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Chapter Text

Nene Kusanagi had always been fond of the arcade, even after successfully overcoming her fears and trauma of stage fright. It didn't matter what she did there, she'd spent countless hours in this second home of hers. Whether it was fighting games, shooter games, or hell — even the Print Stickers booth she and Emu used when participating in that gaming tournament. Embarrassing as it was — still is, to an extent — she's grown fond of the memory.

Though, it wasn't just that memory she fixated over. Memories of the night show, the numerous ambassadorial shows she's done — it would all come back to her, like a gentle breeze hitting her face on the first day of spring.

The warmth of that very breeze would soon dissipate, however, when the inevitable coldness followed and took over. Her mind would always go back to the last night of when they were unfortunately stranded on a remote island. May God forsake something of the sorts happens to her again — although she wouldn't be too surprised, considering the surprises that always came with this beloved troupe of hers.

"So, when that happens, when we all inevitably go our separate ways and pursue our dreams, I want all of us to smile for each other, just like we always have..! I don't want any of that to change!"

Nene had said that in the hopes of bringing up spirits of her dear friends, but none of what she said had an ounce of falsity in them. After all, the sight of their smiles was always something she held dear to her heart.

Still, their inevitable separation still carried an immense weight on Nene's mind. The thought of leaving the very people that helped her overcome her fears and strive for a dream she thought she had lost her grasp on, it all felt so selfish. Up until that point, the thought of abandoning her friends never crossed her mind, yet that very future may come sooner than anticipated. 

She forbade herself from having those thoughts, so what better way to do it than to go back to the very place that was the sole reason she didn't drop out of middle school? The arcade had always freed her of any thoughts she had — she also needed to use this one-year all-you-can-play pass to its fullest. 

The moment she entered, chills went up her spine as she was hit with that barely bearable cold air of the arcade, while also giving her a sense of familiarity and comfort. The ends of mouth never failed to turn upward every time she entered.

The manager behind the counter shoots his head up at the door chime, "Kusanagi! Welcome, welcome!" he said. "You've been coming here quite frequently recently!"

Nene walked over with her pass in her hand to check in. Had she really been coming that often for the manager to notice? Now that she gave it some thought, she has been coming over at least once a day, when it was usually a once every other day occurrence. She just realized it had just become a part of her routine. "I guess I have.."

The manager let out a chuckle as he brought up his scanner. "Not that it's an issue or anything! It's always great to see our beloved champion of the Funtastic Gaming Tournament!"

Nene brought up her pass as the manager scanned it. "T-thanks, I guess..". She'd prefer not to be regarded as a champion of a gaming tournament, or anything of that matter. Being called the "Diva of Wonderlands x Showtime" by Tsukasa was already enough for her, so another renowned title such as that wasn't exactly desirable.

Nene nodded as thanks, prompting a wave from the manager. "Have fun!" And so, Nene went off.

Nene wasn't particularly feeling anything specific to try out. As far as she knew, there weren't any new titles waiting to be tried out by her, so that wasn't a consideration. She had also just played her usual shooter game yesterday, so any consideration for a shooter game was off the hooks. 

Eventually, she reached the conclusion of playing a fighting game for a change. Specifically, she wanted to practice a little bit of TEKKEN 8, considering how much she had lost to Alisa player's bullshit online, or Hwoarang's privilege of having nearly every single one of his attacks plus on hit. It irritated her how her rank went from Tekken King, all the way back to Raijin in the span of two hours last night. Whether it was the balancing team's fault for an egregiously awful patch or her own for her lack of fundamental skill, she had to step up her game.

Nene went towards an empty machine, scanned her pass, and booted up a match against a CPU. Although it'd be undoubtedly better to practice with real people, doing that in an arcade wasn't exactly easy. It's not like she could go up to people and ask people for a quick match. Who do you think she is? The oh-so eccentric Tsukasa Tenma? Yeah right.

" Shit. " The sound of a coin slotting in a machine followed.

" Fuck. " Another coin slotted in.

" God," a sigh followed. " dammit… "

Nene paused the match and looked over to her left to see what was happening, only to see a certain silver-haired individual slumped over on the controls of a claw machine. 

Hinomori-san? What is she doing here? Nene pondered. From the few details she involuntarily knew about Shiho — all thanks to Ichika whenever they had a break from singing lessons — Shiho wasn't exactly the type to go to the arcade. At least, not alone, in front of a claw machine. And although she knew that Shiho played video games, they weren't exactly.. the same games Nene played. The most Ichika could tell her without outright exposing Shiho was that the games she played were not at all the ones Nene Played. Only judging from Shiho's love for music, she assumed that meant she played rhythm games. It only made sense.

Still, none of that explained why that same girl was so frustrated over a claw machine.

Nene moved her eyes towards the inside of the machine, immediately finding the perpetrator of said frustration: A limited edition gold Phenny plush.

Recently, whenever Nene made her way through Phoenix Wonderland in order to get to the Wonder Stage for practice, she would often hear word about the elusive limited edition gold Phenny. She shrugged it off as another one of those rumors that people would spread to garner attention. Even if it was real, she wasn't particularly interested in the possibility of a gold Phenny, as opposed to Emu's excited curiosity that would often distract them from practice. Emu also didn't even take notice until a couple days after, confirming Nene's suspicion that it was a rumor.

But to her surprise, a couple days later, the theme park's social media page had made a post regarding the cryptid. It proved the creature's existence, stating that there were only a 100 available in select areas of Shibuya. Still, she wasn't too interested in it — though it did surprise her when Emu moped around her because she couldn't find one. You'd think being the daughter of the owner of Japan's most renowned theme park would get you a free plush, but apparently not.

Even when getting to see the creature for herself, she still wasn't interested in it. She was more interested in the reaction it garnered from the girl next to her.

"Kusanagi-san, hey!" someone beside her yelled out.

Nene turned to her right, finding a familiar regular approaching her. She nodded in response.

Ever since the gaming tournament, she's unfortunately got a reputation among the regulars of the place. Although she'd rarely make an effort to go talk to them herself, she'd never deny a gaming partner when offered one.

The regular came over next to her. "What are we playing today?" he said, moving his eyes towards the machine. "Oooo, Tekken? Mind if I play a few games with you? I've been practicing a bit with my Lee, so I've been itching to fight someone for a bit!"

Lee? Finally, a respectable character. Nene thought. "Sure. Let me just exit out of this match real quick.." 

Returning to the character select screen, Nene brought out her main: Reina. The regular did the same, immediately selecting Lee Chaolan.

And so, the two had a couple of matches together, while a certain girl continues to try and overcome the enigmas of this god forsaken claw machine.

-

"Good game, Kusanagi-san! Man, I swear I'll beat you next time! You free for a rematch tomorrow?"

Nene thought for a moment, checking to see if she had anything scheduled. A second later, she hummed in response. "Sure."

"Awesome! Well, I think that's it for me today. See you tomorrow!" he sent a wave her way.

"Yeah, see you." she sent a wave back, putting it down the moment he walked out the door.

Nene stretched her arms after a long hour of several button presses and motion inputs. Looks like it was time for her to head back home. She'd usually stay for a couple more hours, but the amount of social interaction she had today justifies this decision enough — even if most of it was with one person.

Right before she took off, however, she took one more peak at her left.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" said the silver-haired girl, her brows furrowed as she aggressively placed a palm over the glass pane.

Nene startles at the sudden outburst, watching as Shiho's frustration intensifies. Nene's talks with Ichika clearly didn't do her perspective of Shiho any justice because she'd never expect someone as stoic looking as her to be losing it over something so insignificant. Then the realization that Shiho had been working on getting that plush for at least an hour really only emphasized that fact. She also kinda, felt bad for her. Not even Tsukasa could top that.

The silver-haired girl let out a deep sigh before turning towards the door. Seems like she's just about ready to give up. 

"U-um!" Nene suddenly let out.

What am I doing?! Nene thought to herself. But no matter how much she thought about it, no answer would come to her, only more questions. Why had she suddenly called out to her? Did she feel pity for the girl? Did she want to help her? Too many questions came up, especially regarding the fact that this was about a girl who she barely even knew.

Before Shiho could take a step, she turned around to see who was calling out for her.

And at that moment, lavender met emerald.

"Kusanagi-san? she tilted her head. "What are you doing here?"

The question shot right into her stomach, causing a deep, sinking feeling within it. The tone of the question made it seem like she didn't belong. "I-I come here often, I guess.."

"You guess?" Shiho shot at her, causing the sinkage in Nene's stomach to descend even further. She just realized how stupid that unnecessary comment was, but all she could do was nod in response. "I see. What were you doing just now?"

This is so embarrassing , Nene thought to herself. Despite the fact that she was the first to initiate a conversation she never wanted to have, Shiho led the conversation anyway. She'd be lying if she said that this wasn't a common occurrence among strangers, but the fact that this was someone she remotely knew made it even worse.

"O-oh, um. I was just playing a fighting game.." Nene averted her eyes.

Shiho hummed, "I see. Well, good talk." She turned nearly immediately, seemingly getting ready to sprint out of the arcade.

"W-wait!"

Why are you doing this?! Nene never ceases to surprise herself.

Once more, Shiho turned around. She had an eerily neutral face plastered on, not saying a word.

Nene pointed towards the claw machine, "Do you.. want that..?" Even after countless shows where she had to calm her heart down before she had to play her part, they don't even come near to what's happening right now. As she would often say, she'd just reach a new high score.

Shiho blinked, surprised at her sudden query. "W-what?" 

Nene wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a faint hue of pink appear on the girl's cheeks. "T-the Phenny. Do you want it..?"

"N-no, I'm okay. I really need to get going, so-"

"A-are you sure?" Nene insistency on such an unimportant matter was starting to irritate even herself, so she can't imagine how the girl in front of her must feel right now. 

Shiho's eyes widened, then drooped down as she tried to hide her face. "Y-yeah, I want it.."

Nene hummed and nodded, walking to the front of the claw machine. She took out a coin from her wallet and slotted it in. Thanks to a few tricks Nene had learned from Toya after their Puyo Puyo rematch, Nene managed to scoop up the elusive plush in one go and immediately give it to Shiho. 

"T-thanks.." 

Nene gave only a nod.

For the last time (hopefully), Shiho turned around, taking a few steps towards the door. Unfortunately, it was, in fact, not the last time as she suddenly stopped in her tracks and walked back towards Nene.

"K-Kusanagi-san?"

Nene stumbles backwards, startled at how quickly she'd suddenly walked over. "Y-yeah..?"

"Do you have a bag..?"

Chapter Text

This is so embarrassing, Shiho thought to herself.

It's not everyday that you have to walk home while holding a gold Phenny plush the size of your torso.

Everywhere she walked, she would garner some sort of attention, especially from kids. Every time she looked up from the ground, there'd be a kid pointing at her — presumably with either jealousy or curiosity. Sometimes, an adult would do the same, for some reason. Have they got no respect?

She loathed any sort of attention that was pointed to any of her secret hobbies, but this could potentially surpass any sort of embarrassment she's faced in her life. Shiho thought that it was bad enough when Minori had found out about her Tamagotchi addiction, but she's starting to be glad it's only gotten that far until now. Now, she just has to make sure none of her friends see her walking with the biggest Phenny they've ever seen.

If that was the only thing on Shiho's mind, then she would have close to zero issues going throughout the day, even if she's holding an XL Phenny. Even if Leo/need saw her right now — which won't happen because of her clear excellence in hiding stuff like this — it wouldn't be too much of an issue considering that this side of hers was common knowledge to them. The only thing she'd have to worry about is people like Minori or Kohane finding her, though that shouldn't be an issue considering how busy they usually are at this time of the day. 

Unfortunately, there was still another problem at hand.

The truth of the matter was that she first arrived at the arcade at 1pm.

It was now 5pm.

For the past few days after hearing about the discovery of the gold Phenny, she'd run off of campus and jump between arcades to find it. To Shiho, it's apparently gotten so urgent to the point where she had to put off her daily band practices with Leo/need by a couple of minutes to a whole two hours. The group was noticeably surprised by this, considering the fact that Shiho would never put off practice unless a situation called for it. Though now they knew the one thing Shiho cared about just as much as music: limited edition Phennys.

Today, she had finally found one and spent four hours trying to get it. As much as she loved looking at the little cute plushies in the claw machines, she was unfortunately regarded as one of the worst claw machine players, and Leo/need knew this too well. 

If it weren't for Nene helping her, then capturing that plushy would've been a distant dream. Though at the same time, having it stay a dream doesn't seem so bad if it meant saving her from the embarrassment she was feeling right now.

It was the fact that Nene had helped her which made her feel this way, the fact that the girl had seen Shiho struggle with a kids game for hours on end. She wasn't completely sure whether or not Nene had been there the whole time, but it must've been long enough since it got to the point where she had to help her. The moment Shiho realized this in the arcade made her want to burst out of there.

It's fine, though. Nene Kusanagi wasn't particularly someone she talked to often. In fact, this was actually only their second time meeting, and she had zero intentions of meeting her again. There was no reason she should be feeling this conflicted over something so forgetful.

Right?

"Bye bye, boss! Bye bye, Minori-chan! See you tomorrow at school!!" A familiar, cheery voice yelled out, one Shiho knew so well.

Shiho looked over to the direction of the voice, seeing a cheerful Saki Tenma exit carino/carina, the cafe that the blonde pigtailed girl works at.

5pm, right. That's the time Saki's shift ends, Shiho thought to herself. She should've thought about this more clearly, otherwise she wouldn't have to have an encounter with the girl. It's fine, though; if she were to just quickly walk out of the scene, then she'd be able t-

"Ah, Shiho-chan!! What ar-" A gasp followed. The girl put her hands to her mouth, her eyes sparkling. "Shiho-chan..!"

Shit, Shiho thought to herself. She turned to the pigtailed girl, "Oh, Saki. Hey." Saki approached her, eyes still sparkling. "Saki.. I kn-"

"You got oneee?! A gold Phenny?!" Saki yelled out.

Shiho sighed, holding the bridge of her nose. Although she didn't see, she knew for fact that there were now people staring at both of them. Her cheeks slightly burned from the realization. "Hey-! Not so loud..!"

Saki, completely ignoring what Shiho just said, grabbed the silver-haired girl's wrist, "We have to show Minori-chan!" she tugged her towards the cafe. "Let's go let's go!"

"W-what?! S-Saki, no, wai-" Shiho was interrupted as she was forcefully pulled into the cafe by Saki. She knew that trying to reason with Saki for even a moment was futile, but she couldn't help but throw it out in desperation.

From the way they entered followed by Saki's extravagant "Minori-chan!!", eyes were inevitably put onto them once again. Saki, unsurprisingly, didn't seem to mind (she probably didn't even notice), but the same couldn't be said for Shiho. She wanted to run away, not only from the cafe, but to a remote island, where no one knew her and the only thing that would accompany her was her bass and her gold Phenny. Being stranded has never sounded more enticing.

"Saki-chan? Shiho-chan? Wh-" Minori's eyes moved toward what Shiho was holding, eliciting a similar face to Saki's from outside the cafe.

Before Minori could fully express her untamed excitement with several strangers surrounding her, Shiho broke free of Saki's grasp and immediately left the cafe.

As Shiho was walking, she could hear the inevitable steps of Saki approaching her. "W-wait! Shiho-chan!!" Saki said, desperation filling her words.

Shiho sighed before turning around, "What is it..?"

After reaching her and catching her breath for a couple of seconds, she said, "Can we go back, please? There's this new item we have, and I was planning on showing it to you!" 

"Saki, we have practice in 30 minutes. I don't think we sh-"

Saki shoved her phone in front of Shiho's face, showing a picture of a decorated parfait. 

Shiho swallowed hard.

-

"What'll it be?" Minori asked Shiho with a grin matching Saki's.

Shiho elbowed Saki's arm.

"Me? Oh, just tea! I actually had a snack before leaving, so I'm not really feeling anything." Saki then turned towards Shiho. "What about you, Shiho-chan?"

You-! Shiho's nails dug deep into her Phenny. Her frustration only grew when Saki kept staring at her with that shit-eating grin. She sighed, turning back towards Minori. "I'll uh.. take the.." Shiho tried to swallow her tensity. "The P-Perky Penguin Parfait Supreme" Shiho managed to throw up the words.

"Hmmm?" Minori bent towards Shiho, holding out her ear. "I didn't quite catch that!"

Shiho started to grit her teeth, nails digging deeper and deeper into the Phenny. At the same time, the embarrassment as she prepared to say the words again showed, her cheeks and ears now burning red hot. "The Perky Penguin Parfait Supreme.." she said, hopefully for the last time.

Minori stared deep into her eyes, most likely debating whether or not she should poke fun at her silver-haired friend some more. Unfortunately, she decided to push it a little further. "Okay! One Perky Penguin Parfait Supreme for Shiho Hinomori coming right up!" She walked away with clear delight.

Shiho brought up her Phenny and planted her face in it, trying to save herself from embarrassment. She would definitely scream all her frustration into it if there weren't people around her.

Not once in her life has she ever considered saying the word "perky", and yet here she was — deprecating herself over it. If she weren't careful enough, she could very well turn into Saki with how carelessly she's throwing these shameful words around.

Speaking of Saki — when Shiho finally brought her head up after a good minute or two of contemplation, she turned to see Saki recording her. "S-Saki!" She reached her hand over, trying to take the phone away from her.

Saki pulled back, stopping the recording and putting her phone back in her pocket. "Hona-chan and Icchan are gonna love this!" Her feet kicked up and down at the thought of sharing it with them.

"Saki.. Please, what do I have to do for you to not share that..?"

Saki put a hand to her chin, "Hmmm.. You have to share your parfait with me!"

"Deal."

Saki's eyes widened, "Eh? Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah? And in return, you have to delete that video."

"W-what?? Do I really have to? Can I keep it for my-"

"No. Also, you have to show me."

"B-but Shiho-cha-"

"No buts, Saki. Get on with it."

Saki pouted, crossing her arms. "So mean.."

Shiho inched closer towards Saki as the pigtailed girl pulled her phone out, "Call it payback for that whole ordeal."

Saki opened the photos app. "Yeah yeah.." She clicked on the video and with hesitance, deleted it. "There! Happy now?"

"Permanently, Saki. I'm not stupid; I know how phones work."

Saki sighs. She went into her Recently Deleted and deleted the video once more. "Anything else, boss?"

Shiho smiles, petting Saki's head. "Good. You can have some of my parfait in return."

Saki's cheeks turned red at the sudden act of tenderness. "S-Shiho-chan..!". Shiho basks in Saki's embarrassment; she's always been an expert in shutting Saki down in these situations.

It was actually in Shiho's favor for her to share with Saki. Besides, having to eat a monument of a parfait all by yourself would be embarrassing, so sharing it with Saki would alleviate some of that pain. It was really a win-win case for her.

After a couple of minutes, Minori came back with a platter holding a cup of tea and Shiho's parfait. She brought the parfait towards Shiho, "Here you go, one Perky Penguin Parfait Supreme specially made for you!" She plopped it down on the table, followed by giving Saki her tea.

Shiho gave a slight nod, "T-thanks.."

Before Shiho could take in the sight of the enchanting creation before her, Minori crouched down beside her. "Hey, Shiho-chan.." she whispered. "Where did you get Mr. Phenny from..? I've been looking for him everywhere..!"

"A claw machine from a random arcade I found." she replied.

"Really..? Where where..?!"

Shiho pulled out her phone and redirected it to the maps app. She pointed it towards Minori. "Right here, though I think this was the only one there. Sorry, Minori."

"Ehh..?! Really..?" Shiho nodded. Minori stood up and walked away. "Maybe I'm just unlucky.." she muttered to herself.

Shiho did feel a little bad for Minori, but she couldn't bother herself with the girl right now. Because standing before her is an absolute monument of a parfait. Surrounding almost every crevice of the parfait were an assortment of fruits — most of which were sprayed blue: strawberries, bananas, cherries, and above all else, blueberries. There was also suspiciously blue syrup surrounding it, but Shiho didn't bother to give it any attention for there was something much more intriguing: a penguin. At the top there was a tiny penguin holding up a tiny light blue and white striped flag with its face plastered in the middle. She thought this was more fit for display in her room rather than to be eaten.

"Hey." Saki suddenly said, snapping Shiho out of the reality she was in.

"Y-yeah?"

"You said you got that from a claw machine, didn't you?" Saki said, pointing at the gold Phenny.

Shiho's brows furrowed, "Uh, yeah? What about it?"

Saki lightly slammed her hands down on the table. "You're lying! What do you mean you got that from a claw machine?! Not once have I seen you get one thing from a claw machine!"

Shiho averted her eyes, realizing the mistake she's made. "I.. guess I just got lucky..?"

Saki tilted her head, eyeing at Shiho with great suspicion. "Tell me the truth right now! There's no way that the first time you've ever won at a claw machine is when yo-"

"Do you want the parfait or not?"

Her eyes widened, "H-hey! That's not fair! I'm ju-"

"Okay, this is all mine then." Shiho brought up her spoon, took one big scoop, and plopped it in her mouth. "Mmm, pretty good."

"F-fine!" Saki picked her spoon up and plopped a scoop in her mouth. "I don't get why you're hiding this from me, but whatever! It's not important to me anyway!"

Shiho swallowed her scoop, "No talking with a full mouth." Shiho smirked.

Saki furrowed her brows at Shiho, clearly angry at her taunting.

Shiho let out a small chuckle.

-

"You really didn't have to pay for all of that, you know? I could've paid for my parfait." Shiho said as they were both leaving the cafe.

"Yeaah, but I wanted to! It's my treat!"

"For what?"

"What do you mean? Can't I do my BFF a favor just because I want to?" Saki smiled.

Shiho shrugged, "I mean, sure, I guess."

Saki chuckled, "Buuut, you owe me now!"

Shiho swiftly turned her head towards Saki, appalled by her cunningness. "You dirty..”

"Hm? What was that? That isn't a nice way to treat your friends, is it?

Shiho calmed down, "You're right, Saki. I'm sorry. And yes, I owe you one."

Saki's eyes sparkled before jumping onto Shiho, giving her another one of her tight embraces. "Yes you do!! You're the best, Shiho-chan!!"

Shiho groaned, "Come on now.. We have to get home and get ready for practice, remember?

"Ah, right!" Saki let go, dropping her head down. "I was really hoping to go to this store with you.. They had all these cute dresses and accessories I was hoping you could buy me.."

Shiho sent a gaze towards Saki, "Are you serious..?"

Saki shot her head up, "What? You said you owed me!"

Shiho sighs, "Right right, whatever. Look, we really have to get going." The two stopped at an intersection. "I'll see you in a bit." Shiho walked her way home.

"Kayyy! See you, Shiho-chan!!" Saki sent out a big wave.

Without turning, Shiho simply held her hand up in the air.

With Shiho now all by herself again, some unfortunate thoughts came to mind, like how Minori now unfortunately had now discovered another one of her secret hobbies, and that Minori had probably texted Kohane about this by now. 

Shiho knew fully well how class tomorrow was going to play out. She's going to find both Minori and Kohane standing by her desk with the shittiest smiles on their faces. The moment she'd sit down, she'd be interrogated by the both of them until the end of school (if she was lucky enough), especially Kohane; Shiho knew just how much of a fan Kohane was of anything related to Phoenix Wonderland, so she predicted that she'd have the most questions. 

Shiho sighs. She just hopes that the two aren't too vocal about it to the point where the whole class has to know, though she knows that'll likely be the case with Minori — even if she never intended to. 

It'll probably be good to take some safety measures. 

Shiho pulls out her phone.

shiho 🍜: minori

shiho 🍜: i know you told kohane already

shiho 🍜: but don't you dare tell anyone else about today

shiho 🍜: the parfait, the phenny, none of it.

shiho 🍜: got it?

Then typing indicators popped in and out, several times.

This is bad.

MINORIN 👊(≧∇≦): IM SO SORRYYYY

MINORIN 👊(≧∇≦): I ALREADY TOLD MY GROUP ABOUT EVERYTHING

MINORIN 👊(≧∇≦): I EVEN SENT THEM THE VIDEO

MINORIN 👊(≧∇≦): FORIGVE ME SHIHO-CHAN (≧ロ≦)

Catastrophic, actually.

Shiho didn't really care whether Airi or Haruka knew; she knew they wouldn't really care. 

The real danger lied within her sister.

Not only would Shizuku be constantly bugging her about it days on end, but she knew damn well she would tell her classmates all about it. She already knew how much her sister talked about her with literally anyone; she'd already accepted that fact. However, this was absolutely nearing her limit, and she was going to do everything in her power to prevent it from happening.

That is, if there wasn't something else even more catastrophic.

A video.

