Page 9 of Idol Star System Generation: Season 1

  Chapter VIII – The Eyes Have It

  Smiling radiantly to him, the sun greeted Katsuro happily with a divine feminine voice:

  “Good morning, Katsuro-Kun! Have a wonderful day!”

  The boy, while walking down a beautiful boulevard around sky-high buildings and with the pavement painted pink by the many cherry blossom petals of the many sakura, or cherry, trees in full-bloom, energetically greeted the sun back with utmost respect:

  “Oh, good morning, Sun-Sama! Let’s do our best on this marvelous day, shall we?!”

  Walking down that fabulous street, from where he could see deep blue skies and the sparkling, snowy summit of the imposing and gorgeous Mt. Fuji, Katsuro was soon greeted by a lovely cat that leisurely walked by:

  “Wonderful morning to you, Katsuro-San!”

  “A wonderful morning to you too, Kitty-San!” Breathing deeply the fresh Spring air, the smiling boy opened his arms and commented, “What an absurdly lovely morning! Absolutely nothing can go wrong in such an outstanding daAAAAAAAAH!! THE HECK IS THIS?!” he shouted as the earth shook violently and the breeze became a strong wind that turned purple with malevolence.

  With a thundering oomph, molten rocks suddenly erupted from the top of Mount Fuji, ascending well over twenty miles before raining down over the city like meteors in a devastating salvo. Flaming rocks pierced buildings, sending the smoldering ruins crashing down among explosions and cascades of debris. Thick, dark puffs of fumes arose from the exposed volcanic caldera, gaining the upper atmosphere and spreading dark clouds as far as the horizon.

  “No! Protect yourself, Katsuro!” the worried feminine-voiced sun advised the boy before being eclipsed by tempestuous clouds, pervaded by purple lightning. The towering, pitch-black pillar of smoke rising from the colossal mountain began to unnaturally fork itself. It became two, then four, and finally eight columns, each one having more than a kilometer in diameter. United by its base, the eight subdivisions appeared to sustain the tormenting clouds like branches supporting the massive canopy of a titanic, evil tree. The thick fumes that formed the pillars gradually got more and more dense, to the point where it didn’t resemble smoke anymore, but black rocks that somehow kept moving. Suddenly, the eight segments began to contort and twist in a way normal volcanic lumps of debris would never do. The way it started to move closely resembled a bunch of snakes.

  And, true to it, the branches tops slowly descended from the thundering clouds. Each one sported a pair of raging, inferno-red sharp eyes on its serpentine heads. The forked pillars had become an eight-headed viper, twenty or more kilometer tall, made of coal, black stones and dark, glassy shards that gave it a slightly crimson hue due to reflecting the burning Aokigahara jungle by the mountain foothills and the fires that ravaged the capital. The monstrous snakes opened its mouths all at once, exhibiting pairs of shadowy fangs easily the size of some of the highest buildings of the world and lighting the terrifying skies with an infernal red clarity that came from inside their throats.

  The eight-headed abomination didn’t appear capable of moving away from the volcano on its base, but towering over the city with the range of its necks reaching the high atmosphere and capable of sending earth shockwaves and hurricanes by merely twitching, the demonic creature looked easily capable of reducing Tokyo to dust at its whims and covering the entire planet in a dark blanket of poisonous, ice-age inducing miasma.

  From the mantle of dusky clouds, a myriad of hellish creatures began falling, some winged and some not, a few resembling humanoids while others as grotesque as a pile of tentacles and eyes, the majority of which the size of a person or a car but a few as big as a cargo airplane. As they flew over the desperate crowds or fell over them, the monsters started spitting fire and slashing their way through the people.

  “Ah!” the population screamed as they ran past him, “Is there no teenager, high-school boy about the same age, height and physical appearance of Katsuro who could save us?!”

  “I wish there was! Unfortunately that can’t be me because I’m just a regular boy with no power to overcome such a threat!” Katsuro replied in an overly specific way while standing still, “I have absolutely no chance against that monster and as such I’m going to stand here, right beneath that immense building that’s obviously not going to fall over me, while I dramatically introduce the main character to the manga readers showing I’m just an average guy concerned with the well-being of others but powerless to stand against the dramatic threat that menaces the world!”

  Meanwhile, in a huge, open stadium on the other side of the city, the one hundred thousand or so spectators stopped cheering for the dazzling top idol who performed the show as they saw the skies turn black, quakes hit the surroundings and monstrosities fall down from the twisted torment. Naoko interrupted her world-class presentation and looked up in disbelief as the…

  Now that Katsuro thought about it, he didn’t know if there were idol shows at morning. Thinking about it for a second, he decided it’s best if his story began at night. So he scratched the part of the sun greeting him, changed it to the divine female voice of the moon and resumed it.

  …as the darkening skies became scary and…

  But thinking about it, the sky turning pitch-black wouldn’t be as impacting during night as it would in the day. So he decided it’s best to maintain the morning setting, the sun greeting him at the beginning and simply imagining there were idol shows at morning. He wasn’t sure, but there probably were. And, in any case, he was the one inventing the story, so he could do whatever he wanted. And since in his plot Naoko was an international celebrity, he just pretended her fans sought after her so much she had her schedule full from morning till evening with shows. Yes, that’d be convincing enough! Back to the narrative, then.

  …as the darkening skies became scary and flaming rocks started to fall. On Naoko’s earphones a male voice called her in a hurry, once again using the tremendously respectful “Sama” suffix:

  “Yano-Sama! Here’s the Prime Minister! We need your help!”

  “What’s the situation, Prime Minister-San?” the girl, not really appearing concerned, but still worried for the safety of others, asked.

