And here's the finale of this story after two years of writing it (I started writing this story in January 2018). It really has been one long ride…
A special thank you to the reviewers of the last chapter and, of course, to LightZephyr and Namita776 for the beta read of this final chapter!
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 was a bright and warm morning.
The citizens of Neo Signal City were rising out of their slumbers, well-rested and motivated to take on the day's challenges. The torrential rain that had been hammering down from the heavens above had finally let up, allowing the sun to break through the blanket of clouds. And with the sun's arrival came the brightening of the citizens' mood.
After all, with the threat of a power outage on everybody's minds, it was a relief that the worse of what mother nature had in store for them was already behind them.
Before anybody else, one woman was already outside the safety of her own house. The ground was still a mess after the mass flooding that occurred only days ago, and even the flora had not been spared; many of the trees had been blown over and, in general, had clearly seen better days. But this woman did not care about the state of the outside world, all she could care about was standing on top of her house's roof and scanning the area directly around her.
But what could she be thinking? And who was—
"Moca-chan! We're going to be late!"
Moca did a double-take when she looked at the clock in the bottom-right corner of her computer screen, seeing that she had lost her sense of time once again. She quickly made sure to save the document she had been working on, turned her computer off and stood up while stretching her arms above her head.
'Ah, that felt great,' Moca thought to herself after the satisfying cracking sound of her shoulders filled the room. She then remembered that she had been called and knew that she could not leave the other person waiting for much longer.
"Be there in a minute!" Moca called out before rushing over to her wardrobe and digging through it. Much to her relief, the outfit she was looking for was not buried under the pile of dirty laundry she had stuffed in there the previous day.
In a flash, Moca exchanged her casual clothes for the more proper clothes, smiling to herself when she saw how well they fit her. Moca then had to make a conscious effort to not sprint out like that; instead, the twenty-three-year-old begrudgingly took her hairbrush and started work on the tangled blob that was her hair.
There was only one problem with this, however.
"Come on!" Moca hissed in annoyance as she got the brush stuck in yet another knot. No matter how hard Moca tried to pull her brush free from the entanglement, she only ended up with a stinging, ringing pain on her scalp.
"Here, let me help you, Moca-chan."
Moca's body immediately relaxed when she felt the gentle touch of her friend uncurl Moca's fingers from her brush. Although she was embarrassed to admit it, Moca knew that her friend would be able to fix her hair better than she could.
"Do you want me to tie your hair up again?" the gentle voice, barely above a whisper at all, asked as Moca could already feel the light pulling on a couple strands of hair.
As the two of them stood in front of the mirror, Moca mulled over her options. She knew that she could trust the other woman with her life, much less her hair. But right as Moca was about to approve, another thought crossed her mind.
"No need, everybody needs to be able to recognize Moca-chan right away, don't they~?" Moca asked in a sing-song voice, looking at the reflection of the woman behind her to gauge her reaction. Moca had always been proud of her ability to read the expression of others and today was no exception.
"All right, if that is the case then let's get going," the other, slightly shorter woman said with a soft sigh, putting Moca's hairbrush in its rightful place. She was already halfway to the door before she noticed that she was alone, "Moca-chan?"
"I'm right here," Moca said, popping by her companion's other side from seemingly out of nowhere. Silently relishing the soft squeal that came from her friend's mouth, Moca showed the reason for her delay before offering a small but genuine smile, "Shall we?"
The walk to their destination proceeded without anything out of the ordinary happening, much to Moca's subdued dismay. Instead, Moca had spent most of it talking with the woman walking beside her about everything and anything.
Having someone to talk with was a pleasant change of pace for Moca, who had holed herself up in her apartment for the past week or so. The conversation continued bordering around that topic, but Moca managed to lightly dance around that by pointing at random objects around them. A butterfly fluttering in the gentle, zephyr-like breeze here, the discoloration on a group of leaves there; there were enough things Moca could use to distract her companion long enough.
Before too long, the two of them had arrived at their destination. A familiar building was towering above them, making Moca notice even more just how small and insignificant she really was in this world. Perhaps seeing the troubled look on Moca's face, the other woman guided Moca inside where Moca made their presence known to those already there.
The interior of the Hazawa Café was the same as it has always been and exactly like Moca had remembered it to be. A fact that would not be too difficult to achieve considering Moca had visited this place less than a week ago.
The wooden tables that decorated the inner area of the café were decorated with a thin cloth, each table having a uniquely designed and patterned cloth over them. The chairs that were tucked in under the desks, unlike the desks themselves, were all the same, although Moca did notice the polished shine on the hardwood.
