The sun had long set over the city, leaving it blanketed in darkness. Lisa had turned the light on in her room to push the encroaching shadows away, to keep her eyes wide open. Yukina's light was off next door. That wasn't something to ponder right now; there were more urgent matters at hand.

Lisa lied on her bed, one hand holding her phone loosely against her ear. Her other hand was pressed onto her forehead, struggling to push her emotions down.

This conversation had been going on for a while and it was getting harder to contain herself with each passing minute. Ai had never been that soft of a person. She could be hard to read, with a sharpness to her personality and words. That was one of the things Lisa liked about her. It especially showed now.

"It always feels like your attention is somewhere else. Even when we're together." Ai's voice sounded tinny through the phone, but the meaning was clear. Her words came slowly, as if she were choosing them carefully. Lisa wanted to drop the device, to no longer listen to those words, but she couldn't. "I can't do this anymore."

Lisa took a shaky breath, her whole body shuddering. "This is it then?" Her voice wavered midway through the question, not wanting to finish it.

There was a pause on the line. "Yes, it is." Ai still sounded calm and collected, as always, even as she dealt the final blow.

Tears welled up in the corners of Lisa's eyes. She moved her hand from her forehead to forcefully wipe them away. A rush of frantic energy struck her, and she bolted up, eyes snapping open. "A-and I'm supposed to just let you go?"

"Yes." That one word cut straight through her, sent ice through her heart. That surge of energy faded as fast as it came, leaving Lisa slouched forward. Her free came to clutch above her heart.

"Ai…" Lisa called for her one last time, one last plea.

"Goodbye, Lisa." The response was firm, followed by a few muttered words, so quiet Lisa could barely hear them. "I hope you find happiness."

Before Lisa could think to reply, let alone process those words, the line clicked in her ear. That was it; the conversation was over. She yanked the phone from her ear, not even bothering to look at the screen before dropping it on the bed.

Now, when the tears started to form, Lisa let them fall. She had hoped this relationship would be different, after all it had lasted much longer than the others. They'd spent so much time together, so many dates and phone calls and visits at work and nights cuddled side by side. Yet is still ended the same way.

They'd had their ups and downs, as all relationships did. For the last couple weeks, it had been mostly downs. Lisa would've been lying if she said she hadn't seen this coming, at least on some level. Ai had expressed discontent ever since the training camp, asking for Lisa to focus more on her. Lisa tried to mend things, but clearly she'd only made things worse.

Ai didn't want her anymore. That thought sunk through her, a heavy weight in her stomach.

Was there anyone out there for her? At this rate, Lisa wasn't sure.

Lisa rose and turned the light off. She found her bed in the dark, collapsing back onto it.

Yukina's light was still off.


The last week felt like it took forever. They said that time would heal a broken heart, but so far Lisa wasn't seeing it. She still needed to contend with her regular schedule, all while behaving as her usual self. That meant school, work, and Roselia practice. School was the easiest to deal with, providing a welcome distraction from her thoughts.

At work she at least had Moca to talk to. The teen had listened to the events of Lisa's breakup, before patting her on the shoulder and offering to get Ran to intimidate her ex. Of course Lisa turned her down, Ran would never agree to something like that, but it brought a small smile to her face.

Roselia practice was harder. Lisa always provided emotional support to the band; she didn't want to ruin their moods with her bad news. Especially since they had just recently synced back up, rebuilt their sound from its fragments. The morale of the band was higher than it had been all year.

Lisa kept her chin up during rehearsal, with as broad of a smile as she could manage plastered on her face. She hoped the others wouldn't notice, or at least wouldn't say anything if they did.

Her bass parts were still played well, and that was all that mattered.

That's what she told herself as, despite her efforts, they all seemed to catch on. Yukina watched her with growing worry in her eyes. Sayo asked at a pause if Lisa was alright, or if she needed a break.

"It's been a long week." Lisa replied smoothly. "I'll rest over the weekend." She grinned, to give validity to her words. Sayo raised an eyebrow, not seeming to believe her. Neither did Yukina, whose gold eyes were glimmering.

"D-don't push yourself too hard." Rinko, bless her soul, replied kindly.

"Of course!"

With that the conversation was dropped.

At break time, when Sayo and Ako went to get drinks for the band, Ako came back with an extra cookie specifically for Lisa. She offered it without fanfare, just a toothy grin.

Lisa appreciated it, warmth growing in her chest with each bite. She was glad she came to practice, despite how difficult it was. The tightness in her chest loosened, if only a little bit. She made it through the rest of that rehearsal, along with the rest of her week.

