"Very soft. Very sweet."
Faced with Anon's question, Kamijou Mutsuki replied with a smile.
"I meant Tomori."
"…What do you mean by that?"
Anon finally began to understand Rikki a little.
Her temperature was rising too.
Whether it was meeting him first, or wanting to form a band together—She was the one who came first!
And yet just now, Tomori had been in someone else's arms, being kissed by someone else.
It hurt. It hurt too much.
At that moment, the sleepy "cat" who had almost drifted off was awakened by the commotion.
Yawning and rubbing her eyes, she curiously poked her head in from the doorway.
But before she could see anything, Anon quickly pushed her back out.
"Don't look! You'll get pinkeye!"
Anon said it as if something unclean were happening inside the room.
"So, Ano-chan, want to give it a try too?"
Mutsuki paid no mind to Anon's hostility. Instead, he grinned and gave a thumbs-up.
"Mutsumi and Tomori both recommend it!"
"Who would want to try that?!"
As a pure-hearted maiden, Anon was instantly defeated, her face turning bright red.
And why could this guy say such shameless lines so naturally?!
He was way too impure!
"Hmph, scumbag!"
Considering Mutsuki's overwhelming "achievements" tonight—and the fact that she clearly couldn't win verbally—
For the sake of her own safety, Anon snorted and threw out those three words before grabbing the cat and fleeing.
"Come on, let's go!"
"…"
With the girls finally gone, the expression on Mutsuki's face relaxed at last.
He rubbed his temples, unable to stop himself.
In truth, even Mutsuki himself hadn't fully recovered from everything that had happened tonight.
Just this afternoon, he, Kamijou-somebody, had still been pure and spotless—so how had things turned out like this by evening?
Truly, the band girls bully me in my weakened state, taking turns with me… ahem!
This won't do. I need to recover my body as soon as possible.
With that in mind, Kamijou Mutsuki opened the system interface—then promptly lay flat again.
Given his current physical condition, recovery might look difficult. In reality, it wasn't just difficult—it was downright complicated.
Not to mention the limited Bang Dream pool; even the standard pool hadn't produced the items he needed. So for now, everything would have to be left to the future!
When in doubt, sleep first!
Mutsuki slept soundly.
But quite a few girls likely didn't sleep well at all.
The most obvious one was probably Soyo. Anon at most had missed out on the "Impart," but Soyo didn't even know her teammates had held one.
For once, she hadn't even carried out her usual message bombardment toward Saki-chan—who had probably already blocked her. Instead, she spent the entire night worrying about what would happen if the band really cut her out.
Sakiko was back—but without Soyo…
A CRYCHIC that didn't belong to Soyo…
Just imagining such a scene made her vision go dark. She couldn't accept it.
By the next morning, faint dark circles were visible under her eyes.
She hastily finished breakfast and headed to school, where she happened to run into Mutsumi at the gates of Tsukinomori Girls' Academy.
Since they usually arrived around the same time, it wasn't really a coincidence.
However, given that they were still in a (one-sided) cold war recently, Soyo hadn't particularly wanted to talk to her.
But the photo and message Kamijou Mutsuki had sent yesterday kept lingering in her mind.
After struggling internally for quite a while, Soyo finally walked over.
Preoccupied with her thoughts, she didn't notice the subtly strange looks from the surrounding students.
"Isn't that Soyo?"
"I didn't expect she had that kind of side…"
"They look so alike—it's uncanny!"
"Whoa, a living Soyo and Mutsumi—did I time-travel?"
"You don't even recognize Soyo and Wakaba? Did you just transfer into Tsukinomori today?"
"Soyo's going over to Mutsumi… this scene…"
"If you come early enough, do you get a live-action MyGO?"
"So what are you all talking about? Aren't those just Soyo and Wakaba? What's MyGO?"
"Not watching MyGO has consequences!"
Leaving aside the chatter of these young ladies, Soyo had already reached Mutsumi's side.
"Good morning, Mutsumi!"
As if nothing had happened, Soyo greeted her with a smile.
"…Good morning!"
Contrary to what Soyo believed, Mutsumi had never distanced herself because of that night.
If anything, it had been Soyo who had been cold toward her these past two days due to certain misunderstandings.
So when Soyo suddenly initiated conversation, Mutsumi felt nothing but surprise—and happiness.
"Um, Mutsumi…"
This time, Soyo didn't even bother laying out a map first. She went straight for the dagger.
"What exactly were you all doing last night…?"
Wasn't the plan to leave after finishing the show?
Why did you all stay for dinner?
Even Sakiko was there—
Everyone except her.
The atmosphere had even been more harmonious than when she was there…
What, so my presence ruins everyone's fun, is that it?
"About last night…"
But Soyo's conflicted expression looked completely different in Mutsumi's eyes, and the girl instantly flushed red.
Wait—did that fiancé of hers seriously go around telling people everything?
No… maybe it wasn't necessarily Kamijou Mutsuki…
"Did… Sakiko tell you, Soyo?"
Unaware of just how bad things had become between Soyo and Sakiko, Mutsumi asked that question.
"Sakiko?"
Mutsumi's counterquestion only confused Soyo further. What could Sakiko possibly have told her? She hadn't heard anything.
And also—why are you blushing, Mutsumi? Did you guys actually hold an "Impart" last night?
"Kissing… felt really nice."
Seeing Soyo's reaction, Mutsumi figured it probably wasn't Sakiko. It didn't seem likely to be anyone else either.
Which meant it could only have been Kamijou Mutsuki.
He wouldn't have gone and bragged about what happened between the two of them just to provoke Soyo, would he?
Knowing her fiancé's… eccentric personality, Mutsumi couldn't help thinking that.
"We… were all very happy."
Suppressing the shyness in her heart, Mutsumi said it anyway.
As his fiancée, she might as well cooperate a little!
Still, she'd need to remind him later—this kind of private matter shouldn't be shared so casually. Even with Soyo.
"What?! You guys—"
But Mutsumi's words hit Soyo like an earthquake through her pupils. Her mind went completely blank.
Kissing? Happy? You and Sakiko?!
What on earth had she missed last night?
Yuri was happening right beside her?
And it was her two best friends?
For a moment, the world felt unfamiliar to Soyo.
What the hell—did the wings get tangled?
What kind of garbage game is this? She quits!
.....................