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V3 Chapter 9: If You're Going to Confess…
🕑 Added 2025-05-13 07:28:18 +0000 UTCNoon, Sunday — RiNG.
"So slow…!"
Shiina Taki stood with arms crossed, her deep violet eyes tinted with a trace of irritation and impatience.
She had taken a rare day off from work to come here early to RiNG's second floor, today's purpose being a band meeting, where Kazami Haru was supposed to bring his composition progress.
She was fully prepared.
But that wasn't her biggest concern today.
What bothered her most was…
Tomori Takamatsu.
That guy! Kazami Haru! Actually spent last night alone with her?!
Just what exactly did he do with Tomori?!
Frustration and anxiety surged in Taki's mind, twisting her sharp eyes, already hawk-like, toward the venue's entrance in restless repetition.
After staring down the entrance for ages, a tall, black-haired figure finally strolled in. She knew that silhouette like the back of her hand—no, it was etched into her bones. She could recognize him even as a pile of ash.
"If I knew being a keyboardist meant hauling this beast, I never would've volunteered," muttered Kazami Haru through clenched teeth.
He looked even more worn out than usual, dark circles under his eyes from staying up all night. The synth on his back seemed especially heavy today as he trudged toward the stairs, utterly drained.
But seeing him alone only made Taki even more anxious. Still no sign of Tomori. Her mind spiraled.
With her glare sharpening, Taki stormed up to him and grabbed him by the collar.
"Come with me. Now."
"Huh?"
Startled, Haru barely had time to react before the much shorter but infinitely more aggressive girl yanked him along.
What the hell?! Was he getting dragged to the basement?
Wait—why did Taki have the same look as a father catching his daughter's boyfriend?
Did she already find out that he hadn't really made any composition progress, that the song file only got created last night?
That terrifying thought made Haru shrink inside. He gave up resisting, letting Taki haul him straight to the practice room they'd booked for today's rehearsal.
He barely had time to set down the keyboard case when—
BANG!
Cornered against the wall, Haru flinched as Taki slammed her palm beside his head. The sharp thud echoed through the acoustically reflective room.
Adding to the tension, she leaned closer, gripping his collar and forcing him to meet her glare.
But the truth was, she was still a head shorter.
Still, with her brows furrowed and eyes glinting like steel, she was truly a fearsome sight. Her fierce pout and piercing eyes made Haru instinctively want to step back.
"…"
They were so close, if she moved even an inch, this would definitely turn into something else.
At this distance, Haru could make out the light tint of her lip gloss, the tiny beauty mark near her violet eyes, and the way her silver earring swayed with each breath.
Up close, Taki was… actually really pretty.
Wait, no. Normally, if two people are this close—
They're either about to fight, or…
Kiss.
But he always saw Taki as the ultimate bro. His reliable comrade.
Could it be… she had feelings she couldn't say in front of everyone? So she pulled him here for a private confession?
"Shiina, if you're gonna confess, could you be a little gentler about it?"
"Hah?! Did your brain rot from lack of sleep?!"
Taki's expression froze mid-sentence, her building fury stalling for a moment.
But then it snapped back with renewed force, her drummer-calloused fingers starting to tremble.
Haru, watching this terrifying creature who looked about ready to devour him, wisely took a step back. "Okay, look, let me just apologize first."
"Apologize? For what? To me?!"
Taki's eyes widened with disbelief. Something was wrong here.
She hadn't even said anything yet and he was already apologizing? Did he somehow know what she was about to bring up?
Was he feeling guilty about what happened with Tomori?
Growing more agitated, Taki stepped forward again, locking her gaze with his.
"Who were you with last night?"
Okay, what is this, a marriage?
Being interrogated like this threw Haru off. It felt like if he said the name of any girl, this psycho-wife in front of him would unscrew his skull with nothing but her fingers.
Still… she hadn't brought up the composition. That tiny bit of guilt in his heart was immediately silenced.
"What's it to you? Are you my girlfriend or something?"
Gone was his apologetic tone. Haru now wore that irritating smirk that Taki hated so much.
