"Ryougi-san, we should probably get going soon, shouldn't we? You're going to be on stage for Tenou Festival, which starts at noon!"
After finishing up the dishes from the custors, Saoto Natsutake turned around and said to Yutsuki.
"Mm… right. In a few minutes, I'll head over to the central venue."
Moving the spatula in her hand, Yutsuki wiped the sweat from her brow and glanced up at the clock on the wall.
—11:23. There should be about half an hour left until the opening.
"But, Ryougi-san… you haven't rested at all since the morning shift. Are you sure you're okay?"
Not only Natsutake, but all the students present were looking at Yutsuki with concern. Thanks to Yutsuki's highly efficient work in the kitchen, the number of custors that morning had far exceeded expectations, but by the sa token, Yutsuki herself had barely had any proper rest since morning. Whether she could still stay ntally sharp for her performance was a real concern.
So people had suggested that Yutsuki take a break halfway through, but she had politely declined every ti.
After all, in a duel with Izayoi Miku, this part was also a major key to deciding victory or defeat. The chances of beating Miku in the stage performance itself were low. Yutsuki needed to gain an advantage sowhere else.
Then, almost unconsciously, her gaze shifted to the side—and there, where they absolutely should not have been at this ti, were three figures slowly walking toward the shop.
"Ahh, we're really sorry we ran off earlier and didn't co to work…"
"To make up for it, we're here this afternoon to help out at the store."
"That's la~"
Those three were none other than the trio Ai, Mai, and Mii.
"Hm? Weren't you girls supposed to go perform with Shiori and the others this afternoon?"
Natsutake tilted her head, looking thoroughly confused.
"Oh, we gave up participating in the competition."
"Because Miku-onee-sama told us not to participate."
"That's la~"
"Ha…?"
Natsutake let out a question she could not understand, and that was understandable. After all, the three of them had spent quite a lot of ti practicing for this performance. For them to suddenly give it up just because of so strange reason from a popular idol would leave anyone puzzled.
"Hmph… so you're going to use that move after all, Izayoi Miku."
After letting out a soft tired sigh, Yutsuki alone wore an expression that said, "Just as I thought," and narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Well, in that case, you girls should help out properly! I'm going to head to the venue soon."
"Oh, don't worry—leave the store to us, Yutsuki-chan!"
"Do your best and don't lose!"
"Honestly, what a pain."
So Miku's order had only been to make them give up their performance.
"Um… Ryougi-san? Are you okay?"
"Thanks for your concern, Princess Bamboo~ But don't worry. I feel completely fine."
After finishing the last dish in her hands, Yutsuki untied her apron and answered with a relaxed smile.
"Rather than that… in every sense, I'm in absolutely peak condition right now!"
"Really, are you sure? And I am…"
Natsutake had still been sowhat worried, but when she saw Yutsuki's expression, the words she was about to say stopped on their own.
—She was smiling. A smile filled with everything, as though everything in the world had been light up, as though everything had been set a blaze, a bright, excitable smile as if she could vent all her fighting spirit at once.
It was as though the work from morning until now had only been a simple warm-up exercise.
————————————————————————————————————
At this point, Shido's side truly could not have been in a worse situation.
Origami had gone missing since the morning for reasons unknown, and Ai, Mai, and Mii had also not shown up. After calling them to confirm, it turned out they had all been ensnared by Miku's "voice."
"We ssed up… so Miku actually used her powers on them."
Even Yutsuki, as a Spirit, and Shido, who was protected by the power of multiple Spirits, had been affected by Miku's "voice." If Miku spoke directly to them at close range, ordinary humans simply would not be able to resist.
Shido clenched his teeth, tightening his grip on his phone more and more.
"Shido, are you okay…?"
Beside him, Tohka—holding a tambourine—asked with so unease.
There was no problem. He knew exactly what he should say. But the instant he tried to say it, it felt as if his throat had been grabbed tight and he was left speechless.
They were standing in the perforrs' waiting room, and beside them were electronic keyboards and drum sets brought over from Raizen High School. But at this point, aside from Shido and Tohka, four out of the six band mbers—the bassist, keyboardist, drumr, and vocalist—were absent. With only a guitarist and a tambourine player, there was no way they could perform.
