And here we are with the next chapter of Shining Sunlight. Yeah, apologies for the delays that this chapter had caused; a lot of things happened irl that I had to deal with and it wouldn't be feasible to update Shining Sunlight in that scenario.

A special thank you goes to Rider and ReiTheMegaMawile for leaving a review since the last time this story got updated. Thanks a lot for your continued support of the series!

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

It had been a full day since that day. One painstakingly long day since Rinko had logged on to Lilac Blaze and entered that tournament with Amber Moon. Despite a single day not being a long time at all, to Rinko, it might as well have been months since she last opened the game. Her parents had several important people they needed to meet and, much to Rinko's dismay, they decided to drag Rinko along for the ride.

"And that is why I was away yesterday," Rinko finished talking, shifting the phone that was resting against her right ear to her left one so she could scratch an itch on her right ear. The person on the other side of the call remained silent and Rinko was well aware of the reason why. Rinko had been an emotional wreck by the time she finally got home and could grab a lifeline of comfort. But Rinko wasn't quite ready to pick up where she left off, so she instead took a couple of deep yet shaky breaths first.

"It was… awful…" Rinko finally admitted as she failed to suppress the shiver that ran down her spine. After taking a moment to catch her breath again, Rinko spoke again, "I'm sorry for calling you… like this the way that I did… Ako-chan."

"Don't worry about it, Rinrin!" Ako's voice could be heard loud and clear through Rinko's phone, the short girl's enthusiasm and cheerfulness infecting Rinko in the process. Hearing her best friend try to cheer her up was more than enough to put a small smile on Rinko's face. But Ako wasn't quite done yet, "Ako is happy to help in any way that Ako can!"

"That means a lot to me, Ako-chan," Rinko voiced her gratitude before the two of them fell into another period of silence. Unlike the previous one, this one was calm and peaceful as the seconds slowly ticked on by. It was here where Rinko wanted to talk. She wanted to share her experiences with Ako, talk about the troubles she faced while her parents were away, to let out some of her emotions knowing that Ako would not think any less of her for doing so.

Of course, it wasn't meant to be for Rinko.

"Ako is really sorry, Rinrin, but Ako can hear Onee-chan calling for Ako to prepare the dinner table," Ako said and Rinko could already imagine the guilt shining in Ako's eyes. Before Rinko could even start to think of a way to help ease Ako's guilt, Ako had already pulled herself together on her own, "We can meet up somewhere tomorrow and then you can tell Ako everything you wanted to tell Ako today."

"That sounds… great, thank you, Ako-chan," Rinko smiled before she realized that this action was futile since Ako wouldn't be able to see it. That being the case, Rinko's mood was raised a lot and she was grateful for how supportive Ako was.

The two close friends agreed on a meeting place and time before they ended the call shortly afterward. Now with no Ako to hear or talk to her, Rinko allowed her hands to lower to her lap and plop down on her back. Her warm soft blankets were there to break her fall and Rinko soon found herself staring up at the pristine white ceiling of her room.

As inviting as the blankets were for her, Rinko couldn't find herself accepting their embrace. Not yet at least. Instead, her mind began to drift somewhere else… and, as it did, Rinko's breathing became more regular.

'I wonder what Endymion-san… and the others… are doing right now,' Rinko thought to herself, the memory of the close friends she had played with having become a vivid memory for her. Rinko never had many friends to play games with, so when she learned that her partner in the tournament was playing with her group of friends Rinko was shocked. But not in a bad way; quite the opposite.

Rinko was amazed that Endymion and her friends were playing together and that they had welcomed Rinko into their group with open arms. Despite having been a stranger to them two days ago, Rinko was treated like she had been friends with them for months, if not years. This had led to a very fun and cheerful time together.

So much so that Rinko can't remember the last time she had that much fun playing a game.

'We are on each other's friend lists so we can play together more often,' Rinko smiled as she remembered the warm feeling she felt around her newfound friends. Friends. Was it even right for her to call them that when she had only spent a couple of hours with them?

