Mahoro

Mmmmmm...

Mahoro

Nnngh...!

Mahoro

N-No good...

Mahoro

(What am I going to do...? Natsume-chan sent over the demo for the new song, but I haven't made any headway on the lyrics...)

Mahoro

(I somehow managed to write "Narasu"... but it didn't feel like this back then...)

Mahoro

*Yawn*...

Mahoro

(Ugh... Maybe it's because I just had dinner...)

Mahoro

(I'm getting... sleepy—)

We're gonna start a band! So... what're we gonna do?

Nagi

I mean, you're the one who wanted to start a band, Kanata.

Yeah, but... Mahoro, got any ideas?

Mahoro

Whaaat? You're asking me!? Um... Hmm... Should we come up with autographs?

Ooh, such a great idea! What do you think, Nagi?

Nagi

The exit is that way.

Mahoro

Ah~! I can still help~!

Nagi

For starters, we need instruments, and somewhere to practice... There's already a lot to think about.

Nagi

But most importantly, what kind of songs are we going to play?

Nagi

None of us but Kanata has played an instrument before, and we'll need to think about how hard the songs we cover are, too.

Wait, we're doing covers?

Mahoro

Huh? Aren't we?

I mean, we can, but... y'know, if we're doing this, we'd want to write original songs, right?

Composition and lyrics... Maybe I can handle those, y'know!

Mahoro・Nagi

...

What's with those looks?

Nagi

Well... you can play piano, at least...

Mahoro

And Kanata's surprisingly good in Japanese class...

"Surprisingly" was unnecessary! I'm a beautiful young literary genius!

Nagi

Yeah, yeah. Literary genius.

Mahoro

Hmm... But how do people even go about writing lyrics?

Mahoro

Sometimes I'll hear a popular song and think, "Yeah, I get that," but...

Mahoro

I can't really imagine how anyone comes up with lyrics that make you feel that way.

Nagi

Yeah... I guess?

Hmm... Maybe they just don't think too much?

Mahoro

Huh?

Like, things you want to say. Feelings you just need to get out.

Maybe you just pour it all out onto the page, and before you know it, you've got lyrics.

Nagi

Oh...

Mahoro

That sounded kind of like something an artist would say.

Oh, really? See? I knew I could do it!

Mahoro

Ugh, that's so unfair... I don't really get it~

Huh? It didn't get through to you?

Mahoro

No, I got it. It's just... I don't have anything that makes me want to write like that.

Mahoro

The first thing that comes to mind is... Hmm... The fried shrimp I had earlier was huge, or something...?

Nagi

Aha. It'd turn into a picture diary.

Hahaha, great, that's great! I like stuff like that!

Then someday, we'll have Mahoro write lyrics too!

Mahoro

Huh? Are you serious?

You bet! I can't wait!

Mahoro

...

Mahoro

Hm...? Huh... A dream...?

Mahoro

(The night the three of us started a band... around two years ago.)

Mahoro

(That feels like so long ago...)

Mahoro

Things I want to say... And also, feelings I need to get out, huh.

Mahoro

(When I wrote "Narasu", I probably didn't have the luxury of thinking about any of that.)

Mahoro

(I was too desperate just to get something down.)

Mahoro

(Now that I'm really trying to face this head-on, I can't think of a single thing I want to put into words.)

Mahoro

(It's a feeling I just don't understand.)

Mahoro

Kanata really was a genius...

Mahoro

Ah...! No, come on! Don't get discouraged, Mahoro Hamasaki!

Mahoro

I've decided I'm not going to give up!

Mahoro

Alright... I'll read through Kanata's lyrics one more time...!