Right on to the next chapter we go~. Today's chapter is a little bit shorter than usual, to which I can say a few things. Mainly that the original "typical chapter length" was supposed to be "at least three thousand words", and then it slowly shifted to three thousand five hundred.
And sometimes some chapters have a more obvious "cut-off point" while others need to be expanded a little before they can be ended. This chapter just happened to have an easier cut-off point and trying to write more for the sake of reaching an arbitrary word count goal would make the chapter feel dragging.
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
"Lotus-chan and Moon-san won. Chaos-chan and I weren't even able to see Chaos-chan fight," Tsugumi admitted in disbelieve, the brunette's words barely reaching Ran's ears. Ran was too focused on suppressing her disbelief at what she was seeing.
Rinko fell silent as she took in the words of the yellow-colored avatar. Of course, there wasn't any doubt in Rinko's mind that Moon would survive the first round. In fact, Rinko knew that she would be more surprised had she seen Moon fall before she would.
This did not take away from the horror that the realization of needing to fight Moon brought with it, however.
'What should I do? The only reason why we won that first round was thanks to Endymion-san knowing what Chaos-san and Peace-san would do, and my abilities were an unknown to them,' Rinko thought to herself, never as grateful as she was in that moment that nobody could see her. She didn't want to admit it, but Rinko knew that her first fight could have gone either way. She just lucked out and happened to be on the winning side of that fight, yeah that was the only logical explanation.
There was no reasonable way that she could pull off another win if she were to fight against Moon. Moon had been playing with her since Rinko had started the game and was already an established player at that point. What hope did Rinko have against Moon?
'Not only does Moon-san know everything that I can do, but I do not know everything that Moon-san can do. And how would I? Moon-san has never needed to use their full strength in front of me,' Rinko worried, feeling slight dizziness overtake her. But it wasn't the fact that she would be powerless against Moon that affected Rinko the most. No, to Rinko, there was a different issue that weighed heavier on her shoulders than that, 'What if I can't be a good supporting figure to Endymion-san in the next round?'
"Kite-san!"
Rinko shook awake when she heard her avatar's name be called. Looking up and around her to find the source of the voice, Rinko found that it was Amber Moon who had called out to her. Moon had rejoined them with Black Lotus, who was currently busy talking with their friends a little bit away. Moon must have noticed that Rinko was acting strange and chose to approach and check in on her.
"I-I'm fine, just a little distracted," Rinko answered her mentor's question. As it turned out, this was not a lie, so Rinko didn't feel any guilt for not saying what was truly bothering her. Instead, Rinko chose to try and shift the focus of the conversation to something else, "Congratulations on your first win, Moon-san."
"Likewise. I would have liked to congratulate you before I had to move to my first round, but unfortunately, it was not meant to be," Moon responded solemnly, and Rinko could almost see the disappointed face on Moon's face. How she could see an expression on a face she had never seen before was beyond her, but Rinko wasn't given the opportunity to put much thought on this issue, "And since we both managed to win our first rounds, you understand what that means, right?"
"Yes… Moon-san and I will have to fight in the second round to determine who gets to move to the next round," Rinko muttered softly to herself. She wasn't sure if Moon would be able to hear what she had just said, but Rinko knew that she didn't need to be audible. What she had just said was common knowledge, and Moon wasn't the type of person to overlook something like that, "Only one of us can continue our challenge to the top while the other will be eliminated, just like Chaos-san and Peace-san were."
"Are you having second thoughts now?" Moon's question came as a surprise for Rinko, but perhaps a bigger surprise for the keyboardist was that she realized she did not know the answer. She wasn't sure how she felt or how she was going to face the upcoming round. But that wasn't the start of her worries.
'I thought I had promised Moon-san that we would have a genuine, serious fight,' Rinko dug her nails in her palms, something she knew she'd regret tomorrow. But that would be an issue for the Rinko in the future; the Rinko in the present needed to maintain her composure in whatever way she needed to use, 'Then why… why do I feel like this?'
"If you are having second thoughts about fighting me, then I suggest you should change your mind," Moon's calm and surprisingly comforting voice shook Rinko out of her train of thoughts. Changing how she felt about the upcoming round? If Rinko knew how to do that she would have already done so!
Almost as if Moon could read what Rinko was thinking about, they spoke again, "Just look at those friends. Do they look like they are burdened by the fact that they are fighting each other?"
Rinko shifted her attention to see what Moon was talking about. Standing far enough away to not be within Rinko's direct field of vision, but close enough to where she could hear what they were saying, were Endymion and Lotus. Rinko knew that the two of them must have been close as Endymion had started the game together with their friends.
But despite knowing that only one of them would win the second round of the tournament to make it to the quarterfinals, they were chatting casually with each other. They were joking about something that Rinko did not pick up, but they were laughing and having fun. Rinko could even hear Chaos laughing, the early exit from the tournament clearly no longer affecting the blue-colored avatar.
