After a brief interlude, the conversation returned to the formation of the band, and Togawa Sakiko, the initiator of this gathering, elegantly rose to begin addressing the main topic.
"Thank you all again for being willing to gather here today. I have been really looking forward to meeting you all."
Sakiko looked around at the companions she had chosen: Wakaba Mutsumi on guitar, Nagasaki Soyo on bass, Shiina Taki on drums, Takamatsu Tomori as lyricist and vocalist, herself on keyboard, and... her gaze unconsciously lingered for a moment on the empty seat at the table, then subtly shifted away.
That seat should have been occupied by Togawa Fuuki.
That guy actually fobbed her off with such a clumsy excuse, which was obviously made up on the spot: "I'm not very comfortable being around a group of girls"! This excuse was simply absurd coming from him, a social expert who could change his expression at any moment.
Sakiko could almost imagine him hiding in some dark corner at this moment, peeking in like he was observing an experimental subject.
'Well... considering he arranged all the day's schedule, I won't pursue it.'
A hint of a helpless smile spread across her lips, but it was immediately replaced by a more resolute determination.
'I must find an opportunity to introduce him to everyone later.'
'As a member of the Togawa Family, he can't always run away at the last minute!'
She cleared her throat, pushing that small sense of incompleteness to the back of her mind, and a bright smile, enough to illuminate the entire corner, bloomed on her face again, her voice imbued with an undeniable cohesion.
"From now on, we are a band..." Sakiko's voice rose slightly, with the solemnity of an announcement.
"Which means we are a group that plays music together, sharing the same destiny, desuwa!"
Sakiko, speaking of her beautiful vision, seemed to radiate a dazzling light, causing even Fuuki, who was peeking from the dark corner, to narrow his eyes.
"Destiny, huh~"
Soyo repeated softly, elegantly resting her arms on the table, her fingertips unconsciously stroking it. The word seemed to carry a strange magic, creating ripples in her heart, outlining a vague but exciting future.
Taki was thoughtful, while Mutsumi brought up a more crucial question.
"What kind of music should we play?"
"That's a good question!" Sakiko's eyes lit up, as if she had been waiting for this moment.
Immediately, the band she had seen at the Tsukinomori Music Festival—Morfonica—came to mind. Their ethereal and pure sound, like moonlight pouring down, and the melodies woven into a dreamy starlit river, instantly touched the deepest part of her heart.
Unfortunately, Taki and Tomori, who were not from Tsukinomori, didn't know much about Morfonica, which made it easier for Sakiko to promote them.
The girls' tea party was in full swing, while in the shadows of the corner, Fuuki picked up his long-cold black coffee and took a shallow sip. The bitter, cold liquid slid down his throat, bringing a hint of clarity.
He was glad he chose not to force his way in. This allowed them to communicate and bond naturally, and also allowed him to enjoy a moment of peace.
'Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've been to a café.'
Fuuki stared at the cup with a few drops of liquid remaining, his thoughts gradually tracing back to the past.
'The last time I drank coffee outside was when I first came to the Togawa Family.'
'After discovering the characteristics of the meteorite fragment, I eagerly followed the fragment's pull, ran to Asukayama Park to set a trap, and finally seized Maehara Naoto's 'DISC'.'
'It was also after that time that my plans and actions always, unknowingly, became linked with Wayward, and I would always encounter Stand Users at very subtle moments.'
Fuuki's fingertips unconsciously tapped the table, rhythmic and cold.
'There's always a feeling of being driven forward by something.'
'Is this the so-called "mutual attraction" between Stand Users? Or is it that so-called 'destiny'?'
In fact, Togawa Fuuki did not have a deep understanding of the so-called [predetermined] destiny, or rather, the [predetermined] events he encountered were very unstable.
Through the meteorite fragment, he foresaw the image of the arsonist, currently identified as Kato, the drummer of Wayward; as for the figures surrounding the map discussion later, their number clearly did not match Wayward's, and their details are currently unknown.
