"Soyo…"
Compared to Anon's shock, Taki—who had previously been a member of CRYCHIC together with Nagasaki Soyo—had almost completely seen through her thoughts.
"Don't tell me… you're still thinking about CRYCHIC, even now?"
"..."
After putting Anon through the wringer in episode one, episode two of the anime moved on to putting Soyo through it.
That said, Soyo looked far calmer than Anon had.
"Is that not allowed?"
Surprisingly, Soyo didn't deny it at all. Instead, she wore a completely natural smile.
"Taki hasn't forgotten either, right… This band carried so many happy memories for us."
"..."
Even though she didn't want to resurrect the past over and over again, as a remnant of the former band, Taki clearly couldn't refute Soyo's words.
And seeing Taki's reaction, some emotion in Soyo's eyes grew even denser.
She almost couldn't stop herself from reviving CRYCHIC right then and there—but in the end, she held herself back.
After all, she still hadn't persuaded Sakiko.
If CRYCHIC failed to revive, and the new band ended up exploding under her manipulation, that would just be laughable.
At the very least, for now, she still had to take Anon and the cat into consideration.
"Still, being able to form a new band with you all and have a new beginning—I'm really happy too!"
Soyo reused the same line Anon had said before.
"After all, that's just an anime, right? You can't take it seriously."
In the end, she took Anon's hand, her expression as gentle as water.
"At the very least, I'm really grateful to Kamijou."
"Being able to join Anon's band—really is wonderful!"
Who could possibly withstand that?
At the very least, a certain pink-haired girl was completely blinded by the beauty of a gentle, big-sister-type lady.
The animated Anon, just like her real-life counterpart, was completely unaware of Miss Soyo's sinister intentions, and was even boasting to her friends about having recruited a Tsukinomori young lady as a bandmate!
After Anon's part temporarily ended, the camera cut to Wakaba Mutsumi.
Clearly, she hadn't been brushing Soyo off that morning—she really had planned to do something.
Unfortunately, poor Mutsumi hadn't even had the chance to speak when, because a Tsukinomori young lady standing at the gate of Haneoka was far too eye-catching, an irritated Sakiko deliberately ignored her.
Still, since Mutsumi was her childhood friend, Sakiko ultimately went with her to a café called "Hazawa."
"Why did you come looking for me?"
On Soyo's side, she was being urged to contact Sakiko; but once she actually reached Sakiko, she was met with a blunt interrogation.
Pleasing neither side—hurt from both ends.
Mutsumi was suffering inside, but Mutsumi said nothing.
"Because you didn't reply to my messages."
The girl answered honestly.
"I've told you before not to casually tell other people about my affairs, haven't I?"
Sure enough, Sakiko got angry over what had just happened.
However, since the one sitting across from her was Mutsumi, her tone remained relatively restrained.
After venting, perhaps to adjust her mood, Sakiko kept a straight face as she took a sip of her coffee.
"It's really good."
The change in expression on Sakiko's face was visibly obvious—she became happy.
Perhaps only Mutsumi and Kamijou Mutsuki could understand the bitterness hidden behind those words.
"Soyo is very worried,"
Seeing Sakiko's mood improve, Mutsumi brought up what Soyo had asked her to do.
"She said she wants to go to your house."
As Mutsumi finished speaking, Sakiko's mood meter visibly dropped, and a perfectly good cup of coffee was effectively wasted.
"Can you tell her that I've moved?"
The look of obvious disgust on Sakiko's face was impossible to miss.
There was nothing Mutsumi could do about it. She could only silently drink her mango juice.
Seeing this, the Soyo in the real world couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed.
What did I even do wrong?
Why do you hate me this much?
But still…
Soyo looked at Mutsumi, her feelings turning slightly complicated.
Her greatest resentment toward Mutsumi had always been about Sakiko.
And now she realized—Mutsumi wasn't unwilling to help. She genuinely couldn't help.
Thinking back to the harsh things she'd said to Mutsumi before, Soyo felt a bit of regret in her heart.
But what was the point of regretting it now?
She recalled Mutsumi coming yesterday, holding Kamijou Mutsuki's hand, supposedly (in her own mind) to show off in front of her.
The relationship between the two of them… was already beyond repair.
A vague pain welled up in Soyo's chest.
Had she, once again, unknowingly lost something important?
"Sakiko, Soyo—aren't you two being a bit too much?"
Even Soyo, who harbored resentment, could tell how uncomfortable Mutsumi was. There was no way Anon wouldn't notice.
"Mutsumi… she's your friend, isn't she?"
Anon spoke up for the poor "Cucumber Hero."
"Sakiko, aren't you being way too harsh on Mutsumi?"
"And Soyo too…"
Although Anon had just been dazzled by Soyo's beauty, she wasn't the type to let her values follow her looks.
At the very least, Soyo's behavior toward Mutsumi—only thinking about pressuring her to contact Sakiko—was something Anon found genuinely hard to judge.
"It's my fault."
Surprisingly—or perhaps unsurprisingly—Sakiko apologized immediately in response to Anon's criticism.
"I was in a bad mood myself. I shouldn't have taken it out on Mutsumi."
Sakiko was simply sensitive at heart; her nature was still gentle. When trapped inside the situation, she was like a powder keg that exploded at the slightest spark—but once she stepped outside it, she could regain her composure.
"I'm sorry, Mutsumi."
"I… didn't mind."
Hearing Sakiko apologize to her, Mutsumi felt both flattered and overwhelmed.
After all, she'd almost grown used to Dark Sakiko snapping at her whenever she felt like it.
Watching this scene, Soyo sat silently to the side like an outsider, her usual smile conspicuously absent.
How could she not feel guilty herself?
But believing that she and Mutsumi had already fallen out, she couldn't bring herself to speak up the way Sakiko had.
That didn't mean she didn't care about Mutsumi—on the contrary, it was because she cared that she became like this.
People only become clumsy in front of those they truly care about.
As the girls continued talking, the anime progressed to the storyline involving Anon, Soyo, and Taki.
"Tomori won't come."
In response to Soyo's claim that Tomori would join as well, Taki gave her own opinion.
"Why not?"
"…Tomori is really hurt right now."
"..."
Soyo lowered her head—something she rarely did—and the camera gave a close-up of her fiddling with her fingers.
"All of us… are hurt."
So why did things end up like this?
Sakiko!
Clearly, it was now time for Sakiko's turn to be put through the wringer.
After that, Soyo took out her phone and showed a video they'd filmed together back when CRYCHIC still existed.
PS: Episode two honestly wasn't very interesting. Let's hurry up and get to episode three so White Sakiko can finally appear.
.................