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The hustle and bustle of Phoenix Wonderland was always a pleasure to Minori’s ears, no matter how many times she had visited the park with her friend Kohane. In fact, she was here today on Kohane’s fervent recommendation. There was supposed to be a surprise today.
Going alone was out of the question, so Minori turned to her ever reliable fellow hobbyists online! When Minori brought back up the idea of finally going to an amusement park in the group chat, Honami proposed the group all go to Phoenix Wonderland in the afternoon.
One of those friends, Mizuki, loved the idea of running off to an amusement park on the weekend so much that she ended up convincing the most introverted of the hobbyists, Nene, to begrudgingly tag along.
Now that they were at the park, Minori’s curiosity was starting to nag at her like an itch too far to scratch. What was the “surprise” Kohane had been excitedly texting about on repeat?
“Woah,” Mizuki exclaimed, excitedly pointing at something to her side. “Look at all those people over there!”
Minori turned to see what Mizuki was pointing at. There was a crowd of excited park visitors gathered around a shining stage off in the distance.
“Is that a stage? I wonder what they’re watching over there...” Honami said, squinting to get a better view of the stage.
The mere mention of a stage immediately grabbed Nene’s attention. She quietly hovered from the back of their group to the front, almost as if being pulled to the stage by gravity.
Was whatever waited on the stage Kohane’s secret surprise? Everyone seemed to be interested enough to check it out.
“Let’s go find out!” Minori hollered, leading the way!
They filtered through the crowd of people near the entrance to enter the stage seating. Whatever show was set to start hadn’t yet started. There was ample seating for the four hobbyists. In fact, the few people who were actually seated seemed to be getting up to leave instead.
Minori groaned. Just her luck! Whatever was set to be on the stage was probably already over! That must have been why there was a crowd outside, everyone had just finished watching the show!
Her friends were sharing confused glances from their seats, too. They had picked up on the emptiness of the stands. When Minori’s eyes met Honami’s, she collapsed into her hands.
“Uuuuu... sorry everyone,” Minori moaned. “My bad luck is leaking into our trip...”
“I don’t think it was bad luck, Minori. None of us saw a schedule board on the way here,” Honami said.
Mizuki and Nene nodded along in agreement. There really wasn’t any big board signaling when the next showing was going to be, at least not in clear sight near the entrance. If there was one, it was too small, probably hiding behind the crowded hallways of the exit.
A brushing sound from lower down in the stands caught Mizuki’s attention. There was a worker further down the stands sweeping up a spill of popcorn.
“Excuse me,” Mizuki called out to the worker. He turned his head to the four girls in their seat, still listlessly sweeping away at the floor.
“Yes?”
“Do you know when the next showing is?” Mizuki asked.
The worker returned his gaze back to the floor as if he had lost interest in the conversation. “It’ll be in ten or so minutes.” He mumbled just loud enough for everyone to barely hear.
“Ah, thank you, sir!” Mizuki said, beaming.
Honami covered up a light smile as Nene failed to conceal a sigh. Neither said a word, they let their body language communicate their thought on the rather rude response.
The words, as rudely as they might have been delivered, had rekindled Minori’s morale. Was the surprise Kohane had been talking about not a one time thing? Was this even the surprise, or was she way off base with her guess it was a show?
There was only one way to find out, and that was to wait and see what the stage had in store. If this wasn’t “the surprise”, there was still plenty of time left in the day to check everywhere in the park!
The ten minutes of waiting seemed to pass by in no time as the hobbyists went back and forth between each other talking about their favorite pastimes. The stands went from sparsely seated to packed in those quick ten minutes.
Sure enough, as soon as ten minutes had passed, the stage lights popped open. The lights flared about dramatically in various colors along to swelling music until they joined together in the center of the stage to brightly spotlight the auburn curtains.
“It’s starting,” Nene said, her passion leaking.
A drumroll signaled the start of the show as the curtains slowly peeled open. With the crash of a cymbal a joyful girl came bouncing out of the curtains covered from head to toe in pink.
“I’m Sunny Sunny Happy Emu! Here to put smiles on your face today!” The girl announced to the crowd, her face beaming from ear to ear. Both of her hands waved enthusiastically as she ran from one side of the stage to the other.
