Revue of Desire
It was early morning. A hazy overcast lit up the well furnished Nishikino manor with a soft blue light which poured through the open curtains of a certain girl’s room. Inside, Maki Nishikino herself was up and awake, ready to start her day.
Dressed in in workout gear, the girl quickly left her room, shutting the door and heading down the long hallway and stairs of her home. Her footsteps although small, reverberated throughout the entire manor. She wasn’t worried, however. Both of Maki’s parents were working the late-shift at their jobs. Both doctors in a high-end hospital, the Nishikinos were frequently out of the house, leaving Maki at home to do whatever she pleased.
And doing what she pleased she was.
Leaving out the front door, she quickly checked if it was locked before leaving the house through her side gate. Maki began stretching, starting with her legs, then her arms. Taking in a deep breath, she began lightly jogging in place before moving forward. Running down the sidewalk, Maki went on a morning jog.
Passing cars and early commuters, she felt the cool air pass her by and the morning mist stick to her skin as she jogged before taking a break in a nearby park. As she caught her breath, Maki thought back to the previous night's events.
“Center Position! ” Honoka claimed triumphantly over her opponents, raised higher than both her or Sonoda.
I don’t get it! How is that fair at all?
Down from the ceiling, the alpaca descended from its seat to speak. “ This marks the end of the first day of auditions. ”
From the dark backstage and swathed in curtain, she could only hear the muffled voices of the onstage cast. Faintly, she could hear the spotlights turn off.
“ Your participation in the auditions have been accepted. ” But she wasn’t even supposed to be an opponent to begin with! As the two’s conversation went on, Honoka’s confusion only served to make Maki even angrier, as she clenched the fabric of her pelisse on the floor. Why is she only being accepted now?
However, before she could hear the end of the conversation, a sudden bout of drowsiness overtook Maki. The world around her grew darker and darker as tiredness overtook her body and she collapsed to the floor.
She’d end up back in her bed the next morning. No uniform, no weapon, no stage of destiny. It was almost as if nothing had happened at all, and she had gone to bed regularly. The last thing she heard however still rang in her mind and reminded her it was all real; the words of the organizer behind their battles.
“ Aim to become the top star. Sing, dance, and fight to win. ”
____________________________________________________
Honoka was never good at waking up in the mornings, even worse when she had to do it herself. So when she practically sprang out of bed 10 minutes before her alarm rang, her parents and sister Yukiho thought she had gone insane.
And maybe she had. Maybe all of the fighting and singing was just an intense dream, and the freakishly tall alpaca telling her she’d be punished for spilling any sort of beans never really existed? Any way Honoka tried to reason it out of her mind didn’t work, and instead let out a groan of frustration.
“Gah, what was any of that??” Honoka let out in a sort of frustration at not being able to rationalize the events that happened.
“Sis, have you gone crazy? What’s with all the yelling? Mom’s gonna get mad you know.” Yukiho told her from the kitchen, to which Honoka gave a meek “Sorry,” followed by “And there’s nothing wrong with me!” once she realized she was being insulted.
Even after leaving home and meeting with Kotori, the events of last night still hadn’t left her mind. She couldn’t even say anything to her friend! Lying was never the Honoka’s best trait, and at this point, she felt like she was going to burst. She knew there was only one person she wanted to talk about this to, and that was—
“Is that Sonoda-san over there?”
Perking up immediately at the sound of her friend’s name, Umi was stopped at the crosswalk, waiting for the cars to pass by. Just who I wanted to see!
“Umi-chan!” She ran forward to meet her, leaving Kotori behind and forcing her to run as well to catch up.
“Hey, about last night, with the alpaca and the theater and I had no idea that there was something like tha—” Honoka started rambling before getting cut off.
“Honoka, didn’t he say you’re not supposed to tell anyone?” Umi said coldly, goosebumps rising on the other girl’s skin at the thought of getting penalized by the alpaca living underneath their school.
