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It was just supposed to be a normal practice. It was just supposed to be the same as any other day.
How could it possibly go so wrong ?
“Ah! Asahina-san!” Shizuku said, a beaming smile upon her face. The doors to the practice room closed behind her as she dropped her belongings off, prancing over to her companion. On her way over, she slid the hair tie off of her wrist, gently pulling her hair into a ponytail. “I didn’t know you were practicing today.”
Mafuyu nodded back at her, the girl’s typical pleasant smile still shining brightly. “I’m just getting in some extra training, is all. You can never be too careful!”
She turned her warm gaze back to the targets before herself. With a careful and steady hand, she drew the arrow back, trained her eyes on the target, and shot.
Shink!
Bullseye.
Shizuku gasped, inching closer towards her companion. “Wow, Asahina-san! That was incredible! Your form is perfect,” she cooed. “How do you do it?”
The dark-haired girl exhaled, lowering her bow. “I can teach you, if you’d like,” she said with absolute clarity.
The idol could hardly contain her excitement. “That would be absolutely amazing!” she exclaimed, placing a hand upon Mafuyu’s shoulder.
“Alright, then,” she said. “Go ahead and grab a bow, and show me your form.”
Shizuku gladly obliged. After a few minutes, she had gotten on her necessary protective gear, situated a comfortable bow, and gathered enough arrows. She returned to Mafuyu with a pep in her step and a shine in her eyes.
“Okay. I’m ready!”
Mafuyu hummed in content as Shizuku readied herself. She raised her bow, gently cocking an arrow in the nook.
“Shoot it for me,” Mafuyu instructed. The idol nodded, letting her grip on the arrow go. It launched forwards, zipping through the air with graceful accuracy…
…missing the target completely.
“Oh…” said Shizuku. She giggled, lowering her arrow as she laughed. “Yes, I definitely need to work on this.”
“No worries,” assured the other girl. “Here, hold your bow up again.” As Shizuku repeated the action, Mafuyu hummed, carefully examining the woman’s posture. Her face edged ever close to the bow, eyes scanning over every detail. Finally, after an agonizing few seconds, her eyes lit up. “Ah! I see your issue. You’re holding the bow too tight.”
“Hm?” said Shizuku, snapping back into reality. She hardly noticed the burning sensation upon her cheeks, along with the slight tremble in her hands. Mafuyu paid no attention, however, her entire focus directed at the girl’s technique.
“Your bow hand. It’s too tight,” she elaborated. “Hold the bow as normal, but make as little contact with your hand as possible. Act like it’s a delicate feather you’re almost afraid to touch.”
Shizuku swallowed a lump in her throat. The instructions made no sense to her, but she trusted Asahina’s judgment. She gently released her grip on the bow, her fingers barely grasping the wood. She steadied her arm, aimed her arrow, and released it. To her surprise, it made contact with the outermost rim of the target.
“See? It’s so much better already,” Mafuyu chuckled. The idol couldn’t help but smile with joy.
“I don’t know what I would do without you,” Shizuku sighed. “Is there anything else I’m doing wrong?”
“Just one more thing,” the other hummed. “When you shoot your arrow, you tend to move and try and look at where it lands. If you move too early, you might disrupt the arrow. Don’t move an inch until you hear the arrow hit the target, alright? One more time, and then I think you’ll be good.”
The idol nodded, a fierce determination in her eyes. She grabbed yet another arrow, keeping her eyes trained upon the target. She kept her feet shoulder width apart, her stance wide and confident.
Don’t move, she told herself. Whatever you do–Don’t. Move.
Shizuku drew back her arrow, lining it up with the target before her, and shot.
Don’t move.
The girl stood perfectly still, ears waiting for that final sound.
Shink!
She let go of the breath she had been holding as she dropped her bow. Peering through her hazy eyes, her gaze landed upon the target.
“Blue!” she said. “Look, Asahina-san! I got it in the blue!”
Mafuyu beamed, striding up beside her to take a good look at the target. “That’s amazing! I knew you could do it. Those are really the only critiques I have for you. Just make sure you keep your confidence high and your stance strong, alright, Hinomori-san?”
“Of course,” Shizuku nodded.
