I swear to god—
This time, Sakiko-sensei really couldn't hold it together anymore. Crying as she was, she clenched her fists, clearly ready to challenge Kamijou Mutsuki to a fair and honorable samurai duel on the spot.
"Calm down!"
Luckily, Anon—who apparently possessed a 100% guaranteed grab skill—reacted instantly and wrapped her arms around Sakiko.
"Sakiko-chan, calm down! Don't hit him!"
How did watching an anime suddenly turn into a fight?
That said, Anon's words clearly weren't enough to stop the already-overheated Sakiko-sensei.
Don't stop her—let her beat this bastard to death!
"Saki-chan."
In the end, it was Tomori's highly recognizable voice that finally managed to pull her back from the brink.
"Don't be angry anymore… okay?"
Tomori took hold of Sakiko's hand, speaking in a pleading tone.
"..."
Feeling the soft warmth in her palm, Sakiko's emotions became complicated.
"…Sorry. I lost my composure."
The girl took a deep breath as she spoke, letting Tomori lead her to sit down beside her—casually squeezing Rikki, who had been sitting next to Tomori, off to the side.
Rikki: ?
"Sorry,"
Seeing that Sakiko had calmed down, Tomori continued.
"Mutsuki… didn't mean any harm."
This time, it was Sakiko's turn to be covered in question marks.
Tomori, you're protecting him way too much, aren't you?
At that moment, Sakiko-sensei finally understood how Rikki had felt back then.
This was the first time she'd experienced what it was like for Tomori to side with someone else when facing her.
Sour and bitter—like biting into an unripe apricot.
"…Yeah, I know."
Sakiko forced a smile as she said it.
Tomori, however, didn't notice the strain behind that smile at all, and visibly let out a sigh of relief.
Only then did the single-threaded girl finally notice the tears on Sakiko's face.
"…Your tears."
She pulled a tissue from the table beside them, reaching out to wipe Sakiko's face.
"Eh?"
Feeling Tomori's movement, even the current Sakiko-sensei instantly flushed red.
"T-Tomori… it's fine, I'll do it myself!"
Sakiko quickly took the tissue, wiped away her tears, and the redness on her face slowly faded.
Tomori-chan… still just as lacking in common sense as ever.
Meeting Tomori's worried gaze, Sakiko suddenly felt as if she had been transported back to the days before CRYCHIC had broken up.
Without realizing it, a faint smile appeared on her face.
And in the anime, Tomori had already finished singing Haruhikage, moving on to the comment-reading segment.
"There are so many comments, look!"
Soyo smiled as she handed her phone over to Tomori.
[I was completely moved… this hit me way too hard.]
[No CRYCHIC? I'm actually gonna die, I feel like ants are crawling all over me.]
[Guys… who understands this pain? I'm crying so bad right now.]
Of course, not all the comments were that harmonious.
"The vocalist is trying too hard?"
Rikki—who had already developed a proper sense of filial piety by this point—immediately darkened.
"What the hell is this guy even saying? I'm blocking him!?"
"Rikki, muting is better than blocking."
Soyo suggested calmly.
Watching this amusing exchange, Anon couldn't help but smile.
But Sakiko, staring at the scene on screen, lost her smile completely.
If she remembered correctly…
The anime cut to a close-up of Sakiko at this exact moment. While the other CRYCHIC girls were happily reading comments, White Sakiko frowned, the expression on her face suddenly turning sorrowful.
Then, with a shift of the camera, the next scene appeared—unexpected, yet somehow inevitable.
"I came today to tell everyone something."
It was the scene that had already been shown at the very beginning of episode one.
"I've decided… to leave CRYCHIC!"
White Sakiko vanished at that moment, replaced by the Sakiko Anon was familiar with now.
Again…?
Watching the scene unfold, Soyo felt a dull ache in her stomach.
Even though it was something that had already happened, no matter how many times she saw Sakiko leaving CRYCHIC, her heart still couldn't help but hurt.
Only that… someone's expression looked even worse than hers.
"But if Saki-chan quits…"
Tomori's voice carried a sob, like she might start crying at any second.
"Can you stop saying such naïve things already?"
Yet faced with the heartbroken Tomori, Sakiko chose not comfort, but reproach.
"Isn't you, Tomori, the one who needs to practice the most?"
"Then what have you been doing all this time?"
Her face pale, Sakiko subconsciously let go of Tomori's hand.
After all the hurt she'd caused her before—what right did she have to accept that gentleness?
What followed in the anime played out almost exactly like it had in episode one.
Rikki and Sakiko's argument escalated to the brink of violence.
And then came the final blow from the Cucumber Sword Princess.
"I've never felt happy playing in a band."
As if that weren't enough, she continued twisting the knife.
"Not once. Ever."
Mutsumi clenched her fist tightly. Even now, she still couldn't let go of the words she'd said back then.
Then she shot a resentful glance toward the man who was—at least in name—her fiancé.
Wasn't showing this once enough?
What's with the repeated corpse-whipping?
In the anime, as Mutsumi spoke, a ringing sound like tinnitus filled the scene, and the screen abruptly cut to black.
What followed was Tomori's monologue.
"I'm the only one who can't cry."
"Why is that?"
"Am I too cold?"
"Or is it that, as a human, I'm missing something?"
"I don't have anything precious, like everyone else does."
"I want to cry for something too… like everyone else."
The image cut to Sakiko in her Haneoka uniform, a red flower pinned to her chest.
She noticed Tomori looking at her, paused for just a moment—then walked away as if nothing had happened.
As if everything they'd shared before had been fake.
As if the two of them had never known each other at all.
"If there is such a thing…"
The visuals began to blur, and Tomori's voice once again trembled with tears.
"Then it must be…"
"CRYCHIC!"
「"Futsuu" toka "atarimae" tte nan darou.」
As the ending theme slowly began to play, Sakiko's face had already turned deathly pale.
She had only wanted to sever herself from who she used to be.
She never imagined she would wound Tomori this deeply.
To Tomori, CRYCHIC was the meaning of her existence as a human being—and Sakiko had destroyed it with her own hands.
And yet… she had still dared to hope for Tomori's kindness.
For the first time, Sakiko truly realized just how… despicable she was.
"Saki-chan…"
This time, it was Tomori who cried. Just like in the anime—she only cried for CRYCHIC. Just like now.
"Why… did you leave CRYCHIC?"
Was it because she hadn't done well enough?
Tomori's crying wasn't like a dam bursting—just quiet sobs, like a fine drizzle.
Yet it was precisely this Tomori that made Sakiko feel crushed, barely able to breathe under the weight of her guilt.
Soyo had asked her this question countless times before. This was the first time she truly didn't know how to answer.
The damage had already been done.
Could an apology really make up for it?
And as for going back… did she even have the right?
All the guilt and self-reproach swirling in her heart gathered at her lips—only to come out as four words that sounded utterly detached.
"…I wish you happiness."
And then, once again unable to hold back her tears, Sakiko stood up and ran away.
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PS: Quite a few readers said it's hard to tell anime scenes from reality. Should I add a frame or marker later on? Would that hurt the reading experience?
PS2: The protagonist is already pretty unhinged, but how far can you guys accept him taking the bit? Is stuff like stocking masks okay? (This affects later plot planning—I've got a pretty fun idea in mind 👀)
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