White Album 2 (ホワイトアルバム 2)

Yeah!

He did it, Sis!

Tomo?

It's already 3:30.

Crap, we're running behind.

We need to start the next song, or the schedule will fall apart.

Why won't they stop cheering already?

Stop beating so hard, stupid heart!

Haruki-kun!

One Saturday near the end of November,

on the second day of Houjou University High's school fair,

the three of us experienced the moment when we were closest.

Our happiest, most fun moment.

And...

The last moment the three of us could truly be together.

Music Room 1

Music Room 2

"White Album."

Released almost ten years ago

and known around town for a time as an essential song of winter,

this was Yuki Morikawa's debut song.

The first CD I bought in my life,

and the first song I learned to play on the guitar.

Stop! Let go of me!

Wait!

What are we supposed to do if we lose our vocalist too?

There's nothing you can do!

You lost your drummer, your bassist, and your keyboardist!

And it's all your fault!

Shut up, you two!

It's finally my time to practice, so don't bother me!

Haruki, you tell her!

The band's in danger if we don't do something.

I've been saying that for a long time.

Those exact words you just said.

No, don't tell me. Tell Tomo.

How am I supposed to convince her when she's not even here?

Wait, Tomo!

Let me go!

Didn't you want to beat Setsuna Ogiso,

and be Miss Houjou High?

I'll do that with another group.

But what about our ambitions?

If you leave, nobody's gonna care about our band!

If you want attention that much, then go get Setsuna Ogiso to join you!

New Message Chikashi Hayasaka Open

Wait! Please!

Come back!

Get over here! Setsuna Ogiso is here about the Miss Houjou contest!

What do we do, Haruki?

Now's it just me and you.

Listen, Takeya.

I told you from the start that Tomo Yanagihara was a bad idea.

There were a lot of problems last year too.

She'll do whatever it takes to be queen of the school fair.

She flirts with everybody,

and starts fights between members and even between bands.

She's a band-crushing devil.

The fair committee had an awful time cleaning up after her last year.

Well, she's flashy and stands out.

It's hard to give up the attention

we'd attract if we had her singing on stage.

She's a crappy vocalist, though.

Then she's a perfect match for your guitar.

On that note, your crappy backup guitarist will be quitting too, without any regrets.

Bye.

Wait, you're leaving too?

For today, at least.

I just found out I've got somewhere to be.

Where?

To the last boss we were supposed to defeat.

Huh? Who's that?

Setsuna Ogiso.

Bye.

To get her to join?

I pretended not to care,

but this was about the worst scenario I could imagine.

We were so close, too.

Haruki Kitahara, Houjou University High, class 3-E.

An autumn of trials had come for me.

30 Days Until the School Fair!!

We've been waiting for you, Kitahara!

Where have you been? We were looking for you.

You're the only one who can get us out of this emergency!

We're leaving it to you!

You leave everything to me.

Make some decisions yourself for a change.

Haruki!

You're finally here!

You're the only one who can get us out of this mess.

Stop saying that.

Setsuna Ogiso-san, yes?

Yes.

I'm Kitahara. I'm in Class E with Hayasaka here.

Nice to meet you.

I know your name.

I always see it on the far right whenever they post test grades.

Haruki Kitahara

I know you too.

Whenever there's a Miss Houjou contest, I see you in the center.

Miss Houjou

But you want to resign this year?

I'm sorry.

The high school contest isn't like the Miss Houjou University one.

There are no stage events, and there's no swimsuit competition.

We try to keep it low-key.

I know that, of course.

Do you still not want to do it?

You're embarrassed?

I'm not embarrassed. I just don't really like to stand out, I guess.

It's way too late for that.

Even when I was a freshman, I didn't really want to do it.

Yet you won two years in a row! You're obviously the top choi—

My friends kept entering me without telling me.

I was an underclassman then, so I didn't have the courage to refuse.

And so I just got dragged into it.

I never wanted to do it, but...

Let's stop right here, Ogiso-san.

Hey!

No matter what you say now,

for the last two years, you've entered the contest and were the undisputed winner.

That's...

Saying you regret that is rude to your friends,

who entered you because they wanted more people to know about you,

to all your fans who voted for you,

and to all the people who were happy you won.

If you don't want to do it, just say, "I don't want to do it this year."

I'm sorry, but we can't take away your past victories.

Cut it out!

Sorry, Ogiso.

He's persuasive, but he's got a bad habit of lecturing everybody.

Chikashi.

It's okay!

I'm the one in the wrong.

The Committee President is right.

I hadn't thought about that.

No, I'm not the Committee—

You're right.

The people who chose me had hopes for me.

The people who voted for me were happy for me.

So you understand, Ogiso?

I'm sorry for being selfish.

What?

This isn't what I'd heard about her.

She's really good-natured.

Okay, now that that's settled, I'll see you in the contest—

We'll cancel your entry.

It's okay?

Of course it's okay.

The most important condition for entering is that you want to.

If you don't want to, of course we'll cancel.

Haruki, what did you come here to accomplish?

I came here to stop you from steamrolling her, of course.

Did you forget that the school fair is supposed to be fun?

Then stop lecturing people.

You're such a windbag.

Okay, people, gather!

We're having an emergency meeting.

What are we going to do, Kitahara?

If Ogiso-san's not entering, we can't have a contest!

Which is why we're going to discuss how to deal with that.

Listen...

Deal with it?

We don't have time for that.

It's almost 5:00.

Do your sleeping at home.

New message from Takeya Iizuka

Sorry, I've got a date, so I'm leaving. Close up Music Room 1 for me, would you?

For some reason, Houjou University High has three music rooms.

This is Music Room 1, the one we always use.

And in the new building facing this one is the huge Music Room 3,

which is just for music students.

She's still here.

And next to this room is Music Room 2.

This classroom is for private practices,

and it's only used by the top students.

It's nothing but a target of jealousy for the normal students,

but I have no problem with the elite student who practices piano there.

'Cause... listen.