Thread by @royalquintet

time to read the fourth main story arc which is literally titled uhhh "great war" WOOHOO

wow starts off with something they call "the summit" which is the gathering of important people in ES. so is my boy HERE?

ah there yuzuru is preparing tea for the big guys, which includes tsumugi

yuzuru: (it's quite useful being in charge of refreshments. I could easily slip in poison. I won't do it because it would be obvious it's me, but I enjoy the feeling of superiority)
tsumugi: a-are you thinking about something scary

(x-files theme intensifies)

this takes place after they talk about how bon festival went. most of the idols switch invited left ES for good but alkaloid stayed n yuzuru is expressing his worry for them... since it seems like eichi-sama has some plans for them

tsumugi: no matter what kind of terrible person he becomes, please don't hate him
yuzuru: love or hate are not relevant to me, for I am a butler
tsumugi: I think it's probably easy for eichi-kun to relax around you, then

ahhh...

omg tsukasa is newD's rep at the summit by tsumugi still comes to every summit because he is worried about tsukasa.... aoba-senpai........

yuzuru: ahh, he's grown so much since i first met him that i can barely recognize him
tsumugi: well he's really grown up, but don't you think he's kind of intense? if i leave him alone, he starts picking fights with the other agencies... that's why i'm worried

FJFJDJSKFKJFDFD

yuzuru: ahh, the suou family are a warrior family... perhaps he was born with such a hot-headed temperament. well, though, "that part" was supposed to be left for the branch families

wait... wh

THERE HE IS!!!!!!!! THERE HE IS!!!!!!!!

tsukasa: what ills are you speaking about me here
tsumugi: w-wait it wasn't anything bad, but i guess that would depend huh!!! i'm sorry, i won't do it again!!!
tsukasa: don't apologize to me, your junior. it's because you act so pitifully that others don't take newD seriously

omg leo sent tsukasa pictures of sora in the bon festival and was like "look suo your friend's performing!!" IM IN TEARS HOW CUTE

tsukasa: alkaloid... i wonder who they are. either way, if alkaloid or crazy b intend to get in knights' way, i will crush them
tsumugi: you really ARE intense

tsumugi: if it becomes a "great war" between all the agencies, then the first to go down will be newD because we're the weakest, you know?
tsukasa: that's likely. however, even if newD perishes, knights will not

.....honey. honey

also tsumugi's casual drop of "great war" (the title of this arc) has got me on EDGE

tsukasa says he entered newD with a purpose in mind, though he's frustrated that it's hard to "investigate oukawa" from a different agency. and then says that the oukawa thing is... like... a stain on his family...............

omg keito then comes BUSTING IN like ARE THAT STUPID EICHI AND SAEGUSA HERE

wtf what did they do this time

wow normally keito leaves administrative stuff like the summits to rei so he can focus more on idol activities himself... keito....! how you have grown

he does it to be around with kuro and souma more AWW.... except that because of akatsuki's fight with crazy b yesterday he suddenly feels like coming to the summit again LOL

so basically rei has a bad habit of leaving things fester and just watching in amusement (hence him not doing anything about crazy b) so keito came to the summit today to, i quote, "kick his ass"

eichi: (popping in) if you keep talking so long when you're asked a question, the younger kids will hate you
keito: there you are. sit in seiza right over there. you're gonna get an earful from me

tsumugi: you tend to ramble too, eichi-kun
eichi: ...ah, hello, tsumugi. it's a bit difficult to do things with you around, but i suppose the boss of newD hasn't come back yet?
tsumugi: yes, the president is busy with both work and personal life

FIRSTLY. swats them. secondly. wh

tsumugi: i really want the president to come back soon, though, newD is slowly getting dyed in knights' colors
tsukasa: fufu. doesn't that mean you're on the winning side, though? shouldn't you be rejoicing, aoba-senpai?

YOU LITTLE SHIT LMAAAAOOOOOOO

ibara: (also comes in) it's awkward to come in when there are so many yumenosaki folks here! hahaha!
eichi: come join us, saegusa-kun. no one will bully you
yuzuru: no, if you give me the orders, i will torture that for you

yes, he said "that" lol

ibara: ohhh, yuzuru's here! why? ahh i'm so happy to see you! i'm so glad there's someone i know here! can i hug you?
yuzuru: you're very good at saying the exact opposite of what you're thinking

ibara: i'm an entertainer. ...but come now, it really is nice to have you around. thank you so much. go bite your tongue and die somewhere i can't see you
yuzuru: your true feelings are mixing in with your flattery right now, it's actually quite amusing

yuzuru: so. the summit has a representative and an advisor from each agency. today i am eichi-sama's advisor
tsukasa: ...isn't it usually tori-kun? what happened to him? did he finally die?