With that, the dark-haired girl turned upon her heel, returning back to her previously discarded bow. Shizuku watched with intrigue, curious as to how the woman went about her routine, when a certain noise caught Mafuyu’s attention. It was a faint buzzing from the corner of the room, right where Asahina’s personal belongings were. The girl cocked her head to the side in confusion, yet dropped her bow as she made her way over to the noise. Mafuyu tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she leaned down to pick up her phone. Shizuku kept her glossy eyes trained upon her friend as the girl read the name of whomever was calling her.
There it was, Shizuku thought. There was what she was looking for. As soon as Mafuyu’s gaze landed upon the screen, her face fell. Not in the dramatic, the-world-is-crashing-down-upon-me type of fall. The bright smile that was once on her face came down in an instant, her eyebrows furrowing. With her bangs concealing her face from the light, the girl looked almost downright scary.
“I’ll… be right back,” Mafuyu muttered. That was all she said before she answered the call, rushing into the bathroom as soon as she did. Then, there was only silence.
Shizuku returned her gaze to the archery field before her. Her bow felt heavy in her hands, her strap of arrows weighing her down. She couldn’t bother to shoot anymore. With a resigned sigh, she set down her equipment, taking a seat upon one of the many benches. She just had to wait until Mafuyu returned.
Not even twenty seconds had passed, and Shizuku was already incredibly bored. Plus, it was awfully cold. Call her impatient, but she truly couldn’t wait a moment longer. The idol stood up, smoothing out her black skirt. She would simply check if Mafuyu was done with her phone call, and if so, she would join her in the bathroom. It was a totally normal thing to do, she assured herself.
With a less heavy heart, she made her way over to the bathroom door. Without making a single sound, she pressed her ear to the door, only to hear…
…Crying?
Shizuku’s stomach churned. That had to be Mafuyu; nobody else was there. Should she truly intrude if her friend was in such a vulnerable state? Or perhaps she was mishearing something. Perhaps it was simply water running. Either way, she absolutely had to check. So, with no other choice to make, Shizuku pushed the door open.
“Asahina-san–?”
Mafuyu gasped as the two made eye contact. The idol could make out tear tracks upon the other’s face, though she had seemingly wiped them off. In her hands lay her phone, an unfamiliar song pulled up on its screen.
“ No! ” Mafuyu exclaimed, rushing towards Shizuku. And yet, it was already too late. The light haired girl’s eyes widened as a bright light washed over the two, shutting off every sense in her body. Wind whistled past her ears as her vision slowly faded back into existence.
Yet, the scene before her was completely different.
In front of Shizuku lay a broken, barren wasteland. Large metal framework stuck out of the uneven ground, slight hills and dips dotting the landscape. Other than that, it was completely and utterly empty. There wasn’t even a slight breeze.
“What… what is…?”
Mafuyu grabbed Shizuku by the shoulders, placing a hand over the idol’s eyes. “No– no, no no no,” she whispered erratically. “No, you can’t see this. You can’t be here, you– you have to leave, now! ”
“Asahina-san…” the idol said. She raised a hand to the other’s, testing how strong her grip was. Surprisingly, Shizuku could easily move her hand away from her eyes. The two met gazes yet again, and her heart shattered.
Before her wasn’t Mafuyu. It couldn’t have been. Mafuyu was happy. She was confident, strong. She could do anything. And yet, the girl before her seemed like nothing other than an empty, shattered husk. It was as if someone had stolen her face and taken her place.
And yet, Shizuku couldn’t help but feel as if she was meant to see this.
“Is this… a SEKAI?” the idol asked. To her relief, Mafuyu’s hand went slack in her grasp.
“You know what this is?”
Her voice seemed so fragile. So small, so quiet, almost as if she was afraid to speak. The idol had to do something about it.
Shizuku smiled, looking around the world before her. “Yes, I do. The rest of More More Jump! and I share one. It’s… a lot different than yours, though. It’s not like yours is bad! It’s just… interesting?”
Ah. The little progress she made had come crashing down in an instant. Mafuyu gently released her hand from the girl’s grasp, turning her back to the idol.
“You were never supposed to see this,” she said. “No one was.”
“But I’m here now,” Shizuku hummed. “So… you might as well let me stay.”
