Since her brother wanted them to wear the clothes he designed and show their most natural side, for Chihaya Anon, playing together with the band was the best option. Not only would it fulfill her brother's request, but their performance might also attract some attention.
"As for the location, we can just find an open space near the exhibition hall with a lot of foot traffic and put up our band's and [Starry Sky]'s logos! As for how many people we'll attract... well, that's up to fate!"
"Do you even want to help Chihaya-san or not..."
Faced with Anon's casual and carefree attitude, Shiina Taki couldn't help but sweatdrop.
"Besides, isn't the vibe of a street performance a little too different from a fashion exhibition?"
"But if we perform inside the hall, we might bother the other exhibitors and guests. Besides, what we're trying to do isn't to directly pull in customers for my brother with our performance, but to give them a hint beforehand! That way, anyone who sees us perform will definitely get a basic first impression of [Starry Sky]!"
Anon said with a perfectly straight face.
"What's more, my brother's brand philosophy is different from other brands anyway. The more we can show off its charm in a place like the streets, the more it proves just how 'down-to-earth' my brother's clothes are!"
"...How surprising. I can't believe you've thought it through so thoroughly."
After hearing Anon's analysis, Taki couldn't help but look at her in surprise.
"With your personality, I thought you'd just barge straight into the exhibition hall and start playing right in the center."
"Mhm! Actually, that's exactly what I thought at first!"
Faced with Taki's guess, Anon gave a sheepish grin and scratched her head.
"And then Soyo chewed me out, and after her repeated revisions, it ended up like this."
"No wonder..."
Taki let out a deep sigh.
As the initiator of the plan, Anon's positivity and proactiveness were indispensable, but to refine it to a practical level, it really did need Nagasaki Soyo to oversee it.
"A street performance... I don't have any experience with that, but I'm pretty interested. I vote yes... what about you, Tomori?"
"I'm for it too."
Takamatsu Tomori nodded firmly.
"The last live... I wasn't able to perform on stage with everyone. This time, I want to be with everyone!"
"Mhm! No problem! Let's have a blast together this time!"
Anon agreed with a smile.
"Then, Rana should be fine with it too, right? After all, you've always loved lives the most—"
"...No."
However, to everyone's surprise, Kaname Rana, who was always all about lives, expressed a rare dissenting opinion this time.
"Holding a street performance in this state... is no good."
"This state?"
Anon repeated Rana's words, completely confused.
"Sorry, Rana, I have no idea what you're talking about..."
"Except for Taki, no one is thinking about the live."
Rana shook her head again.
"This is no good... we'll fail."
"Eh? Wait a minute, Rana, we've been talking about the live this whole time."
Anon objected to Rana's assessment.
"Besides, we've already performed at the K-Arena in Yokohama. A mere street performance can't be that hard for us..."
"It's different."
Rana objected again.
"Our success that time had nothing to do with us... It was because Hoshino Ai is amazing."
"Eh? No way! Our role as the backing band was really important too! Don't sell yourself short, Rana!"
"No, on this point, I agree with Rana."
Taki suddenly spoke up.
"The reason that live was a success was only because Hoshino Ai, Tomori, and Sakiko's songwriting is amazing. We didn't play any special role; we were just playing our parts as written."
"A band... needs an identity."
Rana added.
"If we don't have something of our own, then our street performance will definitely be boring."
"Huh..."
As the most skilled musician in the band and the one shouldering the heavy responsibility of lead guitar, Rana's opinion was arguably the most important. But since Rana had always been extremely enthusiastic about lives before, Anon had subconsciously assumed she would agree to her plan.
However, what she hadn't expected was that the only one to raise an objection this time was the very person who usually loved lives the most...
And her reason for objecting was also very perplexing.
Not thinking about the live? Needs an identity? Boring?
Anon felt that, as usual, she couldn't keep up with this stray cat's train of thought.
Meanwhile, after hearing Rana's thoughts, Tomori wore a pensive expression...
...
"I thought someone might object to this plan... but I never expected it would be Rana."
After the impromptu meeting ended, Anon couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Taki and Rana had already left, leaving only her and Tomori alone.
"So, what exactly did Rana mean by 'an identity'?"
"..."
Tomori's gaze flickered for a moment before she answered in an uncertain tone.
"I think... what Rana meant was that our reason for holding the live... is too 'impure'."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"You and Soyo... proposed this plan for Chihaya-san's sake. And I want to do it to make up for the regret of not being on stage last time... Only Taki wants to do this performance to gain more experience for the band."
Tomori expressed her thoughts.
"I think Rana hopes... that we can be like we were at [RiNG] last time, focusing on the performance to express our own thoughts, rather than on the other things the performance might bring."
"Hmm... So, Rana wants us to put the band and ourselves first?"
Anon had a look of partial understanding on her face.
"I don't get it... Is something like that really so important? As long as we play well, it should be fine, right?"
"..."
Unlike the confused Anon, Tomori, after a brief moment of contemplation, looked up at her and said.
"Anon."
"What is it, Tomori?"
"Do you want to hear what Ai and I talked about that time we went out alone?"
"Hm?"
Hearing this, Anon tilted her head before asking back.
"Well, I am a little curious, but why bring this up all of a sudden?"
"Because I think that even if you can't understand Rana, Anon, you should be able to understand Ai."
Tomori said.
"Anyway, I'll start with the conclusion. For the time being... it seems Ai plans to put matters concerning Chihaya-san aside and focus on her idol activities."
"...Eh?"