TSUKASA SHUT YOUR MOUTH LMAOAOAOOO

omg eichi scolded him for that and said his words are getting really mean lately. THANK you eichi

eichi: i picked yuzuru this time because both you (tsukasa) and tori can get very emotional
yuzuru: you flatter me too much. as long as i am here, i can always have ibara exit........ this life

I LAUGHED OUT LOUD

oh so ibara's advisor is still unknown... and keito is actually the real representative of rhythm link and rei is the advisor, but i guess keito leaves a lot of things to rei anyway...

keito: I don't think he'll come though
eichi: it's actually easier that he's not here
hinata: BUT ON THE CONTRARY...! WE WOKE HIM UP

omg ibara chose both of 2wink as his advisors!!!!!

ibara said he didn't expect them to wake rei up oooo... also tsukasa said he feels better that he's not the only 2nd year in there now hehehe i see he's been trying so hard to act big and tough

ibara said the twins are his "weapon" against rei........ huh

OH......! HELLO

HELLO x2 YES PLEASE CAN WE HAVE SOME ADULTS IN HERE

so these two are the summit facilitators and reps from "P-agency", which is a neutral party of administrators and producers... among all these warring idol agencies, i suppose

oh boy seiya is part of p-agency too!!! and so is anzu, of course. p-agency has more power than the idols and can order the idols to do stuff... eichi says this is good because he wants to focus on idol work himself instead of playing emperor

oh we're finally back with alkaloid... thank god, that bitchfest took so much out of me

omg so they're reflecting back on bon festival... aira says his mind is still so blank.. and mayoi said.. it's the first time he's been onstage with someone he's taught, and he even felt pride seeing aira nail some of those difficult dances... and he felt like he was really alive

mayoi said actually hiiro was having a rough time onstage... bc he wasn't used to the moves and got way too excited, so he made mistakes that he didnt' even make in practice... awww

AW a lot of idols who quit after bon festival donated their L$ to alkaloid, as if they were donating a piece of their dreams to them... that's so sweet?

lmao switch was in charge of organizing the money for bon festival and natsume sent a kirakira mail to alkaloid like "we do this out of mercy for you underachievers. make sure to thank us for our kindness"

EXCUSE ME SIR WHERE DID YOU COME FROM??????

HIIRO FUCKIN FELL OUT OF BED LMAO

jk he jumped out of bed and glared at rinne because he's. he's like that

hiiro: if you just barge in you're a simple intruder, family or not, i'll chase you out!
rinne: why, is that 'cause it's the "correct" thing to do? you're so dang boring... what's got you all on edge, uh? hidin some porn books under the bed or something?

rinne came with...... a proposal because he wants to "get more friendly" with alkaloid...... Hm

hiiro: a special proposal...?
rinne: yeah, if it was a regular one, you could say no and all, but... if you don't take on this one, i don't think you'll last too long out here

ok never mind that doesn't sound friendly

WHOA he just asked alkaloid if they wanted to "team up" with crazy b... WHATS HE PLANNING

now we're back to the summit which has lasted for two hours without getting to the main topic yet GOD this really feels too real

rei and keito are squabbling a lil about rhythm link... or rather keito is blaming rhythm link's current losses on rei's lack of action, and rei says "relax, if you continue to act as the rep, i'll put in some effort... i feel obliged to, for rejecting your wishes in the past"

since rhythm link is the oldest, rei compared it to a long-standing empire where everyone is getting rich and no one wants to take power anymore. keito says that being the rythlink rep is fitting for the leader of akatsuki, the "protectors of tradition" haha

oh wow tsukasa said if rhythm link really tried their hardest, they could make the idol industry theirs bc they are so old and powerful.... i SEE

eichi proposes newD and starpro join hands bc they are the weakest two agencies. tsumugi is like, no u have ur money and the best of the best from yumenosaki, meanwhile we just have knights, our "final weapon"
tsukasa's like fuFU i am honored

FJDKSFSDKDFSD

keito is worried about tsumugi possibly forming an alliance w eichi again but thinks that tsumugi "should have learned" from his "hellish youth" wow.... and keito is even more worried about tsukasa bc tsukasa makes a lot of emotional rather than rational decisions

keito: (well, knights has strong leadership now, so they won't be wrapped up in schemes and crushed underfoot like they were before... it also seems like knights is still under leo tsukinaga's influence somehow. they probably can't let suou act on his own)

keito thinks eichi is trying to reach out to tsumugi and tsukasa because he has no other way into influencing newD... since newD is full of units that didn't have much to do with the trickstar stuff the previous year. they're difficult for eichi to control

ibara: sooo everyone, if we drag this on too long, it will get in the way of our work
keito: (oh thank god is he finally going to get to the main topic of crazy b)
ibara: so let's end this here!!! time to go home!!! good work everybody KEIREI!!!
keito: ?!??!?!?!?!!

ibara: hahaha! excuse me, i was just kidding. that's a cospro joke, you see
keito: wow i hate cospro now

FDJGKDHGKJDGHKFDKJ

hinata: ahaha. you're so funny, vice pres! really reliable! you're leading hasumi-senpai around by the nose!
yuta: uh on the other hand, why do i feel like we're members of some evil organization whenever we're with the vice pres....

yuta: *says smth about rei being nicer*
rei: hey my lovely children are you talking about me
hinata: omg someone from another agency is talking to us abort abort
yuta: get behind me aniki!!! why is this guy still acting like our parent even tho he's in another agency??
rei: wh

lmao 2wink apologized but they're so hilarious and cute wth.... meanwhile rei is oioioioiiii-ing again

aira: you managed to delay the offer by asking if we could eat first. you're really the backbone of alkaloid
tatsumi: well, if paternity is what is asked of me, i'll fulfill that role. i would like the leave the role of the mother who raises and protects everyone to mayoi-san

tatsumi just casually shipping himself with mayoi at like every opportunity i'm laughing

oh boy aira just suggested that they don't take the offer from rinne, that they leave crazy b out to dry so they won't have enough money to enter MDM -- that way, rinne's group will be disbanded n he'll be forced to go back home and hiiro can finish his task........ that's.......

