I've mentioned this story was not going to be thoroughly outlined like Scarlet Sunlight was. That said, as the writer of this story, I already feel like this story… fluctuates, in a way. Therefore, in an effort to reduce this variance, I feel like I should plan it out accordingly enough. Unfortunately, this means that starting chapter eleven I will have chapters planned out several entries in advance.
On a related note, at this point I think I can safely say that by the time this story is completed it will have stolen the crown of my longest BanG Dream fanfic from Scarlet Sunlight… maybe…
I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party nor do I, in any way, shape, or form, intend to pretend that I do.
"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."
"You weren't kidding about Moca-chan knowing this place well… but why did you bring me here, anyway?" Moca asked her friend the moment the familiar playground came into sight.
The playground Ran had brought Moca to was the same one that the members of Afterglow used to play at in their younger years. Even in their younger years the five of them thought the playground was on the smaller size of playgrounds around. The only things there were a set of three swings, two slides, and a meter-long monkey bars dangling children over a pit of sand. In addition, the facilities themselves weren't very tall, either. Moca felt like she would comfortably touch the top of the swing without much effort.
But it was their playground. It was the playground closest to their houses, and with the small facilities proved the perfect place to play. And play there they did; Moca couldn't begin to imagine how many hours a week she spent trying to reach higher than Tomoe on the swings.
This wasn't the first time Moca had tried to get a clear and coherent answer from Ran since leaving the Aoba household. Unfortunately for Moca, Ran had been surprisingly stubborn in staying quiet. So quiet that the vocalist didn't even respond to Moca's question as they entered the playground.
Instead of acknowledging Moca's questions, Ran kept walking at a brisk pace until she reached the swings. Once there, Ran seemed to struggle to decide what to do for a moment before sitting on one of the swings. Unfortunately, as she was a teenager now, the only way for Ran to sit on this swing comfortably was to stretch her legs. With the creaking of the metal chains holding her up and the light, zephyr-like breeze blowing through her hair, Ran decided that this was as comfortable as she would get.
Ran didn't show any sign that she was even aware of Moca's presence once the vocalist was on the swing. The slow, rhythmic back-and-forth motion of the swing coupled with the cool air brushing against her cheeks was enough to keep Ran quiet. But not because she was actively ignoring her best friend…
Seeing Ran's actions, Moca decided to mirror them by sitting on the swing by Ran's side. On more than one occasion it seemed like Moca was on the verge of breaking the silence. Somehow, the guitarist managed to keep quiet and watched the clouds crawl around in the early-evening sky.
After what felt like hours since arriving at the playground, Ran took a deep breath and steeled herself for what was to come. What she had brought upon herself.
"You're not being honest. Not to yourself or to any of us," Ran's voice was barely above a whisper as she said those words. The irony in her being the one to say that did not go over Ran's head, but she decided to push this feeling to the back of her mind for now. She had other, much bigger problems to deal with than being a hypocrite, "So tell me what's going on. You'll break us apart if you keep going like this."
"Speaking from experience, huh, Ran?" Moca grumbled in annoyance. Ran couldn't tell whether Moca meant for Ran to hear her or if Moca just spoke louder than she wanted to. Whatever Moca's intention, Ran had to hide her flinching from Moca, masking it by staring at the moon in the sky. Thankfully for Ran, Moca didn't seem to notice. Instead, Moca was considering Ran's words carefully before finally accepting that Ran had a point, "All right, you got me. Moca-chan will properly apologize to the others tomorrow."
"Now let's go back inside, it's starting to get cold here and Moca-chan is hungry," Moca began, already standing up from her position on the swing. After stretching her arms above her head, smiling contently at the sound her shoulders made, Moca turned to face Ran and offered the vocalist her hand, "Ran?"
But Ran made no move to accept the hand in front of her face. As a matter of fact, Ran showed no sign that she even registered Moca had stood up, to begin with. It was only after Moca had retracted her hand that Ran's body moved.
"Fair warning before I say something I might regret: my patience is wearing thin," Ran muttered under her breath, her hands trembled in their effort to hold the metallic chains holding her up. After taking a deep breath, Ran looked up and glared at her friend, "You're avoiding my question, Aoba Moca."
The combination of the look Ran was giving her and the tone the vocalist used to address her by her full name left Moca physically winded. The stinging sensation she felt in her face was akin to being slapped, and for once Moca was at a loss for words. What could she say in response to Ran's blunt but not inaccurate accusation?
Only one road was available for Moca to take.
"Moca-chan really can't hide anything from Ran, huh?" although phrased as a question, Moca's tone made it come off as a statement, instead. Ran, who wasn't used to seeing this new side of Moca, needed a few moments to properly process what Moca had said. In this period, Moca remained silent and surprisingly stoic, resulting in a period of silence between the two of them. The two friends continued staring at one another until Ran broke the silence.
"About as much as I can hide things from you," Ran admitted with a defeated smile, deciding it would not hurt to give Moca's ego a bit of a boost now. Moca laughed at Ran's comment before taking her place back on the swing, "So… ready to talk yet?"
