And there we go! Shining Sunlight has surpassed Scarlet Sunlight in terms of word count, and all it took was an extra ten chapters to do it (which… is much more reasonable than I thought it would be).
A special thank you goes to the readers who left a review on the previous chapters! Your support of this story is highly appreciated!
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.
Unfortunately, nobody would know what Moca was about to say.
Moca's voice quickly got replaced by static noise. Tsugumi tried to call out to her friend, but she would never hear a response. Instead, Lotus' body began flickering before it shattered in many light particles in front of Ran's wide eyes. When these particles dissipated, Ran and the other players in the area could see no trace of Black Lotus.
Tsugumi and Kite cried out in surprise while Tomoe tried to call out Moca's name. But Moca wouldn't respond to any of that. The only thing that Tomoe was getting were weird stares from the featureless avatars standing around their little group. And Ran?
Ran stared silently at the spot her best friend had stood before disappearing from her sight.
'Moca?' Ran asked herself silently as she continued to stare at her screen. Black Lotus just disappeared, right when the group was getting comfortable and casual with each other. Now that Moca was gone, how long would the tense and heavy silence continue?
Approximately two seconds as Tsugumi's voice was reaching Ran's ears already.
"I just got a message from Lotus-chan," Tsugumi said, her voice a slightly higher pitch than it usually was. The brunette didn't seem to have noticed that she had become the center of attention. Instead, Tsugumi could be heard fumbling around on her end, the purpose of which Ran couldn't figure out.
"While Peace takes care of whatever it is that you are doing, I can read what Lotus has sent us," Tomoe picked up where Tsugumi had left off, likely having realized that Tsugumi was in no state to continue. Tomoe's hasty interjection was met with a small mumble of appreciation from Tsugumi's end.
As Tomoe began reading what Moca had said, Ran picked up her phone that lay on her table and unlocked it. Sure enough, Ran could see the words that Moca had sent in their group chat. The very same words that were now coming out of Tomoe's mouth.
"Lotus said that she had a few surprise guests visit her and she had to rush to greet them. She also wanted us to tell you that she had fun being your partner in this tournament and apologizes that she couldn't see it through to the end, Moon-san."
"I see. Well, that was an unfortunate way to end this," Moon's muttered response came swiftly after Tomoe had finished reading out Moca's message. After a second of silence, Moon took a deep breath and let out a sigh, "It can't be helped. Such situations can happen, and they can happen at the worse of times. Chaos-san, please tell Lotus-san that it was an honor fighting alongside her and that I look forward to the day we get to team up again."
"What will you do now?" Ran voiced the question that she knew must have been on the minds of everybody. Ran didn't push on from there as she knew that Moon needed some time to process and think of an answer. The news from Moca came as a surprise at what could have been the worst time imaginable. It had left Ran speechless so she could only imagine how Moon must be feeling.
"I do not have much of a choice here, but without my partner to assist me in the upcoming battles, I must withdraw," Moon admitted reluctantly, something that Ran could agree with. Competing in a tournament designed for two-vs-two fights without a partner would be difficult, even for a player like Moon.
A soft sigh reaching Ran's ears shook the vocalist out of her train of thoughts, reminding her that Moon hadn't finished talking yet.
"If I had known that Lotus-san would be withdrawing from this tournament I would have let Kite-san and Endymion-san proceed to the next round instead," Moon mumbled to themselves, loud enough for Ran to be able to pick up on what the experienced player was saying.
Upon realizing what Moon's stance was, Ran had to bite her lip from saying anything in response. Moon was right that Ran and Kite could have been let through to the next round now that Moon had to withdraw. On the other hand, Ran also knew that she hadn't deserved to earn that right. She had been unable to defeat either of her opponents so it would feel unfair to her if she was given the victory.
'Not to mention that we wouldn't have known about Moca being pulled from the game,' Ran reminded herself with a small frown. The vocalist quickly decided against allowing any lingering feelings of annoyance or irritation for her best friend's disappearance, 'Moca was the one who got all of us into playing this game and the one who has worked the hardest to improve. I am sure that she is the one who was looking forward to playing the most.'
