Chapter Text
Nightcord - Amia
Enanan - 3 week(s) ago at 20.48
‘akito is sooo annoying, i cant’
Amia - 3 week(s) ago at 20.50
‘Mm~ What did lil’ brosef do this time?’
Enanan - 3 week(s) ago at 20.50
‘argh, dont call him that’
‘he made fun of my class tshirt!’
‘like the heck?’
Amia - 3 week(s) ago at 20.53
‘Why are you getting mad at him? Didn’t you say it was hideous yourself?~’
‘He’s merely restating what you said!’
Enanan - 3 week(s) ago at 20.57
‘i- hey! thats besides the point’
‘dont use my own words against me!’
Amia - 3 week(s) ago at 20.59
‘Hehe ♪’
…
Enanan - 3 week(s) ago at 00.13
‘amia, u there?’
Amia - 3 week(s) ago at 00.14
‘It’s not quite time for our meeting yet, Enanan~ someone must’ve been bored, huh?’
Enanan - 3 week(s) ago at 00.16
‘oh hush u idiot’
‘i actually gotta tell u smth, so pls listen’
Amia - 3 week(s) ago at 00.19
‘Fine, fine ♪’
‘What’s up?’
Enanan - 3 week(s) ago at 00.19
‘srry for reaching out late, but i wanted to let u know that ill be going to the festival’
Amia - 3 week(s) ago at 00.20
‘Ah, the great Enanan.. always so indecisive~”
Enanan - 3 week(s) ago at 00.23
‘at first i wasnt sure if id go but i ended up getting my classwork done on time, soo’
‘i figured it couldnt hurt.. besides, i have to bring back some seasoning to my class for the nasty squid’
‘and hey! i am not at all indecisive!’
Amia - 3 week(s) ago at 00.24
‘Alright! We can walk around the festival with the others when we’re done with our shifts ♪’
‘Also..’
Amia - 3 week(s) ago at 00.29
‘Do you mind if we talk in private after the festival? There are.. things.. I want to tell you.’
‘I want to talk to you about... everything. Everything I had been unable to say up until now.’
Enanan - 3 week(s) ago at 00.35
‘alright, i will wait for you’
‘just lmk when, okay?’
–
Amia - 2 week(s) ago at 15.36
‘Enanannn, where are you? Don’t tell me you’re ditching~’
‘I’m waiting with K and Yuki, hurry up!'
Enanan - 2 week(s) ago at 15.49
‘im almost there’
‘they made me grill a few more squid at my booth’
Amia - 2 week(s) ago at 15.51
‘ /ᐠ • ˕ •マ ’
…
Amia - 2 week(s) ago at 17.27
‘Whenever you finish up with your painting activity, come to the auditorium!’
‘A class is hosting a trivia game.’
‘K is already here with me, but we don’t know where Yuki went..’
‘She’s with you, right?’
Enanan - 2 week(s) ago at 17.30
‘yh, mafuyu is w me’
‘some students forced her to take a turn at quick painting’
‘its abs hilarious’
Amia - 2 week(s) ago at 17.31
‘I bettt~’
…
Enanan - 2 week(s) ago at 18.11
“amia, u doing alright?”
Amia - 2 week(s) ago at 18.13
“ Yeppers!”
Enanan - 2 week(s) ago at 18.13
“amia”
“are u sure?
“u seem a bit off”
Amia - 2 week(s) ago at 18.15
“Yeah! I'm great, don't worry!”
“Say, you should focus on the speech, Enanan~”
“Though I am honored that you're texting me :-D”
Enanan - 2 week(s) ago at 18.16
“so full of urself”
“geez..”
…
Enanan - 2 week(s) ago at 19.16
‘amia, where did you go?’
…
‘please respond, mizuki’
‘look, i dont care about what those students may have said– i want to hear the full truth of what you have to say’
…
Enanan - 2 week(s) ago at 20.14
‘please.’
–
Enanan - 1 week(s) ago at 02.43
‘Mizuki, why wont you respond to my messages?’
‘Akito told me that his friend hasnt seen you in class this past week’
…
‘I know that you can see these messages.’
‘Please just respond– I want to talk with you.’
‘It isn’t pity or some other stupid emotion, you idiot.’
‘Why don’t you believe me?’
–
Enanan - 2 day(s) ago at 07.03
‘..Mizuki-’
–
They had left her to clean up the mess of their disappearance alone.
The sound of an incoming Nightcord call had never quite struck Ena as irksome. While she would never entirely admit it, it was one of the more pleasant sounds the girl heard daily. Its once melodic ring carried memories that seemed like they had come from a mere dream– something that would never truly return to her in the same manner they once had.