Shiho stopped in her tracks, pondering the possibilities of what Minori could have meant by "the video". But no matter how much she denied it, her mind would always go back to what happened at the cafe, where Saki took that video.

The grip on her phone hardened, nails digging deeper into her Phenny more than ever before, and teeth gritting to the point where it caused literal pain. Adrenaline was now seething through every part of her body, and it was over a two minute video.

For the remaining distance to her home, she ran throughout all of it. Not once has she ever ran this fast in her entire life, yet it was absolutely called for. 

She doesn't even know what she's going to do the moment she gets home, only that she knows that she has to do something.

The moment she reached her front door, she took out her keys and pitifully attempted to insert it into the key hole. After slipping it against the door knob for the 15th time, she inserted it and twisted with all her might. She heads inside, takes off her shoes, and runs past the living room towards her room.

"Ah! Shii-ch-"

"I'm gonna do homework. Don't bother me." 

Shiho didn't bother waiting for a response, and instead kept speedwalking towards her room. The moment she went inside, she brought up her phone and played needLe.

One moment she was in her room, and now she was in the familiar school hallway of her and her friend's SEKAI, painted with hues of violet and azure. Before she went inside the classroom, she'd normally first take a look at the view beside her, a view so similar to one that connected each and every one of them when they were kids. For a long time, she thought she'd never get to see it with her best friends ever again. It would bring a smile on her face every time she thought about how she was proven wrong.

Unfortunately, she couldn't bother with any of that right now. 

She speedwalked her way to the classroom and slid the door open. There, she saw Ichika and Honami huddling around Saki, who was holding her phone in front for everyone to see.

Saki, startled by the sudden appearance, almost drops her phone. After catching her phone, she immediately hides it behind her. Everyone suspiciously moves away from here. "S-Shiho-chan! Y-you're finally here..!"

Completely disregarding her greeting, she approaches her and says, "Saki, give me your phone."

Shiho was now directly in front of Saki, causing the pigtailed girl to inch backwards. "W-why? I don't re-"

"Oh, you know why. Give it here. Right. Now." she held her hand out.

"N-no! I took this video, and I want to keep it!"

The two eyed each other, both staring with absolute displeasure sprayed all over their eyes. Ichika and Honami watched the two clash as they both became tense.

Taking advantage of Saki focusing on her eyes, Shiho took one swift movement of her hands and grabbed the phone out of Saki's hand from behind.

"H-hey! Shiho-chan, please! I'm sorry I'm sorry! Please, I'll do anything!"

Shiho ignored her, inputting the passcode to her phone (Saki trusted her best friends so much to the point where she shared any sort of password she had with them). There, she found the video, saved in her files app. Shiho became frustrated, knowing that Saki took extra precautions to save this stupid video of hers. It was smart though, considering how much this has happened to Saki before. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

With absolute delight, she deleted the video. "Here you go." Shiho said, handing back her phone. 

Saki retrieved it and looked through her phone. After futile attempts at finding the video, she drops her head down. "You're a big meanie, Shiho-chan.." she muttered.

Shiho turned to Ichika and Honami, "And you two," The two jumped. "Don't even think about sending that video to Saki. Matter of fact, let me see you two delete it right now." She walked towards them.

"I-It's okay! We only saw it through her phone; she never sent it to us.." Ichika said.

Shiho's eyes narrowed, eyeing both of them. "Are you sure?"

"Y-yes! Look!" Honami held out phone, showing her messages with Saki. "See..? No video!" 

Shiho hummed, "Good. Now, should we get started?"

For some reason, no one responded. The room was eerily quiet, until Saki let out a small chuckle.

Shiho turned towards her, "What's so funny?"

Saki pointed at the silver-haired girl's hands. "You're still.." Weirdly, Saki couldn't finish her sentence. Even weirder, she suddenly burst out laughing.

Shiho looks to where Saki was pointing, realizing what's causing her sudden laughter. She can feel her cheeks suddenly start to burn.

She was still holding her beloved Phenny.

The moment she heard Ichika and Honami let out a small chuckle, she took out her phone and paused needLe.

-

"Welcome back, Shiho!" Ichika said with a devious grin over her face.

"Hey.." Shiho walked inside with her bass and a flyer in hand.

"Where'd you get him from?" Ichika asked while Shiho stared with confusion. "The Phenny!"

"Oh, um.. A claw machine.." 

"A claw machine? I don't recall you being very good at claw machines, Shiho-chan.." Honami said.

"That's what I said! Hona-chan, Icchan, I'm telling you, she's lying about this! I'm starting to think she stole it or something!"

Ichika gasped, turning towards Shiho, "Shiho, you wouldn't steal, would you?"

"What? No. Like I said, I got him from a claw machine." Shiho sighs, "Can we not talk about this right now? There's something I have to discuss with you guys." She held out the flyer in front of them.

"What's this..? Oh wait! Is this the new live house we're going to be performing at?" Saki asked.

"Correct, Saki. My manager gave me this flyer when I asked him about any new potential live houses our band can perform at." She gave the flyer to Saki while the other two huddled around her.

"Looks pretty professional.. What's it like? Do you think we'll do well there?" Ichika asked.

"I'm not sure; all I know is that the atmosphere and audience is really different from where we usually play at. But, a lot of professionals play there, so I'm sure we could benefit a lot from this. What do you guys say?"

Honami put a hand to her chin, "A new live house with professionals.. That sounds.. a little worrying.."

"It does, I know. But, as much as I appreciate my manager for giving us a place to constantly perform at, we can't stay forever. If we're going to become professionals, we're going to have to play at different venues. Not only to spread our name more, but to gain more experience."

"You're right, but.."

"Let's do it!" Saki exclaimed.

"Are you sure? This is a big step moving forward, Saki. It's not going to be all willy-nilly from here." Shiho said.

Saki gave a big nod, "Yeah! You said it yourself; if we're going to become professionals, we're gonna need more experience!"

"I agree. This seems like the best way to go about it." Ichika said.

Shiho hummed, "Good." She turned towards the brunette. "And Honami? What do you say?"

"..." She stared down, pondering about her decision. As hesitant as she was, she knew clearly what her answer was going to be. "Let's do it!"

Shiho knew what her answer was too, but hearing it from her gave her motivation. It gave Shiho certainty that they were going to chase he- their dream together, with the people she treasured most. A smile creeped up on her face, "Alright. Now, let's prepare for it."

"Yeah!" the three said in unison.

-

Shiho flipped the light switch and dumped herself face flat onto bed.

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't nervous about performing at a new live house. The thought of performing alongside professionals didn't sit right with her, and the fact that they were around their age didn't seem to make it any better. 

Were they ready for this? Shiho wasn't particularly worried about herself, but for her bandmates. Honami's drums were on point most of the time, keeping a steady rhythm for them to rely on. Though, it was a fact that her stamina was something that was lacking. For Saki, the songs she's written up until this point have been nothing but brilliant, and she's fully confident that the next one she's writing won't be any different. But, considering that they were now playing for an audience with widely different tastes, will her song fair well against them? Ichika, although her technical skills were a little lacking, she made up for it with the confidence her voice and guitar brimmed with. Shiho can't help but think how much of that confidence will hold up now.

Her body became tenser the more she thought about this, but she knew she had to believe in her bandmates. After all, they fully convinced her that they were going to chase their dream together.

Shiho turned over. Among the several plushies on her bed, her eyes moved towards the gold Phenny she got today, which she then went over and hugged it.

She'd just realized how much trouble this one plush was causing her throughout the day, and yet she couldn't be any happier hugging it right now. It loosened every wire of nervousness that was constraining every part of her body.

As embarrassing as it was having to have Nene get this plush for her, she can't help but appreciate her greatly for it. Going against what she said this afternoon, maybe she ought to thank her again the next time she meets her. It's really the least she could do.

A notification came up on her phone, illuminating her dim room.

Shiho reached over to see that it was a message from Ichika.

Ichi39🎤: shiho

Ichi39🎤: you awake?

shiho 🍜: yeah, what's up?

Ichi39🎤: i forgot to ask 

Ichi39🎤: you were at the arcade earlier today, right?

shiho 🍜: yeah? why?

Ichi39🎤: did you happen to see kusanagi-san?

Kusanagi-san? What does Ichika know about this? Should I tell her..?

After typing and deleting different messages, she sent her message.

shiho 🍜: no

Ichi39🎤: reallyyy?

shiho 🍜: yeah

Ichi39🎤: okay okay, just asking

Shiho sighs for what must've been the 50th time today. What was that about?

Ichi39🎤: also she has your wallet

Ichika then sent a picture of her wallet in, presumably, Nene's hand.

..

Fuck.

Chapter Text

The bell for lunch rang, signalling students to move chairs around and move to other classrooms.

During all the commotion, Nene twiddled with the lost wallet she was going to return to Shiho after school.

She found the wallet immediately after Shiho left the store, following the girl immediately after she did. Unfortunately, she backed up the moment when one Saki Tenma came into scene and the two went into a cafe together. It's not unreasonable to think that she could've just gone inside and given the wallet there, but that'd just bring unwanted attention to herself. Besides, going inside a cafe and leaving 10 seconds later would be pretty weird.

Though, she only made it harder for herself this way.

With each passing second looking at the wallet, she started to regret her decision even more. I'm so stupid.. If I had just given it to her then, I wouldn't have to do this.. This isn't exactly the first time Nene has condemned herself over every little mistake she's made. 

Ever since taking the wallet to her house, she's been preventing herself from looking inside. Of course, she wouldn't dare to look into a random person's wallet, let alone one from a close friend of Ichika's. Though, from the few cutesy stickers uncharacteristically stuck onto the surface, she can't help but be a little curious of what's inside.

She took a look around at the class around her. There was no Toya to accompany her — it seemed like he had important matters to discuss with Akito. Tsukasa and Rui were most likely in their classrooms, but going into a classroom where no one recognizes you would just bring even more unwanted attention. Not once has she entered their classroom for this sole reason.

She sighs and puts her head down; looks like it's going to be the usual.

"Neneee-chan!" a familiar voice exclaimed right beside her ear.

"Wah-!" She immediately jumps and turns to the voice. "O-oh, Emu. It's just you.."

"Hehe!" The school intruder gave her a smile, to which Nene couldn't help but share one with her. "Hmmm? Did you get a new wallet?"

Nene didn't respond (she didn't even hear the question), for she was still admiring her friend's smile.

Nene wasn't the only one; she knew that for a fact. Their inevitable split beared a great weight on each of their minds. But, whenever she thinks about Emu, she can't help but think how lonely she'll be afterwards. It felt so much more selfish knowing that she'd be leaving Emu all on her own, just as she was at the start. The strings of guilt constraining her heart only became tighter as she continued to think about the implications: would Emu be able to handle all of that? Can she really protect the Wonder Stage all on her own..?

So to see her smile right after their day at the theme park, and to see her still smiling right now in front of her, it loosened some of the strings of her heart. She knew it didn't clear away any thoughts of their split; it was impossible. It was a mere patch over an already infected wound. But, at the very least, it allowed for her to see that genuine smile from her friend again, a sight she treasured most.

"Nene-chan?"

Her eyes widened, snapping herself out of the daze she was in. "A-ah, sorry, I was spacing out. What did you say?"

She pointed at Nene’s hand, "That wallet, is it new?" she moved to one of the stickers. "It's so cute! That's Mimitchi-chan, isn't it? I didn't know you liked Tamagotchi, Nene-chan!"

"O-oh, no no. It's not mine; it's Hinomori-san's."

"Hinomori..? Ah! You mean Shiho-chan? She goes to my school! I remember when she went to one of our shows with Honami-chan and her friends! I talk to her sometimes! Isn't she so cool?"

"Y-yeah, I guess.."

Emu put a hand to her chin, a devious smile creeping up. "I didn't know Shiho-chan liked Tamagotchi.. Hehehe, this is good information.. Wait a minute!" she began to eye Nene. "Why do you have her wallet..?"

"Oh, um.. I met her at the arcade yesterday and she left it there. I wanted to return it after school."

"Ahh, really? That's so nice of you! 

"Thanks..?" Is it really? It seemed like the right thing to do.. "So, did you just come here to have lunch with me again?" Nene said, trying to change the subject.

"Oh yeah!" She grabbed Nene's wrist. "Let's go, Nene-chan!"

"Hu-" Nene was then dragged off the chair and was suddenly running through the hallways matching Emu's unbelievable speed. Normally, she'd be concerned about people staring at her as this was happening. Right now though, she's more concerned about protecting her lungs from bursting rather than how she's perceived. "E-Emu! Slow down!" Nene yelled out, not giving a care about the people around her.

Emu didn't seem to hear as she kept running, dodging students along the way while still dragging Nene along. Even after reaching the stairs, she still didn't let go of Nene's wrist, which meant that Nene now had to go through the trouble of going up the stairs while maintaining Emu's speed. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like she was successful at that as she ended up tripping several times on the way up, possibly causing some small bruises on her hands and knees.

When they finally reached the top and opened the door outside, Emu greeted the two showtimers on the roof. "Rui-kun, Tsukasa-kun! We're heree!!" 

"Ah~ Emu-kun, Nene, there you two are." Rui let out a small chuckle. He turned his eyes to Nene, who was holding onto her knees, desperately trying to catch her breath after the gauntlet she just faced. "Nene, are you okay? Seems like Emu gave you a little trouble." He let out another chuckle.

Emu turned towards Nene, who was completely oblivious of her troubles up until now. "Ah, Nene-chan! Are you okay? I forgot how you don't like running.. I'm so sorry!!"

"It's.." she let out a deep breath, once again trying to catch her breath. "okay.."

Nene heard steps coming her way before stopping in front of her. "Nene, here, have this! We don't want our beloved diva to be losing her breath, do we?" Tsukasa said.

She looked up to see him offering her one of his spare water bottles he usually keeps around for practice. "T-thanks.." As she took it, she couldn't help but direct her eyes towards a horrific sight. Her eyes widened wider than ever before, almost to the point where it seemed like she had just seen a shocking car crash. To be honest, that's actually probably less shocking than what she's looking at right now.

Which is Nenerobo surrounded by several explosives.

"Wha.."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?" Nene yelled at the top of her lungs. Tsukasa and Emu shrieked in fear as her voice reverberated throughout the roof. And just maybe, the students down below heard it, and just maybe that they were startled too.

"Good morning, Nene." The robot said.

"Oh~toh, looks like someone got their breath back." Rui chuckled again.

"Rui, you're going to explain to me right now what this 'experiment' is you're doing right now."

"Ah, yes of course. Although it's subtle, I had actually given Nenerobo some new plates of armor. It's the same material that the military uses, so we're currently testing to see if she can withstand some high ex-"

"Armor?! For what?! Are you trying to turn her into a weapon or something?! Where'd you even get this from?! Not only that, are you seriously willing to blow a hole into someone's classroom?!"

"Nene, you know I take extra safety precautions. No one's classroom is going to ha-"

"No safety precautions can possibly prevent whatever bullshit's going to happen right now!" She pointed at Nenerobo. "Nenerobo, come here right now." Nene said, pointing at the ground beside her.

"Roger."

"No, Nenerobo. Stay."

"Roger." 

"No, come here!"

"Roger."

The two kept going at it back and forth while Emu and Tsukasa watched the two argue over their kid. Unfortunately, Nenerobo can only process so many commands from her mom and dad at once, so she ends up overheating and shutting down as a result. 

"Ah-! Nenerobo!" Emu came running over to the robot, who was now in a powered-off state, her eyes showing off a dead, deep purple. Emu crouched down and gave the robot a hug before turning to Rui and Nene, pouting at the both of them respectively. "Look what you guys did to her! When she wakes up, you need to apologize to her!" The two didn't respond and instead stood there, awkwardly. She narrowed her eyes. "Got it?" 

"Y-yes!" The two said, startled by Emu's sudden authority. Although for Rui, it was more like he was playing along with Emu.

Rui turned his eyes towards Nene and smiled. And Nene, despite the bickering over something that literally could have killed someone, couldn't help it again but smiled back at him. She's made a promise to herself to make sure that she appreciates every moment like this.

"So, what'd you call us here for?" Nene asked Rui.

"Me? I wasn't the one who called us here this time, actually."

"Huh?" Nene turned towards Tsukasa. "Tsukasa? Was it you?"

"Nope! I had assumed that Rui was the one that called us over here because of his barbarous experiment going on over here. I guess not?"

The three turned their heads toward Emu, who now had a devious smirk on her face. "Hehehe.. It was I, Emu Otori, who called all of you here!" She let out a comedically villainous laugh. "Now, c'mere c'mere!"

The three walked over, each of them equally confused on what this meeting was supposed to be about. "Emu, what're we here for?" And couldn't this wait until after school finished rather than you having to run over here for lunch..?

Emu, who still had that devious smile on her face, didn't respond and instead whipped her phone out. After some scrolling and spastic button presses, a facetime screen showed up, which prompted Emu to angle the camera so that everyone can be seen. Out of pure instinct, Nene almost moved herself out of the camera, but prevented herself from doing so.

A familiar face shows up, "Emu.. I'm busy right now, wh- Huh? All of you? What are you guys doing there?"

"Shoesuke Onii-chan, hello!! I went over to their school!"

"Again?! You really need to.. You know what, nevermind. You'll just keep doing it anyway." He sighs, "So, what is it?"

"We're all here now, so tell us what you wanted to tell us!"

"Huh? What're yo- Oh, that? I was planning to tell you all once you arrived at the Wonder Stage, but I guess it'll be quicker this way."

The three, still having no context as to what he was talking about, stared back and forth at each other in confusion. Tell them what exactly? Were they still doing ambassadorial shows? Is this a new opportunity to grow as actors? Each of them was on their toes, awaiting for his next words.

"You're going to be performing alongside the Phoenix Cast for the stage's 30th anniversary."

-

The final bell had rung, and students had begun leaving their classrooms, except for Nene, who didn't hear the bell. With the amount of loud people in her classroom, she'd usually check the clock on her phone often to make sure she was one of the first to get out. Instead, she opted to stay in her seat and look out the window beside her, her cheek resting on her hand. 

It was hard to tell on the surface, but she was excited — her heart fluttered more and more every time she thought about it. She didn't think it would happen so soon, considering their last ambassadorial show, but this was another opportunity to grow her experience of becoming a musical star. Doing another show with the theme park's most elite show cast would without a doubt improve her skills.

Not only that, there was Seiryuin Sakurako: her singing rival. She was scared of facing her once more, considering the amount of time that had passed since Nene had last heard her sing. Just how much had her rival improved? No, how much had she improved? Has she improved at all? It isn't rare for Nene to question her singing capabilities; she's been doing it for as long as she could remember. However, the amount she considered it now had a greater weight to it than ever before. Nonetheless, she was still excited to face her; there's always been a competitive nature to her, no matter the situation.

She can already feel it; the sight of stardom inching closer and closer. Not to the point where it's within grasp, far from it. But, close enough to the point where working towards and reaching it won't take much longer. And once all of that has been said and done, she'll become the little mermaid she's always dreamed of being. Singing her heart out for others to hear and inspiring others, not only to sing, but to face their greatest fears, just as she was struggling to do from the very start. She'd go around the world, inspiring as many people as she can, and then..

And then..

..

Is this truly what she wanted?

She thought that her answer had been crystal clear from the beginning, but the passage of time only seems to fog it up more and more.

Maybe she's due for another visit to the arcade.

"Kusanagi?" a boy said.

Nene turns her head to the voice, finding a familiar bicolor-haired boy in front of her. "Oh, Aoyagi-kun."

"Class just ended. Oh wait, do you perhaps have afternoon classes?"

Class ended? "N-no, I don't." She stood up, picking up her bag. "Thank you, I didn't notice."

"Of course. But, is everything okay?" His eyes were laced with concern. "You seemed to be deep in thought there for a moment."

"Y-yeah, just a little tired."

"Ah, I see. Make sure to get some good rest." He turned around, "I'll see you tomorrow, Kusanagi."

"Yeah, see you.." She waved her hand, putting it down the moment Toya was out of sight. She sighed, taking one last look at the view beside her before moving out of the classroom.

Maybe she should have asked Toya about this. Maybe he'd know something about the dilemma she's facing, about this situation that might as well be between life-and-death. Knowing how he and his group are working towards a goal together, he might have an answer for this. 

But, was it right to ask him? It's the fact that he and his group had this one goal that made Nene have this sense of doubt, the fact that they share it, together. 

Nene was envious of that fact. Oh to be able to have one, single goal to pursue with your group. She can't help but imagine how much easier it would be for her if she had that luxury. How much easier it'd be for them. Otherwise, the red thread loosely connecting them would be as long-lasting as the oldest star in the universe.

It doesn't seem like that'll ever be the case, as that same thread continues to slowly slip away from them.

Once Nene reached outside, she was met with absolute dullness. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she had gotten out so late, but there were so few students compared to other times. And the few students who were still here were mindlessly on their phones, which Nene can't blame them for. She can't deny that she prefers places like these, but she also can't deny that she still found some enjoyment out of seeing people talk and smile. After all, it was kinda her job to make that happen. 

Fortunately though, it wasn't all bad. 

"Nenee-chaaaan!!" A girl yelled out.

Nene looked out in the distance, finding a certain pink-haired girl. "E-Emu?" Has she been waiting for me this whole time? She walked over to the girl. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to pick you up!"

"Pick me up..? I'm not a kid, you know?"

"But but, I wanted to walk with you!" She smiles. "Oh! I also wanted to come with you when you give Shiho-chan's wallet back!"

Nene put her hand over her pocket. Good, it's still here.. It seemed like she was so caught up with herself that she almost ended up forgetting the grave task she had to face after school. "Are you sure? Tsukasa might get mad if we're both late, especially since we're supposed to be meeting with the Phoenix cast today.."

"Don't worry! I'm sure he'll understand!"

I'm sure he won't. "Just, give me a second.." Nene took out her phone.

nene: me and emu are gonna be late

nene: sorry

🌟RULING_PEGASUS🌟: WHAT

Before she can even receive another message, she puts her phone on silent mode and looks back up. "Okay. We can go now." It'll at least be good to warn him.

"Yay! Let's go let's go!" And so the two marched on. Well, one did.

Nene's always liked Emu's company wherever she went, even if she were to get distracted by a random stray cat; it made her travels all the more interesting. Right now though, she couldn't be more grateful for it. It's going to make the process of giving back the wallet all the more bearable.

It still boggles her mind how she manages to get to her school in just five minutes. But at this point, she's accepted the fact that anything's possible when it comes to Emu.

She firmly believed that.

-

"Hey hey, you said we're going to where you give Ichika-chan singing lessons, righht?" Emu asked.

Nene hummed, "Yeah. We're almost there. Why, what's up?"

"I really wanna hear her sing sometime! You always talk about how her voice is so beautiful!"

"Oh. Hehe, yeah." She smiles, repeating the melody that always came with her singing in her head. "She's really great. Maybe we can go to their next show?"

Emu gasps, eyes sparkling. "Yeah yeah! That'd be so wonderhoy!!"

Nene chuckled. She always thought that it wasn't fair that only she got to hear the tranquil melody that is her friend's singing.

And now that she thought about it, calling them "singing lessons" didn't sit right with her. At first, maybe it was that way. But now, it felt like they were pushing each other forward. Whenever she'd listen to Ichika sing, thinking about how far she's gotten, it made her want to try harder herself. As nerve-racking as it was meeting her at first, she couldn't have gotten to this point in her singing skills if it weren't for her.

"Ah! Kusanagi-san!"

Nene turned her head toward the direction of the voice, seeing Ichika Hoshino standing in the middle of Shibuya Park, sending a wave her way. Standing beside her was Shiho Hinomori, her hands in her jacket pockets with a guitar case strapped around her arm.

Nene can feel her heart start to race.

Before Nene could say a word or even wave back, Emu ran towards them. "Ichika-chan, Shiho-chan!! Hellooo!" Nene slowly followed her.

"Hey, Otori-san! Are you two on your way to Phoenix Wonderland after this?" Ichika asked.

"Yup! Right after Nene-chan gives Shiho-chan her wallet!"

Nene's heart dropped, cheeks slightly burning. You didn't have to say that..! So far, it doesn't seem like Emu is making any of this better. Worse, actually.

Ichika chuckled, "Hehe, that's right."

Nene gulped; she felt eyes now staring at her. While her heart’s in the middle of a crisis, she slowly reaches into her pocket and takes out the wallet. She holds it out in front of Shiho. "H-here you go.." Nene said, averting her eyes from Shiho.

In the middle of her taking it, Shiho accidentally brushes Nene's thumb with her own. Shiho didn't seem to care too much about it, but the same couldn't be said for Nene, as seen by how much her cheeks started to burn.

