"What a coincidence, running into you here."
It wasn't a coincidence at all. Tsuzuki Chihiro had been tailing that pink-haired airhead the entire way—Anon just hadn't noticed.
But since they were supposed to be nothing more than recent acquaintances, a "chance encounter" like this was the best she could stage.
After all, she couldn't exactly just wait outside the school gates. Not to mention, according to Soyo's intel, Sakiko was still attending Haneoka.
"Ah, Soyo… I—"
Anon suddenly didn't know what to say. The words got stuck on her tongue, and she ended up staring blankly, which only made Chihiro fight the urge to break into an amused, almost motherly smile.
Of course, to Anon, this was simply how Soyo was—naturally kind and friendly.
"Anyway… about that day… I'm sorry."
"We're the ones who should be apologizing."
Chihiro's eyes held a trace of guilt, surprising Anon.
"Taki was really out of line. If I were in your position, I probably would've been even angrier."
"I… haha, n-no, it's fine."
Anon let out an awkward laugh.
She couldn't exactly admit that Taki had hit a nerve. That would just be embarrassing.
"If possible, Taki wants to apologize to you."
"Huh?"
That girl? Apologizing?
Anon hadn't seen that coming at all.
But she quickly realized—it had to be because Soyo had spoken up for her.
She really is such a kind person…
Of course, in Anon's heart, her best friend would always be Chihiro.
But sometimes, she wanted to be less reliant on her—unless she just… couldn't help it.
"Are you free this afternoon? Let's stop by RiNG for a bit. I have a general idea of why you and Taki got into that fight, and I think it'd be best if we cleared things up."
"Ah…"
Anon was hesitant at first, but then she thought—why should she be afraid of Taki?
With that in mind, she nodded firmly and followed Soyo onto the train.
It was right around the time several nearby schools were letting out, and since hardly anyone stayed behind on Saturdays, the train was packed. There weren't any available seats.
"Did you ask Tomori about forming a band?"
"Ah… yeah. Actually, right before I got into that argument with Taki, Tomori almost said yes."
"But then I kind of brushed off her whole 'Will we play together for life?' thing, and she ran away."
"Then Taki assumed I had bullied her. But… judging from their reactions, I feel like there's something I don't know."
Anon recalled the other day when she found Tomori in the astronomy clubroom.
She had stumbled upon a notebook filled with lyrics, with a piece of sheet music tucked inside.
The names of different instrumental parts were written on it.
Not full names, but on the lowest staff line, two names stood out—one likely referring to Soyo, the other to Taki.
"Soyo, did you guys used to have a band?"
"Yeah."
Unlike Nagasaki Soyo, Chihiro didn't have any emotional baggage tied to CRYCHIC.
It was just a band from their middle school days—one that had ultimately disbanded.
"It fell apart in the end."
"It disbanded?" Anon blinked, curious. "Why?"
"One of the members left for personal reasons."
"And unfortunately, she was the core of the band—kind of like how you're aiming to be the lead vocalist."
"Without a soul like that, it was only a matter of time before everything crumbled."
"Huh? Soyo, how did you know I wanted to be the lead singer?"
Chihiro's eyes flickered.
She had gotten too comfortable and let something slip.
But she recovered quickly.
"Well, you're really cute, Anon. I just figured you'd be the band's mascot."
"Hehe…"
Tch. She's puffing up with pride again. Too easy to fool.
Not that she was wrong—Anon did fit the mascot role pretty well.
After all, mascots were usually nothing but cute.
"Alright, we're here. Let's talk inside. Don't worry—Taki won't bite this time."
"Ah…"
Anon scratched her head. She wanted to insist she wasn't afraid of Taki.
But in the end, she didn't say anything.
For some reason, in front of this very kind Soyo, she always found herself taking the more passive role.
"Here they come."
Behind the counter, Taki noticed the automatic doors slide open.
She saw the familiar figure of Nagasaki Soyo approaching—along with the pink-haired girl walking slightly behind her, looking oddly… well-behaved.
Taki's expression twisted awkwardly.
Apologizing wasn't exactly her strong suit.
Neither was asking for forgiveness.
But she had no choice.
She had been in the wrong, and Soyo had made it clear that they needed to settle this properly.
So she shoved down her pride, faced Anon, and lowered her head.
"Chihaya… I was out of line that day. I… shouldn't have said those things to you."
"It's fine… I wasn't completely in the right either."
"Alright, alright. Enough of this awkward back and forth. Taki's treating us today."
Chihiro cut them off before they could keep fumbling through their apologies.
She tugged Anon to a table, gesturing for Taki to bring out some snacks.
Sure, RiNG was an open-style café, so "afternoon tea" wasn't exactly the right term.
But with the three of them sitting around the table in a triangle formation, the whole scene looked suspiciously like a mother holding a family meeting with her two squabbling kids.
Since she was the one in control today, Chihiro took the lead.
"Anon, there's a reason Taki acted the way she did."
"I mentioned this on the train, right? The five of us used to be in a band together."
At that, Taki's gaze shifted slightly toward Chihiro, her expression flickering.
"There were five of us. Me, Tomori, Taki, Mutsumi, and the one who started it all—Sakiko."
With Taki right there, Chihiro couldn't completely distance herself from the past.
She couldn't pretend it was nothing.
So, a trace of nostalgia made its way onto her face.
"Tomori was our lyricist. She has a way of observing the world—every line she wrote was what kept us together, what made us a real band."
"And Sakiko put those words to music, turning them into something that could be sung by lonely people to reach even more hearts."
If she went by Soyo's logic, the only one who probably wasn't too invested in Tomori's lyrics was Wakaba Mutsumi.
But right now, Chihiro had a different goal—raising Taki's opinion of her.
So she made sure to praise Tomori as much as possible.
And it worked.
She could practically feel the way Taki's gaze on her warmed.
Heh. Total Tomori simp.
Not that Chihiro was in any position to judge.
The reason she was laying everything out like this was because she wanted to see how Anon would respond.
As her best friend, Chihiro obviously didn't want this clueless little fool throwing herself into a mess of problem children.
After all, what kind of "good bandmates" went out of their way to hire a scammer to mess with their "friend"?
Anyone who knew better would realize this was just about forming a band.
But if you didn't…
You'd think these people were getting married, divorced, and remarried all at once.