Ena could vividly remember the boisterous laughter that filled their voice calls and the looks of concentration on everyone’s faces as they worked into the late hours of the night. Yet every single time she recounted each of those moments, it felt like her world was collapsing in on itself– and she didn’t know why.
She sat at her desk as the clock struck 25.08. Her hand was placed on the leftmost button of her laptop’s Kuromi mouse– which was hovering over Nightcord’s accept call button.
Ena frowned as she was hit hard by the harshness of the reality she was facing.
She was the only Nightcord member who knew the real reason why Mizuki had suddenly disappeared, and that honestly fucking sucked. Even with being as concerned as she was, she couldn’t find the strength to tell the truth to Kanade and Mafuyu.
If Ena were to talk with them, she didn’t know what she would say.
How would she explain what she heard on the rooftop to their friends?
How would she be able to explain the look of terror on Mizuki’s face to their friends?
How would she be able to explain Mizuki’s fears to their friends?
Was it even her place to say anything? After all, wouldn’t that make her the same as those insensitive students?
Ena quickly shook her head. Not wanting to focus on those questions for any longer than necessary, she clicked the accept call button with a faint exhale. Upon joining, her ears were immediately greeted by Kanade’s raspy voice.
“–uyu, where’d you say you saw those music sheets?” the girl asked. Her voice was faint, sounding like she happened to be away from her microphone. Ena rubbed the side of her neck in slight annoyance as she noted that the sound of flapping papers could be heard better than Kanade.
A few seconds later, Ena could barely make out the response of Mafuyu’s blunt voice.
“..they’re underneath a pile of junk by your desk. You need to clean up after yourself– it's a mess in your room.”
“Aha, I know. I’m just really excited, given it has been quite a while since Ena has last agreed to join us for a call. Sorry, Mafuyu–”
“Ah,” she suddenly cut herself off with a light hum. The composer rustled around for a bit before sitting down in her chair. “Enanan’s here now, Mafuyu. Hey, Ena.”
“Hey,” Ena replied, fiddling with her stylus. She reached her free hand out for her mouse to turn on her camera. “Sorry I’m late– I was busy cleaning up a few lines on my recent doodle.”
It may have been a blatant lie, but it was the only thing the artist could come up with at the moment. Ena turned on her camera with a familiar click, an action which was followed shortly by a second click. Kanade had turned on her own camera.
Somehow managing to radiate an inexplicably warm aura through the computer screen, Kanade sat at her desk. She was wearing her usual outfit of sweats, a purple baggy tee, and an unzipped sports jacket. Her long, pale-white hair was ruffled a tad as the black headphones over her head slightly pushed her hair back.
Similarly to what Mafuyu’s earlier displeased voice had pointed out, Kanade’s room was rather messy. Ena had a good view of her room and honestly, she’d be a bit too nice if she said it looked decent . Her nose subconsciously found itself scrunching up as she looked at the screen, seeing all the papers, stacks of empty cup noodles , and clothes scattered on the ground.
“That’s perfectly alright. I’m glad Ena was able to join us tonight,” Kanade smiled softly to herself as she responded. She scanned through the papers in her hands, then she suddenly turned her head to the side. After a small ahoo , Kanade turned back to the camera.
“Will Amia be joining us tonight? Or are they still sick?”
Mizuki…
Upon the mention of their name, Ena felt a sudden familiar weight in her chest. It was as if someone were squeezing her throat and pushing down on her chest, making it hard to breathe. “Oh, yeah. Mizuki,” she hesitated for a moment. She didn’t know what to say– both possibilities would likely end up in a loss-loss scenario for Ena.
On one hand, if she told them the truth, she’d have to explain everything she heard, everything she saw, everything Mizuki had said.
On the other hand, if she didn’t say anything at all, they’d likely catch onto her terrible lying. Looking at it through a realistic lens, the latter seemed like a more promising outcome.
With a breath, she slowly spoke. “I tried to reach out to them earlier,” half truth, “but they never responded. I assume they’re sleeping; still sick.”
“Right.. okay,” Kanade said, managing out her soft sentence as she shifted in her chair slightly. “Well, I hope that Mizuki is doing alright. I’d b-”
“I’m sure they’re fine. It’s just a cold, no?” Mafuyu pulled a chair up next to Kanade, cutting the shorter girl off with her unintentionally blunt tone. Mafuyu moved closer to Kanade’s chair, looking into Kanade’s softened blue eyes. “They’ll survive.”