Her heart rate reached astronomically high levels never reached before, and her lungs felt they had just sunk deep into the ocean. No other moment could compare to right now; not even their encounter at the arcade, and she thought that was bad enough already. She couldn't even process things around her; all she could think about was the slight mishap.

"Thanks." Shiho calmly said.

Nene looks up, snapping out of her thoughts. "O-oh, no problem."

And then, silence arose. It went on for a prolonged amount of time, and each passing second made Nene want to burst out of there and run off to some place where no one would find her. The silence was just killing her; not even a random encounter with some stranger had ever made her feel this way. No matter how much she refused to do it, she knew she had to break the silence; it was getting unbearable.

"Um-!"

"So-"

The two stared at each other, surprised. "Oh, sorry. Go ahead." Shiho said.

"N-no, it's nothing." Nene averted her eyes once more. "Y-you go."

Shiho hummed, "Okay. Well," Shiho cleared her throat. "I just wanted to say thanks. For the.. um.." The girl swallowed hard, tilting her head down for some reason. "..nny.."

"W-what was that? I di-"

"The Phenny.." Shiho said in a firm but quiet voice.

Nene's eyes widened, blown away by what she just said. "O-oh." Apparently so blown away that it made her forget to say her appreciation. 

Shiho held her head back up, now averting her eyes. "I guess uh, I'll see you later, Kusanagi-san." After she said that, she immediately went towards the exit.

"Ah, Shiho! Wait up! I wanted to ask Kusanagi-san something first!" Ichika slightly yelled.

Shiho stopped in her tracks, and stood there for a moment. Eventually, she turns around and goes by Ichika's side. 

"Kusanagi-san. Oh, and Otori-san, since you're here too." Ichika reached into her shoulder bag, taking out a flyer and revealing it to them. "We're actually gonna be playing at a new venue in two weeks from now on, and Shi- I mean, I was wondering if you guys wanted to come see us!"

Nene took the paper, her eyes immediately moving towards the date. "In two weeks..?" Nene turned towards Emu. "Emu, aren't we going to be busy during that time? With the 30th anniversary and all of that." Nene asked, though she was mostly just looking for an excuse to not go. Everything that happened a moment ago made her realize that going to one of their shows right now would be a bad idea.

"Y-you really don't need to if you ca-"

Emu cuts Shiho off, exclaiming "Nope! We can go!"

"E-eh? Really? But, we're going to be busy, right? I really don't-"

"But but..! You said we could go to their next show! You told me that just earlier!"

Shit..

Emu stared deep into Nene's soul with her deceptive puppy eyes, something that never failed to convince her. She's been trying to build resistance against it ever since the first one, but her efforts continue to remain in vain.

As Emu inches closer towards her, Nene eventually breaks down and says, "O-okay okay! We'll go.."

Emu, her eyes now filled with bright sparkles, immediately jumps onto Nene, giving her a tight hug. "Yay!!" 

Nene groans, but then the realization that Shiho and Ichika are watching them hits her — making Nene to try and push Emu away. Unsurprisingly, she couldn't even get her to move an inch away, so all she could do was stand there as the embarrassment within her grew.

"Hehe. Well, Shiho and I should probably get going now; we have practice pretty soon." Ichika said.

Emu gasps, finally letting go of Nene. "Oh yeah, us too! We need to get going, Nene-chan, or else Tsukasa-kun's gonna get mad at us again!"

That's literally what I told you..

Ichika and Shiho started walking out of the park. Ichika turned back, while Shiho continued looking forward. "Bye, Otori-san, Kusanagi-san! We'll make sure our next show is worthwhile."

Emu hummed, "Yeah! Bye bye!!" She sent out a big wave, prompting Nene to do the same to a smaller extent.

Ichika waved back, elbowing Shiho's arm in the middle of it. 

Shiho slowly turned her head, stopping only halfway through. While Shiho slowly waved back, Nene couldn't help but notice a slight shade of pink now on Shiho's cheeks.

Was she just imagining things?

The moment Ichika and Shiho left the scene, Nene felt the heavy weight on her heart be lifted, and she could finally feel herself start to breathe normally again. The worst was over, and now she could finally move on with her day. 

Right?

"Hehehe.."

Nene turned over to Emu, who had the most devious grin on her face and was mischievously rubbing her hands together like some villain. "E-Emu..? What is it..?"

"What happened between you and Shiho-chan..? Hmmmmm..?"

The weight on her heart came back, heavier than ever, along with that god forsaken burning sensation in her cheeks. When was the torture going to end? "I don't.. That's non-"

"Ah! Your cheeks are turning red again! Something definitely happened! Tell me tell me!"

"...again!" The realization that Emu was watching Nene the whole time only added more weight to her heart. Oh how badly she wants to run out of there right now, how badly she wants to disappear for just a brief moment.

"No.." Nene said.

"Eh?! Why? Tell me!"

"That's.. none of your business!"

"Please??"

"No..! No mea-"

Emu grabbed her shoulder, shaking it vigorously. "Please please!! Tell me what happened, Nene-chan! I really want to know!" Nene can feel her head start to spin further with each shake Emu gave her.

Oh how Nene couldn't be more wrong. The worst wasn't over — far from it.

It had only just started.

Chapter Text

As the two reached a corner, Shiho stopped and sat down at a nearby bench.

Ichika turned around, confused at the sudden stop. "Shiho?"

"Oh, just wanted to sit down for a bit. You can go on ahead. Just wait for me at Sekai."

Ichika hummed, "Okay. See you there, Shiho."

Shiho nodded. After Ichika turned the corner and left, it was just Shiho and her thoughts as the sun beamed down on her, the heat surrounding her body slowly becoming incomparable to the one forming in her cheeks.

Resting her elbows on her knees, she brought up her hands and cupped her entire face. As her deep breaths moistened every inch of her face, she groaned deep and long into her hands, trying to release every inch of embarrassment and regret she held right now.

Throughout that whole interaction, Shiho was trying everything in her power not to burst out of there and run off to some place where no one would find her. Just standing in front of Nene felt like she was going through a torture experiment imposed upon her by God. With each passing second, she had tried so hard for her cool demeanor not to crumble under the pressure, and she was surprised it didn't outright break the moment she brought up the Phenny.

Oh, but that wasn't even the worst of it; far from it.

She had accidentally touched Nene's thumb.

That moment repeated over and over in Shiho's head, no matter how much she wanted to take it directly out of her mind and stomp it down to smithereens. Not only that, she hated herself for how well she could almost recall everything about it. It made her feel like a creep. She could remember how Nene reacted afterward and how she started to condemn herself afterward. She could remember how fast her heart started fluttering afterwards and how badly she was trying to prevent it from bursting out of her chest so that it just wouldn't take off on its own. And worst of all, she could remember the sensation of her thumb against hers, how smooth it felt — a striking contrast to her roughed up hands.

"Shit, shit, shit!" she lightly yelled into her palms.

And to think this wasn't even going to be the last time they were going to meet — and it was all thanks to Shiho. She asked Ichika to invite Nene to their next show for her, and she's just now realizing how much of a stupid decision it was. Just how many times was she going to make things harder for herself?

After countless groans into her palms and constant contemplation, she brings her head up and stares up at the sky, her eyes adjusting to the change in brightness. Hoping to find a clear sky before her, all she could find were clouds bundled up against one another. Disappointed, she closes her eyes and goes through a breathing exercise that Honami had taught her.

And then a realization hit her.

She opens her eyes, "You're still there, aren't you?" 

No response came.

She turns her head towards the corner that Ichika went around, "Ichika. I know you're there. Come out."

A couple seconds later, a nervous Ichika came out. "Hahaha.." she laughed awkwardly, holding her nape.

"Come here."

Ichika gulped, trying to swallow her nervousness. After seeing what she did to Saki yesterday, she really doesn't want to go over there.

As much as she didn't want to, she complied, walking over to the open seat next to her. The tension within Ichika built up with every breath Shiho let out, anticipating whatever reprimand she was gonna get from the girl.

"Did you tell them?"

Ichika turns her head towards her, "T-tell who?" She's really only asking to postpone the earful she's going to get later.

She sighs, causing Ichika's stomach to sink deeper into unease. "Saki and Honami. Did you tell them what happened today already?"

"O-oh! N-no no! I didn't tell them!" She said as if she just wasn't about to text them both everything that happened today.

"You promise?"

"Y-yeah! I didn't!" She crosses her fingers. "I promise!"

"Good." She looks back up at the sky. She's starting to be glad she asked Ichika to do this, rather than Saki. Especially Saki, otherwise this could've gone very differently.

The two sat there in silence for a while, not saying a word to each other. Shiho had really only brought her here so that her thoughts wouldn't be the only thing accompanying her. Though if it did end up the case that Ichika had already told her bandmates about today already, then she was for sure going to get the Saki treatment.

Fortunately, she didn't have to do any of that. She didn't think she'd have to. She knew that Ichika and Honami weren't like Saki, where information wouldn't spread like wildfire once it reached them.

A smile forms on her face, one reflective of the blissful state she's in right now. It's good to have this right now. After having to fend off Kohane's and Minori's interrogation during class and going through God's cruel, torturous trial (talking to Nene), it's always nice to have a quiet moment with your best friend.

"Can I ask you something..?" Ichika asks, hesitance in her voice. Her mind was still unclear whether or not Shiho was mad at her.

Shiho turns to her. "What's up?"

"So.. um.. Why did you want to invite Kusanagi-san to our next show..?"

Her eyes widened at the sudden query, turning away from her to hide the embarrassment on her face. "Uh, well.." She gulped. Can I trust her? "Um, just as a thanks, I guess." She admits, still hiding her face. 

Ichika's mouth slightly drops. "Huh." Then a smile starts to form on her face, realizing how vulnerable Shiho is right now. Oh, she's about to have so much fun. "Is that really it?"

"Yeah," she said, trying everything in her power to keep her voice from faltering. "That's it."

"Reaally?" Ichika drew out, inching closer towards the girl. "Hmmmm?"

"Yeah yeah!" Shiho says, trying to push Ichika away with one arm. "Quit it! You're acting like Saki right now!"

She backs up, "Sorry sorry." She covers her mouth, trying to cover up her laughter. "That's a little surprising, though. You seem so confident about us performing."

"Are you saying that you aren't?"

"O-of course not! I mean.. It's just that we're going to be playing in a different atmosphere, is all. Can't help but be a little nervous, you know..?"

"Hm." She looked back up at the sky, realizing that the anxiety within her from last night was starting to come back. "I get that too."

"Eh? You too, Shiho? That's.. surprising."

"You said it yourself, we're going to be playing at a new venue. I mean, it even kept me up a little last night." She stared back at Ichika, determination now filling her eyes. "But, I believe in you guys. Especially you, Ichika." A smile irresistibly forms on her face, her mind going back to that day. "You made me believe that we'll get through anything as long as we're all together."

Ichika's eyes widened, her eyes now matching Shiho's."Yeah! Plus, Saki's new song is going to be great! She's been really excited about having us hear it after school, hehe."

Shiho chuckles, "That's good."

Their phones buzzed in their pockets, prompting both of them to check them out.

⭐𝓢𝓪𝓴𝓲 ⭐: where are you guys!!

⭐𝓢𝓪𝓴𝓲 ⭐: me and hona have been waiting FOREVER!!!

⭐𝓢𝓪𝓴𝓲 ⭐: i need to show you guys my new song! hurry up!!

Ichi39🎤: sorry lol

Ichi39🎤: we're coming

"Well, should we get going now?" Ichika asks.

"Yeah, let's go."

-

The moment Shiho warped into the familiar school hallway, she looked at the view beside her, something she had forgotten to do yesterday because of certain circumstances.

She really can never get enough of it; red, blue, yellow, green, and white dots dotted across the auroras of the stellar sky as shades of violet were painted all over her face. Clouds would conveniently be put aside, almost as if the clouds themselves moved just so that she could fully appreciate the view. Depending on the day, this sight would mean different things to her: a reminder of that day, a reminder of their shared dream, or perhaps just a sight to calm her nerves. Right now, it would serve as one of the motivators that would push her forward as she takes on a new challenge alongside her bandmates, and she wasn't going to waste any inch of that motivation.

As she took one final deep breath in and out, she walked over to the classroom they were gonna be using today. The moment she slides the door open, she sees Saki slumped over one of the desks, awoken the moment she heard the door. 

"There you are!" She stands up and marches over to Shiho. The moment she's face-to-face, she puts a finger to her chest. "You're. Late! And last!"

Shiho scoffs, "Come on, I seriously doubt I arrived that much later than Ichika. We both walked together," She turned towards Ichika, who was sitting atop one of the tables. "Right?" Ichika nodded.

"Still! You being last? Are you even taking this dream of ours seriously?" Saki said as small chuckles from Ichika and Honami filled the room.

"Huh?! Are you seriously doubting.." She stops herself, realizing that this was another of Saki's poor attempts to provoke her. Yet as poor as it was, she almost fell for it, again. "Whatever, let's just get started." Shiho walked past Saki to her usual spot.

"Ah, Shiho. Aren't you forgetting something?" Ichika asked.

"Hm? I don't.." As she turned around, she saw Saki waving sheets of paper with one of her eyebrows comically raised. "Right, sorry. Let's hear it, Saki."

"You forgot about my song! Even after how much I talked about it during lunch?!" Saki exclaimed.

"What? You did not even mention one word about it. I only heard about it for the first time from Ichika just a while ago." Shiho went back to take out her bass, making sure it's in tune before they inevitably start to play.

The room went silent, which confused Shiho because at this point, Saki would be making some sort of defensive comeback right now. When she turned around to see what was going on, she found the three of them staring at her, each of their expressions painted with confusion. 

She didn't like any of this. It felt like he had just committed some horrible crime. "W-what? Why are you guys staring at me like that?"

"I know for a fact that I mentioned it during lunch! It was literally all I- no, we talked about!" Saki said.

"Saki-chan's right, Shiho-chan. Were you not paying attention..?" Honami asked.

"H-huh? N-no, I was. It's just.." Shit, did she really? No, she didn't, right? I was the one who called everyone over. Why would I-

"S-she told me she didn't get enough sleep last night just earlier. That's probably why.." Ichika said.

Thank god.. Shiho had just realized that her mind was preoccupied with the inevitable wallet meeting at the time, and Ichika had just saved her from having to go through the pain of making up an excuse. Though she could now sense a parental aura coming from a certain someone.

Honami gasps, "Shiho-chan? You didn't get enough sleep?" She sits up from her drumset and swiftly walks over to Shiho. "What happened? Is something wrong?"

"N-nothing. Just stayed up a little later than usual to practice. That's all."

"That's all?"

"Yes, Honami. You don't have to worry. I'm fine."

She sighs in relief, walking back to her drumset. "I understand that you may be a little nervous about our upcoming show, but please get some good sleep, okay? We don't want you getting sick.."

"I know I know." She sighs, turning back to Saki. "Saki, come on. Let's.." She stops, noticing Saki's unusual expression. Her eyes were narrowed at her, almost like she was doubting the girl's claim. " hear your song.."

She didn't respond, still eyeing Shiho. She had just realized how many of these "eye treatments" she's been getting from the girl.

"Saki..? What's wrong..?" Shiho asks.

"Oh, nothing." She walks over to her synthesizer. "You guys are going to love this! I spent all night working on it!"

Instinctively, Shiho asks, "You didn't-"

"Stay up? No! I'm not like you, Shiho-chan!"

"Right.." I'm not going to hear the end of this, am I?

As Saki got her synthesizer ready and put everything into place, the three huddled around the pig-tailed girl. Quietly, Shiho elbowed Ichika's arm, signaling the girl to look at her. She mouthed the words Thanks, to which Ichika responded with a smile and nod. It really feels nice to have someone she can rely on. 

Well, that really goes for any of her bandmates, but she's more referring to when it comes to keeping secrets.

Speaking of, why was she keeping any of this a secret?

There was really no reason to anymore. Actually, there was never one in the first place! If she could somehow bring it up, she could simply tell them that she had run into Nene at the arcade and gotten the Phenny plush from her. And if she wanted to, she could even tell them she invited Nene over to their next show as an act of appreciation. As embarrassing as it would be, it would clear up any confusion from yesterday and during lunch. It'd even stop Saki from prying even further. It was clearly a win-win.

And yet there's something in her heart preventing her from doing so, and she can't figure out what that is.

"You guys reaady?" Saki drew out, excitement expressed all over her face.

"Yeah!" Ichika and Honami exclaimed.

"Okay, here we.. wait.." Saki turned to Shiho, who seemed to still be in thought. "Shiho-chan?"

Shiho snaps her head up. "Huh? O-oh, yeah, ready."

Saki sighs, "Gosh, what is with you today? This is so unlike you!"

"S-sorry. I told you. Just.. tired."

"Uh-huh, sure.." Saki started to eye Shiho once more.

"W-what? Quit staring at me like that and start it already!"

"Sorry sorry!" Saki clears her throat and rubs her hand in preparation. "Here we go!!"

Saki played the first note, and Shiho could already feel herself being sucked into the girl's thoughts as her own started to fade away.

Starting from the first note, Shiho can already imagine all of their individual sounds coming together to create a melody that perfectly encapsulates the desires that Saki put into this song, which has always been to cheer people up. She's always liked that about the pig-tailed girl's songs, about how she can always seemlessly fulfill what she promises. It's probably why she always finds herself listening to her songs in her off time. Even when she doesn't have her phone with her, she ends up imagining the melodies in her head anyway.

And then she reaches the bridge, and Shiho thinks this would be a good moment to truly let Saki shine. Although it's short, it'd be good if every one of them took a step back and let Saki's playing take the scene, allowing for her feelings to reach the audience. 

She starts to subtly bop her head to the rhythm. I love this. Shiho blissfully thought, words that would never dare leave her mouth, but held true to her heart nonetheless. Every inch of stress within her concerning the show had suddenly vanished, almost as if it had never been there.

As soon as Saki played the last note, she stared up at her bandmates, looking for approval from each of them. “W-well? What did you guys think?”

“I love it!” Ichika says, showing a smile matching her words.

“It’s beautiful, Saki-chan!” Honami lets out a delighted chuckle, "It really sounds like you!"

“Yay! I knew you guys would li-“

“The verses are a little lackluster, to be honest. We should take some time to work on those together.” Shiho says, bluntly.

"Sh-Shiho.."

Saki groans, "Ugh! Always one to ruin the mood, aren't you, Shiho-chan?"

"Did you want me to lie to you instead and potentially ruin our most important show yet?"

"N-no! You know that's not what I meant!" The girl defensively exclaimed.

Shiho chuckles, amused by the fact that she fell for the bait again. "I know I know. Besides, I didn't say I didn't like it. In fact, I think this is your best one yet." She pats her head, attempting to calm the girl down. "Good job, Saki."

Saki, too embarrassed to say anything, simply looks away from her. Shiho can start to see some pink rise on the girl's cheeks, and she feels absolutely delighted at the sight. It only amuses her even more as it slowly turns bright red as Ichika's and Honami's laughs fill the room.

She returns to her usual spot, "Alright, once Miku and the others get here, let's go over the song with the rest of our instruments this time. You guys good with that?" Shiho asked, looking at each of them.

"Got it!" Ichika says.

"Sounds good!" Honami says.

"Good." She turns towards Saki. "And Saki? What about you? Are you good to go, or do you still need time to-"

"I-I'm fine! Jeez.." She said. "You're always treating me like a kid.." She muttered, though she was still loud enough for Shiho to hear.

Shiho smiles, to which Saki immediately turns her head away and pouts in annoyance. She went back to tuning her bass, preparing it for their practice sessions.

Her mind was now absolutely clear of any distractions; she was solely focused on making this the best show they've performed yet. Once they've patched up any rough patches with their performances during practice, Shiho believes without a doubt that their individual feelings will be able to reach their audience, even if she knows that they'll have some difficulty doing so. If they've gotten this far together already, then what's stopping them from going past this? 

Shiho didn't want to show it (she never did), but she was more excited than ever; so much so that she had to prevent herself from playing right now. Her ears were absolutely itching for the moment when each of their instruments’ sounds would delve into her ear and bounce back and forth between her cranium. 

With this new opportunity, Leo/need can finally take hold of the people's hearts that were previously so distant, the distance being closed as their individual sounds resonate within each and every one of them. Of course, none of this was going to happen willy-nilly. Shiho was going to be harder on each of her best friends, but she was confident that they knew that already. After all, it was one of the first things she warned them about after they'd decided to pursue this dream with her.

The door slides open, which is followed by each of the virtual singers slowly making their way inside. "Hey, girls! Are all of you ready?" Miku asked.

"Yeah!" Leo/need unanimously agree.

- 1 week later -

She knocked on her sister's door.

"Come in!" an elegant voice exclaimed. She slid the door open. As usual, the older sister's eyes sparkle the moment she notices it's her beloved younger sister. "Ah, Shii-chan! Do you need something?" As she said this, she stood up to go and hug the girl.

Shiho smiles at the kind gesture, but holds her palm out in front to prevent her from doing so. "The bath's ready. You can go in now."

"Ah, thank you! I'll get right to it!"

She nodded, "Oh, and by the way, I'm gonna head to bed now. So please don't bother me, alright?' Shiho asked, to which Shizuku politely agreed. "Alright. G'night, Onee-chan."

"Good night!" Shizuku went in for a hug, which Shiho let slide this time. Reciprocating the feeling wasn't something she usually did, but she did this time, putting an arm around her waist. There was no particular reason for it; she just felt like it.

After the two had separated, Shiho turned and started walking to her room. She had to stop when her sister suddenly called out her name, to which she let out a frustrated sigh. Didn't I just tell you not to bother me? She sighs and turns around, finding her sister peaking out the door with a bigger smile than usual. "What is it? And, why are you smiling at me like that..?"

The older sister starts walking over, "It's just, you seem so much happier than usual! Did something good happen?"

"Did something good happen?" Before she could answer it, she thought about the question.

Leo/need's practice sessions have been the best they have ever been, and each of their improvements showed that. Honami has not only gotten better at keeping up with everyone else, but has also surprisingly improved her drumming techniques. Since when did she improve so much in so little time?

Ichika's guitar playing had also shown some improvement. Not to the extent of Honami, but still improvement nonetheless, and Shiho's delighted to see it from the girl. Though, her singing hasn't changed much, but Shiho didn't think it'd have to. She absolutely loved the way confidence sprang from her voice, and to change it seemed unnecessary to Shiho.

And Saki's song. Oh how she absolutely loved hearing the song every time they practiced. What was she thinking when she said that she didn't think this would go well with their audience? After they had a clear understanding of how the song was going to play out, Shiho knew that this was going to be their best performance yet.

So yeah, something good did happen. A few things, actually.

She smiles, "Yeah, I guess."

Shizuku's jaw slightly drops, "Really? What's gotten my Shii-chan so happy? I'd love to know!"

"Oh, uh. Well.." Would it be bad to tell her about our upcoming show? I don't mind her watching us, but this venue's so much more different than the one she usually watches us at..

"Oh! May I take a guess..?" The older sister asks.

Right, she probably heard it from Minori already. "Sure."

Right before she gave her guess, Shizuku let out a suspicious chuckle, which confused the girl. Shiho brushed it off as her getting excited. If she was gonna ask to come, she was gonna say yes anyway.

Her guess came, "Is my little Shii-chan in love..?"

..

As she realizes the question being asked, her cheeks start turning bright red. "W-what?! No! What are you saying?!"

"Eh, really? I thought that was the case.." Shizku said, putting her palm to her cheek.

"Why?! What made you think that?!"

"It's just that you seemed to be in such a great mood this past week! You've been offering to help me with my chores, sleeping earlier, and you even made dinner for us today! Every time I look over to you, you always have this sweet, soft smile on your face!" Shizku explained with full delight, her smile growing bigger the more she thought about her beloved sister's smile.

"That's because my friends and I are going to be performing soon!"

"Ah, really? When is it going to be? I'd love to see you girls perform again!" She closes her eyes, thinking back to a moment. "The first time I saw you perform was like magic.. I really couldn't hold back my tears.."

Shiho sighs, turning around to her room. "I'm going to bed." She starts walking towards her room, frustrated at her sister.

"Ah, Shii-chan, wa-!"

"This Saturday, Onee-chan." She said right before walking into her room and sliding the door behind her.

She falls flat onto her bed and digs her face into her pillow, groaning all of her frustration into it. God, I hate her so much.. What is she even thinking?! Does she seriously think someone like me would fall in love?!

Two knocks on her door, "Shii-chan?"

Shiho, still annoyed, turned around and yelled like an eight-year-old, "Whaat?"

"I'm sorry, I can't come. MORE MORE JUMP! is going to have a stream at the beach starting Friday, and I won't be back until Saturday night.." her sister expressed with hints of gloominess.