hiiro: he was raised to be a lord, i don't think he'll listen even if he's fired
aira: but even if you're a lord--or a king--you still have subjects you have to listen to, right?
hiiro: i don't think you understand what a king is, aira

niki shows up and hiiro compliments his food since they're at the cafeteria lolol aira's like "wait why are you just casually talking about food to crazy b" and niki's like "um but there's no more important topic in the world than food"

(he said it as a joke)

oh wow niki only promised he'd do idol work until the end of summer vacation... he's very intimidated by everyone at ES being like "What kind of idol do you wanna be?" and equated the shared passion to everyone being in an idol cult LMAO

...are we really back to bitchfest room so soon

keito: (i was worried about the twins, but saegusa has tamed them well)
rei: kukuku, they cannot be tamed, those kids only act when they think it's profitable for them
keito: stop reading my mind

omg cospro team is about to show a video summarizing crazy b vs akatsuki but apparently shinobu was the one who edited it !!!! wow ryuseitai where have you all been

ibara: they are crazy b! the poison to the idol paradise ES, and also the medicine to cure it! we have developed and implemented a new generation of idols!

omg the video starts off with kanata counting papers?????? what's goin on

aw rst has been doing more work as rst N and rst M rather than being together lately so shinobu's like "long time no see!! even though we are together frequently it feels like forever since we last saw e/o" to kanata and kanata's like (sopping wet) "aw come here i'll hold you"

kanata and shinobu were both asked to do something for their friends?? but we don't know what. and before we know, keito interrupts like "i don't even know how to comment on this weird video" LMAAO

oh NOOO shinobu was so busy editing the video he forgot to delete this part.... o well thanks for the ryuseitai food anyway

hinata: oh that happens. sometimes you make mistakes when you send stuff. like recently i just set a message on instinct and ended up sending "what do you want for dinner tonight?" with a bunch of emojis all over it to ran-senpai

WHAT YUTA IS ROOMING WITH NAGISA? who decided these room assignments i'm laughing

omg nagisa responded very seriously like "you and your brother share the same body, therefore what you want to eat is what he wants to eat"

omg ibara said nagisa really likes chocolate.. i didn't know this...... so cute....

HELLO BEAUTIFUL I guess we're finally here at the correct video

wow rinne no only showed up late but also called them a "charumera shop" (i guess charumera is a kind of instant ramen?? but also a traditional instrument?? is this an elaborate pun) and said he thought they were gonna come out w a food stall

kohaku was like "we should apologize for being late" and himeru was like "well only amagi and shiina were late" LMAO so much for keito thinking they were coming in late for ~strategy~

RINNE CALLED AKATSUKI JAPANESE SANTAS THIS TIME WHERE ARE THESE WACKY INSULTS COMING FROM

keito: if all you want to do is cause a ruckus then leave. you're an eyesore, crazy b
rinne: ohh you mad? c'mon you're a bigshot now, just laugh it off for us little guys, yeah? i'll get down on my hands and knees, ok? god, buddha, akatsuki! i ask for your forgiveness, gyahaha!!

keito turned off his mic and was like, you need to stop this because the videos are going to make akatsuki look really bad
was that rinne's intention............ omg

rinne: oh how nice, you're so strong, i'm so jealous~ but see, any values or attraction can be flipped right over. even the strong, serious, and noble groups, seen from below... are scary and overpowering. it's not fitting for idols, who should be giving out peace and happiness

rinne: they're like soldiers, see. it's nice if they're on your side, but what happens when you become "everyone's enemy"? it's easy to bring down others, you just have to take someone who's strutting around proudly and drag em down by the legs~
keito: you're trash.

rinne: yup. we're the troublemakers... the dropouts, the trash, yeah? we're not good and obedient kids like you. the majority of the world is made of people like us, y'know? numbers are violence-- they're power. trash has its own way of fighting, its own way of living

HE JUST CALLED ES A CASTLE OF SAND. LIKE THE VALKY SONG

wow and he blames akatsuki and other "hotshots" for inviting their anger...................... ok...................

so scene changes yet again to Niki with alkaloid and niki said crazy B expected to lose against akatsuki so they didn't put much money into that live 🤔

aw mayoi was getting jealous because niki was getting along with alkaloid so easily w/o worrying about what to say/talk about... niki noticed him staring and was like "oh seems I'm sensitive to people looking at me"

mayoi: ahh ummm... I think that's a good trait for an idol...... probably.... urgh sorry for sounding full of myself...
niki: ooo you smell really tasty... you should stay away from me when I'm being quiet or I might end up putting you in my mouth instead of food

??????????

