I wanted to think it was just my imagination.
Here at Anon-chan’s house. The morning after everyone had been working all night.
Sunlight poured in through the skylight, and the sound of birds was heard far off.
Because of the past few days of exhaustion, perhaps? It had been so long since I woke up feeling this pleasant, and yet...
What leaped into my sight was that thing, completely changed from its original form.
"My costume... it's cut~~!!?"
It was sliced right in half, truly magnificently.
"Eh... why...?"
Last night, when I lay down on the sofa, this short dress should still have been in one piece. Even though I’d thought it was such a hassle, having to cut and sew the dress according to the paper pattern, I somehow managed to finish it.
But now, it was cleanly cut into two pieces, left and right.
In other words, while I was asleep, it became like this.
"What~~...?"
"......so noisy."
"...?"
Because of my scream, everyone started getting up idly. The only one I still couldn’t see how she’s doing was Raana-chan, who was on the other side of the folding screen.
But there's no doubt about it.
Among the four of them is the culprit who cut my costume.
"Look at this."
Holding a piece in each hand, left and right, I thrusted them forward.
"Ehh~~...? Eh? Huh? It's cut!!"
Anon-chan, who had been staring at it with sleepy, unfocused eyes, finally seemed to grasp what was going on and leaned forward dramatically.
"...So what if it's cut? Can’t you just sew it back?"
"The cut marks will totally stand out!"
"You’re so loud…… It doesn’t really matters…… either way is fine, isn’t it……?"
Perhaps she still hadn’t recovered from her fatigue, Taki-chan gradually sank down onto the floor while she spoke.
As for Tomori-chan, although her body was sitting up, her eyes were barely open.
"...What are we going to do about this? Is it okay if I wear casual clothes?"
Originally, I didn't think we need costumes anyway.
I'd much rather wear my regular clothes than something this avant-garde.
"That's a no-go! I mean, why did this happen... Ah-"
"What?"
Anon-chan, who went speechless, probably caught on to something.
"Raana-chan... was trying to cut the pattern, so I told her that if she's cutting, it should be fabric and not the paper..."
I thought of the event that took place yesterday. Indeed, I recalled there’d been such exchange when we started our working session.
"Then, the one who cut this... was also Rana-chan?"
"...Maybe."
"…………"
I looked toward Raana-chan, beyond the screen, occupying Anon-chan's bed with no sign of waking up.
It’s probably, or rather, almost certainly her. Tomori-chan and Taki-chan had been concentrating on song production to begin with, and the costume team was just the three of us: me, Anon-chan, and Rana-chan.
If the costume designer said it wasn't her, by process of elimination, there’s only one person left.
"Well, if it’s been cut then there’s no helping it, I guess..."
"There must be a way!"
Even if Anon-chan was convinced, the one wearing it is me, so the problem remained.
"Eh... could it be that Soyorin was actually pretty fond of it?"
"I just don’t like wearing strange things."
I wanted her to stop turning things to her advantage.
"Is it really that strange...? Somehow, on the contrary, I feel like it's actually pretty good... Ah!"
Suddenly standing up, Anon-chan started rummaging through her bookshelf. She grabbed a magazine and returned.
"This! Look at this!"
On the open page were photos from a fashion show held in Paris. Among them, one photo depicted a woman wearing a dress cut away on just one side. Underneath the dress, something like a maxi-length shirt dress was sewn in place. Overall, it gave an impression of advanced-level design, the kind of clothing that would be given weird looks by anyone other than those with high fashion sensitivity.
"I knew I’ve seen it somewhere~! Doesn't it look like a cool, fashionable look?"
Anon-chan spoke with vigor as if all had been resolved. However, I remained entirely unconvinced.
"...Enough already. I'll perform in casual clothes."
"Ehh--!? Then there’s no point in making them for everyone!"
"...Soyo-chan."
Having finally awakened, Tomori-chan also joined the conversation.
"The costume... you won't wear it?"
