Alice!
Maybe she isn't going to work, after all.
Alice, what's wrong?
What happened?
Alice, sing!
Sing, Alice!
I've already decided.
Alice!
No matter how much time it takes...
Alice!
I will be your friend.
I swear
I will.
What was that?
Wh-What? A k-kiss.
Why? Western greeting?
Huh? No.
Western greeting?
I said it wasn't! Don't you get it?
Then what did it mean—
Isn't it obvious?!
Nino-chan!
What's the matter? What are you two doing on the floor?
Do you feel sick?
I'm okay.
Really?
You don't need to push yourself.
I have to sing the rest.
That so? Okay! Then I'll let them know.
Come on over after you've rested a bit.
A-Alice...
Yuzu, don't talk to me for a while.
How is this
protecting her smile?
♭09 And So, We Took Off Running for That Summer
That was... That kiss means...
Just as I've liked Momo all this time,
Yuzu has feelings for...
All right, cut!
Queen, your pinky finger's sticking out. Watch it!
Oh, gosh!
All right! Take five!
Hey, Yana. It's crazy to expect this to be done in two weeks.
Sorry! But we're counting on you!
Guess I've got no choice but to get it done!
Yuzu, don't talk to me for a while.
What's up? You seem kinda down.
I do?
Nino-chan really gave it her all at the recording.
We got a good recording, and the music video's coming along great, too.
I have to apologize to Alice.
But...
He's so mad all the time.
I know. It even wears me out.
It's fun, though, so it's all good.
Haruyoshi-senpai, you were sticking out your pinky too much.
A-Alice!
U-Um, about the other day...
Hey, Arisugawa.
Could you take Yuzuriha's bag to the nurse's office?
Alice?!
The teacher told me you were feeling sick and left early.
I-I'm fine. It's just a cold or something.
Go home or you'll catch it.
I brought your bag.
Thanks. Now, go home.
No.
Go! Weren't you the one who told me not to talk to you?
But I'm worried.
Yuzu.
What?
I'm going to quit In NO Hurry.
I've been thinking all this time
that it'd be better if I quit.
Yuzu, I'm sorry.
I never noticed how you felt about me.
I just kept taking advantage of you.
When I thought that I've been walking all over your feelings,
I felt so sad,
and so frustrated...
I just couldn't look you in the eye.
And when we were on Music King, and then during recording,
I was so preoccupied with Momo that I nearly ruined everything.
They happened to work out, but I don't think coincidences like that can go on forever.
If I'm just going to keep on hurting you,
then I can't stay with In NO Hurry.
I don't even know where I should aim when I sing.
I don't deserve
to be Alice.
Wh-Why are you laughing?
Come on, Alice.
Don't tell me...
you thought I liked you or something?
You don't?
No way.
Anyway, let's go.
Huh? Where?
Just come.
I'm pretty sure it starts today.
What's happening in Shibuya?
Yuzu...
Here it comes.
Fly!
Oh, it's In NO Hurry.
I like this one.
Whether I'm awake or asleep I sing
I'm nothing more than a canary
Drowning in sweet, glistening lies
Alice, have you ever noticed?
Whether I'm awake or asleep, I peck
You always sing toward the sky.
I'm not afraid of anything
I sleep in the depths of sweet nectar
When I sing, that alone makes me wonderful
So let me stay in this cage
Even if you're stripped of everything,
whether you're sad or frustrated,
When I shout, that alone makes me invincible
or heartbroken.
No matter what happens, you'll never give up, and you'll keep on singing.
So please don't open this cage
Aiming for Momo.
I'll fall
And that's fine, Alice.
That voice of yours is what we...
Straight down
What everyone here is so captivated by.
That's why I asked you to join In NO Hurry.
I'm being swallowed by waves of what is real and empty
When I said to you, "Isn't it obvious?"
I meant, isn't it obvious that your voice is precious to us?
My chocolate, milk, candy, and everything else is being taken away
That's why, back then, when I was afraid you'd ruin your voice by screaming,
I did what I did.
But really, whatever the reason...
I'm sorry.
Really?
As I'm carried away by the flow, I awaken
My name is Canary
Yuzu.
All the sweet lies are empty
Didn't I tell you we were friends?
As I'm carried away by the flow, I am plucked
And now I'm left with no more feathers
That's true.
I fall deeper into the depths of the sweet darkness of the night
You finally smiled.
I would have been fine...
Ever since then,
whenever I touch this guitar, I feel like something's caught in my throat.
Yuzu said I'm fine as I am,
but I feel like, no matter how much I sing, I haven't sung at all.
I know I'd be better off letting this go sooner than later.
I should let go.
It's Yana.
We're going to be performing the same day as the black cats at Rock Horizon.
I'll call back later.
Incoming Call Eyelashes
Yes? Hello?
Good morning, Momo.
It's me.
I want to talk to you about something.
You look down, Haruyoshi-senpai.
I was listening to our recent practice. Something feels lacking.
Something's lacking?
It's like it doesn't really hit home, or something.
Like everything within me still isn't reaching you.
So you've started longing for me?
I've always longed for you.
Gosh! Listen to your jokes!
Too bad, though.
I decided to use the In NO Hurry that tossed me aside as a stepping stone
to soar higher than ever before.
A stepping stone?
It resonates
Even in my dreams
My soul and my heart are shaken
This isn't right.
My voice isn't coming out at all.
By your song
I can't wait until Wednesday
Kuro.
Why is she singing such an old song?
Right now, it's everything
Nino-chan said she wanted to make complete copies of all our songs.
