Hotaru: Hello! Welcome to the podcast!

*silence*

Hotaru: *exasperated* Guuyss, say ‘hello!’

Natsuhiko: Oh! Um, hello!

Etsuko: Hey everyone!

Hotaru: *uplifted* That’s the spirit! 

Natsuhiko: Um, Hotaru?

Hotaru: What?

Natsuhiko: *A little confused* Why did you want us to be a part of this podcast?

Etsuko: Yeah, you just dragged us into this.

Hotaru: I was getting there…

Hotaru: You guys are like, my best friends and I didn’t want to do a podcast by myself because I figured that that would be, y’know, lonely.

Etsuko: What is this podcast even called? And what are we gonna be talking about?

Hotaru: Well it's called-- *realizes*

*silence except for the shuffling of feet*

Natsuhiko: Yeah? What is it?

Hotaru: *sheepish* I uh… forgot to give it a name… heh heh… Silly me.

Etsuko: *facepalm* you didn’t name it before going live?

Hotaru: *offended* Hey! We all make mistakes, Etsuko!

Natsuhiko: Yeah, it’s okay! Lets just name it now! What if we get suggestions from the people listening to this podcast?

*pause*

Etsuko: *looking through the suggestions* Okay, so… they suggest we combine all our names into one or something.

Hotaru: Okay, so… The Natsu-Hota-Tsuko Podcast?

*short pause to consider the idea*

Hotaru: Nah.

Natsuhiko: Doesn’t really sound right.

Etsuko: Hmm… Well, what do we talk about in this podcast?

Hotaru: Well, what I plan on talking about, I was thinking, was kinda just sharing about our personal experiences and whatever was really on my mind?

Natsuhiko: *snaps his fingers, cool idea comes to his mind* What about the After-school Podcast! Since we’re recording this live after school!

Etsuko: Hey, that could actually work. I like that. Nice job, Natsuhiko!

Natsuhiko: *touched* Th-thanks!

Hotaru: I do like it, but what if we’re podcasting on the weekends?

Etsuko: Wait, what’s the schedule for the podcast?

Hotaru: Schedule?

Etsuko: Well, on other podcasts, they usually have a certain day or days that they podcast live. Like every Monday and/or Tuesday or something like that.

Hotaru: Hey, that’d be a good idea!

Etsuko: What do you mean?

Hotaru: I um… didn’t know we had to have a schedule…

Etsuko: *facepalm* So we’re just recording our voices live, right now, using your phone, with people listening to us, and we’re completely unprepared?

Hotaru: Um… yeah?

Etsuko: *double facepalm* Okay, so what if we just have a new episode to the podcast every…

*everyone takes a moment to think*

Natsuhiko: What about on weekends? That way we won’t have to worry about schoolwork or anything like that?

Etsuko: That’s a good idea, but some of us have stuff going on during the weekends, and I also like to take the time to take it easy and get breaks from school.

Natsuhiko: Actually, what if we meet up on weekends to talk about the week’s episode and we do our podcast after school on maybe only one day a week?

Hotaru: Yeah! Good idea! I think we need to keep our schoolwork and podcasting balanced, so yeah, I agree with Natsuhiko! Where would we meet up though?

Etsuko: What if we do your parents’ bakery?

Natsuhiko: Oh yeah! I nearly forgot your parents own a bakery!

Hotaru: Yeah, we could do that! Well, I’ll have to talk to them about it, but I’m sure they won’t mind!

Etsuko: Yeah! Which day of the week would we do it though? We need to make sure it doesn’t interfere with any of our club activities, and we need to make sure it works for all three of us, too.

Natsuhiko: Maybe Wednesday, because it’s the middle point of the week. I was also thinking maybe Fridays too. So then we could wish everyone a happy weekend!

Hotaru: You have really good ideas, Natsuhiko. Maybe you should take over as the After-School Podcast’s president!

Etsuko: Wait, we're going with ‘After-School Podcast’ as the name? I mean I like it but like what’s our schedule again and like shouldn’t we like-- I’m so confused…

Natsuhiko: President?

Etsuko: Yeah! The After-School Podcast has to have a leader!

Natsuhiko: Wouldn’t Hotaru be the president of the After-School Podcast? Since like, he created the concept?

Hotaru: Yeah, I mean typically, but I’ll step down as president, since there’s obviously better people for that role. I can just be the VP.

Natsuhiko: *flattered* Th-thank you Hotaru, really, but I’ll have to politely turn down that offer.

Hotaru: What? But why? I mean, you have all these great ideas for this, and you’re definitely a thousand times more prepared than I am. You’d be great!

Natsuhiko: Thank you, really, I’m flattered. But I’m not exactly all that good at speaking, and I’m really not all that great at preparing for these kinds of things…

Hotaru: I’m sure you’d be amazing!

Etsuko: Yeah, I agree with Hotaru, but if you don’t want to, it’s up to you.

