When Yoshiiro Chiose found Takamatsu Tomori again, it was in the grass just outside the underground performance hall.
This little dummy was sitting there examining rocks by the light of the eternal, unchanging moon.
The rock really was something else — it genuinely did look just like a dinosaur's claw.
"Tomori! Are you okay?"
Tomori was sitting in the grass with her arms wrapped around her knees. Chiose slipped one hand beneath Tomori's knees and swept her clean off the ground in one smooth motion.
"!!!"
"Ch— Chiose! Put me down… this is so weird."
Tomori had seen this position in one of those embarrassing little movies! The next move was to flip her over and pull her pants down! S— so scary!
"Dummy. You bolted out of there just now like a little rabbit, and now you've been scooped up by me just as helplessly as a little rabbit. From now on I'm calling you my adorable little Tomori… Bunny-Tomori it is!"
"Ugh… please don't call me that, I can't take it…"
"Can't take it and you still ran? Dummy. I'm done teasing you."
They made their way to a bench by the roadside to rest. Yoshiiro Chiose set Tomori down.
"Tomori, is something on your mind? I'm sorry — I feel like I might have said something out of line back there."
"N— no! I just…"
I just have a screw loose, that's all.
Ten years, and it still hurts. One little thing and it all comes rushing back… Is something genuinely wrong with me… Why can't I ever just move on…
"Does Tomori have a story she wants to tell?"
Chiose smiled softly, eyes half-lidded, and rested her left hand over Tomori's.
One small, pale hand laid over another small hand — and it gave Takamatsu Tomori a feeling she had never felt before.
Should she say it out loud?
It wasn't even anything serious. Just the most ordinary, run-of-the-mill story of a girls' band falling apart — practically a rite of passage.
The alcohol was making her a little raw today.
Saying it out loud… Chiose wouldn't laugh at her, would she?
"I won't laugh at you."
That girl — who could have outshone the stars even on the darkest night — spoke.
"I'll listen. Really, truly listen to everything on your mind. I'll help you sort it all out — just like alcohol does…"
Yoshiiro Chiose leaned close to Takamatsu Tomori's ear and breathed warm air against it:
"Remember what I told you about the Happiness Spiral? Let me take the place of the drinks for a little while — and guide Tomori into that place where all her troubles melt away."
"I… mm… okay."
That was it. That was the scent.
A faint trace that lingered in every kind of liquor she had ever drunk… the scent that belonged to Yoshiiro Chiose.
That strange fragrance cleared Tomori's head. She turned the stone over and over in her hands, doing her best to gather her thoughts.
"So… it goes like this."
What does 「normal」even mean? What does 「the way things are supposed to be」even mean?
...
My name is Takamatsu Tomori. I'm twenty-six years old, and I'm a corporate drone who… somehow ended up falling in love with drinking.
The so-called normal world has always felt impossibly far away from me.
The light and shadow of spring drifted past like a half-remembered dream, until at last it was swallowed whole by the scorching heat of summer.
I… I really, truly… want to become a real person.
For many years now, I have had a recurring dream.
In the dream, I become a grey butterfly.
I am trapped inside a glass jar held by some child — and it is a beautiful blue butterfly who uses every last ounce of her strength to set me free.
She was like a beam of light illuminating the path ahead of me, like the warmth of a gentle spring day thawing my stone-cold heart.
At the end of the dream, the blue butterfly leads me to a vast sea of flowers. She says: this is the utopia where all butterflies will be happy. She says: building this sea of flowers — this symbol of a shared destiny — is her dream.
Then she flies away, and I am left alone.
What a radiant spring it was. What a brilliant, beautiful spring… but she was gone.
I can no longer remember what she looked like. Time has taken her flaws and her face from me.
I lost my way.
I stood frozen in place.
It was as though… I would never be able to fly again.
[Please don't let go. Please. Please don't leave…]
Those were the only words echoing in my head when I woke from that dream.
The poor wretch who couldn't cry out loud that day woke up to find her pillowcase soaked through with tears.
She told me — the 「poems」 I wrote were a kind of silent 「song」, and that they would only be at their best when sung aloud.
And those words truly did fly out of my mouth, carried on the wings of a beautiful melody…
I wanted to sing for this world to hear. I even dared to dream of singing for myself.
I wanted to sing together with everyone, forever — but time told me that was a fool's wish.
I'm twenty-six. I'm not a little girl anymore. I figured all of this out a long time ago.
Why do people have to part… If it's all just fate, then it would have been better never to have met in the first place.
The blue butterfly who led me forward flew away — and then someone else found me. When I had already given up on life, in a dark corner, she saw me. She walked toward me.
[My name is Yoshiiro Chiose! Pleased to meet you!]
[Senpai, let's go get a drink!]
Saying strange things to someone she'd just met — clearly I was the senpai here, yet she grabbed my hand and pulled me forward on her own terms.
I… I didn't mind it at all!
I… I really do love Chiose! I love being… your best friend, for life!
That greedy feeling — wanting to hold onto everything I've ever found beautiful.
A band had always been a wish I didn't dare to wish. But someone found me. Someone gave wings to my words.
And today, Chiose, you told me you wanted to take the stage with me…
I really don't dare.
I'm so scared…
...
"Don't be scared! My Tomori! I mean it — don't be scared!"
As Takamatsu Tomori's story drew to its close, Chiose's clear, bright voice swept the other girl's sorrow away like a tide.
"That's… that's my whole life… Pretty pathetic, isn't it?"
The moment those final words left Takamatsu Tomori's mouth, she felt a strange lightness — like none of it mattered quite so much anymore.
Go on, say it! Say it! Tell me my life is a complete and total disaster!
"You big dummy. Honestly, there's nothing wrong with any of it — because all of it was just getting things ready for us to meet."
"Ugh… what do you mean…"
Her brain was running on fumes from all the alcohol — anything even slightly complicated was beyond Takamatsu Tomori's processing power right now.
"Ah, fate. We were destined to find each other. Every single minute and second I lived before I met Senpai Tomori was laying the groundwork for right now."
"Tomori — do you believe in fate?"
What Yoshiiro Chiose said was not a lie — because that was exactly how the System worked by default.
All those lives that didn't matter. She didn't even need to live through them herself.
"I…"
The evening breeze stirred the air. With every breath Takamatsu Tomori drew, she inhaled the scent of Yoshiiro Chiose.
So intoxicating it set every nerve in her body alight.
"I believe… but I can't. I really can't get on that stage… I…"
"Tomori! We have to keep moving forward. We can't stay frozen in the same place forever. I want to walk forward together with you — can we? Give me one chance. Really — just once is enough."
Yoshiiro Chiose's gaze was unwavering:
"Just once! I swear — I absolutely, absolutely will not let you down."
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