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Across the room, gathered around the school desks, a trio of girls were softly muttering amongst themselves. They would sometimes laugh, sometimes give a small gasp, all with some excited energy about them. It was impossible for anyone outside of their space to make out what they were saying, but it was likely some kind of gossip judging from the tendrils of black smoke rising from their lips as if their words were a flame.
Of course, only Misaki Okusawa could see said smoke; that was something she had learned very quickly. Whenever someone had ill intentions, she would see some smoke that was darker in color than most what may come from the average fire. The more ill intent someone felt, the more smoke would be present. This smoke also seems to envelop actions, and it may appear around a hand that is about to hit someone or a mouth that is saying hurtful words to give some examples.
Misaki could figure out how it worked all she wanted, but even though she had it all her life, she had little clue as to how or why she could see these things. Searching for it online and came up with nothing, and no one around her could see it. By the time she was in high school, she put a hold on trying to figure it out and simply accepted that she had a strange but slightly helpful ability. She called the smoke "malice," though only in her head for fear of sounding more cringey than she already would be for mentioning the smoke. Family and long-standing friends have brushed off her mentions of it as some sort of imaginary play that younger kids did, and the fact that she saw anything was kept secret from everyone else.
With another glance across the room, Misaki could also tell that the group of girls did not actually wish much harm on the subject of their chatter seeing how there was little malice around their beings. It was just some bad mouthing among close friends to pass the time with no intention to let their words spread outside of their group.
Not that Misaki would have done much if they truly wished to do harm unto someone. For one, she did not even know who was the subject of their gossip. And perhaps what held her back more was the fact that she did not want to involve herself with people who have malice. Sure, she may have told a teacher if she knew what a playground bully was about to do, or she may have quietly tipped off a store clerk if there was a shoplifter, but those did not require her to do much aside from see the malice and make an easy inference. But if she were to just see someone passing by on the street who was covered in malice, she would not try to figure out what they were up to nor would she even look in their direction. It was easier to not get involved, and someone who had so much malice that it wrapped around their entire figure was frightening to even imagine dealing with. For the most part, Misaki kept to herself.
Though at the moment, she had little time to think much about her ability for the thousandth time. She had a few minutes left of lunch break, and she decided to use that opportunity to organize things for Hello, Happy World!'s next rehearsals and performance. The whole reason she was in the classroom in the first place was because she knew the others from the band would be eating outside with Poppin' Party, so it was the perfect opportunity to get some actual work done in peace. This time, Kokoro had once again given a ridiculous idea for a performance that was quickly supported by the other two musketeers. Even though everyone was capable of contributing to these elaborate performances, it was always Misaki's job to ensure everything was coherent enough for an actual show. It was tough, but it was also rewarding when the show turns out alright in the end. It helped that the black suits always were there to fill in the gaps Misaki could not, though she would have preferred to not be spoiled by their abilities and just put on a tamer show.
On the planner that she had open on her desk, Misaki scribbled down some times and dates for rehearsals, cross-referencing everyone's schedules that she had asked for ahead of time. While she was in the middle of figuring out how to work around a week full of schedules clashing, an all too familiar, cheery voice cut through the classroom.
"Found you, Misaki!"
... There went her peaceful work period. The colorful, blond ball of pure energy named Kokoro Tsurumaki bounced towards her, followed by Hagumi and Kanon. "So you were hiding in here!"
"I wasn't hiding," Misaki told her with a shake of her head, though the other's words were actually partly true.
"Mii-kun, you should come outside with us instead of being holed up in here," Hagumi chimed in, placing her hands on her hips. "It's a really nice day, and you missed Saya sharing her tiny bread bears. She even made them look like Michelle!"
"Ah, really?" Admittedly, she did want some of Saya's baked goods, but there was no way Misaki was going to let herself get swept along now. "That's too bad, but I had work to do."
Kanon gave a curious tilt of her head; as usual, she was the one that listened to Misaki first. "What work were you doing, Misaki-chan?"