  “The army confirmed Yamata no Orochi has surfaced! Its current location is Mt. Fuji, but there’s no telling for how long it will be there! Also its appearance is opening increasingly big dimensional rifts from which not yet documented evil Youkai are assuming physical forms and invading our world! It will tear the fabric of the universe apart if Orochi is not stopped!”

  “I’m on it!” Naoko excitedly announced, but the Prime Minister prevented her:

  “No, wait Yano-Sama! I know your special, Youkai-hunter secret powers are capable of destroying Orochi like your ancestors did in previous incarnations every time it appears, every one thousand years, but to do so you need to find a special boy that for some random reason is able to summon the energy of Chi slash Chakra slash Prana slash Power of Protagonism slash whatever mysterious power that everyone has but also for whatever reason no one is able to manifest! The boy probably knows nothing of how special and awesome and heroic he is or that he can unite the will of humanity in inexplicable ways that we’ll try to explain anyway when the manga series drags several chapters behind the anime and we need to create twenty filler episodes! Until then, just trust in the oddly specific specialists we have in a secret department of our Government and find that boy! We’ve been following him since the beginning of his life, and we’ll send you his coordinates! I’m sorry for taking about two minutes to explain all of this in the middle of a dire circumstance when it should’ve been better if we had told you it all during training, but please find this Fukuda Katsuro boy, our only hope despite the fact that you’ll be the one doing almost all the work! Your mission is to not let Yamata no Orochi destroy the planet!”

  Waiting patiently with crossed arms, Naoko finally asked:

  “Can I be on it now?” The Prime Minister replied simply, “Yes.”
r />   “I’m on it!” Naoko excitedly announced. Throwing her small, black microphone into the air, she yelled, “Transform!”

  The stadium and its panicking audience got substituted by a psychedelic, seizure-inducing flashing background as the girl’s idol clothes, full of frills and laces, shone bright. They disappeared in an instant, leaving behind only white sparkles with an uncanny capacity to be at the exact position to obstruct the view from her intimate parts. Her tossed microphone conflagrate itself and expanded amidst blue flames. Wires, gears, a trigger and four pairs of parallel magnetic rails extended from its tiny insides. Four long tubes with one palm of caliber each appeared out of nowhere and encompassed the rails. When the flames extinguished, the mic had become a two meters long, four-barreled cannon. With a black luster and full of useless external blue lights and wires that people would simply pretend had some real use in the mechanism of the gargantuan weapon, it was an awesome apparel to look at.

  As the cannon fell back to Naoko’s right hand, black, semiliquid filaments extended from it. Sliding through her body, it quickly solidified into boots, gloves, a tiny jacket with high collar and skinny wears that were clearly not inspired by bikinis despite looking almost like one, only with small extra details. It’s a very serious battle suit, and while it left about eighty percent of her body exposed, it supposedly offered extreme protection like any high-tech armor would, while resorting to the well-beaten and eye-rolling excuse that its lack of unnecessary weight granted the scantily clad girl high mobility. Because high-tech magic.

  Holding with one hand the cannon, that would almost certainly weight at least three hundred kilograms, like it was a chopstick, the girl, out of the psychedelic background and back to the stadium, saw many meteors falling in the direction of the crowd. Actually, with a velocity of almost three thousand miles per hour, they should’ve already hit the ground way before, but since the Prime Minister was talking in an intermission during the last three minutes and time was apparently frozen during her transformation, the rocks were still falling. Naoko raised the cannon and opened fire.

  Bluish, comet-like shots of energy the size of a big watermelon burst out of the four barrels in high frequency, almost ten projectiles per second. Shooting with improbable precision, the girl mowed the car-sized molten rocks while still in the air, reducing them to countless fragments. The audience applauded her feverously.

  “We love you!” a fan shouted passionately, “Thanks for reducing twelve or so car-sized rocks that’d probably kill ten people each in thousands of small, flaming fragments the size of a fist that’ll most certainly spread over a wide area and take away hundreds, if not thousands of lives! You’re the best, Naoko-San!”

  “You’re welcome!” the girl happily shouted before departing hastily, not seeing when a rock hit that happy fan on his head.

  While all that happened, Katsuro was still standing in the middle of the boulevard street. Man-eating humanoids carrying scythes attached to their arms attacked people all around with lightning-fast, preemptive strikes without even blinking, but for whatever reason seven or so surrounded him, slowly and dramatically crawling their way to what, for all the monster knew and cared, was just another regular human. The boy worriedly looked around, asking himself if that’s how it’s going to end. Then…

  Though, as Katsuro thought about it, his imaginary persona wouldn’t look too heroic if he asked such things. It’d be better if someone else did that.

  Okay, so instead of it, he’d saved a small girl somewhere, somehow, and she asked that while hugging to his leg. The boy, facing the evil creatures that prepared to attack but inexplicably never did so, told her, “Don’t worry, I’ll get us out of here somehow.”

  …But then again, he wanted Naoko to save his character. And a tiny girl would be a liability in the oncoming fights… So screw the tiny girl, there was no tiny girl there. So instead he was worried for other reasons. Maybe… more monsters? No, too cheap. Oh, right! The falling building he had planned to implement in such a stealthy way no one would be waiting for it!

  At the instant the creatures prepared to leap over him, a faster-than-a-bullet flaming rock punched through a skyscraper right next to him, exploding its windowed façade with a deafening bang and piercing it entirely, only to emerge on the other side and smash against yet another building. The vertiginous structure started to lean over Katsuro, dropping countless debris and glass shards that mysteriously didn’t hit him or the enemies surrounding him.

  “Oh, no, that immense building that was obviously not going to fall over me was struck by a rock and now is falling over me!” he exclaimed, while his enemies also stood silent, contemplating the oncoming ruin. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a loud, powerful engine hum got to his ears. In the distance, from one side of the boulevard street, a single blinding headlight shone.

