High School, Chapter 5

High School, Chapter 5 is a chapter of the sixth volume of the K-ON! Manga by Kakifly.

Summary
The Sakuragaoka High School Light Music Club is going on their first training camp with their new members. Whereas as the last two times, Tsumugi couldn't book her family's largest villa, this time, Sumire has managed to book it for the weekend. And like every other training camp, the girls are more keen to run around, explore, and have fun rather than actually practice.

Nao is actually the only one puzzled as to why everyone bought swimsuits to a supposed 'training camp', since she didn't bring her own. Somehow, Sawako Yamanaka shows up to save the day, having brought spares, but Sumire just leads Nao to where the spare swimsuits are kept in the villa.

Everyone heads out to the beach, but Azusa and Sawako decide to sit this one out - UV light is their mortal enemy. Luckily, Ui came prepared with sunscreen. Azusa lies out in the sun for just a moment, while Ui figures out how to open the bottle, but by the time it's opened, Azusa is already sun burnt. Sitting alone on the beach with Sawako, Azusa opens up that even though she's now the club president, she can't act the part. Sawako reassures her that if Ritsu could do it, anyone can.

Later that day, they get to the villa's studio to start practice. Nao has written some new music and lyrics, but she has one burning concern. The band still doesn't have a vocalist. Sumire suggests that since Nao is the only one without an instrument, she should do vocals. Nao explains a hidden truth to her club - she actually loves to sing. One time, she even went to karaoke with her younger brothers, but for some reason they don't seem to want to go back with her. They all quickly realise she can't sing and swipe the microphone away from her before she makes their ears bleed.

Jun also can't do vocals, since she never remembers the lyrics. Sumire has enough on her plate on the drums. And Ui thinks that if she takes vocals, Azusa will just call her some kind of machine again. That leaves us only with classic, hopeless Azusa. Jun starts tugging at some strings. This is something that only the club president can do, right? Sawako pulls up by the piano to give Azusa some vocal training by matching notes. It's hard at first, but eventually, Azusa gets the hang of it.

At the end of the day, Nao shows Azusa a new set of lyrics. Azusa really enjoys them, since they truly encapsulate how she's feeling at the moment, and she decides that she'll do her best to sing them. Nao confesses that she's able to be so precise with her lyrics because she's observant and keeps an eye on everyone, and she types writes down everything she sees and hears on her laptop. Maybe it's a bit creepy, but it got the job done.