The café had always been known to be brightly lit, especially at this time of day, and today was no exception. The numerous large windows allowed for a considerable amount of sunlight to enter that resulted in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Just the way that the regular patrons of the café liked it to be.
"Sorry we were so late," Moca called out, bowing her head timidly as she anticipated the looks of annoyance and frustration from those already present. When Moca never received the verbal lashing that she had expected to get, she raised her head again with a look of genuine confusion on her face, "What? But Moca-chan is late by two hours again?"
"Actually, Moca-chan, for the first time in a long time… you're early," Tsugumi explained as soon as she was close enough to her childhood friend, not quite following Moca's line of reasoning. Tsugumi was even about to open her mouth again when she saw that Moca did not understand what she was talking about, but then stopped as realization dawned on her.
"You didn't…?" Tsugumi breathed out, but the question was not intended for Moca. Rinko, who had been standing by Moca's side throughout the quick interaction between Moca and Tsugumi, nodded silently.
This response was the final straw for Tsugumi; unable to contain her giggles anymore, the brunette doubled over while holding on to the wall for support. Even Rinko herself had a mischievous twinkle in her eyes and a sly smile on her lips watching the state that Tsugumi found herself in.
"In case you were wondering what is going on, Moca-chan…" Rinko trailed off, turning to Moca to see that Moca was indeed confused at the interaction that was happening in front of her. Rinko mulled over her options, wondering how to properly explain this to the younger woman before settling on simply telling Moca the truth, "The reunion is not until another half hour. I do not know how Hazawa-san feels about this, but I was getting very tired with Moca-chan's consistent two-hour delays."
"Which is why you told Moca-chan that the reunion was more than two hours before the actual time so we would come on time for once?" Moca finished Rinko's explanation for her, receiving a satisfied nod as the only form of confirmation. Moca was about to complain but knew that Rinko made a valid point, so instead, she merely sighed in defeat, "Well played, Rinko-san. Well played."
Rinko did not have the time or the freedom to bask in Moca's unique way of praise as Tsugumi had sobered up already. However, much to her amusement, Rinko could still see the brunette's subtly quivering shoulders from time to time.
"Ran-chan is the only other one who is here already, being on time for once as well," Tsugumi added the last bit in a hushed whisper, but it was still loud enough for both Moca and Rinko to hear it as well. Tsugumi then led her friends to where Ran was seated, weaving around the many tables inside the café with practiced ease in doing so, "If Moca-chan and Rinko-san already know what you want to drink, I can go place the order for you."
"The same as always for Moca-chan," Moca smiled without skipping a beat, plopping down on the bench opposite of Ran and making sure to shuffle to the edge to make room for Rinko. Right after Rinko told Tsugumi what she wanted to get as well, Moca remembered something, "You're not on a shift right now, are you?"
"Of course not, Papa gave me the day off. He's even made it a rule that I am not allowed to work on general holidays," Tsugumi waved off Moca's worries with a smile. Seeing that she had eased Moca's worries, the brunette excused herself before rushing over to the cashier.
This left the only occupied table in the café in relative silence, but not for very long.
"You two have become… rather close over the past few months," Ran commented as she noted the distance in between Moca and Rinko; or, better phrased, lack thereof. The impact those words had on the two was immediate, much to Ran's amusement, "Since it will probably still be a while before the others get here… something going on between you two, Mochan?"
While Rinko was unable to hide her flinch entirely, Moca had no such problems. But Moca chose a much more Moca-like way to respond to Ran's question.
"Are you sure you are one to talk, Ran~?" Moca asked in a sing-song playful voice as she leaned close to Ran. Making sure that her voice was hardly above a whisper to keep her next few words a secret from Rinko, Moca added in that same sly manner, "How is it going with your progress. Does Moca-chan need to call someone over~?"
"M-Mochan!" Ran cried out, shuffling as far away from her childhood friend as she could without falling off her seat. With a laughing Moca returning to her seat as well, Ran mumbled a quick couple of words of understanding at the situation.
The three at the table soon fell into a period of silence that was neither comfortable nor awkward; it was just there and they grew to live with it for the time being. That was, at least, until Rinko stood up and excused herself for the moment.
"You know what, Ran? Moca-chan is in a great mood today~," Moca said as soon as Rinko was no longer within hearing distance. Ran, despite knowing how this could potentially end up going, still found herself drawn towards her childhood friend.
If nothing else, Moca's suggestions and ideas were anything but dull and not amusing. Ran would never admit this out loud and stroke Moca's already monstrous ego in the process, though.