Another crash of a cymbal brought Minori’s eyes back to center stage as the next girl, this time clad in an elegant, purple dress, entered center stage. Unlike her companion, she did not energetically jump through the curtains with an introduction. Instead, her gait was elegant as she sauntered along the same path her show partner had taken.
As she took her position next to Sunny Sunny Happy Emu, she made her introduction, “I’m Goodness Smile Mafuyu! The unshakable senior who is always sparkling!”
The circuits in Minori’s brain finally sparked as Mafuyu sent a gentle smile and wave out to the clapping crowd. When Emu briefly shifted her posture away from her stage partner’s smile, Minori knew she wasn’t just imagining things. Emu? Mafuyu? These people on the stage were actually people she knew from her school!
But the show left no time for Minori to process this revelation as a bang of cymbals announced the next stage entrance. Any thoughts tumbling through her head were immediately wiped as soon as she recognized who it was walking through the curtains next.
“I’m Stoic Challenger Haruka! You can’t become an idol in just a day!”
It was Haruka.
All eyes were glued to the stage as the stoic challenger made her rounds. The former idol glowed comfortably, as if the spotlight were her natural habitat. Golden accents trimmed into her attire gently glimmered in the light, adding to her natural idol aura.
One set of starstruck eyes in particular stretched forward to get a closer look. Already standing in her seat for a better view, Minori was eager to see the entire show now.
There were questions on the edge of her mind about why Haruka was here performing after her retirement, especially in a place like Phoenix Wonderland, but none of that mattered right now. Minori had all but given up on seeing Haruka perform again since her idol had announced her departure, only finding small comfort in the occasional sight of her in passing at school.
Seeing her perform again out of nowhere? It was almost like a dream.
Was it a dream? As was tradition, Minori quickly pinched at her cheek to check. A sharp, but expected, pain told her this was real. Haruka was really here, performing again. She wanted to scream!
Haruka finished making her rounds, positioning herself next to her fellow performers. The crowd erupted into applause as she sent out a final wink with a smile-- directly at the only person standing in the audience!
The heat came to Minori’s cheeks in an instance. Sparkling stars shimmered, searing into the edges of her vision. The burst of energy that had catapulted her legs up at the sight of Haruka now collapsed inward. With nothing more to hold up her legs, Minori crashed back into her seat to the sound of the fourth and final cymbals.
Through the curtains came the fourth member of the show. With a cheerful wave to the crowd, she followed the same path as the three before her. She stationed herself next to the others and struck her intro pose.
“I'm Makeover Beast Kohane! Behold my indomitable hammie spirit!” she said, curling her hands into makeshift claws.
Briefly breaking away from her stage persona, Kohane waved to Minori. Her friend was looking in her direction, but Minori wasn’t seeing her. Her eyes were on the stage, but her head was already in the clouds.
Minori woke up as a spotlight blast onto her from above. The last thing she remembered was being whisked away from the crowd by a masked stranger clad in dark when the stage performers asked for a volunteer.
As her eyes adjusted to the bright lights, she realized she was on the very same stage in front of everyone! Honami, Nene and Mizuki were all waving to her from the crowd. This must’ve been part of the act she volunteered for.
Suddenly filled with stage fright, Minori tried to nervously wave back to everyone, only to realize her arms weren’t budging. She looked down to see her arms had been tied behind a pillar.
“It’s no use. No one will come to save you,” said an unfamiliar voice from behind the pillar.
The voice filled Minori with a sense of dread for some reason, but she knew deep down this was all a part of the act. There were no clear instructions on how she was supposed to act in the play, but she figured she should do her best to play along without a script.
“That’s not true! Haruka will come and stop you!” Minori shouted back the first response that came to her mind.
Her captor let out a haunting laugh. “You think that fool will be able to do anything? It would be impossible to find this place! It’s been cloaked by my own special shroud of darkness. She wouldn’t even be able to see where to start looking.”
Wouldn’t be able to see? Then maybe she could hear where to start looking...
“Harukaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Save meeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Minori shouted to the skies. The crowd erupted along with her, adding to the noise.
