Among the girls, the only one whose face darkened was probably Miss Soyo.
Clearly, she was very dissatisfied with the version of herself in the OP.
Playing together with them?
Wearing matching band uniforms?
Smiling that happily?
Peh—disgusting!
How could she possibly show a smile from the heart in a band without Sakiko?
How could she ever acknowledge a band that didn't have Sakiko?
She admitted that the anime Kamijou Mutsuki made was indeed somewhat—uncanny—but everything in the OP was nothing more than his fantasy. It was absolutely impossible for it to happen!
Sakiko was indispensable.
Anon and that cat could be discarded.
Thinking this, Soyo looked at Anon, who was barely able to suppress the corners of her mouth, and the shadow in her eyes deepened even further.
Go on, laugh while you can. Sooner or later, I'll cut you down～
She raised her head to look at the images on the TV, the resolve in her heart growing firmer.
If that day really came, then she would be the one to personally end this band!
"I want to gather them—ah, every single drop."
As the OP ended, the first scene of the episode unfolded before the girls.
When Tsukinomori Girls' Academy appeared on screen, everyone could basically guess whose turn it was next.
Then, accompanied by the refined chorus of "Gokigenyou," Wakaba Mutsumi appeared, just as expected.
"I didn't see Taki yesterday,"
As usual, there was no buildup—straight to the point.
"Did Sakiko reply to you?"
Mutsumi shook her head.
"I see…"
Soyo's gaze was deep, making it impossible to tell what she was truly thinking.
"Gokigenyou."
"Gokigenyou."
Soyo put on her gentle mask and greeted her classmates, but when facing Mutsumi, she revealed her true face.
"Why don't we go check on Sakiko at her place?"
Her tone was still as mild and gentle as ever, as if she were merely suggesting what to eat for lunch—but it made Mutsumi stop in her tracks.
"You know where she lives, right?"
Seeing this, Soyo directly stepped in front of Mutsumi, wearing a perfectly pleasant smile.
"It'd be great if you could tell me!"
Clearly, Mutsumi's long-standing evasiveness had exhausted her patience. Miss Soyo decided to take the initiative.
Holy shit—doxxing!
"..."
Mutsumi naturally understood the consequences of telling Soyo Sakiko's address. She could only fall silent and lower her head slightly.
Soyo said nothing either, only letting the intensity of her "pleasant smile" grow even stronger.
"I'll… try contacting her again."
Under Soyo's gaze, Mutsumi couldn't remain unmoved forever.
She lowered her head and stayed silent for a long while before finally giving that answer.
"Isn't it a bit ugly to keep pestering her like this, Soyo?"
However, while Mutsumi might indulge Soyo, Sakiko—who saw herself nearly get doxxed right at the start—couldn't tolerate it.
"Why would you say that?"
Soyo didn't feel that she'd done anything wrong at all.
"I just want to care about Sakiko."
"I don't need your concern!"
Sakiko truly couldn't understand why the person in front of her was so obsessively fixated on her.
She only wanted to put an end to her once-naive past. Why did they have to keep clinging to her like this?
"But—"
"Enough already. Are you two still watching or not?"
In the end, it was Miss Taki who spoke up to interrupt their exchange.
Sakiko didn't continue questioning Soyo. There was just a bit more distress between her brows.
Soyo, on the other hand, wore a smile, the obsession in her eyes growing ever deeper.
She would definitely make Saki-chan change her mind. She would definitely return to the happy "them" of the past!
At this point, the animation cut to Tomori and Anon.
"Why do you look so depressed?"
Smiling as she greeted her classmates, Anon looked at Tomori, who had her head slightly lowered, and tugged at her own stiff cheeks as she made that comment.
"Good morning!"
"Penguins again!"
The high-EQ Miss Anon immediately used Tomori's favorite penguin bandages to open the conversation.
"Chinstrap penguin."
"So cute~"
And sure enough, Tomori showed a smile that made a certain Miss Taki feel a pang in her chest.
"This is for you!"
After the two of them tugged back and forth a bit, Anon accepted Tomori's penguin bandage.
Watching this scene from the side, Taki practically turned into a walking lemon.
After all, Tomori had never given her any gifts before—and this girl was even being picky about it.
"Taki, do you want one too?"
The single-track-minded Tomori finally noticed the envy in Miss Taki's eyes and tilted her head as she asked.
"Tomori, I…"
Yes, she wanted one. She really wanted one!
But even someone as straightforward as Taki couldn't bring herself to directly ask Tomori for a gift.
"This one is… an Adélie penguin!"
Seeing this, Tomori directly took out a rare penguin bandage from her pocket—one she'd originally planned to put into her collection box—and handed it to Taki.
"This is… for me?"
"This one is for Taki."
"Tomori… I'll treasure the gift you gave me as the most precious thing for my entire life!"
No, no—it's just a bandage. Isn't that a bit over the top?
Hearing Taki's excited declaration, Anon twitched the corner of her mouth slightly, her expression hard to describe.
That's enough already!
Is everyone in this band a heavy-emotion girl?
Then wouldn't she, a normal person, stand out a bit too much?
After Tomori's turn ended, Anon followed a classmate's suggestion and went to RiNG, hoping to find bandmates through the bulletin board there.
But obviously, a core position like guitarist-vocalist is usually decided from the very beginning and generally isn't openly recruited.
Well—if Anon had gone to another small live house called "STARRY," perhaps the result would've been different.
Just as Anon was feeling disappointed and preparing to head home, Miss Soyo made her grand entrance at that moment.
"Um, you really helped me out a lot yesterday!"
Even though it was just a single sentence of concern, Anon still smiled, stepped forward, and bowed to express her thanks.
Or rather—she simply wanted to strike up a conversation with this beautiful girl who perfectly fit her tastes.
"..."
Who the hell are you?
Although she didn't recognize this suddenly appearing pink-haired girl at all, Soyo still put on an awkward yet polite smile.
"Thanks to you talking to me back then!"
"??? Oh~"
Only now did Soyo finally remember who this pink-haired girl in front of her was.
"She suddenly stopped me,"
Anon began complaining at this point.
"And she was shouting so loudly—I had no idea what I was supposed to do."
.....................