Work Text:
“Mizuki, I finished the illustration.”
<Ah, okay! I’ll take a look at it tomorrow. I’m tired for today already…>
“Really? We barely started.”
Despite both Kanade and Mafuyu being offline already, Ena and Mizuki were still in the N25 voicechat, working at their respective tasks. Ena had just finished an illustration that Mizuki had asked her to do.
<Yeah, I had to finish a bunch of homework! That’s what I get for skipping school so much, hehe…>
“Yeah, yeah. Good night, Mizuki.”
<Good night, Ena!> Following Mizuki’s goodbye, a sound effect representing her disconnecting from the call resonated in Ena’s ears.
“I suppose I should go to sleep as well. I’ll work on my art assignment tomorrow.” Deciding to call it a night, Ena logged off of Nightcord, turned off her computer, and jumped onto her bed while in her pajamas.
Let’s see what’s happening online…
Having deleted her previous photo account, Ena scrolled through the feed of her art account, which was still active.
Hmm, there isn’t anything interesting… I have been getting more views on my art lately, though.
“Might as well go to sleep,” she declared to herself, turning off her phone and closing her eyes to sleep as the soft light of the moon shone through her window.
* * *
“Eh? Where am I?”
Looking around, she saw that campsite that she remembered so fondly. The brown and orange leaves on the trees that surrounded her, accompanied by a vast field of green grass, the tall mountains in the horizon seemingly so small and far.
But something felt off. It was a weird feeling—the feeling that something was terribly wrong.
“The colours… They’re wrong, somehow.”
Listening to that voice, Ena jumped and stepped away from it. Looking back, she saw…
“Wait… Who are you!?”
…herself, but in the past.
“That’s what I wanted to ask!” Ena shouted back, albeit not as loud. After all, she instinctively thought she was dealing with someone younger.
“You’re… me? Wait, how?” The younger Ena looked around, absolutely flabbergasted at the situation. “Why are we even here? I hate this place!”
Ah…
Realising the situation, Ena immediately knew: she was talking with her pre-N25 self.
So that’s what it is.
For some reason, a smile formed on Ena’s expression. Perhaps it was because she was glad that she had found her passion for art. Or perhaps it was because she was happy to have met Kanade, Mafuyu, and Mizuki. Or, maybe, she was glad that she didn’t quit.
Nonetheless, she wished for her younger self to feel the same.
“Come on, you know that you don’t,” she tried to comfort her younger counterpart. “This is the place where you found out what art really is.”
“Even you…” Her younger self took a step back, looking as if even God himself betrayed her. “Why… Why doesn’t anyone understand me!?”
Droplets fell onto the grass, tears flowing endlessly from her eyes. Looking at this scene, Ena could not feel but sympathise with her younger counterpart.
However, even though she was crying, young Ena kept shouting. “My dad always puts me down, my art is a complete mess, and no one even cares!” Her hands remained near her eyes, trying to erase her tears from existence. “I’m so tired of this!!”
“I know.” Trying once again, Ena patted her head gently. “I know how hard you’ve been trying.”
“Then why… Why doesn’t it work? Why doesn’t anything go my way? Why…”
“You don’t have to worry about the why,” Ena replied, her eyes locked with her younger self’s. “You just need to trust that it will.”
“How… How can you be so sure? Please, tell me: is the future really worth it?”
That question made Ena freeze for a moment. She looked back in time: was it really worth it?
I met the rest thanks to my art, which I made on the spur of the moment… Perhaps I should thank Kanade’s song instead, but… Nonetheless, she saved me. Being with N25 saved me. They stayed beside me, helped me, were my dear friends, supported me and recognised me for who I really was.
“It was worth it,” Ena said, with full confidence in her statement. “You may not think so now; after all, it was quite a hard time for me,” she continued, looking at the landscape as she did. “But, not everything is bad.”
“How…?”
“Someday, you’ll listen to a song that you will relate to. This song will make you feel things that you never have. It will resonate within you for the rest of your life.”
Looking at the trees, Ena finally noticed what her younger self had said. The colours are actually wrong.
“Thanks to this song,” she said as she locked eyes with young Ena again, “you will find people who will support you, who acknowledge you, people who will help you get up when you’re low, and people who you care so much about that you’ll run three kilometres to reach them.”
“Three kilometres!?” In the middle of her tears, young Ena made a surprised expression. “I don’t think I’d run that far for someone…”
“That’s what you think right now. After all, you think you have nothing and no one. But please, trust me…” A smile returned to Ena’s face, as her mind filled up with the memories of the present. “It will get better. You will be seen. And there are people willing to stand and stay beside you.”
Just at the last moment before Ena lost consciousness inside this ‘dream’, she finally saw a gentle and subtle smile reach her younger self’s face.
* * *
The soft, warm light of the Sun shone through her bedroom window, the birds chirping in the background.
Being awakened by the sunlight on her face, Ena stirred around on her bed, before eventually opening her eyes and returning to the real world.
Was I talking with someone?
As she looked around the room, which seemed as normal as it could be, she felt this weird, fuzzy feeling inside her. However, even though it was weird, it felt warm. It felt… comforting.
Checking her phone again, she saw various messages from Mizuki, which detailed her opinion on the illustration she made last night. Really, the angle of the line…?
“Alright, time to get up!” She suddenly yelled out, jumping out of the bed as she did. Unfortunately for her, Akito was just in the hallway, and had heard that cheerful yell.
“Oi, Ena, keep it down, will’ya?” A voice sounded through her door.
“Shut up!”