So I've been thinking of a lot of things that I could do for today, especially because this is the birthday of a lot of fictional characters as well (happy birthday, Kokoro!). But in the end, I really am more comfortable writing this… writing them… so I hope that you enjoy this regardless!
Cover image is the album jacket of Afterglow's 1st single.
I do not own BanG Dream! nor do I, in any way, shape or form, pretend that I do.
It was a day like any other, but that was exactly the reason why this mess started in the first place. It was a late Thursday afternoon, which meant that they were likely all too busy to hang out if band practice was not an option.
But that doesn't mean that a certain someone couldn't try.
"I'm sorry, but my shift starts in half an hour," Moca said with an apologetic smile, slinging her bag's strap over her shoulder as she prepared to run off, "Lisa-san is very nice, but she can get scary if we're late for work. See you tomorrow!"
Having been turned down once, the teen turned around to her drummer friend, but she was already on the phone. And from the looks of things, the answer to the unspoken question was quite obvious as it is.
"Ako? Yeah, I'll swing by for you, just send me the list," Tomoe muttered as she took her bag and followed Moca's example. Not even sharing a look with her.
With her high mood faltering quickly, she turned to her next friend, but her heart quickly dropped when she saw that familiar slip of paper. Which could only mean one thing...
"Kaoru-senpai's band is holding a live for their vocalist's birthday today!" the bassist announced in an elated manner, grabbing the entrance ticket and holding it close as if it were her lifeline. She left soon after but made sure to say her goodbye's before that.
That left only one person, but it was crystal clear what the result would be before she even turned around.
"Hazawa-san?"
"Ah, I'm on my way!" Tsugumi called back over her shoulder as she gathered her books in her arms hurriedly. With one last look in her direction, the keyboardist, too, left.
And that was when Mitake Ran realized that she was all alone. Again.
With an exhausted sigh Ran, too, took her bag and left the classroom. But she was noticeably slower and less energetic when compared to Himari. Or any of the other Afterglow players for that matter.
Thinking of what she could do now, as going home was not an option with her parents holding a flower arrangement presentation, Ran felt her feet drag her off somewhere. She didn't know where and she didn't know why, but she figured that it would be better than here.
Having zoned out completely as she kept walking, Ran didn't even notice when her name was called by an otherwise familiar face. Ran just kept walking.
Meanwhile, a certain guitarist had finally arrived at the convenience store that she worked at when she saw something out of the ordinary.
The store was closed, and her senior-and-colleague was standing outside dusting her clothes off.
"Lisa-san, I'm sorry I'm late!" Moca panted in greeting as she skidded to a halt beside Lisa, bending over to try and catch her breath again, "Classes let out later than usual today."
Lisa looked up in surprise, but smiled warmly once she saw who was beside her, "Ah, Moca, good to see you! But why are you here?"
"Why am I…?" Moca echoed, confused, as she stood up to look Lisa in the eyes, "I work here too, and my shift has started. Why is Lisa-san outside and why is the store closed?"
"Well, you see…" Lisa trailed off, slightly uncomfortably as she was avoiding direct eye contact with her junior for a couple of seconds, "The manager called me earlier saying that they forgot to stock up last night. So… they gave us the day off."
"That's weird," Moca said as she took out her phone and scrolled through her messages. It was just as she had expected. With a somewhat worried frown, she looked up again, "I didn't receive any notification of the sort."
"T-That's because she only informed me right before I arrived here myself," Lisa said quickly. A bit too quickly for Moca's taste, but she let it slide when she saw the record of the call on Lisa's phone, "So I guess that means that we have the day off now."
"I guess Lisa-san is right…" Moca admitted with a defeated sigh before adding, "Now what should I do…?"
As Moca ran through her options, she didn't notice the amused look on Lisa's face as she watched her.
"I'm sure Moca knows this better than I do," Lisa started with a smile, catching Moca's attention, "But there has to be something that you should be doing, somewhere where you should be. And only you know what and where that would be."
Without another word, Lisa picked up her own bag and patted Moca gently on the shoulder. Nodding in encouragement with a warm smile, Lisa walked off into the sunset.
It took Moca a couple of seconds to fully process what she had been told, and then it hit her.
Looking up at the sky in a hurried panic, Moca smiled when she saw it.
"I still have time!" Moca told herself in an effort to reassure herself, turning around and taking off in a mad dash.
As Moca had her little chat with Lisa by the convenience store, another member of Afterglow managed to run into a familiar face as well.
"Kaoru-senpai~ Kaoru-senpai~ Kaoru-senpai~"
Himari was singing along cheerfully as she made her way to the live's venue when she ran into someone.
Literally.
"Ow…" Himari whined as she rubbed her hurt shoulder to ease the throbbing pain. When she looked down to see who was unfortunate enough to be there, she saw a mess of purple hair. A mess of purple hair that reminded her a lot of… "Ako-chan!"