"Kuh… what the heck are we supposed to do now…"
"Hm-hm—"
Just as Shido was furiously scratching at his hair and groaning in frustration, a cheerful laugh ca from the front.
Before he knew it, Miku had appeared in her performance outfit, smiling radiantly before him. The outfit, designed with a rmaid princess as inspiration, made one think of the ocean, with a long flowing dress and adorable shell-shaped ornants carefully decorating it.
"What's wrong~? That rare and adorable expression of yours is being ruined, you know~?"
"Miku, you…!"
He wanted to snap back, but in the end, he suppressed his anger.
Because getting angry would not change anything. Even if he wanted to denounce Miku's behavior, there was no way he could explain to anyone else that she possessed the "voice" with spiritual power.
Miku clearly understood that. After letting a delighted smile appear on her face, she tilted her head as though curious and looked around.
"Hmm? Is Yutsuki-san not here yet?"
"…She's on her way right now. She'll arrive before the performance starts."
Learning from Yutsuki, Shido took a deep breath and dispersed the anger building in his chest before answering in a cold voice.
"Ahh~ what a pity! I hope she makes it in ti to watch my concert!"
A slight trace of concern appeared on Miku's face, but it was clear she did not place Yutsuki's performance in any importance at all. After all, if both were solo performances, Izayoi Miku held overwhelming advantages in popularity and experience.
"Well then, please enjoy my performance~"
Having said that, she left.
Shido stared at the direction Miku had gone, tightened his fists, and then slowly relaxed them. Leaning against the wall, he put on a thinking expression and reported the current situation to the other end of the earpiece.
"So that's how it is… so Miku did pull a stunt like that."
Kotori let out a breath in response. It was not hard to imagine the helpless shrug on her face at the other end.
"We only have two hours until our performance. What should we do?"
"Mm… if we rely only on Yutsuki-nee's solo act, it'll be too risky to beat Miku. I already talked it over with Yutsuki-nee. As for the instruntal part, I'll send reinforcents over. For the personnel list, I'll have our people hidden inside the managent side take care of it."
"But the vocalist side…"
"Mm… there is a way to solve that… I think…"
"'You think'?"
At Kotori's uncertain tone at the end, Shido could not help asking.
"Shut it! How would I know what Yutsuki-nee said on the way here?"
"Yutsuki? Does she have any idea?"
"I don't know. We didn't get to talk much because she's on the way here. If it really cos to it, I'll have soone secretly play a prerecorded vocals track. Stop worrying so much, you idiot Shido."
"Got it…"
Silently expressing his gratitude toward his little sister—who had arranged everything—Shido let out a soft breath.
"But since she dared to pull this on , now that she's got this plan, I've got my own ideas too."
Kotori's voice carried sothing dangerous when she finished giving instructions, causing cold sweat to form on Shido's forehead.
Clearly, after being ambushed in the dark by the enemy, Kotori had no intention of just swallowing the loss and remaining silent.
"D-Don't go too far with it…"
After giving that simple warning, Shido, urged on by Tohka, headed to watch Miku's performance with the intention of learning the opponent's strength first.
He climbed up the dim stairway and reached a narrow passage installed along the wall near the ceiling above the central stage.
Inside, not only staff mbers, but other perforrs were also mixed together.
"Well then, let's watch from here…"
"Umu, this is a premium seat!"
Tohka's innocent eyes sparkled with excitent. But… our performance can't lose to the other side. Did Tohka really realize that point?
At that mont, on the stage which had previously been dark, blue spotlights suddenly snapped on from multiple directions and shone down on the center of the stage.
Then Miku appeared, and through the microphone, her quiet song spread across the entire venue.
"Incredible…"
As much as he did not want to admit it, Shido had to admit that he had beco completely suck in.
Even though he had never had much interest in idols, Shido's consciousness was stolen away in an instant. Miku's performance was just that overwhelmingly beautiful.
As the song beca more cheerful, the lights gradually brightened, and Miku increased the scale of her movents. The entire venue's excitent rose along with them.
