"Multiple personalities, huh? It feels just like a character from a story, with a mysterious background and a curse from the gods... Anyway, it's really cool."
Shiko fell silent.
"But Ako knows how Shiko-san's multiple personalities came about." Ako nervously tugged at her hem. "No one would ever want something like that to happen... So that kind of coolness is bad."
"Why is something cool, yet bad? Ako... has never encountered a situation like this before."
Ako lowered her head and murmured as if talking to herself.
"Is 'cool' really what Ako wants to pursue?"
The Ancient Curse Wandering in the Depths of Darkness...
For the first time, Ako began to question the goal she had been pursuing.
Ever since she was little, Ako had always pursued coolness—ever greater coolness. That was why she had started playing drums, admired Yukina-san, and desperately tried to join Roselia: because she yearned for coolness. Even in daily life, she wore clothes she thought were cool and said things she thought were cool.
Until recently.
"Ako, your rhythm's gotten messy again." During practice, Ako was often criticized by Yukina-san.
"S-Sorry!"
The drums she had once thought were cool had unknowingly lost their appeal. When practice ended, she actually felt... relieved. The last time she had felt that way was when Roselia had been having internal conflicts. But this time, Ako knew it was purely her own problem.
"All right, all right. Maybe we've been practicing for too long. We should take a break, too, right?" Lisa-senpai began smoothing things over as usual.
During the break, Lisa-senpai asked, "Ako, are you feeling unwell?"
Seeing the concern in her eyes, Ako couldn't respond honestly. "I'm fine. The spellcasting time was just a little long. I only need to restore some MP—!" She gave the same reply she always did. Lisa-senpai can't help me with this. Rinko can't help me, Yukina-san can't help me, and Sayo-san can't help me, either.
Only that person—though unintentionally, she really is the source of my problem.
Will she get angry? Ako waited uneasily for her answer.
"Thank you." Instead, she received an unexpected reply.
"Huh?" Ako raised her head. Though there was a hint of gloom in Shiko's eyes, her face wore a helpless smile. There wasn't the slightest trace of anger.
Seeing Ako's confusion, Shiko looked into the distance. "Although I don't want to remember that incident, I could never get angry with you girls. Don't worry."
"But thank you for coming to find me."
Ako still hadn't figured it out when Shiko changed the subject. "So, you've started to feel lost about what you want to pursue, is that it?"
Ako nodded and stared at Shiko with wide eyes.
"I think that even if some kinds of 'coolness' are bad, that doesn't mean you have to reject 'coolness' itself, does it?"
Ako found that difficult to understand.
Shiko stood up. Her figure suddenly became lofty and unfathomable. With one hand behind her back, she pinched a golden jade slip between two fingers and tapped it against Ako's head. "Xihe zhi wei yang, Ruohua he guang—how was that?" By the time she said "How was it?", she had already returned to her usual appearance.
"I didn't understand it, but it was cool... So what does it mean?"
"I was just reciting some ancient prose. The meaning has nothing to do with the gesture." Shiko put away the jade slip. "So, do you like this style?"
"I love it!"
"Then isn't that enough? This kind of coolness won't hurt anyone. There's nothing wrong with it, and you can keep pursuing it."
"But... but..." Ako tapped her fingertips together. "This kind of bad coolness..."
Shiko thought for a moment without changing expression.
Had Ako once believed that "cool" represented all things good?
"'Coolness' has never been perfect." Shiko flicked a lock of hair and changed her tone. "Shakespeare once said, 'There is only one true heroism in the world: to see life as it is and still love it.' In other words, that's how it is~" She waved a hand theatrically.
"Shakespeare didn't say that." Ako looked somewhat dazed. "And somehow, this version of you looks a little familiar..."
But Ako seemed to understand what she meant. "So even if 'coolness' isn't perfect, Ako can still pursue her own kind of coolness, right?"
"That's right." Shiko sat down and folded her arms. "I'll pursue my own coolness, too. And Ako's kind of coolness is sure to be perfect."
Ako's face lit up. "Really?!"
Shiko pointed one hand at the sky and the other at the earth. "Across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, through Bìluò Huángquán, I can go wherever I please. Gods and Buddhas cannot stop me, and demons and ghosts tremble at my sight. What I say is the will of Heaven."
After a long while, the corners of Ako's mouth lifted. She raised a hand and covered her left eye.
"Heh... hehehe..."