Kanade seemed to tense for a second– gripping her music sheets tightly– as Mafuyu sat next to her, before letting out a soft exhale that was picked up by her microphone as she relaxed. “I hope so,” she said wistfully, scooting ever so closer to Mafuyu’s arm. The faint smile that crossed her face as she leaned slightly against Mafuyu didn’t go unnoticed, nor did the pang of indignation that shot through Ena’s body.
“Yeah, whatever,” Ena mumbled, looking down at her desk. That tight sensation in her chest had returned at full force.
She grabbed her drawing tablet and opened up her drawing software to the recent piece she had been working on. There was just something about it that didn’t seem right to her and she couldn’t quite place her finger on it. The drawing of a girl standing on the top of a building, staring off at the sunset, didn’t sit well with her at all.
Perhaps it was the shading..
-
The next half hour had been filled with constant scribbles and erasures. Ena had to constantly remind herself that she had her microphone on due to the stillness of the voice call. Aside from the occasional question from Kanade, the call was nothing but a shell of what it had been in the past. It was like– no, it definitely was like– it was missing something.
Which was primarily why Ena was quite surprised when Mafuyu suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence.
Mafuyu adjusted her posture as she turned to look from her keyboard to the screen of Kanade’s monitor. “Why don’t we go to Amia’s home?” she asked, her voice echoing through Ena’s earbuds. “I’d like to see them, if they’ve been so sick recently.”
"Eh?” Ena looked up from her tablet, “what're you going on about, Yuki?”
“Well, I find it hard to believe that they’ve been this sick for an entire week. Something’s certainly up that they’re not telling us about, right?”
A cold terror crashed over Ena, wracking her body like the coldness of a snowstorm. Her vision seemed to darken slightly as Mafuyu continued to speak.
“It’s not entirely my issue, but if they’re truly sick– which I doubt– I’d like to visit them-”
Which I doubt…
“Could you act any more goddamn inconsiderate, Mafuyu?” Ena bristled. Her grip on her stylus increased as she looked at her laptop, staring down Mafuyu’s composed expression. She could feel her breath quickening with every word that freely fell from her mouth. “I mean, Mizuki disa– has been sick for the past however many weeks , and that’s all you gotta say? You don’t believe them; you’re shitting me, right?”
Ena’s sudden outburst seemed to catch both Kanade and Mafuyu off guard.
Kanade looked up from her music sheets, glancing nervously between Mafuyu and the screen. “I kind of agree with Mafuyu– I’d like to go see them as well,” Kanade offered softly, but her voice didn’t seem to reach Ena’s ears.
She’d have to tell them eventually, didn’t she?
–but it wasn’t her story to tell.
Would Mizuki think worse of her than they already did?
Ah.. she could already imagine the look on their face as they realized that she had told Kanade and Mafuyu.
“..you all don’t listen,” Ena managed to get out through her shaking voice, still staring dead straight at her laptop. “I’m trying to be as honest as I can here without– what do you two not understand?”
“Now it just sounds like you’re hiding something, Enanan. What’s going on with you?” Mafuyu was not helping in the slightest. The girl’s brusque words made Ena want nothing more than to rip her hair out.
“I-”
“You know you can talk with us, Ena. If it’s something about Mizuki-”
“It’s-”
“We’ll try contacting them later, to see if we can head over there-”
“No-”
“Mizuki-”
“Stop, please!” Ena suddenly cried out. Her head flew into her hands, her elbows resting on her desk. Her vision was practically gone at this point. “I can't deal with this anymore, please– do you all think that I’m not worried about them?”
Revealing her face after a few seconds, Kanade and Mafuyu froze as they realized that she was genuinely crying. The two exchanged a quick worried glance with the other after seeing their friend’s expression.
Ena found herself unable to stop the words from flowing from her mouth. All of her built-up stress had suddenly broken through the dam that had been holding her emotions back.
“You all have no idea what’s going on. Do you know what it’s like to be the one who had to see what their face looked like? To listen to their self-fucking-deprecating words– knowing that you were powerless in stopping them?”
Ena could hear the faint voices of Kanade and (surprisingly,) Mafuyu trying to calm her down, but she was too far out of it to stop now. She had to distance herself from the situation before she said something she’d regret.
She quickly clicked the end call button and slammed the lid of her laptop shut, reaching for her phone. Through tears, Ena quickly turned on her phone and went into her files, locating her Composing the Future WAV. She quickly activated the file and tightly closed her eyes as she was whisked away to the Sekai.
Maybe the void there would be able to understand her.