"MyGO, time to get on stage!"
Peeking her head in from behind with her signature antenna hair bouncing, Nijika called out cheerfully. But the moment she spotted Haru, she turned bright red and quickly ducked away, leaving the one being "avoided" with a rather complicated look on his face.
Her appearance instantly lit up the eyes of Anon, who had been bickering with Taki. With her usual bubbly energy, Anon dashed over and grabbed Nijika's hand, shaking it excitedly.
"Nijika-senpai! Please watch our performance closely! We're not going to disappoint you this time. And if we ever face Kessoku Band again…"
"We won't lose!"
With a confident smile, the proud pink-haired girl puffed out her chest like the Kanto plains. Her serious expression left Nijika blinking in surprise, but then she gave a playful wink in return.
"Beating us won't be so easy, you know! But first, just make sure this Live goes well, okay?"
Anon glanced at her boyfriend standing nearby, then lifted her chin in pride.
"Of course! This performance is going to be a huge success, one hundred percent!"
"Idiot. Don't make promises before you're even on stage!"
Taki, arms crossed, scolded her as usual. But when her eyes met Nijika's gentle smile, even the sharp-tongued, quick-tempered Taki went quiet. She blushed slightly and gave Nijika a small nod, a bit stiff and awkward.
"Alright then, everyone, do your best out there~"
Grinning brightly, the golden-haired girl waved her fair little hand, stepping out of the prep room with the grace of a forest fairy.
Her warm, sunlit presence left a heartfelt impression on the members of MyGO. Almost in unison, they glanced at their own drummer, the cold beauty, Shiina Taki.
Drummers really do come in all personalities.
"…What's with those looks? You all got a problem with me?"
"Aha… let's get going, everyone?"
Anon flashed a smug grin, trying to dodge the tension. Soyo remained silent, expressionless as ever. Both opted to let it slide.
Even though Taki had grown used to their antics, her mouth still twitched. If anyone so much as teased her later, she'd probably blow up like an angry kitten.
"Alright, let's get on stage."
Haru gave the signal, but the girls didn't move.
Instead, they all stared straight at him.
What… were they all staring for? He knew he was handsome, but this was excessive.
"Harumi, aren't you going to say anything before we go on?"
Hands on her hips, Anon narrowed her pale gray eyes at him. Even Taki and Soyo, who usually took opposite sides, stood firmly united, and even Tomori gave a sincere little nod.
"Wait, what? You're saying you can't go on unless I give a speech?"
He didn't have any kind of words of power buff, like in those games. If he did, he'd have stacked fifty layers of it already, like Ainz Ooal Gown.
But seeing the girls all nod in sync, Haru sighed and gave a small shrug.
"Honestly, I already said most of what I wanted to say back at the school festival."
Still, after a moment's pause, he took a deep breath and added...
"I'll always be behind you. So… just go out there and give it everything you've got."
They were the same words he had said before, but this time, they landed differently. Back then, MyGO was still a fledgling. Now, they had soul.
This time, there were no forced smiles, no nervous tension.
Just silent, serious nods of understanding.
They weren't trying to be more than they were, they were simply showing their full potential, right before his eyes.
"Alright then. Go."
As his quiet words settled into the air, the girls turned without hesitation and headed for the stage.
All except one.
Shiina Taki, drumsticks in hand, lingered behind. Her cheeks slightly flushed, a slow, mesmerizing smile formed on her lips. Her violet eyes glanced back at him, the little teardrop mole beneath one eye adding to her unique charm.
By the time he registered her glance, she had already turned away, masking her smile and slipping out like a shadow.
Leaving Haru standing there, dumbfounded.
I thought we were bros, and now you're flirting with me...
Wait. Actually, he'd stopped thinking of Taki as "one of the bros" a long time ago.
"…Seriously."
Haru gave a small, helpless laugh and shook his head.
That glance from Taki was unmistakable. She was telling him to trust her. Back at the school festival, she'd felt like she'd let him down, but not this time.
This time, she would prove herself.
After all, he had once told her she was the one he trusted most.
Maybe it was that little smile before she walked away that finally calmed Haru's nerves. He snagged a handful of free candy from the table, stuffed it in his pocket, and casually made his way toward the concert hall.
…
For MyGO, this was their first time performing in Shimokitazawa. Naturally, they weren't well-known at all. STARRY, the venue, was a mid-sized ticketed LiveHouse, not exactly known for high foot traffic.
