Work Text:
“Aaaaaagh! My eyes! I can’t see! Claire, Claire, where are you? Claire!” Maya dropped to her knees as the stars blinded Flora.
Junna covered her eyes as Clair wept. “I remembered. I remembered your name. I’m sorry, Flora. Our dream will not come to be.”
Her journey to reach the stars with Flora having reached its tragic end, the two girls stand up, the classroom erupting into applause. Except…
“Junna, that was amazing!” Karen held back joyful tears from the stunning performance of their class president.
But Junna wasn’t supposed to be Claire, neither was Maya with Flora. What was changing? What was different about this performance?
“To think you would be the one to challenge me.” Maya gives Junna a confident smirk. “I cannot deny your talent, Hoshimi Junna. But it isn’t over till the performance begins.”
Junna shouldn’t be a rival to Maya. What role would Claudine have? Everything else was as it should be, so why?
“Nana?” Junna was standing in front of her, having come down from the center of the classroom. “Karen’s sleeping hasn’t caught up to you, has it?”
“Huh?” It takes her a moment to catch her bearings. “Sorry, I was just so shocked by how good you were. You’ve been practicing extra hard, haven’t you?”
“Of course.” Junna’s glasses flash as she pushes them up, her cheeks flushing for a moment at the comment. “I can’t let the words of others drive me forever.”
This is wrong. Words are Junna’s power, so why? Why is she changing so suddenly? It’s not right, and yet, her eyes shine like spotlights. But she can’t let it bleed out. She can’t hurt her. Until the time comes when she can begin her reenactment once again, she will take care of them.
“I don’t know. I always like hearing your quotes.” Nana says. “But if that’s what helps, then I’ll have to bake something extra special to celebrate!”
“Eh?!” Karen shouts, running to the two. “Really? You’ll make enough for everyone, right?”
Futaba slightly smacks the back of her head. “Since when hasn’t she? Better make sure you’re not late, or we might forget to save you any.”
“No way! You wouldn’t let them do that, right?” Karen stares at Nana with pleading eyes.
“I’ll make sure there’s enough for you. Just make sure to wake up when Mahiru tells you to,” Nana says.
This is how it should be. No sudden changes. All they have to do is enjoy their memories, and she can keep repeating them. This way, all of them can be happy forever. They can relive their happiest year together. So why has Junna changed? What was different this time? As Nana walks the familiar halls by herself, the kindness and care she bundles herself in melts away. Pooling into the floor of her person, it becomes a haze of worry as her precious performance cracks around her.
“But this can become another memory.” She stares through the window, looking to an audience beyond the stretches of this performance. “Even if things go wrong, this performance is just as dazzling as the rest.”
And so the phone rings. The tone that sparked the beginning of her reenactments. How many times has it been now? How many memories has she made? She won’t let this change stop that. She can’t.
“The final day of auditions, the ‘Revue of Admission,’ will now commence.” The Giraffe says.
Their classmates fall into place in the audience for the final revue, to the watch the spectacle unfold as the lights reveal the stars of this performance. Every light from the stage gathers around Nana, surrounding her in red glimmers.
“This stage is a great tree, its limbs laden with ripening fruit. Those fruits, so fragile and tender, they have to be protected!”
Two lights appear behind, forming the letter 99 as they come together. Finally, a spotlight shines down on her before bright yellow lights cover her from behind.
“Student of the 99th class, Daiba Nana! I will protect them. Forever, again and again!”
The lights dim as she’s left in darkness, a single flickering light shining in front of her, revealing her opponent.
"If my star shines bright among the crowd, would you find it? Even if I'm not destined for the brightest, if your eyes gaze upon it, does the rest matter? See my brilliance and ignore the rest! Student of the 99th class, Hoshimi Junna!"
It was all too different. This wasn’t Junna. It couldn’t be her. She would never give up on her lead role, her Junna would never give up on reaching for her star. She must win, more than any other time. No matter what, she must protect Junna from becoming whoever this is.
The stage opens up before them, a tower rising from the ground. Mannequins flood the ramp spiraling up, some falling to the ground alongside the two girls. A lone hoop floats in the middle of the tower, waiting for its stage girl.
“I will reach higher and higher until you see me. The role doesn’t matter, as long as I have you to watch me!” Junna shouts as the Revue begins, dashing into the tower as Nana follows.
“We’re all watching, so why have you given up?” Nana asks.
Junna fires an arrow from her bow as she hops onto the hoop. “When my destined star fades, I won’t disappear. As long as you keep looking, I won’t fall among the crowd.”
Nana swats away the arrow, distracted for just a moment as Junna ascends the tower. If the top is where she plans to go, Nana will just have to reach it before her. She begins her run up the tower’s ramp, an endless spiral filled with black mannequins with gold faces. Arrows fly between the crowd, her aim almost as sharp as always, but off enough to knock over a few.
