There actually is not a whole lot to talk about now at the start of the chapter, especially with it being a direct continuation from the previous chapter. That said, I am not sure if I have specified this before one way or another, so I figured I might as well confirm it right now. I am not planning to write most if not all the other characters from the franchise into the story (who have not made an appearance already, obviously). I don't feel like I can properly do them any justice and writing a character poorly just for the sake of having that character make an appearance… that's just not my style at all.
That being said, I am not ruling out the possibility of sneaking in a character or two for a scene or two. After all, as amazing as Afterglow is, they don't live in a world of only Afterglow and Rinko and *insert Amber Moon's owner here*…
Disclaimer: I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party nor do I, in any way, shape, or form, intend to pretend that I do.
Ran pressed the button to call the person, held the phone to her ear, and prayed that the other person would pick up the call. The phone rang once. The phone rang twice. With each second that passed Ran could feel her worries grow; what if the other person wouldn't pick up the phone? By the fifth ring, when Ran had almost given up all hope, she finally got through.
"Hello, it's me," Ran said the moment the person on the other end of the call picked up her phone. Already Ran was feeling the urge to turn tail, but she knew she could not afford to do that. Ran would not let herself make the same mistake multiple times if she could help it.
Gathering all the willpower Ran had left, she took a deep breath before speaking once again, "I know it is getting late, but we need to talk. Do you have a moment?"
Ran took a deep breath after she had explained herself to the person on the other line, finding that she was much more winded than she thought she would be. As she did this, Ran barely registered the other person asking her if she was okay. A question Ran was unable to respond to right away.
"Sorry about that… and about calling you so suddenly like this," Ran muttered softly through the phone, hoping that her subdued voice would still be audible to the other person. When she did not receive an immediate response, Ran tried asking her earlier question again, "Do you have a moment, Tsugumi?"
"Of course I do, Ran-chan! Just give me a few minutes to tell my parents I will be up for a bit."
Waiting long enough for Ran to voice her acknowledgment and understanding, Tsugumi placed her phone to the side and hurried off. Ran waited long enough for Tsugumi's footsteps to be drowned out before letting out the breath she did not know she was holding. It was only then that Ran realized that she had a problem.
What was she supposed to even talk about with Tsugumi? Even though Ran knew she had a vague idea of what she wanted to say, she also knew that she could not trust herself to properly convey her thoughts. Ran didn't have the best track record when it came to opening up to and being honest with her friends, after all.
So instead, Ran took the opportunity to take a deep breath. It was Tsugumi she was talking to, and Ran picked the brunette for such an occasion for a reason. Well, two reasons, if Ran had to be honest to herself: she had to specifically ask Tsugumi a few things and, more importantly, Ran knew that Tsugumi would not make fun of her for doing so.
Knowing that Tsugumi could return at any moment and that the brunette would expect Ran to know what she wanted to talk about, Ran made a split-second decision. She was never particularly good at expressing herself on the spot, so why not make a quick list for herself to help her when Tsugumi came back.
It did not take Ran long to figure out the general theme of the questions she wanted to ask Tsugumi. And much to the vocalist's surprise, Ran found that it was getting increasingly easier for her to write down her thoughts than trying to come up with the thoughts at a moment's notice. Before long, Ran had managed to fill up the better part of the sheet of paper she was writing on… and Tsugumi had yet to return.
By the time Ran could hear her friend's voice through the call, the vocalist was satisfied with the amount of progress she had made.
"Sorry for the delay, Ran-chan," Tsugumi said as soon as she got back to the call. Ran could hear the soft panting and uneven breathing of her friend through the call, and she was moved by the energy Tsugumi clearly put into being there for her, "So what did you need me for?"
"I wanted to ask you a few things about that game Moca got us into. Specifically, what your thoughts on the game are," Ran began her explanation, knowing that she should not beat around the bush around Tsugumi. Despite this knowledge, Ran was having difficulties kicking herself into doing just that.
'Calm down, take a deep breath, and… try again, Ran,' these were the words Ran told herself in her mind. Fortunately, these words succeeded in helping Ran regain her composure enough to try again.
"It's clear that Moca and Tomoe are having the time of their lives playing Lilac Blaze. It's also obvious that the only reason Himari is still playing is that she doesn't want to be the only one of us to not be involved," Ran added that second sentence quickly after remembering how Himari was playing the game with them. Shaking these thoughts out of her head, Ran moved on to asking Tsugumi a few questions, "What about you? How do you feel about the game?"
Ran stopped talking and waited, allowing Tsugumi the time and space to come up with an answer. But Tsugumi did not respond right away, or within a few seconds and Ran was starting to grow uneasy at the silence.
By the time almost a minute had passed, Ran finally heard Tsugumi's response.
"To tell you the truth… I don't know yet."
