After all, it was Arisugawa Nino's fault that Yuzu lost his ability to sing.
Shut up! I can sing!
Just watch!
Alice, I want you to keep singing—
I can't!
I'll tell Alice
I want to steal you from Momo.
that I want her to be the vocalist of In NO Hurry.
Whatever it takes.
Right now.
– 1 Year Ago –
Hey. Looks like you're all here.
In NO Hurry to Shout.
Queen.
Hatter.
Cheshire.
And...
Alice.
What's the deal with these outfits?!
Weren't you the ones who said you'd release a CD if your identities could be kept safe?
Looking like that, no one will recognize you.
Well, yeah. You've got a point.
No one would guess this is Yuzu-kun.
So we're going to have Yuzu lip sync to your voice.
That'll make you happy, right?
Yes.
I want to sing.
Jeez, you kids are weirdos.
I really don't get what you're thinking.
If you're going to sing, you should just be Alice yourself.
I don't want to do that.
We don't care what you think of us.
Now and forever, the vocalist for In NO Hurry will be Alice, and Alice alone.
One more thing.
This is the only place I can play my songs.
I won't go easy on anyone who tries to break us up.
Are you trying to threaten the adult who's going to grant your wish?
But...
I don't dislike that.
♭04 That Day, We Who Were Hiding How We Truly Felt Joined Hands
I can't sing today, either.
I've never experienced this before.
Was Yuzu shouldering feelings like these, too?
Nino.
Your book's upside-down.
What's with that expression?
Weren't you practicing every day?
Why haven't you been singing lately?
You're right.
I applied for that audition, too, so I'd better sing.
What audition do you mean?
Hey! What audition?
Kiryuu Momo's.
I'm going to the same audition!
Wait, that's not what I mean! Nino!
Where's Yuzu?
He hasn't shown up at all recently.
He hasn't been coming to school either, right?
Jeez! The pair of them just can't get it together!
Wait, Miou!
Miou.
Miou!
What do you want, Haruyoshi-senpai?
Why are you so concerned about Arisugawa Nino now?
Because she's a good person.
Even though she's weird.
I heard from Yana-chan that you're running around auditioning.
Are you really okay with leaving In NO Hurry?
Perfectly fine!
It was never my goal to become Alice.
I want to be a vocalist that Yuzu wants from the bottom of his heart.
What's up, Miou?
What are you doing, you idiot?!
What's your problem?!
Do you know that Nino doesn't sing anymore?
More importantly, she said she's going for an audition!
What are you screwing around for?
What are you gonna do if she's accepted?
I left In NO Hurry because I wanted it to survive, you know!
Are you gonna let someone else snatch her away?
No, I won't.
Never.
Thank you, Miou.
Yeah.
I'm here in the dark forest
Amazing.
It's almost as if Yuzu's singing.
I'm... singing.
Thank you, Miou.
Yeah.
Yuzu.
I want to continue making music with you.
If you need In NO Hurry so you can find Alice...
If you need to keep doing this, then I'm in.
Sure, I guess I don't mind doing it with you.
What?!
Sheesh, there you go again, Yuzu!
Such a tsundere!
What's the problem?!
I couldn't sing today, either.
Even though I want to sing...
Good. You're still here.
Yu—
What's with that expression?
Are you still thinking it's all your fault?
O-Of course I am!
Didn't I tell you it isn't?! Stop being stubborn!
But if I hadn't started screaming back then—
Here.
Shut up and listen to this, Alice.
I made something to keep you from ever sniveling about it again.
I made this song just because I wanted you to sing it.
B-But...
Cut it out.
Hurry and put this in.
An ear-piercing sound.
Sound. Sound!
It's sucking me in.
Further and further!
I'm... singing.
Each note.
Each and every note is telling me to sing.
I'm sure I can't make myself not worry about it at all.
But I still want to sing, even after letting that all sink in.
Alice.
Thank you, Yuzu.
Thank you.
Did you just say something?
Uh, Alice...
Are you free on May 29th?
I think I'm probably free.
Um, Alice...
Th-That song is—
Oh, sorry.
Hello?
Oh, is this Arisugawa Nino-san?
I'm Kamiyama from Möbius Entertainment.
Thank you very much for applying to audition at our company.
You've been shortlisted for the final screening, to take place on May 29th.
I'm calling to inform you of that.
I made it?!
I made it? To the final screening?
Momo.
May 29th.
W-Will Kiryuu-san be there that day, too?
Huh? Oh, so she's the one?
I'm terribly sorry, Arisugawa-san.
This is very hard to tell you, but...
Yours is the only audition Kiryuu will not be attending.
"Your singing voice isn't good enough to be a guide."
"It doesn't give me reason enough to see you, so I'm not going," he said.
Nino.
I hope, one day, we can use your song as a guide
to find each other again.
A guide...
I'm sorry.
Alice?
Kiryuu can be a bit of a handful at times.
Oh, but there are a number of other judges who have high hopes for you.
So we do hope you'll come.
A guide!
Alice?
Alice, did you make it to the final screening?
I see your eyelashes are as unruly as ever today, Yuzu.
Wh-Who cares about my eyelashes?
Are you using some special eyelash product?
Would you listen to me?
I'm asking about the audition!
I made it... but I'm not going.
Why not?
Kiryuu Momo is the real Momo.
He said my voice wasn't good enough to be a guide.