By the time the weekend came, Lisa really did need to rest. She felt exhausted, both physically and emotionally. There was still one more thing on her schedule though, one appointment on Saturday morning that she couldn't miss.

That was baking with Sayo.

They'd set the date of the event weeks ago, after the training camp. The goal was to maintain band morale by baking sweets for them more often. Also, though Sayo wouldn't say it, it was fun to spend time together. They hadn't seen each other nearly as often since graduation, which Lisa missed.

So, they set a once a month meet up for baking. It would be at Lisa's house, since her kitchen was bigger and there was no chance of Hina being there. Lisa had the fundamental ingredients already, so Sayo would bring any supplemental ones she wanted to try. They typically made cut out sugar cookies, which were Lisa's specialty.

Sayo arrived right on time as usual, leaving her shoes by the door after Lisa let her inside. Lisa's parents were out running errands, so they had the house to themselves.

"Thank you for having me." Sayo said as she followed Lisa through the house. A plastic bag dangled from one hand.

"It's my pleasure!" The words, while still catching in her throat, came a bit easier. Her smile didn't hurt quite as much as a few days before.

Like a well-oiled machine, they started baking once they reached the kitchen. Lisa took out a couple bowls while Sayo emptied her bag onto the table. Inside were some small colored tubes, with a tiny stopper on one end. They were unlabeled, likely homemade.

"These are for more detailed decorating. Tsugumi-san showed me how to make them." Sayo offered before Lisa could ask.

That one word sparked Lisa's attention, snapping her focus right to Sayo. "Tsugumi-san?" She lifted her voice, making the name a question.

Sayo's cheeks grew pink, a sure sign that Lisa was on the right track. She was intently staring towards the tubes. While Lisa had been dealing with relationship trouble, Sayo was having quite the opposite experience. "Yes, that's right." Her ears were starting to turn red too.

"How long's that been going on for?" Lisa pushed for more details as she started locating the ingredients. Talking to Sayo like this, baking together, it almost felt like nothing was wrong. Her chest didn't feel quite as tight.

"It's not what you think." Sayo denying it only gave Lisa more ideas. She paused, before reconsidering her words. "Only a couple weeks, since we entered the contest." Oh right, Sayo had learned about it from Tsugumi. The timeline made sense. "I submitted our entry on time, so we should hear back from them soon." Sayo abruptly changed the subject, forcefully moving the conversation along.

Lisa allowed it to shift. "Afterglow entered too, right?" She thought that was what Sayo told her.

Sayo nodded, taking her phone from her pocket. "I have their submission video, if you want to watch it." She held up the device to show the screen.

"Yes please." Afterglow would be their competition for this event. Lisa was sure they put together a solid submission.

Sayo set her phone on a spot of open counter, turning up the volume before clicking into a video and hitting play. Lisa stood nearby to watch while Sayo stepped away to keep getting ingredients.

The sound coming from the phone was clearly YOLO, but Lisa wasn't sure what she was looking at. The image kept moving. After a few seconds it stabilized, but it constantly bobbed up and down.

Ran was in the center of the shot, from the waist up. The camera only lingered for a moment before turning to Himari, framing her in much the same way. It moved throughout the song, eventually backing away to show the whole band. Moca wasn't visible in any of the shots, despite the guitar line being clearly heard.

"Umm…" As the last notes of the song played, Lisa wasn't sure what to say about it.

"It was Aoba-san's idea, she strapped the camera to her head." Sayo commented dryly. She had started to mix dry ingredients for the cookies while Lisa watched the video.

"It's, uh, interesting. Abstract even." Lisa passed Sayo her phone then went to the other bowl to mix the wet ingredients.

Sayo didn't reply. For a few minutes they worked in silence, as they prepared both sets of ingredients. Once all was ready, Lisa mixed the dry ingredients into the wet ones. She stirred the mixture with a large spoon, making sure it was smooth.

Sayo watched from next to her, eyes narrowing slightly. "How've you been, since practice?" The words were measured, more careful that Sayo typically was.

Lisa almost dropped the spoon in surprise, pausing in her motion; to her, that question came out of nowhere. "I'm fine, really. Nothing to worry about." The words rang false in her ears, heavy with an invisible weight.

Sayo's eyes softened, yet she refused to relent. "What happened?"

Lisa took a deep breath, a fresh wave of pain washing over her. "Ai broke up with me." There was no relief in those words, no alleviating of her burden. She focused on the bowl and resumed stirring, with her head tilted forward.

