“Let's go grab some food,” Lightweaver said, standing up and reaching out a hand to Kizuna.
Kizuna blinked in surprise, looking up at her.
From Kizuna's perspective, the gym's ceiling lights shone from behind Lightweaver, casting a soft, golden halo around her silhouette.
Lightweaver remained in that position, her hand outstretched, her fingers looking long and slender.
“Your sister should come too. Since she's wearing a mask and a hat anyway, no one will recognize her.”
“But—” Kizuna instinctively glanced back at the row behind them. Yuzuki was looking down at her phone, the cold glow of the screen reflecting in the only eye she had exposed. She showed absolutely no intention of getting up, her fingers leisurely scrolling across the screen.
“The other three from Wings of Freedom have only eaten two energy bars since this morning, and I'm hungry too.”
Lightweaver's tone was still devoid of warmth, but she added, “And you didn't really eat anything last night, did you?”
Kizuna opened her mouth to ask how she knew, but Lightweaver had already pulled her hand back and turned to walk toward Misa Tachibana's wheelchair.
Qiluo Tian Gong obviously knew. Star-trail had seen everything perfectly clear yesterday—this dummy had miserably complained to her sister that she had eaten too many snacks, making her stomach feel painfully bloated, so she hadn't touched a single bite of dinner.
Kizuna slumping over the table, her face pressed against the cold surface, sighing at a plate of curry rice—it was an image that Qiluo had found both hilarious and pitiful.
Kizuna jogged to catch up, but halfway there, she doubled back and grabbed her sister, who was still pretending to look at her phone.
“Let's go, let's go! Lightweaver invited us. It would be way too rude not to go!”
Kizuna tugged on Yuzuki's sleeve to pull her up from her seat, lowering her voice as she added, “Besides, with you dressed like this, Sis, no one will recognize you. You won't get exposed.”
“When have I ever been exposed?” Yuzuki let her sister drag her by the sleeve down the steps. “You're always the one who gets nervous first, acting like you want to announce it to the whole world with a megaphone. That's what actually gets me exposed.”
Kizuna turned back to make a face at her sister, but she didn't let go of her sleeve for a second.
The corridor of the backstage breakroom was long, with fluorescent light tubes lined up on the ceiling, emitting a steady, low hum.
Occasionally, half a line of an out-of-tune song would drift through the crack of a breakroom door.
The door to the Wings of Freedom breakroom wasn't fully closed, and muffled beat-counting could be heard from inside.
Someone was mimicking a metronome with their mouth, their voice muffled by whatever they were chewing on.
Kohinata was sitting cross-legged on the floor with an energy bar hanging from her mouth. Her eyes were closed as she nodded her head to the beat, mumbling, “Three, four... okay, enter the chorus here...”
Lightweaver pushed the breakroom door open and leaned against the frame. “Time to eat. You're going on stage this afternoon; you can't perform on an empty stomach.”
Kohinata snapped her eyes open and yanked the energy bar from her mouth.
“Food! Food! I want fried noodles! And takoyaki!”
Misa Tachibana watched her bounce around from her wheelchair, shaking her head in resignation.
“Anything works. Pick whatever you like.” Lightweaver stepped aside to clear the doorway. Kizuna poked half her head out from behind her, still clutching her sister's sleeve, and waved to the people in the breakroom.
She looked like a cat tentatively reaching out a paw.
“This is Seina.” Lightweaver took half a step to the side, gesturing toward Kizuna with her chin. “You met her on the mountaintop yesterday. We're eating together today.”
Then she tilted her head slightly, her gaze sweeping toward the back.
“The one behind her is her older sister.”
“Seina!” Kohinata was the first to react, scrambling up from the floor and rushing over to Kizuna. “Your arrow rain yesterday was so cool! When that light split, it poured down like a waterfall. It was breathtaking!”
Kizuna leaned back slightly from the praise, her ears turning red at a visible speed. “N-No, not really... It was because everyone worked together so well. I was only in charge of long-range suppression.”
“Long-range suppression is super important too! If you hadn't blocked off the right side, the underground core would've escaped long ago.”
Kohinata grabbed Kizuna's hands and shook them up and down. “And how did you do that split arrow thing? Can you teach me?”
Lightweaver stepped completely out of the doorway.
Amamiya leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, her eyes locked onto Yuzuki Asakura in the back.
Seina's older sister... In other words, this is Meruru?!
Night Sakura had been squatting on the floor labeling audio cables. She glanced up, looked back down to continue, and then suddenly snapped her head back up.
Night Sakura stood up and walked over to Amamiya, her lips barely moving as she squeezed the words out of her mouth.
“Are you sure?” Night Sakura whispered.
“Positive.”
Night Sakura took a deep breath, shoved the video camera into Amamiya's hands, and marched over to Yuzuki. She stood straight, folded her hands in front of her, and bowed solemnly.
“I'm Night Sakura from Wings of Freedom. I'm a huge fan of Meruru, and I've been following you since your very first single!”
Yuzuki pulled her mask down slightly and reached out her hand. “Thank you for your continuous support. And thank you all for fighting alongside the Association on the mountaintop yesterday. Wings of Freedom is incredibly capable.”
Night Sakura stared at the hand, her mind racing.
Meruru is shaking my hand. Meruru is praising our strength.
The handshake lasted only a few seconds. Night Sakura felt like she hadn't even had time to memorize every single detail, but it was already enough for her to savor for years to come.
She let go of her hand and took two steps back.
Her steps were a bit floaty, and her heel almost stepped on an audio cable on the floor. Amamiya calmly kicked the cable out of the way.
Retreating to Amamiya's side, she whispered, “Did you record it?”
“I did,” Amamiya said expressionlessly, tapping the camera. “From the bow to the handshake. The whole thing.”
“What's what? What are you guys talking about?” Kohinata poked her head over from beside Kizuna.
“Seina's older sister...” She tilted her head as she repeated the words, the energy bar slowly sliding from her mouth.
Finally, pointing one finger at Yuzuki and the other at Night Sakura, her mouth opened and closed. It took her a long moment before she managed to blurt out, “Meruru?!”
Yuzuki pressed a finger gently against her lips and winked at her. “Can you keep my secret for today?”
Kohinata slapped her free hand over her mouth, nodding frantically. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she spun around and grabbed Amamiya's sleeve, hissing in a whisper, “You knew all along, didn't you?! Why didn't you tell me?!”
“We only confirmed it a few seconds ago ourselves,” Amamiya calmly pried Kohinata's hand off her sleeve.
Kohinata turned to Night Sakura, only to find her cradling the camera and staring at the footage with absolutely no intention of explaining. Left with no other choice, she turned her sights back to Lightweaver.
Rate on N.U.
