As the camera slowly pulled back, three girls appeared in the frame once more.
Soyo recognized them at a glance—Rikki, Tomori, and Mutsumi.
Just like her, they were reproduced with one hundred percent fidelity.
It could be said that anyone who knew them would be able to recognize them instantly.
Wait—did you seriously just draw them exactly like that?
For a 3D animation, "modeling" would probably be the more accurate term, right?
…Ah, whatever. None of that really mattered.
You said it was based on CRYCHIC, but you didn't say it would be this faithful!
Soyo felt as though her portrait rights had been violated. Mm, this was the price of not reading the contract carefully. And besides, this scene felt inexplicably familiar…
"Saki-chan~"
The sudden cutesy, deliberately sweet voice coming from the TV made Soyo's body twitch slightly.
"That's great, you finally came!"
Sakiko appeared from behind the door. In the animation, upon noticing the movement, Soyo looked like a fledgling finally reunited with its mother—her face lighting up as she ran excitedly toward the blue-haired girl.
"Why are you so soaked? Are you okay?"
Watching the animated Soyo take out a handkerchief to wipe the rainwater from Sakiko's face, Soyo finally remembered.
Isn't this… the scene where Sakiko quit the band?
But—did I really talk that cutesy back then?
Hearing one's own voice from a first-person versus a third-person perspective was a completely different experience. At this moment, Soyo felt an indescribable wave of embarrassment.
"You haven't been coming to school lately, and you don't reply to my messages…"
Watching the animated Soyo, still unaware of what was about to happen, Soyo's entire body tensed up.
Because she knew—next, Sakiko was about to say the words that shattered CRYCHIC completely.
Words she absolutely did not want to hear again.
No—she couldn't let Sakiko say it!
Soyo felt as though she had crossed over into the animation itself. Standing right in front of her was Sakiko, drenched by the rain.
But how was she supposed to make Sakiko change her mind?
Soyo—think! Think of a way to persuade her!
The tangled thoughts resolved themselves in less than a hundredth of a second. Astonishing clarity led the girl to an answer, and that answer was—
"Sakiko, what do I have to do for you not to quit CRYCHIC?! I'll do anything as long as I can do it?! (I came today because I have something to say—I'm quitting CRYCHIC!)"
Soyo's voice and the animated Sakiko's voice rang out almost simultaneously.
By the time Soyo came back to her senses, she realized she didn't know when—but she was already kneeling on the floor, one hand reaching toward the Sakiko on the television, as if trying to grasp something just out of reach.
"..."
Even Soyo couldn't help but blush at this point.
She silently stood up and returned to the sofa.
Thank goodness she was the only one home—otherwise this would have been a total social death.
At the same time, in a cramped, damp room somewhere, another girl stared at the shabby television in front of her, watching the scene of herself quitting CRYCHIC.
She couldn't help but bite her lip.
If circumstances hadn't forced her hand, how could she ever have been willing to leave a band that had given her so many happy memories?
But she had no choice.
Even if she were given another chance, she would make the same decision.
Because she—and them…
Had long since stopped living in the same world.
As Sakiko announced her withdrawal from the band, the girls all reacted differently. Only Mutsumi stood motionless, gazing out the window, as if she had anticipated this all along.
"W-wait… how about sitting down first?"
Soyo was naturally unable to accept such an outcome. She wanted to stall for time, to first figure out what was going on and then persuade Sakiko to change her mind.
"Why? Did something happen?"
"Can't you tell us?"
"Or… is the reason us?"
It was clear that the Soyo in the animation was genuinely trying her best to stop Sakiko from quitting the band.
"…But you were the one who suggested forming CRYCHIC in the first place. If you're the one quitting first…"
Even though Soyo's gentleness was somewhat superficial, she did have her moments.
At her words, Sakiko—who had remained unmoved until now—finally showed a flicker of hesitation in her eyes.
For an instant, Soyo even thought she might be able to make Sakiko change her mind.
But having already lived through this once, Soyo knew clearly that everything she did was nothing more than futile effort.
"Do you really… want to quit?"
"Tomori's asking you!"
"Seriously, aren't you being way too irresponsible?"
Sure enough, once Tomori spoke up, the pressure monster Rikki officially entered the scene.
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Taki-chan, stop it!"
The Soyo on the screen only wanted Rikki to stop making things worse. The Soyo outside the screen, thinking back on it now, felt her blood pressure spike.
She had almost managed to persuade Sakiko—if not for this pig teammate stirring things up, maybe everything would have turned out differently.
"If you're quitting, can you at least stop making things harder for us?"
"We waited for you today too…"
"Rikki!"
"Haven't you managed just fine without me?"
Listening to Sakiko's voice, now grown cold and distant, Soyo didn't know what she had been thinking back then.
All she knew was that right now, she felt completely numb.
And as Rikki kept pressing her, Sakiko's emotions were finally set off, exploding all at once as she turned her blame toward Tomori.
"Tomori was waiting for you!"
As Tomori's personal guard, Rikki predictably blew up as well. The two of them were practically on the verge of coming to blows.
"Wait—can we talk this through properly, okay?"
The Soyo on the screen was clearly feeling just as overwhelmed, but for the sake of the band's stability, she could only force a smile and step in as the mediator.
"We were all having a good time before, weren't we?"
Already mentally and physically exhausted in less than a minute, Soyo desperately tried to bring in reinforcements, hoping Mutsumi would lend her a hand.
"Mutsumi thinks so too, right?"
Watching the animated Soyo look at Mutsumi with hopeful eyes, the real Soyo couldn't help clenching her fists.
This was probably the decision she regretted the most in her entire life.
Mutsumi wasn't the one holding CRYCHIC together—she was the one who buried it.
It was because of her. Because she made the wrong decision, because she trusted the wrong Mutsumi, Sakiko left—and CRYCHIC fell apart.
Sure enough… it was all her fault.
"I…"
And Mutsumi, living up to expectations, delivered the final blow that shattered CRYCHIC.
"…I've never once felt happy playing in a band."
"…Mutsumi, go a little easier!"
As the animated "Cucumber Sword Princess" unleashed her fatal strike, Kamijou Mutsuki's arm was also squeezed painfully tight by Mutsumi.
"Mutsuki…"
Seeing this, Mutsumi hurriedly let go, but still shot him a resentful look.
"Why… did they have to film this?"
Back then, it had been to cover for Sakiko—but afterward, Mutsumi had always felt guilty about saying those words.
Now that the famous scene was being replayed, it naturally hurt all over again.
"Adaptation doesn't mean reckless rewriting, and dramatization doesn't mean making things up."
Kamijou Mutsuki, of course, had his own justification.
"Even animation has to respect the facts."
PS: This opening segment is just too important—practically the backbone of the entire series—so it's written in a bit more detail.
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