Ah, it feels good to go back to this story again. I know that I originally planned this fic to "only" be updated once a month, but still… with the way Ties That Connect took up more time than I thought it would, the gap feels longer to me…
On a related note, I want to thank LightZephyr for posting the notification that this chapter would potentially be delayed. Unforeseen, unpredictable, and unavoidable technical difficulties popped up that could have prevented me from updating this week. Thankfully, this wouldn't be the case as I am sure you have figured it out already, but… the technical and internet difficulties I had could have lasted long enough to warrant a delay…
I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.
Three days had passed since Moca had dragged her friends into playing their new game together. Since then, the five girls had been spending as much time in the virtual world as they possibly could. This time was used to explore the areas accessible to them in the early game, to learn everything they could about the inner workings of the game, and to try and grind up the strength and levels to improve.
One of the many things the group of friends managed to learn was that the game had a feature to form in-game groups. Something that, after being asked about this by her sister, Ako had referred to as 'parties'. The benefits of this far outweighed the hassle it took to explain to Tomoe how to join the party; any experience points they earned would be shared with every other member of the party.
A very welcome discovery for Tsugumi and Himari especially, both girls having had difficulties holding their ground in the past. Even more so after they learned of the gap between them and the other three members of Afterglow in terms of dealing damage. But being in the same party during their sessions wouldn't reduce the risk Peace and Maiden faced fighting the enemies that Endymion, Lotus, and Chaos could handle easily.
The way the members of Afterglow chose to mitigate this glaring weakness was to pair Peace and Maiden up with one of the other three avatars. Doing so reduced the risk that either Tsugumi or Himari could be blindsided by an enemy while playing and be powerless to properly defend themselves. Since their party meant the experience each of them would get was shared between the members anyway, there was little to no downside to this strategy.
"Chaos and Peace are in position," Tomoe announced, receiving an affirmative noise from the brown-haired keyboardist shortly after. Blue Chaos and Yellow Peace were currently hiding in the trees on top of a hill, peering through the curtain of leaves and branches. Or at least Tsugumi was as Tomoe was too distracted to focus on what was happening on her screen.
Tomoe heard Himari mention something similar about Ran and herself as the redhead was adjusting her mic's sensitivity, which only left one person unaccounted for.
"Approaching the target, ready to engage," Moca's words were rather muffled and distant as if she was distracted. Fortunately for Moca, her friends had known her long enough to be able to pick up what Moca was saying. With the worry of not being understood by her friends no longer an issue, Moca could focus on the bigger issue at hand, "Chaos, Endymion, cover me. Here I go!"
From her position up in the canopy of trees, Tomoe had a great view to watch her friend leap out of her hiding spot and pounce on her prey: an unsuspecting wyvern. Tomoe would almost feel bad for the creature, knowing what Moca was capable of, but this feeling was quickly replaced by something else.
The resonating sound of metal blades clashing with the wyvern's talons filled the area. Had it not been for the voice call the five childhood friends were in they would have heard the wyvern's battle cry better. Instead, Ran, Himari, Tomoe, and Tsugumi were blessed with listening to Moca's grunts and huffs of annoyance as Lotus danced with the taller, airborne creature.
But Moca's grunts weren't what was annoying the girls who were watching on the sidelines. Or, rather, it wasn't what annoyed them the most.
All enemies in the game had a specific point on their bodies that they were weakest at as Ran found out the hard way two days ago. A critical point that would deal a greater amount of damage relative to a hit anywhere else on the target's body. And this wasn't the first time they fought this particular kind of wyverns, either.
"Lotus-chan! The wyvern's left wing! That is its weak point!" Tsugumi cried out to try and remind Moca where she should land her blows. Unfortunately for the brunette, Moca either didn't hear her or chose not to listen to her advice.
