All right… a few really quick notes to start this chapter off: I have decided to make this story the originally planned length after all, which means that this will be the second-to-last chapter of this entire story.

With this chapter, this story has also broken past the 100k word barrier, being both my first story to reach this and the first story of this fandom to reach this, at least here on FFN. I mean, to be fair, there might be longer fics over on AO3 but I don't care about that site at all; what matters to me is what's on this site.

I want to thank the lovely reviewers for leaving a review on the previous chapter. And to the six or seven or so of you who left a guest review and notice that your review is not around: I really could not care less what you have to say. I write the things that I want to write, not the stories that I hope other people will adore me for. I am not doing this to make others happy, I write because I enjoy it and I post it because maybe other people can enjoy reading it. I already put up a fair warning on my profile page about this.

A special thank you goes to the beta reader of today's chapter: LightZephyr

I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.

It has been several months since Moca and Tsugumi reunited with their long-lost, previously-thought-to-be-dead childhood friend. A lot of changes had been faced by the trio of close friends.

After the declaration of Ran on a late-fall afternoon, Moca and Tsugumi agreed to try and move on. Motivated by the idea of returning to the way they once were and wanting to escape the stinging pain in their hearts, the three of them closed the page on their previous page of life and attempted to start from fresh.

And, for the most part, it was working. Tsugumi was able to get more rest again, the dark bags under her eyes slowly disappearing as the brunette was catching up to her lost sleep. Even Moca, who Ran had teased about looking sleepy all the time, was showing signs of feeling fresher than she had in a long time.

Even the weather seemed like it reflected the mood of the three childhood friends. The cold, gloomy chill of winter slowly made way for the warmth of spring, a change that was appreciated by everybody around.

But in stark contrast to the currently sunny weather outside, Moca was finding herself sitting in someone else's chair with her fingers deeply entangled into her hair. Her stormy mind could barely register and remind her where her body was at.

"Why do you not start from the beginning, Aoba-san?" a gentle voice asked, the comfort that the voice provided Moca was quickly accompanied by a warm hand on Moca's shoulder. Moca could swear the touch was almost magical as she could feel the tension and stress that had been building up inside her seep out of her system.

'With how understanding you are… I owe you at least an explanation,' Moca thought to herself as she offered a smile, a shaky one admittedly, to her source of comfort and reassurance. Moca then forced herself to grab the older woman's hand and pull it off her own shoulder.

Moca could only hope that she managed to mask that slight grimace enough for it to not be noticed.

"So, anyway… you know how Tsugu and I met Ran again after so many years and you know the general idea of what happened, right?" Moca asked despite already knowing the answer. A single nod was all the response that Moca received, and it was with that that Moca tried to think of a way to continue the conversation, "Well… after we were together again and all that, we… decided to try and move on from the past. Give up on trying to find answers and try to go back to how things used to be, you know?"

"That was probably for the best."

"Yeah, I know. We are still young and immature and that was a bad idea—wait, what?" Moca blinked as she finally processed what she had just heard. Moca even looked up to see if she could find any signs of it being a joke, but when Moca didn't find any she knew she had to ask, "What did you just say, Rinko-san?"

Rinko, for her part, managed to maintain a neutral look on her face. As a matter of fact, except for a slight raising of her left eyebrow, Rinko did not show any signs of being surprised at all.

"I said that Aoba-san's decision, the one that Aoba-san made alongside Hazawa-san and Mitake-san, was probably for the best," Rinko explained, lowering her cup of milk tea and gently placing it on the table in front of her. After taking a couple of seconds to make sure that she would not be saying the wrong thing, Rinko tried to ease Moca's confusion.

"I understand that it is something that Aoba-san and Aoba-san's friends found difficult to do, but at the same time, it is not healthy to cling on to the past. There are more ways to experience the world than to chase after something that you cannot reach," Rinko said with a warm smile. She hated to admit that she was still uncomfortable looking at somebody directly while she was talking, which was why Rinko was watching the swirling surface of her drink instead.

