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Evening Memory |  |
Moca
Phew, I'm beat~.
Tsugumi
Moca-chan, good work today.
Moca
You too~... Huh? Where's Hii-chan and Tomo-chin~?
Tsugumi
They went out to buy drinks.
Moca
Oh, okay. And Ran?
Ran
... ♪
Moca
Still singing.
Tsugumi
Mhm. I went to get her, but she said she was going to practice some more.
Tsugumi
But she was here first thing in the morning and before any of us... I wonder if her throat will be okay...
Moca
Hmm~. Yeah, she should probably take a break soon~.
Moca
Ran~. Give it a rest already~.
Ran
I'm okay.
Moca
No, you're not~. Look, even Tsugu is worried about you. What's gonna happen if you lose your voice from all that singing?
Tsugumi
Y-Yeah! Ran-chan, knowing when to take a break is part of rehearsals!
Moca
Ran~. You should follow in her Tsugurific footsteps~.
Tsugumi
... Ran-chan, please! Take a break!
Ran
... Sigh. Fine.
Tsugumi
Himari-chan said she'll bring you a drink.
Ran
Okay.
Tsugumi
Ran-chan, that was really intense. You were singing the same part, over and over...
Ran
I'm kinda stuck there. I can't seem to get it down.
Tsugumi
Hmm~...
Tsugumi
I know! Why don't you try singing with a smile on your face?
Tsugumi
It's an upbeat, happy song, so changing your facial expression might help you get it right!
Ran
But I can't just smile because I'm told to...
Tsugumi
Come on, you can smile like that one time! And like the other day!
Moca
That one time? The other day? ... Tsugu, are you talking about when we listened to the first CD we ever recorded~?
Tsugumi
Mhm! When Ran was smiling that day, she looked so happy.
Moca
Oh, yeah~. You might be right. It was one of those rare moments when Ran was actually saying how she felt~.
Moca
"I'm proud of this song... and all of you, too. And I'll continue to be... for a long time."
Ran
M-Moca!
Moca
Don't be so embarrassed. Everyone was glad to see you like that~.
Ran
Who said I was embarrassed...?!
Moca
You're a lot cuter when you're smiling than when you're angry~.
Ran
...!!
Tsugumi
O-Okay, okay guys. Ran-chan, just relax.
Tsugumi
Moca-chan, don't say things that you know will make her mad.
Moca
You say that, but you were happy too~.
Tsugumi
Well...
Tsugumi
... Yes, I was. I like to hear how Ran-chan is feeling.
Ran
You too, Tsugumi...?
Moca
If only you were that honest all the time~... Oh, but I guess you could never do that, it'd be too unlike you...
Ran
...
Tsugumi
M-Moca-chan. No more.
Moca
Yes ma'am~.
Tsugumi
Ran-chan... Ignoring what Moca-chan said, you're still really cute, and I think it'd be better if you just smiled a little more!
Tsugumi
And I'd like to see you sing that song the same way.
Ran
...
Tsugumi
I'm sure everyone feels the same. Right, Moca-chan?
Moca
Mhm, that's right~.
Ran
... Looks like break time is over.
Tsugumi
Huh?! But Himari-chan and Tomoe-chan aren't back yet.
Ran
Doesn't matter. C'mon, let's go.
Tsugumi
W-Wait, Ran-chan! Hold on~.
Moca
Sigh... Oh, Ran. So easy to read when she's embarrassed~.
Transcript
Ran
Mmhmhmm ♪
Ran
... Huh?
Ran
How long have you been standing there? I didn't even notice you.
Ran
No, there's no rehearsal today. I think that's tomorrow.
Ran
Oh, you're headed to the studio? Working hard as always.
Ran
What was I humming? Oh... So you heard that...
Ran
It's the first song my band created. The other day, Himari brought a CD with her to practice.
Ran
It's not something we recorded recently. We did it way back... in middle school, as our first track.
Ran
Because she had it, we ended up listening to it together... But I was against the whole thing.
Ran
Why? Think about it... It's so embarrassing... And we still ended up playing the CD...
Ran
... Do you even have to ask how it was? The only thing that was going through my head was, "This is awful.”
Ran
I don't know if the mistakes stood out or if it was just a recording of mistakes...
Ran
I think everyone had the same reaction. Kinda like, "Is this really us?"
Ran
I can't believe we were so confident when we recorded that CD...
Ran
But I guess that just means that we've all gotten a lot better.
Ran
... You know, I'm actually really proud of that song.
Ran
We went through so many things before we could play it... and before we started out band.
Ran
If it wasn't for them, I don't know where I would be now.
Ran
You want to know what happened...?
Ran
...
Ran
... It's not really something I like to talk about.
Ran
But I guess... It might be okay to tell you.
Ran
To keep it simple, I went through a bunch of stuff... And I stopped going to class.
Ran
What's a "bunch of stuff"...? In our second year of middle school, I was put into a class by myself, away from my friends.
Ran
Up until then, I had spent all my time with the same four girls, so I had a hard time getting used to the new class.
Ran
Not to mention, these students said I looked scary and hard to talk to.
Ran
But I thought if I told people how I was feeling, they would think my reasons were stupid, so I didn't know what to do...
Ran
Oh... You don't think they were stupid? ... I see. Thanks.
Ran
I was having such a struggle, I started writing poems on the roof as an escape from everything.
Ran
But the other girls really helped me out during that time.
Ran
They gave me a place where I felt comfortable, where I belong... The band.
Ran
We formed Afterglow, practiced on the roof and made our own song...
Ran
The sunset we watched that day was beautiful...
Ran
The reason I said I'm proud of that song is that it helped me overcome those hard times.
Ran
And of course, I wouldn't have been able to do that without their help.
Ran
That's why I'm proud not just of the song, but of my friends, too.
Ran
... Why are you looking at me like that? I have the happiest smile on my face...?
Ran
The day we listened to that song, everyone was saying the same thing, but it really threw me off...
Ran
I mean, I can smile too, sometimes...
Ran
... But the reason I'm able to smile is that they were all there for me.
Ran
If we can keep playing and smiling...
Ran
... Wait, what am I talking about? I think you've heard a bit too much.
Ran
... Don't mention anything you heard today to the others.
Ran
Why? ... Isn't it obvious?
Ran
If they knew I was saying this kind of stuff, they would make fun of me.
Ran
So you better not say anything, okay?