"This." Picking up the planner, Misaki showed its contents to the other three."I've been trying to see when we can schedule our next rehearsals.
"Actually, you guys came at a good time." It took some willpower to bite back a snarky 'for once' at the end. "There's an entire week when we won't be able to rehearse, but there are two days in a row just before that that'll work." She tapped on the planner with her pen on the two days mentioned.
"Then we should practice those days!" Kokoro declared in an instant. "It's two days in a row that we get to play together, after all!"
"Are you sure? If it's two days in a row, it might be pretty tiring, especially afterwards." She glanced back at Kanon for the second sentence. Kanon had to move around a lot when she played, and while everyone exerted about the same amount of energy due to the three idiots always running around, Misaki was sure that the soft-spoken girl would run out of it first.
Kanon gave a small smile and shook her head. "I'm sure we'll be fine. I have a day off after the second day, and the other three are always able to keep up. Anyways, I'm looking forward to playing our new song."
"Yeah yeah!" Hagumi pumped her fists as she cheered a bit louder than was strictly necessary inside. "If we're playing that song, there's no way we'll tire out! This one's so exciting and fun!"
"Ah, but what about you, Misaki-chan?" asked Kanon. "Will you be alright?"
Misaki glanced down at the rehearsal dates, then at her own schedule. A brief moment of dread washed over her when she noticed that right after the second rehearsal date, she had two days of work in a row and a math test the day after all that.
"Woah, that's a super packed schedule, Mii-kun!" Hagumi had been looking over her shoulder at the planner. "You're gonna be wiped."
"I'm sure Misaki can do it! She just has to think she can!" Misaki was not sure if she agreed with Kokoro's optimism since unlike the wild girl, her energy supply was finite. "Anyway, if Misaki switches out with Michelle on the second day, she'll feel less tired!"
"That won't help at all." If anything, it would tire her out faster with how hot the suit could get. Not that Hagumi or Kokoro would listen to Misaki's explanations when they were already in their own world.
A groan escaped Misaki. "I'll ask Kaoru-san, but seeing how these two are, she'll also agree, probaby."
Kanon gave her a worried look. "Umm, will you... actually be alright, Misaki-chan?"
That was something Misaki also wanted to know. Yet after seeing everyone be so excited to practice, it would make her feel bad if she skipped rehearsals. She was also anticipating practicing the new song, anyway, and the day of the live show was only getting closer.
"... I'll manage."
One of the perks of being in Hello, Happy World! was that the other member almost never had any malice in their hearts. There were times when Kaoru might have had just a bit if she became too engrossed in a role, but that cleared up as soon as she was out of character. All of them were well intentioned, even if those intentions meant that Misaki suffered anyway. Because of this lack of malice, Misaki felt slightly guilty that she was the only one that has held any malice, from her initial thoughts on the band to some of the hurtful things. But the others had never held any grudges against her despite how she was, and as cheesy as it seemed, their clean hearts might have cleared up hers just a bit.
It was for those reasons that Misaki could not stay mad at her bandmates even as she was dying during her math test due in no small part to the chaos that was inevitable with Hello, Happy World! Still, she swore to never cram two back-to-back rehearsals into an already busy schedule if she could help it.
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Soon enough, the day of the live show was upon them, and all of the band was preparing for it. Misaki had already donned the signature bear costume, transforming into Michelle. Pre-performance anxieties were hardly a thing with the ever energetic trio, and some of that care-free attitude helped calm a few of the worries about how the performance would go. Misaki still had some concerns, though, and it was mostly revolving around the aforementioned three.
As an excuse to escape the wild ideas for entertainment championed by Kaoru and Kokoro, Misaki went to peak out on stage at the audience that was filing in. It had always amazed her how many people were coming to watch the band nowadays, and seeing the number of faces that were watching them made her both nervous and excited. Some people had spotted her and called out Michelle's name, and it was when Misaki responded with a wave that she noticed something oddly dark. It could have just been someone deciding to wear all black, or perhaps it was just a shadow, but Misaki scanned the audience to find what had caught her eye.