Much to Ran's displeasure, Moca took her time to look around her to make sure that nobody would be around. This only served to add to Ran's curiosity, something that Ran was unable to completely hide.
In truth, Moca had picked up on Ran's eagerness and was only prolonging the wait to tease her friend.
"Moca-chan will help Ran with Ran's love problems if Ran helps Moca-chan's with mine," Moca finally whispered in Ran's ear, knowing that nobody but Ran would be able to hear her anyway but doing so to pique Ran's curiosity regardless. When Moca returned to her seat and could see the look on Ran's face, Moca quickly added, "And don't say that you don't need the help; I think even Tomato-chin knows, and she's as dense as dense comes."
Ran sighed in both annoyance and acceptance, knowing full well that Moca was making a good point; she needed help desperately and if help came knocking on her front door…
'This won't go as smoothly as you think it will, Mochan…' Ran thought to herself when she saw an opening to get back at her friend, "Shirokane-san! I think Mochan is dying to tell you something!"
Moca only needed half a second to realize what Ran was trying to do and tried to kick her friend under the table in an effort to shut Ran up. It was only right before her foot made contact, when it was already too late to stop herself, that Moca realized the grave, not to mention painful, mistake she had just made.
As Moca had expected, Rinko had taken her place beside her again, but Rinko was not alone; Himari and Tomoe both pulled a chair to sit with them as well. Both of the newcomers exchanged friendly greetings with Moca and Ran before they, like Rinko, turned to look at Moca in anticipation.
"You do, Moca-chan?" Rinko asked, tilting her head slightly to the side whilst trying to guess what was going on in Moca's unpredictable mind. The slight yelp that escaped Moca's lips did not go unnoticed by Rinko and the eldest of the group was quick to bring it up, "A-Are you all right, Moca-chan?"
"Never better…" Moca hissed through gritted teeth as she leaned down to inspect her throbbing toes. Much to her relief, none of them seemed to be broken and her worst injury was the blow to her pride.
"Are you going to make Shirokane-san wait any longer or should I ask it for you, Mochan?" Ran smirked, visibly enjoying the discomfort of her childhood friend. Rinko had only a vague idea of what Moca wanted to ask while Himari and Tomoe, having only just arrived, were completely left in the dark.
"All right all right, Ran, I get it. I didn't mean for it to be done right now but it looks like you gave poor little Moca-chan no choice in the matter," Moca grumbled, turning away from her so-called best friend and instead facing the person who had accompanied her to the Hazawa Café, "Um… Rinko-san? Do you, you know… want to go out with Moca-chan after this?"
"Moca-chan…" Rinko's soft intake of breath was muffled by the loud squeal coming from Himari's seat and by Tomoe who nearly coughed up a lung. Rinko remained quiet long enough for both Himari and Tomoe to calm down again, giving Ran the time to be impressed by how direct Moca was before Rinko finally gave her response.
A response that caught everybody off-guard.
"…what?"
"I said that I was wondering why Moca-chan seemed so nervous asking me out on a date," Rinko repeated her answer, trying to sound as calm and neutral as possible while she explained her reasoning, "Moca-chan and I have been dating for a couple of months now, after all."
"You've been what?!"
Ran had jumped to her feet, but she was not the only one who had exclaimed those three words. Both Himari and Tomoe, and even Tsugumi who had silently joined them at some point, were all speechless at this announcement.
It was ultimately Ran who realized what had really happened.
"You set me up!" Ran pointed an accusatory finger at Moca, but Moca did not seem to have heard Ran. Instead of paying attention to her friend, Moca was accepting a couple of bills from a dejected Himari and Tomoe and stuffing them in her pocket, "You… even made bets?"
"Yup. Hii-chan said I wouldn't be able to ask Rinko-san out, giving me the start of today's reunion as the deadline. Tomato-chin said that Ran would get a partner before Moca-chan did. Obviously, both of them lost," Moca added the last part with a mischievous smirk which was accompanied by groans of resignation and acceptance from Himari and Tomoe. Moca then turned to Rinko and pouted, "Couldn't Rinko-san have played along just a bit longer? It was so much fun teasing Ran like that."
"Sorry, Moca-chan; I am still… adjusting and adapting," Rinko offered Moca an apologetic smile as she reached for and grabbed her lover's hand. Exchanging the apologetic smile for a more genuine one, Rinko added, "I would love to go on a date with you again, Moca-chan. But before that… don't you think that you are forgetting something?"