"It's whatever. I don't think you would've liked it anyway."

No response came, and Shiho had hoped that meant that her sister had left. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case when she heard two more knocks, followed by yet another "Shii-chan?"

"What?" she yelled out once more. Again, no response came. "Tsk." She pushed herself off her bed and went to the door, sliding the door open to see a concerned Shizuku. "What do you want..?"

"I'm sorry, Shii-chan.. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable.."

At least she's self-aware. "It's fine, I don't really care anymore."

As Shiho was sliding the door closed, her sister held her hand out to prevent it from doing so. Shiho was about to make another remark when her sister suddenly said, "I-I hope your show goes well!

Her eyes widen, dumbstruck at the sudden words of encouragement. I'm so fucking stupid.. What the hell am I doing? She thought to herself, berating herself for cruelly reprimanding her sister, even if she kept it to herself. 

After her signature sigh, she slides the door back open and goes in to hug her sister — with both arms this time. "Sh-Shii-chan?"  

"Sorry," she said, her voice filled with regret.

"Eh? Why? You didn't-"

"Just.. let me have this."

No one said a word after that, and Shiho preferred for it to stay that way. Luckily, her wish was granted when her sister slowly placed her arms on her back, followed by putting her head on her shoulder.

The warmth of the hug melted away any regret Shiho had in her heart, making her want to dig deeper into it. It almost made a few tears fall from her face, but she forbade herself from doing so since it would only cause concern from her older sister. For now, she just wanted to enjoy this moment.

After a good minute, Shiho tried separating herself from her sister, but it didn't seem like Shizuku was ready to let go just yet. "Hey," Shiho said, trying to get her to let go.

"Ah, sorry!" As reluctant as she was, she quickly let go of her sister.

When Shiho looked back up at her sister, she found a genuine smile replacing her expression from earlier. Thank god, she thought. To see that she was able to get her sister back to her usual self put her heart at ease.

"Good night, Shii-chan!" her sister went back in for another quick hug before turning back to her room.

"Ah, Onee-chan, wait," Shiho said before Shizuku could take one step. "If you want, I can try and get a recording of our show for you."

"Really?" Yet again, she went back in for another hug. "I'd love that! Thank you, Shii-chan!"

"Yeah yeah, can I go to bed now?"

"Oh, yes yes of course!" She let go and turned towards her room. "Good night, Shii-chan!"

She held her hand up, "G'night." Before Shizuku started walking back, they shared one more smile.

Shiho slid her door closed and gently laid down on her bed on her back, holding her gold Phenny close to her chest as a smile formed on her face, thinking about her sister's words.

"I-I hope your show goes well!"

It will. I promise you that.

And then, she thought further back.

"Is my little Shii-chan in love..?"

Her smile dropped as she began to think about what her sister said. However, after not even five seconds of thinking about it, she immediately disregarded it, thinking it was pointless to ponder upon. 

Me? In love? Yeah, as if. Never will I ever do something as stupid as that. And she firmly believed that. 

She closed her eyes as she got ready to sleep, not giving those words one millisecond of thought.

And yet, for that one night, she ended up sleeping an hour later than usual.

Chapter Text

"You want to go to a live house..?" Nene asked.

"Yeah!" Emu said, her usual excitement filling her words.

In the middle of practicing her part in The Happy Phoenix, Emu had suddenly asked for the request to go to a rock live house together. During the first week of their practice, she was bombarded with questions left and right from the girl, and all of them had to do with that godforsaken wallet meeting, which Nene still often thinks about even after a week has passed. After countless times of refusing to answer what her "relationship" with Shiho was or what was "going on" between them, the questions thankfully began to die down. Well, until now, at least.

She sighs, "Why? I mean, are there any particular artists you want to see?" Nene asked Emu, getting a big, fat head shake in response. "Then why do you wanna go..? I don't mind, but, why?"

"Because because, you know how we saw that show with Tsukasa-kun a couple days ago?" asked Emu, to which Nene gave a confused nod. "I was so happy when he found what he was looking for! Not only that, it was so wonderhoy when he was chosen to play Rio!  So then I thought I should maybe do the same! So that I can shine like Tsukasa-kun did!"

"Okay.. I get that, but.. why live houses? Wouldn't it be better to watch actual plays and performances instead? I mean, you can literally watch some of the other troupes here right now."

Emu wiggles her finger back and forth, "Tsk tsk tsk, you could never be more wrong, Nene-chan! If we want to learn more about how to put on better performances, wouldn't it be good to look for stuff outside our usual shows?" Nene gave a nod in response, despite not exactly knowing what she was getting at. "And besides," She dug into her pocket, taking out two slips of paper. " I already got tickets for both of us!" 

"Eh?!" She swiftly takes the tickets, examining every inch of them. This Thursday? I don't think I can even go that day! "You brought us tickets and you didn't even ask me if I wanted to go?!" 

"Sorry sorry! It's just that I really wanted to go with you!"

Why am I even surprised? This is like the 100th time you've done something like this.. She sighs, "Emu, I don't think I can even go. I have practice with Hoshino-san that day."

"Wha-! Reaally??" She drew out, getting another nod from Nene as the lavender-eyed girl held the tickets out. The pink-haired girl reluctantly took the tickets back, her head held down as she walked back. "I guess I'll go ask Rui-kun or Tsukasa-kun instead.."

Seeing Emu somberly walk back, she couldn't help but feel guilty. She knew too damn well this was all just an attempt for her to change her mind; it's not even the first time she's done it. Yet for some reason, she always ends up taking the bait. Why? Why is it that when it comes to Emu, she can never seem to make decisions for herself?

Ugh, god dammit.. She takes out her phone.

nene: hoshino-san, are you there?

To Nene's surprise, she got a response instantly.

Ichi39🎤: yeah!

Ichi39🎤: what's up?

nene: sorry for asking this, but can we cut practice short on thursday?

nene: i plan on hanging out with emu that day

I'm sure she wouldn't like it if I just outright canceled it, so hopefully this might work. Still..

Ichi39🎤: oh, that's fine!

Ichi39🎤: hmmmm

Ichi39🎤: how bout we cut it an hour short? does that work?

Oh, thank god. That's a relief..

"We're not slacking off, are we?" A familiar voice said, one similar to a certain star she knows.

Her heart dropped upon hearing the voice, dropping her phone as she spastically tried to catch it mid-air because of it. Painfully embarrassed, she picks her phone back up from the ground before turning to Seiryuin Sakurako. "S-Seiryuin-san! I wasn't! I was just.." She stopped, unable to come up with a convincing answer.

"Just what, hm?"

Her heart dropped even further, to the point where she was now questioning her whole existence. What the hell am I doing?! She questioned. Just like many past embarrassing interactions she's faced in her life, she wishes she could just turn back time and go through the interaction another time, this time being able to articulate actual coherent words rather than stuttering with every sentence she starts. When they were young, Nene had asked Rui if he could make a time machine for this exact purpose, to which he then replied with a "I'll see what I can do!". She never ended up getting that time machine.

So now, to the best of her ability, she had to face yet another embarrassing interaction. The fact that it was with her rival only made it worse. "S-sorry, I'll get back to it.." She said, averting her eyes as much as possible.

A chuckle slips out of the diva's mouth, which eases Nene's heart while also confusing her. "No need to be so embarrassed. I don't doubt that you've been working hard at this. Besides, I've seen how extensively you've been practicing for your part. I simply saw a moment to poke some fun at you, that's all."

"O-oh, okay.." As confused as she was, Nene's heart was finally put back in place, and her thoughts began to feel coherent again.

"Ta-tah now. I look forward to seeing your part." The diva elegantly waved goodbye.

After Nene waved back, she stared back at her phone. She found two messages from Ichika, unread.

Ichi39🎤: hello?

Ichi39🎤: sorry, does it not work after all?

nene: no no, it works

nene: sorry, something just came up

Ichi39🎤: oh, no worries!

Ichi39🎤: awesome! 

Ichi39🎤: well, guess i'll see you thursday!

As soon as Nene finished typing down her thanks and goodbyes, she went to go and find Emu.

After some quick searching, she found Emu around Rui and Tsukasa. From the looks of it, she can tell that the both of them had just denied Emu's request, seeing as how Emu held her head down afterwards.

Nene approached them, "Emu," The pink-haired girl quickly turned around. "I ca-" 

"Nene-chaaan.." Emu drew out with a somber tone in her voice. She held Nene's shoulders, shaking them back and forth. "No one wants to come with meee.."

"E-Emu.." She said. No response was received, except for more shaking. "Emu." Still, more shaking. "Emu!" The shaking finally stopped, with Emu now looking up at her with wide eyes, "I was saying.. I can go with you."

Emu, whose eyes were already wide open, sparkled and widened even further, to levels so uncanny that Nene instinctively almost ran away like she had just seen a ghost. Well, even if that did happen, it wouldn't, because Emu immediately wrapped her arms around Nene upon hearing the words, jumping up and down in excitement. "Yay yay!! Thank you thank you Nene-chan!!" Nene smiled, not commenting on the death grip she was in right now.

Rui let out a chuckle, "You two are going to a concert, correct? May I ask which artist you're seeing?"

"Ah, let me check!" Emu let go of Nene, finally giving her some room to breathe. She looked through the tickets, squinting her eyes and holding them close to her eyes. "Let's see.. Ah! They're called STANDOUT!"

"STANDOUT? Hmmm.. Oh, I recall my sister bringing home some of their CDs! From the few snippets I've heard from Saki's room, they seem very promising!" Tsukasa said.

"Really?? If Saki-chan likes them, then I know it's going to be super wonderhoy!!"

"STANDOUT..?" I swear I've heard of them before.. Or am I imagining things again..? Nene dug into every crevice in her brain, trying to find out why the band's name sounded so familiar to her. She ended up not thinking too long about it since she had just remembered to remind Emu that she still had practice with Ichika.

"Ah, okay! I'll just come with you then, Nene-chan!"

"Huh? N-no, you don't have to-"

"What are you four doing over there?" the director yelled out to them, causing Nene's heart to temporarily drop once more. "Unless you're talking about the play, then I suggest all of you get back to work! Especially you, Tenma!"

"Y-yes, of course!" Tsukasa saluted like he was being instructed by a drill sergeant before turning back to his spot to practice. Before Rui did the same, he waved back at the two of them with his usual earnest smile on his face.

And then, before Emu also did the same, she gave Nene another one of her death grips, jumping up and down in excitement. "Thursday’s gonna be so much fun! I can't wait!!" She let go, waving goodbye at Nene as she ran back to her spot. 

As Nene waved back, she let out a deep, bothersome sigh. Why should I even try? Even if I did tell her not to go, she wouldn't even listen.. 

Now that all of that was out of the way, she glued her eyes back to the script and went back to perfecting her impression of a canary. 

She's practiced day and night for her singing, even going as far as going up to the school roof to practice so that she wouldn't waste a single second of her free time (even if the fear of someone walking in on her was constantly on her mind), so she thinks without a doubt her singing has been perfected. That just leaves her acting, which Nene can admit that she prioritizes just a tad less than her singing. She wasn't going to waste any of her remaining days because of it, and she was absolutely determined to put on the finest act of a canary for all of Phoenix Wonderland to see.

Friday, four days until her audition.

I can do this.

- Thursday -

Nene approached Shibuya Park, the place where she would have her last practice with Ichika before her audition in The Happy Phoenix. On this particular day, she was quick on her feet. Not because she was running late or anything, but she had just been informed by Emu that she was going to be a little late to watch their practice, so Nene wasted zero time getting there since it meant having a little bit of peace and quiet with Ichika before the inevitable storm came.

Only a few steps away, she saw Ichika Hoshino in the distance, practicing with her acoustic guitar on their usual practice bench. She stops at the entrance, taking a few moments to take in the melody of her guitar. 

Ichika’s voice wasn’t the only thing she found beautiful; the sounds of her guitar resonated with her just as well as her voice did. And when the two mixed, the melody would make Nene start to question whether she was on earth right now, or at the heavenly gates where a choir of angels was singing upon her arrival.

Nene couldn’t wait to hear it, so she slowly, but eagerly, approached the guitarist. Ichika looks up upon hearing the steps, smiling as she notices it was Nene who was approaching her. “Good afternoon, Kusanagi-san!” As Nene sat down next to her, she replied back with a small wave. “Should we get started now?” Ichika asked.

Nene nodded. "Yeah. Would you mind if I went first?" she asked, to which Ichika gave a thumbs-up

She held her hand to her chest, clearing her throat in preparation. She was going to sing her first portion in The Happy Phoenix, and although she's undoubtedly perfected her singing, she's hoping to improve upon anything, even the smallest details. And if Ichika, a fellow singer such as herself, liked it, then any remaining doubts regarding her performance would cease to exist.

And so, she began to relea-

"WAHHH!!" A pink-haired creature yelled, jumping out of the bush from behind the bench. The two immediately stood up, instinctively running away from the threat, stopping as soon as they realized that it was just one Emu Otori. "Wahaha! Mission successful!" Emu said with a wide grin on her face.

"O-Otori-san?! What are you doing here?!" Ichika said. She calmly and slowly returned her guitar to its normal position after she held it like she was going to bash Emu with it.

"E-Emu! What the hell?! How long have you been there?!" The two shot their questions at the same time.

Emu stood up, holding a palm forward. "Ladies ladies, one at a time!"

"Emu, you better answer me right now!"

"Whoa, Nene-chan's mad!"

Because you..! She stops herself from thinking any further, realizing that, yeah, she is getting a tad bit too angry.  She sighs at the realization. "Sorry."

"Hehehe!" Emu runs towards Nene, wrapping her arms around her again. "It's okay it's okay! I already knew you didn't mean it!" As Emu's smile began to widen, so did Nene's.

"W-wait, I still don't get why you're here, Otori-san. Is this some sort of surprise?" Ichika asked.

"Ah," Emu let go of Nene, turning towards Ichika. "Did Nene-chan not tell you that I was going to watch you guys?" Ichika shook her head, to which Emu turned back towards Nene. "You didn't tell Ichika-chan?"

"Well, I was going to tell her at some point before you came. But then you.. ended up already being here.."

"Oops!" She held her nape, "Hehehe, sorry.."

Why should I even be surprised? This is totally something you'd do. Actually, I'm pretty sure you've done something like this already.. She sighs, "So, how long have you been there?"

"Mmmmm.. Like, since noon?"

"N-noon?!" Ichika suddenly yelled out. "I only got here at 3 o'clock!"

"Yup!" She pointed to the ground where she was hiding. "I took a big nap! I woke up when I heard Nene-chan's footsteps!" She said as if it's totally normal to recognize your friend's footsteps even when you're asleep.

"Yeah," Nene started walking back to her spot on the bench, sighing as she sat down. "I'm not surprised."

Ichika did the same, walking back to her spot on the bench. "Well, I guess I don't mind. In fact, I think it'll be fun having you around!" She turned to Nene, "Right, Kusanagi-san?"

"Oh, uh, sure.." I can at least count on her staying quiet while we sing, right..?

Emu started walking over next to Nene, delighted at the compliments. "That's right that's right! I'm just like that!"

"Emu, I'm going to start now, so no talking, okay?" 

"Ah, if that's the case, then perform in front of us!" Emu said, pointing at the ground in front of them. "Y'know, like you're actually performing for an audience!"

"Oh, yeah! I'm surprised we haven't done that already!" Ichika said.

"E-eh? Do I really have to..?" She turned her head to Emu, receiving an eccentric nod in return. Then she turned to Ichika, who also gave her a slight nod. She sighs again before going up, her hands folded down at her hips. This is just like practicing in front of Robo-nene. You got this..! She tells herself, trying to calm herself down.

She turns, seeing that Emu has now taken her spot on the bench. Getting nervous about the fact that it felt like the two were staring directly into her soul, she closed her eyes. Once again (and hopefully, with zero interruptions this time), she holds a hand to her chest and clears her throat in preparation. With one more person in the mix, her stomach started to churn more than it usually did, but that didn't stop her from believing in herself. Even with just two people, she was going to make sure that she put on a heartfelt performance just for them.

After one final deep breath in and out, she released everything she held within her heart, a delicate melody coming along with it, one mirroring the symphonic chirps of a canary. The longer she kept singing, the more of the stress that she held in her heart started to vanish, allowing her to more easily project her voice. 

As Emu and Ichika were softly wrapped by the alluring melody, they experienced a sense of euphoria, which only intensified the longer they listened to her voice.

Ichika couldn't believe it. Even though the two of them had to call off most of their practice days because they both had important shows to work towards, Nene's voice showed that none of that stopped her from getting any better. Being sucked deep into her singing, she can't help but be motivated by it to try harder herself. If her friend has shown this much improvement already, then she can't slack off either.

In contrast, Emu could believe it. Seeing her best friend practice from morning to noon, from noon to evening, and maybe even beyond that, it really made Emu anticipate hearing Nene's singing. And to see the result of all those practice sessions made the girl's heart flutter to levels never achieved before. Right now, she can't help but stare in awe at her best friend, astonished at how she can be so amazing. Nene-chan..! She's so amazing!!

As she drew out the last note from her heart, she opened her eyes back up, seeing two pairs of sparkling eyes directed towards her. Usually, she'd be taken aback by such a sight. But now, she couldn't be more grateful for it. It's full proof that she reached them.

"Kusanagi-san, that was beautiful! I can't believe you improved this much already!" Ichika said, to which Nene gave her thanks.

"Nene-chan!! That was so.." She clenched both of her fists to her chest and shot them outward, posing in her signature wonderhoy pose. "Wonderhoy!!!! You really sounded like a canary!!!"

"T-thanks.." I wouldn't go that far.. She started walking back to the bench, stopping next to Emu.

"A canary..? What do you mean by that, Otori-san?"                   

"Oh, um. I'm going to be playing a canary in our next show. That's why Emu said that.."

"Ah, that explains it. Speaking of which, it's for the 30th anniversary show of the Phoenix Stage, right?" Nene nodded. "When is it? I've been thinking about watching it!" 

Emu held two fingers up towards Ichika. "Two months from now! And you should watch it! It's going to be one of our sparkliest bestest show yet!"

"Got it! I'll let my bandmates know." She pulls out her phone, presumably to text her group chat. "I'm not sure if we're going to be doing anything by then, but I'm pretty sure Saki will force us to go anyway." A smile formed on her face as she said that.

Emu gasps. "Yeah yeah! While you're at it, text everyone else from the school too!"

"E-eh? Emu, do you think I have everyone's contact on here..?"

She tilted her head, somehow confused at the fact that the biggest loser of the school doesn't have everyone's contact. "You don't?"

"Um, no..?"

Emu, she's not like you.. 

Ichika's phone rings, "Oh, looks like they responded. Here, look," She held her phone out for them to see, and they read the messages. 

⭐𝓢𝓪𝓴𝓲 ⭐: YESSSS!!! WE HAVE TO WE HAVE TO

HonaHona🍎: I'd love to! 

"Yay!!!" Emu exclaimed as she reached for the sky. "Wait, what about Shiho-chan?"

"I think she's busy right now. She said she had a shift at her live house today."

"Oh, that's right! I almost forgot!"

The two kept talking, which Nene paid little attention to. All she could think about was how relieved she felt upon hearing Shiho's name. Up until recently, all she could associate with Shiho's name was that embarrassing meeting at the arcade and park, two meetings she loathed so much. But, after about two weeks, it looks like Nene's gotten over it, and she's glad that she doesn't have to deal with that feeling anymore.

"Well, while we wait for Shiho to respond, I guess I'll go up now," Ichika said, going up as she put her phone in her pocket.

"Yay yay! Go go, Ichika-chan!!"

Hearing Emu's ecstatic cheers, she snaps out of her mind and looks forward to the guitarist. 

After strums from the guitar that emanated great regret and sorrow, a voice followed, matching the exact feelings coming from the guitar.

Coupled with the distant melody and Nene's pride of being a teacher, she almost wanted to cry. At this moment, Ichika's voice shone the brightest it had ever been, brimming with unbelievable amounts of confidence that she knew would reach some point. It's ironic, considering the lyrics of this song, but that was the truth. The way Nene could feel every emotion Ichika expressed with her voice strengthened that fact.

With one final strum, Ichika opened her eyes and bowed down to her audience, giving her thanks. "Thank you for listening."

"Hoshino-san, that was.. really beautiful. You really expressed yourself more freely this time."

Ichika's eyes widened at the compliment. "Thank you so much, Kusa- O-Otori-san?! Are you okay?!"

Nene, confused, turned towards Emu, finding that she was now sobbingly rubbing her eyes, trying to wipe her tears away. "E-Emu?! What happened?!"

"It's just.. the song was so heartbreaking..! Ichika-chan, don't tell me you'll be playing this at your next show, are you..?"

As soon as Nene heard the words "show", her heart dropped. She's forgotten about Shiho's upcoming show until now, and for some reason, she can feel that same uneasiness within her start to come back. Was it because she never thought she’d have to see Shiho again, or something else hidden deep? Nene didn’t know; all she wanted to do was get rid of the feeling once more.

"N-no, we won't. I don't think we can even play this at a live house anyway.." Ichika said.

“Good..” Emu sniffles. “Good, because I don’t think my heart could handle being there..”

“Yeah.. Anyways..” She turned toward Nene. “Kusanagi-san, did you have any suggestions on what I could improve?”

Nene shot her head up upon hearing her name. “H-huh? O-oh, no, nothing.”

“Really? I was thinking I messed up a little on the chorus there.. Are you sure?”

“Y-yeah. I’m sure..” She was lying. She actually had come up with some fair critiques while she was singing, but her mind was too preoccupied to give any of it right now.

“Hmm, okay then.. You wanna go up next, then? I’m sure there’s still something I need to improve on, so I want to try and look for it in your singing!”

Oh, that’s actually great because I’d rather do anything than think about this right now. “Sure.” She stood up, getting ready to face her audience another time.

She closed her eyes, and out went the melody once more.

-

After two sessions of switching back and forth and giving proper feedback to each other, Ichika and Nene decided to end practice for today. In the middle of packing her things, Ichika asks, “You two are going out after this, right? What are you guys gonna do?”

“We’re gonna go to a live house! Look!” She swiftly pulled the tickets out of her pocket. “We have tickets!”

“Oh, really? Can I see?” Ichika asked, getting a nod in return. She promptly took the tickets and examined them. “Wait, isn’t this where-“

“Ah tah tah tah tah tah!” Emu sprinted towards Ichika and covered her mouth. “Shh shh!” She slowly pulled her hands away. Just as she was told, Ichika stayed silent, despite how confused she was. Eventually though, she got the gist of it.

“Emu? What’s wrong?” Nene asked.

“Oh, ummm.. It’s a surprise!” She nervously said. “There’s a surprise waiting for you at the live house!”

“A surprise..?”

“Yeah..! Like, a really big one!”

“Huh.” Is that why she wanted to bring me so badly? Knowing what she’s capable of, this is probably going to be catastrophic.. As much as she knew that, Nene always found it nice whenever Emu did something for her. “Can I ask what it’s about?” she said with a smile.

“N-nope! It’s a secret!”

“Hmm, okay then.” Maybe she’s actually glad that she was invited to this. She didn’t exactly know what she did to deserve this, but she went along with it anyway. It seemed fun, she thought. “Well, should we get going now?” She asked.

“Oh, yeah yeah let’s go!” She ran by Nene’s side and turned back to Ichika. “Bye bye, Ichika-chan!” Emu sent out an eccentric as Nene sent her own little wave. The two started walking right after.

“Ah, you two, wait!” Ichika slightly yelled, jogging towards them. “Would it be okay if I went with you guys?” She asked once she was face-to-face.

Emu gasps. “Yeah yeah!!” Emu did a slight cheer. “This is going to be so much fun..!!”

“Wait, what about practice, Hoshino-san?” Nene asked with genuine concern.

“Oh, we actually don’t have any band practice scheduled for today. I haven’t done anything but practice this whole week, so I thought going out with you guys might be good for a change.”

“Oh, if that’s the case, sure.”

“Awesome!” Oddly enough, Ichika cupped her chin with a hand. “Besides, this seems.. interesting..”

Nene nodded, though a little confused. Interesting? I thought you’d be one who was used to going to places like this, right..? She thought, brushing it off moments later.

“Okay okay enough talking! Let’s go!!!” Emu said, sending a fist towards the air.

And so, they went off on their journey.

-

Upon reaching the live house, Nene noticed quite a rather long line, filled with eccentric groups of people. Not eccentric like Emu, but more punk-rock like. She noticed some had spiked collars and bracelets, dark clothing, and some even unironically had mohawks.

