[Saisho no hitoshizuku ni kao ageta kyō no boku o.]
...
[Sotto nigekonde ita.]
...
[(Asufaruto somete iku afuredashita sukōru.)]
...
In Houbunsha Animation's recording studio, this newly formed band was fully immersed in performing the song called Hitoshizuku, and the result was unexpectedly… pretty good!
Tomori had once had the dark history of failing to get her voice out during her first performance, forcing Miss Soyo to return to her original profession—doing comedy talk to save the scene.
But perhaps because this was a recording studio and not an official live performance, Tomori surprisingly—or rather, inevitably—didn't drop the ball this time. In fact, she even performed above expectations.
…Though could she maybe not keep staring at him the whole time while singing?
He didn't even dare to move.
The genius guitarist Cat played at her usual level. Soyo and Taki, just as he had expected, were able to barely keep up. Only Anon was truly surprising—within a short time, she even seemed able to match Cat blow for blow.
Of course, this "surprise," in Kamijou Mutsuki's eyes, was simply "as expected."
Although MyGO!!!!! hadn't even aired yet, the system had been generous enough to grant something like a starter pack of seed funding.
Not much, but enough—enough to exchange for the "Beginner Anon Sticker" currently stuck on Ano-chan's forehead.
It allowed the user to possess less than 30% of Chihaya Anon's theoretical peak guitar skills for 15 minutes—an extremely underwhelming item by most standards.
But when used by the person herself, the effect could reach 50%, and the duration was an astonishing three full hours—a twelvefold increase—making Kamijou Mutsuki suspect that sticker-type items were specifically designed for the originals.
At the very least, it temporarily solved Ano-chan's problem, preventing her from being kicked out of the band she had just formed on day one and becoming a withdrawal-route protagonist.
Of course, this was limited to today only. From tomorrow onward, she'd have to rely on her own effort.
As for the overall future performance of the MyGO!!!!! band, it could only be described as passable—for a first time, anyway.
But it didn't matter.
He would step in.
That was a matter for later. For now, he wanted to properly enjoy MyGO!!!!!'s first-ever performance. The employees behind him were practically on the verge of tears from happiness.
So this is company benefits are like?
With benefits like this, they'd gladly pay out of pocket just to come to work!
"Kamijou-kun."
Just as everyone was savoring MyGO!!!!!'s first battle, The Sakiko-sensei—thoroughly lacking in tact—walked over.
"If there's nothing else for me to do, I'll take my leave first."
Her polite tone couldn't hide the wavering and pain in her eyes.
Tomori and the others had moved on from the past and formed a new band. She should be blessing them and feeling happy for them.
So why did her chest feel so unbearably heavy?
In the end, everything had come too fast, too suddenly, leaving her no time even to put on a brave face and offer her congratulations.
"Don't leave yet. I still need you for what comes next."
Kamijou Mutsuki glanced at The Sakiko-sensei, seemingly seeing through her current state of mind.
But… this was only the beginning!
As if thinking of something pleasant, the boy's lips curved slightly upward.
"..."
Having been refused, The Sakiko-sensei could only press her lips together and stand beside Kamijou Mutsuki, like a prisoner serving time.
...
[Dakara dakara.]
As the song Shiori came to an end, the girls' performance also reached its conclusion.
"It's over…"
Both songs had miraculously been cleared in a single take. The price, however, was that the girls were almost completely burned out in less than ten minutes. As the drummer, Taki-chan's forehead was already covered in sweat.
"It wasn't as hard as I imagined…"
Even though this was nothing more than soundtrack recording that could hardly be called a live performance, it gave her excitement and exhilaration no less intense than CRYCHIC's first—and last—live.
If it were the current Rikki, she could probably understand Soyo's feelings.
"Tomori, you were really a bit too—"
Almost instinctively, Taki-chan wanted to share her current feelings with her beloved Tomori. But the moment she looked up, she saw the girl she had been thinking about throwing herself into another man's arms.
"Mutsuki, this time… did I disappoint you?"
The girl's eyes were filled with a heartbreaking worry, as if she were afraid of CRYCHIC's disbandment being replayed once more.
"It was amazing—absolutely heavenly!"
Kamijou Mutsuki naturally wouldn't strike at the adorable Tomori.
"That's way too exaggerated…"
Anon complained from the side, savoring the strange sensation brought by the sticker.
Cat wore a satisfied that-was-fun-to-play expression. Only Rikki remained seated where she was, looking like a complete outsider.
Her heart was full of her, yet her eyes held only him.
It hurt. It hurt too much!
"…Both of those were played very well. Next comes the final song."
After soothing Tomori, Kamijou Mutsuki announced the girls' last task for today.
"I believe most of you are very familiar with this one—Haruhikage."
"Haruhikage…"
Hearing that familiar song title spoken by Kamijou Mutsuki, all the girls except Cat and Anon showed very obvious changes in their expressions.
"Um… why does it have to be Haruhikage?"
The one who spoke up at this moment was naturally Miss Nagasaki Soyo. Even the smile on her face looked somewhat forced.
Haruhikage?
This was a song you weren't even allowed to touch.
"Weren't the previous two songs already pretty good? Changing to another song should be fine too, right?"
Haruhikage belonged to CRYCHIC. She didn't want it to be performed by another band.
Especially…
Soyo cast an inconspicuous glance toward Sakiko at the side.
…In front of her.
"It has to be this one. It can't be changed."
Kamijou Mutsuki naturally had no intention of backing down in front of Soyo.
"I think it can be changed."
"I don't care what you think—I care about what I think!"
"And I think Miss Soyo is also hoping to perform this song…"
"…Kamijou-kun's intuition doesn't seem very accurate~"
Soyo seemed to recall how this scummy man had gone straight for a point-blank provocation the moment they met before. The smile on her face became a bit more "kind."
Would she want to perform Haruhikage?
This was simply as ridiculous as saying that her future husband would be this scumbag standing right in front of her!
"This song needs to be sung by the original CRYCHIC members…"
"Haruhikage is an amazing song. Kamijou-kun really has good taste!"
Soyo directly threw her previous thoughts straight out of the window.
"..."
I was wondering why fewer and fewer people were inheriting the intangible cultural heritage of face-changing—turns out you stole all the essence of it!
And just like that, the pressure shifted to Sakiko's side.
"..."
She had never imagined that she would ever perform a song called Haruhikage again—much less together with Tomori and the others.
"Sakiko…"
Mutsumi, standing nearby, showed a worried expression.
"Who would've thought we'd get another chance to perform together? Fate really is something."
It could only be said that The Sakiko-sensei was indeed The Sakiko-sensei. When it came to this sort of thing, the social skills of a working adult were truly beyond what this group of high school girls could match.
The moment all the girls looked toward her, The Sakiko-sensei had already completed her facial expression management.
"Tomori—just this once. I hope we can work well together."
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