"Ah, right. Thank you for reminding Moca-chan," Moca grinned before turning back to her best friend. Ran, despite knowing full well what Moca was about to say, visibly flinched when she saw the twinkle in Moca's eyes, "So when are you telling you-know-who you-know-what, Ran~?"
Ran had made the unfortunate mistake of taking a sip of her drink right before Moca asked her that question; the coughing fit that followed was frantic enough that even Tsugumi was shuffling away a bit. The only person who did not react to Ran's outburst, aside from Moca who knew full well what she was doing, was Rinko.
Instead of showing her concern for Ran like Tsugumi and Himari were, or outwardly scolding Moca, like Tomoe was, Rinko decided to react in a completely different way. A manner that was oddly reminiscent of how Moca would have reacted if Moca was in Rinko's shoes right then.
"That was not what I was talking about, Moca-chan, and you know that," Rinko scolded the younger woman, who could only chuckle sheepishly in response. Moca had already started digging through her bag before Rinko could scold her some more, which prompted Rinko to focus her attention on the next issue at hand, "I know that this is kind of rude of me, but there is something that I–no, we wanted to ask everybody for some time before we start this reunion."
"You don't have to be so formal with us anymore, Rinko-san," Tomoe tried to lighten the mood, feeling somewhat suffocated by how tense Rinko had been. A glance around her told the redhead that she wasn't the only one; Tomoe was just the first to say something about it.
"I understand, but this… it concerns Mitake-san's past, so I am naturally careful with how I phrase this," Rinko explained, offering a quick apology to Ran as soon as she finished. Rinko then noticed that Ran wanted to say something, but she stopped the younger woman before turning to Moca, "Is it ready?"
"As ready as Moca-chan will ever be," came the response from Moca, sounding a lot more devoid of emotion than she normally was. After reassuring both Tsugumi and Himari that everything was all right and that they did not need to worry about her, Moca took a deep breath and made her announcement.
"Moca-chan sent a file to everybody," Moca explained, motioning to her phone that she had lying face-down on the table. When her friends finally got the hint, and with a subtle push of Rinko's hand on her back, Moca added, "If it is not too much trouble, please check it out and tell Moca-chan what you think."
"Since Moca-chan has asked us such a request, there is no way any of us could say no," Tsugumi said with a small smile, hoping that this was enough to reassure her childhood friend. When she saw that it did, Tsugumi turned to Ran, Himari, and Tomoe and said, "How about it? We can postpone it for a bit longer if Moca-chan needs us to check it out."
"That was…"
"Amazing…"
Moca, despite having prepared herself for this scenario in her mind prior to arriving at the café, still found herself squirming slightly in her seat. She was not completely sure how to properly respond to all the praise she was getting, and the twinkle in the eyes of Tsugumi and Himari wasn't helping her in that regard.
"I mean… thank you, Tsugu, Hii-chan," Moca mumbled, almost embarrassed to do so. Fortunately, Moca managed to keep her composure long enough to stop her friends from overwhelming her with the praise and compliments even more, "But… I still have a long way to go."
"Maybe so, but this… might actually work," Ran mused as she scanned her phone's screen again, going over what she had just seen only moments ago. Without looking up, Ran added, "Is this what you will be going for, Mochan?"
"Actually, it isn't. This is just the first draft, I have a lot of things that still need to be changed," Moca admitted before turning to Rinko for reassurance. When Rinko smiled at Moca, Moca turned back to Ran, "For example… wouldn't it be a smart idea to at least change the names of everyone?"
A short period of silence followed where everybody except Moca and Rinko were considering what Moca had just brought up. A tense, heavy, uncomfortable period where all six of them were feeling as if the air was being squeezed out of their systems by a pair of invisible hands.
So it was a great relief when somebody finally broke the silence, releasing the weight off of everybody's shoulders by doing so.
"That's a good idea," Tomoe thought out loud, drawing out each word as if she was unsure of what she was saying herself. It did not take Tomoe long to notice this as well, which was likely the reason why she was quick to speak again, "My sister is pretty good at coming up with names, I can give her a call and ask if she could help you with thinking up of some?"
"That would be very helpful," Moca thanked the redhead who offered her a grin in response. She then took out her phone went through her note on the device, "Aside from that… there is one last request I wanted to ask of you, Tsugu, Ran."
"Everything seems to be in order, Aoba-san," the older woman announced as she rearranged the stack of papers in front of her. Across her desk came three consecutive sighs of varying levels of relief, much to her amusement, "Although I do need to remind you… if you choose to publish it under a pseudonym, you may not bee able to receive the recognition that you deserve, Aoba-san."