As the light finally turned and the cars stopped to allow the girls to cross, Umi strode ahead to school, leaving Honoka at the light, who was about to give chase before being stopped by the voice of Kotori, who finally caught up.
“What was all that about Honoka-chan?” Kotori huffed out, her feathers metaphorically ruffled. Trying to mask the disappointment on her face, Honoka turned around to face her concerned friend.
“It was… nothing! Don’t worry about it.”
____________________________________________________
Ever since her defeat, Maki had taken to training more frequently. Morning and late night runs, lunchtime practices, and singing practice until she could no more. She had to get better; to keep working in order to surpass her own limits. She needed to be able to show everyone her shine.
I want to be able to show them, Maki thought to herself as she went over the steps to the group’s newest song. She was on the rooftop of the school this lunch hour, practicing for the group’s upcoming performance in Akihabara the next week on Friday and today was Tuesday. Feeling the beat of the song in her head as the music played from her phone, she readied herself and got into position. Just as the chorus was about to begin, instead of her music, her phone’s ringtone began playing.
Giving out a huff of annoyance and dropping her stance, she strode over to her phone to check her who was calling her. Reading the caller ID she was surprised to find out who was calling her.
“Papa?” Why was her father calling during school hours? Did something bad happen at the hospital?
Quickly answering the call, Maki held her phone up to her ear. “Hello?”
“Hello? Maki, you should be on lunch break now right?” In the background of the call, she could faintly hear chatter of other people, most likely coworkers of her father.
“Yeah, I am. Where’s mama? Did something happen?” Maki asked. It wasn’t often that her parents called her.
“I’m right here darling, we just wanted to call you to remind you about that offer the hospital put up a while ago,” Her mother said, taking over the call from her husband. “Remember? We talked it over about a month ago.”
It was a student offer at the hospital Maki’s parents worked at put up a while back to let students shadow the workers for the day and get hands-on training. It was an offer for college students, but since her parents held important positions there, they were able to get the higher-ups to allow their daughter to join them. She remembers giving her parents a nonanswer, but honestly though, it hadn’t been in the forefront of her mind at all afterwards. The Akihabara live was planned and announced a few days later, and just recently the auditions had begun taking place.
“I remember it, yeah.” Maki answered. I do remember it was scheduled around the same time...
“Well, your mother and I just wanted to remind you that it was next Friday, we would’ve told you at home but we’re both going to be working late shifts for a while.” Her father answered, taking his phone back from her mother.
Next Friday huh… Wait, next Friday?
“I can’t go, remember?.” Maki said trepidly. “I have a performance that day. I had asked you both if you could come too. I had told you I couldn’t go.” For a quick second, there was silence on the other side of the phone before she heard the sound of her mother’s voice.
“Ah… for your club? Right, well, I had thought of the great idea to already schedule for you to come,” Her mother responded airily, a little excited . “Is there any chance you can reschedule?”
“We’ve been practicing for a while! I can’t just drop—” Maki began to say before getting cut off by her mother.
“This is a once in a lifetime chance to get real experience for your future! The hospital doesn’t do things like this often. You’ll be glad to have the experience and information when you’re in medical school too. They were saying they’d even think about offering internships! Oh I just know you’re going to have so much fun!” Her mother on the phone said, not listening to what her daughter was saying.
“You’re mother’s right. I think this’ll be really good for you Maki.” her father chimed in as well, content to agree with his wife. “You know, these events are usually reserved for college students, but since I know you’re so studious, we managed to pull some strings here. So don’t go cancelling on us, or it’ll look bad on us, haha.” he joked.
“But—”
“Are you sure this club of yours isn’t getting in the way of your studies? You know we’re not afraid to crack down if we have to...”
Talking in the background of the call interrupted their call.
“Look we can talk about this more at home. Your mommy and daddy have to go get back to work now, okay? Have a good rest of your day honey. Oh and make sure you’re not skipping any of your lessons, okay? The tutor is coming around tomorrow.”
