Chapter Text
Mafuyu rarely felt this warmth, but coming to Phoenix Wonderland…made her feel something. Something different from the cold and confusing feelings she felt. It was risky being here, she already had skipped cram school, lying to her mother that she felt sick. Staying out later than curfew was pushing it.
Yet she couldn’t bring herself to leave, this place brought back memories and made her feel something. The lights, the crowd, the acting and singing..the way they flawlessly sang their lines seemed to enchant her. How could one convey such emotions and sway the crowd to feel it?
As Mafuyu stood in the crowd with the rest of Nightcord at 25:00, she focused on one boy in particular. The rest of the actors seemed to fade into the backdrop. He spoke and sang with purpose. The bright stage lights practically made his skin shine, his smile looked more pronounced. She watched with awe, the only time she felt such..conflicting feelings was in Kanade’s melodies.
Even as the show ended, and the crowd dispersed with N25 taking Mafuyu along with them, the notes of the song still rang in her mind. It felt like the entirety of the musical was embedded in her mind. The boy’s smile..the other actors..she’d never seen anything like it before. Even Kanade’s music didn’t stir up as much feeling as what Mafuyu had just witnessed.
Even as she headed home, she was oblivious to the cold wind blowing against her skin, or the moonlight illuminating the sky. Mafuyu’s mind was still pondering the show, the warmth she felt from it lingering slightly longer than normal.
Yet the minute she opened the door and entered the building called home, she snapped out of it.
Something was wrong, she could feel it. Any lingering feeling of belonging and warmth disappeared when she saw her mother waiting for her.
“I was at a friend's house for the time be-” Mafuyu got cut off.
“Mafuyu, are you feeling alright? You must’ve been feeling really sick if you had to skip cram school and get lower exam results. You should’ve told me right away.” Mafuyu’s mother sweetly said, before sighing.
Mafuyu felt her throat go dry. How did her mother find out about the exam results? She felt sick to her stomach. She had pushed off telling her mom..so how did she..?
“I called your teacher, and he said that you just made some careless errors. Please be more careful next time, Mafuyu. You don’t want to disappoint me, right? You’ll need to get good grades to be a doctor.” Mafuyu’s mom asks, looking sad.
“No of course not Mom..! That wasn’t my intention. I’m sorry I’ll go study now..!” Mafuyu exclaimed, quickly rushing upstairs. The look on her mom’s face..how could Mafuyu skip cram school..? Her parents worked so hard to make sure she studied hard, just for her to skip…How was she going to become a doctor for her parents if she made stupid mistakes?
Mafuyu quickly took out her books and started to study. She didn’t even notice when the time skipped to 1 AM, she was so immersed in studying that Mafuyu forgot to log on. Eventually, Mafuyu drifted to sleep on her book at 4 AM, immensely tired from her relentless studying. She dreamt of that boy with his familiar smile.