"S-Sorry, that was a lot of words for Moca-chan," Moca admitted with a sheepish chuckle, finding much to her surprise that she was already finding herself much more at ease than before, "But… what it came down to was that Rinko-san agrees with our decision and don't think that we made a mistake?"

"It is not my right to decide what Aoba-san should or should not do," Rinko's response was a calm one, almost as if the older of the two had been preparing responses for this conversation for months. Seeing that Moca did not quite believe her just yet, Rinko allowed a small sigh to escape her lips, "But subjectively speaking, I probably would be doing what Aoba-san is doing right now as well."

Having heard the words of reassurance that she never knew she needed, Moca smiled, a genuine and bright smile, before she realized that something was amiss. She almost did not want to say it when she noticed it, but judging on the knowing look in Rinko's eyes Moca knew that she could not hide it forever.

"Um, Rinko-san… can Moca-chan have some more of that tea?" Moca's voice was barely above a whisper as she showed Rinko the empty cup. Moca almost missed the soft giggle from Rinko when she stood up and headed to the kitchenette of the apartment.

This gave Moca the opportunity to relax and take a better look at the interior of Rinko's new apartment.

Rinko had told her that she had moved out of her parents' house and into an apartment at the city's edge shortly after Moca first met her. Moca, having seen how luxurious the house of Rinko's parents was, had expected to see the apartment be just as luxuriously furnished.

And, in a way, Moca's prediction was not too far off its mark.

The interior of the two-room apartment was painted in this pure white paint without a single spot of dust or dirt anywhere, a testament to how hard Rinko works to keep the place clean. The room that doubled as both a dining room and a living room had an oaken table to the side that had matching chairs with frilly and fluffy pillows.

At the same time, however, Moca needed to use all of her willpower to not visibly flinch when she looked at the windowsill. On top of the windowsill were a handful of plotted pants that Moca was able to identify really quick… but none of them were ones that could look well placed beside the others.

Moca was shaken out of her trance-like state when Rinko stumbled towards her with a small tray. The host insisted on Moca to remain seated and managed to place everything on the table despite her trembling hands.

After Rinko sat herself down again, the two of them remained in a period of comfortable silence until Moca finally broke it.

"Thank you very much for today, Rinko-san," Moca said as she bowed her head as far as the table would allow it. When Moca finally raised her head again, she caught Rinko off-guard once again, "If you don't mind me asking, Rinko-san… what have you been doing these past few months?"

"Me?" Rinko blinked as she tried to think of a way to properly respond to the question. After reassuring Moca that she did not mind answering it, Rinko took a breath before she gave Moca a proper response, "To tell you the truth, Aoba-san… I have been working hard to get a grip of reality, my personal reality, and to let go of the past."

"I am sure that Aoba-san remembered how I was when I ran into Aoba-san, Mitake-san, and Hazawa-san at the end of last year?" Rinko asked, silently hoping that she could fast forward through the painful parts and get straight to the point. Moca nodded once to show that she knew what Rinko was talking about, much to Rinko's relief.

"Just like Aoba-san, I was holding on to something from my past that was causing me a lot of pain. And ever since helping the three of you, I started learning how to let go of that past so I can return to living my life," Rinko's explanation was short, but somehow… Moca understood what Rinko must have been going through. Moca tried to reach out to Rinko to try and comfort her, but it was of no use as Rinko took the opportunity to look at Moca with a smile, "That is also why I can understand where Aoba-san is coming from."

'So that is what happened. I knew something was different about Rinko-san,' Moca thought to herself as she took another sip of her drink. The gentle, sweet aroma of the homemade tea that Rinko brewed for her worked its magic; helping Moca take longer, deeper breaths and relax her posture some more.

"There is one last thing I need to tell you, Rinko-san," Moca finally said after a moment of contemplation. As soon as Rinko had made it clear to Moca that she was listening, Moca raised her head to show the big grin on her face, "My name is Moca, please call me Moca."

"Rinko-san has been informed now, finally…" Moca muttered to herself as she took out her phone. The device was more so to distract her mind from her interaction with Misaki for the same purpose just two weeks ago. Moca was still looking out her windows anxiously before she went to bed, despite knowing that Misaki was just teasing her about it.

