"Italicized" = Signed

"Regular" = Spoken

Italicized = Yō typing

= Someone else typing

----- = A spoken word Yō can't understand (or at least not lip read)

...

Yō's POV:

It was finally time. We had our performance tonight. I'm nervous. Well, I guess scared would be a better word for it. I can't stop thinking about messing up again. I thought I got over all of that, but I guess I didn't entirely.

Chika had come to see us. She was backstage with us. She was getting better every day. She told us that soon she would be off her crutches and be able to walk by herself again. But, she still couldn't dance for a while yet.

We were all getting changed into our outfits. It wasn't too long until it started. We were in the middle of the acts, so we had some time but it was best to get changed now than to rush later on.

Chika was currently helping me tie my outfit together. She doesn't seem too sad about having to miss this show. She seems more than happy to just help out all of us.

I wonder if she is upset she can't perform. She could just be hiding it from us. But, she does seem content to sit back right now. She just finished up helping me.

"Are you nervous?" Chika asked.

I nodded, "Yeah. It's pretty full out there."

"I'm sure you'll do just fine." Chika smiled at me, "You know the dance. It'll be fine."

I'm still nervous. I know I should be fine. We've spent a lot of time practicing for this. I'll be fine, won't I?

"You got this, Yō." Chika stated.

I hope I do...

...

Before we knew it, it was our time to go out on stage. I hope I can do this right. I can do this. I know I can. I can't let Chika down. I'll do it perfectly. I'll stay on tempo with everyone. I'll do this.

We all took our positions on the stage. The light turned on.

That's... a lot of people. I can't even see an empty seat anywhere. I didn't think that many people would come here. Is this event really that popular?

I don't have time to think on that right now. We have to perform. Let's hope I can do this.

It was pretty easy, actually. I guess muscle memory was helping me a lot. It was quite natural to do this. Nothing felt awkward like it had before. I actually feel confident about this dance.

It soon ended. I can't tell how the audience is reaching to us. It's too dark to make them out. Only the stage had the light on. I can only hope that they're cheering for us.

We all quietly walked off the stage after bowing. Chika was waiting eagerly back in the dressing room. She was smiling and seemed pretty excited overall.

"You guys did awesome!"

I hope we did. This is a pretty major event from the looks of it. It could potentially boost us up in ranking quite a lot. That would be really nice.

We have to wait for a while, though. There's still quite a few other performances that have to go. We'll be waiting for the results for quite a while.

For now, we can just relax. Chika was handing us all water bottles. Everyone was starting to find somewhere to sit. Most of them seemed to be watching the TV to see the other performances.

I took a seat beside Chika. She smiled at me and handed me a water bottle.

"Thanks." I accepted it.

"You were really good." Chika signed.

"It definitely felt different from how it was last time." I explained.

"So... are you gonna dance with us again?" Chika asked.

Will I? I mean, it was a better experience this time. I felt a lot more confident in myself. I do feel like I can handle it again, but... I still am finding myself hesitating. I don't know why. Everything is finally working out, so why do I pull back?

"Yeah. I think I'll do it again."

Better just agree before I talk myself out of it. I know I can do this if I try. I did fine today, after all. I can do this again.

Chika seemed happy about that. They all seemed happy when I agreed to try and dance again. Well, I guess I can't blame them after everything that has happened.

...

It was getting late now. We had all left the venue about an hour ago. We were currently at a cafe. We were just waiting for the results to be posted. Everyone was nervous.

We all wanted to get a good ranking on this. It would really help us in this... adventure? It would also help us prove that we were trying. There are still people who don't like us.

Chika tapped me on the shoulder. I looked over at her. She held out her phone. Did they post the results?

I glanced over the screen. It was the results page. I looked for our name. We were in the top 10. That was pretty good. We got rank 9. That's a lot better than I honestly thought we would get.

Everyone was really happy. This just sucks a bit. They aren't using sign language right now. I can't understand what any of them are talking about.

We spent a little longer at the cafe, before we had to leave as it was closing now. We were walking back to the hotel we had been given rooms at. Once again, Chika and Riko were talking to me using sign language, but no one else was.

It makes me feel a bit left out. I mean, I get it. They aren't directly talking to me, so they don't need to sign right now. I just wish they would. That way if I wanted to join in, I could. Everyone else could, but not me.

Maybe I'll mention it at some point. But, not tonight. I'm tired. I just want to go to bed. I'm pretty sure we all want to.

With Chika using crutches, we had to go a bit slower. It was taking us ages to get to the hotel. No one would ever mention it.

We soon made it to the hotel. We were given three rooms to use. We split up by year for the rooms. It was the easiest thing to do.

Chika, Riko, and I entered our room. Chika promptly sat down on the bed. She set her crutches to the side and then laid doen on the bed. Guess she's ready to go to bed already.

Riko rolled her eyes. She sat down on the other bed in the room. There are only two beds. That isn't a bother for us, but will it be for anyone else? Thinking about it... no. It shouldn't be.

I took laid down next to Chika. She smiled and hugged me. I kissed her on the forehead.

Today had actually gone really well. Maybe we do have a chance at saving the school. I didn't really think we did at first, but just maybe we can. I hope so, but only time will tell.