Agung's eyes twinkled with a brand of mischief that suggested he was about to win the argument for good. He wiped his hands on his Mikan apron and pulled his Android phone from his pocket.
"Refined, huh?" Agung chuckled, his thumb scrolling rapidly through a digital library that shouldn't exist in this timeline. "Let me just play back a little evidence of how 'refined' you, Maki, and Eli can be when you really get going."
He tapped the screen. Suddenly, a high-energy, pulsing electronic beat exploded from the phone's speakers—far louder and crisper than any normal phone should be able to produce.
> *"Cutie Panther watashi... doko made mo oikaketeiku yo!"*
Nico, Maki, and Eli froze mid-step. The spoons they were holding hovered in the air as their own voices—perfectly harmonized, fierce, and incredibly "idol-core"—filled the kitchen. It was a sound that was sleek, aggressive, and undeniably catchy.
"Wait... that's *my* voice," Maki whispered, her face going pale before turning a deep, medical-grade scarlet. "But I've never... I would never sing something that... that aggressive!"
Eli looked like someone had just told her the student council budget was missing. "The harmony... it's perfect. But we've never formed a trio like this. Who authorized this? Why do I sound like I'm hunting someone?"
Nico was perhaps the most stunned of all. She listened to her own voice trilling with a playful, predatory edge. "Cutie... Panther? Me? A panther?" She looked down at her hands, then back at the phone. "I mean, it's a total bop, obviously, because my voice is legendary, but *when did we do this?!*"
"BiBi," Agung said, grinning as he leaned against the counter, watching the three of them undergo a collective existential crisis. "In the other world, you three were the 'cool and fashion-forward' unit. You were basically the trendsetters of \mu's."
"BiBi?" Nico repeated, her brain short-circuiting.
The rest of the girls were losing it. Chika was leaning on You's shoulder, laughing so hard she was nearly breathless. "A panther! Nico-chan is a panther! I can't—my stomach hurts!"
"It actually suits them," Nozomi said, leaning back and watching the chaos with a motherly smirk. "The doctor, the ballerina, and the... well, the Nico. It's a very sharp combination."
Agung paused the music, the silence in the kitchen suddenly feeling much heavier now that the "Panther" was gone.
"You see?" Agung said, tucking the phone away. "I might be a 'Panda' from a world where I swept streets, but I remember every single song you girls ever sang. To me, you aren't just 'deadbeat' victims. You're the legends who changed my life when I was just a guy with a broom."
The teasing died down for a moment. Nico looked at Agung, her initial shock fading into something softer. She looked at Maki and Eli, who were still processing their "secret" identity as fashion-forward panthers.
"You really... you really do love our music, don't you?" Nico asked quietly.
Agung didn't answer with words. He just tapped the pot of miso soup and pointed toward the dining hall. "Miso is ready. Breakfast is served. Let's eat before I start playing the 'Solo' albums. I think Umi has some things she'd rather keep secret, too."
Umi's eyes went wide. "I have *what*?"
"Move, move!" Agung laughed, ushering them out. "The Panda is hungry!"