"So, did you finish your question game? Dinner's ready."
Setting aside her tangled thoughts, Soyo Nagasaki brought up the main reason she was there.
"We were just passing time while waiting for dinner, so now that it's ready, the game's naturally over."
Kamigawa Saku spoke while watching Wakaba's reaction. If she wanted to keep going after dinner, he wouldn't mind continuing—after all, a game like this was a golden opportunity for him.
It let him openly gather intel about Wakaba without needing an excuse. If Soyo hadn't interrupted, he could have kept it going indefinitely.
"Mhm."
Wakaba gave a soft nod, standing and heading for the table.
Seeing her move, Saku followed suit and took his usual seat. Soyo sat across from him, and Wakaba took the seat beside her.
"Who would've thought the three of us would be sitting here, eating together?"
Soyo smiled as her gaze swept over the two of them.
Truthfully, aside from CRYCHIC and herself, Wakaba and Saku had almost no connection to each other. Because of that, she rarely mentioned one to the other. It just didn't seem necessary.
Suddenly bringing up a person your friend barely knows, then going on and on about them—it's rude. Soyo knew better than that.
As for introducing Wakaba to Saku, or the other way around? She'd planned to wait until the band stabilized and then bring Wakaba in. That's when the introductions would be made.
But now, it seemed the band had stabilized.
Takamatsu Tomori had written lyrics, Shiina Taki had composed a pretty decent tune, and even though it needed re-arranging, the composition itself seemed solid enough.
With both Saku and Wakaba here, all she had to do was say the word.
Having made up her mind, Soyo said thoughtfully, "Indeed."
Saku also nodded, reflecting on how things had changed.
Going from struggling to even approach Wakaba to sitting down and eating together—the pace of development had definitely been fast.
Reality didn't follow any script. Things unfolded however they pleased, no matter how strange.
Wakaba stayed silent, simply eating.
"By the way, Saku, what do you think about Mutsumi joining our band?"
Soyo's sudden suggestion caught him off guard.
"Her joining the band?"
Saku looked genuinely surprised.
Wait, even in reality, wasn't this development just a little too strange?
Wakaba also looked up at Soyo.
"What's going on? Care to explain?"
Saku wanted to understand her reasoning. There had to be some logic to this.
"Well…"
Soyo averted her gaze slightly, meeting Wakaba's eyes as she explained softly, "It's something Mutsumi and I agreed on. I promised that once the band stabilized, I'd invite her in."
"Now that the time seems right, I want to follow through on that promise."
"I see."
Saku quickly understood the situation.
Since Soyo's goal was to revive CRYCHIC, Wakaba was undoubtedly a key part. It made sense for them to have an agreement like this.
"So, what do you think?" Soyo looked at him expectantly. "About Mutsumi joining our band?"
[Agree]
[Refuse]
The system options popped up immediately in front of him.
With a prompt like that, Saku began to think it over.
He didn't oppose Soyo's desire to bring CRYCHIC back to life.
Especially since CRYCHIC's members were all characters he could get close to.
Wakaba in particular.
Before, he'd been worried he wouldn't have a consistent way to connect with Wakaba. But if she joined the band, that problem would solve itself. He'd have plenty of chances to interact with her.
Considering these benefits, he had no reason to refuse.
Still, Saku couldn't help but hesitate. "I want to clarify first—this isn't me underestimating Wakaba. It's just from a band perspective…"
"With two guitarists already, doesn't adding another guitarist seem a bit much?"
Despite his personal interest in having Wakaba join, he felt responsible for addressing practical concerns.
"There are bands with three guitarists, right?" Soyo replied, trying to persuade him.
"It's different. With another guitarist, we'd have to rework the arrangements." Saku sighed.
Soyo saw his point and guessed, "You're thinking of Spring Shadows, right?"
"Exactly. And any songs that come after." Saku nodded.
"But it's not a big deal." Soyo shrugged it off. "Spring Shadows is just a practice song for us. We're not planning on using it for a live show. So it doesn't matter if we change it or not."
"As for future songs, Taki's already planning on rewriting them, so just let her know."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it with Taki. It won't be an inconvenience to you."
"Then, during practice tomorrow, I'll bring it up with the rest of the band and get their thoughts on it."
Saku still wasn't going to make a decision without consulting everyone first.
As for the system prompt, he could decide tomorrow. The option wasn't going anywhere.
It just meant waiting one more day for the reward.
"Sure."
Soyo smiled and agreed.
By his tone, it seemed Saku wasn't opposed to Wakaba joining.
Meaning, as long as the others were on board, it would be settled.
And among the members, Takamatsu Tomori and Shiina Taki were both former members of CRYCHIC. They'd be unlikely to refuse an old bandmate.
As for Raana? No issues there, either.
That cat had no reason to turn Wakaba down. And even if she did, Soyo could just follow Saku's lead, bring her some snacks, and bribe her a little. Problem solved.
The only question mark was Chihaya Anon.
But if everyone else agreed, Anon would likely go along with it, even if she wasn't thrilled about it.
With that, Wakaba's spot in the band was practically a done deal.
Just as Soyo was mentally preparing herself for every possible scenario they might face tomorrow, Wakaba spoke up out of nowhere.
"I don't want to join the band."
"Eh?!"
