First Performances and the School Festival

Ho-kago Tea Time prepares for its earliest live shows, culminating in nervous but heartfelt performances at the school cultural festival.

With the club secured, the focus shifts to the girls actually performing as a band, which they name Ho-kago Tea Time (After School Tea Time). This stretch follows their first attempts at songwriting, with Mio quietly producing most of the lyrics and the group fumbling toward a real setlist. The school cultural festival becomes a recurring emotional centerpiece: the girls fight stage fright, equipment trouble and their own inexperience to perform in front of classmates. Mio's crippling shyness produces some of the manga's most memorable moments, while Yui's tendency to forget everything from chords to her own guitar keeps the stakes comedic rather than tense. These performances matter because they transform the club from a cozy social space into a genuine band with shared goals. The festival shows are not about virtuosity but about the courage it takes to stand in front of people you know and play something you made together. By the end of this section, Ho-kago Tea Time has tasted real applause, and the friendships that began over tea have become something the girls are willing to work and sweat for.