Chapter Text
"That's enough, Ohtsuki!" Ijichi Seika, the venue owner, shouted. Yoyoko lowered her hand. The silk of Yamada's shirt slipped out of her loosened grasp as the insufferable, pretentious bassist turned away from her. The accomplished singer and guitarist struggled to hold back a growl, and a barrage of tears at the same time. The last thing she wanted was to give Yamada what she wanted.
The room fell into a thick, oppressive silence that drowned out her gasping breaths and the grinding of her teeth. It felt as if time itself had stopped.
After counting to ten and back, she looked over the table. Past Kita's horrified face and Ijichi's disapproving, albeit understanding gaze, she saw Gotoh Hitori. Completely frozen. Or was she shaking? Yoyoko's vision was getting blurry, her eyes starting to burn. A pressure in her sinuses that meant it was about time to get out. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Still dry. Thank god.
She looked back up, her eyes meeting Gotoh's. A single tear rolled down the pink girl's cheek and fell onto the floor. The splash, however faint, was the first thing to cut through the stifling dead air that had filled the room. Before anyone could say or do anything to stop her, Yoyoko bolted out of the live house, nearly tripping twice on the stairs. Bocchi hesitantly reached in her general direction, but could not bring herself to run after her.
She couldn't have been wrong. There is absolutely no way, no way in hell she was in the wrong here! That bassist sabotaged her, got in her way, clearly looked down on her! And now Yoyoko has to pay for it? It will take a miracle for her to be let into Starry again. To get to see- to get to see her rival, live, ever again... Is she going to have to watch from afar, nothing but OhTube videos and tour shows and fan recordings and public announcements and... is she going to become just another fan, to the pink girl? She might as well quit music if that happens. She could never recover.
What if she loses all her bandmates again, too? If she's quitting music, then maybe it's fine... Oh shut it, that's not happening! Maybe she should get the Ijichi girl to join, though. She seems responsible, more driven than the rest of her band... No, that would be a terrible idea. They would never stop fighting, they both take charge of everything all the time- and Yoyoko just made a scene in her sister's bar, of course.
She turned the corner onto the street leading up to the Shimokita Station. The trains still run frequently enough at this hour. If anyone tries to go after her, she can just disappear into the crowd. They'll never find her. Why would anyone care enough to do that, though? She narrowly dodged a high school girl handing out tissues and continuedwalking—
After a split second of thought she turned around and took a pack. Wiped her eyes. Wet.