"Now that I will be resigning from the tournament, I will go tell my would-be opponents that they have won by default," Moon's announcement was met by various utterances of understanding and acknowledgment. Before walking away from the group, however, Moon added a few words directed at the player that they had been tutoring so far, "Kite-san, I will likely be logging off after I have done so. Also, something else came up for me so I will be unable to join you for the rest of this week, unfortunately. Is next week Thursday possible for you?"
"Ah, um… let me see… yes, that should work for me. And good luck with what you have to be doing instead, Moon-san!" Kite hurriedly added the last part before Moon could leave. Having heard what Kite wanted to say, Moon bid their farewells once again and disappeared into the crowd of players.
This very same crowd urged the remaining four players to find a different spot for them to continue standing around. Tomoe had taken the lead, weaving her way through and creating a path for Ran, Tsugumi, and Kite to follow close behind.
As Ran was sidestepping around two avatars to keep up with Tomoe, a thought crossed her mind. Instead of joining their mentor and friend or closing the game after their elimination, Kite was joining their group. And although having Kite join them wasn't something that Ran was against, it was something she knew she had to bring up later when the time was right.
It would only be a matter of time until the four players managed to find a relatively calm and peaceful area to settle down from the excitement.
"Well… anticlimactic end to this event for us aside, I think we learned a lot here today," Tomoe was the person to break the silence in the group with her statement. Though Ran agreed with the redhead, she also thought that Tomoe could have begun the conversation in a myriad of better ways.
"It's a shame that Lotus-chan and Moon-san couldn't finish the tournament, though," Tsugumi thought out loud as Peace, who had been trailing behind, finally caught up to the others. When Tsugumi realized that she had said something she shouldn't have, she tried to hurriedly rectify her mistake, "Ah, I mean… what shall we do now? Should we stick around and watch the other players fight to try and learn from them?"
"We could, but we wouldn't get any better by simply watching what other people are doing," Ran responded, but her voice sounded foreign even to her ears. To Ran, she could recognize those words… as being the exact ones that Moca would have said. Shaking her head to get rid of these thoughts, Ran tried again, "I say we are better off finding a few enemies and honing our skills against them instead."
"I was about to say the same thing. Not to mention that watching the fight Endymion and Kite-san were in really got me fired up," Tomoe chuckled, much to Ran's amusement. It wasn't common for her and Tomoe to see eye-to-eye with each other. Much to Ran's surprise, however, Tomoe chose to not focus on that discovery, "So where are we heading?"
"I think the usual place works for me. It's no use going out to train and hone our skills if we spend two hours looking for a new area," Ran reasoned without skipping a beat. When nobody responded to Ran's decision, the uneasy vocalist tried to find out what the other three were thinking, "So… to the usual place then?"
"Just a second, I'm answering a message real quick," Tsugumi blurted before Ran could hear several loud noises coming from the brunette's end. After a muffle 'ow' reached Ran's ears, Tsugumi remembered that she had yet to give a proper answer, "I think the usual place is fine. What about you, Kite-san?"
Ran didn't know what Kite had been expecting, but that question was not on the list. A pause that lasted a few seconds followed and a few false starts from Kite were heard before Kite stopped themselves. Ran could imagine Kite was taking a deep breath, or a couple of them, as their voice sounded much calmer and steadier than before.
"Why are you asking me?"
"Why? Well, you're our friend, Kite-san," Tomoe said, the redhead sounding surprised to Ran. Ran wanted to remind her friend that they had only been friends with Kite for an hour or two at most but never got the chance to do so, "You kinda tagged along with us away from Moon-san so we assumed that you wanted to continue playing with us. Sorry, did we assume wrong?"
"Ah, um… no, not really…" Kite admitted softly before trailing off. Ran and Tomoe would patiently wait for their new friend to tell them what had been plaguing their mind. "I would love… to continue playing with Chaos-san… Endymion-san… and Peace-san… it's just… I wasn't expecting to be invited to your group so soon."