OH HEYYYY the hallways sure have a lot of idols here huh. hokuto is basically yelling rn and mao is trying to hold him back from running and crashing the summit bc he wants to speak his mind about crazy b very badly..... oh hokke

hokuto: oh alkaloid... we were told not to get involved with them
mao: I mean it's not like we can't TALK with them

hiiro: oh, it's trickstar, hey
hokuto: (side eyeing) ahh.... hey.... yeah uh sooo. do your best. cheering you on
mao: are you really the son of a famous actress

mao: hey let's go earn some money because if we don't we won't make it to MDM
hokuto: why do we never have money
mao: because we use it?

also Niki hid behind mayoi bc he didn't wanna lock eyes with trickstar lmao cute

back to (crazy b)itchfest

eichi: fufu. do you want to be a politician again, keito? no, perhaps the emperor's right hand....?
keito: you'd be satisfied with just me being the right hand huh
eichi: aw are you sulking because I haven't paid much attention to you lately?

is this some weird kind of flirting

keito: you keep striking up conversations with every single person here, are you trying to be some kind of playboy

hfjfjjgjfhfhfjf

eichi: anyway saegusa-kun, what are you planning
ibara: i don't know what you're talking about! we of cospro are simply working ourselves thin to make up for the trouble we caused in SS, much like knights did community service after what they did in DDD

hey! HEY!!! SIR!!

tsukasa: you know our history
ibara: naturally i would research one of the big 3!
tsukasa: fufu! of course, unlike in DDD, no one can ignore our existence now!
tsumugi: um suou-kun i don't think you should get carried away.... no one at DDD would've predicted your current success

what's this tiny king doing among all these analytical big shots i'm in tears thanks tsumugi for being his chaperone

there's a lot of fun stuff here but to sum it up, eichi wants to know what ibara is planning because "depending on the situation, i could help you too"... ibara wonders why people think he's controlling crazy b, then he wonders why yuzuru has it out for him so badly lmao

ibara: did i do something to you... "teacher"?
yuzuru: no it's just that when i watch you doing bad things, i feel the education i so lovingly imparted to you has all gone to waste... and it angers me

BACK TO ALKALOID wow i'm getting whiplash

"welcome to the bees nest, alkaloid"

JFJFJFUDJDNFBFNNDNDN

oh apparently they don't use this room that much, so much for the bee's nest

niki: himeru-kun has some special circumstances, so he lives near a hospital somewhere

?????????

kohaku doesn't have time to do the work to move from reimei to seisoukan so he's sleeping at reimei more often than not lol... niki is living in his own apartment.... and..... rinne crashes in niki's apartment very often

rinne: i have to take care of myself here, but at your place i have my meals all ready-made♪
niki: ...i'm used to it but do you think about how much trouble you cause
rinne: (ignores) and if i take money from niki's wallet i can gamble all i want
niki: now that's just stealing?!

hiiro: i can't believe you fallen to being a dirty thief
rinne: the only difference between a king and a thief is a king has power and justice on his side

dude.....................

niki: what's all this about kings... like... loan king? don't do that, rinne-kun, you probably made me a co-signer or something
rinne: ...well anyway we don't have much time so let's get to the point
niki: AT LEAST DENY IT???

even tatsumi was like "anyway himeru..."

someone please help niki

oh there you two are (they arrived late)

himeru: (whispering) i thought i'd just gather information from a safe distance, but oukawa so innocently said "let's go together♪"
kohaku: did you say something?
himeru: nothing, just that your old thinking and young emotions are your charm point
kohaku: aw thanks!

these two are adorable??

tatsumi: oh hello, it's been a long time
himeru: ..................................
himeru: yes, it's good to see you in good health, tatsumi :)

tatsumi: i'm confused why you were almost fired like me... you were always doing so well in cospro
himeru: ....yes. of course, himeru is always the greatest and most perfect idol, but a lot happened to us, tatsumi
tatsumi: "us"...?

🅱️ack to 🅱️itchfest

ibara: um you should all be owing eden a favor because without us trickstar would be nothing
tsukasa: it's not like trickstar is a big deal to us anyway
keito: while i do want to agree with you, wouldn't you be lonely if your mortal enemies disappeared, suou?

tsukasa: ...well, ever since we knights have taken the seat of the big 3, they are the only ones who casually challenge us to battle. they're simply a good way to pass the time, yes

since when did you become such a little tsundere!!!!!!!

damn so the internet really has been criticizing akatsuki for "making newbies apologize on their hands and knees" ... ofc most people are being reasonable and believing in akatsuki but some are just fanning the flames

keito: so do you plan on making crazy b into the villains so eden can defeat them and be the heroes?
eichi & tsumugi: *meaningful laughter*

rei: i don't think he wants to play god here. if he really thinks he can become god, i will have to call that arrogance. this is adult society... boy
jin: ooo well said, sakuma. i'll praise you as your teacher
akiomi: actually we should've been the ones saying that

omg so ibara said that crazy b is more like... an emergency drill for ES? like just in case a real "disaster" happens to ES and keito is like. so in other words instead of controlling them, cospro more has their hands on the switch to the electric chairs they're sitting on

bro that's morbid

keito points out that crazy b are acting much more the villains than the oddballs ever did. ibara says cospro deliberately chose people like that, people who will "definitely meet a fate worse than death if they're fired (except for niki)"

tsukasa: i don't really like it, personally. it might be effective as a move in chess, but thinking about the pieces' feelings...
ibara: you should avoid putting in feelings, and try thinking of others as numbers. if you're an adult, of course. playing nice is only--

--acceptable with family and in school. it is only a an empty pleasantry that the dirty adults want innocent children to believe in. it has no use in reality.

jesus.... ibara.....................