Both Saku and Soyo exclaimed simultaneously, though for different reasons.
Saku's shock was over the fact that Soyo had said they'd already made an agreement.
Soyo, on the other hand, was surprised that Wakaba didn't want to join.
"Why?" she asked, clearly confused.
Meeting Soyo's puzzled gaze, Wakaba lowered her head and said quietly, "I don't want to be in a band."
Just as she'd suspected, Soyo had already started to distance herself from CRYCHIC and from Togawa Sakiko. Her focus was shifting toward Saku.
In that case, there was no need for her to join their band.
The reason was simple. If she joined, then CRYCHIC would be one step away from being fully reunited—all that would be missing was Sakiko.
Soyo might seem detached now, but that didn't mean it would always be that way.
What if this almost-complete CRYCHIC ignited Soyo's desire to bring Sakiko back?
Sakiko was a keyboardist, and their band still had a keyboard spot open.
Inviting her would be perfectly justifiable.
But for Sakiko, that wouldn't be good.
Right now, Sakiko couldn't handle being in a band.
Wakaba couldn't gamble on Soyo staying unchanged.
Rejecting it now was safer.
This way, even if Soyo wanted to revive CRYCHIC someday, she'd feel it was her own choice, not because of Sakiko's absence.
Besides, she'd never truly enjoyed being in a band.
So deciding not to join? Not a problem.
"I see…"
Soyo's expression grew complicated, as if something had just clicked for her.
Saku sighed and said, "If Wakaba doesn't want to be in a band, then we should respect her wishes."
[Stamina +1]
No need to consult the others tomorrow—the system reward had already been given.
What a shame.
He'd just missed out on a perfect opportunity to stay close to Wakaba long-term.
Well, there was no helping it. He couldn't force her to join.
"Exactly."
Soyo looked from Wakaba to Saku with a smile.
Saku was right. If she didn't want to be in a band, then there was no point in asking her again.
She'd kept her promise to invite Wakaba; it was simply Wakaba who'd chosen not to join.
And really, from the band's standpoint, three guitarists wouldn't work well anyway.
The arrangements would get complicated.
In short, their band didn't need Wakaba.
"…"
Seeing Soyo's lack of reaction to her refusal, Wakaba continued to eat quietly.
It seemed Soyo no longer felt CRYCHIC was necessary.
Her decision had been the right one.
At the very least, she'd prevented Soyo from dwelling on the past.
The rest of dinner went on without incident, the atmosphere warm and relaxed despite Wakaba's decision not to join.
Afterward, they watched a comedy together until Wakaba announced she'd be heading home.
It was about time.
Soyo and Saku had already packed up the groceries Wakaba had bought. Since she was taking a cab, there was no worry about carrying them all.
After Wakaba left, Saku stayed a little longer, keeping Soyo company with another movie.
Later that night, as usual, Soyo taught him some bass.
---
When he got home, Kamigawa Saku stretched out on his sofa, reviewing everything he'd gained today.
A promise with Soyo Nagasaki, Wakaba Mutsumi, and Nyamu to visit a hot springs inn over summer break, Wakaba's contact info, and a wealth of information gathered through their Q&A game.
Once he'd finished going over his notes, he picked up his phone to check his messages.
The first one was from Togawa Sakiko, reporting her experience with a high-end cosmetics line.
Having reviewed the luxury brand, she was now moving on to more affordable products.
Saku: Got it. I'll send you the mid-range products tomorrow.
For this first sponsored review video, he'd skipped the highest bidders, choosing instead to feature well-known brands with strong sales.
That way, the video would have broader appeal.
When Sakiko didn't reply, it seemed she wasn't by her phone. Saku moved on to other messages, and once he'd finished, he opened Instagram and Twitter for a quick scroll.
That's when he noticed something surprising.
Kita Ikuyo's posting frequency had dropped a lot lately.
From her usual multiple posts per day, she was now down to one every couple of days—or even just one a day.
As a character he was tracking, Saku knew Ikuyo was an avid poster on social media, so he'd kept a close eye on her accounts.
This shift in behavior felt too strange to ignore.
Could something be wrong?
Thinking back to his recent encounters with Ikuyo at school, he couldn't recall anything unusual—only the drop in her posts.
When the time was right, he'd ask her about it directly.
After noting this oddity, Saku got ready to shower and call it a night.
---
Meanwhile, Shiina Taki sat at her computer, deeply immersed in composing for Ichishizuku Sora.
Inspiration was flowing.
No, more than that—she understood Tomori's lyrics.
In hindsight, it was kind of funny.
She owed her insight into Tomori's lyrics entirely to Saku.
Their experiences were strikingly similar.
Both of them had once been members of CRYCHIC, had gone through its disbandment, and were now part of its revival.
Earlier, Tomori had struggled with writing lyrics, and Saku had successfully helped her.
And now, when she herself had been stuck, unable to compose, Saku had given her a push as well.
Though the details of each experience were different, the overarching journeys were nearly identical.
As Taki continued reading the lyrics of Ichishizuku Sora, she felt a deep sense of resonance.
It made Saku's words—"These lyrics are Tomori's cry"—ring true.
And just like that, Shiina Taki finally understood the lyrics.
---
T/N: Big siigh this story while I really like it is a lot of work with the names