Chapter Text
Kanade looked up at the monitor. There was a notification from Nightcord, the one she was expecting.
yakisoba39: I finished the lyrics
Can you take a look at them, K?
The recipient of the message perked up and inspected the attached file. It took a while for it to open up, which made Kanade all the more impatient to see its contents. The circle seemed to load for eternity, as per usual, before she was able to see the lyrics her bandmate sent her.
Bandmate? Guess she could call her that. Their group wasn’t really a band, but it could work for the lack of a better term.
Kanade thoroughly read through Yakisoba’s work and took a moment to gather her thoughts. The lyrics weren’t bad, per say, but still lacked something. She didn’t want to pressure her group member to rewrite the whole thing, though, just a couple of phrases and words. Maybe she could help, too.
After a while, Kanade started typing on her keyboard, trying to convey her feelings as well as she could.
K: Overall, I really like the flow, especially in the chorus
I just thought some things could be rephrased to better describe the meaning we wanted to relay
Something like this, maybe:
Her fingers begun typing quicker and quicker as more ideas started appearing in her head. Her calm expression subconsciously changed to an excited and focused one, as it always did when she was working on a song.
It took a while for her to take her fingers off the keyboard to reread her message so that she could make sure it was ready to be sent. After that brief pause, she finally pressed Enter to pass her words to Yakisoba.
The next notification she got was from a different person, though.
droneミ☆: Oh, Yakki finished already~ Let me take a look as well!
Right, Drone. He had to review the lyrics as well – after all, their songs are whole group’s effort. They all helped each other with their work, even though their fields required different skills, but having another perspective proved to be immensely useful countless times.
Another few minutes passed as Kanade was waiting for a follow up.
droneミ☆: Yes, I mostly agree with K, though there’s just one thing – I believe leaving the lyrics in the bridges just as they are would help with making things a little vague, which the song could actually benefit from.
Other than that, both of you did splendidly as well~
A quiet chuckle escaped Kanade’s lips. Drone’s unusual way of speaking – or rather, typing – was quite endearing to her in a way. She couldn’t explain why, but it just was. Perhaps because it added so much character into his messages, she felt as if she could almost hear him.
Hear him… Come to think of it, how would he sound like? How would Yakisoba sound like?
yakisoba39: I see. Thank you for your feedback, you two
I’ll try incorporating your ideas and send it to you as soon as I’m done
Kanade was so busy imagining her bandmates’ voices that she was a little startled when the notification came. She quickly recovered and let her fingers drift through the keyboard to answer Yakisoba.
K: Sure, take your time
The long haired girl looked at the hour. It wasn’t even close to midnight yet, so they still had lots of time. She switched tabs back to her music program and continued working on the drums as they were particularly bothersome. Her mind focused on the task so heavily that for a while, she was back to her own world, forgetting about everything else.
She almost didn’t even notice when Nightcord rang again after half an hour.
yakisoba39: Is this better?
Kanade inspected the contents of the new file sent to her and was fully pleased this time.
K: Yeah, it’s much closer to what we wanted to convey
What do you think, Drone?
She didn’t have to wait long.
droneミ☆: Yes, indeed it is! Yet another beautiful work from Yakki ˚.•
Kanade subconsciously nodded, as if her bandmates could see her.
yakisoba39: Okay, I take it it’s ready for tuning then ^^;
Gonna start working on it now, if it’s fine with you
K: Sure, I’ll keep you all updated on the instrumental too
droneミ☆: Looking forward to it~ I’ve got quite a few sketches here, so I’ll get to them as well!
yakisoba39: Wait, already?! I sent the first draft of the lyrics not even an hour ago o_o
Kanade could almost predict what Drone was going to say.
droneミ☆: Hehe, I suppose having fun makes you work faster~
A chuckle escaped her lips again, though she was slightly worried as Drone seemed to be overworking himself a little.
K: Happy to hear that
Just make sure you’re not overdoing it, okay?
droneミ☆: Don’t you worry, everything shall be done in due time with an appropriate amount of rest!
yakisoba39: Alright, good luck then, everyone =)
With that, all three of them went back to their respective little worlds. Time seemed to stop for them as they once again fell into the spiral of their beloved crafts.
However, the real world could not stop that flow, which kept passing until a little after 1 AM. Kanade was the first one to send something.
K: Here’s how it sounds for now, I’ll probably still make some changes later and tomorrow
Tomorrow… Technically, it was already there. But with how the group were operating, it didn’t start until they logged out of Nightcord.
Another couple of minutes went by before Kanade’s message was greeted by Yakisoba’s response.
yakisoba39: It’s great!! I love how polished it sounds
I finished laying out Rin’s lines already, I was waiting for you to get more ideas on how to tune her and I already have a couple
It’s probably gonna be finished tomorrow or the day after
So soon? Goodness, everyone was on a roll today. Including Kanade – she managed to not only get the drums done, but also fine tune the bass line and the main melody. What was left was some final touches, mixing in Yakisoba’s Rin vocals and they were pretty much good to go. They had already agreed on making the MV on the simpler side this time, so Drone probably won’t take that long either since he was full of inspiration as well.
K: You sure you can handle that? It’s still a lot of work, after all
yakisoba39: Yeah, I’m actually feeling really motivated haha
droneミ☆: My oh my, aren’t we in top form~ I feel inclined to echo Yakki’s statement – your melodies are as inspiring as ever, K (˵•̀ᴗ•́˵)☆
Kanade couldn’t help but let a smile creep up her face – seeing as they all were so eager to work together made her feel really fuzzy and warm inside. A feeling she hasn’t experienced in a while.
A feeling she missed way more than she’d like to admit.
