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They all knew that this would be her last performance. The liquid was bubbling in her lungs, preventing her from taking a single breath, forcing her to suffocate from lack of oxygen, cough up blood, and stain her pale hands and red lips with it.
An didn't want to let her on stage. I didn't want to let her out of the room. I didn't want to lose another dear person.
But unlike Nagi, Kohane is not going to lie to her.
Kohane has a determined look, a soft smile and a strong voice, despite the shortness of breath after each song. Kohane has trembling hands, unsteady legs, and weak lungs.
An knows her as well as she knows An. And the girl with the stars in her hair is smiling at her, holding out a hairpin with the sun, crying and dropping tears into the palms holding the jewelry.
She agrees, and the four participants become one, hugging on Kohane's cot, knowing that soon only three will be able to receive these hugs.
...And without even realizing that there were actually two of them.
Toya doesn't talk about it. In fact, Kohane feels like he's become even quieter.
Could she blame him? Time and time again, everything he had ever achieved was taken away from him, and Fate was not kind to him this time.
To her too.
And yet he finds the strength to kiss her in front of the entrance to the live house, finds the strength to smile a soft, determined smile and... How can Kohane refuse him? How could she refuse when he was looking at her with tears in his eyes, when he was hugging her, blowing his cold breath on top of her head?
She smiles back, and the wounds on her bitten lips open up again.
When she first met Toya, his lips were pale and bitten along with his nails. He had cold eyes and a flat voice that only changed when he was performing with his partner. Was he even more devastated and confused when he first met Akito? How did his partner change him in just a year, how did he return the warm spark that rarely lights up in his eyes?
...They all really changed him, right? And Kohane suddenly feels bitter guilt for taking her partner's happiness away again.
She hides her tears in his shoulder, clutching the gloves he gave her, and she is not cold, despite the fact that her hands are open to the cold wind.
Kohane really wanted to surpass Rad WEEKEND, and she would do it even if her life was on the line. Azusawa clutches the microphone in his hands, ignoring the fact that there is still countless hours before their release. She's not afraid. She's not shaking. She knows that this performance will be the best in their short career.
And he knows that they will never encore. Because no matter how talented her partners are, Vivid BAD SQUAD will not be able to continue its existence. Their group consists of four people and the balance will not be maintained if one of them leaves.
Aoyagi Toya. Azusawa Kohane. Shiraishi An. Shinonome Akito.
Winter. Spring. Summer. Autumn.
Spring will not come without winter, just as winter will not come without autumn. They are connected in more ways than just "members of the same group." They are more than friends and more than partners. They are connected by feelings deeper than love and more bitter than despair.
And if Kohane is going to be the weak link that destroys the team, she should leave loudly. Brightly. It's not quiet in English.
After all, their band is called Vivid BAD SQUAD, and it has to live up to the title of its member.
...If that wasn't the case, Akito wouldn't have given her a second chance, An wouldn't have dared to become her partner again, Toya wouldn't have agreed to have anything in common with her.
And if she doesn't surpass the event she's sacrificing her life for.…
She doesn't deserve it.
Kohane was beautiful. In fact, they were all beautiful. Their voices merged into one, breaking down all barriers and erected walls.
ULTRA C was a revolutionary song. They wrote it together, putting all their accumulated feelings into it. And Kohane was throwing them out for the last time. She was singing, screaming so loudly, so desperately, and so… Passionately.
Burn out! And they were burning. Sweating profusely, with smiles on their faces, they sang and it seemed that the temperature in the hall had risen by several thousand degrees.
— What I want to touch down! Kohane's voice rang out, clear as lightning and powerful as thunder. A trickle of blood ran down his chin. It didn't stop her.
Go all out! And they did their best. They gave their best and went beyond their abilities, because this was their last chance to surpass the event for which they had been working tirelessly for two years.
And Rad BLAST really proved itself on ULTRA C.
Vivid BAD SQUAD in its true, inimitable, unique form was ULTRA C.
— Boku ga kakusei gyakuten ey! — ending the song with the microphones up and Kohane's awakening reversed when she dropped dead on stage.
And she really went beyond her limits.
And she really became ULTRA C.
After all, she's a member of Vivid BAD SQUAD.
After all, she's a member of Rad BLAST.
Burn more, that's what I was born for…
Akito was burning with music. He doesn't need air if music disappears from his life.
Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!
The goal he pursued was the only thing that lifted him off his knees at any time of his life.
The only thing that has never changed is the goal. The rest was too unstable to grab onto. Why did he think he had the right to be happy? He didn't work hard enough for him.
Was his efforts enough for Life at least once?
Burn it down until it falls over!
No matter how much Akito denied it, his partners were always his fuel. His partners were the reason he moved towards his goal with a smile.
He was never happy going to her place alone. Loneliness brought pain. He had no talent, and he has to admit that he owes his success only to his teammates.
No matter how hard he tried, Akito couldn't catch up to them.
The only thing he had was passion. Passion kept him afloat, listeners were attracted by his emotions and boundless energy.
His passion was fueled by his partners. And she would have burned down if they had left. The band could not have continued to exist with a weak link in the form of him, because his passion, his feelings, his everything depended on the feelings of his teammates.
Winter. Spring. Summer. Autumn.
Aoyagi Toya. Azusawa Kohane. Shiraishi An. Shinonome Akito.
One cannot exist without the other.
There will be no summer without spring. Without summer, autumn, and without autumn, winter.
A group cannot be complete without Kohane. Without An. Without Toya, and... and without him, too.
That's why he's going to rebuild Vivid BAD SQUAD. He's going to go back to all his partners.
And Akito takes one last look at the painting. The picture he painted, where all four of them are sitting in a field of sunflowers.
If he couldn't give Kohane this painting here, he will give it there.
There will be no summer without spring. Without summer — autumn, without autumn — winter.
There should always be a balance, right?
On the edge of the roof, Akito thinks and listens. Tokyo's night air smells of peaches, coffee, and rum. The voices of aspiring musicians can be heard from Vivid Street, and they seem determined to overcome the RAD BLAST.
In two springs, everything will happen again, and Akito is sure that they will have their own ULTRA C.
He hopes that they will go beyond their capabilities.
Akito wishes them luck. He chants Kashika to the unlucky God and sets off into free fall.