With her mind currently occupied with her phone, Moca barely avoided colliding with somebody who ran past her.

"Sorry about that—Tsugu?" Moca blinked when she finally recognized the brunette who was sprawled out on the ground. After helping her childhood friend back to her feet and handing Tsugumi the bags she was carrying, Moca asked the question that had been on her mind for a while, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, just running a little errand for Ran-chan."

This was all the answer that Moca needed to hear. Ever since the three childhood friends agreed to start from scratch again, Ran had been moving around from Moca's apartment to sleeping on the couch in the Hazawa residence. This was all because the old house of the Mitake family was still under renovation, and it has only been very recently that Ran had moved back into her old house.

"I know that this asking a lot from Moca-chan, but…" Tsugumi trailed off for a bit, sounding almost embarrassed to ask Moca for help. She quickly shook off this sense of worry by reminding the promise she made to herself, "Ran-chan needed a lot of stuff, can you help me get them all for her? Unless Moca-chan still needs to talk with Rinko-san, of course."

"I just came back from talking with her, actually," Moca admitted with a nonchalant shrug, motioning for Tsugumi to follow her after stealing one of the bags her friend was carrying. The two walked a couple of blocks in relative silence when Moca finally lost all self-control, "Moca-chan likes what you did with your hair~ how long has it been since you had your hair this long?"

"Ah, um… three years, wasn't it?" Tsugumi thought out loud as she held a handful of strands near her shoulder. One of the many changes that Tsugumi had undergone was allowing her hair to grow out again and, in only a few months, it almost reached down to her shoulder blades, "Does it—Does it look good?"

"Looks great~," Moca grinned, relishing the relieved look on her friend's face when she heard Moca's response. A second thought popped up in Moca's head and thinking about it caused her to unconsciously slow down her walking.

This did not go unnoticed by Tsugumi who had stopped and turned to look at her, "Moca-chan?"

"It just… feels so stupid, you know?" Moca sighed as she offered Tsugumi a small, sad smile, "We've been hurting about Ran thinking she was dead for three years. Then we spent weeks obsessing over finding what we could never find, to begin with. And look at us now."

"I know what you mean, Moca-chan," Tsugumi said with a soft smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Memories of how they were like a few months ago started to flash in front of her eyes, but Tsugumi did not allow herself to roam around in her fantasies for long, "I think we made the right choice that day. What do you think, Moca-chan?"

"Moca-chan thinks that Tsugu is right~," Moca sang as she picked up the pace, forcing Tsugumi to run in order to catch up to her, "The last one at Ran's place is a rotten egg!"

"Ah! M-Moca-chan, wait for me!"

"That was… not fair… leaving me behind like that…" Tsugumi managed to say through raspy breaths, but that was the least of her worries. What mattered to Tsugumi was catching her breath after sprinting after Moca for several blocks.

"Come now, Tsugu, was that really all that was needed to get you out of breath~?" Moca asked with a sly smirk, teasing her friend while she could. Moca decided to leave it at that and shuffled over to Tsugumi's side to rub the brunette's back, "There there. Is that better?"

"…A bit," Tsugumi admitted before she straightened herself up. When she was chasing after Moca, Tsugumi did not have the luxury to take note of where the two were running towards. But now that she could afford to look around her calmly, she was impressed by Moca.

Moca had guided them to their final destination all under the guise of playing a playful game of cat and mouse.

"If Tsugu is ready?" Moca asked for confirmation, looking at the brunette to make sure that she knew she was waiting for her. When Tsugumi gave her a small but determined nod, Moca knocked on the front door a couple of times, "Hello~ just two adorable girls looking for a skeleton after hearing we could find one here~!"

"M-Moca-chan!"

"What? It's true, isn't it?"

Before Tsugumi could try to respond to Moca's rebuttal, the front door swung open with the slightest hints of a creak. Moca was about to complain about being forced to wait when her jaw almost fell to the ground.

Even Tsugumi, despite trying her hardest to not stare as much as Moca was, was speechless with what she saw.

