Elysian's Monogatari

Chapter 123: Hokuto's Pitch

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗬𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗸𝗶 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝘆, 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗔 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲'𝘀 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺

"...." "Good morning Kagehira-sama." Yuzuru greeted. "Eek?! Y-Y-You scared me! Don't sneak up on people like that Yu-kun. It's such a bad habit of yours." Mika said. "Haha. My apologies. Fading into the background is just what a butler does." Yuzuru said. "Well...after two years in the same class I've gotten used to all yer weird habits anyway." Mika said.

"Allow me to say the same about you Kagehira-sama. Though why are you peeking into the classroom from the hallway? Why don't you just go in?" Yuzuru asked. "Uhh-ah...it's just that there seems to be some kinda situation goin' on in there." Mika said.

"A situation you say? What is happening? Personally I'd prefer to avoid any necessary trouble right before graduation-" Yuzuru said. "...." "...." Hokuto is seen glaring at Mao. "Good morning everyone!" Yuzuru said as he enters the classroom. "Y-Yu-kun's so bold! Walkin' into the classroom without a second thought! So cool!" Mika said.

"You're here." Hokuto said. "G-Good morning...Kagehira-kun, Fushimi-kun." Makoto said. "Hai good morning. Uh what exactly is going on here? Why does it look like everyone is glaring at each other like they're about to fight?" Yuzuru asked.

"Haha. It seems like Trickstar is as unpredictable as ever." He then said. "I really don't want people to think weirdness is our trademark but looking at this...I can't even deny it. It's so frustrating." Makoto said. "It's not about all of us this time. It's all Hokuto's fault." Mao said.

"What did Hidaka-sama do?" Yuzuru asked. "I want to ask all of you something. I want to ask everyone graduating from Yumenosaki myself included. Hanagaki that also includes you." Hokuto said. "Do you think it's a good or bad thing that Yumenosaki is closing down?" He then asked.

"Geez I've explained this a hundred times. It's just a name change and Yumenosaki isn't actually closing down." Mao said. "Yeah I suppose that's the kind of thing you have to say 'President of the Student Council'." Hokuto said. "No this has nothing to do with my position it's just a fact." Mao said.

"Sometimes Hokke's like this. Acting like he 'understands everything' when he's actually completely clueless." Subaru said. "Is that all you've got joking around, Akehoshi? I want to hear you opinion too. While I'm the leader of Trickstar it's always been you who sets our direction." Hokuto said.

"....." "Do you object or do you agree?" In other words will you accept Yumenosaki Academy being transformed into this ridiculous ES Academy?" Hokuto asked.  "If you're in favor of ES Academy gather by the windows. If you're against it like me, stand by the door." He then said.

"I won't let anyone take a safe middle ground. We are all students of Yumenosaki. Everyone here is involved. So don't you dare say it doesn't matter to you because you've only been here for a few months Hanagaki." He added. "...."

"Hmm I don't know why you're so worked up. We're about to graduate soon. We won't be part of this for much longer." Mao said with a sigh. "That's exactly why we need to act now. Once we graduate we'll have much less say in what happens to the school. This is our last chance." Hokuto said.

"This is the only time we have to protect the Yumenosaki where we all studied and spent the years of our youth together." He then said. "What's gotten into you Hokke? You're actually unusually serious about this. I didn't know you cared about Yumenosaki this much. Honestly didn't we once do something like 'destroy Yumenosak!' as Trickstar?" Subaru said.

"If Yumenosaki disappears isn't that what we wanted?" He then asked. "That's not the point and you know it. We fought to make Yumenosaki a place we could truly love that's all. To achieve that we worked tirelessly to stand out and led a revolution as Trickstar." Hokuto said.

"I won't let some outsider like ES step in and reshape the foundation of the stage that witnessed our youthful years." He then said. "So it's fine when you make changes but not when someone else does? How selfish~!" Subaru said. "In fact I don't understand why you're smiling so carefreely right now. Have you looked into the ES Academy plan they announced yesterday?" Hokuto asked.

"It's ridiculous. They're trying to turn every idol-training school in the country into clones of ES Academy. It's just a system designed to mass-produce standardized idols for their convenience. A factory churning out generic products. I don't exactly know the details of what happened in your past Hanagaki. But I know Reimei Academy used to be the same. Do you want to suffer the same way you did back then?" Hokuto asked.

"....." Shiro said nothing but his eyebrows furrowed a little, as if feeling a bit insulted by Hokuto's words. "You don't know that for sure do you? ES was criticized in a similar way before but now it's a thriving stage for diverse and unique idols to shine." Subaru said.

"Of course some idols might be more successful than others on how they navigate the system. Like being obedient to ES may give you an edge while idols like us get sidelined because we are harder to manage. But isn't that just how the real world works? Whether it's stepping into society or working for a company it's all the same." He then said.