Shaking her head vigorously to get rid of these bad and negative thoughts, Rinko tried to focus on something happier. Something that would succeed in lifting her mood after a few days of continued stress.

'Tomorrow I will meet up with Ako-chan… and we will spend the day together…' Rinko thought to herself with the ghost of a smile on her face. Rinko was trying her hardest to ignore that she'd have to sit through an entire school day first. That would be an issue for future Rinko to handle. Present Rinko was satisfied remembering her time playing with Endymion and her friends while also imagining her meetup with Ako.

"That school bell couldn't have rung any earlier…" Rinko grumbled under her breath as she dragged her feet across the hallway, visibly disgruntled by her final class getting delayed as much as it had. Despite her bad mood, Rinko still made a conscious effort to straighten her posture when she passed her homeroom teacher on the way to the front gate. But aside from that, she allowed her feet to carry her to her destination and tuned out her surroundings. With middling results.

After running into, profusely apologizing, and parting ways with a classmate, Rinko took out her phone and scrolled through her messages. Rinko knew the kind of person Ako was and her faith in her friend rewarded her with a message. Or, rather, many messages, as her phone seemed to have exploded with the notifications indicating that Rinko had unread messages. There were close to fifteen of them from the short drummer, but only one was important for Rinko right now.

Ako will be waiting in front of CiRCLE, we can find a place to sit down and chat then.

The other messages were ones that Rinko skimmed over quickly, but none of them were ones she had to respond to. These ranged from Ako asking Rinko if she had left for their meeting place yet to Ako talking about a pretty bird she saw perched on a tree branch.

Fortunately for Rinko, CiRCLE was not very far from her school, so it did not take long for her to arrive at her destination. And once she did, it only took her a couple of seconds to try and spot her best friend. Not only did Ako's purple hair act as a beacon in a crowd allowing Rinko to spot her shorter friend in an instant, but there weren't a lot of people there, to begin with, either.

"Sorry… to keep you… waiting, Ako-chan," Rinko panted the moment she reached Ako's side. Despite the relatively short distance she had to walk, Rinko wasn't in the best of shape. So even a short walk like that was taking its toll on the keyboardist. Rinko held up her right hand to indicate that she needed a couple of seconds, an action that Ako understood and respected. As soon as Rinko didn't feel like she was going to faint from over-exhausting herself, she raised her head and offered Ako a proper apology, "I'm sorry for making you wait so long… even though I was the one who asked… Ako-chan to meet up with me."

"Don't worry about it, Ako also only arrived a few minutes ago," Ako said with a reassuring smile to try and relieve some of Rinko's guilt. Rinko knew that Ako was lying through her teeth, however. The messages that Ako had sent her earlier indicated that the drummer had been here for at least the past half hour.

Despite knowing this, Rinko allowed a smile to grace her face. She recognized that Ako was trying to cheer her up so she knew that she had to try to be positive. If not for herself, Rinko had to raise her mood for Ako's sake.

"All right… so where are we going?" Rinko asked Ako now that she was starting to feel better. As she asked, Rinko couldn't help but look around and see if the place they would sit and catch up was near here. CiRCLE had a café area available for them to make use of, yes, but something told Rinko that this wasn't the case.

Sure enough, almost as if she could read Rinko's mind, Ako shook her head in response. Ako was already giving a proper response before Rinko had the chance to ask Ako to elaborate.

"Actually, there is a café near here that Ako wanted to visit for a long time now!" Ako explained and Rinko could have sworn that she saw Ako's eyes light up. But Ako wasn't done yet; the purple-haired drummer grabbed Rinko's wrist and started leading Rinko down an alley Rinko didn't even know existed, "Onee-chan and the others from Onee-chan's band went to this café once and Ako wanted to go there ever since. If Ako remembers correctly, the café should be around here somewhere…"

By this point, Rinko had already resigned herself to being dragged around by her friend. Her mind, on the other hand, was working hard to try and process all the information that Ako had presented. They were just at CiRCLE that boasted a café area but that wasn't good enough for Ako's tastes right now. It was no secret that the parents of one of the friends of Ako's sister owned a café. A popular café even amongst Rinko's classmates and one that even Rinko had fond memories of visiting a few times as well. Yet Ako was going out of her way to bring Rinko to a completely different café instead.