Ran was about to blurt out the obvious response that popped up in her mind. But the vocalist successfully stopped herself and, in doing so, bought herself a few seconds to think. Critically think about what she had been on the verge of saying.
'If I was in Kite-san's shoes and my partner's friends suddenly invited me like I had been friends with them for years…' Ran never finished that thought, but she knew what it would have been had she completed her train of thoughts. It would be awkward and weird for Ran to try and keep up with her newfound friends, 'Good thing I stopped myself or we might have—.'
"What are you talking about, Kite-san?" Tomoe asked, sounding genuinely surprised and confused at what Kite had just told her. It only took Ran a second to realize what Tomoe was doing, but by the time she had realized this, it was already too late to stop her friend. Tomoe had opened her big mouth again, "Of course it's fine! The more the merrier and, like I said earlier, anyone who can tolerate Endymion here is all right in my book."
"You know that I can hear you, right?" Ran hissed through gritted teeth, annoyed at the indirect insults Tomoe had slapped in her face. Much to Ran's horror, however, her words didn't seem to worry Tomoe at all. Quite the contrary, even…
Tomoe's hearty laugh rang in Ran's ears and Ran had to quickly mute her microphone. She didn't trust her self-control from not saying she might regret something later. Tomoe might be fishing for an excuse to get back at Ran for the redhead's early exit from the tournament. All Ran had to do was swallow her pride and keep her mouth shut.
"I-In that case… I would love to continue playing with everyone," Kite mumbled in a meek voice, their response quickly met by Tomoe trying to wave away any hesitation and awkwardness in the air. To Tomoe's credit, her direct and outgoing approach to interacting with Kite seemed to be working. Kite sounded much calmer the next time Ran heard their voice, "So… if you don't mind me asking… where are we going? It sounded like Peace-san and Chaos-san already had a place in mind?"
"Oh, right, Kite-san wouldn't know. Yeah, we usually go to the same place to play and increase our characters' strength," Tomoe hurriedly explained to help Kite get up to speed. When Kite confirmed that they were following along so far, Tomoe decided to share more information, "Anyways, the location we go to is called Silent Swamp. Do you know where that is?"
"I do… but why do you go there?" Kite asked before they could stop themselves. Before Ran could even begin to think of a proper response, Kite realized how direct they had phrased their question, "I-I mean… there are many other places that can provide a better training ground with more favorable enemies. The only enemies there are the Baby Drakes."
"It's very possible that there are many places that we can go to if we wanted to get stronger at a faster rate, but that's not the way that we do things," Tsugumi, who had come back to the game at some point without Ran realizing it, responded. After taking a deep breath, Tsugumi picked up where she had left off, "We started playing the game to have fun and grow closer together as friends again. The Baby Drakes of Silent Swamp are at the perfect level where we can enjoy playing and not be at risk of losing the fight."
"I see… in that case, let's set off to the Silent Swamp," Kite announced, taking the first couple of steps away from the group. It wouldn't take Kite very long to realize that they were the only one to have moved. Slowly, almost hesitantly so, Kite tried to find the reason behind this, "Um… is something wrong?"
"No, nothing is wrong, it's something else," Tsugumi began, sounding somewhat uneasy as she did. The brunette tried and failed, to pick up where she had left off, and it was at this moment when Ran realized why. Ran's phone had been lit up with the answer and a glance was all that was needed for Ran to understand.
"Another friend of ours wants to join and we're waiting on the confirmation that she has logged into the game," Ran explained simply, relieving the pressure and responsibility of informing Kite from Tsugumi's shoulders. After hearing Kite's mumbling of affirmation, Ran continued, "Her computer isn't the best so it might take a while. And since we're in a safe zone here we figure it's better to wait here than put ourselves in danger in the swamp."
"I understand. Very well, let's wait here," Kite said and made their way back towards the group. Then, as if Kite wanted to avoid another prolonged period of silence between them, Kite spoke again, "So, um… why didn't your friend join the tournament if she is also playing this game?"