Costus, dance, backup perforrs, the stage, and the audience waving glowsticks and shouting loud cheers—everything fit together perfectly, creating a flawless space.
Now he could understand those audience mbers who collapsed midway through concerts. The people in the venue were, in the literal sense, going wild and feverish because of Miku's singing.
But then—
"…!?"
The mont the atmosphere at the venue reached its peak, Shido could not help frowning.
No—everyone in the audience made the sa expression.
Because just as the song was about to enter its second climax, all the lights suddenly went out at once. The entire stage was plunged into darkness.
Not only that, but the music that had been playing from the giant speakers cut off at the sa ti the lights went out.
Seeing the entire venue thrown into confusion by the sudden accident, Shido seed to understand sothing and asked Kotori on the other side of the earpiece.
"Could it be…?"
"Correct!"
Before Shido could even finish asking, Kotori answered.
"I tampered a little with the venue's equipnt. Well, once the atmosphere cools off, they can just restart it. And then, when it builds back up again, just shut the equipnt down again~"
Shido had to admit that the plan his sister ca up with was pretty underhanded. No matter how wonderful a performance might be, after several consecutive interruptions it would lose its freshness. By then, even the most obsessed brain-dead fans in the audience would not be able to maintain such high excitent.
However—
"—Shaddai El Chai!"
As though mocking Kotori's plan, a blurred light flashed across the stage, and a pleasant whisper drew everyone's attention in the silence and darkness.
On Miku's body appeared a luminous dance dress.
A top that perfectly outlined her body curves. Puffy sleeves. Light ribbons wrapping those forms. Then—an ornate skirt built from overlapping layers of luminous frills.
After all of it appeared, the moon-and-star ornant in Miku's hair flashed brilliantly.
"She's… manifesting her Astral Dress…!? In a place like this?!"
Kotori's shout stabbed into Shido's right ear.
That's right. What Miku was now wearing was exactly the sa as the Spirit's strongest defensive armor—her Astral Dress—what Shido had seen in the empty grand theater few days ago.
And then? And then there was nothing more.
Astral Dress was the armor Spirits wore when facing enemies, but the audience obviously had no way of knowing that. They would probably interpret this bizarre sight as a surprise segnt arranged with advanced technology, and the wave of cheers only grew louder.
"—Everyone, get even more excited—because the real performance starts now."
Kotori's obstacle had been overco by Miku with unimaginable flexibility and turned into an added garnish.
Even though all the performance equipnt had stopped working, Miku's singing voice was transmitted across the entire venue even more clearly than before.
At this point, no one in the venue would believe the earlier incident had been an accident. Everything had been designed to highlight Miku's voice.
—Instruntation! —Singing! —Dance!
Miku's presence swallowed the entire venue. It was as if she were proclaiming to everyone that she was the perfect, overwhelming "idol."
"Mmm, she's really amazing!"
Tohka looked at the performance and gave her honest impression without the slightest hesitation.
"We can't win…"
The words ca out of Shido's mouth in a dispirited voice so shaky that he could hardly believe it himself.
And yet, watching the crowd continue cheering even after Miku left the stage when the performance ended, Shido could not suppress the loss of confidence in his own voice.
At first, Shido had thought Yutsuki's performance did not have much chance of winning, but at least there had been a possibility. At this point, even that sliver of confidence had disappeared.
"You jerk, don't start thinking I'm going to lose!"
—Plap!
Sothing that looked like a paper tag struck his head. It did not hurt much because of the material, but the loud impact still made Shido's ears ring.
"Kuku, you're making quite the gloomy face. Like you've been haunted by a ghost gripping your ankle."
"Defeat. You don't have any presence at all like this. You've already lost before the competition even started."
Looking up, Shido found Yamai Kaguya and Yamai Yuzuru in maid outfits, along with Yutsuki in a black butler suit, standing behind him without him noticing.
Waving her paper fan, Yutsuki said with a clearly angry tone, "If you dare doubt that I'll lose, I won't forgive you—even if you're Shiori-chan!"
User Comments
0 comments from readers