K: Thanks, glad to hear it
How’s it going for you, Drone?
It took a good few minutes for him to respond. A little more than Kanade expected, which for some reason made her worry again.
droneミ☆: All is surely coming together – with you two as my inspiration, I also believe to be able to finish the work soon!
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard for a moment. She didn’t even register how she typed “Are you sure you’re okay?” at first, but quickly deleted what she wrote after coming back to her senses. Drone seemed just as excited about their project as she and Yakisoba were, he’s probably doing fine. Maybe Kanade was just overthinking things, after all.
yakisoba39: Can’t wait to see your stuff either! Just make sure you take breaks too. Same goes for you, K
K: Yeah, let’s all do our best
droneミ☆: Couldn’t have put it better myself~
That being said, I think I will log out for today, as much as I would love to stay with you. I ought to start resting my eyes from the big computer screen for the night, haha.
Kanade felt a little relieved.
K: Of course, see you tomorrow
yakisoba39: Good night, Drone!
droneミ☆: I shall have the pleasure of speaking with you all again the next day~ Until then!
The little green dot next to Drone’s profile picture went grey, meaning he logged out.
yakisoba39: I might call it a day for now too
It’s Friday, so technically I could stay here a little longer, but I can’t mess up my sleep schedule too much ^^;
Right, both her bandmates went to school on weekdays, but unlike Drone, Yakisoba couldn’t handle losing many hours of sleep well. Kanade felt a little sorry for making her stay up so long.
K: No worries, please don’t force yourself
I’ll stay to finish the song, but don’t feel pressured to rush tomorrow or anything
yakisoba39: Of course
Please remember to get some rest too, K
After Yakisoba left Nightcord as well, Kanade slowly closed her eyes, fighting the sleepiness that suddenly washed up over her. No matter how much she tried to deny it, she was tired sometimes too, but it wasn’t like she always chose not to sleep. She often just couldn’t. She had to keep composing, it was the only thing keeping her from going insane. The only way for her to forget about her overbearing loneliness. About all her problems.
She had to endure for her bandmates’ sake. They were all so excited, she couldn’t let them down.
After getting her determination back, Kanade opened her eyes and switched tabs to continue working. Her mind focused just on the interface of her music program, letting go of all other concerns.
Ichika reached for her blue pajamas and closed the wardrobe. She was brimming with ideas for Rin’s tuning, but knew she should be sleeping already, so she settled on recording her thoughts on a piece of paper for now. Even after changing clothes, she came up with a few new things and ran back to her desk to write them down before finally deciding on going to bed.
However, while on her way to rest, her hand brushed against the empty space on her nightstand. The girl’s gaze turned to the place she had touched.
It hadn’t always been empty.
Ichika’s mind was flooded with memories of her dear friends – in the theme park, at the playground underneath the stars, in their houses and the countless hours spent at school. Some of these precious moments were captured and displayed here in the form of photographs, providing young Ichika comfort before going to bed, just as her friends used to give her happiness every day.
Not anymore, though. They couldn’t really even be called friends now, except for Saki who was still in the hospital, not having recovered enough to be able to come back home. Ichika made sure to visit her at least once a month, but it didn’t make her miss her or her lost friendships any less. She was still incredibly lonely.
She felt a tear or two coming to her eyes and quickly blinked, trying to stop herself from crying. She still couldn’t get over it, despite it having been a good couple of years already. Shaking her head, she sat down and breathed in slowly. While exhaling, she remembered something hidden in the drawer under the bed. She reached down and brought it out.
The Phenny plushie she got with her friends when they were younger. A blue variant, a part of a set of four, the other three belonged to her childhood friends. A small smile appeared on Ichika’s face – on the sadder side, but a smile that helped her calm down nonetheless.
She held the Phenny close to her chest, warming the plush with her embrace. It felt as though it was hugging her back, evoking a sense of company within her. She laid down and covered herself with a blanket, taking her small friend with her.
Soon after, sweet dreams appeared behind her eyelids, where she and her three companions embarked on a journey on their brave phoenixes, aiming to reach far galaxies no one has explored yet.
Having added a few final strokes to the lineart, Rui took a moment to rate the work he had finished so far. A grimace took over his face after he spotted a few remaining mistakes and attempted to fix them. Still pouting, he cast another look at the tablet.
A little better, but needed some more tweaking. It might look even more different with base colors, too, he had to keep that in mind as well. Rui chuckled – he was supposed to take a break soon, but it seemed like the night was going to extend.
Yawning, he stood up to stretch before continuing to work. When turning around, he noticed a light coming from the right side of the window. Curious, he directed his steps towards the source of the glow to inspect it. As Rui drew closer, a faint sound reached his ears – a quiet, angelic voice.
It was Nene, without a doubt. Despite the passage of time, he’d recognize her singing anywhere.
Rui couldn’t help but smile a little, although he wondered why she stayed up so late today. It wasn’t like her at all, at least the her he knew. Maybe that changed, it’s been a while since they last talked, after all. A long while.
His chest tightened as Rui thought about the girl next door. He had to admit that he missed her. The shows they put together, coming up with ideas together, laughing together. She was his only friend, the only person who cared and understood his inner world. They used to have so much fun hanging out and exchanging perspectives on things they liked, often talking late into the night at sleepovers. Now, the only thing he and his neighbor still shared was a wall between them.
The troubled young man let out a deep sigh, trying to exhale all these thoughts, but he couldn’t deny that he was, in fact, lonely. It was a feeling he considered to be used to, yet the pain it brought still surfaced from time to time. Rui knew he would have to accept it eventually, though – it would be better both for him and those around him. Despite it still being hard to process, he knew it was the only way to survive.