"Then maybe Anon is just not in a good state today?"
That really sounded like a joke, and obviously a lie like that had no way of convincing Taki.
After all, Anon's performance yesterday had been on par with Noraneko—compared to today, it was like two completely different people.
Speaking of cats—this Persian cat, upon seeing Kamijou Mutsuki, immediately came over and stuffed a piece of candy into his hand.
Seeing this, Kamijou Mutsuki didn't think twice and directly popped the candy into his mouth.
Tch—matcha flavor. He frowned slightly.
"..."
Watching him eat it, the cat fell silent.
So you just ate my candy, huh?
Anyone familiar with Noraneko knew that she hadn't intended to treat Kamijou Mutsuki to candy—she'd wanted him to feed her.
A noble Noraneko couldn't stand being wronged. She immediately reached out, trying to snatch the candy back from Kamijou Mutsuki's mouth.
In response, Kamijou Mutsuki only needed to press down on her head, and Noraneko could do nothing but flail her little short arms in futile rage.
But seeing Kamijou Mutsuki teasing the cat like that, Anon completely lost her composure.
She was already being pressured by Taki to the point her scalp was tingling, and she'd been counting on Kamijou Mutsuki to save her—yet he'd run off to tease a cat?
In a sense, this band was something Kamijou Mutsuki had helped her put together.
She had even accepted Soyo and Taki and chosen to join this band full of former-C remnants largely out of consideration for Kamijou Mutsuki.
After all, because of a certain someone's involvement, Anon hadn't gone through the experiences she did in the anime.
So now, with Anon being pressured by Taki while Kamijou Mutsuki went off to play with a cat, the imbalance in her heart instantly surfaced.
Seeing how happy he looked felt even worse than being scolded by Taki.
"Stop always picking on me. I'm already working really hard."
Seeing Taki's pressure coming her way again, Anon chose to redirect the trouble elsewhere.
"Speaking of which, Kamijou was late for so long… isn't this guy way too relaxed?"
As Anon said this, she suddenly realized she was genuinely a bit annoyed.
She was over here training hard and getting pressured by Taki, while Kamijou Mutsuki was off on a date with the Tsukinomori young lady.
Thinking of the two of them holding hands earlier, Anon felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
"You're right—but I'm the manager, so I don't need to train, dear~"
That's just how managers are. Anon and the others only needed to give it their all in practice, while he, as the manager, had many more things to consider—like going on a date with Mutsu-chan.
"Calling yourself a manager, I've never seen you actually do anything…"
Hearing Kamijou Mutsuki say that only made Anon feel even more displeased.
"Anon, do you really think my job is as easy as you imagine?"
At this, Kamijou Mutsuki suddenly turned serious and asked in return.
His unexpectedly solemn attitude instead made Anon lose some of her confidence.
Could it be that Kamijou Mutsuki had been quietly putting in a lot of effort in ways she didn't know about?
"…You couldn't possibly imagine how easy I have it."
"Can I hit you?"
Anon felt she would never trust this guy again.
"No!"
Looking at Kamijou Mutsuki's smiling face, she felt a maddening itch in her teeth.
"We're members of the same band—how come you get to do nothing?"
She gave up on finding a reason and tried to drag Kamijou Mutsuki down into it with her.
"You're practicing too!"
"I'm the manager~"
"Manager or not, knowing a bit more about instruments helps with work."
"Or you could learn guitar! I'll teach you!"
Excitement faintly lit up the girl's face. Whatever rain she had endured, Kamijou Mutsuki couldn't skip it.
Even though her own skill wasn't that great, teaching him the basics wouldn't be a problem.
"This… Mutsuki doesn't need it!"
Before Kamijou Mutsuki could respond to Anon's "scheming intent," Mutsumi directly refused on his behalf.
After all, she knew it wasn't about whether he wanted to learn—he had basically said goodbye to instruments for life. Moreover, if Kamijou Mutsuki were to perform at his true level, none of the others combined could even reach his heels.
"Guitar can wait. I'm not suitable for instruments at the moment."
And yet, faced with Anon's mischievous pushing, Kamijou Mutsuki seemed completely unbothered, still smiling.
"Besides, even though I'm just the manager, I know a little about music."
"Let's say… I can sing a bit."
"Sing… you?"
Anon looked doubtful. She clearly remembered Kamijou Mutsuki saying before that he couldn't sing.
So was he just being stubborn?
Soyo, however, didn't doubt it. When this guy sang Haruhikage, he was just as good as Tomori-chan.
Uh-oh, bad memories were coming back!
"Really? Then maybe sing for us, Mr. Manager?"
With certainty in her heart, Anon said this in a slightly teasing tone.
"Why not?"
Seeing this, Kamijou Mutsuki raised an eyebrow, a faint, inexplicable smile tugging at his lips.
Wait, is he serious?
But soon, Anon's expression turned excited.
Since he wanted to embarrass himself, that was on him!
"There's a private room right next door—shall we go now?"
Kamijou Mutsuki didn't mind, but Taki frowned.
"Chihaya, we still need to practice…"
Why were they suddenly off to play?
"Balancing work and play is the only way to be efficient,"
Anon had a point.
"And being happy in the band is the most important thing—this is only the first day, no need to be so strict."
Though the main reason was to see Kamijou Mutsuki's antics, avoiding practice was also part of it.
She had only wanted to slack off, but Taki acted as if they were going to a competition tomorrow.
That serious look was even scarier than the teachers at school.
Seeing that Tomori-chan, Soyo, and the others were just as serious, the isolated Taki had no choice but to agree.
"By the way, I usually don't listen to boys' songs… Kamijou, can you sing Sumimi's songs?"
Perhaps excited at the prospect of finally uncovering Kamijou Mutsuki's dark history, Anon looked thrilled.
She fiddled with the tablet for selecting songs as she asked.
"Does Anon really want to hear me sing that badly?"
The girl didn't realize that this was actually someone's final act of mercy.
"If you can't do it, there's no need to force yourself~"
At this moment, Miss Anon was clearly feeling a bit overconfident.
"I happen to have an original song here,"
In this world.
"Noraneko, accompany me, please."
He had just successfully won over Noraneko with a cup of matcha parfait.
Kamijou Mutsuki said this, handing the sheet music to Noraneko.
"?"
Seeing the paper with the three large characters for "marriage certificate" written on it, a question mark appeared above Noraneko's head.
Clearly, for a cat, it was a bit difficult to understand what was in her paws.
"This is… what are you planning to do with a stray cat?"
Seeing that Noraneko still hadn't reacted, Taki leaned over, instantly blushing.
Good grief, you're even going after cats? Are you even human?
Noraneko: Meow meow meow?
"Sorry, took the wrong one."
Seeing this, Kamijou Mutsuki quickly replaced it with the correct sheet music for Noraneko.
There were just too many things in his arms, easy to grab the wrong one by mistake.
With the correct sheet music, the genius Noraneko quickly read through it, then picked up the guitar.
Everything ready, Kamijou Mutsuki, smiling, cast a final glance at Anon, and shakily brought the microphone to his lips.
Seeing this, Miss Anon felt an inexplicable chill run through her.
As Noraneko's prelude began, Kamijou Mutsuki slowly started to sing.
"..."
PS: Guess what the protagonist is going to sing? (A B's fanfic spin-off)
PS2: Actually, I hadn't planned to write this part now—mainly because the previous solo Mutsumi emotional scenes felt boring—but it seems I wrote too much anyway. This part of the story is only about a chapter left; the animation can air tomorrow.
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