"Do you understand now, Kite-san?" Moon asked her protégé, but their words were not needed to be said. Rinko had seen and heard enough, and she was already reconsidering her options. She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear what Moon had said next.
'I… was such an idiot,' Rinko chastised herself. What was she so afraid of? Why was she hesitating so much? That's right, there was no reason for her to feel this way. What mattered to her was trying her best and enjoying the game. Whether she'd win or lose would come later and should not stop her from playing like she always has.
Rinko then turned to Moon and was about to tell the more experienced player the decision she had come to. But the words were stuck in Rinko's throat and wouldn't get out. The moment Rinko faced the amber-colored avatar, she could see the avatar… smiling at her.
'But our avatars don't show facial expressions,' Rinko wondered with a small frown. All kinds of possibilities floated around in her head, ranging from Rinko seeing things to her having imagined it. In the time she spent thinking about this Rinko barely recognized that she had yet to properly respond to Moon.
"S-Sorry about that, Moon-san," Rinko said hurriedly, annoyed at herself for making Moon wait so long. Moon, for their part, either did not mind that Rinko took some time to respond or did not voice their irritation, so Rinko tried to say something else, "As promised, I will do my best in this round. Moon-san has helped me get this far and now it is my turn to show Moon-san what I can really do."
"Do not get too overconfident," Moon responded, and Rinko couldn't help but flinch at the words. It was only after she thought back to Moon's words that she realized Moon wasn't scolding her. No, the tone in which Moon spoke was telling a completely different story to Rinko, "Keep your mind clear on the battlefield. When we face each other, we do so not as players who played together but as rivals aiming to reach the very top."
"Of course. Moon-san, please do not hold back against me, either," Rinko said before she realized not only what she had said but also how it must have come across as. Fortunately for her, she didn't need to apologize for her bluntness; Moon had already reassured Rinko that they would face her with everything that they had.
This relief was accompanied by a sense of dread and anxiousness. How did Rinko plan to face and defeat Moon?
"Congratulations, Endymion-chan, Lotus-chan!" Tsugumi said happily, her disappointment of being eliminated in the tournament's first stage overshadowed by her desire to support and cheer her friends on. But even Tsugumi's cheerfulness couldn't hide her worries, "But this means that you two have to fight each other? Are… Are you two going to be okay?"
"I just fought against you and Chaos, I think I will be able to handle fighting Lotus as well," Ran responded dryly. The truth was that Ran was feeling conflicted having to face Moca, but she didn't want to show this unease. Moca wasn't one to let that kind of weakness go, and Ran wasn't about to give Moca an advantage before the fight had even begun.
'There's no doubt that Moca is the best in Lilac Blaze amongst the five of us,' Ran begrudgingly admitted to herself as she thought back to all the fights that she remembered Moca was in. Ever since Moca learned what Lotus' strength was, she was only improving and getting further away from the rest of Afterglow. Of course, Moca kept her true strength a secret in fear of intimidating her friends but Ran knew that she wasn't the only one who had noticed Moca's growth.
'There has to be something I can use to get an upper hand against Moca,' Ran thought to herself. Unfortunately for Ran, no matter how much she raked her brain she couldn't think of a solution. Moca was the better player and Lotus was the better avatar. To make matters worse for Ran, she knew that this second round would be much different than the first, 'Even though my opponents in the first and second rounds were fairly similar in terms of playstyle, it's going to be different. Moca is much stronger than Tomoe, and the wild card is Amber Moon-san. What kind of game will you be bringing to the second round and how will you pair up with Moca?'
"Endymion? Hello~?"
Ran jolted in her seat, not realizing how lost in thought she had gotten. After a quick and sheepish apology to her friends, Ran realized that she had better ask her friends what they had been talking about. Ran took a deep breath and prepared to endure Moca's jabs and bit the bullet.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay in the second round against Moon-san and me?" Moca asked in a tone of voice that Ran hadn't expected.
The vocalist had expected Moca to act all smug or make fun of her for how distracted she was. The last thing that Ran had expected was for Moca to sound genuinely worried about her, and Moca wasn't the only one.
"If Endymion-chan isn't feeling well then please get some rest. Did you make sure you had enough to eat and drink today?" Tsugumi chimed in, and Ran had to quickly mute her microphone to stop the retort from reaching the brunette's ears.
Ran knew that this response would have been exclusively fueled by impulse and that it wasn't fair to direct it at Tsugumi. Ran's friends only wanted the best for her, and Ran was well aware of this fact.
"Yeah, everything is okay. Sorry, I must have zoned out or something thinking about the next round," Ran responded as quickly and truthfully as possible. When none of her friends commented on what she had said, Ran knew that she was in the clear. With the pressure to reassure her friends now no longer affecting her, Ran decided to take a page out of Moca's book, "After all, this is my chance to fight Lotus and finally beat you."
