RiNG's stray cat

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Tomori

Band Meeting?

Anon

Yes! Let's have a proper discussion about
the band's direction and image first!

Anon

There's a lot of stuff for us to decide,
but first on that list has to be who plays what, right?

Taki

Why are you running things?

Anon

I'm good at this stuff.
I've been student council president before!

Anon

(My brain was full of,
"Yay. I'm so lucky to have put together a band♪"
But it's not the time to get carried away.)

Anon

(Tomori-chan was a vocalist,
so I have to make sure she doesn't overlap with my guitar and vocals...!
I'm not ever gonna give up the center position!)

Anon

Tomori-chan, you can play tambourine, right?

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Tomori

...?

Taki

What?

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Anon

A triangle would be good, too~!

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Anon

Castanets would be good, too!

Anon

Tomori-chan, you can choose whichever you like!

Tomori

I'll work hard at all of them!

Taki

Wha... Tomori!?

Anon

Then, that's decided!
I'm on guitar and vocals, so—

Taki

Tomori's on vocals.

Anon

Backup vocals?

Taki

Main vocals!

Anon

Fine, then.
I guess we can have a vocalist and a guitar-playing vocalist.

Soyo

You mean twin vocals?

Taki

Are you messing around here?

Anon

I am not.
I'm being serious.

Soyo

Hey, Anon-chan.
Why don't we talk about some other things we'll need to do for a live performance? For example—

Anon

The band name, right?

Soyo

What?

Anon

I've actually been thinking about that~

Anon

Well... for example, there's "Unknown."
And "Ano Ne." And there's "Ano Sweet Potato"...

Taki

They all sound like your name.

Anon

Yes, and?

Taki

This isn't your band...!

Anon

What? You've been really demanding...
Then I'll put your name in, too.
What Kanji characters do you use for "Taki"?

Soyo

It's "standing" plus the beginning of "hope."

Taki

...! Hey...!

Anon

Really? "Standing" plus the beginning of "hope"...
Wouldn't you read that "Rikki"?

Taki

What?

Anon

Or, like, "Ooky"!
Oh, but "Ooky" wouldn't work as a band name.

Taki

It's enough!
This girl seriously ticks me off!

Soyo

Now, don't talk about her like that.

Soyo

Umm... Should we talk about our band name next time?

Anon

Hmm, but it's important, isn't it?
Soyo-san, you suggest something.

Soyo

What?

Anon

Rikki, what's your family name?

Taki

Who's Rikki?

Anon

Rikki is Rikki!
More importantly, your family name!

Soyo

It's Shiina.

Anon

Huh, that's such a cool name!
It's so unfair that your name is Shiina.

Taki

No one asked you...

Tomori

...

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Taki

We didn't end up deciding anything in the end.

Anon

It's because Rikki keeps complaining, right?
Tomori-chan said she'd work hard at the tambourine, though.

Anon

Hey, Tomori-chan!
Let's properly decide the parts at the next band meeting, okay?

Tomori

Yeah...
Anon-chan... thank you.

Anon

What?

Tomori

I didn't think I'd be able to go back...

Anon

...!
Yeah... You're welcome!

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Tomori

...

Taki

Tomori, you wanted to go back to the band, too?

Tomori

? Yeah...

Taki

I see.
Your high school. It's Haneoka, right?

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Taki

If I'd graduated as planned, we could've gone there together...

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Tomori

...?

Tomori

I'll see you later.

Taki

What...? Yeah...
Be careful on your way home...

Taki

...

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Anon

What do you think? That's a C chord.
I think it's pretty close~

Tomori

Incredible...

Soyo

Um... what else can you play?

Anon

I can play anything!
G or A minor... oh, even F!

Taki

*Sigh*... That's just a chord.
It's even more hopeless than I thought.

Taki

We finally have a chance to perform a live show,
but we can't even stand on stage like this.

Tomori

Live show?

Taki

A live show organized by
Afterglow and Poppin'Party.

Taki

Apparently one band that was supposed to perform canceled,
and they asked me if we'd like to fill in.

Soyo

A live show hosted by those two bands!
That's amazing!

Anon

B-But, isn't it too soon for us to be performing live?

Taki

What? You said that playing live was our short-term goal, didn't you?

Anon

But we haven't rehearsed even once...

Taki

You shut up.
Tomori, what do you think about playing live?

Tomori

I... I think...

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Anon

But, you can just try your hardest so that it doesn't go wrong next time, right?

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Tomori

I'll work hard.

Taki

Well then, that settles it.

Taki

We don't have much time left until the actual performance,
so we'll reserve the studio as much as we can.

Anon

B-But what about the songs?
We don't have a single song we can play!

Soyo

Umm... For now, why don't we look for something we might be able to play?
Maybe a cover of another band—

Taki

We can just play "Haruhikage."

Tomori & Soyo & Anon

...!

Soyo

But that song is...

Taki

What? Are you holding back because of that girl?

Soyo

...

Soyo

Tomori-chan, what do you think?

Tomori

I don't have any other songs I can sing.

Anon

I've only ever heard that once!

Soyo

Since Anon-chan's saying so,
Let's find a song that'll be easy for all of us!

Taki

I brought the sheet music for "Haruhikage."
We're starting rehearsals, so get ready quickly.

Soyo

Wait, Taki-chan...

Tomori & Soyo & Taki & Anon

...?

???

Where's the amp?

Taki

Huh?
What are you suddenly talking about...?

Anon

Huh... Wait, why are you getting the guitar ready!?
Did someone ask her to rehearsal?

???

Aren't you going to do it?

Soyo

You mean... doing what...?

???

Band.

???

I'll play guitar.

Taki

Wha... That's my sheet music...!

???

...

Tomori & Soyo & Taki & Anon

...!?

Anon

(She's good at playing guitar...)

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???

*Munch*...♪

Soyo

Um... Rāna-chan, was it?
You like matcha parfait?

Rāna

Yeah. And soba noodles.

Soyo

I see...
She plays on this stage sometimes, doesn't she?

Taki

She's called RiNG's stray cat...

Anon

...

Soyo

What did you mean about doing a band...?

Tomori

You want to join our band...?

Rāna

I'll do it.

Anon

Why!?

Soyo

Um... But why our band?
You're so good, other bands must have invited you to join, right?

Rāna

They were all boring women.

Anon

...

Rāna

But...

Tomori

Eh...? Um...

Rāna

...

Tomori

Ugh...

Taki

W-What...!?
Stop staring, you're scaring Tomori!

Rāna

What an interesting woman.

Soyo

Hey... She's just a little scared, so...

Anon

Um!
I have something to do, so I'm going home now!

Taki

Huh? Why suddenly...

Anon

Sorry, I'll text you!

Rāna

Is band time over?

Rāna

Bye-bye.

Soyo

Um...

Taki

*Sigh*... Wait, she didn't pay for her parfait!

Soyo

Ahaha...

Tomori

...

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Taki

Honestly, what's with all of them?
Leaving in the middle of a discussion like that...

Taki

And we still can't tell
if that stray cat joined our band or not...

Tomori

"Haruhikage" is different now, isn't it?

Taki

You don't have to hold back around Sakiko, you know?

Taki

I'm really happy that I can play in a band with you again, Tomori.
Because your song... I haven't been able to forget it...

Tomori

What...?

Taki

...
Bye, I'm going home too...!

Tomori

...?