(talking about crazy b having their special form of dreamfes)
tsukasa: well, we've had our own form too, so I can't criticize
eichi: well, they are doing the same thing as knights, crawling up from the bottom like that
tsukasa: yeah but..... they're being vulgar about it.... :(

ibara admits that crazy b is modeled after trickstar, in that trickstar is the kind of group that makes both their enemies and allies grow and shine... he hopes crazy b will do the same for ES

ibara: i do feel a bit sorry for our sacrifices, crazy b. but it's alright. everyone says killing animals is horrible, yet with the same mouths they savor delicious meat. no need to feel terrible about it. the members of crazy b were on the verge of being fired anyway

tsukasa's reaction to this ohhhhh babyyyyyy 😭

I'm blind so I misread keito's thing here and he said "aren't you satisfied with only your left hand?" brooooo

https://twitter.com/royalquintet/status/1249304088811991041?s=19

chapter 110 "villain" here we go

rinne: ...so that's that. we're being intentionally told to play the villains. well, it suits us better than being some superhero or somehing
kohaku: yeah. ahaha, even after leaving home, i'm still doing the same old dirty work

(eye emoji)

lmaooo ibara is sharing the summit with himeru in real time... himeru is hearing all the things they're saying about crazy b rn, interestingly enough

i'm wondering then if ibara intentionally said all those awful things about crazy b getting thrown away because he knew himeru was listening n that it would get crazy b to struggle even harder to keep their place... hmhm

himeru: himeru would rather not get thrown out
kohaku: yeah seriously. i'm don't wanna get used conveniently and then be sent off to jail in someone else's place. i mean, it'd be fine if it was just me, since that's my role for my family in the first place, anyway...

excuse me?

wow rinne is getting political up in here let me see if i can figure out what's going on

rinne: the one with the most power isn't the government or ES, it's us. not some king's power. in life, our greatest god is ourselves, yeah? this is the 21st century, a society of democracy, see. the people are the main players here now, 'cause fascism already lost in wars

tatsumi comes in all philosophical like, it's fine if rinne says things like this because it's not a sin to follow along with democracy or any other earthly order, as long as we have faith and remember we're all equal before god.....

wow that sort of lofty conversation made up this entire chapter, sasuga enstars....

LMAO niki came back with tea and snacks and talked abt how he's always eating food and rinne was like "if you like i can double your income for you" and niki was like uhhh no i'm fine please don't and CALLED RINNE A ヒモ BASICALLY A LEECH

tatsumi: it's a good thing to give alms to the poor :)
niki: i'm not giving alms, my money's being wrenched away from me. if i wasn't here, rinne-kun would've died, so i'd rather he'd act nice and feel more indebted to me

so rinne says he wants alkaloid's cooperation-- not for their direct help in fighting ES but to stand and just watch crazy b do their thing. crazy b has done so much crap already that they can't back out now, they can only fight ES or lose their positions forever, basically

alkaloid said they felt sorry for crazy b but then rinne turned it around like "you guys are in the same position as us, who's saying you won't be next after ES gets us?" which made aira remember how nazuna warned them to be careful of eichi

rinne: if you want me to be a righteous and strong lord back home, then cheer us on. i'm sure my experience here will come in handy there
hiiro: ...so you plan on returning home, niisan?
rinne: yeah. i'm don't like it, but that's my fate. but i'm gonna choose when i'm going back

rinne: i just wanna enjoy the city to its fullest before going back. if i don't, i'll just be a stupid kid who ran away from home. your niisan's better than that, yknow? believe in that, and help me... isn't it your role as little brother to assist the king, after all?
hiiro: ...

FINALLY we have left this long day behind us and moved onto the next day in the story with alkaloid discussing what to do about crazy b's proposal...

apparently crazy b's dreamfes is called "idol royale"?? and it involves a lot of units coming together like how they did in bon festival... aira called it "surprisingly vanilla" haha

huh... but crazy b aren't the main featured unit in idol royale... instead it's a unit that not even aira has heard of? what's going on here

hm so tatsumi actually knows himeru's real name (it slipped out at a party once and himeru was like "don't tell anyone my real name!!"... yes he used 俺)... tatsumi says himeru used to be a lil more sloppy about it but now himeru is much different

aira: i dunno, he seems the same when i look at old videos of him... rather, i became an idol because i wanted to see the true face of my idols. damn that makes me sound like a dirty gossip
tatsumi: i think that's fine as long as you're not stalking them
mayoi: *gulps*

hehe tatsumi said that unlike cospro idols who often make characters and follow scripts, yumenosaki idols tend to not have much of a difference between their "on" and "off" personalities

hokuto showed up and they started talking about how trickstar are special and "easily" became popular (so said aira) and hokuto squinted at them and was like "so, are you the new assassins sent after us, then?"

hiiro: no we're literally just underacheivers
hokuto: .......*glares*
hiiro: .... *stares back* :)
hokuto: .......ok doesn't seem like you're lying

hiiro: but if "assassin" means "something sent out to destroy something else" then maybe not alkaloid but at least i myself could be counted as your assassin
hokuto: excuse me...?
aira: can please you shut up for a second hiro-kun

whoa according to hokuto, crazy b has been trumpeting around in their own dreamfes saying they're the new protagonists and will take down the system in trickstar's stead... as if trickstar were the ones ordering crazy b to start rampaging around

omg and trickstar even applied to idol royale and got rejected ?!

