The cat who suddenly joined halfway through clearly made the girls a little uncomfortable.
Especially Rikki—she frowned as she looked at Raana, her gaze never leaving her.
"Why are you staring at Raana-chan like that?"
In the end, it was Kamijou Mutsuki who spoke up, breaking the slightly awkward atmosphere.
"…Do you want to eat some too?"
"Hah?"
What kind of stupid thing are you saying?
Did he take her for some gluttonous little kid?
To Rikki, words like that from Kamijou Mutsuki were practically mockery.
But before she could retort, she was beaten to the punch.
"Ririko-onee-san, get one for Rikki too. Come to think of it, I did say earlier I'd treat Tomori…"
"…Forget it, one for everyone. Otherwise people might think I can't afford it."
While not to the obsessive level of the cat, girls generally find it hard to refuse sweets like parfaits.
Especially Anon—she'd suffered far too many grievances today. Eating something good to reset her brain sounded just right.
Being able to squeeze some money out of this little punk really wasn't easy.
Rikki hadn't wanted to accept the gesture, but since Tomori had already picked up her spoon, she treated it as compensation for emotional damages.
"I have no issue with the stray cat's skill,"
As the saying goes, eating softens the tongue—but Taki-chan, who never hid her likes or dislikes and always spoke her mind, didn't care about such twists and turns.
"But why do you get to decide the band's lineup so casually? Even for a manager, aren't you overstepping?"
As a RiNG employee, Rikki was well aware of the cat's level—Raana joining their band was more than sufficient.
What she was unhappy about was this:
On what grounds did Kamijou Mutsuki get to decide who joined the band?
This wasn't really about personal dislike toward him. She just didn't want the band she shared with Tomori to become someone else's toy.
"Taki-chan, don't say it like that. Kamijou-kun is doing this for the band."
Soyo smiled, as if she were speaking up for Kamijou Mutsuki—as if.
"But I also think… having two guitarists is a bit redundant."
"If we're adding a new member… wouldn't it be better to choose a different instrument? Like a keyboardist, for example?"
With the scheme Soyo was playing, even Sakiko—back home cleaning up beer cans—could probably hear it.
"I trust Mutsuki."
Unlike Rikki and Soyo, Tomori took a clear and unwavering stance on Kamijou Mutsuki's side.
That was just the kind of person Tomori was—once she trusted someone, she would never doubt them.
"Um… I also think adding another guitarist isn't a bad thing."
Unexpectedly, even Anon sided with Kamijou Mutsuki.
Mainly because among the four band members, three were veterans of the former group—she, as an outsider, felt out of place. With another cat around, at least she'd have some company.
"Tomori, you…"
Being stabbed in the back by Tomori yet again, Rikki was honestly close to breaking.
This time she really hadn't been acting on personal emotion—she just wanted to help Tomori fight for control over the band.
And recalling how Tomori seemed to defend Kamijou Mutsuki every single time, Rikki suddenly felt utterly dispirited.
But as a dutiful Rikki, there was no way she could blame Tomori.
So she silently added another mark against Kamijou Mutsuki in her heart.
This grudge—I'll remember it! (sad)
With Rikki switching sides, the situation had already become crystal clear.
Although Soyo didn't want another person obstructing her grand plan to revive the old band, she could only pinch her nose and agree to the cat's addition.
As for the cat herself, she showed no negative emotions whatsoever over the discussion. Instead, she ate her parfait while watching Kamijou Mutsuki's profile with interest.
"An interesting man…"
Recalling the conversation Kamijou Mutsuki had yesterday with Soyo and Anon, the corners of the cat's mouth curved into an adorable, catlike smile.
"Alright, since the band issue is settled, let's start talking about the real business."
Finally, it had come to this!
Just to make an anime, it really hadn't been easy for him!
Throwing himself into a black hole, all for that half-step against fate!
After that, he told the girls about the animation voice-acting project.
For Anon and Soyo, who already knew about it, there was no need to explain much. Tomori, of course, would never refuse Kamijou Mutsuki. As for the cat, she only needed to be offered parfaits as tribute. The only difficult one was Rikki…
"Why should I help you?"
The girl crossed her arms and spoke bluntly.
"We're a band, not voice actors. Why should we help you dub your animation?"
She could begrudgingly accept him as a manager, but that didn't mean she was willing to do free labor.
"Do you dare defy me, who holds Tomori?"
That one arrogant line from Taki-chan nearly made Kamijou Mutsuki break down on the spot.
"You—"
Using Tomori to threaten her directly—so he wasn't even pretending anymore?
"Taki-chan, you wouldn't want Tomori to be bullied by me, right?"
Kamijou Mutsuki once again put an arm around Tomori's shoulders, smiling at Rikki, looking exactly like a sleazy blond villain from some darker genre.
"..."
Her fists clenched—really clenched!
As the direct victim, Rikki wanted nothing more than to fight this blond bastard to the death right then and there.
But what truly chilled her heart was that even after Kamijou Mutsuki said something like that, Tomori showed no reaction at all.
Tomori, why are you just watching?
"Tomori, he's saying things like this, you—"
Clinging to her last shred of hope, Rikki looked at Tomori, hoping she'd finally see the blond's true nature.
"Rikki… can you help Mutsuki?"
"..."
The light completely drained from Rikki's eyes. Her heart was dead.
She'd finally let herself be moved for once—and she lost this thoroughly!
"If Rikki really doesn't want to…"
Tomori wanted to help Kamijou Mutsuki, but she wouldn't force Taki because of it.
However, seeing Tomori's dejected expression, Rikki—who had just given up—immediately felt her heart ache again.
"…It's not like I'm that unwilling."
Fine. Worst case, the kid takes my surname.
As long as Tomori is happy, that's enough (╥_╥)
"…I'll agree. For Tomori's sake."
In that moment, even Heath Ledger's acting seemed clumsy by comparison.
Shotaro lowered his head in shame, crying out that you were Philip's true best partner.
Nearby, Anon ate her parfait and silently sighed.
That miserable-looking woman was actually her bandmate—this was really embarrassing.
"An interesting woman~"
That was the cat's evaluation.
And having finally gathered everyone together, Kamijou Mutsuki naturally didn't want to wait any longer. Since picking a day was worse than striking now, he suggested they go try recording today.
And just like that, the still somewhat dazed girls were tricked into getting into his car.
"So where are we recording? I know a studio with pretty reasonable prices."
Even with everyone inside, the modified Maybach 62S didn't feel cramped at all. Anon looked curiously at Kamijou Mutsuki as she made the suggestion.
Although Saint Anon was a rich girl, she was indeed the thrifty type.
"No need. We're not going to a recording studio."
Not going to a studio—then where were they recording?
Just as Anon was puzzled by Kamijou Mutsuki's reply, the car arrived at its destination.
Then she noticed that his destination seemed to be a tall office building—over ten stories—bearing a sign that read Houbun Animation.
The receptionist at the front desk seemed to notice the group gathered at the entrance and walked straight over.
Still slow to react, Anon thought they were about to be chased away, and instinctively stepped in front of Kamijou Mutsuki to apologize.
Then she saw the receptionist's expression clearly turn respectful, as she addressed the boy beside her with a "President."
"..."
Anon stiffly turned her neck and looked at Kamijou Mutsuki.
Bro… you actually run an animation company?
..........
For advance chapters: [email protected]/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)