Chapter 957: with translation of chapter title

No. 80: again? meet

Yuta said on the phone that he's finished over there and will be coming soon.

Is it okay? Won't he be overdoing it? I heard their class is also doing a rather troublesome activity.

Second-year F class, the corner upstairs near the rooftop.

On a pad covered with cardboard to keep things and clothes clean, Rikka Takarada and her 'Rikka Corps' were working alongside Utsumi, each putting effort into their respective fields.

Like Rikka revising the script, Utsumi fiddling with cardboard props, while Ren and Namiko gave opinions from the side—each doing their own job.

But there were only a few of them.

Although this is an activity for the entire F class, these few people truly understand the truth of preparing large-scale events—just like group work, the more members, the slower the progress.

The most efficient preparation method is not only to divide tasks, but also to keep the number of people small.

The number of performers can be large, but script and prop production require hard work to achieve efficiency and quality; most importantly, one must oversee it oneself.

So far, the story is tentatively titled 'The Tale of Arlit,' and naturally it should be handled by those who have experienced it.

Besides that, helpers must also be the type who can take responsibility seriously even without firsthand experience—naturally, the two members of the Rikka Corps.

However, besides that, the creative team also has Yuta Hibiki as an unnamed behind-the-scenes hero.

Even after reuniting with Arlit, he became far more enthusiastic about this class activity than his own.

Enthusiastic to the point that even the Rikka Corps worry.

"I guess… not…" Rikka, head down flipping through her script, hesitated a moment, then refocused on the script structure.

This also made the three people present exchange glances, then look at each other.

"She wouldn't still not have realized, would she?"

"Impossible, it's so obvious..."

"She probably realized, but..."

Conveying information through glances is a method with an extremely high threshold and error rate, but fortunately nobody was really preparing to act, so even if there were misunderstandings it didn't matter.

After a silence, it was Utsumi who finally broke the ice.

"Only a few days of peace, huh," he sighed, "but even calling it peace feels busy."

"We have finals coming up, and we still have to organize this event… and then there's the world collapsing, Arlit devouring the universe…" Rikka sighed, not hiding it from the two beside her.

They both didn't understand, just exchanging glances and tilting their heads.

"Devouring the universe..." Thinking about what Aomo said, Utsumi felt a bit uneasy, "By the way, don't you think Aomo is a bit fickle?"

"Fickle? No way."

"You mean that foreign handsome guy?" By this point Namiko understood, since although Aomo uses magic to hide himself when needed, he still comes openly during periods when outsiders are allowed, "What's wrong with him?"

"He was the one who said Yuta needed to find Arlit, then later said Yuta should merge with the universe, and at that time he hadn't mentioned Arlit embodying the universe; now that he has… he no longer mentions Yuta merging with the universe."

Utsumi's complaint made everyone feel like it was some tokusatsu setting, while Rikka, one of the concerned parties, merely took notes on the paper.

"He probably has his own considerations..."

She said, turning another page: "And isn't it fine not to bring it up?"

"That's how it is," Utsumi said, putting down the cardboard and crossing his arms, "but it's not just now; the future is also worrying, right..."

As soon as he finished speaking, several people looked up together at the gap in the railing-surrounded stairs, having heard the hurried sound of running upstairs.

"Everyone, everyone! I'm here!"

That flash of red hair, and those clear, glass-bead-like blue eyes, obviously belong to the core existence of the Arlit Alliance.

The boy named Yuta Hibiki has always had astonishing initiative.

Whenever he sees him like that, Utsumi can't help but sigh: "Catch your breath, you didn't run all the way here, did you?"

"Indeed, I watched him run all the way from far away."

Again came the obvious footsteps, along with the loud voice from below, and several people looked down from the railing, seeing two smiling men and women, as well as two 'brothers' with somewhat awkward expressions also coming up.

"How did you guys come too?"

"Either accept the challenge of a hot-tempered subordinate, or go see the alliance members' cold faces, or be dragged by an enthusiastic food critic to hit the pavement, or else stay in the junk shop to deal with the researchers' jargon-filled thoughts."

After listing those examples, Aomo pressed his fingertips together in front of his chest: "I still prefer coming here to feel some nostalgic scenery."

"Didn't you say last time you were just a normal sophomore?" Utsumi interjected, "How come you're talking like it's ages ago?"

"As long as every moment is full of ups and downs, even just three days can feel like an eternity, Utsumi-kun~"

After Aomo finished speaking, he also greeted Ren Nomura and Namiko, then turned to Yuta and Rikka: "Is there anything you need help with?"

That made Rikka somewhat delighted: "You want to help? Actually we haven't decided on Arlit's design yet."

"Haven't we already seen Arlit?"

Amon stepped forward to the spot where Utsumi had been standing, where a sticky note lay, roughly sketching a human outline.

"We can't even make a suit, we can only do cardboard, we can't make the real Arlit." Utsumi sounded helpless, having experienced the classic conflict between tokusatsu suit design and the illustrator.

"I suggest you call Chise," Aomo proposed, "She can help a lot with both character design and cardboard design, and she should be tired from wandering with Huangyi Yanlong this morning."

"Really tiring?" Ma Zhongpeng found it hard to believe, "After seeing Huangyi Yanlong again, she often just zones out all day."

"That's because she has nothing else to do, so don't keep pushing her aside," Aomo said helplessly, "Contact her, but before that, cardboard prop design… I actually have some experience with cosplay prop making, so I can take a look first."

"Really? That's a huge help!" Understanding naturally the importance of big shots in a project, Rikka finally put down her script, but when mentioning the big shot she couldn't help thinking of another person.

"But it would be even better if Akane were here too."

"Is an actual model reference what you mean?" Aomo understood quickly, "That might not help much."

"We're short-staffed, but something is better than nothing." Namiko, whose exact identity is unclear but can still converse, showed considerable understanding.

"Yeah, the performance group has also practiced pretty much," Ren nodded, "We should prepare higher-quality props for the final rehearsal."

"If that's the case, let me help, Rikka."

"Wuwah… who is it…"

Where did it appear from?

New……

……

Some were puzzled, some were shocked, some were silent, and some were speechless.

The speechless black-haired girl looked at the pink-haired girl before her, feeling both dreamlike and illusory, and also a mixture of emotions.

……Akane?

It's me, Liu Hua.

Just like a reenactment of the farewell from days past, but at that moment their expressions had already swapped, Shinjo Akane suddenly appeared on the next tier, waving at Liu Hua and also at everyone.

It's really been a long time, everyone.