"The ancient curse wandering in the depths of darkness, the inverted mithril sword, the black crystal enshrined in a ruined temple..." A violent dark aura spilled from Ako's body. Crimson blood-light flashed in her eyes. She was about to lose control!
Shiko didn't dare delay and immediately took up a stance. "Heaven and Earth Change, Yin and Yang Cease to Exist, the Lowest Depths of Naraka are the Destination of All Beings..."
When Rinko came out yawning, she found Ako and Shiko fooling around childishly like this.
"Ah, is it time already? Farewell, my archenemy and dearest friend!" Ako said goodbye to Shiko dramatically, then bounced into the tent.
"You two... get along... very well..." Rinko looked at the tent entrance with relief.
"...Yes, we do."
Thank you for coming to find me, Ako.
Whether it's for the other me who wanted to create summer memories, or for me...
"Archdemon Ako, resurrected!" During band practice, Ako sat behind the drums again, full of energy.
"Looks like you've recovered, Ako." Yukina was naturally happy to see this.
"That's right! Shiko-san cast an ultra-ultra-ultra-cool healing spell on me! At the time..." Ako began recounting the scene in an extremely exaggerated manner.
Over the past few days, Kita had noticed something unusual. "Little Ako has been playing with Wu-san quite often lately."
"Stand Users are drawn to one another..." Shiko pressed a hand to her forehead, pretending to be profound. "But I've been meaning to ask: you call everyone but Ryo by their surname, and even call Ryo 'senpai.' Why do you call Ako by her given name?"
"Because Little Ako is sooooo cute!" Kita's eyes sparkled. "Don't you want to hug her? Don't you want to rub her head?"
"Cute... She is cute, certainly, but she'd be sad if she heard you say that." Shiko suddenly revealed a victorious expression. "Incidentally, I've already rubbed Ako's head, in exchange for passing on an Ancient Immortal Scroll to her."
Kita began crying and fussing at once. "Aaah, I want to play with Little Ako, too! Wu-san, how did you do it?" She leaned close to Shiko's face, and Shiko instinctively took a step back. "Well... Maybe she thinks my battle stance is cool?"
"Huh?" Kita looked at Shiko. "It switched... Don't change personalities without saying anything. You'll scare me..."
"But that battle stance..." Kita recalled Shiko's chūnibyō-like pose during battle and clutched her head. "There's no way I could ever do something like that, aaaaah!"
Shiko looked at the camera placed to one side. "Don't you often ask me to take pictures when you zoom in?"
"That's different... But I understand now! I absolutely have to rub Little Ako's head..."
Ako walked over at that moment. Kita hurriedly covered her mouth, blushed, and immediately changed the subject. "Little Ako? Weren't you still practicing?" Normally, Roselia's practice session would be far from over.
"Yukina-san said we didn't have much free time today, so the rest of the time would be given to Kessoku Band."
Since there had only been one drum set brought out of CiRCLE, the two bands had to alternate their practice times. Roselia practiced almost every day. Kessoku Band hadn't practiced at such a high frequency at first, but under Roselia's influence, they had gradually increased their practice sessions as well.
Before Kita could stop her after hearing this, Shiko skillfully knocked herself unconscious. When she woke up in Ako's arms, she had once again become the Shiko who appeared during band activities.
Kita looked at her speechlessly. "Slacking off again..."
"Hm? What, what?"
"Nothing."
This Is Roselia
"Little Kita~ You can make the rhythm a little faster~"
"Got it, Ijichi-senpai!"
"Then let's start again from the previous phrase. One, two, three, four!"
The music of all five members playing together rang out once more. Kessoku Band's practice was still continuing today. However, Yukina was sitting in on it. With her arms folded and her usual stern expression, she watched Kessoku Band practice.
"If you don't mind, may I sit in on your training?" When she had made the request earlier, Nijika had initially wanted to refuse. After all, there was an eighty percent chance that their lead guitarist wouldn't be able to handle it.
"Today's practice time is a little short, so we believe we should make an effort in other areas. Roselia's goal is to reach the absolute pinnacle. To achieve that goal, it's necessary to encounter a wide variety of bands and musical styles. So please allow me to observe Kessoku Band's practice."
But looking at that serious face, Nijika really couldn't bring herself to refuse...
I'm sorry, Bocchi.
In fact, Ichiri wasn't the only one who was nervous. With Yukina—the living Buddha—standing nearby, even though she said, "Don't mind me," who could possibly not mind her?!
