Chat Group: Traits, Gacha, and Crossovers

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That night—

After a fun, relaxing day at the beach, the girls—nudged along by Mio—gathered in the villa's soundproof room for some actual practice.

Seizing the chance, Fujiwara Chika asked if she could borrow Yui Hirasawa's guitar and joined the other three for a clumsy but heartfelt jam session.

『Earth's Cancer』: It worked!

As soon as they finished, Chika noticed her bond meter in this world had finally ticked up—from 60% to 60.01%.

Beaming, she immediately hopped into the group chat to report her progress.

『Ordinary Human』: Noted.

『Ordinary Human』: I doubt the remaining 40% can be earned just by doing casual practice sessions like this, but hey—every bit counts until you hit another roadblock.

『Earth's Cancer』: Got it!

With that, Chika's attention returned to the real world—only to find Yui staring at her with puppy-dog eyes... and then at her own guitar.

"Chika-chan's technique isn't even that polished, so why does it feel like Gitah listens to her better than it does to me...?"

Yui's eyes were misty. "Don't tell me... it was never truly mine to begin with?"

"Gitah"—that's what she'd named her guitar after getting it.

"Maybe it's because your fundamentals aren't even on the same level?" Mio deadpanned. "And don't forget—Chika's the one who helped you read sheet music in the first place."

"Hey Yui~! You don't want Gitah to fall in love with someone else, do you?" Ritsu added with a mischievous grin.

Thwack!

That was the sound of Mio's fist landing squarely on Ritsu's head, leaving behind a smoking cartoonish lump.

"Can you be serious for just one second?!"

Mio scowled as she scolded her childhood friend.

"Alright, alright—no jokes, geez. Chill out, Mio-chan..." Ritsu grumbled under her breath.

"No! I think Ritsu-chan is right!"

Yui clenched her fists, suddenly fired up. "To protect Gitah from falling into the clutches of the Demon Queen Chika, I'll train every day—no slacking—until we rock that school festival stage!"

"Stop giving me weird titles like that!!" Chika huffed, handing the guitar back.

"Are you actually interested in being in a band?" Mio asked curiously as she watched the exchange.

"Of course I am. Why else do you think I joined the Light Music Club?" Chika replied with a grin.

Mio glanced away slightly, suspicious. 'Wasn't it actually the snacks that lured her in...?'

Before Mio could say anything, Ritsu suddenly grabbed Chika's hand with a sparkle in her eyes. "Good! That's how it starts for everyone—with a bit of interest! I mean, we, the ——"

She paused mid-sentence and turned to the rest of the group. "Hey... did we ever actually give our band a name?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

The silence that followed said it all.

Turns out, the tea-loving members of the Light Music Club had missed more than just giving their band a name.

They hadn't even submitted the club activity form yet—meaning they weren't officially recognized as a school club. Which also meant…

They didn't have permission to perform at the school festival.

And since a legit club required at least four members and a faculty advisor, they couldn't even submit the form to begin with.

To top it off, their original song? Only a rough melody existed. No lyrics, no finalized lead vocalist.

Even if by some miracle they did secure a spot on the festival stage, with their current level of preparation... they were basically setting themselves up for a complete disaster.

— — —

"..."

"…Are you girls seriously going through with this?"

Sawako Yamanaka, their teacher / unwilling club advisor, stared at them, exasperated. Her face was a mix of disbelief and regret—the kind of regret you get when your wild youth comes back to bite you.

She'd already gotten a bad feeling the moment Ritsu had pulled her aside and whispered, "Sensei, you do want to keep those photos and tapes from your metal band Death Devil days buried, right? Say it, Sawa-chan~"

Yup! Let's just say she hadn't been entirely willing when she was "invited" to be their advisor.

Still, even with all her suspicions, she hadn't expected things to be this bad. The festival wasn't that far off anymore. Forget performance readiness—they hadn't even picked the songs they'd play on stage yet.

And it wasn't just Sawako expressing disbelief.

Elsewhere, in a very different corner of the world, another round of commentary was happening in the group chat.

...

『Ordinary Human』: In the Light Music Club, you might actually hear music… occasionally.

『Ordinary Human』: Plot twist: it was just the sound of the TV.

『Lady Avalon』: LOL, someone's throwing shade.

『Ghost Spider』: Honestly, when you first said their club activities were a bit weird, I thought Chika was just being lazy.

『Ghost Spider』: But now it makes sense why Chika didn't realize the remaining 40% of the bond was tied to actual music.

『Earth's Cancer』: Hey now… we do practice properly… occasionally.

『Catwoman』: occasionally?

『Earth's Cancer』: ...…

『Hellish Blizzard』: So what's your plan moving forward?

『Hellish Blizzard』: That advisor already pointed out your timing issues—rushing certain beats, dragging on others, and a few rhythm inconsistencies. Stuff like that can be fixed with practice.

『Hellish Blizzard』: But you still don't even have lyrics ready?

『Earth's Cancer』: Mio-chan's been working on them these past few days. She's just… a little stuck on inspiration.

『Snake Empress』: So if everything goes smoothly and you perform at the festival, would that wrap up your bond in that world?

『Earth's Cancer』: That's the plan, yeah.

Chika glanced at her current bond value—it had already shot up to 90% ever since they roped in Sawako as the club advisor.

『Ordinary Human』: How many days until the school festival again?

『Earth's Cancer』: A little over two weeks.

『Ordinary Human』: Got it. I'll come watch.

Having already maxed out the 100% bond level in World-2, Veyron figured he might as well grab a front-row seat for this one.

Even if the Light Music Club now had a surprise addition in the form of Fujiwara Chika, from the few livestreams he'd caught when she accidentally turned the camera on during practice, it looked like their first original song would still be the classic "Fuwa Fuwa Time"—though he liked to call it "Fluffy time."

With that in mind, he was a little curious.

Now that there was one more person on stage… would that bassist, the one-who-shall-not-be-named, still trip over the cords on her way out—thus perfectly recreating that legendary, meme-worthy moment?

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.

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