"Moca isn't listening, is she?" Himari asked nobody in particular, the worry seeping through her voice as she remembered the last time the five of them ran into a herd of wyverns. It hadn't ended very well for Himari and Maiden after being focused on by a group attack and Himari worried for her friend's safety, "What should we do?"
"Endymion! Heads up!" Tomoe shouted as she jumped off the branch she was standing on. Falling on the ground from her position would have resulted in a significant amount of damage to Chaos, but Tomoe knew that she had nothing to fear. Right before she would have touched the ground, Endymion popped out of the bushes and launched Chaos into the air again with a single blast of air.
"That Air Bullet is all I can do, I can't attack from a distance without risking hitting either you or Lotus accidentally," Ran's voice said through Tomoe's headset, followed by words of understanding and encouragement from both Himari and Tsugumi. Tomoe, on the other hand, had other worries on her mind to try and reassure her friend.
'Ran and Endymion are only getting stronger and stronger… having mastered this new Air Bullet skill this much in just half a day…' Tomoe thought to herself as Chaos flew through the air. Unfortunately for Tomoe, that was all the time she could afford to think about this as she was nearing the wyvern, "Lotus, to your left!"
The moment Tomoe announced her arrival to Moca, she had already crashed head-first into the creature her friend had been trying to fight all this time. The wyvern had not been expecting Tomoe's surprise attack so the redhead got the first hit in for free.
Tomoe knew that she had to act fast before the wyvern could recover if she wanted to help Moca and Lotus.
"This is for not rolling over for Lotus to kill you!" Tomoe shouted, her fingers flying over the keys of her keyboard to activate her newest skill: Mystic Thorns. A close-ranged skill that made Chaos punch the ground in front of its body. A fraction of a second later, five whip-like roots sprung up from the ground, changed their trajectory, and wrapped themselves around the wyvern's legs.
Seeing her attack worked perfectly caused a grin to form on Tomoe's mouth, though she managed to suppress the urge to gloat. There was a time and place for everything and then and there was neither. Instead, Tomoe turned to try and cheer on Lotus.
…only to see that Lotus wasn't where Tomoe remembered her friend being.
Moca saw the opening Tomoe provided for her and didn't waste any time. With her right hand morphing into the shape of an obsidian-colored blade, Lotus barrelled past Chaos and stabbed the wyvern in between its eyes. An ear-splitting screech escaped the creature's mouth before its eyes rolled back into its head and its now-limp body fell on the ground.
The notification window popping up to inform Tomoe of the party's victory marked the end of the battle. A few points stronger after defeating the wyvern, the path to level three was starting to get closer and closer for the redhead.
"You did it, Lotus-chan!" Tsugumi's voice punched Tomoe's train of thoughts and brought it to an abrupt halt. Endymion, Maiden, and Peace had joined up with Chaos and Lotus by the time the redhead had recovered, "That makes thirty-seven today! That's incredible!"
"Thank you," Moca said curtly, enough of an acknowledgment for her friends to say nothing of it but stiffly enough where Tomoe couldn't help but wonder what was wrong. The fact that Moca fell silent soon after didn't help ease their worries as the silence could have meant a variety of different things. From muting her microphone to munch on a bunch of snacks without subjecting her friends' ears to the sound to scanning the menus in search of an answer.
Having known Moca as long as they had, the other members of Afterglow knew that everything was a valid possibility when it came to Moca.
Both Himari and Tsugumi attempted to break the silence a couple of times, feeling especially weighed down by Moca's lack of noise. Neither of them managed to do a very good job at it, however, and by the time Himari was about to make her third attempt, it wasn't necessary anymore.
Black Lotus had shifted its stance, retracting the obsidian-colored blades it had to reveal metal, humanoid hands. This change was accompanied by a dragged-out sigh from Moca, something that put her friends at unease.
When Moca sighed, one of two things tended to happen. Either Moca knew something her friends didn't and was annoyed by the gap in knowledge or somebody made a big mistake somewhere down the road. Neither of which were very favorable options for Moca's friends.