  A large, black motorcycle sped through the debris at about two hundred kilometers per hour or so. Its wheels were made of a lead colored, metallic sequence of overlapping plates, making it look dented. Three exhausters of a silvery alloy on each side looked like the closed wings of a diving eagle, and left behind a trail of white fire. The engine rumble was deep and resonating like a lion’s roar. The vehicle was nothing less than impressive. From the top of it a stunning dark-haired girl holding the handlebar with one hand and an immense four-barreled cannon with the other let go of the steering bar, extended her arm out and shouted to the boy:

  “Quick! Grab my hand! Even though at this speed we’d both probably have several life-threatening fractures by attempting to do this, you need to grab my hand if you want to survive!”

  She apparently had a very powerful voice to be able to shout so many things from afar in the time the two-hundred kilometers per hour vehicle took to close in the boy, but despite that, Katsuro, in a split-second, decided to give it a shot. Grabbing the arm of the mysterious girl (scantily) clad in black and being pulled to the backseat without any injuries while the pilot ran over one of the monsters and sped away, Katsuro held himself tight to her. The skyscraper came crashing down behind them as the two narrowly evaded the gigantic impact.

  Numerous creatures along the street turned in their directions when hearing the engine. A few of them carried not scythes anymore, but crossbows armed with grenade-tipped bolts strapped to their arms. The mysterious girl quickly turned the motorcycle with inhuman reflexes and, evading a salvo of arrows that exploded behind them, trained her own huge cannon against the hundreds of monsters that obstructed the road. Blue light missiles sprayed forth, opening craters and tearing dozens of the creatures in the way with its piercing and exploding properties.

  “Hey, don’t I know you?” Katsuro asked as he took a moment to glance at the stunning girl he held tight. For no ulterior reasons, of course. “You seem vaguely familiar!”

  “I’m an internationally acclaimed idol!” she told him, speaking loudly to be heard among the explosions and the wind, “I’m Yano Naoko! Just call me Naoko!”

  “I’m Fukuda Katsuro! Pleased to meet you!” he told her, “Oh, so you’re an idol?! Maybe I’ve vaguely heard about you once or twice, hence the familiarity!”

  “I’m happy that you’ve heard of me!” she declared while the motorcycle rammed a few monsters, turning them into blood splatters and flying limbs, “I’ve heard about you too! You’re humanity’s last hope for no apparent reason! I need your help to defeat Orochi, that eight-headed abomination that towers above the city!”

  “What?! Me?!” Katsuro looked at the back of her head in disbelief, “What do you mean, help you defeat that thing? I’m just an average boy! I… I don’t have any weapons! Any skills! I can’t! It’s too much for me! Insert here self-deprecating, pity-generating speech!”

  “Maybe you’ve never unleashed your powers yet!” Naoko yelled while shooting and running over creatures as they passed by in mind blowing speed, hardly even slowing down to deviate from the rubble that piled all over the infinitely long and straight street, “but in fa
ct you’re special! You possess the power to converge mankind’s hopes and willpower and unleash it unlike any other person for reasons we’ll probably only cover in the second or third OVA! Until then, just bear in mind that insert here touching motivational speech!”

  “I’m hardly worth of what you think about me!” Katsuro insisted, “But if it’ll make you feel better, sure, let’s go straight to that menacing, apocalyptic monster because despite I’m being just an average guy, I’m somehow not afraid or riding directly into a fray with a twenty kilometer tall, multi-headed serpent! It’s not like I have family or anything, and I’m certainly not afraid of meeting a painful, untimely demise! Let’s try to take it and a horde of hellish monsters just the two of us! Yeah, why not?! Let’s go!”

  “That’s what I like to hear!” Naoko said eagerly, “Hold tight despite the fact that if it wasn’t a fictional creation I’d surely be slapping your face for it!”

  Leaving an unusable street full of craters and dismembered bodies behind, the two made their way to a cliff and accelerated past it into a suspended highway that thankfully existed nearby. Many stopped cars crammed the way but, also thankfully, a few of the lanes were almost pristinely unobstructed, save for a few more monsters itching for a road kill. From the highway it was possible to have a clear view of the sky-reaching eight-forked snake atop Mt. Fuji. Its fangs spit jets of magma around the burning metropolis as if it was venom, and every time the heads made brusque movements collectively, the mountain beneath it sent pyroclastic flows from the flooding exposed caldera of the volcano. Bending the laws of physics, the motorcycle approached the foothills without tephra mists outright killing the two lone riders on the storm by clogging their lungs because… the mysterious energy that emanated from Katsuro created an invisible aura around them didn’t allow that! Yes! Perfect explanation to say “because the mangaka hates laws of physics and don’t want them interfering with his manga” in an acceptable way! It could also explain other things, like how Naoko’s long hairs flowing through the wind were not getting inside Katsuro’s eyes and mouth! Because of the aura of lazy, half-cooked mystic powers able to alter physics!

  Flying creatures reminding thorn-covered wasps the size of bears flocked around them. Naoko let loose of her cannon in all directions, felling quite a few. More descended from the darkened heavens, though, and the girl, excusing herself, jumped into the air while her motorcycle mysteriously managed to maintain velocity and control while ascending the bumpy elevation. Stepping on one of the wasps while mid-air, she jumped again and shot its ugly face off from point-blank. Kicking and gunning the enemies down as she jumped from one to the next, the girl rose higher and higher. A few spit fire as she got in range, but Naoko merely pierced the flames as if it’s nothing and proceeded to mincemeat the attacker.