Natsuhiko: I…

*pause*

Natsuhiko: *quietly* I’ll do it..

Hotaru: Okay, Boss! What are we gonna do?

Natsuhiko: *slowly gaining more confidence* I think…. We should start by picking out our schedule!

Etsuko: Okay, so remind me what our schedule is? I already forgot..

Hotaru: We’re gonna meet up on the weekends, and then on one specific day of the week, we’ll go live and talk about what’s going on in our lives?

Etsuko: Sounds great. Which day of the week?

Natsuhiko: How about… somewhere after, but not too far after, when we meet up to talk about it on the weekends? Because then during those meet-ups, we can plan out the whole podcast.

Etsuko: Sounds like a plan!

Etsuko: Do you think we should do it on Mondays after school? Because it’s right after the weekends, and then we can wish everyone to have a good week, too! And we get to keep the name ‘After-School Podcast’, too!

Hotaru: Yeah! That sounds like a really good idea!

Natsuhiko: Yeah, good idea Etsuko.

Hotaru: So, do we have the After-School Podcast all set up?

Etsuko: Uh… I think so.

Hotaru: So then, should we start back up?

Natsuhiko: What?

Hotaru: Restart the intro!

Natsuhiko: Okay then…

*pause*

Hotaru: *whispers* and 1, 2, 3…

Hotaru: *normal volume* Welcome…

All three: To the After-School Podcast!

Natsuhiko: *still sounding slightly unsure of himself* I’m Natsuhiko, the president of the After-School Podcast!

Hotaru: I’m Hotaru, the founder and vice president!

Etsuko: And I’m Etsuko the… wait, what am I?

Hotaru: Uh… you can be the secretary!

Etsuko: And I’m the secretary!

Natsuhiko: We podcast new episodes every Monday, starting the week off strong!

Hotaru: We talk about whatever really happens in our lives, and kind of just whatever we want. The three of us are really good friends who really like to have a laugh and enjoy life!

Etsuko: But don’t think we don’t take this seriously!

Hotaru: We do like to make jokes and mess around, though. 

Etsuko: Hotaru, you’re making us sound bad…

Hotaru: What? It’s true! And you mess around most of all.

Etsuko: *taken aback* What? I do not! I’m the one who got this club organized! You know what? Whatever… I’m over it. *frustrated sigh*

Natsuhiko: Anyway… 

Natsuhiko: Even though we like to mess around sometimes, we are still super committed. Honestly, I’d say Etsuko is the most committed. Personally, I feel like Etsuko deserves to be president instead of me.

Etsuko: *surprised and slightly flattered* Wait, really? No, Natsuhiko, you’re the best person for that role. Totally.

Natsuhiko: *starting off quietly* Well, I have a lot to learn about being president, since I’ve never really been a leader of anything, *gathering confidence and volume* but I’m gonna try my absolute hardest to be the best president After-School Podcast has ever seen!

*Etsuko and Hotaru are clapping*

Hotaru: *cheering* Nicely said Boss!

Etsuko: I feel really pumped up now! Honestly, I can’t wait for Monday’s podcast!

Natsuhiko: Oh yeah, that reminds me.

Etsuko: Yeah?

Natsuhiko: Would the next podcast count as episode 1, since this episode is kinda just *mimics explosion*?

Etsuko: I mean I guess. Since this episode was kinda just us being completely unprepared and disorganized. Gosh, I’m so embarrassed…

Hotaru: It’ll be fine! Yeah, let’s just call this episode a practice episode! Like, we’re just gettin’ the feel of what it’s like to be podcasters!

Etsuko: Is ‘podcasters’ even a word?

*Natsuhiko types on his phone*

Natsuhiko: I googled it. It is.

Etsuko: Huh, whatd’ya know.

Natsuhiko: Well? Should we end with our closing outro?

Etsuko: What even is our outro?

Hotaru: Let’s just figure it out along the way!

Etsuko: Sounds like a bad idea, but okay.

*pause*

Hotaru: Well, that is it for today’s episode of our After-School Podcast!

Natsuhiko: I really hope you enjoyed your time here!

Etsuko: And we hope to see you again next time!

All three: *completely out of sync and each say a different goodbye* See you later!-- Bai bai!-- Have a good day!

*pause*

Etsuko: Aaaanndd scene.

Natsuhiko: *can be heard leaning back on his chair as the legs scrape against the floor* That was a little stressful..

Hotaru: Yeah, tell me about it.

Natsuhiko: We need to work on the outro.

Etsuko: Definitely.

Hotaru: Uh guys?

Natsuhiko and Etsuko: What Hotaru?

Hotaru: We’re still recording..

Etsuko: Then turn it off!

Hotaru: How?

Natsuhiko: Well, how did you start recording?

Etsuko: If you were able to start recording, you can stop recording.

Hotaru: By pressing this button--