'Was jumping in without waiting for Moca to tell me that she needed my help the wrong thing to do?' Tomoe bit her lower lip in thought, feeling uneasier as the seconds ticked by. It was only now that this thought drifted around her mind that Tomoe started to worry. Although not as strongly so as either Ran or Tomoe, Moca wasn't one to like having her weak points emphasized by someone else.
Not being known for having the best self-control amongst the members of Afterglow, Tomoe's front cracked only seconds later.
The only thing saving Tomoe from utter embarrassment was Moca choosing that moment to start talking again.
"I think that's enough for today, I'm logging off. See you all tomorrow at school," Moca announced, the distance separating her from her friends doing nothing to hide the exhaustion in her voice. After waiting long enough to receive proper goodbyes from her friends, Moca's avatar shimmered in a bright light before disappearing altogether.
Moca's departure opened the door for an old friend of Afterglow's members to show up again: tense and awkward silence.
"So… what should we do now that Lotus-chan has gone to—?" Tsugumi began but abruptly fell silently before she could finish her question. Thankfully, Himari, Ran, and Tomoe didn't have to wait long for Tsugumi to not only talk again but explain the momentary pause, "Sorry, but I have to go now, too. Something about a party being held downstairs and father needs the extra hands."
After saying their goodbyes to the brunette, Himari, Ran, and Tomoe watched Peace follow in Lotus' footsteps. The departure of Moca and Tsugumi meant that there was little reason for the remaining girls to continue playing. Himari, Ran, and Tomoe unanimously agreed that this was the end of their daily gaming session.
Himari was quick to log off and call it a night, but Tomoe was hesitating for a while. The redhead's hesitation didn't go unnoticed for long as Ran was quick to point it out. The bigger problem for Tomoe, however, was trying to find the right words to share her burden with Ran.
"It's just… don't you think something's weird with Moca?" Tomoe finally settled on trying to be as direct as possible when she remembered who she was talking to in the first place. Seeing the lack of rebuttal from Ran as an excuse to pour her heart out to her friend, Tomoe decided to elaborate on what she had just said, "Being competitive is one thing, but it's almost like she's someone else entirely when we're here."
"I have noticed that, too," Ran's words of confirmation somewhat reassured Tomoe, knowing that it wasn't just Tomoe's paranoia and overprotectiveness running rampage again. On the other hand, Tomoe knew that Ran had more to say… and Tomoe was right.
"But let's be real here: if one of us wants to succeed at trying to hide something from the rest of us, it's probably Moca," Ran continued, not skipping a beat to share what was on her mind. Unfortunately, Ran was at a loss for words after having told Tomoe what her opinion was. This led to a few tense and heavy seconds of silence before Ran found a way to break it, "All we can do is the same as always. To trust Moca and support her when she allows us to get closer."
"You're right, so let's both get some rest in case we need to help Moca out tomorrow," Tomoe agreed with Ran, silently happy that she wasn't the one who suggested that course of action. Trying to stay true to her word, Tomoe logged off almost immediately after saying that.
And rested her forehead against her computer monitor with her eyes closed.
'You've really grown, Ran,' Tomoe thought to herself with a small, almost melancholic smile on her face. Seeing her friend mature right in front of her eyes made Tomoe proud of her friend's growth. At the same time, however, this reminder also served to shout a specific question in Tomoe's mind.
Just how far had Tomoe fallen behind on Ran without the drummer realizing it?
Somewhere not too far away from the Udagawa household, another girl was spending her time resting against the warm monitor as well. But unlike Tomoe, this girl did so for a completely different reason.
"That was close…" Moca sighed softly, relishing the privacy of her room to lower her guard, if only slightly. Moca only barely avoided making what could have been the biggest mistake in her life so far… and while she was relieved that she succeeded, the fact that she was only a few seconds away from breaking apart was nothing if not worrying.
