"But…"
Facing her childhood friend who was clearly forcing herself to be strong, Mutsumi saw through her "true state" at a glance.
"Sakiko… looks like she's about to break."
"You—"
As expected of the Cucumber Sword Princess, she went straight for the jugular the moment she opened her mouth.
Sakiko had still been dropping little pearls of tears just a second ago, but after hearing that, her face immediately flushed red with anger.
"I don't need your concern!"
Maybe because there were so many people present, Sakiko restrained herself somewhat.
But the anger in her eyes still wounded Mutsumi deeply.
"I still have things to do,"
Sakiko swept her gaze across the CRYCHIC girls—especially Tomori, whose eyes were still red as she was held in Kamijō Mutsuki's arms. The pain in her chest only grew heavier.
"…I'll be taking my leave!"
This time, she didn't even wait for Kamijō Mutsuki to respond, turning around and leaving directly.
Yet her retreating figure looked disheveled—more like a panicked escape.
"Huh?"
Soyo, her face still flushed with excitement from pouring her all into Haruhikage, stared at Sakiko's fleeing back in utter confusion.
What just happened?
She had even fantasized that this performance might bring Sakiko back to their shared happiness, make her change her mind, and resurrect CRYCHIC from the dead—so why did Sakiko just run off?
"Wait, Saki-chan…"
No, she finally caught her—she couldn't let her get away!
"Don't go!"
Coming to her senses, Soyo tossed her bass aside and chased after her.
"Saki-chan… Soyo-chan…"
Tomori watched Sakiko and Soyo leave one after another, standing there in a daze.
Oh no—did the band just blow up again?
The scene before her felt exactly like a replay of CRYCHIC's disbandment.
"Don't worry, Sakiko's dad just called her home to cook."
Seeing Tomori about to spiral again, Kamijō Mutsuki patted her head and comforted her.
What a hell-tier joke!
Knowing Sakiko's actual situation, Myaamori and the others all wore extremely complicated expressions.
"It'll be fine."
Kamijō Mutsuki smiled at Tomori.
"Didn't I promise before? On Anon-chan's future."
"I told you not to use my future as a bet!"
The still-confused and worried Anon instantly freaked out.
"Who knows what that person is even thinking?"
Rikki was worried too, but still spoke stubbornly.
"Tomori, we don't need to worry about her."
As she spoke, Taki pulled Tomori out of Kamijō Mutsuki's arms.
No way she was letting this guy keep taking advantage of Tomori!
After Kamijō Mutsuki's reassurance, Tomori finally settled down.
Nothing would happen. Mutsuki had promised her.
She… believed in him.
"It's already pretty late. If there's nothing else, we'll be heading out."
Rikki wanted to get Tomori away from this scumbag as soon as possible.
"Wait a moment—this is your payment for today."
This time, Kamijō Mutsuki didn't let them slip away. He took out envelopes he had prepared in advance and handed them to everyone—including Mutsumi.
After all, even engaged couples had to keep accounts clear.
"Huh? There's pay too?"
Taki looked genuinely shocked. She had thought Kamijō Mutsuki was just exploiting Tomori's goodwill to make them work for free.
But thinking about it again, with Kamijō Mutsuki running such a huge animation company, he obviously wouldn't be short on that bit of money.
The contract was already signed, so of course there was pay.
"If Taki-chan doesn't think of it as wages, you can treat it as an advance celebration for my marriage with Tomori."
Facing Rikki's suspicion, Kamijō Mutsuki smiled calmly. His surname was Kamijō, not Aki.
"You—"
It could only be said that Taki never learned her lesson. One sentence nearly sent her into a rage again, and it was only Tomori speaking up that managed to calm her down.
"Um… isn't the pay a bit too much?"
Probably because she was friends with Kamijō Mutsuki as the boss, she had fewer reservations and directly opened the envelope to take a look at the "pathetic wage" she'd earned.
The envelope looked pretty thick, but she didn't think it would be that much—after all, they hadn't really done much.
But when she took it out, there were thirty-three Fukuzawa Yukichis, each 10,000 yen, all large-denomination bills.
Although Anon was a rich girl, she wasn't a true ojou-sama like Sakiko. Her parents were just high-level salaried workers.
This amount of money already exceeded what many full-time workers earned in two months. Even for her, it was a huge sum.
"This guy is that generous?"
When Taki opened her envelope and found she had 200,000 yen more than Anon, she was instantly shocked.
This was more than what she earned from a whole year of part-time work at RiNG—and the time she'd actually worked today wasn't even half a day. Did voice acting really pay this well?
She suddenly didn't want it anymore. This wasn't secretly money from selling Tomori, was it?