Unfortunately, those harmless guesses were not correct. In the middle of the crowd, though closer to the back and the exit, was a person with a few tendrils of malice rising from them. It was difficult to make out their features with the angle Misaki was viewing them with and the malice itself, but there was no doubt in her mind as to what she was seeing.
But why here, at a Hello, Happy World! performance? It was much more common for people without malice to be in their audience. Perhaps they were there to forget the cause of their malice? After all, Misaki had spotted people with that dark smoke around them once or twice, but it was dissipated by the end of the show. This malice seemed to be more present, but maybe it was the same way.
Still, even if Misaki reassured herself, a worry was very present in the back of her mind. It was always better to take the safer route rather than have unnecessary risks. She hurried backstage, where Kokoro and Kaoru were leading some kind of dance wit Hagumi and Kanon following along.
"Michelle, join us! It's a warm-up dance!" Hagumi cheered, the others being quick to echo her sentiments.
However, Misaki waved them off, hurrying to use her Michelle voice. "Sorry! That, uh, will tire us bears out more. Also, I need to talk to the suits."
"The suits?" Kanon prompted. A look of concern was all too apparent on her face. "Is there something wrong?"
"N-no no! Nothing like that~" Now that was a weak lie on Misaki's part. "I just need them to look over some of the equipment and effects to make sure this performance is super fun!"
Kanon did not look entirely convinced, though the other three seemed content with that response. As if on cue (though it probably was not very coincidental, considering how they always had an ear open), one of the suits poked her head into the room. Misaki hurried over to her, motioning for the both of them to momentarily be outside of the room. This was not something that the others should have to worry about during the performance, so it was better if this next conversation was not overheard by them.
"Is something the matter, Okusawa-sama?" The suited woman questioned. The two other suits appeared, somehow making the atmosphere feel more serious than it already was.
"Well, it's..." Misaki took a deep breath, carefully gathering her words. "I just... had a feeling someone might be up to no good this time, so if it's possible, could you guys make sure no one's doing anything... sketchy, I guess? Ah, maybe alert some of the staff just in case, too."
"Of course. We wouldn't want someone to ruin this performance." The suits nodded their heads, and two of them turned on their heels and departed, presumably to do what Misaki asked.
However, one held back, looking at Misaki with the usual poker face and eye obscured with glasses. "I must ask, though, what made you think something might happen at this concert. Not to criticize, but you have never made this kind of request before, Okusawa-sama."
"Ah, well..." There was no way Misaki could explain the way she saw malice, especially not to the suits. But of course it was only natural for the question to come up. It was in these situations that she had to scramble to explain herself. "I-it's just a hunch, really. I mean, I thought I saw something suspicious, but it wasn't actually something bad? And it's better to be safe, right?"
Luckily, the suit seemed satisfied with that answer. "I see. Then we better do our best to ensure nothing comes to fruition. Don't worry about security; we'll handle it. Just do your best performing with the band."
In her head, Misaki let out a long, relieved sigh. "Thank you very much," she told the suited woman with a bow of her head. That was that worry covered.
On stage, the concert went as they usually did with some wild ideas, improv here and there from the three dummies, and a generally upbeat atmosphere filling the live house. These concerts always seemed like it was mostly the band just having their fun on stage, but the crowd seemed to love it judging by the bright smiles on their faces. Happiness was infectious that way. Looking out, Misaki could mainly see glowing expressions, but she was looking for something else.
It took a moment, but she could just barely make out the malice in the audience. Near the center of the mass of people was a single source of that dark smoke. For a few moments, the person stayed put then shuffled their way through the people to a different location closer to the back, where they stayed put. Just what in the world was that person doing, Misaki wondered. What was the reason for their malice to persist?
The answer came just after the performance ended. The band left the stage and were unwinding as much as the usually hyper members could. Misaki was just about to get out of the Michelle suit when one of the black suits quietly approached her.
Turning to the woman, Misaki was about to ask what was up when the other leaned in and quickly whispered just loud enough for her to hear. "Your hunch was correct. We spotted a young woman steal a wallet out of a man's pocket in the audience, but we lost sight of her before we could make out any features. We're currently searching for someone who may be a suspect."