"That's right. Because it was cut in half by Rana-chan."
"Ehh, I think it's nice, though..."
"........."
"Tomorin...?"
Tomori-chan looked like she wanted to say something.
I’d seen this expression so many times before. It’s the look of Tomori-chan when she’s being stubborn. So I striked first.
"Tomori-chan, it's not like you absolutely need a costume to perform live, right?"
If I let her be, I'd just get swayed again.
“…I might get it wrong, but…”
“It could be my own presumption, but as a band… I think…”
“!”
“It’s all of us together… all of us, standing side by side.”
Tomori-chan didn’t back down.
As always, she faltered now and then as though she’s rummaging for words with her hands.
“That….it’s us.”
As if to gauge my reaction, she looked straight into my eyes.
"Tomorin, well said~!"
It’s not like I want to become a professional and make it big.
It’s not like I want to become famous, or master the art of music.
I’m only here, somehow, because they wouldn’t let me go.
That being said. Matching outfits of all things?
“…Fine. I’ll wear it, okay?”
“…!”
A flash of delight shone on Tomori-chan’s face.
Somehow, I was the one who ended up looking away.
“If someone says it’s strange, I’ll just tell them it’s Anon-chan’s design.”
“Eh, how mean!”
Anon-chan voiced her complaint.
She was the one who said she wanted costumes in the first place, so I think she should be willing to take at least that much responsibility as the designer.
“…Come to think of it, have we decided on a band name?”
“A lost… band.”
“…Isn’t that weird?”
“No, no, it actually means something! No matter how many times we fall, or how lost we get, we’ll just keep going—!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
It doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but maybe that’s for the best.
We’re not trying to be cool, just being who we are. That’s the five of us who can’t quite become human.
And here we are, gathered together like this. Nothing more, nothing less.
“Ahhhhh!?”
Anon-chan screamed while staring at her phone screen.
“…What?”
“Look at the time! Didn’t we say we are going to the studio first thing in the morning?!”
“We did?”
“Yeah! You might not know because you were sleeping, Soyorin! Hey, Rikki! Wake up!”
Anon-chan roughly shook Taki-chan, who had fallen back asleep.
"...So noisy."
“The time! What time did you say the reservation is!?”
“…………Crap.”
Taki-chan sat up abruptly, all composure drained from her face.
“Get ready! Hurry! We booked the studio first thing in the morning!”
“Wait, hold on! Soyorin’s costume isn’t finished!”
“Do it over there! Stray cat! Wake up! Live show!”
“…………I’ll do it.”
“Then wake up now!”
The room suddenly erupted into chaos.
Seriously, why does it always end up like this?
“I’m hungry.”
“There’s catering over there!”
“Tomorin, help me pack up the costumes!”
“Okay……!”
“Then, uh, Soyoriiiiin—!”
“Don’t make Tomori waste any extra energy!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I picked up scraps of the costume that had been cleanly cut in two.
“…………”
“Soyorin?”
Falling over and over, remaining lost.
The kind of people who can finally move forward only when someone reaches out a hand.
An imperfect band, made of all of us: the imperfect people coming together.
This costume is proof of that.
"In the making, huh."
“Huh? What?”
“Nothing. Come on, we’re in a hurry, aren’t we?”
We’re not perfect, and we’re not beautiful.
When I thought of it that way, I found myself feeling that maybe I could bring myself to love these scraps of cloth, just a little.
This is the short novel special bonus of Amesoyo Vo. 3. You have to purchase it from gamers in order to get this special bonus. You can access the shop link below.
The novel itself is written by Haibuchi-sensei who is also the writer for this manga.
Note
Actually, Tomori learned from Soyo, back in their CRYCHIC era, that being in a band isn’t just about performing together...
The beauty of having Soyo wear that half-finished costume is that it also shows how something incomplete, just like the band itself, isn’t necessarily something wrong at all and is acceptable as it is. Look at how they draw Soyo’s smile after Afterglow praises her. That little detail is in the anime.