"Ah, Hi-chan!" Ako greeted when she realized who it was. Accepting the hand that Himari offered her, she added as she was being pulled up from the ground, "Fancy running into you here of all places."
"Y-Yeah…" Himari trailed off, making a mental note to tell Moca off for spending so much time with Tomoe's little sister. Shaking her head to get back to reality, Himari turned back to Ako, "So are you here for Kaoru-senpai's live too?"
"Actually… no, I'm not," Ako said solemnly with a determined fire in her eyes that Himari did not know existed, "You see, the live is canceled and—"
"What?!" Himari exclaimed, shocked at this news as she was, rightfully so, looking forward to this performance, "Do you know why?"
"I ran into the bassist of the band in the Yamabuki bakery on my way here," Ako recalled, a small frown forming as she tried to remember every minute detail, "She said something about 'something else coming up', so they had to cancel it. They're going to give refunds to everybody as an apology… I think."
"Aw…" Himari pouted, losing the chance to see her Kaoru-senpai in action on stage and being rightfully upset. She recovered quite quickly, however, if that bright smile of hers was anything to go by, "Well, thank you for telling me anyways, Ako-chan. Do you want to go hang out for a bit? My treat."
"Sorry, but I'll pass. I don't want to be home late again, or Onee-chan will…" Ako trailed off, shuddering slightly at the memory of the last time when she came home late. Himari could only chuckle awkwardly as she, too, didn't need to think for long to imagine Tomoe. After a short silence, Ako spoke again, "Well, I'll be taking my leave here then. It was nice seeing you, Hi-chan, and say hi to Onee-chan when you meet her!"
"I will!" Himari nodded as she waved until her junior was already out of sight. It was then when the bright orange rays of light hit her directly in the eyes, and Himari flinched slightly as a result. And then she panicked.
"Is there enough time…?"
Unbeknownst to the older of the Udagawa sisters, Tomoe was being followed as the redhead made her way through the aisles of the supermarket.
"Now why would Ako need all these balloons for?" Tomoe muttered to herself as she went down the list, having run through multiple weird entries already. But 'twenty-five balloons' was probably what she had expected the least.
"Um… Udagawa…-san…?" a meek voice came from behind the drummer, causing said redhead to turn around.
Standing across from her was a black haired girl whose wardrobe was completely monochrome. As soon as the two locked eyes, she immediately looked away.
Tomoe was used to being recognized in public, being quite a big figure in the community, but meeting somebody whom she knew herself was a breath of fresh air.
"You're… Ako's friend, right?" Tomoe asked carefully, to whom the other girl nodded slowly in confirmation, "Shirokane Rinko-san right?"
"That's right…" Rinko nodded, this time slightly more sure of herself than before. Tomoe's smile might have had something to do with that.
"I'm happy my sister has somebody she can call a friend," Tomoe said with a smile before remembering why she was here in the first place, "Since we're here anyway, want to do groceries together?"
"Actu…Actually…" Rinko trailed off hesitantly, almost as if unsure which words to use or how to approach the situation at hand, "Ako-chan called me. She said that she… she saw Uehara-san."
"What?" Tomoe exclaimed, perhaps a bit too loudly as she gathered the attention of passersby. In a softer voice, she added, "What happened with Himari?"
"Ako-chan said that Uehara-san… was running back… back to Udagawa-san's school," Rinko answered, still physically uncomfortable but noticeably less so, "But she didn't know why."
'Ran… Tsugu…' Tomoe thought to herself, the memory of her friends collapsing resurfacing in her mind. Tomoe shuddered as she thought of the worst possible scenario.
She then looked at the groceries that she still had to do. But she didn't do so discreetly enough, apparently.
"I can… I can take over for the shopping if… if Udagawa-san gives me the list," Rinko offered helpfully. An offer that Tomoe gratefully accepted.
"Thank you, Shirokane-san," Tomoe said as she hurriedly handed over the shopping basket to her senior along with the list, "Ako should be home by now, so just knock and she should let you in."
Tomoe stayed long enough to see Rinko nod in confirmation, indicating that she understood. Satisfied with the answer, Tomoe sprinted out of the supermarket with one thought in mind.
"Let me make it!"
As three of her bandmates were running, all without her knowledge, Tsugumi let out an exhausted sigh as if she had just run a marathon of her own. Only she didn't.
Tsugumi had to do something far worse than physical exercise.
"Sorry, Hazawa-san…" the vice president of the student council apologized as she took the mountain of paperwork away, "To take up your free afternoon… We really wouldn't have been able to finish it all today without your help, after all, so thank you for all your help today."
"It's okay," Tsugumi tried to reassure them but had to hide a yawn regardless. Even for the hardworking Tsugumi, it was still a lot of work, "I'm glad to be able to help."
"Wow, Tsugu… you did a super Tsugud job today too!"
That was a voice that Tsugumi hadn't heard for a while and one that caused her to look up.