The call stopped shortly after that. Letting out a sigh that she didn’t even know she was holding in, Maki’s hand that clutched her phone dropped to her side. What was she going to do?
Maki had a deep respect for her parents. They gave a lot up for her comfort and happiness, and they gave her the freedom to do whatever she wanted, as long as she ended up joining them in the hospital in the future of course. For all of her life, Maki had lived her life according to their wishes but ever since she had joined μ’s though, she had slowly begun to change herself. Instead of denying music like she had done in the beginning, she began to embrace it instead.
Her parents probably weren’t trying to be like this on purpose, but it was stifling to say the least. It was as if what Maki was saying was going through one ear and then out the other! What would it take for them to recognize that they were being so, so— overbearing? The thought of her parents essentially steam rolling over what she was trying to say painted a gloomy future for her. What if this won’t be the last time they do this? she thought.
She stood there for a while longer, thinking about what she should do when she was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts by the swing of the rooftop door. In the doorway stood Honoka, seemingly not aware of Maki’s phone call, or her bad mood.
“Maki-chan! I wanted to talk to you about last nigh—”
“What happened last night was against the rules.”
“Huh?”
“I’m going to ask him to disqualify that round.” Maki clenched her hand around her phone. “Butting into fights that aren’t your own is unfair.” Her breaths became deeper, the fatigue of practice beginning to catch up to her.
Honoka only seemed confused at her words. “Maki-chan did you know anything about what happened on that stage yesterday?” Now it was Maki’s turn to be confused.
“Huh? Didn’t you see it in the email?”
“E-mail?”
“The one about the revues by the chosen stage girls. You didn’t get one?” Honoka only shook her head.
“What are you talking about?” She asked.
“You weren’t invited?” Maki exasperated, her eyebrows scrunched first in confusion, than in anger. “Don’t screw with me!”
“Why are you getting in the way if you weren’t even chosen in the first place?” Maki started.
“I’m serious about this! Unlike you, I can’t—”
RING
The bell signalling lunch’s end rang in the distance, cutting Maki’s statement off short. Her clenched hands turned white ages ago and she had worked up a small sweat from the two’s heated conversation.
“Maki—”
“Let’s just head to class. Lunch is over.” Maki said coldly, striding past Honoka who quickly got out of her way. However, the first step she took out of the door almost sent Maki tumbling down steps.
“Maki-chan?”
The world around began spinning as she collapsed to the floor, almost being sent down the stairs if not for Honoka, who caught her last second. Trying to regain her footing only served to make her more dizzy in the end, as she completely collapsed into Honoka’s arms. Uselessly moving her arms, she tried pushing herself off the floor.
“Maki-chan! Are you okay? Stay with me! Get a hold of yourself!”
Sweaty and dizzy, Maki finally closed her eyes as the world faded to black.
____________________________________________________
When Maki came to once more, she was greeted by the ceiling of the nurse’s office. The white sheets felt cool to the touch as she slowly became more aware of her surroundings. Focusing in on the ceiling, she stared at the corner of the ceiling, noticing the chipped edges as she stirred.
“Hey, you awake?”
Looking to the side, she saw Nico sitting to her side. The sky had gone a soft orange hue, filling the entirety of the room with sunset warmth. Had it already been that late? School was already over by the looks of it, meaning she’d missed practice. Sitting up quickly, she was stopped by the palm of Nico’s hand, holding back by her shoulder.
“Hey, calm down! You were just passed out a few seconds ago.” Nico commanded
“I’m fine.”
“You shouldn’t lie like that. Anyways you should be overjoyed at the fact that I , the universe’s number one idol, Nico-chan, have decided to nurse you back to health.” Nico announced haughtily.
“It’s not like I asked you to stay here for me.“ Maki retorted roughly, brushing off Nico’s hand.
“And it’s not like I asked you to randomly pass out from training too much either!”
“You could’ve just gone to practice—”
“Practice was canceled today.”