"She had a lot of reasons, but it mostly came down to the fact that she wasn't enjoying the competitive nature of it," Tomoe shrugged, and Ran frowned upon hearing the redhead's words. Ran could only imagine what Himari must be thinking if she knew that Tomoe was talking about her in such a way. If any of them were talking about her in such a way for that matter.
"Speaking of our friend, it looks like she is online now," Ran pointed out quickly before Tomoe could embarrass Himari any more than she already had. After waiting long enough for Tomoe and Tsugumi to check their phones as well, Ran said the words that they were all thinking of, "Are we ready to go then?"
"Sure thing! I'll see everyone there!" Tomoe called out in excitement. The redhead had never been one to wait for a response so before anyone could react to Tomoe's words it was already too late. Blue Chaos had vanished from sight and any words meant for Tomoe's ears wouldn't reach her anymore.
Ran resisted the urge to voice her frustration over her friend's antics. She knew that she wasn't one to talk when it came to annoying habits, but that wasn't the only reason stopping her. Tsugumi was still around and Ran knew better than to say anything negative about her friends in front of the brunette.
"Well then… Chaos-chan is as excited as ever, huh?" Tsugumi muttered sheepishly to try and lighten the mood. When it became apparent that it wasn't working, Tsugumi had to try a different approach, "Um… shall we go as well then? It wouldn't be good for Chaos-chan to be left to her own over there."
Kite was quick to voice their agreement, and Ran? Ran didn't say that she disagreed with Tsugumi's decision. Tsugumi, however, was satisfied enough with the outcome and followed after Tomoe. After a few seconds had passed, Peace would vanish as well.
Ran was about to follow her friends' example and teleport to the designated area, but something stopped her. A single glance in Kite's direction was all it took for Ran to stop and approach the silver-based avatar.
"Is everything all right, Kite-san?" Ran asked carefully as Endymion took another step in Kite's direction. When Kite didn't respond, Ran took this as a sign that she needed to take a different approach, "I apologize for how blunt and direct Chaos was. She's always been that way and she hasn't learned to hold back yet."
"Ah, that… is not it…" Kite trailed off softly, sounding exactly like Ako did when Tomoe caught her sister with her hand in the cookie jar. Ran knew that she had to keep this comment to herself so she kept her mouth shut, finally understanding how Moca regularly feels. Thankfully for Ran, Kite was already speaking again, giving Ran something else to focus on in the process, "It's just… I am still getting used to how Endymion-san and Endymion-san's friends are like."
"Don't worry too much about it, you'll get used to it," Ran said slowly, hoping that the words she used could compensate for the tone in which she said them. Ran was never the best at making others feel better; if anything, Ran noted with a bitter aftertaste in the back of her mouth, it was Ran who usually needed others to make her feel better.
"I understand…" Kite fell silent again soon after muttering those two words. The pause wouldn't last too long, however, as Kite had already gathered their words again soon after, "Endymion-san, you can go ahead and catch up to Peace-san and Chaos-san. I will join Endymion-san shortly, just… give me a few moments, please?"
Ran couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for her newfound friend seeing how much Kite struggled. Ran knew that Kite needed the comfort of a supporting friend in this scenario, but would Ran be capable of being the supporting friend?
The answer that Ran would give was an obvious one: there wasn't much else that could be said in this situation.
"Take your time, Kite-san," Ran reassured Kite, turning away from the Silver-based avatar and opening her menu. If Kite said that they would be right behind her, then all that she had to do was trust in Kite and head out, right?
Hesitantly, almost reluctantly so, Ran pressed the buttons she needed to teleport to the Silent Swamp. After confirming her option, Ran's screen began to fade as Endymion got transported to her destination.
But not before Ran could catch a glimpse of a meek, lonely Kite being left behind.
As stated earlier, Shining Sunlight has officially surpassed Scarlet Sunlight now in terms of word count. Which is… very fitting considering this chapter also marks the end of the first "arc" of Shining Sunlight. Again, not going to confirm the number of arcs that have already been planned out, but now you know the answer is at least two.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed today's chapter. Please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!