If there were no famous bands performing to anchor the show, unknown bands like theirs often drew dismal crowds.
But luck was on their side this time. Even after the more popular bands had finished, most of the audience stuck around. After all, they were already there, might as well watch the rest, right?
This casual, indifferent attitude was worlds apart from the feverish energy of a place like RiNG.
Still, the girls on stage didn't seem the least bit nervous. If anything, the mood had settled their hearts.
Microphone in hand, Tomori took a deep breath. Her eyes, burning with resolve, swept across the crowd.
"Hello, everyone. We're a band performing in Shimokitazawa for the first time."
"This is our debut here. We were still practicing right up until we went on stage… but we promise to deliver our songs to you with everything we've got!"
"Our first song is, Blooming Blue Snowflower!"
The girls didn't say another word. They launched straight into the difficult opening of the song, and the energy shift was instant.
Watching from the crowd, Nijika gasped, mouth slightly open.
She turned to Ryo and tapped her shoulder excitedly.
"Ryo, look! Look at them!"
"Lights and the others are totally different this time… They had so many problems during the culture festival, but it's only been two weeks, and they've improved this much?!"
Ryo kept her usual cool, staring straight ahead. But this time, something about her was… off.
This wasn't her usual deadpan, poker-faced look.
It was something colder. More distant.
Even Nijika, her closest friend, didn't notice the subtle shift under the dim lighting.
To an outsider, Ryo might seem like a proud, aloof eccentric. Someone confident, distant, and unconcerned with the ordinary. It appeared as though nothing in the world, save for her bandmates, could ever leave a mark on her.
But this one song, Blooming Blue Snowflower, meant something completely different to her.
Because it was a relic left behind by the Haru of her dream, just before he passed away.
And yet, the first time this song had been performed publicly… it had been during a terrible, failed show.
"…"
Ryo stood watching MyGO pour their hearts into their instruments on stage, their emotions flooding into the crowd. Her golden eyes, filled with a frosty gleam, slowly closed.
Maybe it was the feelings swirling inside her, too complicated to describe, that made it impossible for her to stay any longer.
So she turned and walked toward the exit of the LiveHouse, under Nijika's puzzled gaze.
"Ryo, where are you going?"
"…Just stepping out for a bit."
Because Ryo simply couldn't bear the feeling of losing something precious.
But then, she stopped in her tracks.
Lifting her head with a conflicted expression, the blue-haired girl suddenly found herself understanding what Nijika must have felt back then.
That pain, that unbearable feeling of suppressing love deep inside and yet, Nijika had still smiled, still clapped, still offered her blessings, giving up her own happiness willingly.
"Are they all idiots or something?"
She muttered under her breath, expression unreadable. Before she could reach out, the iron door in front of her was pulled open by someone else.
A soft breeze brought with it the faint scent of gardenias. A poised girl with long, shoulder-length light blue hair and twin tails stepped through, brushing past Ryo.
Their eyes met for a fleeting instant, and in that moment, both recognized each other.
The blue-haired girl gave a small, polite nod, then continued past her like the wind, leaving Ryo standing still.
"…"
Just then, a petite green-haired girl followed the first into the venue.
Her face was even more expressionless than Ryo's, like a carefully sculpted doll devoid of emotion. But when their eyes met, the gaze between her and Ryo lingered noticeably longer than the one before.
While Ryo and Sakiko might have merely known each other and not even to the extent of rivals in Ryo's mind, Wakaba Mutsumi was another matter entirely.
Especially since the two had previously exchanged information and formed a tentative alliance of sorts.
But when it came to the "harem" problem, Mutsumi had made a choice that was the exact opposite of Ryo's.
"…I see."
From the way Mutsumi looked at Sakiko, Ryo seemed to catch a glimpse of something.
It might seem like the doll-like girl had chosen a path totally different from Ryo's. But at their core, perhaps they weren't so different. Passive as Mutsumi appeared, she was already putting her decision into action.
She really was impressive.
At that moment, little Mutsumi had no idea what Ryo was thinking. Once inside STARRY, her full attention locked onto the girls performing on stage.
Sakiko furrowed her brow slightly, watching from the crowd. She scanned the venue as if looking for something.
"Haru… where is he?"
"What, were you thinking about me?"
Like a heroic spirit summoned by her thoughts, Haru suddenly emerged from the crowd, catching both girls off guard. The sudden appearance made Sakiko jump.