Immediately after those words left Ran's mouth, she could hear the hearty laughter from one of her friends. But this laugh didn't come from Moca…
"You? Beat Lotus? Yeah, that's likely to happen," Tomoe wheezed, and Ran could clearly imagine the look on the redhead's face as Tomoe laughed a hearty laugh. Once a few seconds had passed and Tomoe calmed down enough to make complete and coherent sentences again, Ran listened to what her friend still wanted to say, "Not to sound like a sore loser or anything, but the fight you had against Peace and me was much closer than you might think it was."
"And we all know that Lotus is the best amongst us," Tomoe added after a moment of hesitation. Ran didn't know if this pause was because Tomoe was unwilling to admit that Moca was better than her or because Tomoe didn't want to stroke Moca's ego. Knowing Tomoe, it could very well have been either option.
"I know, but this fight isn't one where it's just Lotus against me," Ran reasoned, trying her hardest to keep her voice calm and steady. And that wasn't the only reason for Ran to have high hopes for the next round. Or, rather, higher hopes than she normally would have, "Besides, after eliminating Peace and Chaos… as much as I would like to just play the same always and have fun, I can't go easy now, right?"
A short period of silence followed where Moca, Tomoe, and Tsugumi did not respond to what Ran had said. When seconds were slowly approaching the point at which they would turn to minutes, Ran was starting to worry. Did she say something wrong? Should she not have said what she did?
Just as Ran was about to open her mouth and ask her friends what was happening, someone else decided to speak up.
"That's good. That's very good. I am glad that Endymion is feeling that way after you're the reason why Chaos and Peace can't participate anymore," Moca began, choosing to ignore the very indignant cry of 'Lotus-chan!' that followed. Instead, Moca kept talking as if she was never interrupted in the first place, "All jokes aside, it's good that you feel motivated. The two of us have to carry on winning, not just for our sake but for our friends' sake as well."
"It's just a shame that we had to fight each other so soon. By the end of the second round and only one of us can make it to the third round," Moca said in a soft, somber tone, and this sentiment was shared by the rest of her friends. After a second or two of silence, Moca made a noise as if she wanted to say something.
But judging on the way Moca stopped mid-sentence, Ran could only assume something else had caught Moca's interest.
"Sorry, it looks like Moon-san is motioning for me to join them. Endymion, you should probably discuss strategies with Kite-san as well," Moca added the second part quickly, and Ran couldn't tell if Moca was trying to help or tease her. Knowing Moca, it could very well have been both.
Having said what she had to say, Moca made Lotus turn around and start walking in the direction that Moon was waiting for her. Two steps in, however, Lotus paused and stopped moving. Ran was about to ask Moca what was wrong but was ultimately interrupted by Moca herself.
"Endymion, if you feel worried about your fight with me, then please don't. Relax and have fun, that's what games are supposed to be about," Moca said in a surprisingly calm voice. So calm, even, that Ran was left completely speechless. Fortunately for Ran, Moca would soon speak again to lift the responsibility of breaking the silence from Ran's shoulders, "Play and have fun, whoever ends up winning is just the one who happened to have won today. I will see you in the upcoming fight."
Without saying another word, Moca left the group as Lotus walked away. Moca's departure changed the group of four to a group of three, and none of them knew how to properly break the silence that Moca had left them in. Finally, after a few moments had passed, somebody said something.
"Endymion-san, shall we go to the battlefield?" Kite, who seemed to have appeared to the right of Red's avatar, asked. Ran barely stopped herself from voicing her surprise, but Tsugumi was not so lucky.
To save Tsugumi the embarrassment of being confronted for having made the sound that she did, Ran knew that she had to step in.
"Of course, I will be right with you," Ran said, receiving a mumbled noise of acknowledgment from Kite. Kite understood the implied meaning behind Ran's words and gave Ran some privacy with her friends. Ran took this opportunity to face Tomoe and Tsugumi and grasp for the right words she needed, "So, Chaos, Peace, um…"
"Good luck in your next fight!" Tomoe said without any form of hesitation, interrupting Ran and stopping the vocalist from finishing her sentence. Even without being in the same room as Tomoe, Ran could very clearly see the big grin that was undoubtedly plastered on the redhead's face right now.
Tomoe's words were accompanied by Tsugumi chipping in and saying that she agreed with Tomoe. Tsugumi would follow this up by saying that she would be cheering for Ran, but also the guilty admission that she'd be doing the same for Moca.
'Tomoe's as outgoing and in-your-face as always, and Tsugumi's being as supportive as she's ever been,' Ran thought to herself with a smile, happy and relieved that their first-round exit hadn't changed anything about Tomoe's or Tsugumi's behavior. They were still the same as they have always been, and Ran knew that she could enter her next fight with a clear mind.
"Ready or not, Lotus, here I come!" Ran announced before she rushed after Kite to prepare for her second round's battle.
And that is all for today's chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!