scene change to cafe cinnamon but alkaloid is deciding they don't want to accept the offer from crazy b... since their position is weak they'd rather not risk being associated with them

i realize i forgot to put it earlier, but it was also revealed that leo's been giving alkaloid more songs. like lots of songs instead of just the one he gave them at first heh

HELLO BABY!!!!!!!!!!!

i love how alkaloid was just talking about how they would rather prioritize their own lives than risk hanging out with crazy b and tsukasa smoothly slides in like "fufu, what an interesting talk you're having there" was he eavesdropping

aira: *screaming* y-y-youre tsukasa suou from knights!!!

oh same

hiiro: you know this guy too?
aira: so remember tsukinaga-senpai? this is the person who inherited the king's authority from him! though he's seen as still young and inexperienced and not as skilled as the other members yet!

aira: but, loved by his comrades, he acquired the crown like liu bei of the annals of the three kingdoms!
tsukasa: ...well, i may look less experienced next to my senpai, but i'm liu bei? i think of myself more as sun quan

fgkg i had to look up these people but this is hilarious

wiki gave me this on liu bei and it actually suits tsukasa pretty well, i really hope his in-universe fans compare him to liu bei like this

"ufufu, you've grown up enough not to fly immediately into a rage at them, tsukasa-chan"

HELLO NEECHAN ALSO LOOOL

aira: omg?? there is a rumor that arashi narukami as the actual ruler of knights
arashi: oh really? but "ruling" is one of the furthest concepts from me.... well, that's fine i suppose

i'm laughing is this because of the mess in requiem or what

arashi: you should love yourselves more.... oh my do I sound preachy? naggy girls aren't very popular
tatsumi: girls...?
aira: ah, it seems to be a shared understanding among the fans to treat narukami-senpai like "a pretty girl"

arashi: ufufu, I don't really mind, but when I just deal with it and ignore it, I also end up causing trouble for those who are troubled over their gender... this is a complicated world. I find myself sighing a lot more often

ohhh....

anyway, moving onto the main topic, tsukasa starts to ask them about crazy b and he goes "well, normally i would have ignored such tiny insects, but after yesterday's summit, i am a bit concerned... one of my relatives is in crazy b, after all"

badmouthing aside, tsukasa seems really worried for kohaku aw...

tsukasa: hm. i and oukawa are a bit similar. personally, i want to keep him safe, but that's difficult from my posisiton... but as the head of my family, i don't want to watch him die, one of members of the family who has supported the suous for so long

tsukasa: if i can, i want to save him, to protect him... even if he doesn't want me to. i don't care if it sounds selfish and childish, i just need to tell him that he doesn't have to taint himself anymore

oh my gosh??

we are back here with aira practicing alone but I need a moment to recover from the knights content

OH... HEY

aira: is there some business you have with me?
subaru: no need to be so formal! i think changing the way you speak according to different people is a boring japanese practice. yeah, there are good things about it, but discrimination also comes from it

uhhhhhhh akira??

aira: ah, yeah... when i was little, i was often called "foreigner"... even though i was born and raised in japan and don't understand french at all

oh no aira...;;

subaru offered to train aira because he's really bored and lonely aw....

SIR you are not invited to this soft little training session

rinne: hey wassup akehoshi-paisen and uhhh.... my brother's girlfriend♪
aira: no wait i'm not his girlfriend!

DFJKDJFKD RINNE PLEASE

subaru: i'm not your paisen (senpai), aren't you older?
rinne: gyahaha. but you're my senpai in terms of playing a role in a story, right, trickstar?
subaru: i don't like your laugh... you're eyes aren't smiling, like you're plotting something. it's like eichi-senpai, groooss

your* ah my habitual typos strike again

rinne: i wanted to ask how my bro's changed
aira: are you worried about him?
rinne: nah, not at all. i'm pretty sure i'm already disowned, so we're not family or anything. but even if we're unrelated, even i would stop a little baby from getting driven into the ground

rinne just started calling aira "girlfriend-kun" lmaooooo

rinne warned aira not to get too close to hiiro or he'll get betrayed at some point?? and then compared it to animals like, "we love animals but we don't ever think of marrying them" hello sir what are you talking about???

haaaa so rinne and subaru both ended up doing practice with aira... seems like rinne was actually dancing on par with subaru? so aira wonders why rinne isn't trying to be like. a regular super idol or something ;(

he thinks maybe cospro's practices w eden are the reason but then backpedals like that's just "too normal a reason" for rinne to charge forward so wildly

oh dang do chiaki and hiiro shop at the same place

chiaki keeps calling hiiro "hero-kun" IT'S SO CUTE...

oh geez chiaki stopped hiiro from getting in trouble w security because he ignored them and tried to enter a building he wasn't supposed to........ now he's gently telling hiiro "don't do that again" kdfsj

ah... eh...? rinne ordered hiiro to do something... involving chiaki...? and hiiro requested smth of chiaki, to which chiaki will respond to on wholehands...?

chiaki leaves n aira shows up and tells him about practice, aira comments that hiiro is rly affirming of rinne
hiiro: is that strange? niisan is the "lord". we're brothers, but i'm his retainer, so following his orders is... correct
aira: (...i just felt a chill)

aira: (if amagi rinne ever orders hiro-kun with a different idea of "correctness" than ours... then which will hiro-kun choose?)