Maki’s hand gripped the white bed sheets. Turning away, she took a deep breath to calm down, a deep blush of embarrassment on her face. A second of silence passed between the two before Maki spoke up.
“...Sorry. Thanks for staying here for me Nico-chan.”
A surprised look crossed Nico’s face, not expecting the other girl’s admission of apology so quickly. While Maki wasn’t completely inept at telling others how she felt, she always did have a harder time than the others at expressing her feelings.
“Y-yeah, it’s no problem for the greatest idol in the universe after all,” Nico spouted out, stuttering through her words.
Clearing her throat, Nico straightened her back, a serious expression on her face. “Well, did something happen? Between you and Honoka. When she brought you here, she wouldn’t come in.”
“It’s nothing… I was just a little irritated.” Maki spoke softly, her nonstop training finally catching up to her. Feelings of tiredness and regret crashed down on her. I didn’t mean to yell at her like that.
On the wall across from her hung a poster promoting this year’s school festival which Maki stared at intently. Beside it was a smaller flyer promoting their group’s own upcoming live concert in Akihabara.
“Is it about that,” Nico said, turning her eyes to the posters. “Or is it something else?”
Sighing, Maki answered. “They might as well be the same thing.”
“I want to be able to shine. No matter how hard I work, there are others too far ahead,” Maki began, thinking to the other members of μ’s who were far ahead of her. The image of Eli popped into her mind. “But that doesn’t mean I can just give up just because of something like that. ”
“Maki...”
“I want to be a star.” If she could be the best that she could be, then she could show her parent’s she was serious. That she loved music and dancing and even though she’s grateful for everything her parent’s have done for her she doesn’t want to walk on a singular life path determined by them!
At that point she felt something within her change. It was like she was standing up again after a hard fall. Like her name was finally being put on the leader board after her nameplate had been spinning for ages.
“I was given a chance.”
“Huh?”
“I might be able to stand up there with my very own glimmer. At the center of the stage, in the middle of the spotlight.”
Turning away from the poster, Maki instead looked at Nico, giving her a smile. “I might be able to become one—a real star.”
RING RING
____________________________________________________
“On a stage overflowing with stardust, a flower of love blooms gracefully.”
Standing back to back, Maki and Honoka rose onto the stage clad in fighting attire, a blinding light from the tower behind them flared past them, taking the shape of a four pointed star. Mirroring each other’s movements, the two raised their arms outwards to their sides, one then the other like a wave. A steady piano played, strings accompanying it that produced a melody of determination from both parties. A wall of lights behind them pulsing golden.
“99th generation, Kousaka Honoka!”
Roaming spotlights all lined the floor in front of them before suddenly pointing at each other, creating a golden path in front of the duo.
“I’ll starlight you all!”
The floor lights rapidly turned a shade of pink, confirming Hnoka’s resolve and pointing upwards, the path forward seen.
“Everyone has their own destined star.” Maki began afterwards. “A twinkling star, a morning star, a falling star...”
Back to back, they continued to mirror each other as Maki raised her hand to the ceiling as if to grab the very same stars she spoke of. The spotlights began to roam once more, turning a shade of blue.
“I may not be able to see my own star, but the me looking up will be gone tomorrow.”
Turning to face the path laid out in front of her, she crossed her hand in front of her body. Honoka ran out from behind her; the battle was beginning.
“100th generation, Nishikino Maki!”
The lights converged to form the shape of a star behind her. The points glowed brightly behind her as she turned to face Honoka. Two white spotlights shone down on the two figures, replacing the star. Looking down at her clenched hand, Maki stared thoughtfully at her bow, its red gem glistening in the artificial light. She thought back to her previous conversation.
“I thought I’d be eliminated after losing once.” She spoke confusingly.
“School idols all have their own personalities,” the master of the auditions told her. “And these auditions are held to choose the top idol out of all of them.”
The image of the beautiful pink light atop the tower twinkled in her memory as she sat in the audience of the alpaca.
“The top idol. That is the one who will stand on the stage of destiny. Emitting an infinite glimmer, they will transcend time to shine on. The eternal lead.”