"That might be so, but I have made up my mind; considering the contents of that book, we decided it is for the best," Moca responded, seeing her friends nod silently beside her. Spurred on by this small act of support, Moca took a deep breath to calm her nerves before she spoke what was on her mind, "So if it is at all possible, please allow me to not use my name. My real name, that is."
As the older woman confirmed to Moca that this was indeed possible, Ran shuffled behind her friend to ask Tsugumi the question that had been on her mind for a while.
"I… don't remember either," came Tsugumi's whispered response, the brunette sounding sheepish as she had to admit that she, too, did not know the answer. Tsugumi was spared from any further embarrassment when she heard her friend's voice.
"Thank you very much for your time!"
Tsugumi barely had a second to realize that both Ran and Moca were on their feet and bowing to the older woman before she felt a firm hand on her back pushing her down. While Tsugumi made a mental note to thank Moca for her quick thinking in preventing her from looking like a fool…
'This may not have been the best alternative…' Tsugumi thought to herself with a painful grimace, hoping that nobody would notice the reddening spot on her forehead. Fortunately for Tsugumi, the attention was all on Moca as she was trying to make a final deal.
This gave Tsugumi the opportunity to turn around and rub her forehead lightly, hoping and praying that it would not leave a visible mark for when she would have to go to her job again in the morning.
Before long, the three childhood friends stepped outside where they were greeted by a cool breeze. After being cooped inside for several hours, this was a pleasant change that all three of them welcomed with open arms.
Moca, Ran, and Tsugumi then started walking back home, enjoying the silence between them as they made their way through the nearly-empty streets. The silence would have lasted if one of them could suppress their curiosity for a while longer.
"So, Moca-chan, you never told us," Tsugumi trailed off, making sure that she had Moca's full and undivided attention before asking such an important question. When she saw that she had it, the brunette finished her question, "What did you decide on for the book's title?"
"Moca-chan didn't?" Moca asked, tilting her head slightly as she tried to remember if this bit of information slipped her mind at all. When neither Ran nor Tsugumi tried to correct her, Moca knew that she must have forgotten, "Sorry, but it really should have been obvious what Moca-chan would have chosen for the title."
"Like the setting sun at the end of the day, you look at it with the memories of what you did on that day while having your hopes up for what tomorrow might bring," Moca said with a smile, allowing herself to slow her pace down as she basked herself in the last bit of sunlight of the day. Ran and Tsugumi had stopped too, taking in what Moca was saying while noticing the warmth radiating from their friend, "Like the closing of one chapter of life and the beginning of the next."
"That… is very beautiful, Moca-chan," Tsugumi smiled while Ran voiced her agreement as well. They did not need Moca to explain her reasoning as much as she had, but now that Moca had neither Ran or Tsugumi could say they disagreed with Moca.
"Right~?" Moca grinned, looking at her two friends before she noticed an opening, "All right! Enough loitering about, last one home's a rotten egg~!"
Moca then took off in a mad dash past Ran and Tsugumi without waiting for confirmation or even a sign of acknowledgment that they had heard her. As the air got filled with Moca's infectious laughter, she did not need to look back to confirm whether her friends were running after her.
"Ah! Moca-chan!"
"No fair! You got a head start!"
And as the three childhood friends left the scene, two young women running after a third, the sun behind them slowly set and hid behind the horizon; basking the streets in a warm, dark red hue as it did so. The day was getting to a close and, like the last chapter of the lives of our heroines, would start anew next time: refreshed, bright, and ready to take on what would be thrown their way.
Now, like Ran and Tsugumi, you might be asking yourself: what did Moca name her book that detailed their entire life adventures and where can an interested individual go to read it? Moca chose to publish it under a different name with the help of those around her, and finding this book might become more of a challenge as a result.
The book that Aoba Moca got published is right here in front of you. You just finished reading it.
And that's all for Scarlet Sunlight!
Special thanks to:
- My amazing beta readers: LightZephyr, Namitaa776, ShinyPidgey20, and the beta reader of chapter 13 who wished to remain anonymous
- Reiriniverse on Tumblr for this story's cover image
- The people who allowed me to write a story based on and inspired by something that happened to them (who wish to remain anonymous)
- To all the reviewers of this story, most notably (to me) Rider and ReiTheMegaMawile for reviewing every chapter up to chapter 19
- To you, for taking the time out of your day to read this story from start to finish
As for what is to come after Scarlet Sunlight… I have another story planned, but no predicted/expected date when the first chapter can and/or will go up. I am hoping it'll be in February, but… we'll see…
Thank you for reading Scarlet Sunlight, I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and… until we meet again. Take care!