Mafuyu’s gaze darkened as she looked over her shoulder. A shiver went down Shizuku’s spine as she stared into Mafuyu’s deep purple eyes. Those once gleaming, happy eyes now seemed as if they were drowning in the darkness of sorrow. It almost brought tears to the idol. Had Mafuyu truly been hurting so much this whole time, and she never bothered to notice?
“Miku?” the dark-haired girl spoke. It was then that the idol felt a chilling touch upon her shoulder. With a concealed gasp, Shizuku turned around to see an awfully unfamiliar version of who she assumed to be Hatsune Miku. Her multicolored eyes were dark and bleak, her long hair was a dull white that seemed to have a mind of its own. She blended in perfectly with her environment. She was a stark contrast to both the Stage SEKAI Miku and the one everyone had come to know and love.
“Yes, Mafuyu…?”
“Remove her from this SEKAI. Now.”
Shizuku whipped back around to face Mafuyu, absolutely baffled beyond comprehension. “No!” she exclaimed, grabbing the other girl’s hands. “Let me stay. Please, Asahina-san. Let me help you.”
“You have no idea what I’m going through. You don’t know who I am,” Mafuyu retorted.
There it was again. That cold hand upon her shoulder, threatening to pull her away from her friend. Take her away forever. If Shizuku let her win, she likely wouldn’t ever be able to help Mafuyu ever again. Their trust would be forever broken.
She couldn’t let that happen.
“Mafuyu!” she said. “You’re not alone! I’m hurting too, just like you are!”
Silence. Miku was waiting for Asahina’s cue to remove Shizuku, and yet it never came. The two girls locked eyes for a brief moment. Mafuyu exhaled ever so slightly, her shoulders sinking from their previous defensive position.
“How so?”
Shizuku let out a sigh of relief as Miku freed her from her grip. She immediately advanced towards her friend, making sure to keep a safe distance between the two.
“You might look at me and think I’m perfect,” the blue-haired girl started. “But… being an idol isn’t all it's cut out to be. Everybody expects you to be perfect, and, when you’re not… you end up letting the whole world down,” she said with a slight laugh. She could barely take herself seriously, even for Mafuyu’s sake. “I could be completely wrong, but I assume that’s what you’re going through, too.”
Mafuyu’s hands were trembling, almost uncontrollably. Shizuku felt a pang of guilt–was this because of her? Had her attempt to fix everything ended up making it worse?
The dark-haired girl took a deep, shaky breath. “I’m supposed to be perfect,” she whispered. “If not, then… what else am I good for?”
The idol smiled. She had gotten through to Mafuyu after all. Thankfully, footsteps from behind her signaled that Miku had taken her leave. It was just the two now.
“Come,” Shizuku said. “Sit down with me. Let’s talk, okay? Just us two.” Thankfully, the other obliged. The two sat together on the coarse–yet comfortable–ground. Shizuku slid her chest guard off, setting it to the side. She waited patiently for Mafuyu to do the same, yet she continued to sit as still as a statue.
Shizuku hummed, leaning forward ever so slightly. “Mind if I take this off for you?”
The girl seemed to snap back to reality, her eyes coming back into focus. “Ah– sure…”
The idol smiled, placing her hand upon the buckle. With a gentle grip, she undid it, followed by the velcro in front. Shizuku slid the guard off of her friend’s chest, setting it down beside her. “There you go. Hopefully it’s a bit more comfortable now, hehe.”
“Thank you,” Mafuyu said. “It is, a little.”
Asahina-san sure is different, Shizuku mused. Though… It's not like it’s a bad change. It somehow feels more genuine. More real. I think I like it.
“So, ah…” she began, not quite sure of where to begin. “When did this all begin?”
“I can’t remember.”
So, Shizuku wasn’t going to get anywhere with that. At least that much was clear. She had to take a different approach.
“Alright, then,” she said, trying to stay as cheery as possible. “Do you share this SEKAI with anyone?”
“Yes. The rest of my circle.”
“Your circle?”
Mafuyu shifted uncomfortably. She crossed her legs, letting her hands rest in a more comfortable hold on her lap. “I have a music circle. We make songs.”
“Ah, so it’s just like me and More More Jump!” Shizuku said, airly laughing. “That’s incredible. What’s your group called?”