  When she couldn’t go up anymore due to a lack of wasps close by, the girl spun around, launching a deadly salvo downwards to eradicate the remaining enemies she hadn’t yet plug full of holes and turned her weapon skyward, to where a continuous horde of flying small fries spawned. Aiming at the group coming in their direction, the girl activated whatever mechanism there was in the cannon to alter its form. The four barrels were each divided in many small, long parts that rearranged themselves in twenty small ones. The immensely versatile gun rapidly launched a blinding barrage of laser-like blue bullets that fragmented into even smaller projectiles, the same ten salvos per second. Spreading like a shotgun-meet-Vulcan machinegun, the flying horde nearby was turned to Swiss cheese before getting close.

  Reverting the weapon back to the four-barreled variant, Naoko once again altered its form through magic shmagic inputs to the technological marvel, and its barrels separated from one another. Attaching it to her back in another hard to explain, magnetically magical way, its spread tubes turned flamethrowers propelled her forward like jet turbines. With her makeshift wings, the idol and world savior flew back to her motorcycle. Making her cannon go back to normal and falling on her seat, the girl resumed the driving.

  “That was incredible!” Katsuro complimented her, though the girl downplayed it, “Nah, it’s nothing. Trash mobs are nothing to worry. We’ve bigger problems to concern ourselves with.”

  Eight serpentine pairs of gargantuan, fiery eyes turned downwards in their direction. Yes, the colossal eight-pronged snake had very good eyesight to detect such a small threat from the top of its miles-long height. One of its head opened its mouth and spit a rain of blazing boulders that fell all around them. Naoko shot a few and evaded others that crashed in thundering booms close to them, though many more started rolling down the mountain.

  The girl opened fire, reducing them to bits with her shots, and predicting a follow-up attack, she immediately altered her cannon form to another cheap, overpowered one. The four barrels mixed together in one huge, two foot-wide caliber gun. Holding the trigger but not releasing it, blue light began to accumulate inside, slowly forcing the external filaments that composed the walls of the already compensatory weapon to widen even more while letting small sparks fly through gaps. The head that sprayed the useless salvo of rocks swooped down, its immense mouth wide-open.

  Rising her cannon heavenward, she released the trigger. An obfuscating light came out along with a deafening thunder, and the gun recoiled with such force that sent the motorcycle spinning off-balance. A black orb filled with blue lightning was launched up while the enormous head stroke down. The orb, generating a weak gravitational field that pulled the sandy impurities in the air towards it and sucked them in like a black hole made its way up, getting swallowed by the vast mouth. For a moment the creature kept advancing, as if it took such a big creature so much time to get to the ground from the top of its height.

  “It’s still coming down at us! Naoko-Chan, it’s going to kill us! What do we…!” Katsuro started to scream while the motorcycle spun out of control, but suddenly a titanic glowing blue explosion erupted from its neck, severing that head off in a gush of magma-like blood. “Never mind, forget I said anything.”

  Naoko sped up the motorcycle – which apparently could reach any velocity, because she was always accelerating it and was yet to decelerate it once – in order to evade the mammoth severed head from crushing them. The impact of it against the rocky mountain elevation sent yet another earthquake around and lifted a small sandstorm. The seven remaining heads watched in silence the headless neck fall lifelessly and exchanged surprised looks.

  “Wraghwrawraw?!” one of them inquired, and another, with a decided tone, exclaimed, “Wraw! Raw rawraw grawl!”

  Suddenly, all of them turned their wrathful countenances to the tiny duo below and pounced in quick succession, one after the other. Turning her spinning motorcycle sideways and accelerating (again), the front wheel raised off the rocky ground and the back one along with the six flaming exhausters, spraying gravels everywhere, propelled them forward. With Katsuro screaming like a sissy and the girl getting to charge her cannon again, the two barely escaped one of the heads. It crashed right behind them, sending quakes and strong winds everywhere. Fighting to control the bike, Naoko dropped the wheelie and turned somewhat backwards, running parallel to the neck of the first head as a second one hit the ground hard beside them, sending the vehicle flying. Its metallic, dented wheels hit the first snake’s neck and got to climb it vertically.

  A third and a fourth head swooped in their direction with a fifth one close behind, prompting Katsuro to scream even more. Instead of Naoko trying to evade them, though, the girl shot the charged, mini-black hole projectile roughly between the two closest heads. As they drew nearby, the dark orb exploded without even touching them due to the cheapness of the Deus Ex Machina properties of the highly technological cannon. The explosion, like a small blue sun, ripped off half of the skull of each head, sending them dead to each side. The fires hadn’t even completely dissipated, though, when the fifth snake pierced the remaining blue blazes with its huge mouth glowing bright red.

  “Hang in there
! And stop screaming or I’ll kick you off!” Naoko ordered while driving straight into the gapping mouth. The colossal mouth swallowed them, making the two other heads that still hadn’t attacked smile and head bang one another in commemoration.

  For a moment the head that swallowed the motorcycle looked content too. Then a small explosion opened a hole in the side of its neck. Then another and another. As the two rode their way down its throat, Naoko went trigger-happy with her oversized cannon. Even without charging up, it still packed quite a punch. Perforating the neck numerous times from inside out, the girl eventually drove the bike off of one of the openings she created. Never minding the presence of lava inside the gargantuan snakes, the two escaped unscathed, falling close to the mountain top. Near the volcanic caldera overflowing with magma and toxic vapors that didn’t affect the two because the story would end in a ridiculous way, the two drove around the mountain summit, from where melting ice caps descended into a deluge and the bike blazed above the slush because it’s too fast, too shiny and too cool to get stuck on rapid-currents of mud.

  “We’re still alive! Thank goodness!” Katsuro yelled while holding Naoko tight to the point of suffocating her. Seeing the sharp eyes of the girl turning murderously to him, the boy quickly let loose and resumed his cool acting, “I mean… yeah! Four heads down! We can do this!”