That information nearly sent a chill down Misaki's spine. So that was the motive behind the malice. To think that kind of person would come to a Hello, Happy World! concert... "I see," she responded slowly. "Good luck with finding her."
The suit gave her a fast "thank you" before departing, and Misaki was soon climbing out of Michelle. If those suits were on the case, then she had little to worry about, yet she could not help but stress over the incident. Wiping off some sweat with a towel, she decided to head out of the live house for some fresh air and maybe to cool herself down. Sweating inside of a bear costume was not ideal even as she had grown accustomed to wearing it, and it was even worse when she had this malicious person to worry about.
Once changed into her usual attire, Misaki slipped out of the changing room and headed towards the exit before she could be found by the other band members. It was not that she was going to leave without at least talking with the others as herself; she just needed some fresh air to calm her nerves. As she walked through the live house, she passed by several people who were all smiling brightly and talking about the concert. In a way, overhearing the opinions of others lifted her spirits. The person with malice aside, knowing that people actually enjoy the band made her heart flutter with joy.
A dark shadow flickered in her peripheral vision. Misaki whirled her head around, unsure if she really did see it. Yet lo and behold, there it was: that unmistakable malice. Her heartrate was now rising for a completely different reason. She glanced around the place, but she could see none of the suits around. It was too conspicuous to call for them, and if she went to look for them, the pickpocket could be long gone by then. Even at that moment, the source of the malice was becoming further away, seemingly heading towards the exit. She had to do something soon, yet confronting the pickpocket was a frightening prospect. She had no way of knowing how dangerous this person was, but the mere presence of the malice was enough for her to want to stay away.
Yet there was still someone else's happy smile on the line. This thief was about to take that away from someone at a Hello, Happy World! concert, of all the places and events. how could she let that happen? Taking a deep breath, Misaki weaved her way through the crowd of people, approaching the source of the malice with every quickened step she took until finally, she reached out and tapped the young woman on the shoulder to get her to stop and turn around.
And the person did just that. Excellent, Misaki caught up to her. But she very quickly realized with a sinking dread that she did not necessarily have a solid plan going into this.
"... May I help you?" asked the young woman, sounding slightly annoyed. Oh joy, now Misaki had to converse with her until something happened that would either make this for naught or somehow bring this person to justice.
"Um, well..." Misaki wracked her brain for something to say. "H-how did you like the concert?"
The woman raised an eyebrow. "... It was fine. Why do you ask? And who are you?"
"I'm, uh, Misaki. Hello, Happy World!'s manager." Internally, Misaki wanted to kick herself for giving her real name and relation to the band. "I just.... wanted to get some feedback on the performance from an audience member. See what could be improved on, you know?"
"It was fine," the other answered, glancing off to the side for a brief moment. "The band's music was good, and the concert was fun." Her tone was passive as she gave her generic response. It was as if she was not even paying attention to the performance the entire time. Had she not been so nervous to the point that her palms felt clammy, Misaki may have found it in herself to be offended.
Unfortunately for Misaki, her mouth felt as such before her brain could stop it. "Was the live itself fun, or was it the stealing?"
The woman seemed to freeze, and in a moment, the malice around her grew. Malice directed towards Misaki. "... What do you mean?"
The regret and fear started to claw its way up to Misaki's throat, and she had to quietly swallow it back before she could feign an unfazed exterior. Observing the thief's figure, she could see that one of the woman's hands was stuck in her back pocket, and even more of that dark smoke was rising from it. She pointed at the pocket. "I know you picked someone’s pockets during the show. So what did you take?"
The woman's eyes narrowed in a glare, her gaze holding daggers to Misaki's neck. "You... What are you-"
"Misaki! There you are!" The cheery and very familiar voice cut through the thick air, causing Misaki to nearly jump in a start. Spinning around towards the source of the sound confirmed what she had guessed; Kokoro and the rest of the band were bouncing towards her. "Have you seen Michelle pass by? She disappeared so fast!"
