We all knew that this chapter was going to come eventually, didn't we? The ninth and final chapter in this Saten Ruiko Day 2018 Countdown stream; I hope all of you enjoyed it so far and will enjoy today's chapter as well!

A quick thank you goes right to Reiriniverse from Tumblr. You all know why by now, correct? Because she has spent so much of her time making the cover images of all the oneshots in this countdown stream, this one included!

I don't own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party

"Ran?" Saaya said in surprise when she finally recognized the voice on the other side of the call, "Is something wrong?"

"…I need to ask you a big favor," Ran said after a short pause after Saaya had asked her that question. Saaya could hear Ran take a deep breath before she added, "Can I come over?"

It was early in the morning when the brunette received a call in which a certain someone had asked to meet up with her. Even though she didn't have a problem with meeting her, Yamabuki Saaya had to admit that Mitake Ran was arguably the last person she would have thought of to come to her.

"Thank you again for letting me come here at such a short notice," Ran muttered in such a way that Saaya could only assume was a form of apology. Taking a shaky breath, Ran meekly added, "Afterglow has a stupid tradition thanks to Himari where we… give each other things to remind us of our friendship. I had a bad feeling about what I got so I wanted to have someone else with me and you were the first to come to mind."

"I see…" Saaya trailed off as she couldn't help but look at the shape that Ran was in. Shivering and disheveled, Ran was clearly putting all her hopes in this one chance… and Saaya knew what her answer would be, "Come in before you freeze out there."

After Saaya had successfully let her friend inside, the two sixteen-year-old girls soon found themselves sitting side-by-side at a table in Saaya's room as they were both looking at the same object. A small little box was placed almost innocently so in the middle of the table, waiting for either Ran or Saaya to open it.

But that was the problem right now: neither girl was ready to do just that, instead choosing to wait anxiously for the other to make a move.

This silence lasted what felt like forever to the two girls, but one of them knew that she had to make a move.

"I think we should do it," Ran said with a shakier voice than usual, carefully leaning forward in order to be able to reach the box and pull it close to her. Gulping softly to herself, Ran looked at Saaya who nodded reassuringly. Seeing this, Ran felt a little calmer and, after taking a deep breath to calm herself down even further, she finally opened the lid of the box…

Only for her heart to sink when she saw what was inside.

"Well, what is it?" Saaya asked, trying to keep the excitement and curiosity in her voice suppressed, but even she knew that she wasn't doing a good job at this. Nonetheless, Saaya leaned forward in an effort to see what was inside.

Unfortunately for Saaya, Ran held the box in such a way that Saaya couldn't see the contents of the box. Saaya did, however, know that it was something important if Ran was acting this way.

"It's nothing," Ran said quickly while avoiding eye contact with Saaya. Ran realized too late that she replied too quickly, and Saaya had already noticed this. With a defeated sigh, Ran added somewhat shyly, "It's something that Moca prepared for me…"

Hearing this, Saaya had to suppress a smile as she already had an idea as to what their bread-loving friend would give Ran. However, Saaya's guesses turned out to be wrong when she finally did get a look at it.

The box contained a small photograph that was wrinkled and even appeared to be burned around the edges. Saaya couldn't quite tell what was depicted on it, but with the way that Ran was acting knew that it wasn't as insignificant as she first thought it would be.

"Ran?" Saaya asked carefully after some time had passed and Ran hadn't said anything still. Saaya waited another minute or so before she tried calling out to her friend again.

"Sorry…" Ran muttered, giving Saaya a quick apologetic smile before she turned back to the photograph with an uneasy look on her face. Before Saaya could say or do anything, Ran added, "This is… not what I thought I would see…"

"If you don't feel like talking about this, then we can also just call it a day right here," Saaya began, suppressing her curiosity for the sake of Ran's comfort as she reached out for the plate of pastries and offered them to Ran, "Here, why don't we take a little break?"

"Before we do that… I want to talk about this first," Ran said without looking up at Saaya even once. With a determined nod that Saaya knew was more to Ran than her, Ran added, "If that is all right with you."

"Of course," Saaya smiled, although somewhat uneasily as it was only now that she realized how important this photograph was to Ran. With a slightly shaky nod, Saaya motioned for Ran to start her story.

Upon seeing this, Ran took a deep breath and began talking.

On a morning of the early months of the year, a girl with short ivory-colored hair was making her way through the park when she finally found it: the playground where she had first met one of the people who would later become one of her closest friends.

But something was amiss.

The usual air of warmth and welcomeness wasn't there when the girl stepped onto the playground. Instead, it only felt cold and empty as if something was missing. As if something was really wrong.

Growing more worried by the second, the eight-year-old girl timidly moved aside several low-hanging branches to reveal…

"Ran!"

Ignoring the sudden pain that came from her right shoulder after she recklessly let go of the bundle of branches to run to her friend, Aoba Moca was kneeling down by Ran before too long, "Ran, what's wrong?!"

The girl that Moca was trying to get the attention of had clearly seen better days. Ran had her knees pulled up against her chest while hiding her face in them. The short, black-colored hair of the shorter girl was matted and dirtied and it didn't take Moca very long to realize that it was going a lot worse with her friend than she first feared.

What was worrying Moca the most, however, was that Ran was not responding to her calls, and instead remained motionless on the ground. In a fit of panic, Moca was about to run off to find an adult to help her when Ran finally raised her head and looked Moca dead in the eyes.

"What is it, Moca?" Ran asked in a deadpan, almost venomous voice as she looked at her friend. Moca visibly flinched upon hearing Ran's way of addressing her, but before Moca could say or do anything Ran added, "What are you doing here?"