"Ah, Mochan, Tsutan, I was hoping you two would be here soon," Ran said when she saw who was visiting her. Ran then motioned for her childhood friends to follow her inside, but when both Moca and Tsugumi remained rooted to the ground Ran knew something was on their minds, "Is there something on my face?"

"Actually, Ran-chan… there is," Tsugumi finally said as she raised a shaky finger to point at between Ran's eyes. As Ran raised her own hand to try and find out what Tsugumi was talking about, the brunette answered Ran's unspoken question for her, "Since when has Ran-chan started wearing glasses?"

"Oh, that… a while now, actually," Ran muttered the second part barely above a whisper. Not wanting to be outside any longer than she had to be lest she'd lose her face out in public, Ran turned around and walked back inside. She made sure to leave the door wide open so Moca and Tsugumi could know that they had been invited in.

"Pardon the intrusion," Tsugumi said as she stepped inside, hearing Moca do the same before closing the door behind her. After the two of them took off their shoes and put on the pair of fluffy slippers, they proceeded to shuffle their way in the direction Ran went.

Ran had been working hard on getting the house back to its original state ever since she had reconciled with Moca and Tsugumi. Her house had been barely more than a ruin but with the small fortune her family had built up and a lot of help from her friends, Ran's house was almost back to the way it used to be.

"Did you get everything I asked for, Tsutan?" Ran's voice carried over from the other side of the living room. Ran's head then popped up over the back of the couch as Moca and Tsugumi entered the room with their bags in hand, "Sorry for asking you all of that."

"It's nothing, really. We're all friends so I'm more than happy to help," Tsugumi smiled as she placed the bag she was carrying by the dining table's legs. While Moca placed her bag beside Tsugumi's, Tsugumi added, "And besides, we've all agreed that this was the path we wanted to take, right?"

"Speaking of the path we wanted to take, today was the day, right, Moca-chan?" Tsugumi asked as she turned to her friend, stopping Moca from bowling Ran over. When Moca did not respond right away, Tsugumi took a moment to clarify, "When I met Moca-chan today Moca-chan said she already talked with Rinko-san. How did it go?"

"Oh, that. It went really well, actually," Moca nodded appreciatively at the memory of her meeting with Rinko. Moca was quick to read the look on Tsugumi's face, so she hurriedly tried to elaborate, "Well… Rinko-san was supportive of our decision. What else can Moca-chan say? That it went better than trying to tell Misaki-chin? That wouldn't have meant much anyway; it's Misaki-chin we're talking about!"

"Mochan does have a point, I'm surprised Okusawa-san accepted it, to begin with," Ran said, coming to Moca's defense as she offered a can of juice to both of her friends. Ran then led the way to the couch where the three of them plopped down and relaxed, "Even if Okusawa-san went off on her own. It's her choice and we should respect it, just like how everybody's respecting our decision."

Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi then fell into a comfortable silence as each of them allowed their thoughts to swirl around in their heads. It was only after ten minutes had come and gone when one of them trailed off with her sentence to break the silence.

"About that…"

Ran and Tsugumi turned to look at Moca, both with varying degrees of curiosity etched on their faces. With no way out, a scenario that she knew she'd be stuck in when she opened her big mouth again, all that Moca could do was take a deep breath.

"I am sorry, Ran! Tsugu!" Moca cried out while bowing her head, the sound of Tsugumi's gasp muffled by the bonk of Moca's forehead on the table. With a red spot on her forehead, Moca then added in a subdued voice, "I know that we all agreed to move on from the past, but I really can't. There is something that I can still do, I just know it, and… please forgive Moca-chan!"

"It's interesting that you brought that up, Mochan," Ran began as she looked at Moca with a calculating look in her eyes. Right when Moca was about to complain that Ran's gaze was making her feel uncomfortable, Ran looked away to turn to Tsugumi, "What do you think, Tsutan? Don't you think that what Mochan just said was both just like her and very not-Moca-like?"