After Shiko's long-term preaching, Roselia's image in their eyes had long since become the unsurpassable pinnacle among girl bands. And through their recent interactions, they had sadly discovered that this seemed to be true. From the music Roselia revealed during practice alone, it was clear that their overall ability and teamwork were far beyond what Kessoku Band could currently achieve. Among them, Yukina had even been called by Shiko "one of the few people in the Bang Dream project with the greatest authority in the field of music, aside from Tsuzuki Shifune." Such a senior was enough to make people break into a cold sweat just by standing there silently—not to mention that she came with her own aura of pressure.
"(The drumbeat's a little messy. The bass, too, and the keyboard, and the guitar...)" Yukina looked at Ichiri, who was completely curled up inside a cardboard box. "(She doesn't usually play guitar like this, does she?)"
"(Am I really putting too much pressure on them just by being here?)" Yukina frowned.
Actually, Yukina simply couldn't hold back her curiosity.
Since the two bands had met, Yukina had never listened in on Kessoku Band's practice out of courtesy. Therefore, aside from a few melodies she had happened to hear and the information she had picked up during conversations, she knew nothing about Kessoku Band's music.
Minato Yukina, who had devoted most of her life to music, was extremely curious about Kessoku Band's music.
That curiosity grew day by day, until she finally couldn't resist making the request.
"(But perhaps I really shouldn't disturb them?)" Thinking this, Yukina sighed.
Nijika saw the entire scene clearly.
"(Huh? Yukina-senpai sighed? Why? Is our technique too terrible? We're not in good shape today, but are we really that bad? Huh, huh?! Is she about to leave? Does she think our level isn't worth paying attention to?)" Panicking inwardly, Nijika made another mistake.
Ichiri heard the mistake from inside the cardboard box. "(Nijika made another mistake... Could she still be here? Where is she standing? Is she standing next to me? Uwaaah—when I performed onstage for the first time, I didn't need to wear a cardboard box, but now I have to—)"
After finally finishing a few songs, Nijika hurriedly announced a break.
Nijika, drenched in sweat, walked up to Yukina, who had been observing. "H-How was it?"
"It'll definitely be fine." Ryo was full of confidence, as if she had no idea who had made all those mistakes just now.
"When characters from different works compare combat power, the author has to fight first according to the usual rules... Though some old geezer does seem capable of beating Gamakichi without any trouble." Shiko said something none of the others could understand.
"I already said I'm only here to observe." Yukina really didn't want to put any more pressure on them.
"No, Minato-senpai, please give us your guidance!" Kita wiped away her sweat and came over. "I may be the least skilled of everyone here, but I still hope to receive your guidance, Minato-senpai!"
"Me, too!" Shiko immediately raised her hand. She simply wanted Yukina to criticize her.
"..." Yukina's gaze softened. "Then I won't hold back."
"First of all, your ability to perform under pressure is still far from sufficient. Even with only me here, you're performing poorly. This should be because you haven't held a formal live performance in the real world yet..."
Yukina's comments were impartial and spot-on, and everyone benefited greatly.
"...However, I understand what kind of band you are now."
"?" Shiko felt that sentence sounded familiar. She remembered it was the evaluation the manager had given Kessoku Band after their audition. But why did it make her feel... a little sad?
While Shiko was distracted, Yukina continued speaking. "Kessoku Band, your technique may not be especially outstanding, but your performances also contain something Roselia doesn't have." She openly acknowledged this, just as she had acknowledged the other bands she had encountered at Girls Band Party.
But Yukina still felt dissatisfied about something. She closed her eyes briefly.
"I still can't fully feel this from your practice... How about holding a joint live?"
"The two of our bands will perform, and the audience will consist only of people attending our live."
Yukina casually extended this invitation to Kessoku Band.
It was late at night. After everyone else had gone to sleep, only Nijika and Shiko remained outside the tent, keeping watch.
Music drifted faintly from another tent in the distance. Roselia was still practicing. At this distance, the music wasn't noisy at all, blending with the sound of the wind.
"They really work hard," Nijika said with a sigh.
After Kessoku Band's practice ended, Roselia's other four members entered the tent on their own without needing Yukina to call them.
"Huh? You're practicing again?" Kita looked at the night sky outside.
"We already took a short break." Sayo picked up her guitar.
Lisa handed Yukina a cup of coffee with sugar cubes in it. "Since we've already rested, that means we can stay up a little later tonight."
"Thank you." Yukina accepted it without changing expression and took a sip. "Giving everything for the pinnacle of music—that is Roselia."
Before you continue