Link! Like!: Episode 18 ~ Part 4
Before she graduates, the second-year students, Kozue, Tsuzuri, and Megumi, decide to make Sachi, to whom they owe a great deal of gratitude, a song that will “make her cry her eyes out!” (according to Megumi)
Hey, Saya.
Yes?
DOLLCHESTRA is a subunit that gives us a place to convey our feelings on stage, so its name being related to theater is pretty fitting…
Sachi told me that.
…
I agree. DOLLCHESTRA is like a place where I can belong. I think this is exactly where you taught me that.
Where you taught me that there are people that support school idols. In a way, it’s like this is our stage.
I was told that… all I needed to do was just be here.
And the person that told you that was Sachi-senpai, right?
Yeah… And then before I could respond, she was gone.
Sachi was always right, so I just followed what she said… and she said that I should do my best when I had my own junior.
Last year, Sachi taught me about this place, and this year, I think that I can just be me.
She said that if I had a wonderful encounter next year, I might become a school idol… and now, in the very place she said that, I’ve become a school idol.
So to me, this is where I learned about brilliance.
And that brilliance is telling me… to give something back to Sachi.
I agree.
But I feel like I still don’t get it.
Why she said I just needed to be here, and why she told me to be a part of DOLLCHESTRA with her…
I just acted like I understood and accepted everything Sachi gave me, like a baby bird.
It didn’t seem like that to me… So you were looking for somewhere it had just rained at to try to understand?
When it stops raining, I feel like I can just be me. I wanted to feel that today and understand…
Because this time, I want to put it into words.
Ah, good afternoon, everyone. No, we’re not just here to take shelter from the rain…
Yo, everyone. Oh, really? We can stay here until the rain stops?
…We can stay as long as we want? Alright. Thanks.
They really aren’t getting mad at us.
They did say we could stay as long as we wanted, after all.
Yeah. Everyone always says that I can just be there…
Oh, the rain…
Ah… I see…
Senpai?
Saya. I think… I finally get it.
…Whenever the rain stops, and I think that I can just be me… That exact moment isn’t what’s important.
It’s all the connections I’ve built up with everyone… That’s what I feel. The faces of everyone that lets me be myself. The warmth I feel in my chest.
A place like this market, where everyone can be themselves… I get it now. That’s where I belong.
And everyone is all around me. Because I’m a school idol.
…So, have you found the ribbon that ties together all your feelings toward Sachi-senpai?
Yeah. The reason why Sachi said I just needed to be here… and why she chose me to be in DOLLCHESTRA…
All of it was to teach me about school idols. So that one day, I could think of myself as a school idol.
…The ribbon was so simple all along.
“Thank you for teaching me about school idols.”