But some subsequent predictions were quite intriguing.
Wakaba Mutsumi moving into the Togawa Family to stay was already a fact, and it had even been extended for a long time, but currently she was still living with Togawa Sakiko and had not moved into the Doll Room next door.
And the later prediction of "Togawa Sakiko being stabbed through the throat by a blade" was personally prevented by Fuuki, although this scene was replicated with an illusion in the basement later, an illusion is ultimately an illusion, not reality.
During this time, neither he nor Mutsumi had received any new "future fragments." This caused him to lose the opportunity to verify and analyze the logic behind "premonitions" through experimentation.
However, Takagi Naoko's pain caused by the foreseen future was real, and the entire Wayward's frantic resistance due to the "unchangeable future" was also real.
These strong emotions, like a brand, burned the reality of the concept of "destiny."
If so, how could the so-called [predetermined] be explained?
While he was thinking, new information came in on the phone on his lap, from the still active [Spider].
Looking at the flashing yellow triangle in the list, Fuuki couldn't help but feel a hint of pleasure.
In the week following the music festival, he, having recovered some of his Stand power, undertook several secret "journeys."
Like DIO, who traveled the world just to seek 'encounters' in his memory, Fuuki also secretly visited several people with potential qualifications according to the intelligence.
Unfortunately, the results were not satisfactory; no character meeting his strict requirements appeared.
Destiny is always so unpredictable; when you deliberately pursue something, you often miss your goal. And when you think the door is closed, with no way out, it will quietly open a window for you in some unexpected corner.
He met that girl in an unvisited park, and after "confiding in each other," he helped her see her true desires and fears, allowing her to find her true self and become a [Spider] worthy of his trust.
Just as he was about to tap to view the information, the girls, who were discussing the "lyrics" written by Tomori, were suddenly interrupted by the sound of chairs and tables being moved.
Mutsumi suddenly stood up for some reason, her eyes filled with horror, and she involuntarily looked in Fuuki's direction.
'What did she see? Could it be—'
Fuuki instantly understood the girl's situation, and the next moment, several fragmented future scenes also appeared before his eyes.
The streets in the picture were plunged into unimaginable chaos.
============
The light was completely blocked by heavy curtains, leaving only a few streaks of pale dust leaking through the gaps, floating weakly in the murky air.
It was an unusually dark room, with several figures seated around a long table covered with maps, using a crimson pen to outline another area of the city streets.
Suddenly!
An incredibly nimble dark shadow, without warning, darted out from the darkest corner of the room!
Its speed was ghostly, moving on all fours, silently gliding along the cold floor, heading directly for the head of the long table—the man subtly surrounded by the other figures.
The shadow's movements carried an inhuman swiftness and a resolute killing intent, and it was about to pounce on its target.
However, just as its claws were an inch away from the target's throat—
The shadow vanished into thin air without a trace.
There was no sound, no light or shadow, as if it had never existed.
Only the sound of water dripping on the floor echoed in the empty room, unusually clear and viscous.
"It seems he has completely betrayed us..."
A muffled voice broke the deadly silence, tinged with a subtle weariness and coldness.
"That guy has always been like this."
"But if he really goes crazy..."
"This time it will probably be very difficult to control."
"Let that band deal with it."
"Hmph, they haven't been very obedient lately either."
The people seated around the long table spoke one after another in clockwise order, and finally, everyone's gaze turned to the one at the head of the table, awaiting his decision.
The man slowly rose from the large chair. His movements were not fast, but they carried a suffocating sense of oppression.
He raised his hand and threw a cat with a broken neck directly onto the table. The fresh blood flowing from the corpse's mouth immediately stained the streets on the map a crimson red.
Blood continued to flow, dripping onto the floor with a soft "drip-drop."
"Redraw the map, and also..."
"Remember to turn on the lights next time."
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