"What do you mean?" Ran hesitated at first to ask the question, but she could not suppress her curiosity; she needed to know. Not only because Ran wanted to know Tsugumi's feelings, but also because Ran knew that Tsugumi's feelings could be the turning point of whether they should continue playing. If more people enjoyed the game than disliked it, perhaps there was a chance to convince Himari to take a different look at it.
"I can't keep it to myself, everyone will figure it out eventually. But please promise me that you will not tell the others about this, I want to be the one to tell them myself," Tsugumi added her condition hastily before Ran had an opportunity to comment. Despite the distance between the two girls, Ran could see the fear in the brunette's eyes like she could hear it in her voice. And so, Ran did her best to reassure Tsugumi that her secret would be safe with her… and only then did Tsugumi start opening up to Ran.
"I was never really into these kinds of video games. And because of that, I haven't looked into the game's mechanics and lore and strategies and such in the same way that Moca-chan or Tomoe-chan have," Tsugumi began after a small pause to calm herself down, "When Moca-chan is motivated at something, she is really motivated. Tomoe-chan has a 'hates to lose' attitude, so Tomoe-chan becomes super competitive with Moca-chan. And I am sure that Ran-chan feels the same way I do: it's hard trying to keep up with Moca-chan and Tomoe-chan when they go at it at full speed."
Ran did not respond to Tsugumi's implied question but, in a way, the silence Ran provided was an answer in and of itself. Ran knew that Tsugumi was right; Moca and Tomoe were the two girls who were the most dedicated and invested in the game by a significant margin. Which meant that Ran was left huffing and puffing trying her hardest just to keep up.
"But what about—?" Ran began, but before she could formulate a full sentence she was already interrupted.
"It doesn't matter, Ran-chan. We all worried about the same thing: can the five of us remain as close as we have always been all these years?" Tsugumi asked Ran in a warm and gentle voice, but the brunette did not give Ran any time to actually answer the question, "I don't want to lose Ran-chan. I don't want to lose Moca-chan, Himari-chan, or Tomoe-chan, either. But the way things were going we would eventually fall apart and lose each other. I never wanted that!"
"Ah! Sorry, Ran-chan, I didn't mean to yell in your ear," Tsugumi quickly uttered her apology when she realized the volume at which she had said the previous sentence. Ran did not waste any time in reassuring the keyboardist that everything was fine, but Tsugumi needed a few moments to pick up where she had left off.
"And then Moca-chan came to us one day and gave us a lifeline in the form of this game. Moca-chan loves it, Tomoe-chan finally has another thing she can talk about with Ako-chan, and then the rest of us…" Tsugumi trailed off, letting her words linger in Ran's mind in the process. Ran understood exactly where Tsugumi was going with this, but she never had to be the person to bring it up; Tsugumi seemed more than happy to do that for Ran.
"I see the game as a way for us to stay together. I don't hate it, so I try my best to keep up with everyone. Moca-chan went out of her way to find this for us, so it is only right for me to give it a fair shot. It has already proven itself in being able to keep us together this long, so I am optimistic that it was the right decision to join Moca-chan," Tsugumi continued, and Ran could feel herself nod in agreement at the sentiment. But Tsugumi was not finished talking just yet, "And to be perfectly honest… I am enjoying the game a lot more than I thought I would. So, I should thank Moca-chan tomorrow for introducing it to me. And for giving me something else to fall back and rely on to keep our friendship strong."
"I see," Ran muttered, more to herself than to her friend as she allowed her brain the time it needed to process Tsugumi's words. Not wanting to keep Tsugumi waiting too long, Ran forced herself to talk again, "Thank you for sharing your opinion."
"I'm happy I could help," Tsugumi said, and Ran could feel the radiant smile on the brunette's face despite being unable to see it directly. Ran was then ready to end the call, but someone else had a different idea, "But since we are already talking, what about Ran-chan?"
"What about me?" Ran asked, wondering where Tsugumi was going with this. Ran had an idea what Tsugumi was referring to but, having known someone like Aoba Moca effectively her entire life, Ran knew that she should never just assume things.
"What does Ran-chan think of Lilac Blaze?" Tsugumi specified her question this time, confirming Ran's earlier suspicion in the process. However, although Ran had seen this question coming, she still needed some time to think of her response. Time that Tsugumi interpreted to mean something else, "Ran-chan?"
"Sorry, give me a bit to think," Ran responded, and Tsugumi made an affirmative-sounding noise. The fact that Ran had to think about how she felt about the game was troubling; if she liked or disliked the game it would have been immediately obvious to Ran what her stance was. But the feeling that Ran was feeling was…
"Indifference. I don't feel strongly one way or another about the game," Ran admitted in a voice that was barely above a whisper. Ran took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and thought about what she had just said, "It's not the same Afterglow as always, and it's not something that most of us thought of doing until Moca brought it up."
"But for what it is worth, I also enjoy the time we spend together in that world," Ran finished, surprising herself with the unfamiliar feeling of her mouth curving up. Ran managed to correct that anomaly quickly, and as she did she realized how grateful she was that nobody saw her. And then her mood dropped the moment she spoke again, "Now all that is left is Himari."
