For Kosaka Honoka and the others, this song was exactly suited to their current situation.
Right now, they were like fledgling birds just born, struggling to spread their wings and soar high into the sky.
It was quite an inspirational song.
It also reminded him of Mio. Come to think of it, Mio had never even been in a relationship, so how had she managed to write such sickeningly sweet lyrics?
"It... it was me!"
Sonoda Umi raised her hand again, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"Sonoda-san?!"
Sato froze, and so did everyone else.
They had not expected that not only had the dance performed by Kosaka Honoka and the others been choreographed by Sonoda Umi, but the lyrics had also been written by her.
Sato quickly came to terms with it.
Now that he knew, everything seemed perfectly reasonable when he thought about it.
After all, judging from her appearance alone, Sonoda Umi seemed like the strong-willed type. It was hardly surprising that she could write a song like this.
What he had not expected was that Sonoda Umi had this kind of talent as well.
Sato could not help teasing her, saying, "Sonoda-san can choreograph dances and write songs too. You really are both cultured and capable."
Sonoda Umi's face flushed slightly, but she said nothing.
After seeing their performances, Sato suddenly became filled with confidence in them. In his eyes, Kosaka Honoka and the others undoubtedly had what it took to become hugely popular idols.
"By the way, what's your group's name?"
At this point, he suddenly thought of a question.
"Muse (μ's)!"
Kosaka Honoka answered immediately, her eyes shining with excitement.
"Muse?"
Sato exchanged glances with the other members of the Light Music Club. Clearly, none of them understood the significance of the group's name at first.
"Mm!"
Minami Kotori nodded beside them, then moved closer to Sato and drew the μ's symbol on the bench.
Nakano Azusa suddenly seemed to remember something and murmured, "Is it that Muse?"
Everyone immediately turned to look at her, startling her.
Ritsu asked in surprise, "Azunyan knows?"
"Mm!"
Nakano Azusa swallowed before carefully explaining, "The nine goddesses from Greek mythology who preside over music. They are collectively known as the Muses!"
"So that's what it means!"
Kosaka Honoka suddenly looked enlightened.
"Wait!"
Sato stared at Kosaka Honoka with a dark expression.
"Don't tell me you didn't even know what this word meant yourself. Then how did you come up with this name?!"
The others also realized what had happened and stared at the three girls in astonishment.
Minami Kotori and Sonoda Umi's faces instantly turned bright red, and they subconsciously looked toward Kosaka Honoka.
"Hehe, about that..."
Kosaka Honoka seemed a little embarrassed as well.
"I asked the other students at school for suggestions, then drew a name from the suggestion box. The moment I saw this name, I felt like it had some kind of special connection with us..."
Sato: "..."
Everyone: "..."
She really seemed to be just as airheaded as Yui.
Could she really do a good job as the leader of the group?
Sato suddenly began to worry.
"But... why did you choose this name?"
Mio suddenly frowned and spoke.
"If she chose this name, that means she must have understood what it meant. But the Muses are a group of nine goddesses, and right now..."
She looked at Kosaka Honoka and the others, her meaning obvious.
But right now, there were only three of you!
In that case, the name did seem somewhat inappropriate.
The three girls immediately realized it too. Kosaka Honoka glanced at her two closest friends and suddenly felt a little disheartened.
It really did not seem very suitable anymore!
Suddenly, her eyes casually swept over the people in front of her, and those azure eyes lit up.
She suddenly pointed at the members of the Light Music Club and began counting them one by one.
"Four, five, six, seven, eight..."
Kosaka Honoka's finger passed over Ritsu, Mio, Yui, Nakano Azusa, and Kotobuki Tsumugi...
Finally, everyone's gaze followed her finger and landed on Sato.
"Nine!"
Her voice became filled with delight.
The numbers matched!
Everyone blinked.
"Wait!"
Sato suddenly looked at Kosaka Honoka with a dark expression and could not help complaining.
"It's one thing to count them, but how does it make sense to count me?!"
"Pfft, hahaha!"
The others suddenly burst out laughing one after another. The girls' clear, ringing laughter was as pleasant as silver bells.
"Sato, you've really been hiding this from us!"
Ritsu patted Sato on the shoulder from behind, then shook her head and said earnestly, "I really didn't know you were like this."
"Get lost!"
Sato glared at her in annoyance.
Kosaka Honoka seemed unwilling to accept that.
"Who says all nine goddesses have to be girls? What if one of them is a man?"
Sato's mouth twitched. He looked at Kosaka Honoka helplessly.
"Then you might as well say there are actually only three goddesses."
"Oh, right!"
Kosaka Honoka's eyes lit up as she looked at Sato in delight.
Sato: "..."
He turned his gaze toward Minami Kotori and Sonoda Umi. When the two girls saw his helpless expression, they gave him restrained smiles, but their eyes had curved into crescent moons.
"Forget it. Who says you have to stay as just three people? Perhaps you'll have even more companions in the future."
Sato sighed.
He turned around and took a video camera out of the bag he had brought with him.
"It's a shame I didn't record your performance just now. Do it again."
"What's this?"
"I'll help you upload the video and build up your popularity. You're going to participate in Love Live, right?"
"Mm!"
The three girls nodded.
Seeing this, Sato continued, "I'm planning to create an uploader account for you on the Gensokyo website. From now on, I'll upload some videos to promote you and build up your popularity. It will be a great help when you compete for the rankings later."
"Ah!"
The girls let out cries of surprise. They had never thought of this before.
Once they understood, they suddenly exchanged glances, then all bowed toward Sato.
"Arigato!"
"Mm..."
Sato's gaze drifted away, and he inexplicably felt a little guilty.
I just want to use you guys to boost the popularity of the website's video section too. It really feels like I've sold someone off, and they're still helping me count the money...