…… All done~♪

Really? I haven’t even put together the main materials yet. Do you have experience in this, by any chance—-

…… Shinkai. What is that?

What do you mean? It’s “ikebana”, of course. From the school of “Shinkai”^[2]……☆

There’s no helping you. Don’t claim to be a school as you please. No matter how you look at it, all you did was stick a fish onto the needle bed.

We’re arranging flowers, not fish. This is beyond unacceptable. As STAR PRO’s representative, don’t you feel the least bit shameful?

Mmph… The only people who get to decide whether my “arrangement” is “acceptable” are the “beholders”. Not you, “Temple Guy”.

Is it “bad” if I don’t follow the “model”? If that’s the only way to get “recognized”, that’s a little boring, isn’t it?

Anyway, I’ve grown tired of “ikebana”, so I’m done here. I’m going to go “soak” in the “pond”……♪

….. What an uninhibited guy. Does he not realize that this would make it a “coral arrangement”, not a “floral arrangement”, right?^[3]

Hello. Are you doing ikebana? What an unusual hobby~

Not quite. I’m going to be participating in a flower-arranging demonstration. This is just practice.

I see. And this is… a fish arrangement? Is this your work too, Keito-kun?

That would be Shinkai’s work. It stinks, as you’d expect from fish…… It doesn’t look like he’ll be coming back either. I’ll have to go put this in the kitchen.

That's right. Aoba, if you don't mind, could you give me your thoughts on my work? I can't really judge it for myself.

My thoughts? Mmnnn~ I think it looks nice, but…

Don’t hold back. I want your honest opinion.

No, it's not that I’m holding back. I just don't know much about ikebana. I know a lot about flower meanings, though.

Could I try it too? I feel like I could evaluate your work properly if I try it myself.

Hmm. They do say that teaching is the best way to learn……

(Sniff sniff)…… I thought it smelled like flowers here. It was you guys, huh?

Ah, good afternoon. How about you join us, Ogami-kun?

Ehhh…?

— And now for the arrangement. Place the flowers so that they fill in the gaps between the ones you just inserted.

In the gaps, got it~

Gaaaaah! I jumped in ‘cuz it looked interesting, but it’s taking forever! What a pain~!

I mean, it's not rock ‘n roll to fit into the mold! I’m just gonna be me, like this, this ‘n — this!

How’s that, Hasumi-senpai! This looks way more like an UNDEAD flower stand now. Cool, dontcha think~♪

First it was Shinkai, now it’s you… You’re truly hopeless…… We’re making flower arrangements, not flower stands.

I'm baaack. Hah~, I'm tired……

Aoba-onii-chan, you’re holding something nice, huh. Gimme that rose~♪

Of course, here you are.

Thank you. (Nibble nibble)……

— Y-You ate it?!

I didn’t eat it. I just wanted to get energy from the rose~^[4]

Are you all playing with flowers together? How peaceful...

It’s ikebana. Come to think of it, aren’t you also making an appearance on the show?

Making an appearance.... Ah, that variety show. I see, so that’s why you’re doing this.

I don’t think they expect us to be proficient at it, so do we really need to practice?

We were invited to do our part as idols, so making the screen lively is enough, right?

Kei-chan, your stamina has its bounds, right? If you give anything and everything your all, one of these days you’re going to collapse.

Hmm. It’s a reasonable point.

But in order to leave a good mark, I intend to put my entire heart and soul into the task. Rhythm Link is already packed with top veterans, after all.

I’ll perform well so they’ll ask me to return. This is just me laying the groundwork in order to break into semi-regular status.

Hmm…… Well, I guess I'll join you guys and have some fun with the flowers, too. You'll probably improve if you have a rival...

And as NEW DI’s representative, I can't just stand by and watch…...♪

Hmph, do whatever you like. You're probably more of a natural at this sort of thing than I am, but...

Hard work will not betray me. I’ll have the last laugh.

TL NOTES

[1] Ikebana (生け花, lit. giving life to flowers) is the art of Japanese flower arrangement. Read about its principles and relationship with Buddhism here

[2] Schools pass on the art of ikebana to students. Each individual school follows a particular set of principles, philosophies, and arranging techniques, all which vary depending on the school. Matching the name format of (school)-ryu (流), Kanata calls it 深海流 (School of Shinkai).

[3] Originally, he says 生け花、生け魚 (flower arrangement, fish arrangement), but since it rhymed (hana, sakana), I wanted to preserve his pun.

[4] A good reference for this is this Ritsu card from Fleur de Lis.