  Suddenly, in an eruption of magma and volcanic ash that solidified instantly, the severed neck from the first downed head sprung back another immense skull and came back to life.

  “We can’t do this! We’re dead!” Katsuro instantly backtracked on his word. “Aw, come on! It can regenerate itself back again?! I didn’t remember the legendary Orochi to be able to act like that! Are you sure that’s not an oversized Greek hydra?”

  “Have you ever fought against the legendary Orochi?” Naoko cynically inquired.

  “Uh… No.” the boy had to admit, and the girl nailed it, “Then shut up.”

  “Okay… but if so, what’s the plan?” the boy changed subject.

  “Concentrate on awakening your powers while I buy you time,” the girl told him. Seeing he was about to ask something, she immediately added, “If you ask me how you’re supposed to do it I’ll drop you into the lava.”

  Katsuro quietly closed his eyes and started to reflect upon his supposed powers, embarking on a spiritual journey inside himself while the girl evaded giant serpents, falling rocks, fissures, magma spills, fumaroles, lightning bolts, evil winds, otherworldly minions, acid rain, dimensional rifts that tore the fabric of the space-time continuum, lahars, tephra storms and such. Eight colossal tails sprung from the ground around Mt. Fuji and started whipping at the motorcycle too. Getting desperate after many tense minutes, Naoko asked:

  “So?! Anything yet?! No hurries, it’s not like we’re facing a life-threatening situation and running low on time to prevent the universe from collapsing!”

  As she poked the boy behind her she heard a loud snore. Screaming louder than the hissing sounds of the regenerated eight-forked viper heads combined, Naoko got the boy back in action. While she lost her concentration yelling at him, an immense head swept away at them, getting her to scream.

  “Oh no! An immense head caught me off guard while I was screaming at you, you stupid, and despite the fact that we’ve already been swallowed once and have escaped unharmed I’m still going to act like it’s a big deal and in spite of the fact that I have plenty of time to scream all of this but I’m still unable to react because that’s the meaning of being surprised oh no!”

  Sensing the impending doom looming over him and, most importantly, that girl that he clearly wasn’t hopelessly captivated by – that’s right, just because of the doom of the two, not because the Earth was going to hell – a powerful surge of dormant energy sprung out of his hands. Assuming a purely coincidental shape resembling a long and curved sword made of bright lightning, he swept the weapon horizontally in the air while moving to hug Naoko tight and getting in front of her as if it’d actually make a difference. Because it’s the only logical thing to do: attacking with a short-ranged blade while the enemy is still one hundred meters away.

  Instead of a usual swoosh any normal, metal sword created, a thundering boom silenced all other sounds as the still air got suddenly agitated. A colossal mass of air spreading from one side of the horizon to the other was dragged around by the luminous, ethereal sword and the evil, purple winds got swallowed by an immense horizontal hurricane. The unnatural storming winds that brew, from a breeze to impossibly brutal seven hundred miles per hour, gradually extinguished the fires that ravaged the sinister suicide forest Aokigahara and the capital. Even then, the furious winds seemed not to affect the buildings, the people, the animals or whatever remained of the city, merely quenching the infernal flames and cleansing the area of the monstrosities that invaded from beyond. The gales, as if controlled by a superior intelligence, merely slid around objects and living beings while eradicating evil Youkai.

  Ascending the mountain from behind the duo, the raging sacred winds vaporized every creature it came across and exploded against Orochi like huge sea waves hit a small boat. The rock-hard surface of the eight-headed snake started to turn back to smoke as it once was and the titanic creature slowly melted away. Its external walls, and then its fiery inner parts cracked and broke, its fragments getting swept away by the impossibly fast winds aimed upwards. Its magma fillings was cooled off and torn asunder, as the snake was decimated and its pieces got trapped inside the rolling hurricane. It ascended to the skies, tearing through the dark clouds and purifying it back to an intense blue where the sun could shine once again.

  “That was amazing! Oh, Katsuro, I’m so happy!” Naoko screamed while turning back to hug the boy. “Please continue to protect me forever! There’s just one last thing we need to do to save the world!”

  Deep down on the volcano glowed a dark bulb of pure malevolence, from which fumes slowly began to recreate the snake. Naoko, unlocking the limiter on her cannon – because it’s obvious her cannon’s output was being limited until then – began charging the weapon again.

  One minute later, after jumping to the stratosphere and appreciating the beautiful circumference of that marvelous blue world she swore to protect, she aimed her white-hot cannon down at the crater. A huge, pure black beam streamed downwards. The beam shone into the ground zero, making the mountain sparkle. And suddenly the planet exploded into trillions of tiny fragments.

  “Yano-Sama?!” the Prime Minister called her from her earphone, “What happened? Your mission was to not let Yamata no Orochi destroy the planet!”

  “Prime Minister-San? Mission complete!” Naoko announced through her earphone, “We did not let Yamata no Orochi destroy the planet! We did so ourselves!”

  “Hahaha!” he laughed in high-spirits, “Oh, Yano-Sama, how clever of you! Technicalities are marvelous things indeed! Excellent work! I and all politicians of ex-Earth are proud of you!”

  Floating around in a small rock, Katsuro could finally breathe easily the pure, fresh vacuum from space and appreciate the marvelous view from the Earth turned into an asteroid cloud. The bright sun bathing all in its glorious, harmful cosmic radiations gave it an even more beautiful tone to it. The girl’s motorcycle floated nearby and after a moment, Naoko dropped into its seat, with an exultant smile on her face and happily accelerating twice just so the sound of the engine that wasn’t supposed to exist on space called his attention. “Vroom vroom!”

  “Naoko-Chan! I was worried about you! Welcome back! Great work!” Katsuro gladly complimented her with thankful eyes.