That it's not reason enough to meet me.
And I'm the only audition he's not going to attend.
When I entered middle school...
And when I entered high school,
I used Momo's words and Yuzu's song to support me.
And I've always sung, believing I'd meet them.
And yet...
Mo...
Momo!
Go.
Even if he doesn't go, as long as you audition, Momo will have to listen, right?
So go to the audition.
But you just asked me if I'm free on May 29th.
Don't worry about that.
Go and sing for them.
No!
Why not?
This is another chance for him to hear you.
No! I'm scared!
Did you think Momo would never change?
Six years have passed!
How could he not change?
Seriously, when it comes to Momo,
you instantly turn into a wuss.
I... I said I'm not going, eyelash milk boy!
What's your deal, straight-banged mask girl?!
Thanks for the song!
You're very welcome!
Am I an idiot?
Why did I say that?
It's because she made that face.
What's with you?
What's with you, Yuzu?
You and your long eyelashes!
Your singing voice isn't good enough to be a guide.
It doesn't give me reason enough to see you, so I'm not going.
Momo.
There's no reason for me to keep singing anymore.
She isn't here again today.
She's been absent from school since then.
I made it... but I'm not going.
Go and sing for them.
And that was my chance to make her voice mine.
But...
But!
Hey, Eyelashes.
Don't call me Eyelashes.
Oh, sorry, Sakaki.
I forgot the CD I borrowed from you the other day.
It's fine. Give it back whenever.
Listen...
Let's say you have two really important things.
And then, say...
For your own sake, you want only one of those things to happen.
Is that really okay?
I don't get what you're saying at all.
Yeah...
But if they're both important,
doesn't that mean you just have to value both?
Even though that might be really hard.
Yeah. Thanks, Sakaki.
Wh-Why do you look creeped out?
That's gross, Eyelashes.
In short, Eyegrosses.
I said not to call me Eyelashes!
Eyegrosses.
Hey!
Mom!
Mom, what's going on outside?
They said they're turning it into a parking lot.
You can't blame them. It's been six years.
I guess things always change.
Six years have passed.
How could he not have changed?
What is this?
Are you stunned?
How much have you been holding back before now?
This is just wonderful!
The guitar is like a maelstrom, and the pounding bass line sounds awesome, too!
Right?
I guess this is what we get when he wants Nino-chan to join.
And if she joins, I think he'll show us something even more amazing.
Satisfied now?
Let Nino-chan join.
You don't play fair.
What can I say after hearing this song?
All right! We'll bust out this new song on May 29th!
About that...
Do you think it's possible to put the vocals in just before the show?
Huh?
I had the idea in my head
that nothing would ever change.
But maybe everything changes, like Yuzu said.
Momo skipped town with his family.
I wonder if he spent these past six years in a way I can't even imagine.
This is bad. I feel like I'm gonna scream.
Alice.
I made this song just because I wanted you to sing it.
Within the maelstrom of guitar and the storm of sound,
I could hear Yuzu's transient melody.
It sounded a bit like In NO Hurry's songs.
I wanted to sing it from the depths of my heart.
Momo-kun!
Let's sing!
Things that change.
Things that never change.
My longing for Momo hasn't changed in the slightest.
What about Momo?
Your singing voice isn't good enough to be a guide.
It doesn't give me reason enough to see you, so I'm not going.
He flipped around the meaning of his words from six years ago.
Wait...
If we can't see each other anymore...
I hope, one day, we can use your song as a guide to find each other again.
Does he mean
he still remembers that promise?
Any time I called for Momo, he always turned my way.
So if I call him loudly enough, in the end, he'll definitely...
That's right.
If my voice isn't enough to be a guide now,
it just has to become one good enough to do so!
I just have to make him look my way again.
You'd better prepare yourself, Momo.
On May 29th,
I'll call you with my loudest voice yet in these six years!
Yuzu
Tomorrow at 6:00 PM, I want you to come to the N Building in West Shinjuku. I have something to say.
This is Yuzu's.
I'd better give it back when I see him.
I want to listen to that song again.
I'm going to borrow it real quick!
All right, we're going to start the "High School" demo.
It's In NO Hurry's "High School."
Huh? It's different from the CD.
What is this?
A studio?
What does he want to talk to me about here?
In NO Hurry.
The vocalist, Alice.
Could this be...
It's that song!
Alice, listen.
I made this song just because I wanted you to sing it.
Yuzu's in here.
In NO Hurry!
Is this real?
You're twenty minutes late, Alice.
Yuzu.
If the voice you have now isn't enough to reach Momo,
then just use In NO Hurry.
If you want your voice to reach Momo, who's already a pro,
then I think In NO Hurry is the best place for you to be.
Alice, I want you to become the vocalist of In NO Hurry.
Up until now, I was lip syncing to Miou's singing.
But Miou left.
So Alice,
become an Alice who really sings for In NO Hurry.
On May 29th, I want you to perform with us on the live Music King broadcast.
But Yuzu, that day...
I'm going to the audition.
You can do it after the audition.
Jeez, I thought I'd be the one to tell you that first.
That's my line.
I'll sing with all my might.
Even if I know I'll fail, it seems I'm just no good at giving up, Yuzu.
Same here, Alice.
That day, we who were hiding how we truly felt
joined hands.
♭05 I Wouldn't Have Had to See You Smile Like That