"You voiced three episodes today—45,000 yen per episode. Singing one song is 200,000 yen. The pay is very reasonable."
Hearing this, Myaamori rolled her eyes.
Voice acting was famously a field fueled by love. For normal newcomers, 15,000 yen per episode was already decent. 45,000 yen was basically the upper limit for regular voice actors.
As for 200,000 yen per song for music, that was already beyond the standard rate, brushing up against top-tier territory.
But the boss had always been generous with money, and she also felt that these girls were worth the price.
"Don't worry, this salary level is perfectly reasonable. Otherwise, outsiders might think our Houbun Animation can't even afford to pay wages."
Kamijō Mutsuki's casual tone slightly eased the girls' concerns.
"But for convenience, you should still get bank cards set up. From now on, your pay will be transferred directly."
He called Myaamori over.
"Go see Myaamori and register your personal information."
Although it was mocked as a prime-time melodrama band anime, MyGO!!!!! had still opened up a new path for band anime. It might not be the best-looking among band shows, but it was absolutely the most addictive.
And in this world, there were basically no band anime that could really compete with it—its performance would only be better.
This bit of pay was just the base. The real income would come later.
"Mutsuki…"
Just as the girls were being dragged off by the excited Myaamori, still dazed and thrilled, Mutsumi tugged lightly at his sleeve.
"Sakiko and Soyo… they seem…"
What Mutsumi meant wasn't that they hadn't been paid, but rather her concern for her two closest friends.
"Alright… I'll go take a look, if they haven't left yet."
Hearing Mutsumi's words, Kamijō Mutsuki naturally thought of those two. He wanted to go downstairs to watch—no, to check on their situation.
"I'll… come too!"
-----------------------------------
At this moment, because Soyo kept pulling at her, Sakiko was still lingering downstairs at Houbun Animation.
Sakiko: "Clinging on like this—how ugly."
Being pestered by Soyo made Sakiko forget her sadness altogether. What filled her heart now was only irritation and anger.
Soyo: "I… I just wanted to check on you, Saki-chan. Why were you crying? Did we do something wrong?"
Even while being met with a cold attitude, Soyo still wore a smile on her face.
Sakiko: "This has nothing to do with you! What exactly do you want to say to me?"
Soyo's pinpoint-accurate landmine-stepping only made Sakiko's expression grow even uglier.
Soyo: "I just want to talk to you about CRYCHIC. When we were all singing together just now, Saki-chan must have been happy too, right?"
Sakiko: "This is something you should've forgotten by now."
Seeing that Soyo was still going on with the same old tired lines, Sakiko instantly lost interest.
Soyo: "Why… why would you say something like 'forget'?"
Soyo clearly couldn't accept that.
Soyo: "Wasn't it you who said that a band is a community bound by fate?"
Sakiko: "..."
Soyo: "CRYCHIC was formed by you too, wasn't it? We were so harmonious back then!"
Sakiko: "..."
Soyo: "We were clearly happy every single day, all together… isn't it strange that we suddenly just went our separate ways?"
Sakiko: "CRYCHIC has already disbanded."
She had no interest in listening to Soyo anymore. She pulled open the car door, about to get into the chauffeur-driven car Kamijou Mutsuki had arranged for her.
If she kept wasting time with her, she'd be late for her night shift.
Soyo: "Why?"
Soyo: "I really treasure everyone. I really love everyone."
Sakiko: "..."
Soyo: "I want to go back to how happy we were. Tomori and Rikki want that too. In the end we can call Mutsumi back as well—and then you'll come back too, Sakiko…"
However, before Soyo could finish speaking, the car had already driven off.
Soyo: "Wait—don't go!"
The girl immediately chased after it.
Soyo: "Please, I want CRYCHIC to start again! I've worked so hard all this time just for CRYCHIC…"
Sakiko: "..."
Soyo: "Please! CRYCHIC isn't over yet! What do I have to do for you to come back? Please don't leave!"
Soyo ran as she cried, shouting Sakiko's name at the top of her lungs.
Soyo: "If you're not here, watashi~!"
In the end, exhausted and unable to run any further, Soyo dropped to her knees by the roadside.
Soyo: "Why, Sakiko…"
Behind her, having witnessed almost the entire scene, Kamijou Mutsuki and Mutsumi fell into silence.
"Mutsu-chan, look at her."
This was Kamijou Mutsuki's final evaluation.
"She looks like a dog."
PS: The last segment is inspired by a video on Bilibili titled "Sakiko! Without you how am I supposed to live???"—you can check it out, it's really surreal. Also, I'll keep Soyo's earth-shattering kneeling monologue for later; it's still too early for that now.
......................