“Leave the crowd and follow me.” Junna says, an arrow whizzing by Nana’s golden button. “Reach for my star, even when it’s shine dims, reach for it!”
Could Junna really be talking about her? But she’s always been watching her, Nana’s been protecting her like everyone else. It’s hard to think when arrow after arrow shoot past her, just barely missing as Nana uses the mannequins as cover. But the higher they go, the fewer mannequins there are. Her shots become more precise, and Nana can do nothing but watch her rise higher and higher up the tower.
“I’m not bright enough. I can’t rise above the crowd like this. Even if the stars burn my wings, you will see my brilliance!” Junna holds a circle of arrows in her hand, firing away at Nana as the few mannequins blocking her fall down one by one. “Forget the stage and look at me!”
Finally, the end of the tower is in sight as Junna jumps off her hoop on the end of the ramp, firing one arrow that knocks down the final mannequin as Nana passes by it. She disappears onto the stage of the tower, standing on the other end as Nana arrives. They stand alone on the stage, only accompanied by two mannequins. One, next to Nana, the same ribbons as her attached to its head. Another, next to Junna, wearing a broken pair of her glasses.
“Junna.” Nana tries to find the words to bring her friend back. “I’ll always look at it. All of us will. We’re-”
An arrow strikes the head of her mannequin, knocking it over. “Don’t say it.” Junna readies another arrow. “I can’t just be another star in your eyes. Not another quote, not another act left to history, not another friend for you to look after. I need to reach higher, higher than this stage, higher than this performance.”
“For me?” Why her specifically? And why can’t she be another-
It clicks. The difference that changed Junna in this performance, what changed her goal so drastically. And it was all because of her. All she wants to do is to protect her precious memories, and yet she ended up hurting one of her dearest. If that’s so, whether it’s her Junna or not, she understands.
“If you won’t stop rising…” Nana’s arms sway to her side, gripping her swords. “I’ll just have to cut you down!”
She swiped away Junna’s arrow with ease, her swords clashing against the other’s bow. Nana stares at Junna, not as a friend, but now as an obstacle in her way. An obstacle keeping her from protecting her. Junna’s arms shake as Nana easily overpowers her.
“I’ll stop your pain. You don’t have to worry. All of it will be gone once I win,” Nana says. “That’s how it’ll always be, forever. Any pain you feel, any sorrow in your heart, I’ll make it go away.”
But how can she stop her pain? If the cause of it is Nana, how is she supposed to prevent it? And why is part of her holding back?
With Nana’s hesitation, Junna pushes away the blades, slipping back to ready another arrow. “That’s not enough. I won’t accept anything less than a genuine answer. Look and tell me. Will you watch me, even when my star dims? Will you watch me above the rest?”
She doesn’t know. How is she supposed to answer when all of this will reset? She has to answer her, but how does she say it? She’s spent so many years experiencing these memories. How does she put all the feelings into words?
“I can’t say it. If I answer-”
Junna tosses the arrow to the ground, holding her bow out. “Why not? The stage won’t last forever, but if you won’t answer, then this performance is over.”
Junna charges at Nana with her bow. Nana can’t lose, she can’t let her stage end here, not with Junna like this. Even if it all resets, she must give Junna an answer, and treasure this memory like all the rest. Nana dodges the swing of Junna’s bow, pressing her wakizashi against the cord of her jacket as she pins Junna to the ground.
“If I answer, you’ll fall.” Nana says. “Why does your star have to fade? Why won’t you keep reaching for your own sake? Is this really all of this for my attention?”
“If you pluck a small star, you will obtain a small amount of happiness. If you pluck a large star, you will obtain a large wealth. If you pluck both of them, you will obtain an eternal wish.” Junna quotes.
“You’re quoting Starlight?” Nana says.
“I don’t care if the stars blind me. If it means you’ll always look at me, I’ll sacrifice it all.” Junna says.
Nana wants to cut the cord, but her hand won’t stop shaking. She doesn’t have to give an answer. She can just end it now. It’ll all reset. She doesn’t have to say anything.
“Who could refrain, that had a heart to love, and in that heart courage to make love known?” Junna quotes.
“William…Shakespeare?” Nana’s eyes widen upon hearing it, despite all that had changed, it was still her. “I can’t.” But she can’t deny Junna’s request. “Even when it starts over, I’ll remember. I’ll always see your brilliance, every time.”
She cuts the cord, letting the curtain fall over a content Junna. Nana waits in silence. It was over. She gave her answer. She waits for the giraffe to give her stage of destiny. And like all the times before, she’ll hold on to these memories. She’ll continue creating dazzling memories with her friends. It didn’t matter if none of them knew, as long as she remembered. So why…?
“Are you crying, Banana?”