nice foreshadowing (crying)

BRO WE ARE HERE AT THE DAY OF IDOL ROYALE AND HERE IS KURO KIRYU HIMSELF

kuro sits here thinking by himself that the air in ES is similar to yumenosaki a few years ago (yikes!!) and souma comes in, kuro greets him with "ossu" and souma's like "yes, ossu" lmao

omg crazy b (or rather just rinne i assume) dissed akatsuki's outfits too bc they knew kuro made them? said they weren't stylish and called it "self-flattery" and now kuro's like "ugh i wanna make a masterpiece now" kgjhfdkg

kuro: so that's why i've been sewin' away every single day. my face is all burning up in anger... though i haven't seen him lately, it feels like i'm turnin' into my childhood friend, itsuki

omg crazy b called souma a "dangerous person waving around a deadly weapon" and kuro was like "well they're not wrong, i keep telling you to stop because little kids will try to copy you" LOOOOL

THE GANGS ALL HERE also souma how dare you say "good morning" in kanji

kuro: oh what's up we don't have akatsuki work today right
keito: yeah. i cleared my schedule today just in case i need to go to idol royale and beat up-- i mean, to deal with anything should it arise

oh keito

keito: if crazy b intends to bring down the idol paradise we built up with our own hands, i will do everything in my power to stop them
kuro: "we" huh... you feel the same as tenshouin?
keito: who knows. i only just talked to him at the summit for the first time in a while

keito: our agencies are different, so i shouldn't be expecting us to be looking in the same direction. we are not the sun, but like the moon ("tsuki" in akatsuki)-- let us establish our own rule. though we may hide behind the horizon now, our time will eventually come

i just thought that was a really nice metaphor, thanks keito

ooo alkaloid got free tickets to see idol royale (from crazy b!!!) aira says that past him would've been excited about free seats but now he's... kinda wishing he was onstage... awww

so... in the end the main unit in idol royale was never found... and with some digging it turned out that the name listed on the ads for idol royale was actually the same as a fake name himeru used to use ?!

hiiro says it sounds like a trap rinne would make... because his brother used to set two-layered traps for animals back home

ok sorry had to dip out for a sec but hiiro basically described it as "the prey would get relieved that it avoided one trap... and then got splendidly caught up in the second" ...... foreboding

oooo... aira guesses that crazy b decided to pretend that another unit was the main unit in idol royale bc there are people going around like "don't go to crazy b lives ok", so instead they made this live so ppl who were interested could go see them w/o feeling guilty

and then that in turn makes crazy b's sudden appearance in the beginning into a "talking point" ...... god this is so calculated

so now it's "ai-chan" huh........

crazy b went out to the audience n tatsumi comments that it's uncharacteristic for himeru... to which rinne responds that himeru knows how to keep close to the fans--

rinne: if idols are too deified, then they end up lonely super idols, like "that akehoshi". the masses who mistook idols for gods, thought they were allowed to do anything, and, half-amused, crawled onto the stage and persecuted and killed their god. but that era is over

JFC!!!!

rinne: and now in this era, we lower our heads and invite our gusts to our shows. we figure out what our "masters" want, ask how they feel, and bring up their moods! we serve them like slaves-- the audience is god! and in exchange, we get rewards. we're worker bees!

LMAOOooo

hiiro: you're satisfied with being a slave?
rinne: hey hey, don't get caught up in definitions. i said it before, but we're in the age of democracy. the ones who are loved and supported by the masses, the protagonists, and the ones who are still deemed usable after begging--

rinne: those are the high-quality slaves who get to manage the other slaves. so first, we crazy b are gonna work our way to being the slave kings. and then when we get money and power, we might even stage a rebellion against our "masters"

uhhh...

niki comes by to tell rinne to get back onstage (lmaooo)
niki: i can't keep up for so long, i haven't really gone to practice
rinne: gyahaha. it's crazy that you're so good even though you don't even try! niki, you're a genius... no, a "goddess of victory", like your name!

IS NIKI SUPPOSED TO BE A REFERENCE TO NIKE????

wow niki just asked alkaloid where the "delicious person" was

hiiro: do you need him for something
niki: no no, it's just that i'm hungry again, so i thought i might distract myself from my starvation by smelling him

first of all what the fuck

rinne: hey are you cheating me niki ya bastard?? if you're hungry i got my arms and legs right here, just have a bite wherever
niki: no thanks, pretty sure you'd taste like alcohol ...alright, i'm out

what the f

rinne jumped onstage which prompted an inner monologue from aira about how it's weird to him that everyone seems to like rinne's wild antics... because to aira, idols give healing and happiness to people like his past self who didn't fit in anywhere... sobs

hiiro: what's wrong? are you feeling sick like mayoi-senpai?do you need me to carry you outside?
aira: n-no i'm fine... c'mon, i'm aira shiratori, the idol otaku, there's no way i'd feel sick during an idol performance

aira: (but right now, i feel like my beloved, shining, sparkling stage... is being tainted by crazy b in a violent flurry)

well... shit

oh god the next two chapters are called "injured" and "emergency" i'm full of fear

kohaku: so what're we gonna do now rinne-han, every unit we requested to join idol royale rejected us. we can't sing for hours on end
rinne: deal with it. stick it out. sometimes gambling's tough yknow

