Staring at the neatly folded piece of paper before her, Nagasaki Soyo was frozen as if a pause button had been pressed, unable to respond for a long time.
And Togawa Sakiko did not rush her, merely waiting quietly for the other to make her choice.
"...Why?"
After an unknown amount of time, Soyo finally squeezed the question from her throat in a daze.
"Whether it's Tomori or Taki, they both seem to have broken free from the shackles of that memory. Mutsumi didn't care about anything from the very beginning. And now, even Sakiko looks like she's going to completely cut ties with that past... Eh? Could it be... that I'm the only one who can't move on from that past? Am I the only one who will have nothing if she loses everyone? Am I the only one who truly wants to have a band for life?"
"Soyo..."
Hearing this, Wakaba Mutsumi, who had been silent all this time, looked up, seemingly wanting to say something.
However, Soyo's listless voice showed no signs of stopping—
"This is just too unfair, isn't it... Just because you can all do it, I have to just naturally keep up with your pace and welcome this 'future' of yours? That's right, you've all found your own paths, but what about me? What am I supposed to do?"
At this, she looked up, revealing a tragic smile full of emptiness and struggle.
"I've been waiting for everyone since then, you know. Even though we went to different schools, even though we no longer had any common topics to talk about, even when I was the only one who kept sending holiday greetings for New Year's and the Obon festival... I always believed that we could all get back together again. 'Once you form a band, you're a community of fate'... You're the one who told me that, weren't you, Sakiko? Was that just a lie to deceive me?"
"You might not believe my answer... but for the me back then, those words were not a lie."
Togawa Sakiko shook her head.
"It's just that this world isn't so gentle that every promise made from the heart can naturally be fulfilled."
"..."
Soyo fell silent once more upon hearing this. Then she turned to look at Wakaba Mutsumi and asked:
"Mutsumi, you and Sakiko are childhood friends, right? Can't you help her at all?"
"..."
Mutsumi silently averted her gaze, a rare look of frustration on her face.
"There you go again. Saying nothing, explaining nothing."
Soyo leaned back in her chair, the tragic smile on her face fading powerlessly into nothingness.
"If you find the band so boring, why are you still here wasting time? If you knew what happened to Sakiko, why couldn't you explain anything for her afterwards? Why did you join [CRYCHIC] in the first place? What does the band even mean to you?"
"..."
Mutsumi subconsciously looked up as if to explain something, but when she saw the disappointment-filled eyes of Nagasaki Soyo, and the emotionless expression of Togawa Sakiko beside her, she ultimately just bit her lip lightly and lowered her head once more.
"..."
Looking at Mutsumi's helpless state, Soyo shook her head, not wanting to bother with her anymore.
She first cast her gaze upon the design sketch in front of her, then she suddenly let out a soft laugh before pushing it back in front of Togawa Sakiko.
"I'm sorry, Sakiko. The only thing of yours I can understand is your sheet music. As for design sketches, I don't think I'll ever be able to understand them."
"Mutsumi, the requests from both me and Sakiko must have put you in a difficult position, right? Don't worry. From today on, I won't force you to do anything anymore."
"Chihaya-san, this is just a rough guess, but the reason you're here is to ascertain my attitude, right? After all, I'm forming a band with your most precious younger sister, and you want to know if I'll use her for my own purposes... Well, now you should know. From the very beginning, I've only ever thought about reforming [CRYCHIC]. As for Anon-san and that stray cat, I never paid them any mind from the very beginning."
She stood up from her seat and said to the three people present in a tone of absolute finality:
"Wanting to move towards the future is your business. Wanting to live only in the past is my own choice. Even if I'm the only one left in the end, I will never, ever accept that [CRYCHIC] is over!"
With that, she took a step forward, leaving her seat without a shred of lingering attachment, and walked straight towards the café's exit...
...
"Ahh... I messed it up after all."
After Nagasaki Soyo left, a sorrow that couldn't be wiped away finally appeared on Togawa Sakiko's face.
"Our time together back then was just too short. So short that we were only focused on enjoying the happiness of the moment, and never had a chance to learn about each other's pasts and thoughts..."
As for how long Soyo had waited since then, and what painful obsession that waiting had brought about, she had no way of knowing.
Chihaya-nii was right. For Nagasaki Soyo, the existence of [CRYCHIC] was far more important than she had ever imagined.
And also—
"I'm sorry, Mutsumi. In reality, you've always cared a lot about Soyo, haven't you..."
Togawa Sakiko turned to look at the dejected childhood friend beside her.
"Making you do such a difficult thing all this time, I'm really... so sorry."
"Sakiko... you don't need to apologize to me."
Wakaba Mutsumi gently shook her head.
"Soyo was right. I knew everything, but I couldn't give them an explanation that would put them at ease, nor could I fully carry out the task you entrusted to me... In the end, whether it was you or Soyo, I couldn't help either of you..."
"It's not your fault."
Togawa Sakiko shook her head.
"If I had been able to pull myself together sooner, if I had been able to explain everything myself that day, maybe Soyo wouldn't have clung to that obsession and waited bitterly for a year. Maybe... she wouldn't be so stubborn now..."
At this, she looked up at Chihaya Tetsuya, who had been silent since the beginning.
"I'm sorry, Chihaya-nii... I-I couldn't change her mind."
Judging by Tetsuya's previous attitude, if Soyo remained obstinate, he would take direct measures to have Tomori and Taki expel Soyo from their current band.
And if that happened, Soyo would probably truly become a lonely person with no one to understand or support her...
"Um, I know this might sound a little selfish, but I was still hoping... that you could give Soyo a little more time, Chihaya-nii—"
"...Hm? Are you and Wakaba-san done with your self-reflection meeting?"
In the end, as if he hadn't heard a word Sakiko said, Tetsuya calmly took the design sketch, glanced over it briefly, and then said to her directly:
"Well then, it's time we started doing something truly useful... Togawa, take this design sketch directly back to the studio and try to complete the sample by yourself."
"...Eh?"
"Wakaba-san, you come with me. Before Nagasaki-san gets too far, we should get going too."
Under Wakaba Mutsumi's stunned gaze, Chihaya Tetsuya said:
"A child having a tantrum can only listen to reason after they've said all their angry words. What comes next is the main point of today's negotiation—"
"It's time to wake Nagasaki-san from this year-long nightmare."