"I guess… Moca-chan was really happy when we found that baby buoy a few days ago," Moca began after a few tense seconds of silence. The memory of how poorly the members of Afterglow survived in the game before the manual's discovery resulted in a chuckle from Moca, "Tomo-chin and Hii-chan weren't doing that well, and Tsugu was too flustered to be of much use, either. And then the baby buoy gave us everything we needed to know…"
"You're still upset we never learned the significance of Lotus' color, aren't you?" although phrased as a question, Ran already knew what Moca's response would be like. What Ran didn't expect was how quickly Moca's head began bopping up and down. Momentarily distracted by this realization, Ran took a moment to think of the right words to say next, "Then… we should find out as soon as possible."
"What are you talking about, Ran?" Moca asked her friend, trying to see if Ran was serious. When Moca couldn't find a sign of deception, she took an exaggerated sigh before looking up at the skies above, "Where's the fun in getting a shortcut like that? Growing from the insufferable and harsh mud after heavy rainfall, the Lotus shall bloom with patience and in peace. Or something like that, right?"
It took Ran exactly two seconds before she realized what Moca was saying. As realization dawned on the sole daughter of the Mitake household, her friend was staring at her with a sheepish grin.
"You've done your homework," Ran noted in surprise and mild disbelief. The admission came as much as a shock for Moca as it did for Ran. Ran just happened to be the first of the two to recover, "But are you sure you don't feel bad about falling behind to everyone else?"
"Of course I am. I'm no Tsugu, but everyone in Afterglow wants the same thing: we want to stay who we are forever. And falling behind everybody else frustrates us as we become nothing more than a burden," Moca began with a small smile, no longer worried about choosing her words carefully. Trusting Ran to not make a fool of Moca in front of their friends like Moca would have had their positions been reversed, Moca continued, "But… there has to be a reason why Lotus is the odd one out and why there was no information on her color."
"There is obviously a reason…" Moca trailed off as she considered the possibilities. All four of Moca's friends had avatars whose colors were not only well-defined but also explained in the beginner's manual. Colors that locked the four players in a very specific playing style to maximize on their avatar's strengths.
'Everybody but Moca-chan… so why…?' Moca thought to herself, slowly blocking off her senses to focus on her thoughts. Knowing that she needed every last bit of her mental strength to figure out what made Lotus' color so unique from the other avatars Moca had seen so far.
"Ah!"
"Figured something out?" Ran asked, noticing the change in Moca's posture immediately. Although not nearly as observant as her friends were, Ran managed to pick up a trick or two over the years they have been together. Amongst these was the ability to see when Moca had figured something out.
"Perhaps, but it's still just a theory right now. Though having said that, that does remind Moca-chan…" Moca trailed off with a familiar glint in her eyes. A glint that Ran recognized only all too well.
Unfortunately for Ran, her reaction time was just a bit too slow to avoid Moca grabbing on to her jacket. Ran only attempted to break free for a few seconds before turning slack, allowing Moca to pull her off the swing.
"Ran came all this way to Moca-chan to help Moca-chan, right?" Moca asked Ran the moment the two girls saw eye-to-eye again. Ran, still out of it after being pulled so quickly, could only bob her head in response, "Perfect, then we're testing it out. And Moca-chan needs Ran's help."
"How can I help?" Ran asked slowly, the uncertainty the vocalist felt seeping into her voice. While she wanted to help Moca, Moca's sudden declaration had caught Ran by surprise. It almost felt like Ran was reading the book that was Aoba Moca, but in doing so was missing a handful of pages in the middle.
"Oh, Moca-chan needs Endymion more than Ran. But I suppose I need Ran as well then," Moca added the last sentence after a momentary pause for effect, a smirk dancing on her lips as she relished the reaction she received from Ran. Moca's smile faltered soon after, but before Ran could ask her what was wrong, Moca was already speaking again, "Thank you… I needed this."
"Don't mention it," Ran muttered softly, but just loud enough for Moca to still be able to hear her. Having hoped that Moca would have carried the conversation from there, Ran was chagrined to find out that was not the case, "If that's all, then we should probably head back now. Test your theory with Endymion and then get some rest before tomorrow."
"Ran can go ahead and head home first. My home is closer, so Ran will need the head-start," Moca explained with a nonchalant shrug. Ran saw no fault in Moca's logic, so she bid Moca farewell and left the playground.
In contrast to her words, Moca did not immediately head home. Instead, Moca inhaled the cool evening air to rejuvenate herself while feeling her stress wash away as she exhaled. With a calmer and clearer mind, she left the swings and shuffled over to where the smaller of the two slides was.
Seeing the slide brought back a wave of memories for Moca, but she managed to push these thoughts to the back of her mind. She wasn't here to reminisce, or at least she didn't want to reminisce so quickly.