“Nightcord at 25:00.”
The idol’s eyes widened as she leaned ever closer to her friend. “You’re a part of Nightcord?! ”
This seemed to catch the academic off guard as her once emotionless expression contorted ever so slightly. “Yes, I am. Have you heard of us?”
Shizuku advanced even closer, her excitement getting the best of her. “Of course! I love Nightcord’s music. Jackpot Sad Girl is such a good song, and don’t even get me started on the Bitter Choco Decoration cover! The way the Vocaloids are tuned is just absolutely beautiful… and you’re telling me you’re a part of that?”
Mafuyu nodded, her cheeks a faint pink as the praise rushed in. “I write the lyrics for our original songs.”
The girl could barely contain her excitement. “Oh my gosh, Mafuyu! You’re amazing !”
Mafuyu blinked. Slowly, she edged her face away from Shizuku’s. It was then that the idol recognized just how close she had gotten, their noses merely inches away from one another.
“I-I’m sorry,” Shizuku stumbled, backing off as soon as the recognition set in. “I just– you guys are so mysterious… I never thought I’d be able to meet one of the members in person! But–no, no, this isn’t about me. This is about you! ”
“Thank you…” she said, clearly confused as to where to go from there. “I enjoy making music. I’m glad to see that it can make someone happy…”
“It does,” Shizuku beamed. “Truly.”
It was quiet for those brief few moments. All the idol could hear was the steady breathing of her and her companion. It was… quite frankly, it was amazing. She had never felt more comfortable in her life.
“Oh… I have just one question, though,” Shizuku said, finally breaking the silence. Mafuyu perked up, evidently showing her interest in what the idol had to say.
“Earlier, when you got that phone call… Who was it? What was it for?”
“Ah,” was all Mafuyu said. Her gaze lifted to the sky, staring off into the terrifyingly large realm above her, all whilst completely ignoring her friend’s question.
“Asahina-san? Are you there?”
“Yes. Just thinking.”
Shizuku shifted her weight, adjusting her position so that she sat upon her thighs. It was far more comfortable than her awkward half-criss-cross-half-slouch pose.
“About what, if I may ask?”
Mafuyu hummed. “About whether or not I should tell you.”
This new version of Asahina… she’s quite blunt, isn’t she? Well—not new, so to speak, but… it’s new to me, Shizuku thought. Still, she couldn’t say she minded it much. It was nice to see some honesty for a change.
“It was my mother,” the academic finally said. “She found Nightcord after looking through my computer for an assignment I forgot to turn in. She wants to throw it away.”
Shizuku found herself raising a hand to her mouth in shock. “Asahina-san… that’s terrible.”
“I can’t make music without my computer,” she said. “I can’t do anything with it. Without… them.”
Her voice sounded awfully cool and composed, yet Shizuku could hear the hurt hidden just beneath the surface. She had so many questions, so many concerns, and she was ready to ask them all at once
That is, until a voice began calling from the distance.
“Yuki?” it said, growing closer and closer by the second. “Yuki, where are you? K and Enanan are worried sick! We’ve been looking all over for you.”
Mafuyu’s face dropped. She rose to her feet without a moment’s warning as Shizuku followed in suit.
“Asahina-san?” she asked, her worries growing as each second passed.
“I’m sorry,” was what the lyricist said. “You need to leave. Actually leave.”
Shizuku couldn’t protest as her arm was grabbed by the new Miku yet again.
“Please,” she begged. “Let me stay! We barely even started!”
Mafuyu stepped away, gripping her arm as she attempted to ground herself. “There’s nowhere for the conversation to go. Goodbye, Hinomori-san. And please… forget this ever happened.”
“ Mafuyu! ”
And yet again, Shizuku’s vision was encompassed by that bright white light as she was transported back to reality. There she stood, alone in the women’s restroom.
“My chest guard!” she gasped, the realization dawning upon her. And yet, her chest guard was nowhere to be found.
And neither was Asahina-san.
“It’s okay,” the idol assured herself, glancing at the mirror before her. She idly tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, calming herself with a deep breath. “You’ll see her at school tomorrow. You can talk to her then, and it’ll all be fine.”
I’ll find you, Mafuyu. And once I do, I will do everything in my power to help you.
I promise.