"The HP bar is finally almost empty."
"To make you better, I really am too kind."
Looking at the extremely pitiful Sakiko before her, Shouko felt quite emotional.
However, although the first phase of the plan was successful... there's still a final consolidation needed before the second phase can begin.
So... you're truly remarkable, Saki-san.
Providing her with over ten thousand anger value points in such a short time.
The corner of Shouko's mouth curled slightly as she slowly leaned down, bringing her mouth close to Sakiko's ear.
"What do you think of the fool's tragic future? Do you like it??"
"If you really persist, then I will sit aside and quietly watch you take that final step."
Listening to Shouko's devil-like whispers... the pain on Sakiko's face deepened, and the tears from the corners of her eyes gushed even more fiercely.
"Enough, enough, don't say anymore, please... please don't say anymore!!!!"
[anger value, +666.]
And this scene... happened to be seen by Tomori, who had just walked out of the CRYCHIC Band studio.
Her eyes widened as she looked at everything before her in disbelief.
"Tomori is out, and the others will be out soon. Come with me."
"Or would you rather they all see you looking so pitiful and helpless, my dear Young Lady??"
As soon as Shouko finished speaking, she turned and walked directly toward the previously decided hotel.
And Sakiko, whose heart had been completely crushed by Shouko...
Gritted her teeth, not daring to look back, and quickly stood up from the ground.
Ignoring Tomori's shouts from behind, she followed quickly after Shouko and disappeared into the rain... "Tomori, what happened??"
Rikki, who had just come out, saw Tomori staring ahead, hesitating to speak with wide, unusual-looking eyes.
She couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, then also turned to look into the rain in the direction of Tomori's gaze.
But there was nothing at all in that direction.
The rain was getting heavier, and there was almost no one on the street.
Hearing Rikki's call, Tomori gradually came to her senses. She turned to meet the other's eyes but immediately looked away.
She wanted to open her mouth but immediately realized something and closed it.
But in Tomori's mind, that strange scene from just now kept replaying.
Why???
Why would the Young Lady of the Toyokawa family be so humble as to kneel before Shouko in this freezing rain??
Such a thing is absolutely abnormal!!
Although... she wasn't usually very good at communicating with people, that didn't mean she didn't understand anything.
This team was brought together by Sakiko alone.
Everyone's abilities were uneven, but Sakiko didn't complain in the slightest.
Instead, like a pale moonlight, she treated everyone with sincerity and gentleness.
But precisely because everyone, under Sakiko's leadership, gradually moved from chaos to unity...
...this also gave the already proud Sakiko a subtle reluctance to expose her own misfortunes.
And that scene just now... no matter what the cause was...
...if it were spoken of, it would surely be extremely embarrassing for Sakiko.
Although she knew that Rikki certainly wasn't a big-mouthed person...
...something like this was definitely better kept between as few people as possible.
Only then... would everyone's CRYCHIC Band have a hope of setting sail once again, right??
So, as long as she could figure out Sakiko's reason... as long as she could get the CRYCHIC Band sailing again, even if she had to leave the band herself.
Thinking of this, the words of Shouko and Sakiko from before couldn't help but reappear before Tomori's eyes.
She's really terrible, isn't she? She must be really terrible!!!
Just now, she only had to chase after them... but if she really did, would it have actually been of any use??
After all, her being so terrible might have been the reason Sakiko had reached her limit.
"Tomori, what on earth happened??"
Seeing the constant shifts in Tomori's expression, Rikki couldn't help but ask again.
At this moment, Mutsumi and Soyo, who were the last to come out, also leaned in curiously.
Unfortunately, Tomori just shook her head: "It's nothing. I'm going home first. Goodbye."
"Eh!?"
Watching Tomori walk away without looking back, Rikki could only slowly lower her raised hand.
After glancing back at Soyo and Mutsumi, she also opened her umbrella and stepped directly into the curtain of rain.
She knew that at a time like this, she probably should chase after Tomori.
But the brief conflict just now made her truly afraid of venting her furious emotions on the already pitiful Tomori.
After all, her own personality was somewhat stiff; she was the type whose words could easily infuriate someone to death.
She was like this normally, and right now her heart was extremely irritable. She was truly afraid of saying something even more excessive.
So, she decided to go back first to stabilize her emotions.
Watching Rikki's figure gradually disappear... the unwilling Soyo didn't actually think too much about their situation.
Her mind was still stuck on what Shouko and Sakiko had said together about leaving the band.
Perhaps out of the beautiful hope in her heart, she was certain there must be some underlying issue.
"Mutsumi, you saw what happened just now..."
"There must be some hidden circumstances between Sakiko and Shouko that we don't know about."
"So, I'll go deal with Shouko, and you go deal with Sakiko, how about it???"
Facing Soyo's incredibly expectant gaze, Mutsumi hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded.
In truth, she wasn't surprised by Sakiko's sudden departure.
She actually knew a part of Sakiko's situation beforehand.
Because of this, when she heard Sakiko talk about leaving the band, she knew it was already an irreversible outcome.
However, the sudden emergence of Shouko filled her heart with doubt.
And from Tomori's appearance just now, she felt like she had seen something.
After all... besides Shouko and Sakiko, who had left immediately after announcing their resignation.
Tomori had come out even earlier than them, yet she had stood inexplicably in front of the door.
So... from the standpoint of a childhood friend, she indeed needed to find Sakiko to ask about it.
"I understand. Then I'll be going too."
"Okay, be careful on the way, Mutsumi."
Watching Mutsumi leave without looking back, Soyo felt an emptiness in her heart.
Unable to help herself, she looked back at the location of their CRYCHIC Band room.
Clearly, everything was going so well... clearly, everyone had just experienced an extremely successful live performance.
Clearly, they had started to gradually accumulate fans; even now, her phone was constantly vibrating with notification messages.
But why? Why!???
With a deep sigh, Soyo walked toward Shouko's home with a heavy heart.
No matter what, she had to thoroughly understand exactly why all of this was happening.
To have her favorite CRYCHIC Band broken up just like that... and be forced back into that cold, empty home, she was unwilling to accept it no matter what.