“The eternal lead?” Maki asked. “If I become the top idol, will I be able to become the lead of my destiny?”
The sound of a soloing french horn brought Maki back to the present, where she came face to face with her opponent.
“Maki-chan?”
Pointing her weapon at her, Maki spoke. “This is our rematch, Honoka!”
The entrance of the low brass filled out the sound as it marked the entrance of the center position marker. The stage it stood upon rose to the surface, a complicated system of pulleys working as fast as it could to bring it up.
“Well then, today’s the second day of auditions.” The booming voice of the alpaca rang throughout the stadium. “The Revue of Desire is starting.”
Honoka looked around confusingly as large monoliths rose upon the stage; mere props to their battle. Similarly, Maki was lifted away, carried by the moving props.
“Aim to become the top idol.” Curtains flew down, obscuring Honoka’s view of Maki. A faint pink light emanated from behind them. “Sing, dance, and fight to win.”
Walking out from behind the velvet material, Maki began.
“For what reason,
Have I been enveloped in flames, when I had been held captive by fear for so long?
Now these flames will never extinguish...”
The great monoliths behind her reflected the dim pink lights through their circular windows, casting a misty glow throughout the arena. “W-what’s happening?” Honoka asked, it was only her second battle; the shifting of the stage was still unbelievable.
“I’ll become one, no matter what!” Maki said, determination flaring in her eyes. “I’ll become a star—the center!” Quickly notching an arrow into place, Maki fired away. Running forward, Honoka’s blade came into contact with an arrow. Swiftly deflecting it, she raised her blade to strike. Dodging the slash, Maki ran to the side in order to put distance between them. Diving into a roll, Maki quickly recovered, firing another arrow at Honoka who had slid to a stop.
“ Because I had nobody at my side to support me,
My struggle against the headwind set my heart aflame
Only the star knows what I desire! ”
Shooting an arrow towards the ceiling, it caught the ropes of one of the props, promptly dropping the huge wall. The impact shook the floor greatly, and Honoka was temporarily blinded by the dust fall out.
Behind the clear glass of the windowed prop, Maki stood. Running forward to meet her only to be met by a blinding flash of the window’s glare. Opening her eyes once more, Maki was no longer there behind the pane.
“She disappeared?”
Whipping her head around, Honoka searched for where the other girl would have disappeared to; the glass panes of the enormous props only reflecting back murky blue.
Genuinely confused, Honoka asked aloud. “Maki-chan?”
Unbeknownst to her, hidden in the scaffolding, a line of balck mannequins stood at attention. With black bodies and golden heads that reflected back whatever was in front of it, the human-like figures were clad in stark white doctor’s coats accompanied by stethoscopes hanging around their necks.
Behind them hid Maki, an arrow at the ready. Letting her arrow fly through a broken window from above, the sound of the whooshing arrow signifying a scene change as Honoka whipped her head around to face the arrow.
“I’ve spent my time doing nothing but studying for my parent’s sake,” Maki began. Around her was an entirely different scene. Rows of chairs and desks laid out before the eye could see; all filled with the same mannequins with almost nothing to distinguish them. Maki’s weapon poked out from behind one of the mannequins; the lights turned dark with only the glow of the girl’s weapon illuminating in the darkness. “But I finally found a sparkling dream.”
“Not just being important or clever. My very own star.”
Disappearing once more, Maki stood now hidden within the velvet seating of the audience, leaving Honoka only to frantically search for her.
“I finally came across it, after all this time.” While Honoka was left to search for her, Maki was poised to fire another arrow.
“On that day, I was reborn… As a school idol!”
With a tight grip on her bow, she let the arrow fly. Breaking the glass of another window, Honoka only barely managed to dodge the arrow.
“ Nobody can know whether the future I want is unattainable,
I have fought relentlessly against my own shadow
Only the star knows what I desire! ”
A barrage of arrows rained down upon Honoka as she ran for cover. Running atop the concrete walls, she deflected multiple arrows before sliding down a toppled structure. Losing her balanced she used her momentum to instead dive into a roll, ducking behind another prop.
