Even though she and Uika were childhood friends, even though Uika didn't even know the donut lady when she used to hang out with her, even though just a single encouraging message from her could make Uika reread it over and over until now…
Was she, Togawa Sakiko, the kind of person who would steal someone else's partner?
That was absolutely impossible!
"…"
However, Sakiko's assurance didn't convince her.
After all, her level of trust in this blue-haired girl wasn't very high.
"Don't worry,"
Seeing this, Uika also spoke up.
"I'll always be Mana's partner, and I'll never leave Sumimi!"
It had to be said—compared to maid Sakiko, Uika was much better at saying the right things!
"…Fine, I'll trust you one more time."
Muttering this, the donut lady didn't continue making a fuss.
Seeing that, Uika finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Speaking of which,"
Now that things had settled on the donut lady's side, Anon spoke up.
"What Mutsumi and Umiri were talking about earlier should be related to Sakiko's new band, right?"
By the way, why is Sakiko's side also throwing around "a lifetime" so casually?
Are all band people like this nowadays?
Or is she the one who's out of touch?
"Sakiko, didn't you take the initiative to leave CRYCHIC before? Why are you forming a new band now?"
Taki frowned slightly as she asked.
If this were before, the one asking this question would probably have been Soyo—and she would've been much more emotional about it.
But now, she didn't really care that much anymore.
"And Umiri—I didn't expect that you would actually…"
Taki hadn't expected that her friend Umiri would join a band formed by Sakiko, her former bandmate. It gave her a strangely complicated feeling.
"Do you not want me to do that?"
Umiri was as straightforward and direct as ever.
"No."
Taki turned her head aside.
"Joining a band is your freedom."
After all, when Taki joined CRYCHIC and MyGO!!!!!, she hadn't thought about bringing Umiri along either, so naturally she wouldn't stop Umiri from joining another band.
It was just that Sakiko was her former bandmate—so seeing Umiri get involved with her still felt a bit strange.
Compared to Umiri's decisiveness, Sakiko, on the other hand, didn't quite know how to respond.
In truth, it wasn't like she couldn't guess what her anime self was thinking.
But she couldn't exactly say outright that she formed a new band purely to make money.
And when she left CRYCHIC back then, although a big part of it was because she didn't want Tomori and the others to get dragged into her family issues, there was also the fact that CRYCHIC couldn't fulfill her goals.
Wouldn't saying that be a bit rude?
"Maybe it's because Uika is the donut lady's partner, and Umiri is Taki's friend—so forming a band like that gives her a stronger feeling of connection?"
Seeing that Sakiko wasn't speaking, Kamijou Mutsuki smiled and offered an explanation on her behalf.
Wait… so Sakiko, you actually have this kind of preference?
Hearing that, the girls around her looked at Sakiko with increasingly strange expressions.
The donut lady puffed up her cheeks even more—she knew this blue-haired girl had designs on her Uika!
Even Taki couldn't help but subconsciously glance at Sakiko.
"Who would even have that kind of idea?!"
Already feeling conflicted, Sakiko instantly flushed red with anger after hearing Kamijou Mutsuki's words.
How could she, Togawa Sakiko, possibly have such strange interests?!
The other girls didn't tease her further.
After all, what Kamijou Mutsuki said clearly sounded like a joke.
…Probably?
But thanks to that interruption, no one continued dwelling on Taki's earlier question.
And after finishing the anime, everyone naturally went home as usual.
However, a certain "Great Soyo-sensei" seemed to have different thoughts.
"Um, Mutsuki-kun, I want to—"
"No, you don't!"
Before she could finish, she was directly shut down by Mutsumi.
At this, Soyo couldn't help but frown.
How are you talking to your elder like that?
So disrespectful!
Meanwhile, Mutsumi tilted her head slightly in confusion.
She felt like the way Soyo was looking at her was… strangely odd.
As for Soyo, since she felt like she had found the right direction, her mood was quite good, so she didn't bother arguing further.
As an elder, one should be more magnanimous!
"Mutsuki-kun, don't be shy—I understand your thoughts!"
However, before leaving, Soyo held Kamijou Mutsuki's hands, her expression gentler than ever before.
No, what exactly do you think you understand?!
Faced with Soyo's sudden words, even Kamijou Mutsuki could only silently produce a question mark in his mind.
"In the future, if anything makes you sad, you can always come to Mom—"
Soyo was still a pure high school girl after all. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she ultimately didn't say that self-designation out loud.
"…you can always come talk to me, anytime~"
After saying that, Soyo turned and left.
Mutsumi watched her back and blinked in confusion.
What exactly did Soyo mean by that?
Mutsumi was surprised to find that she couldn't quite read her anymore.
"Mutsuki,"
At that moment, maid Sakiko suddenly spoke, her gaze firm—almost like Soyo's.
"I want to form a band!"
"A band?"
Kamijou Mutsuki looked slightly surprised. He hadn't expected Sakiko to take the initiative to suggest such an idea.
After all, she wasn't the same as her anime counterpart—she didn't have that same urgent need.
"That's right."
Sakiko nodded.
"Mutsuki has helped me a lot before, so I also want to… do something for him in return."
It could be said that Kamijou Mutsuki had pulled her out of the darkness. Even Tomori and the others had reconciled with her.
Aside from losing her "young lady" status and having to do a bit more daily chores, her life was basically no different from before.
And yet, she had almost nothing she could offer in return to Kamijou Mutsuki.
Other than… certain shameless things.
Thinking of this, the girl seemed to recall something, and her cheeks couldn't help but flush red.
However, today's anime had given her inspiration.
A band—wasn't that what she was best at?
Given Kamijou Mutsuki's status, the fact that he would come over to act as a band manager clearly meant he had an interest in this field.
And if she could build a national-level band like MyGO!!!!!, then even for someone like Kamijou Mutsuki, it should be able to help him in some way!
"Good, very spirited!"
After hearing Sakiko's words, Kamijou Mutsuki smiled and nodded.
"In fact, I've already had some plans regarding Saki-chan's band."
He already had plans?
Hearing this, Sakiko couldn't help but recall the plot of the anime.
Earlier, her attention had been diverted by Soyo and the donut lady, but thinking about it now—since Kamijou Mutsuki had her form a band in the anime, he must have had similar ideas in reality as well…
At that thought, Sakiko's expression suddenly stiffened slightly.
If it followed his plan, then the members of her new band would be…
Recalling the promise she had just made to the donut lady, Sakiko didn't expect the "boomerang" to come back at her this quickly!
........................