Heading to RiNG felt like marching toward an old battlefield—one where she had once suffered a crushing defeat.
Nagasaki Soyo knew that she hadn't just lost a battle in the last timeline; she had nearly lost her last remaining stronghold just a few days ago.
But this time… she wouldn't.
This time, she had a plan. She had an organization.
Sure, she might be hopeless at a lot of things—but following an existing blueprint, recreating something that had already happened? That was something she couldn't mess up.
The butterfly effect might still come into play, but what, was she supposed to fix every single problem in this band full of walking disasters in just a matter of days?
What kind of cosmic joke would that be?
Tomori and Anon? No changes there. Tomori would still be nervous and scared, and Anon—even after getting broken down once—still had her ace up her sleeve.
Yes.
That ace was being bad at guitar.
A Chihaya Anon special talent.
Raana? Not even in the picture. Nothing to talk about.
And Taki, standing right in front of her?
Hah. If Taki could suddenly stop getting overly worked up and stop radiating pressure like a living stress generator, then Soyo and Taki wouldn't have had a falling out in the first place.
So this time—she would ruin this band.
No more playing peacemaker like last time. No Sakiko showing up at the live to cheer Tomori on. Haruhikage? Locked away in the vault.
How could she lose? How could she possibly lose?!
Even if she went completely AFK, she would still walk away as the MVP of this match.
"Let's go, Soyo."
"Ah… right."
It wasn't until she stepped off the train that Soyo realized she had completely forgotten to bring her bass.
Well, whatever.
The RiNG branch was still a part of CiRCLE, and as a proper Live House, renting out instruments was a basic service.
While she asked Rinko-senpai at the counter about renting a bass, Soyo was already thinking about something else.
Or rather—formulating something else.
A new plan.
"Taki, we only have one song, right?"
"Yeah, one song should be enough."
Taki nodded, but then she suddenly paused and asked, "Wait—Soyo, are you saying we should prepare another song? I don't think that's necessary."
Even if they managed to get a live slot, there was no way they'd be given time for two songs. They were a substitute band at best, and they didn't even have a proper name yet.
Even CRYCHIC had a better debut live than this. And they had only played one song.
"Rinko-senpai," Taki said, brushing off the thought as she turned to the older girl, "Can we still book a live slot?"
"You're performing?"
Rinko seemed genuinely happy to hear that—she had always liked Taki as a junior.
"Let me check… Oh, right. When were you thinking?"
"Next week?"
"Next week is too late. What about this weekend?"
Soyo suddenly cut in.
Taki was about to protest—there was no way they could be ready in such a short time—but she stopped herself.
Thank god. That was a close one.
She almost slipped into old habits.
She had to stop snapping at people. At the very least… she couldn't snap at Soyo.
"Soyo, why the rush…?"
"I don't want to drag it out. And it's not like having more preparation time is always better. No pressure, no motivation."
Exactly.
No pressure meant Shiina Taki, the human pressure cooker, wouldn't be at peak performance.
Heh. The advantage of knowing all the inside intel…
Soyo felt like she had just finished setting the stage.
All that was left was for these fools to jump in—and under her masterful control, the show would unfold perfectly.
Just as she expected, Taki—who clearly wanted Tomori to perform—hesitated for only a few seconds before nodding.
Checkmate.
"If it's this weekend, let me see…"
Rinko looked concerned.
She didn't seem too keen on them rushing into a live like this.
"This weekend, we have a small live featuring Afterglow and Poppin'Party—five and a half hours in total."
"Actually… one of the bands did drop out last minute. If you're interested…"
"We'll take it!"
Taki immediately responded.
Even though the thought of performing in front of an audience that big was nerve-wracking, she felt like this was fate.
If the opportunity had presented itself so perfectly, then backing down now would be against her nature.
Besides—if she hesitated, wouldn't Soyo be disappointed?
That said, she was a little worried.
They hadn't even told the rest of the band yet.
But when she voiced that concern, Soyo simply shook her head.
And Taki had to admit—if she went to Tomori and Anon now, they'd probably hesitate forever.
Maybe sometimes, you had to take the leap first. Set the goal first—then push everyone to rise to the occasion.
With the date confirmed and a rehearsal studio booked, Taki finally circled back to an earlier concern.
"Soyo, are you sure about preparing another song in such a short time?"
"Today is already Wednesday. That means we only have four afternoon rehearsals plus Sunday morning."
"And Sunday morning will probably be for soundchecks. There won't even be a proper dress rehearsal…"
"But if we only play the song I wrote… if we don't bring out Tomori's own voice… wouldn't that make this whole thing meaningless?"
"Of course, if we really don't have enough time, then playing just Tomori's song with you is fine too."
"…"
Taki felt completely lost.
She couldn't figure out what Soyo was thinking.
Two songs? That wasn't even—
…Wait.
Was this to contrast with CRYCHIC?!
This Soyo—the one standing in front of her now—this was definitely the Bright Soyo.
Taki was sure of it.
And if that was the case, then maybe she was doing this because she truly wanted to move forward.
Not just for the others in CRYCHIC, but for herself.
She wasn't just trying to put Tomori's thoughts into a song.
She wanted to surpass CRYCHIC's debut performance.
She wanted to prove that, even without Sakiko, they could forge something new—something better.
It was reckless. It was bold.
But… it might be the best way for everyone to move forward.
"I understand."
Taki nodded firmly.
"It won't be easy. But I'll give it everything I've got."