Chapter ???
"Yume Yume… Jump!"
An jumped high, Es sighing as she watched.
"... You two want me to do that?"
Shizuku came back with water bottles.
"Yeah! Come on, Shii!"
Es shook her head.
"No way. Plus, you're doing it wrong."
Es walked up to An, the latter getting out of the way as Es got in place.
"Like this… Yume Yume…!!
Jump!"
Es could swear she saw Shizuku shed a tear as her feet hit the ground.
"It's a shame that Kanade isn't here… We could practice quite a lot, Shii!"
Shizuku exclaimed happily, An chuckled.
"Oh, yeah! I wonder how Kanade's doing! Oh, you don't know her, but she's sO CUTE!!"
That name sounded strangely familiar to Es.
But she didn't know any Kanade.
They're probably talking about the other idol in their group, she figured.
"Isn't Kanade Ena's girlfriend-"
Es turned around quickly, startled by Akito suddenly behind him.
"Shinonome! Could you do Aoyagi's part for now?"
Rui yelled from somewhere else, Akito groaned.
"Ugh… Fine!"
Tsukasa's laugh could be heard.
"HAH HAH HAH!! Not even a prison can get in the Fantasista Squad's way!!"
Rui giggled softly.
"Fufu… Although Aoyagi being out there makes it a bit harder, don't you think, Tsukasa?"
Mafuyu sighed, watching the groups' little practice sitting on a corner as Mizuki and Honami approached.
"Hey, Asahina-senpai! Are you alone?"
Honami waved at her, Mafuyu smiled as she took a look at Mizuki.
They didn't go to Miyamasuzaka, that was for sure.
They were pretty. They gave off vibes similar to Emu's… maybe a bit more mature, like Haruka was.
"I can't say I'm not, Mochizuki!"
She replied, even with her mother dead she just couldn't find herself letting the façade fall, could she?
Her mom had found out about the shows.
About Emu, about Kohane, about Haruka.
Her life had become numb again, and Mafuyu hated that she let that happen.
To think she was so close to the light she could feel its warmth…
"Well, would you like to join us? We're sitting right over there with Minori and Ichika!"
She pointed at Minori, who waved at the three from her spot. Ichika also waved as she wrote something in a notebook.
Mafuyu nodded, getting up and looking at them.
"Sure, why not?"
Mizuki jumped cheerfully.
"Yes! Alright, let's get going!"
Honami and Mizuki walked towards the two other girls, as Mafuyu followed them closely.
She wondered what the rest of Kohane and Emu were up to.
As they sat down, Ichika noticed her.
"Asahina-senpai! Hello..!"
Mafuyu greeted her with the same smile she shot the others.
"It seems you're alone too, aren't you?"
Ichika sighed.
"...Yeah. It gets quite lonely here without Aoharu…"
Mafuyu felt that same thing when she was forced to stop going to Phoenix Wonderland.
An overwhelmingly strong feeling of loneliness.
She hated it.
"I get what you feel, I'd be lying if I said I don't miss Happiness Rangers SunnySunny☆Wonder at all… As interesting as the name was… It made me feel.. warm, if that makes sense."
Ichika chuckled.
"We'll get out of here though, so you'll be able to make shows with them again, right?"
Mafuyu looked down, her smile almost fading.
"I hope…"
Nene had a blackboard behind her as she hit it to catch the others' attention.
"Ok! Listen up, everyone!"
She had gathered different people from both Minori and Honami's school and Mizuki and hers.
"Oh, hey, Toya."
Ena and Toya ended up sitting next to each other, already knowing each other, of course.
Saki was there too.
"Hello, Ena, Saki…"
The blonde haired girl smiled at him.
"Toya! Hi! I'm guessing Fantasista Squad's gone too?"
Toya nodded.
"Yeah… Momoi is here too… Is Hoshino missing as well?"
Airi chimed in, sitting beside Saki.
"Yeah. We called her parents when she didn't come to practice for days, thinking she was sick or something, but they don't know where she is either."
"That's rough…"
Nene began talking as Kohane, Kanade and Emu walked in.
"You've all been gathered here because our friends are gone. We're going to search for them and get them back."
She exclaimed, the atmosphere resembling a quiet classroom as soon as she stood there.
Emu raised her hand quickly.
"Yeah, Otori?"
"Do we know where they are?"
Nene face slapped hard at Emu's question.
"Otori we don't know. That's why we're going to search for them."
Kanade chuckled.
"... This'll take a while…"
-----------------March 32nd--------------
Enanan
Hey, Kana.
Are you free tomorrow?
K
I think I am.
Enanan
Great!
A new ramen place opened near my house, would you like to try it out with me tomorrow?
K
Oh?
Sure, I'll be there, Ena.
Kanade's heart had never rushed so much before, she threw herself into her bed for the first time in days, her face buried in it.
Ena had just technically asked her on a date.
And she even called her "Kana"
…And Kanade had forgotten to ask where the place was.
Getting up and grabbing her phone, she opened Nightcord again.
K
I forgot to ask, Ena
Where is this ramen place?
Ena was quick to give her the address, and so Kanade replied with a thumbs up emoji and put her phone down again.
It was unusual for her, but she took a nap.
A nap that lasted 18 hours it'd seem.
She missed the Nightcord call with her, but you could say it added to the suspense of what could happen on this 'date'
Next day, she picked the best out of her objectivelyidentical jackets wearing it slightly more zipped than usual for a bit more style…
She scrapped that outfit, she'd die from how cold it was that day.
She didn't have a lot more than that, but she went through her entire wardrobe to find a light brown coat and a nice pair of jeans.
She went out of her house, greeting some neighbors that were walking in as the sun soon hit her face.
The place they'd agreed on was luckily just a couple blocks from her apartment building.
Even though she didn't have to walk that much, her heart was racing.
Kanade was excited.
When she reached the ramen place, she saw Ena, the brunette waiting for her outside.
She looked beautiful.
Kanade ran towards her.
"Ena!"
Having her name called made Ena turn around to see her.
Ena was wearing a long, light blue dress, with slightly puffy sleeves covering her arms.
Kanade could feel her cheeks burn a little.
"Kana! Hi!"
Ena waved at her as they both walked inside.
"So… How are you, Kana?"
She asked her, as soon as they were given the menus.
Kanade looked up from hers, her face slightly red.
"I-I'm good, Ena… How about you?"
Ena smiled.
"Glad to be here with you."
Ena and Kanade looked at each other, Kanade noticing Ena was blushing too.
"That… That was smooth."
Ena laughed, covering her red face.
"Haha… I've been thinking of saying that for hours."
They ordered shortly after, continuing to talk about songs and looking at their songs' comments.
"Oh Ena, by the way… It's been in my mind for a while now but…"
Ena's head tilted slightly to the side as she let out a small "Hmm?"
"Is this… a date?"
Ena's eyes widened, as she then chuckled.
"Only if you want it to be, Kana…
Do you want this to be a date?"
Kanade stayed silent for a moment, wondering if she should…
"...I think I do… Yeah…"