Ichika could at least blend in, having a guitar case slung over her shoulder, but Nene and Emu didn’t have that luxury. Nene knew they would stick out like a sore thumb, and she absolutely loathed the prospect. It kept her on her toes.

“I’m gonna go buy my ticket. You guys can go wait for me in line.” Ichika said, running off to the ticket booth.

“Kayy!!” Emu grabbed Nene’s wrist. “Let’s go, Nene-chan!” Before Nene could reply, she was pulled by the girl and forcefully put into line.

After twiddling with her fingers to calm herself down and Emu’s random comments filling in the awkwardness, Ichika came back with a ticket in her hand, scooching in with the duo. “I didn’t know we were watching STANDOUT. This should be good then!” Ichika said.

“Ichika-chan, you know them?”

“Yeah. We actually played as their opening act for one of their shows!”

Oh, so that’s why they sounded so familiar. She did mention it on the day of. 

“I have to say, their music really ‘stands out’!” Ichika said, putting heavy emphasis on “stand out.”

“Ah, that was a good one!” Emu said, laughing afterwards.

It really wasn’t. It was actually such a basic, god awful pun that the only reason Nene would laugh at it is because of how bad it was. She’s really glad Emu’s here right now because otherwise it would’ve been painfully awkward. But hey, at least the disaster of a pun made it so that Nene’s mind could start to calm down. All she could think about was how bad the pun was.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting in line and Ichika and Emu’s constant chatter, they reached the ticket collector. Nene promptly gave her ticket to them and headed inside once allowed to do so.

It didn’t seem like the inside was any better for Nene. Right now, a band unknown to Nene was playing, and the atmosphere absolutely overwhelmed her. The bright, colorful lights coming from the stage and the aggressive cheers from the audience didn’t sit right with the girl. Why can’t they just stay silent the whole time, and do the lights really have to directly go into your eyes every two seconds?! It’s clear that she doesn’t have the slightest clue how live houses work.

“Wow, this is so cool!! There are so many colors here, and the people on stage look so awesome!” Emu said with evident contrast to Nene’s thoughts.

“Mhm.” Ichika hummed. “I actually know this band! Shiho suggested them to me once when I was having a hard time writing down lyrics. Oh, speaking of which, do you guys wanna grab a drink?”

“Yeah.” Nene immediately said. I really don’t want to be around here right now.

“Yeah! I’m really thirsty! Where do we get our drinks?”

“Just over here.” Ichika pointed to a distant drink bar. “Follow me.” And so they followed her.

While Nene walked, she couldn't help but think about why Ichika had said “speaking of which”. Speaking of what? She thought, unable to come up with an answer.

But the closer they approached the drink bar, the more realization started to hit Nene, and she tried to deny all of it. No, it can’t be, right? There’s no way she can be he- Her thoughts stopped as soon as she saw a certain silver-haired girl tending the drink bar, facing away from the trio.

As much as she wanted to run away, she stayed with the two, following them until they stopped in front of the bar. Nene was dead center, squished in between the two, which meant that most attention would unfortunately be directed towards her. 

“Shiho!” Ichika called out.

The girl, who was presumably tending someone’s drink, turned her head, though not enough to see who it was. “Ichika? Is that you?” Shiho asked, recognizing the voice. Ichika hummed in response. “Hang on, I’ll be right there.”

Seconds passed, each one stabbing into Nene’s lungs as she anticipated the inevitable, disastrous moment when Shiho is face-to-face with her. She can start to feel her heart race again, mirroring her last two meetings with Shiho. 

Nene turned her eyes towards Emu in the heated moment, finding the girl side-eyeing her with the most devious, shit-eating smirk she had ever seen. Just when she thought the torture was over, it came back with a punch in the gut. Of course Emu had planned this! Why else would she want to go to a live house anyway?! Nene clenched her fists, furious at the fact that she fell for this.

Then, Shiho started to turn around, and all of that frustration was now turning into nervousness and fear. Nene had always regretted what she did at the arcade, but right now, she just wanted to implode. If her pride of being an expert claw machine player hadn’t gotten to her at the time, she wouldn’t have to be facing any of this right now.

As soon as Shiho handed over a drink to a nearby stranger, she turned towards Ichika. “So, what are you..” She trailed off, her eyes widened as her emerald eyes met with the lavender eyes. She continued, eyes still wide open. “doing here..”

“Oh, y’know, just thought I’d stop by,” Ichika replied with a slight smirk.

Shiho didn’t reply or even acknowledge the answer, and instead kept staring at Nene, almost as if she wasn’t sure it was actually Nene or not. In contrast, Nene’s eyes kept going back and forth between staring at the ground and staring at Shiho’s emerald eyes. 

“Shiho?”

She pulled back from the stare and went back towards Ichika, and Nene felt a slight sense of relief. “S-sorry, what was that?”

“Something wrong, Shiho?”

“N-no, nothing.”

“Hmmm, okaay..” Ichika said, a smirk still over her face. “Oh, since I’m here, can I ask you something?”  Shiho nodded. “You know how Kusanagi-san has a show coming up?”

Why did you have to say my name.. It’s not like it’s my show.. 

“Yeah?” Shiho said.

“Well, it’s in two months, so I asked the band, and all of them wanted to go. Well, except you. So, I wanted to know if you wanted to go too.”

Shiho didn’t respond at first, most likely thinking about her answer. After a moment, she responded. “I’ll think about it.”

Ichika sighed, “Really? How can yo- wait what?”

Shiho raised an eyebrow, confused. “I said I’ll think about it?”

“R-really?” Shiho nodded. “Wow.. I thought you’d say something like ‘we have band practice’ or something.” She turned towards Emu and Nene. “Kusanagi-san, Ototi-san, you hear that? She said she can come!”

Emu sent a fist into the air, “Yay! You’re going to love it, Shiho-chan!” Nene gave only a slight, hesitant nod.

“Hey, I didn’t say I would go. I said I’ll think about it.” She told Ichika.

“Aww, don’t be like that. I just know you want to go.”

“I didn’t say that. And, if we have practice at that time, then we for sure can’t go.”

“Ah,” Ichika pointed at Shiho with a smile. “There it is!”

Shiho sighs. “Look, do you want something? This is a drink bar, so please get something or leave.”

“Ah, right. I’ll just get Dr. Pepper.”

“Strawberry milk, please!” Emu exclaimed.

“We don’t.. have milk of any kind..”

“Eh?! Why not??” Shiho shrugged in response. “Awww.. Well, I’ll just get cola then!”

Shiho nodded, then turned towards Nene.

“I’ll take the grapefruit soda..” Nene said, averting her eyes.

Shiho hummed and went towards the back. Since all of their drinks were canned, this shouldn’t take too long.

And Nene wished it did. Having to avert her eyes every time Shiho was near her was too much for the girl. You’d think after two excruciating interactions with the girl, she’d actually start to look at the girl in the eyes for more than a second. But sadly, Nene was never really capable of that.

And now, she had to prepare herself to say “thanks”, which is something she often did anyway, though this moment in particular had more tension to it.

When Shiho turned around and handed over her drink, Nene did what she had prepared. “T-thank you..” 

How pitiful.

Shiho hummed, prompting Nene to walk away into the crowd. She didn’t know how long until STANDOUT went up on stage, but she was willing to wait till the end of time.

“Oh, Shiho, do you wanna watch with us?”

Nene immediately stopped in her tracks upon hearing the sudden query. Please say no please say no please say no pl-

“I would, but I’m a little busy here.”

Nene let out a breath of relief. Thank god..

“Oh, Hinomori.” Someone said, presumably another worker at the drink bar. “STANDOUT’s gonna be up soon, so I think you’re good to go. I should be able to handle things on my own here.”

..

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me..!

“Well, if you say so.” She turned towards Ichika. “Okay, I can go.”

Nene heard footsteps approaching her, causing her to tremble in fear. When they reached her, Emu grabbed Nene’s wrist, pulling her along with her. “Let’s go let’s go, Nene-chan!”

They stopped at a particular spot, one where they could get a good view of the stage. 

She was standing next to Shiho, Emu at her other side. Although there was a considerable distance between them, she was doing everything in her power not to accidentally brush her arm.

Nene took a quick glance at Shiho before immediately turning her eyes forward again. Shiho had the most neutral face anyone could possibly have that which made Nene start to question why she was even feeling so tense. Shiho had clearly forgotten what happened between them, so clearly Nene had to do the same.

Her heart began to calm down, realizing that this was one of those situations where Nene was taking things out of proportion again. I should really start looking for ways to stop doing this.. Still, she made an effort not to touch Shiho’s arm.

She wasn’t sure if it just happened or earlier because she wasn’t exactly paying attention to her surroundings (other than Shiho), but people all of a sudden started cheering. Nene looked up to see a girl band. One of them stood out to her, which was a girl with long, dark brown hair with blonde underlayers.

After their introductions, the band played their first song, and the crowd broke out into a roar of cheers. Like earlier, Nene would usually be annoyed at how loud people are being, but she thinks the performance she’s seeing justifies it.

Rock not being a genre she usually listened to (unless it was from a video game soundtrack), Nene wasn’t sure if she was going to enjoy this. But the moment the vocalist started singing, she was absolutely entranced. The girl was mesmerized by the way she expressed the song, her feelings. The words are so simple, yet they convey so much emotion. Weirdly, it reminded her of Ichika. She wouldn’t be surprised if she took some inspiration from the vocalist.

If Nene was just a little less Nene-like, she would be jumping up and down in excitement, screaming as loud as she could. 

Emu grabbed Nene’s shoulder with both of her hands and shook her. “Nene-chan! Isn’t this so cool?!” Emu yelled.

Nene looked over at Emu and smiled with a nod. 

“I told you you’d like this!” Emu wrapped an arm around Nene and held a fist in the air. “Here, let’s cheer like everyone!!” After that, Emu started jumping down, sending her own cheers towards the stage.

Okay, maybe Nene can try just a bit for today. After all, she’s actually glad that Emu brought her here. As such, she started cheering in her own way, which was simply jumping up and down with her friend. She didn’t have it in her heart to audibly cheer.

“Ah, Shiho-chan! Cheer with us too!” Emu said, grabbing the side of Shiho’s sweater and dragging her towards Nene’s side.

The two were in direct contact with each other. It wasn’t just their fingers anymore. They could both feel each other’s warmth seeping through their sleeves.

And Nene just wanted to run.

To disappear.

To literally die.

Thoughts of the show disappeared, replaced with self-deprecating thoughts regarding the situation. She couldn’t pay attention to the show even if she wanted to. Her thoughts drowned out any surrounding noise.

Almost immediately after, Shiho backed away. Nene didn’t know what Shiho said or if she even said anything. Either way, the lavender-eyed girl started to profusely apologize, bowing up and down repeatedly.

Nene wasn't glad Emu had brought her here anymore. 

At this moment, she loathed Emu.

I’m going to kill myself.

-

“Bye bye, Ichika-chan, Shiho-chan!” Emu sent a wave towards them.

Ichika sent a wave back, unlike Shiho, who had already started making her way home. “Ah, Shiho, wait up!” She ran after the girl.

The sun was setting, emitting an orange glow dispersed around the sky. It was a calming sight, but it clearly wasn't calming enough for the emotions stirring inside of Nene right now.

Emu stretched her arms before turning her attention back to Nene. “Wasn’t today so fun, Nene-chan?”

What Emu got in response wasn’t the usual hum or nod, and instead got what was the biggest death glare she had received from the girl, staring deep into her soul.

“Ne-Nene-chan..?” She slightly backed away.

Without saying a word, Nene slowly approached the girl, grabbed her cheeks, and stretched them outwards. 

“Hey, stop it! That tickles!” Emu said, laughing at the gesture.

Nene stretched further.

“Ow! Wait, Nene-chan, that hurts a little!” And further she stretched. “Ow ow ow! Ne-Nene-chaaan! I’m sorwy I’m sorwy!” Emu exclaimed, realizing that this was her punishment for bringing Nene to Shiho.

And yet, she didn’t stop.

“Neneee-chaaan..!!”

Chapter Text

"Y-you guys reaady??" Saki drew out the words, hints of nervousness inside of them.

"I hope you guys are."

"O-of course!"

"I.. I think I am.."

Today was the day; their first show at another live house. Despite the amount they've practiced for the past two weeks, their wavering hearts never failed to go away. In fact, standing before the very stage they were going to perform on soon only intensified their hesitance. None of them were sure if their music was either going to reach the audience's hearts, or directly bounce off of them like a Nerf dart.

Well, everyone but Shiho felt that way.

"You think so, Ichika?" Shiho asked in an interrogative manner.

"I-It's just.. What if we don't do well..? What if.. we mess up somehow..? "

Shiho sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What are you guys even nervous for?" Ichika's and Honami's hearts start to calm down after the query. "If you were to ask me, I think you guys are absolutely ready." Their eyes widened at the comment.

"R-really?" Honami asked.

"Yes, Honami. Your technique has improved a lot since we started, and you've been able to keep up with us now." She turned to Ichika, "And Ichika, your playing's improved too. I don't want you getting nervous, especially since you're our vocalist."

"Y-you really mean that?" Ichika asked.

"No." Shiho scoffs. "Of course I am. You guys already know how closely I watch you guys play. What, you suddenly don't trust me or something?"

"T-that's not what I meant," Ichika said. "But, hearing that from you really calmed me down. Thanks, Shiho."

"Thank you, Shiho-chan." Honami put a hand over her chest. "My heart's finally started to calm down.."

Shiho smiled, relieved that she managed to calm them down. "That's good, you two. Just make sure you show that when we perform, alright?" Shiho said, getting a sincere nod from both of them. She then looked around the backstage, searching for a certain twin-tailed individual. "Where's Saki?"

"Oh," Honami pointed towards the entrance of the stage, to which Shiho sees Saki peaking out into the audience. "I think she's checking out the audience before we go up."

Idiot, that's just going to stress you out even more. She sighs, walking up to the girl to take her away. In the middle of it, however, Saki sent out a big wave towards the audience, a complete contrast to what Shiho thought the girl was feeling right now. "Saki, what are you doing?" She asked upon reaching the girl.

"Ah, Shiho-chan! Look," She pointed towards the audience. "It's Emu-chan and Nene-chan! I can't believe they're here!"

Shiho froze. Shit.. I forgot they were going to be here.

"Eh, really?" Honami went over, peaking out into the audience with Saki. "Ah, they really are!" Hehe, they really stick out!"

"Right?? They literally look like lollipops! They're so cute! I wonder why they're here.."

Ichika came over to look, and with some reluctance, Shiho eventually did the same. She would literally kill herself if she had to see Nene’s face one more time (especially after what happened at STANDOUT’s show), but she had to make an exception this one time. If she didn’t pretend to be surprised, she’d be interrogated by Saki until the end of time, and that was the last thing she wanted to happen.

She stared out into the audience, and her hopes that Saki was joking around were immediately crushed, seeing a girl with the most ravishing lavender eyes.

She could see Emu rapidly tapping Nene’s shoulder, pointing towards them. Nene turned her head towards the group, and for a moment, their eyes met, and memories of Thursday started flooding in like a second tsunami. She immediately pulled back from the stare, backing away from the entrance.

From that split second they saw each other, Shiho could feel the amount of disgust that was directed towards her, and it was absolutely deserved. This is what she gets for being such a creep.

Ichika turned around, amused. “Something wrong, Shihooo..?” In response, Ichika received another death stare from the girl, one not so different from the one she got two days ago. “S-sorry..”

Shiho was still angry at Ichika for what she did on the day of STANDOUT’s show. And no matter how much Ichika said she didn’t “plan it” or “didn’t mean for any of it to happen”, she didn’t buy any of it.

Saki and Honami turned around right after, confused at the commotion. “Eh, Shiho-chan? What’s going on?” Saki asked.

“Nothing,” Shiho said with the most serious face she could possibly make up.

It didn’t seem like Saki bought it. “What do you mean ‘nothing’? That was definitely something just now! The way you jumped when Nene-chan stared back at us tells me otherwise!” Saki inched closer towards her. “I wasn’t sure if it was true that you were hiding things from us, but now it’s just plain obvious! Now tell me, what’s going on..?”

Shit.

Shit shit shit!

Shiho turned her eyes towards Ichika, desperately looking for help. Fucking help me! She said with her eyes. Unfortunately, even if she wanted to, Ichika couldn’t seem to find a way to assist the girl.

“Ah, you four.” All of them turned to the voice. “You’re Leo/need, correct?”

“Oh, yes yes! That’s us!” Saki exclaimed as she backed away from Shiho, finally giving the girl some room to breathe.

“Great. Get ready. You’re up next.” As soon as the words left their mouth, the atmosphere in the room changed.

And so did Shiho’s mind. No longer was she thinking about her unfortunate third meeting with Nene Kusanagi. Her mind was dead set on the show.

After the backstage employee left, Saki went from questioning Shiho’s secrets to showing visible worry, most likely about the show.

Shiho walked past her to the entrance, “Come on, you heard them,” Her words directed at Saki. “We’re up soon.”

Saki quickly followed, “H-hey, we’re not done! You still have to tell me-“

“Saki, we really can’t talk about this right now.”

“Oh, don’t give me that! I need to know why-“

Getting irritated, Shiho turned around to face the girl, putting a finger to her chest. “Listen to me right now.” She could see Saki's eyes widen, showing visible fear. “We’re about to perform our most important show yet, and I am not going to waste any more time talking about useless shit with you.” She dug her finger in deeper. “You got that?”

Saki winced at her words. “Y-yeah! Got it..!

Shiho turned her attention back towards the stage, not giving another word of response. She could hear Saki go to Honami, complaining to her about how mean Shiho is being again. She couldn’t see it, but Shiho could tell Honami was comforting her in some way. She was most likely being cradled again or getting another one of her head rubs.

Now that she had given it some thought, she was being a little harsh with her words again. She’s been desperately trying not to be blunt so often, but it unfortunately slips out every once in a while. I should probably apologize to her after this, she thought to herself. 

The fact that she’s been having to apologize so often because of her recent tendency to be blunt to the people around her wasn’t desirable, but hey, it was the least she could do.

Eventually, the three joined Shiho at the entrance, awaiting their call upon arrival on stage. 

This was it. They were about to perform their most important show yet, and Shiho knew this would be their best performance yet. With Saki’s song and seeing how much everyone’s improved, how could Shiho think otherwise?

Her heart was racing. But unlike her best friends, hers was happening due to excitement and exhilaration coursing through her veins right now. She just couldn’t wait to get on that stage.

It was a shame that her sister couldn’t come, especially considering this was going to be their greatest performance yet.

At least Ichika had that covered.

She turned to the girl, “Ichika,” Ichika promptly turned her head. “Your phone’s all set up, right?”

“Oh, uh, yeah..” Ichika said with some hesitation.

Shiho raised an eyebrow, “..Something wrong?”

“Huh? Oh, no! I mean, it’s getting recorded, but..”

“But..?”

“But, um.. well.. It’s..” She stopped herself, reconsidering what she was about to say.

“It’s what..?” Shiho sighs. “Come on, just spit it out. What’s wrong?”

Ichika gulps hard before giving her answer. “It’s.. It’s getting recorded by-!”

“Leo/need, get ready. You’re about to be called up real soon.”

“Alright!” Shiho replied to the voice before turning back to Ichika. “Look, just tell me after we’re done, alright? As long as it’s being recorded, then everything should be fine. You at least got that, right?”

“Y-yeah..”

“Good.” She turned her eyes back to the stage. “Then we’re all set.”

After only a couple of seconds, they were called upon the stage. Apart from the two lollipops in the crowd, everyone looked alike. Judging from their appearance, they seemed to be a tough crowd. But that wasn’t going to stop Shiho from reaching their hearts, nor was it going to stop her friends from doing the same. She didn't have to ask; she always knew.

We can do this.

-

“W-we'll be finishing things off by playing a brand-new song that we wrote just for this day...!”

Shiho could notice the confidence in Ichika’s voice start to falter, and for a moment, she could notice hers start to fall off as well.

Shiho wasn’t wrong in believing in her friends. In fact, it was 100% justified. Shiho knew this was the best they’ve ever performed in their lives. And yet, at the same time, she felt it was the worst.

The audience showed zero enthusiasm, a great contrast to the constant cheers they’d get in her manager’s live house. During their performance, some had even left. Every time it happened, Shiho felt a direct stab at her confidence, seeping out of her body until it was completely drained.

On this day, her worst fear became a reality.

That is, unless they decide to step it up.

I have to do something, anything! Our music has to reach them!

And so, before the start of their last song, adrenaline started to course through every part of her body. She closed her eyes and delicately placed her fingers on the fretboard, getting ready to give one last hurrah.

The moment they started, Shiho’s playing took a massive turn. If it were just her up on stage, you could very well mistake her for a professional who’s been playing for 30+ years. 

Sweat started to develop in every part of her body with the amount of techniques she threw in, especially her fingers. Her breaths grew ragged, and her fingers began to cramp up, but her adrenaline left zero room for her to give any thought about it right now. All she cared about was giving a heartfelt, moving performance.

She knew that attention would be directed towards her now. She knew how much her sudden change in playing would throw off her teammates. She knew how much pressure this would put on them. And she knew too damn well that they would have to try and keep up. Yet, all she could do about it is to put her trust in them.

This had to be it, Shiho thought. Paired with Shiho’s professional playing and this being Saki’s best song yet, it had to reach them. 

As Ichika strummed the last note, Shiho opened her eyes and looked back at the audience.

And found nothing had changed.

As if she found herself in an empty live house.

Shiho felt her heart drop.

Her worst fear, did become a reality.

-

“That fucking bitch..!” She lightly slammed a fist on the table. The group felt eyes directed towards them.

The four were in a cafe, debriefing the atrocity of a show they performed. The calming environment was exactly what they needed right now. But it still didn’t seem to help Shiho so much.

“S-Shiho-chan, calm down! You don’t have to be so-“

“Saki,” She interrupted. “That asshole called your song ‘empty.’” Shiho noticed Saki’s wince upon hearing the word, but she continued either way. “What does she fucking know about you? How can she just say that with no hesitation?” The three stayed silent, and so Shiho continued. “Saki, don’t trust a word she said. We loved your song,” Shiho turned her eyes to Ichika and Honami. “Right?”

They both nodded. Despite how interrogative and aggressive Shiho felt at the moment, Ichika and Honami truly did love Saki’s song, and Shiho already knew that before asking.

“I appreciate it, you guys. But.. she’s right..” Saki said.

“What? You actually believed every word that asshole said?”

“J-just think about it! Everyone in the audience didn’t like our music, right?”

“Yeah, but-“

Saki interrupted Shiho. “That’s because none of our sounds resonated with them. I don’t think it was because it was ‘empty’ per se, but rather.. they just didn’t care..” Saki gulped, hesitating on her next words.” Which is why.. I want to try again.”

“Try again? Saki, we really don’t have to go there again. They didn’t like our music, and we can’t do much about it.”

“B-but, we can!” Saki quickly replied to Shiho. “I.. I know we can. No, we have to. It feels bad to leave things this way, so I want us to perform there again! I want to write a song that connects with them!”

The three sat there, processing Saki’s courageous declaration. And then, Honami spoke up first. “We should do that.” The three turned their head towards the drummer. “I started to fall behind during the last song, and I’d like to improve so that it doesn’t happen again.”

“Me too..” Ichika said. “My fingers weren’t keeping up with Shiho during the end. So, until we do our next show, I want to spend as much time making sure I can keep up.” Upon hearing the words, Shiho started to question whether or not her decision during the show was necessary.

After all, it did nothing to reach the audience.

“You guys!” Saki expressed with delight. “Alright, let’s do the star thingy!” She laid down two peace signs, her index fingers connected.

Ichika connected her peace sign with Saki’s, and Honami did the same with the girl’s other hand. The only one left to do the same was the silver-haired bassist, who showed some clear hesitance.

“Shiho-chan,” Saki said, causing Shiho to look at the girl. Like seeing two shooting stars at once, Saki had the most serious expression planted on her face. “I get what you’re trying to say, but.. again, it feels bad to leave things like that. If we don’t do this, our music won’t be able to reach more people. It’ll feel like we’re just running away, and I hate that!”

Running away.. Shiho thought about the words. That’s right. If they were to just go back to her manager’s live house, they’d just be running away, and Shiho’s pride would never allow her to do something as low as that. 

Shiho smiled, “Since when did you become so reasonable, Saki?”

“H-huh?!” The other two laughed at her reaction. “Hey, I’m just as serious as you are about this! Now come on, do the thing already!”

“Alright alright.” Shiho said, putting her peace sign in between Ichika's and Honami's.

Their fingers formed a star, each finger representative of their individual determination. Shiho smiled at the sight, taking in the fact that it took the three of them to convince Shiho, again. They’ve come so far..

