manifestations

Talent. Talent. Talent. All everyone cares about is talent.

Ena sat on her bed with her back against the wall, hugging her knees close to her. Her door was pushed open, and her brother, Akito, was standing outside.

“Oi, there’s some cheesecake in the fridge, is it yours… oh.” He closed the door again.

Akito knew better not to talk to Ena when she’s in a state like that.

I hope she matches up with your talents just as much!

“Shut up.” Ena whispered to herself.

What a joke. More like Ena was the one who needed to match up with Mafuyu’s talents. As infuriating as Mafuyu’s mom was, her words were just as upsetting. She tackled all of Ena’s sensitive topics, even if it wasn’t intentional. Mrs Asahina had such a cold aura around her, despite having a gentle voice and friendly mannerisms. Her words were like a poisonous arrow, they pierce through cleanly and kills one slowly and painfully. 

Why did Mafuyu accept Ena’s confession in the first place?

Mafuyu who is talented. Mafuyu who is loved by so many other people. Mafuyu who is so high up there.

Who was Ena to want to be with someone so unreachable?

Perhaps, Ena never deserved Mafuyu.

There was a weight on her shoulder. It’s someone that she didn’t really want to see right now. Well, sort of.

Little Mafuyu was stroking Ena’s hair gently with her little hands. Ena thought that she was trying to comfort her. She let her sit on her palm to face Ena.

“Hey… I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

Little Mafuyu’s ears stood up.

“The more I think about Mafuyu now, the more it hurts. At first it hurts because I didn’t feel like she liked me back at all, but now, I don’t think I’m even allowed to be with her. Don’t you think I’m just pathetic like that? I have nothing so I tried to fight for something for myself, but I think… I fought for the wrong thing.”

Little Mafuyu shook her head vigorously, as if trying to strongly disagree with whatever Ena said. Ena’s eyes were now void of emotions or any spark. Little Mafuyu couldn’t get anything else in Ena’s head right now.

It hurts so much, until it doesn’t anymore.

Another week has passed, and Nightcord was meeting in the SEKAI today to listen to and watch the final product from their efforts.

Ena got there earlier than usual, and the vocaloids noticed that there was something off about her.

“Ena? Are you alright?” Miku asked worriedly. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah I am…”

“Really? You look very down.”

“Yep. Just… tired.”

Miku wanted to ask more, but the rest of the members had already gathered in the SEKAI. They played the final version of the music video and watched it together.

“It’s soooooo good! It’s going to be a hit for sure!” Mizuki exclaimed as they clasped their hands together.

“Great job everyone.” Kanade smiled fondly at her team.

Mafuyu hummed. Meanwhile, Ena had a rather unreadable expression.

“Enanan, why the long face today?”

“Just tired, Amia. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Mafuyu came into the conversation, and suddenly, Ena seemed pissed.

“Yes. I. Am.”

Ena snapped back at Mafuyu as she rubbed her temples. Mafuyu didn’t understand, she was just showing her concern, why was she mad?

Then, Ena grabbed Mafuyu’s wrist and dragged her to somewhere else in the SEKAI, away from the others’ earshot. The rest looked at the both of them, as they walked to the other end as far as the eye could see, behind one of the huge triangular structures scattered all over the SEKAI.

Once Ena was sure that they couldn’t hear or see them, she let go of Mafuyu’s hand and faced her.

A shadow jumped out of nowhere and went across Ena’s peripheral vision. It headed right towards Mafuyu and she caught it with her hands.

Little Mafuyu?

She exists in this SEKAI too? Well, it made sense if she’s actually from the SEKAI.

“So a mini version of me exists too…”

Little Mafuyu rummaged through her pocket and took out a teeny tiny piece of paper. It was a drawing made with a brown colour pencil. Short hair, grumpy face, cat ears…

“…”

Little Mafuyu caught on to Mafuyu’s feelings and started shedding tears.

Little Ena was always pestering Mafuyu to help her braid her hair… but Mafuyu’s fingers were too big to manage.

Now her Mafuyu was here, but she wasn’t.

“Let’s break up. For good.”

Break up? Break up means, back to before they started dating? Was it even possible for things to return back to how it was in the past?

Ena turned on her heels, after delivering her final message. Something came over to Mafuyu, and she grabbed Ena’s wrist before she could take another step.

“Wait. Don’t.” Was Mafuyu… pleading to her?

Ena was certainly not expecting this reaction. It made Ena feel that perhaps, their feelings had been mutual afterall, and Mafuyu just didn’t know it.

However, even if that’s the case, Ena’s encounter with Mafuyu’s mother the other day made her realise a lot of things.

One, their relationship was not normal. No, the word should be uncommon. Gossip and finger pointing will definitely be inevitable, no matter where they go.

Two, even if they don’t separate now, Mafuyu’s mother will definitely make Mafuyu go through another hell and back just to force her to break up with Ena. Ena didn’t want to add on to Mafuyu’s burdens.

Three, Ena doubts herself. She was never enough, what makes her think that she can be now, for someone who wanted nothing but to find her true self? What exactly can she give to Mafuyu?

“Let go.“ Ena tried to shake Mafuyu off.

Mafuyu went forward and embraced Ena. Oh, how much Ena missed this warmth. Ena burst into tears, and she desperately wanted to hug Mafuyu back with the same or even more intensity, tell her to forget whatever happened in the past month and let them just be themselves again.

Unfortunately, she can’t.

She pushed Mafuyu away, and choked her words out.

“I don’t like you anymore.”