While Taki was still caught up in self-doubt, her mind completely unable to function, she didn't notice that the small interactions between her and Kamijou Mutsuki had been fully seen by Tomori.
So, Taki really did like Mutsuki after all?
The girl couldn't help but recall everything that had happened today, a faint smile forming at the corner of her lips.
Everyone in MyGO!!!!! was together—this was truly wonderful!
This time, she genuinely didn't want to give up. She wanted to stay in a band with everyone for a lifetime!
However, when she thought of a certain unstable factor within the band, her mood couldn't help but sink a little.
The figures of Sakiko, Anon, and Soyo flashed through her mind one by one…
Whether for MyGO!!!!!, or for Sakiko and Anon, she needed to step out of the past.
Some things… it was time to let go.
But at the same time, she was afraid of hurting Soyo.
With Tomori's simple "CPU," it was obvious she couldn't process such complicated emotions.
And so, just like the other girls, she gradually fell asleep without realizing it.
Nothing more was said through the night, and soon it was the next day.
Since they still had school, the girls didn't waste time. After finishing breakfast, they prepared to head out.
The only issue was that a certain Ms. Taki looked like she hadn't slept well at all, constantly yawning.
Some of the girls naturally had their suspicions.
But none of them showed it—they exchanged glances, silently understanding each other.
Soon, the girls arrived at their respective schools.
Nothing particularly special happened today, but some of the girls just couldn't calm their minds.
The one who felt it most clearly was Umiri. Watching her friend—who had been distracted in class all day and occasionally blushing—she couldn't help but narrow her eyes.
Taki… something's not right!
-----------------------------------
The day quickly came to an end.
However, after school, Tomori and the others didn't go to Houbunsha's animation studio, nor did they head home.
Because today just happened to be the time for their second collaboration live with the Tokyo Music Festival.
Although the official performance would be tomorrow, today they only needed to perform one song to warm up the crowd.
Perhaps because of this—and because the venue this time was much larger than the previous one—the place wasn't completely packed.
But relatively speaking, it was still full.
And most of the crowd were MyGO!!!!! fans. This time, they had even put on itasha-style outfits printed with the MyGO!!!!! logo in advance.
They waved glow sticks excitedly, twisting their bodies and shaking their heads as if they were completely high on the atmosphere.
Some even felt that wasn't enough to vent their emotions—groups of people were crawling and rolling wildly on the ground, while others kept doing backflips, drawing crowds to watch and applaud. The scene was… hard to describe.
Besides that, there were also plenty of MyGO!!!!! cosplays.
Some cosplayed Sakiko—only to be surrounded by a group of Soyo cosplayers kneeling around them, leaving them stuck in an awkward position.
Others cosplayed Tomori, only to be encircled by a group of Taki cosplayers waving glow sticks, shouting and jumping, as if they were performing some ancient and mysterious ritual.
The drummer herself frowned deeply at the sight, feeling like her reputation was being ruined. Of course, Anon also spotted someone cosplaying her school uniform.
Except… it was a British-style uniform.
Well, nice cosplay—please don't do it again next time!
In short, the girls even started to wonder if they had come to the wrong place.
The entire venue looked like a massive atavistic spectacle—demons dancing wildly everywhere you looked.
Those who knew understood it was a music festival. Those who didn't might think it was some kind of cult gathering!
Later, they learned that these weren't ordinary MyGO!!!!! fans—they were fans from out of town, from a certain Eastern country.
Each and every one of them was a top-tier fanatic among fans.
The "purity" of the local fans simply couldn't compare.
They had traveled across mountains and rivers just to watch Tomori and the others perform.
Kamijou Mutsuki: Now that explains it!
As for the girls, they all felt rather conflicted about it.
They could only say—it was fortunate that Kamijou Mutsuki had the foresight to keep them from being discovered.
Otherwise, who knew how much chaos it would've caused.
After adjusting their emotions, the girls headed backstage and began tuning their instruments, preparing for the upcoming performance.
Only Tomori seemed to have something on her mind.
However, before Kamijou Mutsuki could step forward, Sakiko happened to arrive at that moment, and Tomori immediately moved toward her.
"Saki-chan…"
The girl looked a bit uneasy.
"What's wrong, Tomori?"
Sakiko responded with a smile, though there was a hint of complexity hidden deep in her eyes.
For various reasons, she actually didn't quite know how to interact with her former friend anymore.
"This time, we're planning to perform… Haruhikage…"
That's right—being one of MyGO!!!!!'s most iconic songs, fans naturally held it in extremely high regard.
Since it hadn't been performed last time, many fans had expressed online that they hoped MyGO!!!!! would play Haruhikage this time.
However, Tomori had always been afraid of hurting Sakiko.
"Haruhikage…"
Hearing this, Sakiko's brows furrowed slightly.
But only for a moment—her expression quickly returned to normal.
"What you perform is your freedom."
"Haruhikage is also MyGO!!!!!'s song."
"It's only natural for you to play it, isn't it?"
As for Haruhikage, Sakiko claimed she no longer cared about it at all…
Well, maybe just a tiny bit—but only a tiny bit.
She had already decided to make up for her past mistakes and let Tomori find happiness.
Because of that, how could she possibly stop Tomori from performing Haruhikage?
She, Sakiko Togawa, had gone through so many storms—was she really going to break down over just one Haruhikage?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible!
"Saki-chan…"
Tomori didn't seem surprised by Sakiko's response, but the expression on her face became even more complicated.
After a long silence, the girl finally spoke slowly.
"Soyo-chan told us before…"
Hearing Tomori bring up Soyo, Sakiko instinctively frowned.
However, she quickly relaxed her brows and patiently listened to the girl in front of her.
"…about CRYCHIC…"
"CRYCHIC is already over!"
Sakiko couldn't help but speak out.
But she quickly realized she was talking to Tomori, and her tone softened again.
"It was because of my mistake that CRYCHIC fell apart."
"It wasn't Saki-chan…"
Sakiko gently shook her head.
"No matter the reason, since it's already over, there's no point in holding onto it."
"Tomori… you already have a new band now, don't you?"
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