“Reaady, everyone??” Saki drew out the words, getting a nod from all of them in response. “Alright! Go, Leo/need!” And then, they shot their peace signs up in the air.

Silence and awkwardness followed.

“S-so, how was that..?” Saki asked.

“Honestly, too much. I liked it better when Ichika did it.” Shiho said.

“H-hey!” Saki pouted, and Shiho snickered at the sight.

Eventually, things started to die down, and Shiho had calmed down at this point. Now, even more determination filled her heart. Just like her bandmates, Shiho’s desire to move the audience’s heart was set in stone.

We can do this.

Chapter Text

Deep breath in, deep breath out.. 

"'Huh? There's something on top of that tree over there!'" Rio said.

Deep breath in, deep breath out..

"'Is that...?'"

Now..!

The cowardly canary has taken the stage with her alluring voice.

Just as she's practiced, her voice conveyed a sense of freedom, singing to her heart's content. This is going well! she thought. Of course, she didn't think it was perfect. Her confidence in herself never allowed for something as far as calling herself perfect. But, she also can't deny that this might be her best performance yet, far surpassing the euphoria she felt on the Christmas show.

Cowardness, freedom, loneliness: she conveyed all of it. During all of this, she can't help but appreciate the number of hours, days she spent practicing for this part. Despite her being caught several times practicing on the rooftop by Tsukasa and Rui (or worse, her classmates), it was absolutely worth it. Is the compelling performance she's giving right now not proof of that? Nene thought so, but that wasn't up to her to decide.

Nene knew how much criticism the director gave everyone, but she was absolutely willing to receive it if it meant improving her acting and singing. Especially her singing. Even if it was the smallest piece of criticism, she’s willing to spend days on end just to fix it. Was she a second late on her part? She’d spend a whole week to make sure it never happens.

Though, she knew that maybe her acting should take priority. During the past two weeks, she can admit that she didn’t spend as much time working on her acting as she should have.

It was fine, though. She had nearly two months, and for any feedback she received after this, she’d spend the rest of her time working on it. It was undoubtedly enough time to improve anything she missed.

I can do this.

- Saturday -

Nene Kusanagi stood among the black sea, seemingly meshing in with the people around her (well, except for Emu). Crowds like these were usually one of Nene's worst nightmares, and the gloomy aura that emanated from everyone would usually turn her away. Keyword: usually. Here, it felt like she actually belonged, finding comfort in being around people with similar situations.

No, Nene wasn't depressed, nor did she look like she had parent issues and constantly listened to "Numb" by Linkin Park 24/7. But, she was.. confused. Maybe a little torn inside. She still thought about her performance from yesterday, constantly trying to interpret just what the director had meant with his suggestions. The weirdest part: none of it was regarding her acting. Apparently, her acting — for the most part — was totally fine.

It had to do with her singing?

How does my singing stick out..? And what old habits? How am I supposed to know what that means? She'd constantly ask herself the same questions. And yet, even after a day where she spent the rest of it practicing nonstop, nothing close to an answer has ever come to mind. 

"Nene-chan..?" No acknowledgment was given to the pink-haired girl, for Nene was still deep in thought. Emu slightly shook her shoulder, forcing the girl to look at her. "Are you okay?

Nene gave her a nod with a slight smile, appreciating the concern. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just, thinking about yesterday.." Nene said, dropping her head back down.

"No, don't do that!" Nene shot her head up at Emu's sudden proclamation. "We're here to see Ichika-chan's show, remember?"

"Y-yeah, but-" 

Emu put a finger to the songstress's lips, shushing her up. "No buts! We're here to enjoy this show, and just that! Keep those bad thoughts away for now!"

"O-okay okay, I will.." Nene said, to which Emu returned to her jumpy self again.

She gave Nene a big hug, receiving a smile from the songstress. "It'll be okay, Nene-chan! I know you'll figure it out soon!" She pulled back from the hug and stared back at her. "For now, let's just enjoy this! If Ichika-chan and her friends are playing, then surely it'll be super duper amazing, right?"

Nene nodded with a smile, "Yeah, you're right." 

She put her eyes back on the stage. Thankfully, no bands were playing at the moment, so the audience wasn’t cheering like a bunch of animals. Plus, her eyes were safe for the time being since the headlights were off at the moment.

Now that she was a little calmer, albeit still a little on the edge about her singing, Nene found herself anticipating Leo/need's performance. Maybe even getting a little excited. It was no musical — she knew that, but it was a musical performance nonetheless. Plus — not counting her practices with Ichika — this was her first time seeing them perform. 

It wasn't unusual for her to be excited. Of course Nene wanted to hear her beloved friend's voice. When she can't help but think about how much Ichika has improved from the start, how could she not anticipate the melody that is her voice taking the stage before her?

Then, there were her bandmates. Although she knew very little about rock instruments, she also couldn't deny that she was curious to see how they would perform. Despite not knowing what Ichika meant every time she threw a band term at her, it was clear to Nene that the guitarist thought highly of her bandmates. So, as such, the songstress did too.

Seeing Emu to her left be just as excited, she felt her own excitement start to bubble up. At this point, she just couldn't wait.

But suddenly, in the corner of her eye, she saw hints of bright yellow slightly pop out onto the stage. She directed her eyes over, and saw one Saki Tenma peaking out into the audience. For whatever reason, she was scanning the audience, putting Nene at unease, knowing that unneeded attention would be put onto them if they were to be seen.  Please don't notice us please don't notice us please don-

Unfortunately, the fact that the two looked like literal lollipops didn't help her case.

Emu gasps, "Saki-chan!" She sends out a big wave, garnering attention from the crowd. "Saki-chan!! Hello!!" She yelled, which unfortunately drew everyone else’s attention. "Nene-chan Nene-chan! Look look! It's Saki-chan!"

Just pretend you don't know her.. She thought. Though, it was a little hard to do that, considering that her appearance made it plainly obvious.

And then, Honami appeared, and then Ichika. Embarrassing as it was, she sent a slight wave towards Ichika, receiving one from her as well. Now that she saw Ichika, she had just remembered the task she was given by the girl. Right, she asked me to record their performance for her. As much as she hated taking videos because it made her look like a dad recording their kid's performance, she hated not doing a friend a favor even more.

And so, she reached into her pockets. No, wrong pocket..

Emu gasps, again. "Nene-chan, look look!" She said, rapidly tapping Nene's shoulder. By this point, most of the audience had turned their attention away from the two.

"Hang on." Despite what she said, Emu continued rapidly tapping. After Nene took out her phone, she turned to Emu with slight annoyance. "What is it?" As she spoke her annoyance, her eyes slightly directed back to the stage. There, she was met with familiar emerald eyes, and memories of that torturous day came back like a second tsunami.

To Nene, her eyes showed clear contempt, directed towards her. She had despised herself for getting even an inch too close to Shiho, but to see that the sentiment was shared by her was an absolute punch in the gut. It was urging her to look away, just so she could escape the feeling.

But, before Nene could look away, Shiho had already disappeared. In fact, everyone else has too.

"Awww, you just missed her! Shiho-chan was just right there!" 

"Y-yeah.." She, in fact, did not.

Even yesterday, when her vocal chords were almost destroyed because of how insistent she was in finding her mistakes, the events of Thursday still lingered around her mind. And now, just like it had on that cruel day, her mind was back to reprimanding her.

She loathed herself for touching Shiho’s arm. And after seeing her clearly disgusted expression and immediately turning away, it was clear to Nene that she had made the girl uncomfortable, that she wanted nothing to do with her. I’m such an idiot!

It wasn’t even her fault; it was Emu’s! Though, Nene couldn’t be mad at the girl. At least, not for more than a couple of minutes. She immediately forgave the girl after she constantly pleaded for her forgiveness on the way home. And because the frustration couldn’t go anywhere else, all of it was directed towards herself.

I need to leave. I shouldn’t be here. I have to ge-

“Nice to meet you, everyone!” A starry voice emanates from the speakers. “We’re Leo/need!”

Hoshino-san.. No, she couldn’t leave. Ichika has stated several times how important this show was, and if Nene were to leave now over a small mistake, she’d be disregarding all of her friends’ feelings. The last thing Nene wanted to do was be a shameful friend.

As the band got ready to play their music, she straightened her phone and pressed record.

In no time, what felt like the missing piece to all her problems entered her ears:

A cheerful melody.

-

Like a wizard casting a spell on her, her mind suddenly felt light on her head now. 

Thoughts about her singing still wandered. Except, no longer was it frustration regarding it, and instead was replaced with determination. She didn't tell herself that she "couldn't do it" anymore. Instead, motivation took over, and she wasn't going to an inch of it when she got home.

Now that she thought about it, these were the same feelings that were conveyed during Leo/need's performance. The feelings were almost comparable to ones her troupe shows conveyed, and for a moment, it felt like she was a kid again, watching her favorite mermaid performance.

Even her dear friend's voice instilled that similar motivation within her. It had so much more impact compared to their practices, and Nene couldn't help but long for the voice after it had ended. The words she expressed were so simple, and yet, despite that, they didn't fail to move her heart. The fact that it came directly from Ichika made it feel like it was meant for her, and she had to thank her for it, let her know how much she loved their performance.

However, this was just merely the first part of why this performance moved her.

During their last song, the bassline noticeably picked up, and each strum that the silver-haired bassist performed with her instrument sent tingling sensations coursing through every inch of Nene’s body. And as much as she desperately didn’t want to see the girl ever again, she couldn’t take her eyes off the girl for the remaining minutes, rendering her deaf to anything else around her. Yeah, even her friend’s singing.

She couldn’t believe that a bass could make such beautiful, deep, reverberating sounds, but she should have expected it. Nene already knew through Ichika how much Shiho dedicated her life to music, but to actually see the culmination of said dedication absolutely took all of her breath away. She was mesmerized.

Nene already felt a one-sided connection with the girl due to their mutual love for music, but today strengthened that.

She was attracted to the girl.

And she wanted to hear more.

-

The moment Nene went into her room, she gave Ichika a call.

The ringing buzzed until a familiar voice came out. “Hello, Kusanagi-san?”

“Ah, Hoshino-san. Sorry for calling so suddenly. I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed your show today.”

A small pause followed. “R-really? You did..?” There was clear confusion in her voice, confusing Nene herself.

“Yeah. You know, I was actually having a bad day before I went to your show, and it really cheered me up. I really feel like I can.. do it now.”

“Oh? Can I ask what happened..?” Ichika asked with genuine concern.

“Oh, well..” She didn’t like making things about herself, but judging from Ichika’s voice, she was worried, and Nene wanted to fix that. “You see, the director for our upcoming show wasn’t exactly too keen on my singing..”

“H-huh? Really, Kusanagi-san?” Ichika asked, getting a hum in response. “I can’t believe it.. I mean, you have the most beautiful voice I know!”

“Yeah, b-but don’t worry,” She quickly reassured. “Your performance made me want to keep going, to keep improving. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

Another small pause followed before Ichika gave her response. “Thank you, Kusanagi-san. The fact that our performance was able to help you means a lot to me. To us.”

Nene hummed. A long pause took over, and Nene was convinced this conversation was going to end soon. 

She said her goodbyes, “I guess I’ll-“

“The thing is..” Ichika interrupted. “We’re going to be performing at that live house again.”

“Eh, really?”

“Yeah. As much as I appreciate what you told me just now, all of us didn’t like how today went. I mean, barely anyone in the audience cared about our music. So, we’re going to redeem ourselves. We want our music to reach them.”

Redeem yourselves? But, for what..? She was perplexed that Leo/need had to “redeem themselves” after such a perfect performance in Nene’s eyes. However, she was never one to directly question her friend’s motives.

“Okay. When is it?”

“Wait, what? You’re coming to see us again?”

“Yeah,” She said, thinking about their performance, her friend’s gracious singing, and last but not least, the reverberating sounds of the bass. “I would love to see Sh- you perform with your friends again.”

Ichika paused again, taking in what her friend said. “Okay. We don’t have a set date yet, but I’ll be sure to let you know. Thank you, Kusanagi-san.”

“Of course.”

The two exchanged a few more words together, having another of their usual conversations about some musical topic they could conjure up, easing whatever remaining stress that stayed in her mind.  At the end, Ichika said her goodbyes, and so Nene reluctantly did the same.

The moment she pressed the red button, she immediately realized she had forgotten to send the video she had recorded for Ichika. I should probably do that before I forget again.

She brought up the video. It automatically played, and so Nene thought to give it a watch before sending it.

For some reason, the bassline was a little more noticeable than usual. Not just in the last song, but in all of their songs.

Even weirder, the screen was stuck on the bassist.

And somehow in some way, this nine-minute video turned into a 40-minute video?

That’s weird. Bizarre, actually.

And, interesting, to say the least.

Chapter Text

Walking through the once lively neighborhood with her bass slung over her shoulder, the place stripped of all of its life now that the sun had set, Shiho felt strings of guilt tie around her stomach.

It probably wasn't needed, she thought. In fact, she knew this was one of those situations where she was overthinking things so much that she couldn't sleep until she did something about it. The bassist's group had already decided what they wanted to do regarding their failed show, and Saki seemed determined about it. So everything should be all fine and dandy, right?

Nope. At least, not in Shiho's eyes.

It was the way she cruelly yelled at her pig-tailed friend that made her think otherwise. Not once, but twice, on the same day. So many undeserved, revolting words were thrown at the girl, and it disgusted Shiho how she threw them around like it was nothing. Even during their time in the cafe, where the words she said weren't even directed towards Saki, she still hated herself for yelling at her friend.

Once again, Shiho let her emotions control her, even though she’s been actively doing everything in her power to not do that. 

At some point, Shiho started to see Saki's house in the distance. The Tenma family has never failed to stand out in literally every aspect of life, and Shiho has already accepted that it's a core aspect of their soul.

The moment she reached the door, she knocked on it twice. It was too late for the doorbell. She didn't want to potentially wake up her parents, or Saki, for that matter, if she was sleeping. 

As expected, no answer. It was getting pretty late, after all. I'll just come back tom-

And then, she heard familiar footsteps. They were identical to her brother's, but Shiho has enough experience to tell the smallest differences.

In the blink of an eye, her eyes were met with the bright cheerfulness of the one and only Saki Tenma, with her bright, pink pajamas. Though, she can't help but notice the dimming light in the girl's eyes..

The blonde gasps upon seeing her beloved friend. "Shiho-chan!" She goes in for a big hug, one that the bassist gladly accepts. She pulls back, putting them face-to-face again. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, uh.. just.." She started to get embarrassed, realizing the lengths she went through when she could've just done this through text. Dammit, you're already here, so just say it! "Just.. wanted to apologize.."

"Huh?" She said, tilting her head. "Apologize? For what?"

I knew it. Of course she had already forgotten about this.. "For uh.. yelling at you.." She said, holding her nape and averting her eyes.

 "Yelling at me..?" Shiho noticed the little pause, and assumed that Saki was now searching through her empty cranium to find out what she meant by her words. After a good second, it looked like her light bulb lit up. "Oh! You really came all the way here just for that?" Saki laughs at Shiho, amused by her usual worrywart behavior. "Oooh, Shiho-chan! What would you do without me?"

"Hey.. Whatever, I take it back." She turned her back towards the girl, pretending to walk away.

"Wait, no!" Saki grabbed her shoulder. "I'm just kidding!" Shiho sighs, turning back to the girl with her eyes narrowed, to which Saki basks herself in the sight. "Hehe. It's okay, Shiho-chan!" She goes in again to give the girl another hug before pulling back. "You were just serious about performing. I mean, that's how you always are!"

"No, not just that. At the cafe too.."

"That too! It felt really nice that you were mad on my behalf, y'know? When you said all of that, I thought about how if someone hurt me or something, you wouldn't think twice to beat them up for me!" Saki said, gesturing with a flying fist and mouthing Pow! when she did.

Hearing the words, Shiho felt the guilt inside of her start to drain out of her body. Even if she had never actually gotten into a fight before, she would absolutely beat anyone to a pulp if anyone were to hurt Saki. Actually, not just Saki. Any of her friends were included too.

Caught off guard, Saki took the opportunity to rub Shiho's head. "Silly Shiho-chan, always worrying too much!"

"Hey." She swatted her hand away. "Only I can do that."

"Whatever you say!" She turned around. "I'm gonna go now, kay? I still have to figure out what to do for our song."

"No, go to bed." She immediately said.

Saki sighed, turning back around. "I will, Mom.. Just let me do this first!"

"No, Saki. I want you to go to bed, right now. We have all day to discuss it tomorrow."

"But, I have to do this right now! I need to understand how they feel! I need to-"

Shiho put a finger to the girl's lips, silencing her. In that moment, the dimming light in her eyes really started to reveal itself, putting a now gloomy expression on her face. The bassist sighs. "Look, I know how much you want to connect with everyone. I do too. But," Shiho put a hand on her shoulder. "I- we can't have you getting sick again. Even if you get a small cold or something, you'll eventually start to push yourself, and I don't want that happening again."

Saki took some seconds to respond, showing some obvious sighs of hesitation to Shiho. "Okay.. Just for you, I'll go to sleep right now!" Saki said in her usual Saki tone. She pointed at the bassist. "And you should too! Like, I can't believe you came all the way here at 11 pm!"

"Yeah yeah," She turned around, about to walk away from the girl. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ah, wait!" 

Just how many times are you going to make me turn around? She sighs, turning back to the girl. "What?"

"Since you're here now.. Will you tell me what's going on between you and Nene-chan?"

Shiho blinked at the question, then narrowed her eyes at the girl. You're so annoying.. The words didn’t come out, but she knew her face said it for her, evidenced by how the girl looked so smug in response. She turned around for the last time and walked away with zero hesitation.

"I'll get to the bottom of this!!" She yelled, and Shiho knew at least one person woke up because of it. "Ah, and no more using the b-word!!"

That, she can agree on. 

Now, it was just Shiho and her bass as she walked through the quiet neighborhood. Finally, she could go to bed and sleep with no worries.

Right?

-

No.

For some reason, the indescribable pit she had in her stomach on the way to her friend's house was still present, albeit tamed by only a slight margin. She thought it would completely disappear at this point, but alas, it remained, expanding further the more she thought about it.

Was it because their recent performance was a total disaster? The fact that they failed to reach anyone's heart?  This was the first thing Shiho presumed, and it made sense to her at first. After all, a disparaging audience was no different from seeing a gruesome car accident in Shiho's eyes.

Yet, even after coming up with a supposed answer, the pit never went away. How? Why? She was so sure that this was the case, and maybe it still is. But, she can't help but feel there's something else in the realm of her worries. What that "something" should be is something the bassist can't seem to get a grasp on.

Amidst these thoughts, walking alongside her bass and the cold air of the night comforted her.

On almost every occasion where Shiho has to go out, the instrument (which has become a part of her body at this point) is always taken with her without any given thought. Perhaps it's because of pure instinct, or perhaps it's because she's lived with it her entire life. Either way, the very presence of it gives her comfort, even when lazily slung over her shoulder.

And the cold air has always been something Shiho's fond of. Maybe because it has to do with her inability to wear literally anything but some kind of long-sleeved clothing, but it's always relieved her of her thoughts, allowing her to relax a bit.

She sighs. Maybe she just needs a little sleep. She hasn't been getting enough of it ever since the tensions of playing at the new live house increased just days before their performance. Though, it could be a little hard to do that, considering the state of her mind right now.

And then, this thought of hers was interrupted — by a calming melody.

Not one of an instrument, but a voice. A quiet, lonely voice.

Despite the loneliness it expressed, it felt so.. free, like a canary flying off on its own, chirping along as it pleases, and Shiho can't help but feel a connection to it, like she's felt the same way before.

Loneliness. It is without a doubt that Shiho is no stranger to the feeling. 

Her time in middle school wasn't kind to her, but she's long since moved on. However, when listening to this melody, she feels her heart tugged on by a string, dragging its way back to that treacherous time and forcing her to temporarily relive the memories.

They were painful ones, yes. But they were easily dismissed when she thought about how far she's gone, how far they've gone. So, it did feel bad thinking about them, but the realization of her present never failed to make her smile.

She followed the voice, desperately wanting to find the source of her brought-up memories. After only a couple of seconds, she stopped in front of a house, looking directly towards it. It was about as normal as any house in the neighborhood. It had the typical two floors and a stone fence surrounding it. Though, the one directly next to it seems a little.. abnormal.. And, robotic..? Why is there a bunch of robots in their front yard?

She pulled her attention away from the house and put it back on the one in front of her. On the second floor, she notices the lights for one of the rooms are turned on, and..

Kusanagi-san?!

Her eyes widened at the sight of the songstress. Without even thinking, she quickly sits down beside the stone fence, immediately hiding from the girl. She laid her bass case down beside her, making sure any signs of her presence were nowhere to be found.

Now, why the hell was she hiding from the girl? If you were to directly ask this to Shiho right now, all she could give you is a couple of stutters, inaudible made-up words, and a couple of mumbles.

She had zero idea as to why she was doing this. Actually, now that she's taken some time to process her decision, this was actually a horrible predicament for her. If she were to try and leave now, she'd run the risk of getting noticed by her. And if that did happen (god forbid it does), she'd be labeled as a stalker, and the songstress's opinion of the bassist would go down further than it already has.

She face palms, tightly gripping the ends of her bangs. Fucking dammit! 

Forced to sit here for who knows how long, all Shiho can do is listen as the songstress expresses her loneliness.

That was when Shiho found the answer.

Nene Kusanagi.

That's why she's been so anxious throughout this whole night. Leo/need had performed such an embarrassment of a performance, and Nene Kusanagi was there to watch all of it. 

Such shame, Shiho Hinomori. It only hurt her even more knowing that she was the one who invited the girl, as a "thanks." Yet, it felt nothing like one. It was more like a "fuck you" than anything with how atrocious their performance was.

She groans, resting her forehead on her knees. If only she hadn't invited the girl, then she wouldn't have to be feeling any of this.

No, if only she hadn't met her — at all. Why did she go through all that trouble just to get a stupid, gold Phenny anyway? It was such a trivial matter, yet Shiho thought it was apparently so important to kill off a few hours of band practice.

This is her punishment: failure — and embarrassment. This is what she gets for neglecting so many precious hours of band practice — a fitting infliction for an aspiring musician such as herself.

A notification rings.

She checks her phone.

Upcoming teen band anemone is being scouted after their recent performance, a tweet reads, coming from one of the accounts Shiho follows for news regarding upcoming indie artists.

"Tsk." 

She lets out an exasperated huff through her nose, immediately silencing her phone and putting it face down on the ground. 

Another reminder of their failure — only this one brought back the contempt she held at the cafe.

But, it doesn't last for long.

Her focus eventually goes back to Nene Kusanagi's voice, enraptured by the elegance it brings with its melody.

This is only her second time hearing the songstress's voice — the first time being so long ago that she's forgotten what it sounded like. Now, hearing it once more brought back memories of that musical twilight parade.

It truly is an ethereal voice, like an angel lifting her to the pearly gates with only their voice. Of course, it isn't Shiho's preferred style when it came to her own band. But, standalone, it truly provided a different sort of sensation within Shiho's body that not even Ichika's could compare to. If she were to describe each other's styles, Ichika would be the queen of the chessboard, while Nene made sixteen simultaneous moves with each piece on her turn.

She still firmly believes that her voice alone is capable of taking her to places beyond an old, worn-out show stage. At the same time, she fully understands the songstress's decision to do otherwise, being a result of her friends.

After all, the two aren't exactly different from each other. Their friends are one of the sole reasons why they're doing this.

Still listening to the voice, she brought her phone back up from the ground, redirecting it to the voice memo app.

It's not often that she uses it these days. Back when she did though, it was for her poor attempts at writing a song. Most of the audio she recorded here consisted of samples from bands she liked, and she tried to interweave them with her own playing, attempting to create an original melody. That's when she found out that she is utterly incapable of writing songs, and eventually stopped trying afterwards. It’d probably be good to come back to it however, considering the situation her band is in.

And now here she was, using it once more. Not for writing songs, though.

She absolutely revered the songstress's voice, and she wanted to keep listening to it. What better way to do other than to record it?

It was mostly a thoughtless decision, and most likely evident by the fact that her lack was sleep was now showing. In fact, when she wakes up tomorrow, she'll probably delete it afterwards out of pure embarrassment at her decision.

For now, though, she'll take in the melody, and listen to it again when she gets home. Maybe even play it during bedtime, like a lullaby for a crying child.

And then, she heard footsteps. Two sets, actually.

Coming from the direction of the house beside the songstress's, the footsteps were approaching her. At this point, they'd reach her in about 2 seconds, so running away now would only create suspicion. As such, she stayed in place, attempting to come up with some excuse if they were to ask her something.