As if the words alone had summoned her, Haruka herself answered the call, flying down from the skies. With a fantastical pose, she landed in the middle of the stage. “Unhand her, you evildoer! Stoic Challenger Haruka is here to put an end to your reign of terror!”
“Impossible! How did you...”
“I can hear the cries of my fans calling to me from anywhere! You can’t hide them from me!” Haruka smiled confidently as the crowd erupted. “It’s no use, Darkness Smile Mafuyu! The other Happiness Rangers are already on the way!”
“Urgh, you win this time, Stoic Challenger Haruka...”
A whisp of black smoke billowed out from the pillar the voice had been hiding behind. Minori could only assume that meant Darkness Smile Mafuyu had retreated.
“Are you okay?” Haruka looked towards Minori with a relived smile.
“Y-Yes! Thank you for saving me!” Minori said, looking away. It may have just been a play, but this was the first time Haruka had ever spoken to her directly...
“Come, lets take you somewhere safe. The others will track down that villain.”
Haruka moved to untie the rope holding Minori’s hands hands. When Haruka’s hands touched her own, she was certain the crowd could see her reddened face, but a slight glaze of hands together was nothing compared to what happened next.
Because the moment Haruka lifted Minori up into a princess carry, everything went dark for a moment as Minori’s brain short-circuited. Next thing she knew, she woke up in a field of flowers next to Haruka.
“Ah, you’re finally awake. Are you okay?” Haruka said from beside her.
Minori didn’t dare speak. The patternless array of colors scattered along the floor as flowers matched to her mental state as she wasn’t sure she would even be able to conjure up words she wouldn’t regret. A nod was all she could manage.
Haruka extended her hand out to Minori. “Come, take my hand. It’s only a short way back to the city.”
Without a second thought, Minori grabbed the outstretched hand and heft herself up from the flowerbed she had been laying on. She still couldn’t believe she was so close to her idol, even holding her hand, but she was going to enjoy every second of it.
She didn’t let go of Haruka’s hand as they silently made their way back to the city through the beautiful field of flowers. Haruka was so close to her and she was so beautiful with the backdrop of flowers... If this was all just one of her dreams, she didn’t want to wake up from it.
Then, a voice, seemingly out of nowhere, broke the silence between the two, “...can you hear me? Snap out of it!”
Minori curiously glanced from side to side, looking for the source of the voice. It sounded like... Nene? How? Nene wasn’t even here?
“Oh, it's probably because she's such a big Haruka Kiritani fan! Seeing her in person might've been too much to handle!“
Another voice! This time it was Mizuki’s. Even after looking around, Minori still couldn’t see the sources of the voices. Where were these voices coming from?
“Wh-What do we do?! Please, Minori, wake up!” Honami?
A sudden shake of motion shocked Minori out of her stupor, field of flowers dissipated into a distant dream. She blinked twice, then rubbed her eyes. The harsh lights of the Phoenix Wonderland stage were such a sudden change from the gentle scenery she had been blessed by only seconds before.
“Huh?! A-Am I back in PXL? I could've sworn I was walking through a beautiful field of flowers just now...” Minori mumbled.
“Phew,” Mizuki breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness you're back...”
All of the hobbyists exchanged smiles as they followed the crowd out the stage exit. Loud chatter about the show filled the narrow hallways until they made their way out to the open park grounds.
As soon as she got out of the crowd, Minori slumped down on the nearest bench. For whatever reason, she felt oddly tired, even though they’d only just arrived at the amusement park an hour ago. No one else sat.
“Hey, why don't we stop by somewhere for a quick break? We can sit and talk more about the show we just saw.” Nene suggested.
Minori teetered up from her temporary seat. “I'd like that too. I'm not sure I'm fully back down on Earth yet...“
Mizuki laughed. “To be fair, you did sort of just take the full might of your hero's aura.”
“Let's see...” Honami said, looking around. “Oh, how about Phenny's Restaurant over there? I remember hearing that it's supposed to be wall-to-wall Phenny decorations inside.”
“Oh, I was just thinking that we should check it out too! Alright, everyone, let's go!♪” Mizuki shouted enthusiastically, as she lead the charge to Phenny’s Restaurant.