As soon as Moca was standing beside the slide she fully realized how small the playground was. A decade ago when she was about to enter elementary school, Moca thought the slide to be… not gigantic by any means, but still a respectable height to play with. It even took some coaxing from Moca and Tomoe before Himari was willing to climb the slide for the first time. Now that she was a senior high school student, Moca was taller than the slide. Not by a significant margin, but taller nonetheless.
Against her better judgment, Moca did not spend more time looking at the slide than what was absolutely necessary. Instead, she knelt by the slide's side and placed her hand against one of the pillars supporting the slide. Peeking up right above her fingertips were the messily inscribed names of Moca and her friends.
Moca remembered that day as if it were yesterday and, as soon as the guitarist closed her eyes, could see the events of that day play out in her mind. Tsugumi's parents were considering moving a few cities away, which would have meant their time together as a group of five was limited. Himari managed to pull that information from a hysterical Tsugumi bawling her eyes out. But neither Himari nor any of their other friends knew what they could do to ease the brunette's worries.
That was until Ran had suggested trying to mark their names somewhere, leaving physical proof of their bond. An idea that quickly gained popularity among the little group. That was, of course, until Moca took matters into her own hands.
'Tsugu ended up staying here, and we've been inseparable since,' Moca thought to herself with a smile. As she allowed herself to drift off into her memories, Moca used her fingertips to trace over the characters carved into the metal, 'Red, green, blue, yellow… and it took me this long to realize where the black comes in. I've really been blind to the truth all this time, haven't I? I just hope everyone can forgive me for this.'
Not wanting to come home to an angered Ran for making the vocalist wait too long, Moca gathered her strength. She tore her gaze away from the playground, stood up, and headed back home.
'Moca-chan has a theory to test. And for the sake of Afterglow, Moca-chan cannot fail!'
"There we go!" Moca announced, beaming at the sight shown on her screen. The guitarist's feelings of satisfaction distracted Moca from the reaction of her friend. Ran, who was watching over Lotus' shoulder from Endymion's perspective, was completely speechless.
After meeting up with Ran once again, this time in the virtual world, the two girls had to settle a dispute real quick. Despite her earlier declaration that she wanted to help Moca, Ran was already showing signs of fatigue. As a result, the vocalist wanted to finish aiding Moca in testing her theory and go to bed soon after.
Moca, on the other hand, did not want to reveal her findings to Ran in their usual training grounds. According to Moca, it would be too dangerous, and Moca wanted to find a barren, deserted area instead to minimize the amount of damage she could do to the terrain.
The two girls were arguing over which opinion held the most merit for a few minutes before Ran finally relented. Although Ran's exhaustion won her a consolation price: it convinced Moca to not move too far away.
Lotus and Endymion spent five minutes relocating to the edge of the desert. And, mere seconds since their arrival, they had already left their mark on the area. Or Lotus had, at the very least.
A deep gash decorated the ground, courtesy of Moca and Lotus.
"I think that means I had the right idea after all," Moca grinned as Lotus' blades faded back to their original obsidian black color. Almost instinctually, Moca turned to Ran and added, "What do you think, Endymion?"
"How are you… the same Lotus who had trouble defeating one wyvern earlier?" Ran wondered out loud, throwing caution and formalities out the window. The bewilderment and amazement Ran felt seeing what her best friend was now capable of was leaving her speechless. For a few seconds, at least, "How did you figure it out?"
"It was… difficult," Moca admitted, happy that Ran could not see the sheepish smile on Moca's face. Knowing that Ran would be persistent enough to continue digging until she received a proper answer put Moca in an awkward position. On the one hand, Moca wanted to share her findings with her friends and hear them praise her for it.
On the other hand, Moca held a strong weapon in the form of knowledge that the other members of Afterglow lacked.
"I know what you are thinking, Moca, and it won't work," Ran's voice warned Moca, dragging the guitarist away from her thoughts. Moca had a feeling she knew what Ran was going to say next, and Moca's predictions were confirmed soon after, "If you know something that propels you far enough ahead from everybody else… I don't think I need to tell you how badly Tsugumi or even Tomoe will start to push themselves to try and catch up to you."
"I know I know, Endymion is right… again," Moca added the last bit reluctantly with an exaggerated, drawn-out sigh. Despite the tone that she used, Moca knew that Ran was right. And, not wanting to be responsible for Tsugumi to be admitted to the hospital again, Moca knew what she needed to do, "That baby buoy was the start of it. It had information on the colors of everybody else, and some colors we haven't seen yet. It didn't tell us what Lotus was strong in, but in a way… it kind of did."
"The truth about Black Lotus," Moca trailed off, staring at her avatar's featureless face and smiling at what she saw. These past three days had Moca see herself fall to trying to catch up to all her friends. But now that she was starting to learn how to properly use her avatar she could barely contain her excitement.
"You'll never believe it, Ran~!"
And… yeah, I am going to cut the chapter off right here. I know I know, cliffhanger and all, but I have to make people want to look forward to the next chapter, right?
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!