"You—!"
Taki stammered, then gritted her teeth and glared daggers at him.
"Tomori told me. She said she was with you last night!"
"But after that one message, she didn't reply at all. And when she finally did, she sounded panicked, telling me not to confront you. What did you do to her?!"
Why would she stop messaging you? How's that my problem?!
They just went stargazing and maybe held hands, that's it! It's not like he kissed her or anything!
If he had done that, maybe he'd feel guilty. But he hadn't done anything wrong.
Which meant Taki's wild imagination and accusations? Totally off base. He stood his ground with confidence.
"I didn't do anything. We just looked at stars together. That's all."
"…You expect me to believe that?"
Taki's glare turned frigid. She clearly thought he was lying.
Truthfully, she had never liked Haru much to begin with.
He was too handsome. A natural trickster around women.
More than once, she suspected that he only reformed the band to get close to Tomori and mess with her feelings. That wasn't far-fetched at all.
Especially since Tomori was so innocent, sweet—and easy to fool.
And let's not forget the bubbly, thick-skinned pink-haired girl always clinging to Haru. That one didn't even have the guts to show her guitar skills properly, yet strutted around like she owned the stage.
Plus, Haru gave her the same vibe as Togawa Sakiko, the one who disbanded their previous band without notice. That alone made Taki instinctively wary of him.
"If you don't believe me, then how about a bet?"
Haru didn't flinch under her gaze. In fact, knowing her rage stemmed from concern for Tomori, he found it kind of… endearing.
It made him want to tease her more.
"A bet?"
Taki's grip on his collar tightened as suspicion crept into her voice.
"You think I did something to her, right?"
"Then let's go talk to her together. You can ask her yourself. If I'm lying, I'll do whatever reasonable request you make."
His confident smile was maddening. Taki hesitated.
Could it be… she really misunderstood?
"What's wrong, Shiina? Scared to take the bet?"
"Who's scared of who?!"
Shiina Taki, already naturally hot-tempered, was instantly provoked by the faintly disappointed look on Kazami Haru's face. Even though she knew he was baiting her with the lowest kind of reverse psychology, what she absolutely couldn't stand was being underestimated!
The words slipped out before she could stop them, and while regret hit her almost instantly, her pride wouldn't let her take them back.
Just as the two of them remained in that dangerously close posture, "arguing," the door to the practice room suddenly opened from the outside.
A chestnut-haired girl in a soft green dress, her mature and sweet smile glowing, stepped in, only to freeze mid-step when she caught sight of their very questionable position.
Both Haru and Taki turned their heads at once, locking eyes with Nagasaki Soyo, standing just a few steps away.
"Um… sorry to interrupt."
Soyo hesitated, clearly flustered, and closed the door again with a bit of awkwardness.
…
"Ah~ so that's what it was. I thought you and Taki were…"
After a thorough explanation from Haru, Soyo finally grasped the situation.
She sat across from him at one of RiNG's clean white round tables, casting a glance toward Taki, who was talking to one of the staff nearby. A faint, elegant smile appeared on Soyo's mature features.
"So it really was just a misunderstanding. Taki totally didn't believe a word I said," Haru muttered, resting his cheek on one hand with a tired sigh.
He hadn't slept much after staying up late composing a new song for MyGO. Then the moment he arrived today, his "bro" Taki ambushed him with an interrogation. He wasn't sleepy anymore, just completely drained.
"Don't take it too personally," Soyo said gently. "Taki's a really good person. It's just that whenever something involves Tomori, she tends to go a little overboard. It's not like she has anything against you specifically."
"I'm not bothered," Haru replied, and he meant it. In fact, he sort of liked how serious Taki was.
If someone tried to hurt sweet, sensitive Tomori, he'd probably act the same way she did.
"Nagasaki-san so, you used to be in a band with Taki and Tomori, right?"
"Just call me Soyo," she said with a perfectly friendly smile. Her deep blue eyes curled into crescent moons, her spoon slowly stirring her coffee. Her sweet, relaxed tone naturally put people at ease.