As Moca did this, the earlier memory of her fight with the wyvern was playing again in her mind. And with it came the feeling of anguish and desperation Moca had felt with it.
Moca knew that she didn't have the right to complain after dragging her friends into the game using the excuse that it would be another bond to keep them together. That being said, Moca's annoyance and frustrations were building up.
The unique way the game made their avatars was a huge talking point for the five girls. Each of them wondered what the significance of this process was and how they could learn more about it. Not only because the members of Afterglow wanted to grow as players, but also to grow more attached to their respective avatars.
And the biggest question they asked themselves since they started playing was what the significance of their avatars' colors was. Was it an aesthetic thing the game did to try and make the virtual world more colorful? Were the avatars just randomly assigned a color and were painted in their namesake color? Or did it have some deeper, somewhat hidden gameplay mechanic?
It turned out that it was the third option all along, as the impromptu match between Ran and Tomoe had proven. After the two of them finished the fight, the five childhood friends noticed an item in their inventories that told them some basic mechanics. A beginner's manual or, as Moca so eloquently put it, baby buoy.
Most of what the guide told the players were the basic things, but amongst these mechanics was the relationship between the players and their avatars. The game matched the player's playstyle the instant their avatar was created and painted the avatar in the matching color.
As it turned out, each color held a hidden meaning that opened up the path to unlocking the full potential of the avatars. Tsugumi even theorized that the avatar's color completely defined the avatar's strengths and weaknesses. And the best news was that this manual explained the color meanings for the avatars of all members of Afterglow.
All but one of them.
"Get a grip, Moca-chan," Moca let out a short and dry chuckle, leaning back and reclining in her chair. A few deep breaths later, Moca was staring at the ceiling of her room and recalling the earlier events, "It's just a game, no need to get so worked up about this. If you do, you'll only worry everyone else. And that isn't what Aoba Moca-chan is about, now is she?"
"I had a feeling it was something like that."
Moca almost gave herself whiplash wit how fast she turned her head in the direction of the voice. And even after she saw who was standing there it took Moca a few more seconds to make sure she wasn't seeing things, "But—I—you—how?"
"Why do you look so surprised? You were the one who told me I could come to you whenever something was bothering me," Ran said, her voice betraying the exhaustion the vocalist was feeling… something that, even in the state she was in, did not go unnoticed by Moca. Ran's forehead was even glistening with small droplets of sweat, racing down the girl's cheeks and leaving a shiny trail in the process.
But Ran didn't pay much attention to either her exhaustion or her best friend's sputtering. Instead, Ran walked to the pile of clothes on Moca's chair, hesitated for a split second, dug through it, and threw a jacket in Moca's face.
"What…?" Moca asked as she looked up from the article of clothing now resting in her lap to look at Ran. In all her years of knowing the only child of the Mitake household, Moca had rarely seen Ran as straightforward and direct as she was today, "Why?"
"Put that on, we need to go somewhere," Ran commanded, pulling out her phone from her pocket and walking out the door. Before she stepped past the boundary, Ran paused and looked back at Moca, "Now are you coming with me or not?"
"All right, you win… I'm curious," Moca admitted with a small smile, putting on the jacket as she stood up. If the only way for Moca to learn what Ran was planning was to play along with Ran's game then play along she would, "So where are we going?"
"I thought the great genius Moca-sama would be able to figure it out by now," Ran said with a small smirk, silently relishing the fact she could toy with Moca the way Moca always toyed with everybody around her. Not that Ran would ever say that out loud. Ran almost missed the mischievous twinkle in Moca's eyes when she said that and, deciding to give her friend a hint, added with a sigh, "It's a place you know all too well."
And that is all for today! Yeah, a little bit of a shorter chapter… but at the same time, the last couple of chapters have been longer than I originally planned a typical Shining Sunlight chapter to be. That, and with Ties That Connect I did technically write more than I usually do this month… Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!