"I... she left for home," Misaki answered as she glanced back at the pickpocket. The woman looked like she wanted to escape unnoticed, but there was no way that could be allowed to happen.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kaoru come up to her side followed by the others. "If I am not mistaken, it appears we've interrupted a conversation you two were having. My sincerest apologies."
"Oh, is this you friend, Mii-kun?" asked Hagumi. If only that were the case, Misaki thought in the back of her mind. It likely would have made this whole encounter much simpler.
The woman, taken aback, seemed like she was about to refute the question, but Misaki cut in before this thief could get more than a few words out. After all, she did not want this person's words to throw her bandmates - especially the three dummies - off of the truth of the matter. "She, uh... as something that's not hers right now," she stated, waving at the pocket where she suspected the stolen object to be.
"Did you find it?" Kokoro asked the woman, her genuine innocence truly showing. "That must mean someone lost it somewhere, right?"
"Not a lot of people have left yet, so maybe we can still find the owner here before it's too late," Hagumi chimed in.
"Ah, the prospect of the joy our unknown owner of this flighty item is truly fleeting!" Kaoru placed her hands over her heart as if moved by whatever she was thinking of.
"We shall see that an announcement for the missing item is made." Always with the best of timing, the suits appeared, ready to fulfill whatever request they could. Hopefully without hassling the staff of the live house too much, but Misaki was not placing bets on that.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go find the owner of this missing item, miss!" With that, the three dummies dragged the pickpocket off with determined glimmers in their eyes. Misaki nearly had it in her to feel a bit sorry for the woman since she could barely get a peep in, leaving her at the mercy of the will of the energetic bunch. However, she quickly crushed that as the malice around the person appeared to grow. Surely it was directed at those three, but Misaki could only hope that it would lead to nothing and they would be alright. There were three of them against one, and the suits were sure to be close behind, too.
Once the group was gone, only Misaki and Kanon were left. A wave of relief washed over Misaki and she could feel the tense worry release from her shoulders. "I'm so glad that went well..." she sighed out. At this point, she could melt with the stress of the situation now over.
"Misaki-chan?" Kanon gave her a gentle look of concern. "Are you alright?"
"... I'm not really sure if I am or not," Misaki admitted. "That person those three just took off with was actually a pickpocket."
The soft-spoken girl's eyes widened in shock. "Fue?! A pickpocket?! Um, I know I just asked this, but... are you alright, Misaki-chan? Are you hurt or anything?"
She shook her head. "No, she didn't hurt me or anything like that. But when it was just me and her, it was pretty scary when I tried to confront her, to be honest with you." Especially with the malice she saw - her hands still felt sweaty from it. "Looking back, it was pretty stupid to approach her like that. If you guys hadn't shown up, the situation might've gotten worse. I guess… This sounds even dumber, but I was thinking about our ‘make the whole world smile’ shtick and knowing that someone wouldn’t be happy with a missing item… I pretty much acted on impulse." She could feel her face flush in embarrassment, but if there was anyone she could talk about these things with, it was Kanon.
With a small smile, Kanon came closer and placed a hand on her shoulder, as if to reassure her. Misaki would be lying if she said the gesture was not comforting. "It's true that the situation could have been dangerous, but I'm sure everyone else in this live house would have been able to protect you had something gone wrong. Also, I think it was very brave of you to confront that person. It’s very noble, I think."
"... You think so?" Just an instant after Misaki asked, Kanon gave a nod and another smile. The other really did think that what Misaki had done was brave, it seemed. It was a bit flattering, admittedly. "... I'm still not going to make a habit out of it, though."
"Yeah, doing it all the time seems too scary..."
"It would be," Misaki agreed. "But... thanks, Kanon-san." Sure, that sort of situation was still terrifying to Misaki. It was definitely better to not interact with people that held so much malice. Still, she could not help but feel that she did something amazing. Maybe the smiley band had made her lose more common sense than she would have preferred, but just this time, she would allow herself to be proud of what she did.