  “I couldn’t have done it without you, Katsuro-Kun!” she thanked him, “I’m so happy you’re here with me! Why don’t we go for a stroll in the park?”

  “What park?” he asked, to which the girl proposed, “There’s a park near your school, right? Why don’t we go around the planetary debris looking for the seven Serpent Virgins that when reunited can grant us a wish, ask for the world t
o go back to normal and then go to the park? Do you like ice-cream?”

  “I love ice-cream!” Katsuro explained, “It’s my favorite thing after cheesy all-encompassing plot mechanics made to protect a story from falling into unwinnable situations!”

  “Me too!” Naoko happily agreed, “What’s your favorite ice-cream flavor?!”

  Katsuro stood by the side of the stairs of the dormitories with distant eyes and drooling mouth, daydreaming about him, Naoko, giant serpents and world “salvation” (only in the broadest of senses). He’d watched the videos of her first presentation during the night before and could hardly sleep, thinking how close he was to such an incredible person. Well, actually he could hardly sleep because he had a tendency of sleeping after he got back from school, meaning he traded the day for the night, when it’s less noisy, but even so.

  The ambient of the videos looked impressive and though it’s hard to tell how many spectators were there, it’s surely a lot – or so he thought. Also, he’d never seen her on that black and red attire. It’s a dream. His imagination had been formulating ideas all night long, a few about how he could talk more often with the girl, but most about unrealistic fantasies. Maybe he’d even draw a few of them.

  While the boy absentmindedly waited near the stairs, Naoko came running down. Seeing him, the girl froze. Since the daydreaming, half-smiling guy looked unaware, though, she carefully sneaked her way past him, one step at a time. When she’s out of harm’s way Naoko resumed running down until the last flight of stairs. Stopping, she calmly walked down the last few steps, greeting the janitor that always stood nearby to watch, and then proceeding to rush to the school. Not that she was late: classes were just too early.

  Naoko had a lot to tell about her first show to Miwa and the others. Many of the girls of her class and some of the boys stood nearby during the break to hear her recollections, see photos and watch the videos. Though it’d been just twelve minutes of show, there was also a lot to say about the audition before it. Her recounting of the twin idols, their senile producer and her describing almost everyone in the auditorium that day got her friends laughing nonstop. It’s dangerous to eat around Naoko while she narrated her experiences, for two students choked on their food while laughing. Even the usual and not so funny questions that her classmates asked, like how was the experience of singing for a crowd in such a chic place, were turned into unintentional jokes:

  “It’s awesome! Everything was like a dream! Well, during the show, at least. Before it I had to face four frowning idols that looked like they’d just finished sucking lemons, no one spoke to no one, and the dressing room was too close to the kitchen. The restaurant owner probably decided he wanted to torture the artists there, because the smell was just so good! So I was there trying to get changed quickly and concentrating on my presentation that I’d be doing in five minutes and my tummy was all “Rawrooooarawr!”, roaring like a tiger! I thought people would hear it more than they would hear my own voice! If I had to stay there for fifty minutes like the first ranked idol did, when they came to tell me it’s time to go to the stage they’d probably find me chewing on my chair!”

  What impressed Miwa the most was that those too boys that were usually distant to everyone and just talked about their games actually looked interested. After getting their attention drawn by the laughing crowd in the class, they looked in their direction and paid attention to Naoko’s tales. After the classes were over and everyone was put to clean and organize the room as they regularly did the class president told Naoko the two got as far as chuckle after a few of the jaunty girl’s remarks. They hadn’t left their seats to get closer, but just getting their attention to something else was already a big victory. Miwa mentioned that as the students got to clean the classroom.

  “I’m loving this year more than any other thanks to Naoko-Chan!” Miwa told her, “I’ve never seen our class so united. Until last year it’s hard for people from different groups to get together like this. During the exams it used to get even worse here at school. It’s a high-end, demanding institute, and people historically tend to be a little distant to each other here. You made me remember it when you said about how the idols in the audition and in the dressing room on the restaurant you performed acted distant to their peers. Especially when compared to you and those twins you told you before the tests, with whom you had fun for half an hour while everyone else stood serious and concerned. Seeing those two boys starting to open up to the rest of the class… or, rather, to you, fills me with joy. I don’t know how there are people like you, able to bring others together like that, but does Naoko-Chan suppose it’s something one can learn how to do? Even if just a little? Or do you think it’s a natural gift that can’t be developed?”

  “That’s so nice of you to say those things, Miwa-Chan!” Naoko stopped scrubbing the floor for a minute to thank her, “But why are you asking me this? You’re just as good as me, if not better, in uniting people! When I first came to our class, it’s you who called me, made me feel at home and introduced me to others! That was never the case for me with other girls, they usually act with me all reticent. It always took me months, years perhaps, to get them to open up! Why did you ask me that? Miwa-Chan is the best!”

  Pointing to her own nose for a while, Miwa looked surprised.

  “Eh? Me?! I never thought about it this way. It’s just expected that class presidents try to make new students get along with the others, it’s not really a gift or a merit of mine. I studied with many of our classmates for years now and we’ve never been so unified, even though last year I was already our class representative. I asked you that because I really don’t feel I’m able to get people to work together, though I still dream of studying in a class where everyone gets along fine. Sure, nothing can be perfect, but at least now’s much better than before! We still have a few students aside, unfortunately. Shiori-Chan is my biggest concern since you pointed her out, but there are others.”

  Looking around the class as people cleaned it up, Miwa whispered:

  “Those two boys for example. Then there’s Hideo-Kun and Keiichi-Kun who are also aloof, and Minoru-Kun who, despite trying sometimes, still has no real friends. Sadao-Kun is another problem entirely too, for he has friends but tries to make fun of others and promotes discord. Kayo-Chan is also something, being only a little more participative than Shiori-Chan… Well, you can see our class still has quite a ways to go. Naoko-Chan is doing incredible things to us, but I can’t just sit here and expect you to do all the work! It’s my dream to unify this class, and I wanted to contribute, even though I have no idea how. That’s why I asked you if you think such ability is something with which you’re born with or it can be developed.”