I'll just say I forgot my keys or something. Wait, no, they're neighbors! Could I say I'm a friend or something? No, that won't work either.. God, what the hell do I-

Shiho saw two sets of shoes, one of them being, uh.. stubby and metal..?

She brought her head up to face the two. After of few seconds of trying to process why the person with eccentric purple hair seemed so familiar, she realized that this situation turned out worse than it possibly could have.

Shit..

"Do you need something?" The showtimer asked.

"I.. uh.. u-um.." She averted her eyes, staring back at the ground. Shit! What do I say?

"Wait a minute.. Hinomori-kun?" He asked, causing the bassist to perk her head back to his face. "Ah, you're one of Hoshino-kun's friends, correct?"

"Y-yeah.." 

"I had a feeling I'd seen you before. I'm Rui Kamishiro, though I recall that we briefly interacted after one of our shows at the Wonder Stage."

"Yeah, we did.." Rui Kamishiro.. Right, that's his name..

"I'm Nene-robo." The machine beside him said, holding a hand out. "Nice to meet you."

It can talk?! "Oh, uh.. Nice to meet you..?" She hesitantly shook the robot's hand, afraid it'll crush her hand or something.

She can't help but be weirded out. I mean, it's not every day that you talk to a literal robot, let alone have it offer to shake hands.

At the same time, she also can't help but find it a little cute.

"What brings you here?" Rui asks.

"Uh.." She still failed to come up with a proper excuse — every one she thought of either contradicted itself or was a flat-out, blatant lie. She had no choice but to tell the truth. Kinda. "Just, listening, I guess.."

"Listening?" Silence between the two occurred, allowing him to take in the melody that filled the awkwardness. She stared in the direction of the voice, smiling as a result. "Ah, I see." He said, turning his head back to the bassist. "She truly does have a wonderful voice, doesn't she?"

As much as Shiho didn't want to admit it to him, they shared the same views, so what harm could it do? "Yeah." She said, staring back at the ground.

"I just hope she doesn't exert herself too much."

She turned her head back to Rui, piqued at his words. "Exert herself? What do you mean?"

"Ah. I apologize if that sounded a little cryptic. You see, she's been-"

"Rui?" A familiar voice yelled, causing the showtimer to turn his head to the voice. "Who are you talking to?"

Without turning his head, his eyes turned back to the bassist. His eyes showed signs of query, almost as if he were asking, "Is this okay?" In response, Shiho quickly shook her head, spastically waving her hand back and forth, mouthing the words No no no!

Subtly, he turned his eyes back to the songstress. "No one. Just having a little conversation with myself again." He said with a believable smile.

"Oh, okay! What are you doing out here?" Nene said with seemingly zero doubt in his lie.

"Ah, I was about to return Nene-robo to you. She's doing all better now, so you may now use her however you like."

"Alright! Just wait there, I'm coming!" she yelled. Shiho could hear rapid footsteps, disappearing the moment the songstress presumably left her room.

Shiho grabbed her phone, slung her bass back over her shoulder, and quickly stood up. "I should really get going now.." She said, speed-walking past Rui.

"Ah, Hinomori-kun," Shiho turned her head to the call. "In case you're worried, no word about this will be spread," he patted the robot's head. "Even Nene-robo here won't say anything," he turned his head to the robot, causing it to do the same. "Isn't that right?"

“Correct. Your conversation is safe with me.”

She lightly bowed, "T-thanks.."

-

Shiho flipped the light switch and dumped herself face-first onto bed.

What a weird, hectic day it's been.

Their failure of a performance was already horrific enough to make this the most dreadful day Shiho's ever lived in her entire life, and the harsh words from that Saku person was just more salt in the wound. But then, she ended up finding herself at the house of the person she feared seeing, and had one of the weirdest interactions in her life. What the hell was that anyway? How did she end up shaking hands with a robot replica of Nene Kusanagi?

Everything that has happened today could be mistaken for a fever dream, and all the bassist wants to do is sleep it all away. 

But before she did, she-

"Shii-chan!!" Her door quickly slid open, allowing the hallway lights to seep in and blind her as she dropped her phone on the ground from the surprise. "I'm home!" The big sister quickly came in and hugged her little sister.

"Onee-chan.."

Shizuku pulls back with a chuckle, facing Shiho while still holding her arms, "Did you miss me?"

"Uh, yeah.." You were only gone for a day..

"Hehe, well, I'm here now!" Shizuku said, a gleeful expression covering her face. Shiho sighed at the coddling, which gave the big sister enough signs to tell her that she was bothering her, again. "Ah, sorry! Were you about to go to bed?"

"Yeah. Do you think I can do that?"

"Okay okay, I'll leave you to it." She said, getting up and walking to leave. "Ah, wait a minute!" She turned around to face her sister again. "You had your show today, right? May I see the recording of it?" she said, her hands clasped to the side.

"Oh, uh, I don't have it right now. I'll have to ask Ichika for it, but she's probably asleep right now."

"Aw.. Well, that's okay! I should be able to see it by tomorrow, right?" Shizuku asked, to which Shiho gave a hum and nod. "Wonderful!" She turned back and walked out the door. The big sister turned back one last time, "Goodnight, Shii-chan!" 

"G'night." The door slid closed, and she slumped back on her bed. The amount of times I've told her to knock, and she still doesn't..

Is it even worth it to send her sister the video? Her sister would probably be happy either way if she got to see the video, regardless of whether the performance itself was actually good or not. But, if Shiho herself doesn't even want to see the video due to her pride, why should she send it to her sister?

After an exasperated sigh, she gets up to retrieve her phone from the ground, redirecting it to the MP3 file she recorded today. Then she pulls out her drawer from her nightstand, taking out her earbuds and plugging them in.

She plays the file, snuggling up in bed with her precious gold Phenny at her side.

With this voice, she can already feel herself start to drift off

Hopefully, the days that follow should be easier on her. 

Hopefully.

- Tuesday -

Sitting at her desk and blankly staring at physics problems in her textbook, she listened to the ethereal tune in her earbuds, putting her heart at ease. Today was just any other school day.

Maybe she can say that for herself, but not for Saki Tenma.

Shiho was naturally a worrywart when it came to Saki — she was well known as such in Leo/need. But, how could she not worry for her now? Just a few days ago, during their second meeting regarding what they were going to do for their next show, Saki had shown up with the most fatigued and scariest expression Shiho had seen on the girl, having eye bags that literally looked like a bee had stung the area. 

And even though Shiho had repeatedly told the girl to sleep properly, she still couldn't help but worry, because she knew that Saki wouldn't listen. It's in her nature to go against every word Shiho said if it wasn't in her favor (even though sleep is very much a thing she should consider). There was literal proof of it this morning when Shiho saw her with the same expression.

If Saki isn't finished with her song by the next meeting tomorrow, Shiho's absolutely going to keep a close eye on her. Hell, she'll even go to her house every day if she has to, making sure she goes to bed at the correct time.

For now though, all she can do is hope for the best, hope that Saki will produce an amazing song. She can worry all she wants, but she'll never stop her from doing her thing. 

The worrying never went away, of course. To alleviate it, she found herself constantly listening to the melody that is Nene Kusanagi's voice.

She really shouldn't be listening to this. It should've been deleted the moment she woke up the next day when she recorded it. No, it shouldn't have been recorded — at all. It had no place in her phone, and it only reinforces the fact that she truly is — a creep.

Yet, despite her full acknowledgment in all of this, she can't bring herself to delete the file. The angel's voice is preventing her from doing so, never failing to take her breath away with every lyric she spoke out. 

How can a voice as ethereal-sounding as this exist in the same city as her, let alone on the same planet? Hearing it with her own ears feels like she accidentally got hold of classified audio recordings from the government.

She closes her eyes, and-

A tapping sensation on her table.

She stares up, finding a worried Minori. Minori?

The girl pointed to the front of the class with her head, signaling Shiho to look.

The teacher was looking directly at her.

Oh, fuck.. She took out both of her earbuds.

"Shiho Hinomori," the teacher said, "would you mind solving the rest of this problem for us?"

"S-sure.." She said, feeling the eyes of millions directed towards her.

Upon looking at the board, she was faced with utter nonsense. Uh.. Y equals.. Voy plus 1/2gt squared..? What the hell does that even mean?! Do you seriously expect me to know this shit?! And why is there a car falling off a cliff?! What the hell is the point in any of-

"If you're confused as to what we're solving, we are trying to find time."

"O-oh, okay.." Great, like that fucking helps!

For a good 20 seconds, everyone in the class was definitely eager to hear Shiho's answer, but it never came, only getting pitiful silence in return. As such, the teacher expressed her disappointment, "I suggest you keep those earbuds off and pay attention for the rest of this lesson."

"R-right, I apologize.."

The teacher and everyone else turned back to the board, leaving Shiho to bathe in her embarrassment in dismay, alone.

-

"Shiho-chan, is there something wrong?" Kohane asked as she and Minori conjoined their desks with Shiho's.

"What do you mean?" 

"Well," Kohane sat down, followed by Minori doing the same, "I don't know. You've just been.. distant, I guess."

"Yeah! Like, since yesterday, you've barely been talking to us during our free time!" Minori pointed at Shiho's phone on the table, which still had her earbuds plugged in. "You've also been using your earbuds during class a lot more! That's something only the old Shiho-chan would do!"

Is it really that obvious? But, I guess I can tell them. She sighs, "I'm just worried, about Saki."

"Saki-chan? What happened?" Minori asks.

"She's been working on our new song, and she's been staying up, again. I told her not to, but she refuses to listen to me."

"Ah, I'm pretty sure this has happened before, right? You told us about it once," Kohane said, getting a nod from Shiho. "Ah, wait, I got an idea!" she said, pointing a finger up. "What if you, like, went to her house at night or something and made sure she goes to bed on time?"

"Oooo, that's a great idea! You get to be like her mom for the day!" Minori said. 

Great minds think alike, huh? 

"That's what I plan on doing if she ends up pushing it any further. I don't want her getting sick again." 

The two stared blankly at each other, laughing shortly after.

"What's so funny?"

"It's just.. You're so cute when you're worried about something!" Kohane said.

"Righht?! It's like that one time when she forgot to check up on her Tamagotchi pet and had the most frightened expression on her face!"

Will these two ever shut up about me being cute..?

"Is that why you've had your earbuds on lately?" Kohane asked.

"Yeah. It's been helping me calm down a bit."

"What're you listening to?" Minori reached in for the earbuds, "Can I give it a lis-"

"No!" The earbuds flung back as Shiho forcefully grabbed them before Minori could.

The two blankly stared at Shiho, confused by her sudden secrecy. Amidst this, Shiho can't help but notice Kohane, who had stopped in the middle of chewing her melon bread, looking like a literal hamster.

"Shiho-chan?" Kohane said, slightly tilting her head.

"S-sorry, it's just.. I'd rather have you guys not listen to it."

"Awwww, why not?"

"It's just.. embarrassing.."

"That's never stopped any of us! We always tell each other our music tastes! I mean, I've told you how many times I've listened to Haruka-chan's cover of every song from every album of ASRUN, right?" Minori said.

"Yeah, but that's.. you.."

"What do you mean?"

Shiho sighs, "Never mind.. Just.. I don't want to share this one for specific reasons, alright? That's it."

"I guess there's nothing we can do about it, Minori-chan," Kohane said.

"Aww.."

Eventually, their talks went back to normal, just as Shiho wanted.

Why was she keeping this a secret?

Oh, it was obvious. Only she could hear the voice that was Nene Kusanagi's. Only she could listen to it for hours on end and never get tired of it. Only she could-

This realization took Shiho back to a conversation she had with her sister. A very, unfortunate, conversation.

"Is my little Shii-chan in l-"

No no no no no no-

This was the only possible explanation. I mean, it isn't exactly normal to repeatedly listen to the voice of someone, let alone describe it as "ethereal" countless times, like their some kind of goddess.

Shut up.

No, she couldn't be in love. She's in a band; she can't bother herself with something as meaningless as love. Or, maybe she's in denial. It isn't exactly uncommon for someone such as herself to-

Shut the fuck up!

"Shiho-chan?"

She perked her head back up, her eyes at Kohane. "Yeah?" she said in the most neutral voice she could possibly make up.

"Why are your cheeks so red?"

What? She touched her cheeks, making sure she wasn't going cr-

..

No.

No no no no no no-

Fuck.

FUCK!

Chapter Text

#1: Breathing wrong

No, that can't be it.. 

#6: Singing too Loud

Definitely not that.. I think it'd make more sense if I were singing too lightly. Still, neither of those can be right..

#31: Eat grass to soothe your throat

Huh?! When was this article made?!

She lets out an exasperated sigh, frustration seething through her fingers as she takes it out on her phone, the grip on it exceedingly tightening as her fingers and palm elevate in pain. Unfortunately, she isn't a rock climber, so her puny grip loosens up as the pain becomes too much for her and instead opts to simply place it on her lap.

The ceiling stares back at her, feeling her own sanity start to diminish. 

Countless news articles listing potential singing problems, numerous videos online that only do a good job of being pretentious about their own singing, and yet she still can't seem to find anything. Even centuries-old forums she found on Reddit, a supposedly trustworthy source of hers, didn't seem to move her even a millimeter forward towards her destination. 

What am I missing..? The question repeated itself several times throughout the day, starting from the time she woke up to the present moment. She sacrificed hours of precious sleep, just to find some kind of answer, a hint. Alas, to her dismay, the answer remained hidden with no hope of surfacing.

..

Is any of this even worth it?

So much time spent looking for an answer, and all she got in return was more piled-on burdens.

Maybe I should..

I should just-

"I would rather not be a damper," a dauntless voice yelled out, causing Nene to leave the solitude jail cell that is her mind and turn her attention towards the stage. "So, I shall make a special exception and sing for you."

"Seiryuin-san.." The name left her mouth thoughtlessly, all of her thoughts being drowned by the performance in front of her. 

With just that one plain line, Nene could feel herself getting sucked into the story, even if she had constantly read over the script several times already.

"Prepare every fiber of your being to hear the dulcet tones of my majestic voice."

And out came a voice comparable to that of a phoenix, sending waves of realization down to Nene's core.

Powerful.

Confidence.

Conviction.

All of these qualities were a contrast to not only the cowardly canary, but to Nene Kusanagi herself. And whatever remaining fragment she had of each feeling regarding her own singing was starting to melt away.

Seiryuin, her rival. No, does she even have the right to call her that anymore? With each compelling note that the phoenix throws into her ears, the fog surrounding the answer dissipates, leaving Nene to her cruel realizations.

There wasn't a rivalry anymore. All that was left of the long-fought battle between them was the green hilltop amidst the battlefield, where Seiryuin Sakurako stood at the top, whereas Nene couldn't even go near an inch towards the place she stood at. Truth be told, there really never was a battle — the superior actress had gone too far ahead of her for a battle to even be considered. 

Her questions from back then have been answered: Seiryuin had improved immensely, while Nene stayed in her own little bubble, facing the illusion that she had improved, popped the moment she laid eyes and ears on this performance.

She was stupid for thinking there was rivalry in the first place. The excitement she felt when the prospect of facing Seiryuin Sakurako came up was no longer there, and only the hesitance she felt remained, expanding further as she listened to the voice. 

Yet, despite this, she doesn't look away.

It was a stab at her heart when she had this realization, but she let it stay there — taking in every second of the performance. Each second only dug that knife deeper into her heart, but not once did she consider ever taking it out. She needed to embrace the pain she was feeling right now, to keep every ounce of blood that threatened to seep out inside. To hold onto this pain is to realize just how far she is, giving her the drive needed to reach that distant dream.

"And cut," the director said. "Nicely done, Sakurako, Omori."

She wasn't going to give up. It seemed crazy to her that she was even considering it before she saw Seiryuin perform, but now she's dead-set on this.

Her conviction, which had wavered at first, was now as sharp as ever.

She will become the cowardly canary.

- Tuesday -

You could mistake her for Tsukasa Tenma with the way she's been treating her own health as of lately just for her role.

For the past two days, she had spent every breathing second dedicated to finding a way to solve the dilemmas of her mind. During all of her time at school today, she would discreetly turn away from the mundane lectures and watch musical plays on her phone, desperate to find an answer. She had even skipped out on lunch, and no matter how much Tsukasa or Rui urged her to eat something, she wouldn't budge. Not even a grapefruit could convince her otherwise.

And, it's safe to say that she's achieved a new personal record — a record for the most number of days without sleep. Two days. Two days she had gone without sleep, and at least 90% of those 48 hours were spent with zero regard to anything but her singing.

Her mind was a garble of a mess — a melody of a hundred different notes strung together that had no consistent form and provided zero rhythm. The disharmonious sounds that each note produced were a culmination of her constant struggles and never-ending motivation, constantly interfering with each other.

And what did she get from it?

Fatigue. So. Much. Fatigue. She questions how she's even walking right now.

But maybe, just maybe..

Improvement..?

Whether or not that was true wasn't clear yet, but it would reveal itself once she's shown her singing to Ichika Hoshino.

With her school bag almost slipping off her shoulder, she made her way to Shibuya Park, each step pushing her wakefulness to its limits. But she couldn't sleep now, not when the opportunity of knowing just how much she's improved was dangling in front of her.

After stumbling with almost every step she took and just barely avoiding crashing into the fence by the entrance, she was now at Shibuya Park. 

Empty. A rare case, but nothing unusual. Ichika most likely had class representative duties again, which meant she'd be about 30 minutes late. No big deal. Nene can wait.

Right?

She walked over to the usual bench, sitting down and slackly leaning her back on the backrest.

..

Oh no..

Horrible, horrible idea.

Her sleep deprivation went full throttle the moment she sat down, threatening to overtake and shut down all five of her senses. She couldn't even raise an inch of her arm off the armrest, and trying to stand up in order to wake herself back up again was a complete failure of an attempt. All she could do now was struggle as she did everything in her power to prevent her eyelids from closing.

With every blink that occurred as a result of Nene's struggle to keep herself awake, she felt herself slowly giving up. And eventually, she did. 

Her eyelids slowly closed, steadily blocking out the remaining sunrays that were entering her retina. In a moment, her eyes went from staring at the shining star above her to staring at a void of emptiness.

Maybe..

A nap wouldn't hurt.. right..?

-

"Hey hey, you think she's waiting for someone?"

Ichika..?

"I think so.. But, it's not really like her to just sleep at a bench like this.."

There's someone else..?

"Hey, we really shouldn't be bothering her. Come on, let's just go."

That voice..

"But but, look at her eyes! You can't tell me she's been- Ah! She's waking up!"

Groggily opening her eyes and struggling to bring her head up, she was met with two unfamiliar silhouettes. She couldn't tell much from them due to her eyes still getting used to the sunlight, except for their clothing: Miyamasuzaka uniforms. Emu..? Where's your jacket..? And, when did you grow out your hair..?

"Nene-chan, are you okay..?"

After a good 30 seconds, her eyes finally began to adjust to the blinding light, getting a clear view of the people in front of her. Neither of them was Ichika, nor Emu. It was.. Minori and Kohane..? "Hanasato-san..? Azusawa-san..?"

"A-ah, sorry!" Kohane backed up, hands up to her shoulder like she’s surrendering. "It's just, we saw you sitting here alone by yourself with your head down, so we wanted to see if you were okay. But then, we found out you were.. sleeping.."

Her eyes widened, feeling a surge of energy go through them.

Their eyes kept staring at her, each of them being laced with concern and worry.

This is embarrassing, huh?

She quickly picked up her school bag and got up, prompting the two to slightly back away. "S-sorry, I should get goi-" 

However, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, finding a familiar silver-haired individual a distance away from her.

Wha..

What is she doing here?!

For a brief moment, the two stared at each other in disbelief with their eyes widened, matching their exact expressions. In an instant, she felt her heart drop into her stomach, melting away from the acid.

"Ah, Nene-chan, wait!" Minori yelled while slightly jogging towards her, causing the awkwardness hanging in the air to dissipate. "You should come with us!"

"H-huh?"

"You see, we're currently on a mission to make Shiho-chan feel better!" she said, pointing towards the girl as if she didn't know who she was already. "We call it 'Operation: Save Shiho-chan's heart from her worries!'" She then proceeded to salute like a soldier.

Operation.. what?

"Minori.." Shiho said, gripping the bridge of her nose. "Sorry, Kusanagi-san. You really don't have to bother yourself with us right now." It's as if their brief interaction from earlier had never happened.

"Ehhh? Shiho-chan, don't say that! It'll be so much fun! And Nene-chan!" She turned back to the girl. "It's okay if you don't want to come, but you seemed really tired just now.. That's why I want to invite you! I wanna cheer you up too!"

Flattering, and oddly considerate, considering they've rarely talked to each other. Still, accepting it was out of the question.

However, with just one glance at the bassist, it felt as if the certainty in her answer was already starting to crumble away.

..

Is she really going to do this?

-

Somehow, and for some reason,

Yeah.

And now here she was, walking through the busy streets of Shibuya next to the person she least expected to be with. She was desperately hoping that this was a dream, because what else could explain why Nene had suddenly accepted this offer? Unfortunately, the amount of times she pinched her cheeks told her otherwise.

If her lack of needed sleep wasn't already showing then, then it was definitely showing now. Only something as crazy as her willing to go on an outing with Shiho Hinomori and her friends would happen because of her sleep deprivation.

And just to add more salt to the wound, her heart still continued to waver every time she was in close proximity of the girl. Every time she took a quick glance at Shiho— for reasons unknown to her — it stung her when she found a neutral expression on her face, only emphasizing the fact that she truly didn't care for her. Actually, she wouldn't even be surprised if she still despised her for what happened at STANDOUT's show.

She's been trying to forget about that day herself, but the memories of it would inevitably pop up with zero warning. I mean, it's not like she's actually been doing the exact opposite by occasionally watching the video she recorded and explicitly focusing her eyes on the bassist, or deeply focusing her ears on the melody that came with each strum that she performed, somehow drowning out the other instruments. Or both, at the same time, actually.

Huh.

Can you blame her though? As a musician herself, of course she can't help but appreciate the bassist's playing. It's only natural for her to do so, and definitely not because she thought about how cool she looked up on stage, or how beautifully her emerald eyes would reflect the stage lights, even now with the sunlight beaming over them. Definitely. Yep. Without a doubt.

"Kusanagi-san," the pig-tailed girl in front of her called out, causing Nene to wake up from her thoughts and see the girl facing her. "I noticed your uniform. I didn't know you went to Kamiyama High! You remember An-chan, right? She goes to the same school as you!"

Oh, how could she not know arguably the most popular student among the first years? It boggles her mind how someone could have so many friends at once.

"Yeah. There's always like, 20 people surrounding her," she said, feeling like she could have a conversation for once.

"Eh, really..?" The tone in her voice changed, going from excited talking about her friend to sudden fear. "That sounds scary.."

"Really? I think that'd be so cool!" the brunette beside Kohane exclaimed. "I mean, having 20 people trying to talk to you at once would be so fun! Imagine all of the conversations I could have!"

Of course the idol says that.. "She's tried talking to me a few times, but she immediately left each time because someone else called for her."

"Oh.. Now that I think about it, I'd probably feel really lonely if I were at her school, since everyone's gonna try and want to talk to her, huh..?"

"Mmmm, I don't think so! An-chan's so cool! I doubt she'd leave you for other people!"

The conversation kept going on with Nene occasionally jumping in, which eventually (and unfortunately) devolved to her talking about the various experiments that Rui has conducted throughout the school year. Even though each word she spoke felt like trying to lift Nene-robo off the ground, she was enjoying this. The conversation was a breath of fresh air — it sent away any remaining disparaging thoughts she had in her mind, whether it was regarding her singing or the person next to her.

"And there was this one time where Rui built a jetpack for Tsukasa, and he ended up crashing into- Wah!" Her school bag drops to the floor, and everyone suddenly stops.

"Yo, watch where you're going!" a boy said, walking past them after his remark.

"The fuck..?"

"Sh-Shiho-chan, wait!" Minori said, but it was too late, for Shiho was already walking towards the group of boys. "Errr.."

The snapping sound emanating from every step Shiho took as she aggressively dug her soles into the concrete ground made it almost as if each one could've triggered a hidden landmine. Not so differently, a tiny explosion would set off in Nene's heart with each step taken, palpitating further as she drew closer to the group.

In face of such a situation, getting out of there would be the first thing that came to mind, since she didn't want to get herself involved. But now, with a certain someone in the picture, she can’t help but intently watch.

Upon reaching the group, she firmly grabbed the perpetrator's shoulder. "The fuck's your problem?"

"Huh? Who do you think you.. H-Hinomori-san?!" He quickly turned his whole body, and all of a sudden there was a change in his attitude, becoming all formal. "I-I listen to your guy's music all the time! I've actually been listening since-"

"I don't give a shit."