Breathing heavily, she was unaware that Maki herself was hidden behind a column on the floor as well.
“ When the curtains rise, my future will surely come to me
I cannot stay here, I must go farther ”
Running out from beneath her cover, Honoka pursued the direction of the arrows only to be met with a mannequin.
“A mannequin?!” Where does she keep disappearing to? Honoka thought.
Just as she finished her thought another slew of arrows came her way. Slashing her way through the arrows, she slowly made progress to Maki’s location atop a pillar. The sound of steel grinding against steel filled the arena. The orchestra grew frantic as it continued to crescendo.
Seeing Maki jump down, Honoka sprinted around the side of the structure to meet her. The music came to a climax, the majority of the strings dropping out, leaving the melody of a piano accentuated by the crashes of percussion as the only accompaniment to the two’s duet.
“ I won't lose here! ”, “ You haven't lost! ”
“ I can't fail!”, “It's not a failure! ”
What greeted Honoka was only another pile of mannequins; particularly one that swung out from behind the wall on a circus ring.
“Another one?!”
Hidden in the pile of mannequins, Maki was looking to snipe the button straight off of Honoka’s jacket.
“I refused to be overshadowed like this!”
“ You don't understand it”, “I don't understand it, but for that reason,”
Once more, the arrow flew past Honoka, barely missing her but scattering hundreds of pieces of confetti seemingly planted within the ground. Golden sparkles rained down upon Honoka, distracting her enough for Maki to come out of hiding who rushed her down. Now leading the verse, Honka sang.
“We can talk it over together—”, “The darkness of the night—”
“Until morning comes!”, “Grows deeper! ”
“I can’t lose here! I won’t lose!” Striking with her bow, Maki came face to face with Honoka, who was struggling to push her back. “I need to show them!”
The words that came out of Maki’s mouth were shaky, but the grip on her bow was tight. The full orchestra came back in full swing joined by a high brass section, and underscored by a frantic drum set. It was a desperate feeling as tempo continued to pick up pace.
“ Everybody has a future—”, “And I am obscured by it, but that will not do! ”
“ And dreams they have started to forget, ah”, “You cannot do anything— ”
“ But even so,”, “All by yourself ”
High above them, the giant wall used to obscure Maki’s movements started shaking. With a large back and force sway, the structure moved back and forth on its legs. As the two girls sang, it was like the force of their voices was moving the prop.
Both of them had reason to be here. Unwavering in their passions, although the two girls had been battling, they had come together in song and dance. Their line, sung in unison reverberated loudly throughout the arena.
“I, too,”
“ Cannot afford to lose! | Want to fulfill my promise! ”
The structure came down upon them due to the force of their voices. Luckily they were positioned in such a way that they both ended up within the broken window of the prop, unharmed. Large billowing dust clouds came from underneath the fallen prop, the force of the fall shaking the floor.
Suddenly the stage was plunged into darkness as Maki quickly retreated as Honoka was still recovering the force of the fall. Standing at the edge of the fallen prop, the two girls began to make their final stand. Once more, most of the orchestra fell silent as a lone piano took over the melody accompanied by a cello.
A single spotlight highlighted Maki as Honoka struggled to climb out from the crevice she landed in.
“These auditions are a chance. I’m not letting this chance go. I can’t! I’m ending this!”
As Maki fired an arrow straight for the button straight on Honoka’s jacket, the brass section returned to the piece highlighting the final climax of the song. Struggling against the force of the arrow, Honoka eventually was able to fling the arrow out of the way.
“A single loss doesn’t mean it’s over! We can stand on the stage and perform however many times we want!” Honoka reasoned. Running=ng forward, she made her way to Maki, a spotlight now focused on her as well.
“Passion and glimmer. I understand… That is the strength of a school idol.” hummed the alpaca, watching intently from the audience seating.
