["If we, who are completely disunited, want to move forward, then we need a goal."
Taki said this firmly.
"It's because we don't have a goal that we haven't been practicing."
Then she turned the spearhead toward Anon.
"And some people don't even have the intention to practice at all!"]
Who she was talking about went without saying. Anon naturally tried to defend herself, and the two of them began arguing as expected.
Of course, it was basically Anon getting grilled one-sidedly by Taki.
["What Tomori is worried about is that once we hold a live, the band might end."]
It had to be said—Tomori's concern wasn't wrong.
["I…"
Anon seemed to want to explain.
"Aren't you just running away?"
Taki directly exposed the girl's current state.
"You're running away from the guitar."
"I…"
Miss Ano attempted one final struggle.
"I'm not running away."
"You can't even play the guitar, can you?"
Taki bluntly stated the truth.
"You keep making excuses not to come to practice."
"I—I am practicing!"]
It had to be said, that line from Anon in the anime—paired with the earlier scene of her slacking off and watching Nyamu's videos—created an extremely dramatic contrast.
At the very least, the real-life Anon lowered her head in embarrassment, even feeling a bit resentful toward her animated self.
Chihaya Anon, can't you try a little harder?
["The only enthusiasm you show is for stage positions, the band name, and things like G and F chords."
At this point, Taki had completely broken her seal and begun firing at full power.
"If we don't set a live, you'll definitely run away!"
"Because that's what you've always done up until now!"
Anon's pupils shrank. That line struck straight at her heart and shattered her defenses. Then, while shouting "I'm not running away," she ran away.
Seeing this, Tomori called her name and chased after her, leaving behind a stunned Taki.]
"Anon-senpai… ran away?"
Watching this scene, a certain red-haired girl let out a sigh of deep empathy.
After all, Anon's experience was far too similar to hers.
Rather, it was practically her!
Would she also get grilled like that by her senpai because she couldn't play guitar?
Just imagining that scene made the girl tremble.
"Bands are really scary…"
This comment came from a certain pink pit viper.
"Tomori, I told you this girl wasn't reliable!"
At this moment, Taki's mood was probably about the same as her animated counterpart's.
Tomori, why are you chasing her? I'm still sitting right here!
Was anything she said wrong?
Wasn't this episode supposed to be her and Tomori's turn?
How did it turn into this?
"So you can't even play guitar—what exactly gave you the confidence to form a band?"
"It's true that I was in the wrong,"
Anon lowered her head guiltily.
"But I… I really have been trying."
"Trying? You mean watching beauty blogger videos?"
"Hey, you—"
Faced with Taki's merciless attitude, Anon was clearly starting to get a little angry.
It wasn't like her poor guitar skills were exposed only today. Strictly speaking, everything in the anime hadn't even happened yet, right?
"Even if I was wrong, don't you have any problems at all?"
Subconsciously, Anon used the Eastern magic she had learned from Kamijou Mutsuki.
"Hah? Me?"
Taki hadn't expected the blame to be thrown back at her.
"You really don't hold back when you speak. Can't you be a little more tactful?"
That earlier grilling from Taki—forget anime-Anon—even the real-life Anon felt numb just watching it through the screen.
One could only say—Miss Taki really knew how to talk.
"I'm just stating the facts."
If she knew how to beat around the bush, she wouldn't be Taki.
"Do you even understand what 'gentle persuasion' means?"
That was also a term Anon had learned from Kamijou Mutsuki.
"Gentle persuasion?"
Taki clearly didn't quite understand the phrase.
"What gentle persuasion?!"
"Could you maybe practice guitar a little~?"
Seeing that Taki was utterly stubborn, Anon decided to give her a demonstration.
"Could you maybe stop lying to yourself~?"
Unlike Soyo, Anon's cutesy voice was natural—but at this moment, it somehow made everyone's skin crawl.
"It's really not good for the band like this~"
"Stop running away and let's hold a live together, okay~?"
Even Soyo, standing to the side, felt inferior watching this.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Seeing Anon double down on the cutesy act and even cling to her, Taki's face flushed bright red.
Yes—from anger.
Her fist hardened. Very hardened.
"Don't talk to me in that disgusting tone—get away from me!"
Clearly, Taki—who only knew physical attacks—was completely no match for the otherworldly magic Anon had learned from Kamijou Mutsuki.
However, watching this scene, the other girls felt somewhat complicated.
Why does this Anon feel so… Mutsuki-flavored?
And Soyo earlier kind of did too…
Oh no. It's spreading from person to person!
Mm. Taki's band life was truly colorful.
Umiri, standing nearby, sighed like this.
["What do you mean you're not running away? You ran away with everything you had."
Having just been grilled by Taki, the anime-Anon was clearly a bit depressed.
"I'm really just…"
"Huh? Isn't that Chihaya?"
Even though Anon already felt miserable enough, fate seemed unwilling to let her off.
She ran away from Taki—only to be caught up by her past.
"It really is Chihaya!"
The fleeing Anon happened to bump into her former classmates.
"It's been such a long time!"]
It's over!
At this moment, both anime-Anon and real-life Anon shared the exact same thought.
She knew her identity as a "Dondon deserter" couldn't be kept hidden forever—but she hadn't expected it to be exposed like this.
Getting caught by former classmates—this was the absolute worst-case scenario, okay?
["How's England?"
In the anime, the two former classmates had already happily run up to Anon.
"Is it already holiday over there?"
"Um…"
Though her mind had gone completely blank, Anon still seemed to be trying to struggle.
"Huh? That uniform…"
Before she could even say anything, it was already over.
"Haneoka?"
"What about England?"
"Didn't you go abroad to study?"
In the anime, Anon's pupils shrank violently, and all the light drained from her eyes.]
There was no doubt—this was a public execution aimed squarely at Chihaya Anon.
Forget anime-Anon—even real-life Anon was drenched in sweat, feeling an urge to just disappear on the spot.
And it wasn't just her. The other band girls couldn't help but feel secondhand embarrassment for her as well.
But…
So that song really was sung by Anon?
Only Taki still hadn't fully processed it.
England?
Studying abroad?
Wasn't that Kamijou Mutsuki's experience?
She couldn't help turning to look at the pink-haired girl beside her.
You two studied in the UK together?
No—wait. Could it be that the one who sang that song back then wasn't Kamijou Mutsuki, but Anon?
Only now did Taki belatedly begin to realize.
And once she became aware of this, recalling the things she had once said to Kamijou Mutsuki, she, too, started to feel embarrassed alongside Anon.
....................