"I'm sorry." Sayo replied quietly, a small frown gracing her lips.

"You have nothing to apologize for." Lisa's voice came up, despite her wishes, as she stirred faster. "It's entirely my fault, another relationship ruined!" An undesired tear dripped down one cheek, as words she hadn't meant to say spilled from her lips. Her heart was pounding in her chest, whole body tense.

Sayo reached over slowly, gently taking the spoon from Lisa's grasp. Lisa let it go without a fight, releasing the bowl to Sayo as well.

"I'm positive it was only partly your fault." Sayo spoke as she mixed the dough. "And mostly hers."

Lisa scoffed at that, bringing her breathing back under control. "I'm not so sure about that." She let her hands rest against the table, since they no longer had cookie dough to prepare.

"I disagree." Sayo lifted the spoon from the bowl, tapping it so any clinging cookie dough would fall back in. "It'll be alright, life goes on." She put the spoon down and then turned towards Lisa, asserting herself strongly.

"Sayo, I…" Lisa tried to speak, before her voice faded. She searched for the words, for the way to express how she felt. A face flashed in her mind, the person she'd long yearned for, who would never return her feelings. "What if there's no one right for me? It always ends like this." Her words were bitter, carrying the last week of pain with them.

Sayo's face flashed through a few emotions, from surprised to something resembling irritation. "Imai-san, that is the most absurd thing you've ever said."

"I'm sorry?" Lisa wasn't sure how to take that.

"Standing around feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to get you a better girlfriend." There was a bite to Sayo's words, her tone blunt. She began dumping the cookie dough onto a tray, so they could flatten it.

"Gee, thanks…" Lisa grabbed a roller to help.

"What I mean is," Sayo paused mid-sentence to think about her words, stepping aside so Lisa could work on the dough. "Perhaps you're not going about this the right way."

Lisa rolled the dough until it was the correct width, giving it back to Sayo to put in the oven. She thought about that statement, about going about this the wrong way.

"What do you mean by that?" Lisa asked for clarification, unable to make anything of it.

"Why did you break up?" Sayo asked, though Lisa wasn't sure how that answered her question.

Lisa thought about it for a moment, about their final long painful phone call. "Ai said I wasn't focused enough on her, that I never gave her my full attention."

"And why was that?" Sayo probed again.

Lisa wasn't sure. She remembered wondering the same thing, when Ai first mentioned it to her. She tried to spend more time with her after that, but it still hadn't worked. The band had been a large part of the problem, but there was something else. It went beyond that; it was something that always occupied Lisa's mind.

That something was Yukina. The thought hit her like the third chorus of Louder.

Even though Lisa had tried to deny it, to pretend it wasn't true, Ai had reminded her a lot of Yukina. The way she carried herself and communicated were all similar to the most important person in Lisa's life. Even when she was together with Ai, when Lisa was in a committed relationship, Lisa hadn't fully let Yukina go. Even after telling herself that it would never happen, that it was best to move on, some part of Lisa still yearned.

She always came back to Yukina.

Lisa's eyes widened as she realized what Sayo was suggesting. "Do you really think I have a chance?" Had her feelings been that obvious all this time? For Sayo to notice, they must've been.

"I do." Sayo said simply as she set a timer for the cookies.

That was a hope Lisa hadn't let herself have in a very long time. To be together with Yukina, something she'd wanted for years, was a distant dream. Was it really possible for them to be together? That was what she wanted, more than anything.

The two fell silent as the cookies baked. Lisa was lost in her thoughts, in imagining what the future could bring. Her previous relationship had fallen to the backburner, to the corner of her mind.

Once the cookies were ready, they agreed to make the logos of the regular Circle bands. It was different than usual and would provide a use for the tubes Sayo brought. The conversation picked back up, in easier topics. Sayo wanted to re-record Zeal of Proud, since they'd improved at playing it. Lisa agreed to book a recording studio.

They made a couple dozen cookies in the end, in the various band logos. Lisa packed them into bags with one of each.

When Sayo got ready to leave, she left the tubes there for next time.

As she stepped out the door, leaving the Imai residence behind, she turned back one last time.

"Good luck."

Lisa would need it.

Later that night, as the sun descended over the horizon, Lisa looked down at her phone.

She typed her message carefully, checking each word. Yukina's name was displayed prominently at the top of the screen.

Lisa's finger lingered over the send button. Her mind churned with everything that could go wrong, everything she had to lose.

She remembered her conclusion from that morning, the resolve she'd built as the day went on.

Yukina's light was on.

Lisa held her breath, then pressed send.