Wait, did I just see our precious Tomori run past?
So we're at this stage of the story now?
"Well then, let's leave it here for today. You can take the contract home and look it over, Soyo-chan," Mutsumi Kamijo said with a smile, turning his head to look at Miss Soyo, who was equally surprised by Tomori's appearance.
"I have something else to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave."
Without waiting for Soyo Nagasaki's reply, Mutsumi stood up and left, looking for all the world like a classic love-'em-and-leave-'em scumbag.
Outside RiNG, Anon was apologizing to Tomori for what had happened in the practice room.
However, the favor she'd lost by taking them down the wrong path wasn't so easily won back. She could only watch helplessly as the expression on Tomori's face grew distant.
Just then, Taki, who happened to be outside RiNG, saw this and assumed her dear leader was being bullied. She instantly saw red, striding forward to separate the two.
When Mutsumi arrived on the scene, he was greeted by the sight of "Saint Anon" looking completely bewildered after having just received a "Are you nuts?!" from Taki.
Who is this person?
She's impossible!
Anon felt that Taki was even harder to communicate with than her classmates back in England.
And Tomori, talking about "a lifetime"...
In that moment, she felt a gravitational pull like that of a black hole coming from this girl who, on the surface, looked as harmless as a small, cute animal.
All she wanted was to form a normal band and have fun like everyone else. A "lifetime" was way too heavy, wasn't it?
It was simply asking too much of a normal, trendy high school girl like Anon to understand the thought process of a girl like Tomori, who possessed the emotional gravity of a black hole.
But soon, she probably wouldn't have the mental energy to worry about any of this.
"Excuse me... are you Miss 'Ann'?"
A voice suddenly spoke beside her. Hearing that familiar yet somewhat foreign name, the girl's blood pressure instantly skyrocketed.
"My name is not Ann! My name is Chihaya..."
The moment she realized what was happening, Anon felt her heart stop.
She wasn't in England anymore; she was back home. How could anyone know that name?
Turning her head, Anon saw a young man with a gentle smile.
Okay, he's definitely handsome...
But Anon was certain she had no memory of him whatsoever.
"You are..."
Looking at Mutsumi Kamijo, Anon's hand was already clenched into a tight fist.
Only the pain of her nails digging into her palm allowed her to maintain some semblance of composure as the corner of her mind she least wanted to confront was pried open.
"You don't remember me, Miss Ann?"
Facing the girl's wary and flustered gaze, Mutsumi began to spout nonsense with a perfectly straight face.
"I even talked to you when we were studying in England. I thought I'd never see you again after you transferred. I can't believe we'd meet here..."
Hearing Mutsumi's words, the question in Anon's mind seemed to be answered.
So he was a classmate from my time studying abroad in England?
That wouldn't be strange... except it's total BS!
Putting aside the fact that she couldn't possibly have been unaware of a fellow countryman in her class, the most important point was...
"Stop lying!"
Anon cut him off, her face cold.
"I don't know where you got my information, but the school I attended in England..."
"...was an all-girls school. How could you possibly be my classmate?!"
As his lie was exposed, Mutsumi Kamijo's expression predictably darkened. This caused the girl to gulp nervously.
After all, this was a next-level creep who had managed to find out she had even studied abroad in England.
By rejecting him so bluntly...
He won't fly into a rage and do something to me, will he?
No, no, no, we're in a public place. He wouldn't go that far.
Then, under Anon's nervous watch, Mutsumi Kamijo spoke.
"...How dare you assume my gender?"
Anon: "???"
Anon was completely stunned by this rhetorical punch imported from overseas. For a second, she almost believed Mutsumi wasn't lying.
That line of reasoning... definitely has the flavor of that place.
"So, you're... a girl?"
At this moment, it was as if Anon had been possessed by Tomori, staring blankly at Mutsumi.
She even began to ponder internally that, with a face like his, he could probably pull off wearing girls' clothes...
"No!"
However, in response to her question, Mutsumi shook his head with a serious look.
"Then... a boy?"
"Why does it have to be either a boy or a girl? Are you discriminating against attack helicopters and Walmart shopping bags?"
"So is your gender 'attack helicopter' or 'Walmart shopping bag'?"
"Of course I'm a man! If you don't need your eyes, you can donate them to someone who does. Do you even need to ask a question like that?" Mutsumi stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"..."
In that instant, the string in the girl's mind labeled "sanity" finally snapped.
"...Are you freaking insane?!"
At this moment, Anon would surely have found a kindred spirit in Soyo.
She finally realized what was happening. Mutsumi was just messing with her.
Yet Mutsumi, having received the same review from Anon that he'd gotten from Taki, didn't seem the least bit angry. He maintained his cheerful, smiling demeanor.
"It's tiring to stand, shall we go inside and talk?"
"..."
A moment later, Taki's expression became strange as she watched Mutsumi seamlessly walk back in with another girl in tow.
Although they weren't particularly close, she and Soyo were in the same band once.
Should she tell Soyo that her boyfriend is a total scumbag?
"What do you really want?"
Anon sat in the same seat Soyo had occupied, drank the same Earl Grey tea, and asked Mutsumi the very same question.
"How do you... know about me...?"
The vigilance in her eyes had diminished considerably, replaced mostly by confusion.
In her mind, Mutsumi's image had shifted from a dangerous pervert to a weirdo with a terrible personality.
"I watched MyGO!!!!!..."
Mutsumi gave a very honest answer to Anon's question.
"..."
"Don't be so serious~" Mutsumi said with a smile, facing Anon's death glare. "Aren't you afraid that I'll tell your old classmates what happened to you?"
Mutsumi's evaluation in Anon's mind instantly reverted.
"If you want to tell them, then go ahead..."
Perhaps because of Mutsumi's bizarre behavior just now, the threatened Anon wasn't as flustered as she would have imagined.
"No matter what you want, I will never agree to it!"
Although Mutsumi currently looked a lot like the blonde-haired antagonist from an adult manga, Anon was not the brainless heroine from one of those stories, who would cave to every demand after the slightest threat.