"That's right… only Himari-chan is left…" Tsugumi trailed off again, possibly thinking how to properly convince her pink-haired friend to enjoy the game as much as she did. It quickly became clear to Ran that Tsugumi was not coming to a conclusion quick enough, because Tsugumi's voice was reaching Ran's ear once again, "Sorry, Ran-chan, but I am getting sleepy. I'll see you tomorrow at school?"
"Don't worry about it, and sorry to keep you up so late," Ran added the second part in a bit sheepish of a voice; Ran had forgotten that Tsugumi was not one to regularly stay up late. Apparently, this was obvious even for Tsugumi as Ran could hear the brunette's muffled giggles, "Good night."
"Good night, Ran-chan."
Ran barely heard Tsugumi's final words before Ran lowered her phone and ended the call. She then lowered her phone into her lap and stared off into the distance.
When seconds began to change into minutes, Ran let out an annoyed groan she barely managed to muffle in her arm. Her talk with Tsugumi certainly helped in reassuring Ran that what they were doing was a step in the right direction. That what they were doing had allowed them to grow closer.
'But it is not quite enough… no, it's not just 'not quite enough'; at this rate, it might even tear us apart again,' Ran thought to herself as she thought of the issues they still needed to work on. The obvious issue of the five childhood friends not fully understanding the game yet aside, Ran could see a different, more significant problem they need to work on first, 'Himari. What can we do to get you back to the same Himari as always?'
Ran was not blind or dense, contrary to what some people might have thought. She knew and understood how her friends acted when everything was all right. If one of them started to act differently, then Ran was sure to pick up on the change.
No matter how hard Himari tried to hide it, Ran could still see the change. Tsugumi did, too, as Ran had learned moments ago, and Ran was sure that Moca and Tomoe would at least have noticed that something was wrong.
'I know that our avatars and playstyles are different, but that's not the only thing. Himari would not be this distant if that was the only thing eating away at her,' Ran told herself. And, on second thought, Ran could not really blame Himari for the way the bassist had been pulling away, bit by bit.
"I had trouble with Endymion at the start, too," Ran thought out loud, recalling the first couple of days after the group of friends started playing. Suppressing a shiver from running down her spine, Ran instead tried looking back at how far she had come with Endymion.
Endymion.
Ran had mixed feelings when she found out that Red Endymion would be who she'd be playing as. Being the only person amongst her friend group to have a significantly different style of play was something that took a while for Ran to accept. And that was even ignoring the disappointment Ran felt when she realized she could not customize her character to her heart's content.
At the same time, however, Ran felt a bond between her and her avatar that she could not quite explain. The moment she saw Red Endymion on the screen, Ran could tell that this avatar was perfect for her.
'Endymion and I are connected; just like how I am connected with Moca and the others,' Ran thought to herself as the image of her avatar appeared in her mind. Even now, Ran did not fully understand the significance of the bond she held with her avatar. As a matter of fact, Ran was sure that nobody of Afterglow knew what the bond between them and their respective avatars truly meant.
'But even so… that avatar is a part of me now,' Ran told herself with a firm, determined nod. Ran then took a few moments to decide on what she wanted to do, checked her phone to make sure it would not get too late, and turned her laptop back on, 'Playing Lilac Blaze without everyone else has no use, but that does not mean I cannot do my research. There has to be something out there somewhere that we missed on our first few searches.'
With her desire to learn more about the game and her avatar fueling her, Ran opened her laptop and resumed her search. This was not the first time Ran would try to find out more about the avatar creation process of Lilac Blaze; after being introduced to the game by Moca, Ran had already begun her quest to look for information.
The problem was that Ran's searches always came up short. The only thing that Ran managed to dig up was the process in which avatars were created… something that was not all that helpful in satiating Ran's curiosity.
And even the avatar creation process was something that Moca had already explained to them when the five friends started playing the game.
"I guess I can always ask Moca if she knows anything else," Ran decided after considering her options some more. It was a long shot to try and hope that Moca had answers for her, but as things stood right now Ran knew that it was her best chance.
Ran wanted to spend another few hours on her search, but it was at that moment when a yawn dissuaded the vocalist from doing so. Ran was surprised that she was already this exhausted, but a glance at the clock told her why: it was already well past one in the morning. It had been two hours since her call with Tsugumi had come to an end!
'All right. Get some rest and make Moca tell me everything she knows tomorrow,' Ran told herself, suppressing another yawn from escaping her mouth. It would be a fruitless effort for her if she were to continue now that her eyelids were so heavy, and Ran knew that she should call it a day. As difficult as it was for her to accept that fact.
With a last glance in the direction of her computer, Ran eventually pulled herself together and regretfully tore her gaze away and shut her laptop down.
A bit of a shorter chapter, I know, it's been a busy few weeks for me as of late. I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless of this fact, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time. Take care!