  Most of the people Miwa mentioned were already well-noticed by Naoko too. Ueda Hideo was a black boy, though technically his skin was not even that dark, but he still had lots of difficulties to get accepted in the group, or so it seemed. Hisakawa Keiichi was another boy who didn’t mix with others, though contrary to Hideo, who seemed somewhat interested in doing so, Keiichi didn’t have Naoko’s support. He was that handsome guy who always acted aloof. Then there was a meek-looking boy called Enatsu Minoru and a secluded girl called Yamasaki Kayo who brought her textbooks wrapped in a transparent plastic bag and had no lunchbox, always bringing a big fish slice with gluing rice on a paper to eat. Both of whom Naoko had never really paid attention. They just seemed extremely introverted but not completely cut off from social contacts like the glasses-wearing Akitomi Shiori, for example.

  And then there was the class clown, Tsujii Sadao. Stupid boy that thankfully had no guts to make jokes of people like Miwa, Naoko, a boy from the basketball club that also studied on their class and so on. That short, unfunny and cowardly Sadao just picked targets that couldn’t easily defend themselves to make fun of, and only when they’re isolated from the rest. Naoko had never witnessed him making any particularly insulting jokes to anyone while she was close, but rumors about him and two
classmates that found his tasteless humor hilarious abounded.

  Finishing cleaning a big cabinet on the back of the classroom where the two girls spoke in private, Miwa looked up to the rest of the class, each doing his part to tidy it up, and asked:

  “Can Naoko-Chan give me any ideas of what should I do?”

  Even after thinking for a while, Naoko was unable to find an answer, so Miwa instead questioned her:

  “It’s a hard question, sorry for asking. Let me ask you something else, then: can Naoko-Chan tell me what does she think that unites people?”

  “What do you mean? Like, parties, similar tastes, activities and such?” Naoko asked for some clarification, and proceeded one she found her friend confirming, “Well, I… think these two things are great for getting people together. Group activities and similar tastes, I mean.”

  “Hm… yes. It makes sense.” Miwa agreed, “You’re able to talk to those two boys about that game with dices and they seem to be opening up a little bit to you. Hearing you, at least. Now I feel bad for having asked them if their favorite things were related to gambling. It’ll probably make it harder for me to get them to open up.”

  “We can still do the activities route!” Naoko suggested, and Miwa agreed, “Good idea! I can’t think of anything we could do with our entire class as of now, but I’ll think about it. Do you have any suggestions, Naoko-Chan?”

  Scrubbing the same spot on the floor over and over without really noticing, Naoko said slowly, pondering about it:

  “Involving our whole class? Well… Not right now, but I can think about it too. What comes to my mind is the karaoke we said we’d do, but it’s not something for everyone.”

  “The karaoke!” Miwa suddenly remembered, surprised, “It’s a great idea! It’s not for everyone, but it’s a great idea of an activity we can do nevertheless! Previously, when you said “activity”, I was thinking about things we could do in the school, but that’s eye opening. We don’t need to do it here!” After a second, she looked a tad frustrated, “Though I fear I might have a problem doing activities outside of our classes.”

  “Why? You have any problems?” Naoko stopped sweeping the floor and interrogated. Her friend, acting a little disappointed, explained, “No, not a problem exactly. It’s just my younger brother. I think I told you once or twice about him. Since my parents always arrive at home late and frequently have to travel on business I have to take care of him. I… It’s a little frustrating that I usually have no time for myself. As soon as I leave classes, I go pick my brother at his school. I’m the only class president in the school to not take part in any clubs, for example. My weekends are almost invariably spent at home too, since my parents always travel during them. I only have some respite when my brother goes to play on a friend’s place, but I end up tied and unable to do things I wanted.” Shaking her head, she rapidly emended, “That’s not that bad, though! I can dedicate myself to my studies, so there’re perks too, pay me no mind! I’m just thinking aloud about how I can formulate activities outside of school.”

  Even if dismissing it, Miwa didn’t look too convinced about her own talk concerning the perks of being tied up and unable to do things she wanted, as she put it herself. Naoko couldn’t help but feel bad for her friend:

  “I remember you saying you have a younger brother, but I didn’t think it’s like that! That… must be rough. I know you can dedicate yourself to studying and all, but that’s no excuse to being imprisoned at home! Especially if you don’t like games or anything like me! Back home, I’d probably feel in paradise if my parents traveled so much, but I don’t have siblings to take care of. And I still felt trapped there too! I know how it feels! You need help, I tell you!” Thinking for a moment, Naoko asked, “How old is your brother, Miwa-Chan?”

  “Eleven,” she replied, to which Naoko looked a bit daunted, “Kind of too young for us to drag along to a karaoke, right? Though maybe there are things we can bring him together…”

  With a thankful but negative face Miwa opened her mouth to say something, but Naoko promptly interjected eagerly:

  “Oh! That’s right! We can bring him to an amusement park! This way every person we bring along can take turns to look after him and Miwa-Chan gets at least a day to be together with others during her weekend! What do you say, eh? Eh?”

  Miwa smiled thankfully. She politely refused it, stating her friend needn’t concern herself with it, but Naoko was not one to take “no” for an answer when it came to people tied up by their families. The two walked away from the classroom but Naoko kept insisting on activities they could do, as long as they programmed themselves with a week or so in advance so she could make her work schedule coincide. She got suddenly interested in helping her friend, and began to look for ideas as to what they could do, not only during weekends but also to let Miwa do clubs and other activities from Monday to Friday. Eventually she asked:

  ‘What if your parents hired someone to be with your brother?”