CRAZY B YOU HAVE THREE (3) SONGS

OH NO RINNE JUST TURNED TO THE CROWD AND SAID THAT SO MANY UNITS REJECTED IDOL ROYALE... AND CALLED THE OTHER UNITS LIARS WITH ES'S COLLARS AROUND THEIR NECKS

he basically said that even though they talk about love and peace etc it's just lies and posing i'm mmmmmrgghhhhhh

rinne: ES is just a factory made to raise and export idols, the biggest cash animals! it's just a livestock farm!

god here's that lovely "livestock" word enst loves so much

rinne: and those "pretend idols" who were raised and domesticated here and claim they're happy-- i'll show you those livestock's true feelings, right here, right now! first up, i'll reveal the hypocrisy of the super sentai unit ryuseitai!

FUCK NO NO NO STOP IT NO

ARE YOU KIDDING IT CUTS TO MIDORI FREAKING OUT AND THEN THE UPSETTING PIANO MUSIC HERE??? THAT CHIAKI CG IS HERE??????

midori: anyway look, isn't this like, really bad?
chiaki: hm.... yeah, it could be a fatal wound to us, depending. lets contact the others and head straight to idol royale

oh but midori tells him to stay because he is actually working around that building, and then tells him that he should trust the rest of ryuseitai more... so chiaki lets him go alone

but chiaki also says he feels an even greater disquiet than back in yumenosaki's revolution days...............................

"NAGUMO TETORA TAICHOU"..... 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

omg tetora says rst hasn't done a handing over leadership event "unlike knights' coronation in florence" and shinobu's like ummmm i really think we should get to that eventually

YA REALLY SHOULD

of course just as things are being cute with shinobu thinking about planning a surprise ryusei red ceremony for tetora, midori busts in with terrible news nfnfnfn

they quickly go over what's happening with ryuseitai (lots of news members in rst N, chiaki and kanata are busy all the time, shinobu's got studco work etc etc)--

midori: i saw in club activities that akehoshi-senpai seemed to find crazy b really unpleasant, and i thought whatever he hates i might like, so-- (LMAO)

so that's why he was checking out idol royale?? or what LOL

(back at the idol royale)
rinne: it might be hard to hear for the fans, but y'see, the higher ups think we're an eyesore♪ in the eyes of the world and ES-- we're villains! and yet, that "ryuseitai" that acts like "allies of justice" doesn't even touch us!

rinne: even though this time we sent them a request that was like "let's have a battle of good and evil~~" if you're gonna call us evil, then stop talking shit and come crush us already, right? and yet! hey everyone, can you see wholehands on my screen right now?

hey hey. HEY

rinne: with a professional tone of voice, like it had nothing to do with them, they were like "we're busy, sorry" gyahahaha! has a superhero on TV ever refused evil like that? they're just fakes!

yeah rinne TV heroes don't exist my guy we've been over this

hiiro: what are superheroes
aira: why does your brother know this and not you
hiiro: well he used to sneak out and get all kinds of bad info from cities. he was often put in the zashiriro (like. edo period confinement room) as punishment

uhhhhhh

oh god rinne showed the next wholehands message and it was like "we're really busy, but we'll think about it if you fluff up our performance fee a bit. however, you have to make a script where we, the heroes of justice, prevail!" making it sound like some kind of threat

zashikiro*

NOW THEYRE GONNA SHOW VIDEOS OF THE SUMMIT???

himeru: (our vice president saegusa is standing and explaining, so he's not in the picture... well, that 2wink-something is in there, but that's fine)

THAT'S NOT FINE????

rinne: look! it's undead, akatsuki! fine and knights from the big 3! even that switch unit that basically did charity for a publicity stunt is there! these are the masterminds behind ES! this is the true face of that supposed "idol paradise"!

rinne: we crazy b are gonna be the true idols! cheer us on!! and you idol fakers from ES-- if you got a problem with that, come at us! you demons wearing the skins of idols! if you wanna keep acting like humans, come onstage with your two legs and speak with human speech!

OH GOD is this why they left applications to idol royale open even on the day of

damn even the wholehands conversation's got hiiro fooled and thinking that ryuseitai are fakes..... damn..... i mean he is an impressionable boy but how many others are thinking this (meanwhile aira is very much like "this is all slander!!!")

aira: what are they doing?? are they getting desperate because they're on the brink like us? i won't ever allow it! i won't let them badmouth the idols i love...!
hiiro: hm. then, shall we go up there?

!!!!!!

oh my god . oh my god. they're here

hiiro: wait we can't go up there
aira: wait why not
hiiro: i just checked, but seems the rules of idol royale were just changed... now it says participating units have to pay 500,000 L$ to crazy b to join

YO THAT'S DIRTY

YOU GO UP THERE YOU SLANDER IDOLS AND THEN SQUEEZE MONEY OUT OF THEM SO YOU CAN HAVE ENOUGH TO PAY TO PARTICIPATE IN MDM THAT'S. THAT'S

hiiro: niisan made some plans, set a trap, and made it so a bunch of money would fall right into his hands. niisan... won the bet.
aira: ...

oh fuck it ended there ahahaahahahaha