And with that, her heart exploded into a million pieces.

The atmosphere immediately changed after that line, tension suddenly hanging in the air. The way Shiho's words sent chills down her spine, the way she firmly stood, and the way Nene could notice the hardened grip on the strap of her bass case, it was an entirely new side that Nene had seen of the girl. It felt.. intimidating, like she had stepped into something she was never meant to see.

At the same time, it felt so.. validating?

The bassist pointed towards her, taking Nene aback. "You just pushed her. Either you apologize right now, or I'll fucking make it so that you won't be able to see our next show." Shiho declared, instilling more fear within Nene.

"S-sorry! P-please forgive me!"

"Not me, her."

After her words and with some hesistance, the same boy reluctantly walked over, pitifully avoiding eye contact with her. "I-I'm sorry.." 

Without even having the decency to wait for her response, he immediately turned around and started walking back, leaving the scene with his friends.

Despite that, she had zero care for them, for her eyes were still dead-set on the bassist as she walked back.

She had already felt this way for as long as she could remember, but the way her silver hair flowed with the trail of the wind, the way that the sunrays acted as a spotlight for her, and the stern expression she had on as a result of the defensive stance she took for her, it all felt so mesmerizing. 

Maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her to make the girl look more ethereal than what was reality, but she didn’t care. If it was, then god damn was she more grateful for it than ever.

The words wouldn’t dare leave her mouth, but they’d constantly bounce between the borders of her mind, leaving it to be the only thing she thought of.

She's..

She's so cool..

Maybe the girl did care a little about her after all.

"What a fucking joke.." she sighed as she gathered back with the group.

"Shiho-chan.. That was so cool!" Minori exclaimed. "The way you stood up for Nene-chan.. You really showed them who's boss!"

"Those types of people just irritate me, and to have the audacity to be fans of our music when they just did that."

"I think it was good that they were already fans of you. Otherwise, I think it could've really escalated.." Kohane said.

She sighs, "You're probably right."

Amidst the conversations, Shiho turned her head towards Nene, emerald meeting lavender once more. Perfect, the right moment to give her thanks.

But, before she could even open her mouth, the dissonant look lying within those emerald eyes prevented her from doing so, a noticeable dilation in them with her mouth agape.

Why..

Why does she look so scared..?

"Oh, wait a minute! We're here already!" The two broke from their stare, turning towards Minori.

"What do you mean?" Kohane asked.

"The arcade, duhh! Look!" she said, pointing towards the building right by them. "Come on come on, let's go!" Not even a second later, she went bursting inside the building.

"Ah, Minori-chan, wait!" Kohane followed, and with the two standing by themselves, they eventually followed.

-

“Alright, Shiho-chan! What’ll it be?”

"Huh?"

Like it was just a passing breeze of wind, Shiho's demeanor had gone back to normal, being the usual cold-faced wolf Nene had always known her as. Or, maybe it was just Nene's lack of sleep playing tricks with her eyes. She really doesn't know at this point — a lot's been going on already.

"What do you wanna do? The choice is yours!"

"Oh, uh.." Her eyes scanned the room, looking for a potential point of interest.

Even though she wasn't the one making the decision, Nene's eyes naturally went around the room too. She hadn’t been to this arcade before (mainly because it was located in the crowded streets of Shibuya), so she wanted to see if there was anything she liked here.

“How about there?” Shiho said, pointing towards a cabinet as she walked towards it while the three followed.

The closer they got to it, the more her own interest started to pique. At that same time, she was.. confused?

Tekken? I didn’t know she played..

Upon reaching the machine, Kohane said, “Ah, I think I’ve seen An-chan play this before. She’s really competitive about these games.”

“What is it, Shiho-chan? This doesn’t seem to be the type of game you’d play at all..”

Nene was confused by that statement — Shiho definitely seemed the type to play fighting games. If anything, what happened earlier should’ve emphasized that.

“Oh, uhh..” she held her nape. “I don’t really know..”

Eh?

“Eh?” Exactly, Minori. “You don’t even know what this game is? Why’d you pick it then?”

“It just looked cool, I guess. Do I really need to have a reason other than that?”

Minori’s eyebrows twitched. “Cool?” Minori said, her expression filled with surprise. “Cooool? What do you mean by that? Are you really Shiho-chan..?”

“W-what are you talking about?”

“You only like cute things! All the games I’ve seen you play all had to do with cute animals and- mmmmm!” She was abruptly interrupted as Shiho placed a hand over her mouth, whispering something into her ear.

Cute..?

After a short while, she lifted her hand, allowing. Minori to speak. “W-well, I guess it does look cool..” Nene wasn’t sure, but it was almost as if the idol was scared of something now. Afterwards, she took in the right portion of the cabinet.

“I’ll give it a try. It looks really cool when An-chan plays,” Kohane said, moving to the left portion of the cabinet.

With that, the two players would fight each other to the death. Well, that is after they chose their characters, which took an egregious amount of time, causing Nene’s limited patience to diminish.

After that, they were taken to the stage arena, allowing them to finally battle each other.

Kinda.

This is fucking horrendous.

In the first round, there was very little going on, and most of it was spent with the two trying to figure out what each button does, which was something that Nene found self-explanatory. There are labels! Read them!!

But when she thought the worst was over and the two finally decided to fight in the second round, she was unfortunately proven wrong. 

For five rounds, there was barely any actual fighting going on. At most, the two averaged at getting about two hits in per game, which ultimately led to each round ending because the timer ran out, and not because they actually K.O’ed the other.

Six minutes. Six minutes in which Nene had to torturously watch the most pathetic match of her life. She would complain in her head about how they had zero fundamental knowledge about the game, or the fact that they didn’t even know how to block. 

And then she inevitably calms down, realizing that the two have literally never touched the game in their lives before this. Her pride of being an intermediate fighting game player really gets to her, huh?

“Ah, I won!” Kohane exclaimed.

“Ehhh? But I was doing so well!” She dropped her head. “And my character was so cute too..”

“You wanna try again?”

“Mmmm..” Minori turned around to the other two. “Do any of you guys wanna play?”

“I’ll go.” Nene, unsurprisingly, immediately replied, approaching the right side afterward. She wouldn’t dare miss a chance to show off her skills.

“Alrighty!” Minori walked to where Nene previously stood. “You got this, Nene-chan!!”

Back to the character select screen, she chose Kazuya Mishima for a change.

“Woah, he looks scary.. I thought you were gonna choose the girl with cute pink hair or something!” Minori said. If she didn’t know any better, Nene would’ve condemned her for suggesting the idea that she’d play Alisa.

After they selected the stage, the two were now face-to-face, ready to battle.

First hit. Counter. Into perfect electric. A burst of dopamine surges through every inch of her nervous system.

“E-eh? I-I can’t do anything!” Kohane said as she pitifully watched her character get juggled into a combo that took 60% of her life.

“H-hey, Nene-chan, have you played this game before..?” Minori asked, hints of fear in her words.

She casually hummed, “Yeah.” 

After constant wave dashes that instilled fear within the poor girl and near-death combos that were damaging enough to spiritually reach her, the match ended in just one minute.

“Nene-chan, you’re really good..” Minori said, patting Shiho’s back afterwards. “Well, it’s your turn now, Shiho-chan!”

“Huh, me?”

Kohane jumped in, “You’re the one who suggested playing this, right? It wouldn’t be fair if you didn’t get to play.”

With some reluctance, Shiho gave her reply, “I guess I can try it out..” She walked to the left side of the cabinet, to which Kohane walked to where Shiho previously stood.

And all of a sudden, the dopamine in Nene’s body was dissipating, slowly being replaced with tension that coursed through every inch of her body. Her breaths became ragged and her heart palpitated so fast that she wouldn’t be surprised if anyone within 20ft of her could hear the constant thumping.

“You got this, Shiho-chan!” They both cheered.

Back at the character select screen, Nene chose Kuma, a relatively straightforward character so that she could ease up some of the tension she was feeling right now.

Shiho hovered over Panda, a character of similar move sets. But, for some reason, she didn’t press select, and instead continued to hover over the character, which went on for an uncomfortably prolonged period of time.

Now, again, it could’ve been Nene’s lack of sleep messing with her, but when she glanced over at the girl to see what was happening, the most confusing sight was laid upon her.

Are her eyes sparkling..?

“Shiho-chan!” Minori yelled.

“S-sorry,” she immediately pressed select.

What was that about..?

And now, upon entering the stage once more, the final battle shall now start.

That is, if Nene’s fingers could move properly.

The reason why wasn’t clear, but her muscle memory became dysfunctional, unable to execute motion inputs that were ingrained in her fingers. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the amount of sweat that was piled up on the buttons, or the way her fingers immediately started jittering every time their shoulders accidentally touched. Probably both, actually.

At some point, Shiho somehow turned on the assist function, allowing her to do basic combos with the ease of just spamming the punch button, in which Nene unfortunately got herself caught on.

“Ah, Shiho-chan! How are you doing that?!”

A K.O. flashed on the screen, marking the end of the first round. “I-I don’t know..”

The second round wasn’t much different, leading to another defeat on Nene's part after being hit with several low-damaging combos that a literal toddler could do.

With the third round, Nene locked, in. She couldn’t let herself be defeated, especially by someone who hadn’t even touched the game in her entire life. Her pride would never allow that to happen.

The third and fourth rounds were immediately given to Nene, and in her eyes, there was zero doubt that she’d win the final round. That statement looked to be more true as Nene did a 60% combo on the girl.

Meanwhile, all Minori and Kohane could do was tensely watch as the round came to a close. Obviously, they were rooting for Shiho’s victory, unaware of how much of this fight was already in Nene’s hands.

And then, her heart started to waver.

Hesitation.

She’s not sure what’s happening. I mean, she had a massive life lead, and literally one singular punch could end the match right there. The game was obviously in her favor, and all Nene had to do was to take it.

And yet, for the remainder of the game, she struggled to press one button—she couldn’t even block!

“K.O!”

“E-eh?” Shiho let out, confused. Honestly, Nene was too.

What happened..?

“Shiho-chan!” Minori ran over to the girl’s side. “You.. You did it! You beat Nene-chan! I can’t believe it!”

“H-how? I was so sure you’d lose near the end there..” Kohane said.

“I.. uh.. I don’t know..?”

“Welp!” Minori grabbed the bassist’s wrist, lifting it up in the air. “Ta-dah! We have a winner!!”

“H-hey! You don’t have to yell it out..!” she said, immediately pulling her hand back down.

With that, the other two continued to congratulate Shiho for her achievements, putting Shiho in an embarrassing spotlight that she couldn’t run away from. Nothing good can ever come from hanging out with these two when it comes to her, huh?

Amidst this, something was revealed to Nene as she watched the constant acts of commendation, something so.. beautiful?

A smile.

It was the first time she had ever seen a smile on the girl.

Though it was only slight, the amount of hidden joy that emanated from Shiho caused an explicable feeling to well up within Shiho’s core. She couldn’t even begin to describe it; all she knew was that it felt so, damn, exhilarating. 

With the smile came those emerald eyes, and although the sun wasn’t there to accompany them anymore, they truly shone the brightest they ever had, almost as if Nene was looking at the sun itself. Her eyes constantly switched back and forth between her mouth and eyes, indecisive in what’s more beautiful.

She couldn’t take her eyes off at what seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Even after its inevitable passing, it will forever be treasured in her mind, constantly thinking back to it even in her darkest times.

Maybe, just maybe..

Losing wasn’t all that bad.

-

“Alright!” Minori called the moment she stepped outside. “Time for our last stop!”

“Wait, you already have a place in mind?” Kohane asked.

“Yep! Karaoke!”

With just that one word, realization came to Nene.

Hoshino-san!

“U-um!” Nene called out, getting stares from each of them, which certainly didn’t help with her nervousness right now. “I, uh.. I have to go..”

“Ehhhh?! Now?! But.. But why?!”

“I forgot I had practice with Hoshino-san.. Sorry, I really need to get going now..”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot she often did practice sessions with you,” Kohane said.

“Nooo! I want to keep hanging out with you, Nene-chan!” She walked over and grabbed her shoulders, startling her. “We were having so much fun!”

Kohane walked over, putting a hand over her shoulder. “Minori-chan, all good things must come to an end,” she said, a solemn voice matching Minori’s expression.

“Awwww..” She let go of her shoulders, now properly facing her. “Well, goodbye, Nene-chan.. Can we do this again sometime..?”

She took a glance at Shiho before giving an answer, only getting an unreadable expression in return. “I’ll.. I’ll have to make sure I’m free, but.. sure..”

Minori gasps, her face immediately lighting up as she jumps from excitement. “Yay!”

She couldn’t help but smile a little at the gesture. She’s kinda like Emu. “I’ll see you guys so-“

“Kusanagi-san,” Shiho interrupted, all eyes now on her. “Ichika has.. work today..”

Huh?

She immediately went to check the date on her phone.

Tuesday, February 9

Shoot.. It’s tomorrow..

Catching up on some sleep when she gets home would probably be necessary.

“Wait, does that mean..?” Minori started at Nene with an eyebrow comically raised.

Well, leaving now would be rude.

“I guess we can keep-“

“Yay!! Let’s go let’s go!” Minori immediately started marching away before Nene could even finish her sentence.

“Ah, wait!” Kohane quickly followed.

Déjà vu, huh?

-

“Wow!” A fury of claps from Minori followed. “That was so amazing, Kohane-chan!!”

Shiho hummed, “You’ll surpass RAD WEEKEND in no time.”

“Hehe, thanks..” she said, holding her nape.

She was too shy to say it herself, but Kohane truly did have a powerful voice. Being only the second time she’s heard her sing since the fan festival, it didn’t cease to blow her away.

Despite it being so powerful, what truly made it stand out was the fact that it still had that squeaky, Kohane-like voice to it. She still couldn't believe that someone as timid as her could sing, but the way it reverberated powerfully across the room as it travelled into her ears immediately made her think otherwise.

“Okay, Shiho-chan. Your turn,” Kohane said, handing the microphone over.

“Oh, no. I don’t really do karaoke.”

“But me and Minori-chan went already! It’s your turn now!” she pushed the microphone further towards her.

“Again, I don’t do karaoke. Maybe later.”

Kohane sighs, sitting between Shiho and Minori. “You said that last time..”

With no one offering to sing, a certain pair of light grey eyes was placed onto her.

It was plain obvious what Minori was trying to get at. The way they sparkled with eagerness and anticipation was evident enough. She might as well have said, “Nene-chan, since you’re the only one that hasn’t sung yet, you should come up right now!”

She sighed as she stood up, “I guess I’ll g-“

“Yay!” she exclaimed, startling the hell out of Nene.

After she took the microphone from Kohane, she propped up the tablet on her lap and started looking for a song. It didn’t take long before she found glow and immediately selected. It was a contrast to the songs Kohane and Minori sang, but this was more in her range of comfortability.

The signature guitar riff of the song started to play, and she’s just now realizing how much her heart is beating.

Obviously, she was nervous. Unless it was with Nene-robo, there would always be hints of hesitance she would have in her heart before she starts singing. It certainly doesn’t help that she’s been trying to perfect her singing for the past few days, and in her eyes, she still hasn’t gone close to her ideal level.

What made it worse is that Shiho Hinomori was now listening, which meant that every speck of nervousness surrounding her singing shot through the roof. She can’t mess up now, not when she knows how much scrutiny the girl possessed.

After deep breaths that could embarrassingly be heard through the microphone, the song hit the 30 second mark, just moments before she’d start singing.

Three, two, one..!

Her voice had those hints of raspiness in it, only making her lack of sleep the more obvious. But, other than that, it was phenomenal, she may go far as to call it perfect, something Nene never found herself doing up until now.

She hit all the right notes, effectively conveying every deep emotion that was hidden through the lyrics. If she wasn’t singing right now, hearing her own voice would definitely cause her to well up in tears.

..

Woah.

Has she really gained that much confidence to the point where she can confidently say that her own singing is nearly perfect? To the point where she can literally say that her own singing could bring herself to tears? Apparently, she has.

If she had this sort of confidence from the start, she’d probably be storming the world right now.

Two minutes and 39 seconds later, the song had come to a close, ending with a similar melancholic guitar riff that the song had started out with.

Then, she heard sniffling, immediately turning her attention towards it.

“M-Minori-chan?! Are you okay?!” Kohane asked frantically.

“Y-yeah.. It’s just..” She turned her head towards Nene, to which she can see a downstream of tears falling down her face. “Nene-chan, that was so beautiful..!”

“T-thank you..” She can’t help but feel like she’s experienced this before..

“Well, I can't really blame you for that..” Kohane turned her head towards her. “Kusanagi-san, your voice was so beautiful just now! I already knew it was amazing when we first practiced together, but you’ve improved so much!”

“Thank you..” she said, feeling a smile creep up on her face.

Any slight improvement would’ve sufficed for her. But, to hear that she’s improved so much, nonetheless from a professional singer such as herself, it caused an unimaginable amount of joy to arise, threatening to break out of her chest.

“What about you Shiho-chan? What’d you think?” Kohane asked, to which Nene turned her eyes towards the girl.

And now, every inch of her muscles tensed up again

“Oh, uh..” she rested her chin on her hand, avoiding eye contact as her entire vibe suddenly changed. Nene could say the same for herself. “It was.. good, I guess..”

..

Huh..?

“You guess?! Come on, I know you have more to say-“

“S-sorry,” Shiho interrupted Minori, “I need to go to the bathroom..” Shiho said, immediately leaving the room afterward.

“Eh? All of a sudden? Something’s been up with her today..” She turned over to Kohane. “Don’t you think so, Kohane-chan?”

The conversation that followed sounded like pure muddle, her own thoughts overtaking every sound around her.

She slightly leaned back on the couch, staring up at the blinding light above her, a certain sentence repeating in her head.

“It was.. good, I guess..”

It wasn’t, huh?

She didn’t need an answer, nor did she want to hear one. The way that the voice expressed disappointment, and the way she wouldn’t even look at her, it was already obvious enough. 

That illusory bubble of hers was popped once more, and it was all the more agonizing.

If only she had kept better track of the days, she wouldn’t even be here, feeling every possible negative emotion at once.

If only she hadn’t met her.

-

5 pm. The sun was starting to set, painting the sky yet again in an orange glow, a sight that Nene truly needed to see. If only there weren’t businessmen and countless students still roaming the streets.

I wanna go home..

The four stopped by a station. “Okay, me and Kohane-chan shall get going now!” she ran up to Nene, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Nene-chan!”

“Y-yes?”

She grabbed and brought up Nene’s hand, enclosing it with her own. “Thank you so much for coming today! If it weren’t for you, I’m sure Shiho-chan wouldn’t be so happy right now!”

“H-hey, what makes you think that?” the girl beside her said, glaring at her.

“Hehe, I just know! When I’ve known you long enough, I’ll know exactly what you’re feeling!”

She sighs, “Whatever..”

She let go, walking away as she waved. “Bye bye, Nene-chan, Shiho-chan!” Kohane from behind slightly waved too, to which the two reciprocated the gesture.

And now, it was just the two of them, standing under the transient orange sky.

“Um.. I go this way. Bye, Hinomori-san..” She turned immediately, about to walk away.

“Uh..” Nene stopped, turning around to the girl again. “I go that way too..”

“Oh..”

Bummer.

With some space separating the two, they walked as they slowly transitioned from the hectic streets of Shibuya to the peaceful yet still lively outskirts of the city.

She wanted to run away.

Every second spent directly next to the girl felt like a torture experiment, each one intensifying her urge to run. The constant repetition of that one sentence in her mind only aggravated it even more, and she just wanted to erase that aching memory.

She just wanted to go home, because how dare she walk next to her when she just performed the most dreadful performance in front of her? At the same time, that would mean she would be left alone with her thoughts, which would only crush her under the weight of them even more. 

What’ll it be, Nene Kusanagi? To feel constant humiliation by the person next to you, or to be crushed under the weight of your own demoralizing thoughts? Decisions, decisions.

“My house is just around this corner..” Shiho said upon reaching an intersection.

“Oh, alright..” Hers was just across the street, meaning their trek would soon come to a close. Whether or not she should be glad or saddened wasn’t clear to her.

After what felt like an eternity, they reached the corner. “Goodbye, Kusanagi-san..”

She hummed with a bit of reluctance. “Bye..”

Embarrassing. The two can’t even look at each other as they said their goodbyes.

After Shiho started walking, Nene did the same, crossing the street and never daring to look back, even when she reached the other side.

Until, she heard rapid footsteps and a forlorn “Kusanagi-san!”

She turned around, seeing one Shiho Hinomori chasing after her.

The girl stopped in front of her, taking a moment to catch her breath as she pants.

In those emerald eyes, she could sense fear coming from the girl again, the cold exterior crumbling away with each second. This time, it never came back, and what Nene was presented with was a warm, vulnerable girl.

“Kusanagi-san..” Her eyes were dead-set on hers, and no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn’t look away. She bowed, “I’m.. I’m sorry for all of this..”

“H-huh..? What do you-“

“It was sudden of us to invite you out of nowhere, I know that, and y-you were clearly uncomfortable with it. It was mostly Minori’s idea, but I still let it happen, and I can’t excuse myself for that. And this afternoon, when I yelled at those idiots. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help it after what they did to you. But then I saw your face and-“

“N-no! Y-you don’t have to be sorry..!”

She slowly brought her head up, revealing the most confused expression on her face. “H-huh?”

“I.. I actually had a lot of fun today..” 

Her eyes widened, “R-really..?”

“Yeah.. I think I needed this.. The past few days, I’ve been struggling a lot, s-so spending a day with you guys really helped me..” She took a pause, desperately searching for the words necessary to make a coherent sentence as she caught her breath. “A-and, I was really happy when you yelled at those guys for me, it meant a lot..”

“Really..?” she asked again, still in utter disbelief.

Nene hummed, “Yeah. I thought you were..”

She paused another time, taking a moment to swallow all of her anxiety. Is she really about to say this?

“I thought you were.. cool..” The last word was barely audible, hiding her face to the side as it came out.

It left her mouth after all.

“O-oh, th-thanks..” she said, gripping her nape aggressively as her hands shook at an uncontrollable rate.

Maybe it was because of the color of the sky, but Nene could see a shade of pink on the girl’s cheeks as she took a peek. And just maybe, there was one on hers as well.

“Y-yeah, s-so, please don’t worry about any of that..”

Shiho hummed.

The two continued to stand there for what felt like an eternity, embarrassingly trying to figure out what to say next as they avoided eye contact with each other.

Surprisingly, Nene was the first to start, “I guess.. I’ll see you soon..”

Shiho simply hummed again. And with that, she turned around, walking away once more, not looking back.

“W-wait!”

Nene turned around, feeling the tension in her heart starting to overflow.

“O-one more thing.. Uh..” Nene noticed a gulp as she prepared herself for her next words. “Your singing, from, earlier.. It was.. beautiful..”

Her eyes widened, her heart pounding at an abnormal rate. “T-Thank you..”

“Yeah.. um.. I..”

They both swallowed, hard.

“I loved it..”

..

W-what?!

“A-anyways, bye..” she sent out a quick wave, hastily walking back afterwards.

The fire hiding within Nene’s cheeks started to feel as if it were melting them away, feeling immense heat as she placed a hand over one.

She..

She loved it..?

-

Upon reaching her room, she immediately jumped onto her bed, digging her face into her pillow.

As she screamed into it, an outburst of unsolicited, inexplicable emotions came out. Yet, no matter how long it occurred, she could never get rid of them all, many of them being pinned stuck to her heart.

“I loved it..”

The words constantly repeated in her head, and she just wanted to split her head open and forcefully throw it out of her mind. As such, the only thing she did was scream further into the pillow.

“95 decibels, equivalent to this home’s food processor.”

..

Maybe, she should calm down..

She rolled over in bed, finding the ceiling staring at her, feeling her own sanity start to diminish.

Although she’s stopped screaming, everything going on inside her was still as manic as ever, the words never leaving her head. If only there was some way she could erase very specific memories..

At the same time, she treasured this one.

She didn't just think about the words themselves, but about how it was said, the meaning behind them, the person who said it. She's seen so many sides of the girl today, and it feels illegal to know each and every one of them.

Amidst her humiliation, she felt like a kid again, kicking her feet up and down like she’d gotten a new video game. Though, the feeling of that couldn’t come close to the fury of emotions she was feeling right now.

One of these, being motivation.

No longer was she scared of her own voice.

She was going to improve, and all of it will culminate on the final day.

The cowardly canary shall take the stage, and captivate everyone’s heart.

That is, after she gets a good night's sleep.

So.. tired..