“ For the sake of one, just one, just a single promise,”
“I’m not giving up. I’m a school idol!” Maki began running to meet the other combatant. This was going to be their last stand. The music revved up as the brass carried their sound far and wide.
“I will become a star with Umi-chan!”
“If only the star knows what the future holds,”
Putting all of her force into one last swing, Honoka cleanly cut through the aiguillette holding the other girl’s jacket around her shoulders, dropping it to the floor. Bringing her sword back to cross her arm over her chest, her sword proudly pointed to the ceiling. Confidently, her lone voice ran throughout the arena with conviction.
“I will quietly look toward the sky and reach out to it! ”
Quickly, curtains engulfed the stage as the performance ended. Maki once more sat on her knees in awe backstage. Both spotlights now rested on Honoka. Quickly plunging her sword into the center position’s marker, she twirled before standing proudly, hands on both hips.
“Center position!”
A lone piano quietly played until the songs end, signifying that the revue was over.
“This marks the end of the second day of auditions.” bellowed the alpaca from on high.
“I wondered why that girl wasn’t chosen from the start. But now I understand. They share the same fate.” the alpaca said cryptically, its words unheard by everyone else’s ears.
Down on the stage, Maki sat with her knees to her chest underneath the curtains.
“I lost again.”
Suddenly lights filled her vision, and when she looked up, Honoka was there, holding up the curtain for her.
“Hey, nice job.” she said uncertainty, with a nervous wave.
Sighing, Maki spoke. “Maybe I’m overthinking it...”
“Huh?”
“I mean, the single-minded approach seems more powerful.”
“What? Simple-minded? That’s mean!” Honoka exasperated. Coming out from under the covers, Maki strode to the center of the stage. Turning to her, Honoka spoke.
“Hey, Maki-chan, I have something to give you actually.”
Maki raised a single eyebrow in confusion. “What?”
Coming forward, she pulled something out of her pocket. It was a piece of folded up paper. She unravelled it to reveal a somewhat crude drawing of two doctors on the front, both with dark red hair, accompanied by large handwritten text at the top saying: AKIHABARA LIVE/PARENT DISCOUNT!
“What’s that? I don’t get it.” The girl turned her head at the makeshift flyer for their live.
“It’s a poster! Kotori-chan and I had the idea to make some for our parents, so they could see our show as well. I put a discount on there even though the live is free to go to, but I was thinking this could increase the chances of some of the busier parents coming. Kotori-chan did most of the good drawings though, eheh… Sorry, I did this one.” Honoka said, scratching at her cheek with her finger.
A few moments of silence passed. Afraid that she didn’t like it, Honoka began speaking rapidly, “Well, I know its not good and all, but—”
“Pfft—” The sound of Maki’s quiet giggles left Honoka slack jawed.
“W-what?”
“We could’ve all just taken a regular poster home, you know.”
Completely dumbfounded, Honoka sputtered out her words. “W-well, these ones are special! Your parents are doctor’s right? See, I put them on the front!”
“Thanks, Honoka.”
“Eh?”
“I’ll give it my all until the end. I’ll aim to become a star with all my might. Right?” Taking the flyer from out of Honoka’s hand, she carefully folded the paper up and placed it in her pocket.
“Wahhh Maki-chan, so earnest!”
“W-what are you talking about? I don’t get it.” Her face redder than a tomato, she turned away from Honoka.
“L-let’s just go already!”
“Okaaay!”
____________________________________________________
On the other side of the stage, were two other girls, finished with their battles. Kneeling down, one girl looked up to the victor, her jacket discarded. Cracked columns and spraying water casualties in their battle. With glistening hair and clear eyes, the other girl placed her sword onto the winner’s podium, the center position marker.
“A dream is not something you have, but something you assert. There’s only one star shining at the top.”
There was no malice in her voice; she spoke as if she was only stating a fact. The light of the tower stood above her, in her reach and casted its glow upon her.
“This is Ayase Eli.”