My everything
I don't need anything else
She sounds like she's hit a bit of a wall,
Hurry and wake me up
so I asked if she wanted any help.
But she keeps insisting that she's fine.
I guess she really wants to get a hold of the genuine "Alice"
deep inside her.
I guess I really should return this guitar to Kuze-san.
Momo!
Kuze-san.
I already had a feeling.
She's the person Momo likes right now.
Huh? Aren't you going home, Momo?
No, I said I'd meet someone.
So he actually has friends.
I can hear you.
You're early.
What'd you want to talk about?
My CDs.
Huh?
I loaned you two of my CDs, didn't I?
I really like those.
Are you just gonna keep them?
I thought you'd never talk to me again.
I mean, aren't you In NO Hurry's Cheshire?
Huh? H-How did you know?
And In NO Hurry's vocalist is Alice.
Your nickname for Nino is Alice.
In NO Hurry is a band you made for Nino.
Am I wrong?
You know I'm Kiryuu Momo, don't you?
Once you knew that, I thought you'd never come near me again.
And I planned to keep my distance, too.
Why?
Because you stole Nino's voice.
I can't.
I just can't do it.
Even though Yuzu went to the trouble to make a place for me to sing,
I can't sing if this goes on.
I have to forget Momo.
I have to give up on Momo.
This guitar is just...
But...
But!
I can't throw it away.
How could I let it go?
My voice moved his heart,
and it's my only proof of that.
I'll sing.
With this guitar.
I'll sing.
With everything that I am.
I'll shout it out!
Whether I'm awake or asleep, I sing
I'm nothing more than a canary
Drowning in sweet, glistening lies
More and more!
I'll shout with all I have!
I have to shout it all out!
Whether I'm awake of asleep, I peck
I'm not afraid of anything
It's not enough.
I sleep in the depths of sweet nectar
It's not nearly enough sound!
When I sing, that alone makes me wonderful
This won't reach!
So let me stay here in this cage
When I shout, that alone makes me invincible
That day, when my voice reached Momo,
So please don't open this cage
I had everyone with me. And their sound.
I'll fall
Back then, I was In NO Hurry's Alice.
Straight down
I'm Alice.
I'm being swallowed by waves of what is real and empty
This performance...
On that day, at that time,
it felt like my whole body was touched by sound.
This is the same.
I'll swallow both poison and love whole, and open my beak wide
Nino's voice is the only light I have.
If I didn't have her voice, I'm sure I wouldn't be alive right now.
I've been able to come this far because of my memories of singing with her.
Once I took care of everything,
and if Nino was still singing at that time,
I had planned to find her and sing together with her again.
To tell her I wanted her to sing the songs that I had written for her.
Doesn't that mean you really do like her?
This feeling is more precious than that.
One day, I will take her back from you.
Her voice belongs only to me.
Alice's voice...
Her voice, at least...
belongs only to me!
We'll settle this at Rock Horizon.
I'll turn the tables.
I'll never hand over Alice!
That's all.
See you later, Sakaki.
See you later, Eyelashes.
That was the best you've ever sung.
My voice alone was no good. It wasn't enough.
So I used everyone's... In NO Hurry's sound.
So you had always been singing alone before now?
Yes.
I see. So that's why.
This is the first time you weren't just thinking of yourself.
You were thinking of all of us as you sang this time.
That's why it reached me.
I-It reached you?
Yep. It looks like that guitar could be your weapon.
Momo's guitar could be my weapon?
Tha... Thank you.
I-I'll use this to go after the person who dumped me again.
Seriously? You really need to learn when to give up.
Yeah...
You're just like me.
I always felt there was something about you that bothered me.
I thought this wasn't In NO Hurry
if Miou wasn't a part of it.
But I remembered after hearing you sing just now.
You're the one who started In NO Hurry.
Six years ago, when Yuzu's mother cut him off from music,
he could finally breathe again when he had you sing for him.
Yuzu's the same as me?
It's because you were there that In NO Hurry was born.
And I just wanted to play Yuzu's sound for the same reason.
Yuzu, Miou, Kuro, and me...
We all have something that makes us not want to give up.
So it doesn't matter how bad it makes you look.
Let's all struggle as long as we can.
Welcome to In NO Hurry,
Alice.
I'm home.
I give up.
Just when I thought he wouldn't finish any new songs for Baby.
Look how many songs are here.
He's been writing up until now for her alone? Sheesh.
You looked so desperate that I thought you might give up,
but unfortunately, your sound doesn't lie.
You still like her so much, you can't help yourself.
Nino-chan, I mean.
On this week's singles chart,
number two is...
"Canary" by In NO Hurry to Shout.
So close!
Rats!
I guess that means Baby is number one again this week.
That's so frustrating!
It's okay. I have a feeling Baby will fall off the map next year.
You say some scary things with a smile on your face!
I thought
we were going to wait until we had an album to take number one.
You sure know how to say it, Ninocchi!
Kuro! Your happy drumming is annoying! Cut it out!
So what song are we starting our practice with today?
I see you're not listening, as usual, Alice.
Okay, let's start.
But, Yuzu...
I was really happy!
Thanks.
For giving me a place to sing.
I don't just want to sing so I can reach Momo.
I want to give back, too.
Haruyoshi-senpai, Miou, Kuro-kun, Yuzu.
I want to take all the things you treasure,
hold them close,
and sing.
More than anyone else. Stronger than anyone else.
And so, we took off running
for that summer.
♭10 The One Who Lit a Fire Inside Alice Was Me