The way she matched his pace and phrasing so smoothly—it made it hard not to like her.
This woman's dangerous… Haru thought quietly.
"In that case, call me Haru too."
Her eyes shimmered like calm lake water, the corners of her lips rising slightly. She sipped her milk coffee, then spoke again in her smooth tone.
"You're right, Haru-kun. I used to be in a band with Tomori and Taki."
"The band was called CRYCHIC. Things happened that I can't really talk about… and we disbanded. But now, thanks to you, we're together again. I really mean it, thank you."
Her eyes held sincere gratitude. But that didn't mean she'd let go of her own goal: to repair what was broken, to bring back the warm, joyful, dreamlike CRYCHIC they once had.
And for that, Soyo still had a lot to do.
To be honest, she wasn't entirely comfortable around Haru. From the very beginning, he reminded her too much of Togawa Sakiko. It gave her the unpleasant sense that something important was being "taken away" again.
Both CRYCHIC and Sakiko were irreplaceable.
"Speaking of which~ we only have Anon-chan as our guitarist—"
Even with those thoughts swirling inside, Soyo kept her friendly, composed smile. She twirled a lock of her curled brown hair around her finger and continued softly.
But right then—
"Haru! Haru! Listen to me! I tore my skirt when I was heading out today!"
Out of nowhere, the bubbly pink-haired girl burst in and interrupted Soyo.
Soyo had been about to continue, but the words stuck in her throat.
The pink-haired girl pouted, looking helpless and adorable as she clung to Haru's side.
Takamatsu Tomori came in from the door with Chihaya Anon.. Tomori's eyes darted immediately to Haru, filled with concern, obviously shaken by Taki's intense questioning the day before.
"Tomori?! Are you okay?!"
Before Haru could respond, Taki came rushing over.
"Uh… I-I'm fine," Tomori said, flustered by the sudden attention. Like a worried parent, Taki bombarded her with question after question, and Tomori obediently answered that nothing had happened.
"You were with him last night, weren't you? After that, you stopped replying. I was so worried!"
"I-I really was with Haru… but we were just watching the constellation show…" she said quietly.
Her honest response made Taki freeze for a moment.
Beside them, Anon snapped her fingers in realization. She had been right there when Tomori asked Haru out at school!
"That's right! I remember now! Tomori asked Haru to go stargazing at the planetarium. I think the date was last night, wasn't it?"
With that confirmed by the ever-unreliable-looking but now surprisingly useful Anon, Taki finally ran out of things to say.
So it was all a misunderstanding after all.
Taki let out a deep breath when she saw Tomori really was okay. But when she realized that Tomori had invited Haru on a date, it still rubbed her the wrong way.
And then—
Taki glanced up, only to see Haru looking back at her with an annoyingly smug expression. She clicked her tongue and crossed her arms, plopping down next to Soyo.
Especially since now she owed him a "not-too-extreme" favor, ugh.
"So we're here to rehearse today, right? Let's get started!" Anon jumped in, all excited.
Even though her guitar playing wasn't quite up to par yet, she was definitely better than when she used to mess up and run away in embarrassment.
"Not so fast," Taki cut in. "There's something more important today."
"Is it the band name? Uniforms?"
"None of that matters right now. What matters is the song."
With a sigh, Taki looked toward Haru, her tone sharp.
"Since everyone's here, don't you think it's about time you showed us what you've got for the new track?"
Though her expression was calm, a hint of suspicion lingered in her eyes.
To be honest, she didn't have high hopes for Haru's composition skills.
Anon had once bragged in the group chat that Haru was a great guitarist. But he was also their keyboardist. And even if he was a genius, being a high schooler and mastering two instruments at once was a huge ask.
Mastering an instrument already required years of effort and training. Composition, on the other hand, demanded not just skill, but deep music theory knowledge, experience, and…
Talent.
Just one look at the posters outside RiNG advertising "looking for composers" made it clear how rare and valuable such a skill was.
Everyone wanted a composer. Because composing wasn't just hard—
It was nearly impossible.