Tsugumi did not have a response ready right away, instead only blinking a couple of times as she tried to think things through. When she realized what Ran was trying to say, she nodded and turned to Moca, "Moca-chan, what do you have in mind?"

"I… really did not think things through beyond that," Moca admitted with a sheepish laugh, not wanting to tell her childhood friends that this declaration was merely exclaimed in the heat of the moment.

Which was exactly why Moca replayed her own words back to herself in her mind. Was she satisfied letting things sit the way like this? Before she even had the time to come to a decision, the trio of childhood friends was greeted by another surprise.

"I will be right back," Ran announced as she stood up, heading off to the front door to see who would visit at this hour. The only thing accompanying Ran's footsteps were the soft creaking of her legs with every step.

"Is what we agreed on back then too painful for Moca-chan after all?" Tsugumi asked her friend as soon as Ran was no longer within hearing distance. Tsugumi's voice was filled with pain, but not of the kind stemming from betrayal; Tsugumi could only think of the possibility of making Moca do something against her wishes.

"It's not like that, it's just… they hurt Ran, you, and me so much, isn't it natural to start wondering?" Moca felt guilty needing to say those words out loud; after all, Tsugumi was right. The three of them had agreed to move on and leave it behind them, so why was Moca hesitating now?

Moca felt a little better when she saw that Tsugumi was unable to respond to her right away.

"I guess Mochan and Tsutan aren't the only two people I will have over tonight," Ran said as she re-entered her living room. Ran was flanked by two faces that Moca and Tsugumi recognized only all too well.

"Lisa-san! And Rinko-san, as well!" Moca exclaimed the moment she recognized the other guests. Lisa waved at Moca enthusiastically when she heard her name called, but Rinko was slightly more subdued in her greeting, "What are you two doing here?

"I was actually on my way here, Ran asked me a favor the other day and I only had time to get back to her today," Lisa explained while handing a small box to Ran. As Ran excused herself to place the item somewhere safe, Lisa motioned to Rinko, "I ran into Rinko a few blocks away from here and invited her to come."

"I hope we did not arrive at a bad time, Hazawa-san, Ao—Moca-san," Rinko added with a slight bow of her head. Rinko then tried to ignore the surprised look on Tsugumi's face, instead focusing on the appreciative smile on Moca's, "How is that, Moca-san?"

"Moca-chan would have preferred it to be Moca-chan, but this will do for a compromise," Moca shrugged as she motioned for the two new guests to join her on the couch with her. Rinko was more than eager to join Moca's side, but Lisa was not as excited to sit down, "Lisa-san?"

"Sorry, Moca, but I still need to do something before I can relax," Lisa's response was simple enough, but one that only caused more questions than answer them in Moca's opinion. The ghost of a smile descended on Lisa's lips before she turned to Tsugumi, "Can you show me where the kitchen is? Ran already gave me permission to help her with dinner. It's the least I can do for arriving out of the blue as I did."

"Ah, sure," Tsugumi stood up and muttered a quick farewell to Moca and Rinko. Leading the way for Lisa, the two brunettes were soon out of sight, leaving Moca alone with Rinko for the second time on the same day.

The very fact that they had talked to their heart's content already that day proved to be a problem for them: neither Moca nor Rinko knew how to break the silence that weighed heavily on their shoulders after the departure of Tsugumi and Lisa. Both of them tried and failed, to start a conversation with the other but nothing came to it.

That was, at least, until Rinko noticed the way that Moca had been fidgeting about.

"Moca-san?" Rinko asked, already mentally berating herself for sounding so unsure of herself. But, if nothing else, Rinko could see a small victory: Moca was paying attention to her.

It was then that Rinko remembered that she still needed to continue the conversation and hurried to string together a coherent stream of words, "You looked troubled. Is everything okay?"

Moca did not respond right away to Rinko's question, instead allowing the older girl's words to swim around in her mind. Was she okay?

"I feel… bad, needing to vent to Rinko-san like this for the second time today," Moca admitted with a sheepish chuckle. Before Rinko was even given the chance to reassure Moca, Moca had already picked back up where she had left off, "It's nothing, really. I just told Ran and Tsugu what I told you and… it did not go so well, to say the least."

