly as I can, but we're dealing with people… I'm sure it won't go as well as a script would.
Anyway, we shouldn't be chatting here. We need to hurry and get to the practice room. We'll lose face if we, the seniors, are late on the very first day.
We'll go fetch Isara from Class 2-B, and head over there together.
Ah, Sally~ said he might not be able to join today.
The Tanabata Festival preparations are insanely rough, so he's going around dealing with it.
Ahaha, that's just like him, but… among us, he’s the best at dealing with people, so it sucks that he can’t be around right now… I’m kind of worried.
Akehoshi-kun, Hidaka-kun, please don't do anything rash… and don't pick fights with them, okay? I can't stop you on my own.
I won't be doing that.
Yeah! What do you think we are, Ukki~?
I think you're meteorites who walk and talk at the same time…… I'm seriously worried about this, so let’s make sure they don’t steer off in a bad direction, okay, Anzu-chan?
Chapter 4
Location: Running Grounds
A few hours later…
Alrighty, we finally finished carrying over the equipment.
Good work, everyone. I brought over juice for us, so we’ll have some while we take a break.
Yep yep, I put it in the cooler box beforehand~♪
This is from the Student Council Prez, so you gotta say your thanks to him later.
He comes from a wealthy, prestigious family, so apparently he gets this sort of prototype stuff.
Yeah, it’s probably bribery. This school used to have connections to certain manufacturing companies, but it seems like he’s severed a lot of those business contracts.
Now it’s like all the companies are trying to appease him out of fear, but thing is, I doubt bribing will save them.
Once the Prez’s decided to do something, he’ll do it.
But hey, there’s nothing wrong with the drinks, so let’s be thankful we have them right now. It’ll help us avoid getting heatstroke, too~ We can’t have ourselves collapsing from preparation work.
Let’s keep at this — it may be rough work, but it’s all so that we can shine onstage in Tanabata Festival.
Ahaha, yeah! Hip-hip-hooray~! ♪
(Whew… I'm so glad to see that the Student Council members are listening to what I say.)
(I’m a member of Trickstar, after all… We’re the ones who broke the Student Council’s influence.)
(I wouldn’t blame them if they left me out of the group for being an “enemy.”)
(But instead, the Vice-Prez was considerate and understanding of my position — he even vouches for me.)
(So they still accept me as another member, and I somehow got to stay in the Student Council.)
(To be honest, I would just get to focus more on my idol work if they did kick me out, so that wouldn’t have been a problem either.)
(But the Prez and Vice-Prez are working as hard as they can, which is helping the Student Council gain back its power.)
(So, considering what could come next, I should keep at it with this “Student Council Member” title, anyway.)
(It’ll come in real handy when something like the revolution from spring happens again.)
(I don’t dislike Student Council work, anyway~ Even though it’s basically stuff no one would wanna do.)
(But I like stuff like that, soo~♪)
Isara-donoo~!!!
Aahh!? W-What's wrong, Sengoku? Do you need something?
Sorry, I couldn't show up to practice in the end… Preparations for the event are taking much more time than I thought they would.
I don't think I’ll be able to join you guys for a while, so you’ll have to do without me.
I-It is not possible without you…!
The practice session’s starting to look super bad! I apologize for interrupting your work, but please come with me!
W-woah, don't pull me over! Tell me what's happening first!
Uuu…!!! I am a ninja who is bad at explanations…!
“One eyewitness is better than many hearsays,” so! I beg thee, lend your ear to my plea! Come see for yourself, please!
I-I get it already, so calm down! Don’t drag me over! You’ll dislocate my arm!
Y-You guys! I’m not sure what’s happening over there, but it seems urgent, so I’m gonna have to leave for a bit!
Once you’re done resting, please keep working on the preparations like we discussed before!
Sorry! I'll make it up to you guys later, so I’m counting on you now!
Location: Dance Room
Uh, I'm coming in…?
What's going on, you guys? I was pulled over here by Sengoku all of a sudden… Could someone tell me what’s happening?
…………
Woah! W-What's wrong, Takamine? Why're you hunched over in the corner there…?
(mutter) Why me… Why’d he have to go and tell me that… So annoying… This is why I didn't want this… (mutter, mutter)
(H-He's mumbling something! It's freaking me out!)
S-Seriously, what's wrong, Takamine~? You're much gloomier than usual!
Anzu told me on the phone but~ I’m guessing it's 'cause Buchou can’t be around for practice, yeah…?
You're feeling lonely, right? Ahaha, you really do love Buchou~♪ You can't relax if he isn't hugging you every day, huh~?
…………
(……!? He ignored me!? I was trying to crack jokes with him to lighten the mood, but it failed~!)
(Really, though… I need to figure out what's going on. Why's it so gloomy in here?)
(This is Trickstar and Ryuseitai we’re talking about — They’re both cheerful units!)
(Just what on earth happened here while I was gone…?)
Translation Notes
- ↑ Buchou is a title that refers to the club captain.
- ↑ “I’m at a climax from start to end” is a reference to Kamen Rider Den-o.
- ↑ In Japanese, atatte kudakeyou is a phrase meaning “We have nothing to lose, so we may as well try”, but I kept the phrase literal because Hokuto responds back to it literally.