40

Tsuzuki Shisen watched as Raana suddenly burst into tears, and a deep sense of helplessness settled in her heart.

Raana rarely cried.

Unless someone brought up her sister—Tsuzuki Chihiro.

Shisen knew that, ever since she was little, Chihiro had been Raana's idol.

The reason Raana picked up the guitar, became so obsessed with it—it wasn't just about personal interest. It was because of Chihiro's influence.

And the most direct proof of that?

Raana's playing style was practically a mirror image of Chihiro's.

The way she handled technique, the way she carried herself on stage—everything about her performance screamed Chihiro.

Of course, she'd picked up some of Chihiro's bad habits, too.

Like her sister's reckless, do-whatever-I-want attitude.

Except, compared to Chihiro's "I hate socializing, but I'm good at it" energy, Raana was even worse.

The only things in that girl's world were her beautiful sister and their shared love for the guitar.

Outside of those two things, Raana barely cared about anything else.

Then, after learning that Chihiro had dropped out, it was like she saw it as motivation—and dropped out herself, spending all her time playing at SPACE.

And back then, she hadn't even known the truth.

She hadn't known that the missing person case filed with the UK police had been closed—with death as the official conclusion.

At first, Shisen refused to believe it.

She figured the authorities just didn't want to keep an open case on a foreigner, so they marked Chihiro as dead to wrap things up quickly.

After all, their family had no real power in the UK.

No way to challenge the verdict.

But as time went on, with no further news, even they had to start accepting the possibility that Chihiro—alone in a foreign country, without any family—might really be gone.

"Come on, Raana. Let's eat."

Shisen wiped her granddaughter's face with a tissue, gently patting her back before leading her to the dining table.

"…I want to start a band."

"Hm?"

Shisen raised an eyebrow.

"But Raana, you haven't touched your guitar in ages, have you?"

"I want to start a band."

Hearing Raana repeat herself like a broken record, Shisen sighed—but deep down, she felt this might actually be a good thing.

Ever since Raana dropped out, since SPACE shut down, since she was forced back into school after learning the truth about her sister's death…

She hadn't touched her guitar at all.

Shisen had started to think Raana might never move past it.

That she might be stuck in her grief forever, waiting for a "miracle" that didn't exist.

But now…

"Is this because of that girl who looks like Chihiro?"

"She doesn't look like her," Raana muttered, shaking her head. Her voice was quiet, almost fragile.

"But she feels like her."

"Feels?"

Shisen frowned.

"Have you even talked to her?"

"No. It's just… I can tell. She's like my sister."

Shisen sighed again.

Her granddaughter was already so much like a cat—now she was claiming to sense things like one, too?

"Well, if that's what you want, go ahead.

Do you want me to ask around for you?"

"No. I'll talk to them myself."

"Alright."

Shisen nodded, placing a piece of meat on Raana's plate.

"But don't go causing trouble for others, okay?"

"If they say no, you have to respect that."

"Mm."

Raana nodded obediently.

But the smile on her face made Shisen chuckle.

Maybe this was exactly what she needed to move forward.

And if Chihiro was watching over them from somewhere…

She would probably want the same thing, too.

After all, that girl had loved her little sister more than anything.

---

"WHAT?! YOU'RE FORMING A BAND?!"

"Jeez, keep your voice down. My eardrums are about to burst."

Chihiro took a step back, watching as Soyo—who had just moments ago been smiling proudly as she set a full table of home-cooked dishes—suddenly transformed into a demon from the depths of hell.

The second she mentioned forming a band with Anon and the others, Soyo lost it.

"You TRAITOR! How could you betray your lord like this?! Where's your professional integrity?!"

Nagasaki Soyo was this close to dumping a bowl of rice right onto Chihiro's head.

She knew she shouldn't have trusted this fraud.

"Betray you?"

Chihiro ignored Soyo's murderous glare and casually kept eating.

"Mm… Soyo, you can actually cook. Guess last time wasn't just a fluke."

Truthfully, she had thought long and hard before making this decision.

As for why…

First, the best way to ensure no one got hurt would be to form one big band.

Second, Soyo herself had given her confidence.

After all, if Soyo was this scared of them coming together, that only meant they would actually make a great team.

Chihiro wasn't sure what exactly gave Soyo that gut feeling, but if she was that certain…

Then there had to be something to it.

The plan was simple.

Step one: form a five-person band.

Step two: expand it to seven.

Of course, she had to figure out a way to keep Soyo from freaking out first.

"You're dodging the question!"

Soyo slammed her chopsticks down.

"Explain. Right now. What exactly do you mean by 'I'm forming a band'?"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

"I'm going to use your identity to start a band with Anon, Raana, and a few others."

"…"

YOU'RE JUST REPEATING MY MISTAKES!

Soyo nearly had a meltdown.

She was sure that pink-haired gremlin had some kind of supernatural charm—how else did she manage to convert her strategist in just one day?!

If things kept going at this rate…

They would start rehearsing together.

Then, with no original songs, they'd end up playing Haruhikage's song instead—setting the stage for everything to fall apart again.

And after the inevitable disaster…

Chihiro would be long gone.

No consequences. No accountability.

What, was she supposed to drag Chihiro to Sakiko's house and have both of them kneel down and beg for forgiveness?!

How would that even work?!

Would that even fix anything?!

"Calm down."

"I know this is shocking for you."

"With your level of intelligence, you probably can't grasp my strategy yet."

Chihiro remained completely unbothered, happily stuffing food into her mouth.

"But what I can tell you is…"

"My goal for forming this band is completely different from yours."

"…What do you mean?"

Soyo, seeing how confident and relaxed Chihiro was, finally started to cool down.

What was this girl planning?

"Why don't you want them forming a band?"

"Obviously, because once they do…"

"Sakiko and Mutsumi will think everyone's moved on."

"If I keep pushing after that, I'll never be able to bring them back."

"And if I try to kick people out after everything's already started, I'll just look like the villain and ruin everything."

"Exactly."

"So forming a band was never going to work."

"Once it's made, it's not easy to break apart…"

"Unless—"

Unless she was willing to crush them herself.

"I see~"

That was all Chihiro needed to hear.

She had gotten exactly what she wanted.

She simply waved a finger, flashing Soyo a confident, knowing smile.

"My approach is different from yours."

"What do you mean?

"You're forming a band but not planning to kick anyone out?"

"That won't change anything—"

"Oh, I'm kicking people out."

"Just not Anon and Raana."

"I'm kicking Taki and Tomori instead."

"…Huh?!"

---

T/N: HIUJIHHH