Rinko, for her part, remained quiet as Moca told her what was on her mind. After taking a moment to make sure that Moca had finished talking, Rinko eyed the direction in which Ran and Tsugumi had gone off.

What Lisa had told them was only half the truth; Rinko knew that Moca would act rashly after her earlier encounter with her so when Lisa had told Rinko that she was going to visit Ran's place, Rinko found her opportunity.

Now that it has come to this, however, she was having trouble to stop herself from second-guessing herself. This was what she wanted, the thing that only she could do, right?

"I think… that despite Moca-san's friendship with Mitake-san and Hazawa-san, Moca-san needs to build her own path to her future," Rinko said, her soft voice personifying the hesitation that she felt. Seemingly unsatisfied with her own answer, Rinko added, "I mean… Moca-san has her own life to live, and if Moca-san think that this is important—."

"I appreciate that you are trying to ease Mochan's worries, Shirokane-san, but there is no need for that," Ran interrupted Rinko mid-sentence to motion for Moca and Rinko to follow her. Moca's eagerness was shown clear as day on her face, but Rinko was a lot more withdrawn as she fell into step with the other two.

Which was why Ran knew that she needed to finish what she had started, "Tsutan and I… we can't say that we're not surprised to hear this decision of yours, Mochan. But, as your friends, we will try and help you out however way we can."

"We cannot, however, guarantee to be able to help you all the time," Ran put the emphasis here as she eyed Moca with a sharp look. Ran's gaze softened considerably by the time she opened her mouth again, "The three of us have already agreed to leave it behind us, after all."

"Ran…" Moca breathed out, abruptly stopping in her stride and forcing Rinko to jump to the side in order to avoid colliding with her. Offering a quick apology to Rinko, Moca turned back to Ran with a confident grin, "Guess that means that Moca-chan really isn't allowed to fail at all, now does it~?"

"If you do, you will be answering to me, got that?" Lisa, who had just dashed out of the kitchenette area, announced. Despite wanting to sound threatening, the big grin on her face gave away her true intentions, "Since Tsugumi and I have been cooking, your job is to go set the table. Rinko, go help Moca."

"Ah, right, of course," Rinko bowed her head ever so slightly in acknowledgment, hurrying after Moca to help her set the table. Rinko managed to stay behind long enough, however, to see the playful wink she was getting from Lisa.

As soon as Moca and Rinko were no longer within hearing distance, Ran moved to stand by Lisa's side and whisper a couple of choice words.

"Of course I am," Lisa responded with a smile as if she just gave the most obvious answer there could be. When Ran did not seem like she was convinced by her answer, Lisa turned serious and added, "It's your life and your decisions. I helped as a friend to all of you, and if this is the path you are all taking then I am more than happy to help you in any way I can."

"Then how about the two of us go and help Tsutan now that she has been alone in the kitchen for so long?" Ran asked, much to Lisa's amusement. The two of them then moved to help Tsugumi with the finishing touches of the meal.

With Ran and Lisa's help, Tsugumi managed to finish the dinner for everybody without much of a hassle. And since Rinko had accompanied Moca with preparing the dinner table, the five of them could enjoy the dinner to the fullest.

The sound of idle chatter accompanied the clinking of utensils as they ate and enjoyed the company of the others in the room. But for one of the occupants at the table, what was happening in her mind was demanding more of her attention than what was going outside it.

'The peace and happiness we've all fought for and the support of everyone…' Moca thought to herself as she watched Tsugumi laugh at a joke Lisa just made. Moca knew what she was getting herself into and what she needed to do.

But all of that did not matter to her anymore. Moca would do it, and she knew she would have the strength and determination to see it through to the end.

She owed her friends at least that much.

And that will be all for today's chapter! And, yes, since we'll be having the twentieth chapter of this story go live in January, I hope to start the new decade off with the closing of one story and the opening of another. To help me with that—actually, no, I'll keep that a secret for now… you will all just have to wait and see in January! Unless, of course, you're from the future, in which case: hi!

I hope you all enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!