"What am I—What do you mean 'What are you doing here?'?" Moca exclaimed in both shock and panic. Without missing a beat, Moca continued, "I was worried about you!"

"Worried…?" Ran echoed, almost in disbelief upon hearing those words. Looking up at Moca, Ran slowly got back on her feet as she added, "Don't joke with me, Moca, I'm not in the mood."

"What do you—I am not joking, Ran!" Moca cried out, but she was already too late. In the time it took Moca to understand what Ran was saying, Ran had already walked away from Moca and was already out of reach by the time that Moca finally did.

"Ran…"

"And that about wraps it up…" Ran finished, her throat somewhat dry after having talked for much longer than she usually does, but the heaviness in her heart that she was feeling coming from something else entirely. Without waiting for a response from Saaya whatsoever, Ran added with a frown, "Why would Moca give me this of all things now…? Of something from so long ago…? Is it still hurting her despite being from eight years ago…?"

Ran looked up, expecting Saaya to have an answer at the ready for her. This did not turn out to be the case, however, and Ran was instead met with a prolonged period of silence.

"Shouldn't it be obvious already?" Saaya asked, finally having found the words to break the silence. Ran looked up at her in shock, not having expected Saaya to sound like that only for Ran to see something.

There was an unreadable expression on Saaya's face, one that Ran had never seen on Saaya's face and one that Ran never thought she would see on Saaya's face. But she was now and she had no idea what to do.

Thankfully for Ran, she didn't have to do anything.

"What you said and did that day is still weighing down heavily on your shoulders today, right?" Saaya asked in as serious of a tone as she could, though Ran didn't need much time to understand that Saaya was trying to stay calm for some reason. As soon as Ran nodded, Saaya continued, "And Moca knows that it is still affecting you, which is why she gave you this of all things."

"But why?" Ran asked, sounding significantly more in panic than she did earlier. Looking back at the photograph that still remained in the box, Ran added, "Why would Moca remind me of something like this? Something I did to hurt her? One of my… biggest mistakes…"

Saaya took a couple seconds to take in what Ran had just said, not having expected the vocalist to be so vocal about what was on her mind. Giving herself some more time to try and gather the right words for this, Saaya prayed that she would not regret what she would say next.

"We're imperfect, and we always find ways to hurt others and get hurt by others, even if that is not what we meant to do," Saaya began, making sure that she avoided Ran's gaze as she knew that that would break her concentration, "Getting hurt and hurting others will leave behind a mental scar, indicating that something is missing and that there is a hole in your heart. Having that empty hole can lead to anger, hate, or despair."

"Or it can make you reach for the sky and soar again," Saaya finished with a shaky but reassuring smile, surprising Ran in the process who clearly had not expected to hear that. Saaya took this opportunity to gently move the box from the middle of the table and place it gently in Ran's hands, all the while saying, "I was unable to understand that in the past, and I lost an important friend because of that. I don't want you to make the same mistake I did. Moca is out there waiting for you, Ran. Go and show her that she hasn't been waiting in vain all this time."

"Saaya…" Ran trailed off as she looked the brunette in the eyes. After some time had passed, Ran broke eye contact first with a nod and a smile, eliciting a similar response from Saaya as a result. As soon as Ran finished gathering her belongings and was on her feet again, she turned back to Saaya, "Thank you for everything."

"It was my pleasure," Saaya said with a smile, accepting the hand that she was being offered and allowing herself to get pulled up. Saaya was about to say something else when Ran broke the silence again.

"But about Saaya's friend… I am sure that they are still waiting for you to come back to them, no matter where they are," Ran said confidently and without any indication that she had any doubts in the matter. Before Saaya could fully process what Ran had told her, Ran continued, "So we should both go to our friend… and apologize for what we did, right?"

This took Saaya by surprise. When Ran came to her earlier that day, Saaya had expected to be the one to help Ran out a lot, but it ended up becoming like this.

Saaya did not expect that she needed to hear those words as much as she did when she did.

"Thank you, Ran," Saaya smiled a bright smile that reminded Ran of Tsugumi for some reason. Saying her goodbyes and her thanks for Saaya's time, Ran quietly went over her belongings again before she made way for the door.

As Ran made her way out, Saaya couldn't help but notice that the photograph in the box had fallen on the ground. Unable to suppress her curiosity, Saaya bent down to pick it up, and it was only then that she got to see what was on the picture that Moca had given Ran and what had caused Ran such great distress.

Saaya couldn't help but smile a small yet sad smile. On the picture, a very young Moca and Ran were depicted, holding hands and standing in what Saaya could only assume was the playground that Ran was talking about earlier.

'Maybe Ran is right… maybe I should stop running away myself, too…' Saaya thought with a smile lingering on her face as she closed her eyes and her mind went to show her the face of a childhood friend of hers, 'What do you think, Natsuki?'

And that wraps up not only today's oneshot but also the Saten Ruiko Day Countdown stream as a whole. Check back tomorrow for the Saten Ruiko Day oneshot (although, as should be obvious, it is not centric on BanG Dream!). More importantly to those who only follow BanG Dream, keep your eyes set on the EN server being released soon as well as the devastating event that will start tomorrow!

I hope you all enjoyed both this oneshot as well as every other oneshot in this countdown stream, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and until next time! Take care!

Also, please go to Reiriniverse on Tumblr and tell her how amazing her edits have been for the cover images of this countdown stream!

Countdown currently on: one!