She patted her chest repeatedly, trying to calm her startled heart, then gave him a playful scowl.
"Really now, if you keep doing things like that, people are going to get the wrong idea."
You look like you're enjoying it plenty, though.
Suppressing a sigh, Haru silently teased her in his mind. Then, like a magician, he pulled out a warm can of red bean soup from behind his back and handed it to Sakiko. The warmth of the aluminum seeped into her cool, pale hands.
That small, thoughtful gesture brought a gentle softness to Sakiko's eyes.
"Mutsumi, this one's for you."
As her boyfriend, Haru wasn't about to ignore his precious girlfriend.
Under Sakiko's sharp gaze, he took out another can, mango juice and handed it to the doll-like Mutsumi. She accepted it with a small nod and the faintest movement of her lips.
If Sakiko hadn't been watching, Haru might have tried to sneak a kiss from Mutsumi right then and there.
To Sakiko, the affection between them felt… foreign.
Still, she said nothing. Used to Haru's attentiveness and Mutsumi's emotionless expressions, she merely gave a breezy reply.
"Buying drinks at a LiveHouse… seems like a bit of a waste. I really can't just accept it."
A polite lie.
Having known Sakiko for so long, Haru could read her like a book. He played along, rubbing his chin in mock dilemma.
"If you don't take it, I'll be in trouble. If we let the red bean soup go cold, that'd be a waste too."
Sakiko's eyes twinkled with amusement, but she simply sighed as if reluctantly giving in.
"…In that case, I'll accept it for now. But next time, let me treat you."
This gentle back-and-forth was something unique to them, like a never-ending game of tug-of-war.
If Mutsumi hadn't been there acting as a little third wheel, Sakiko probably would have allowed herself a bit more physical affection.
Still, for all his teasing, Haru was incredibly attentive when it came to girls. That attention to detail… wasn't something that belonged to her alone.
Mutsumi had grown close to the boy she loved, without her even noticing.
And now, Sakiko feared that one day, Mutsumi might become another Uika.
She was already struggling with Uika as it was. If her most trusted "other half" became another rival for his heart…
Then she truly didn't know what she would do.
No. Even if that happens… I won't give up.
"Sakiko, what do you think of their performance?"
Haru's calm question brought her back to the present.
Only then did Sakiko turn her full attention to the stage.
If not for Haru and Mutsumi inviting her, she probably would have never come to watch another show like this.
The last time she'd seen them perform at the school festival, it had left her deeply disappointed.
But this time…
This performance genuinely surprised her.
It had only been two weeks since that failure, yet Takamatsu Tomori and the others had brought the song to life. Their skill, their unity, even their stage presence, it was a world apart from what she had seen before.
The performance was so good, it almost made one wonder if the last failure had been intentional.
"This time they're definitely much better than before. That said… this song still has room to improve."
"Don't always look at things from a 'professional' perspective. For a group just starting to take their band seriously, this is already a huge success. Before long, they'll keep getting better, until they can stand on the same stage as Ave Mujika."
Haru, whose expression had been neutral until now, broke into a smile. Under the gaze of the two girls beside him, he spoke in a relaxed, cheerful tone, almost like a playful rebuttal.
As if he too stood on that stage, not just the girls.
"To stand on the same stage as Ave Mujika…"
Sakiko took a deep breath. She didn't deny the possibility.
On the surface, it might have sounded like Haru was casually using Ave Mujika, something the two of them had built together, as an example. But Sakiko could tell he was subtly using it to probe her stance. He'd invited her here today, after all, to help ease the tension between them.
If she had responded coldly, Haru would've likely taken the hint and backed off. But Sakiko also understood, he was only doing this for her sake.
And honestly, there wasn't much reason to keep things so strained anymore.
She had once carried a deep guilt and sense of responsibility for hurting Tomori. But over time, that guilt had twisted into frustration and anger, fueled by Soyo's constant pestering.
What started as remorse had turned into irritation and resentment. And once it got to that point, there was no room left for connections with her former CRYCHIC bandmates.
But now… Soyo really had let go of CRYCHIC.
They'd all let go of the past, walking forward on new paths, standing beside Haru and choosing to look to the future.
That thought brought a long sigh from Sakiko's lips. After a moment's hesitation, she finally spoke in a low voice.
"…Once their set is over, I'll go say something to them."
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