"Here we are!" Ako announced, and Rinko was shaken out of her train of thoughts by her best friend's voice. Rinko then looked around her to try and get a grasp on her surroundings and saw a two-story building with the words 'Ruru Café' above the front door. Ako didn't waste any more time in dragging Rinko inside, yanking on the keyboardist's arm as she did so.

And that is how Rinko found herself inside the café after having barely avoided crashing into Ako's back. Rinko had already opened her mouth to try and apologize but no words escaped her throat. Instead of being focused on trying to apologize to Ako, Rinko's attention was on the café's interior and all the things that she saw there.

Being the asocial shy girl that she was, Rinko wasn't fond of crowded public spaces. Cafés were never her favorite place to go so Rinko didn't have the most experience with them. But based on what little she did know, this café's interior was certainly different from the cafés Rinko has visited in the past.

The café had wooden furniture adorned with lush red pillows that looked to be very comfortable and cozy to use. Decorating the walls were a variety of different abstract paintings that Rinko's gaze was drawn to for a second or two as she got lost in the swirls on the canvas. But what really impressed Rinko was how spacious the café felt on the inside despite how it appeared to be on the outside. The tiles on the ground were the purest of white and the ceiling was well above Rinko's head, both of which helped Rinko feel more at ease here.

Had it not been for Ako guiding Rinko to follow her, Rinko might have been standing there taking in the view and atmosphere of the café for what could have been hours.

"Excuse me, table for two please," Ako said with a smile to one of the waitresses. The waitress bopped her head with a smile of her own and asked Ako and Rinko to follow her. She then proceeded to swiftly weave between the chairs and tables which was a task proving to be much harder for both Ako and Rinko.

Thankfully for the two patrons, they would reach their destination soon after: the waitress had brought them to a table next to one of the café's windows. It was nice and bright and gave a great view of the street outside the café. Even Rinko, despite her initial worries of being watched, had to admit that it was a wonderful spot.

"Rinrin? Hello, Rinrin?"

Hearing Ako's voice shook Rinko out of her train of thoughts, and it was all she could do to stop herself from making a sound. Ako, for her part, waited patiently until Rinko seemed to have gotten her bearings again before explaining what happened.

"Ako already ordered what Ako wanted to get, so now we're waiting for Rinrin to decide," Ako explained with a small smile, hoping that this act would be enough to reassure Rinko. It didn't, but the drummer remained hopeful by the time she voiced her question, "Have you decided what you wanted yet, Rinrin?"

"Ah, uhm… that… uhm…" Rinko stammered as she hurriedly changed gears and leafed through the menu. Despite her panicked state, Rinko could still hear the gentle laughter from her best friend. Fortunately for her, she wouldn't have to endure this state for long as she managed to find what she wanted to get, "One milk tea, please. And sorry… to keep you waiting."

"Please, don't worry about it," the waitress said with a bright smile to try and reassure Rinko. This action proved to be mildly successful as Rinko was still feeling guilty, but Rinko appreciated the gesture, nonetheless. The waitress, meanwhile, picked up the menu that Ako was holding, bowed, and walked off to put in their orders.

"So… Rinrin wanted to meet up with Ako, right? Did something happen?" Ako began cautiously as she turned her attention to her friend. Because of this, Ako realized her mistake too late and looked visibly distraught once she did, "I-I mean… anything in that new game that Rinrin is playing that's interesting?"

