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How long has it been since Setsuna passed by these sights? The big open field is as flawlessly maintained as the day Setsuna graduated, the blanket of green grass reaching far and wide. The trees dotting the school grounds have grown larger—just like her—casting a wide shadow on the road leading to the school. Four pillars tower above her, holding up the school’s conference building. And behind that, the school building where Setsuna made so many memories stands, shining as brightly as it did all those years ago.
The school reunion is being held there. All of her friends, seniors, and juniors, some of whom she hasn’t seen in years, will be there. They’re all waiting for her, and she can’t wait to see them either.
But before that, there’s one nagging thing on her to-do list.
Setsuna, the professional idol at the twilight of her career, wants to go to where it all started.
A part of her feels guilty visiting her old club room without permission, but seeing other alumni do the same gives her the confidence to go through with it. Before she knows it, she’s facing the door of the idol club.
Digging into her purse, it’s not long before Setsuna finds what she’s searching for; a set of keys, all completely uniform. Setsuna immediately picks one out and pushes it into the keyhole. Her lips curl into a smile when it turns easily, and she pushes the door open.
Flicking on the light switch, that smile quickly turns into a frown.
Walls that were once covered in posters have been left barren, and so have the shelves and tables. Once brimming with character, this room is now an empty husk.
The sight of it hurts.
To Setsuna, this room was her safe haven. It's where she went to when student council duties and her life grew more difficult, where she could shed the persona of 'Nakagawa Nana' and could simply be 'Yuki Setsuna.'
She wished that it could've been a safe haven for someone else, that someone else would find the same thing she did surrounded by the walls of the idol club room, that groups of people who feel like they didn't belong could join their club so they could express their love to everyone else. But it just wasn't meant to be.
A part of her wants to leave this suffocating place, but another, stronger part wonders where all of their old belongings went. They can't have all been thrown away...
If there's still anything left, it'd have to be in the storage closet. Setsuna feels resistance as she tries to open it, but pushes through, using her entire body weight to throw the door open.
It works a bit too well, the sudden action causing layers of accumulated dust to kick up into the air and fill her lungs. Setsuna coughs harshly and feels her eyes starting to water, but perseveres once again, determined to see what remains of what they left behind.
As the dust settles, she finds exactly what she hoped to see: cardboard boxes stacked, one on top of the other. She doesn't pause before opening the first one, and finds a trove of memories buried inside.
Wristbands bought in a set of nine, followed by three more, all with fraying edges. Posters advertising live performances, damaged from being folded up for so long, creases running along the length of the paper. Mugs chipped around the rim and with broken handles. Notebooks with yellowing pages. Markers dry of ink. Speakers with damaged cables. Clipboards broken in half.
Setsuna only stops when she uncovers a framed picture, somehow still pristine underneath everything else. Carefully pulling it out of the box, she wipes away the dust covering the frame, and examines the picture.
It's of them, at the 3rd year's graduation live. Yu stands proudly in the middle, holding up Nijigasaki's flag. Ayumu is behind her, and Kasumi is next to her, the three starting members of the new club. Setsuna and everyone else is around them, all posing for their camera in their own ways. Even in such an important moment, they can't help but be themselves.
Everyone is smiling, even the graduating third-years, with tears in their eyes, are laughing and smiling and cheering.
It's a live performance that's just for them, never shown to anyone outside of the club, but Setsuna thinks it's her best one. Even now, she's trying to match herself from back then.
Finally, everything clicks.
That live is one that has left no legacy, that no one will remember other than the thirteen of them. But that doesn't matter. To Setsuna, the joy she felt and the joy she gave to everyone else is enough.
Then, what's changed now? So what if no one will remember her songs? Hasn't the joy she's brought to her listeners, even if only for a few minutes, made it worth it? If her lives let someone forget their troubles and be themselves for a few hours, isn't that reason enough?
If her own career has made herself happy, even if it ends, and everyone moves on, isn't that proof that she was successful?
Setsuna almost wants to laugh. All this time, the answer was something she already knew. It's almost embarrassing, that she's worried about something so much as a professional that her younger self could answer.
Even so, her heart feels relieved, like a burden's been lifted. She has a spring in her steps that she hasn't had since she was a high schooler.
But she's not. That was in the past, and as sad as it makes her, she has to leave the idol club in the past, too.
Closing the storage closet, she hears a loud thud coming from within, the precarious stack that had remained stable over the years finally collapsing against the door. Testing it, Setsuna finds the door has jammed, the memories inside now inaccessible.
It feels bittersweet, but Setsuna feels it's for the best. It's as if the room itself is telling her, 'there's nothing left for you here.' This door has closed, but a different one has opened.
The clubroom door creaks, and a familiar voice makes itself heard. "Setsuna-senpai?"
She knows who it is, even before she turns around. Pale brown hair had grown longer than in her high school days, but her magenta eyes still shine with the same, boundless energy that made her such a captivating idol. "Kasumi-san?"
"The one and only!" Kasumi giggles, airy and cheerful, lifting the dour mood in the room. "The party is about to start, you know? They wanted all the student council presidents to say a few words at the start, but you weren't there, so I went looking. I kinda guessed you'd be here. The director's gonna be super mad that an ex-student barged into a clubroom and started digging up old stuff, you know?" Despite her joking tone, Setsuna watches as Kasumi's gaze flits around the room, taking in its dilapidated state. A sad, melancholic look crosses her face at what has become of the club, but Setsuna can see the appreciation in her expression, for what the club has done for her.
Setsuna remembers just how much Kasumi cared about this club. How she protected it against the Wandervogel Club, stole the name plate from her desk, held activities outside of the school when the room was taken, and even performed guerilla lives during Lanzhu's short reign. If anyone could relate to how much Setsuna loved the club, it would be her.
But unlike Setsuna who went pro, Kasumi ended things when she graduated and pursued another career. She would have had to face the same thing back then that Setsuna just did; the thought that one day, her legacy would fade into history, her efforts unremembered...
That she achieved her dreams, and nobody would care.
And it didn't matter what they thought, because those moments were the happiest in her life, because she met everyone in the club.
She's accepted it, and now, so has Setsuna.
Kasumi opens the door wider, beckoning Setsuna over with an outstretched hand. "Come on, everyone's waiting for you!"
Without any more hesitation, Setsuna nods, taking Kasumi's hand—and her future—in her grasp.
“That’s right… I don’t have time to mope around here.” Her eyes aflame with passion, Setsuna smiles brightly. “The world still needs saving, after all!”
For the last time, Setsuna leaves the idol club room.