"Moca-chan!" Tsugumi exclaimed happily when she finally did recognize the voice. Just as she had expected, her childhood friend stood there in the door opening. Moca was physically panting, and Tsugumi took note of this, "What happened?"
"The great Moca-chan… may not have been keeping up with her physical education exercises," Moca admitted with a tired smile before the sound of footsteps grew louder. Looking up with a brighter smile, Moca added, "But it seems like Lil' Moca-chan isn't the only one to have come back."
True enough, Tomoe and Himari took that exact moment to skid to a stop in front of the classroom as well. Upon seeing Tsugumi, Tomoe let out a sigh of relief, albeit a slightly out of breath one.
"Tsugu, thank god you're all right," Tomoe said, but then realized the next thing, "Where's Ran?"
"Didn't she go home?" Himari asked, looking at Tsugumi in particular for answers.
"I don't know…" the brunette admitted with a worried frown as she turned back to look at the desk she was seated at not too long ago, "I had to leave right after school ended. I didn't have time to see Ran-chan."
"There's only one place where Ran would be at a time like this," Moca intervened, catching the attention of the other three childhood friends who all nodded one by one in understanding. Turning to Tsugumi, Moca continued, "If Tsugu is done here, then let's go find Ran!"
As her friends were all on their own little adventure, not like she had any way of knowing that, Ran found herself in the exact place where Moca thought she would be.
With the roof of the school being open, Ran could enjoy the late-afternoon breeze as she looked at nothing in particular in the distance. It was mostly quiet, barring the occasional car passing by, and it allowed the heir of the Mitake flower arrangement school to be calm and at ease.
Most importantly, it allowed her to enjoy the sun in the horizon that started to set. This dyed the sky in a reddish-orange hue that always helped Ran calm down. And with the railing preventing her from falling off, she could get as close to the setting sun as possible with no fears.
"Even now… it still means so much to me…" Ran muttered to herself with a smile, reminiscing all the times where the sunset played a vital role in.
Ran was feeling bad, and was blaming herself for it. She knew that everybody else was busy with her own things, that they couldn't be together all the time.
Ran was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn't hear the door open behind her.
It wasn't until she felt two pairs of hands on either shoulder that she turned around.
"Ran~"
"Ran."
"Ran!"
"Ran-chan!"
Ran's vision started to blur considerably when she realized that the four people who she wanted to see the most were right in front of her.
"Everyone…" Ran managed before quickly wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Unfortunately, everybody had seen this, and Tsugumi even offered her own handkerchief. Ran politely declined before turning back to the group as a whole, "What are you all doing here?"
"We are all allowed to be on the roof as much as you are, Ran," Moca replied nonchalantly as she leaned over the railing herself and looked into the gradually more beautiful sunset with a smile that she didn't even try to hide. The guitarist fell silent soon after that, however.
"What Moca meant to say," Himari began after a momentary silence, sending a mild glare in Moca's general direction before turning back to Ran, "Was that you were right, Ran… we should spend more time together, now more than ever as we only get busier from now."
"And even if the day is almost over and we have school tomorrow," Tsugumi picked up where Himari left off before following Moca's example but continued to face her friends.
"We can at least enjoy the sunset as always!" Tomoe finished with a grin. And Ran couldn't help but smile as well at the enthusiasm that her friends showed.
Ran really was blessed with amazing friends, and she knew. She knew that she would do anything to protect this bond that they had.
A sudden movement in her periphery alerted her, and Ran looked up to see that Moca had left the railing. Thinking that the guitarist was calling it a day and heading home, Ran was surprised to see that Moca was instead walking towards them.
"So with that out of the way, how about it guys?" Moca asked the group as a whole with a smile, outstretching her hand into the middle of them, "Afterglow!"
"Afterglow!" Tomoe nodded, being the first to understand what Moca was trying to do and putting her hand on top of Moca's. This gesture told the others everything that they needed to know.
"Afterglow!"
"Afterglow!"
With two more hands in the middle, four pairs of eyes turned to the one person who had yet to join.
Ran was still staying back, and while a part of her was wondering why she knew it already. Watching the look on her friends' faces was all that she could do right now. The happy and determined look that all of them shared.
"Afterglow!" Ran echoed as she, too, added her hand to the pile, "For now and for the future, may we stay as close as we are now!"
Cheers of agreement came from the other members before a lone, tri-colored leaf fell on the top of Ran's hand. With a smile, Ran looked up into the horizon, with everybody else soon joining her.
Watching the sun slowly set, the five girls stayed in a comfortable silence. While none of them actually voiced it, they knew that it was going to be all right. That the bonds that they shared would last them a lifetime.
And that they would be able to overcome any obstacle that would come their way.
And that wraps up this quick oneshot. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and until next time! If you could leave a review telling me what you thought, that would be highly appreciated J have a nice *insert time of day here*!