"Right…" Rinko began, taking a deep breath before turning to her friend. Ako had been waiting patiently for Rinko to begin talking, and while Rinko knew that she wasn't under any pressure to do so… a part of her was still worrying that she was making Ako wait unnecessarily long. This is why Rinko quickly searched her brain to find somewhere to begin, "Did I tell you about the tournament I participated in?"

"Is that the event you were talking about last week?" Ako asked, and Rinko had to take a moment to remember everything that she had told Ako. After the two went back and forth to confirm that they were talking about the same thing, Rinko bopped her head twice in confirmation. Ako, now with a wide smile on her face, picked up where she had left off, "So? How did it go? You won the entire tournament, right, Rinrin?"

"Not… quite…" Rinko chuckled sheepishly as her right hand's index finger ended up scratching her cheek absent-mindedly. Rinko had to remind Ako that she was still fairly new to the game. Once she accomplished this, the expression on Rinko's face softened as she began recalling her experiences in the game, "It was a tournament where we got paired up… with another player… and we fought other pairs… until one pair remained."

"I got paired with a player… named Red Endymion-san. Ah, before I forget… Ako-chan, you remember how avatar colors work in Lilac Blaze right?" Rinko added the last part before she could allow herself to say anything else. When Ako confirmed that she remembered Rinko's explanations from another day, Rinko spoke again, "We were fighting… two friends of Endymion-san… in the first round."

"Ouch, that must have been hard for all three of them. If Ako had to fight Rinrin and Sayo-san in NFO… yeah, Ako wouldn't have wanted to do that, either," Ako shuddered at the thought, and Rinko, who had paused to listen to what Ako had to say, grimaced at that idea as well. Ako quickly recovered and motioned for Rinko to continue.

"Endymion-san and I won the first round, but the second round… we had to fight Moon-san and another friend of Endymion-san," Rinko told Ako, but then she stopped. Remembering how her final fight in the tournament went wasn't an all-too fond memory of hers, so Rinko fell silent after this. Fortunately for Rinko, Ako seemed to understand regardless and tried to pat Rinko's hands in an act to comfort the keyboardist.

"It did not go so well… and Endymion-san and I lost…" Rinko reluctantly admitted, lowering her head and suppressing a shudder from escaping her mouth. Knowing that she shouldn't let this keep her down, Rinko shook her head to rid her mind of these thoughts and decided she had to lighten the mood. There had to be something she could talk about that could help her, right?

And then it hit her.

"After we were all eliminated… I thought of closing the game… but…" Rinko trailed off as the memory began to resurface. Ako, meanwhile, waited patiently to hear how Rinko would continue her story, "As I was about to log out… they invited me to play… with them… and… I had a lot of fun… even though I just met them, it felt like I was right at home."

"Isn't that a good thing then?" Ako asked her friend, the tone in which she said those words more a surprise to Rinko than the words themselves. When Rinko raised her head to look at Ako and saw the reassuring smile on her face, Rinko understood. She knew exactly what Ako was about to tell her. And yet, hearing Ako's next few words were still a welcome occurrence for Rinko, "I mean… making new friends and having fun with them can't be a bad thing, right?"

Rinko took a moment to try and process what she had been told. She knew Ako was right, it was how Rinko felt as well from the beginning but hearing it from another person was a different experience entirely. It was only now that Ako had voiced those words that Rinko was coming to terms with them.

She wanted to thank Ako for her kind words and support. Voice her gratitude that Ako had gone out of her way to try and comfort her. Or even say how much she wished that Ako could start Lilac Blaze so they could play the game together as well.

Unfortunately for Rinko, she would not be given this opportunity at all. It was at that very moment when a loud voice rang through the café, surprising both girls sitting at the table. They turned their head in the direction of the voice in shock in the hopes of finding the person responsible for the disturbance.

What Ako and Rinko saw would leave both girls speechless.

And that is all for today's chapter! Again, if it was possible to stay true to the update schedule then I would have, but since it wasn't, well… here we are. Let's hope that the delay this chapter suffered wasn't an ominous sign of things to come…

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed today's chapter, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!