  “You mean a babysitter?” Miwa asked, “My parents probably wouldn’t accept it. It’s my responsibility, after all, why would they pay for another person to do what’s my obligation?”

  “What, they can’t pay or something?” Naoko promptly asked, only then noticing how intrusive she’s being, “I mean, sorry for asking you this! It’s just that… I don’t know…”

  “No, it’s okay,” Miwa calmed her down, “It’s not about money. My parents are kind of well off. They both work at a big carmaker. Their jobs require them to work and travel a lot, but they have good positions inside the corporation. It’s not about money, but about having responsibility. They’re both very responsible, and expect no less from their children. Well, from me, at least. My younger brother kind of does whatever he wants, is only average at school and my parents are okay with it, but from me they expect somewhat more. I’m the older sister, you know. I need to set a good example.”

  The unhappy but resigned way Miwa revealed that was particularly bothering. Naoko, taking care not to cross lines repeatedly, opinioned:

  “I’m no one to intrude in your life, I know it. And your parents are probably right in teaching you to be responsible. But Miwa-Chan is already one of the most responsible people I’ve ever met! Having someone to help you take care of your brother will not make you suddenly become a lazy bum! And you’re sixteen! To be locked up at home at such an age is nothing but cruelty! When are you planning to be able to have a weekend for yourself? When you’re fifty?”

  Miwa’s eyes suddenly started to water. Naoko, not expecting that in the least, quickly continued before her friend accused her of intruding:

  “I’m not saying your parents are doing anything wrong, but come on! Even they must have fond memories of that age and certainly don’t want their daughter to waste away one of the best parts of life like that! I understand they’re probably not going to get a babysitter because your brother is not a baby anymore, but, I don’t know, how about… someone else? Someone to take care of him…” Naoko suddenly remembered Rin, “A private teacher! Yes, what about it?! Your parents would probably want your brother to be as responsible and knowledgeable as his older sister, right? What if they hired a private teacher to stay with him for one or two hours a day? This way he’d get better at school and you’d have some free time! You don’t need to slack off, either! You can go to clubs, for example! It’d still be a responsible thing to do and, like you said, you’re the only class president in our school that’s not currently in any club! I’m sure they can comprehend all of this, right? There are only benefits for everyone!”

  Gladly seeing her friend getting to control back her emotions, Naoko proposed:

  “Do you remember that blond girl from 2-1, Rin-Chan? She has currently, like, seven private teachers if I remember correctly! If you want I can ask her if she can give me the contact info of them and you let your parents decide which one or ones they want to hire! Sounds good?”

  Her friend looked very interested, thoug
h she reluctantly replied:

  “I don’t know. I mean, I’d certainly love it! But… I… don’t know if I have the courage to ask my parents to do it… It’s… I need to set an example for my brother, and…”

  “What?!” Naoko interrupted, “Miwa-Chan, then that’s not your parents’… ah… “fault” anymore, for a lack of a better term. That’s your fault! You’re the one demanding too much from yourself! I know it’s important to be responsible and sacrifices are sometimes required, but if “sometimes” becomes “always” there’s got to be a mistake somewhere! I take I’m not one of those people that would die working or anything, but I’m committed nevertheless! I do what I say I’d do! Isn’t that enough? To uphold your promises?”

  Noticing she had strayed too far and that line of speech would end badly if Miwa simply said “that’s what I do, I uphold my promise of taking care of my brother” Naoko subtly and seamlessly changed topics back to a better one:

  “But to sacrifice yourself like this? I think not even your parents would be happy if they took a moment to think how responsible you became, to the point of sacrificing your youth staying at home and just studying all the time! It’s good, I know, but not if that’s the only thing you do in your life! What kind of example will you give to your brother then? To waste away his youth too? Would you like him to learn this kind of thing?”

  Getting she was once again putting unnecessary pressure on her friend’s shoulders without actually solving her problem, Naoko reconfigured her speech yet again to focus on Miwa’s parents supposed point of view in hope it’d convince her friend:

  “It’s not like your brother is a baby anymore, he’s eleven! He doesn’t need you to be all the time with him! On the contrary, to get him a private teacher will get him to become much more responsible! You’re not the only one that needs responsibility, right? And yours is already well developed, Miwa-Chan! Too much, I’d say! I think your… well, I don’t know your parents, but I think they might agree that currently a private teacher will be able to help your brother more than you will. It’s a different person, teaching him and stuff. If your brother is only average at school like you say when he’s only eleven, he’ll probably have to develop responsibility and study hard as soon as possible too, or he’ll have problems in high school! And you know it! I get it you want to be a good example for him, but ultimately you’re probably not helping him as much as you think you are, Miwa-Chan, as if you, say, let him have a private teacher and learn school subjects and how to be responsible too! To set an example is fine, but your brother also needs to train it if he’s to develop responsibility!”

  Suddenly having a nice idea popping on her head while the two walked out of the main building and she spoke, like all ideas before – Naoko usually had no clue of the things she’d say when starting a conversation, they crossed her mind out of nowhere as it developed – she went for the final blow:

  “If just a matter of looking others be responsible is all it takes to make a person become responsible too, you’d not even need to do anything for your brother to train your responsibility like your parents supposedly say! All you’d need would be to look at their example and voila! And you know that’s not the case! You need to practice being responsible to be so, and if you stay over the shoulder of your brother pampering him all the time, he’ll not develop himself! So do yourself and your brother a favor and ask your parents about these private classes for your sibling. Tell your parents all I told you and I’m sure they’ll agree! It’s the best thing for everyone and you know it!”

  Stop talking, Naoko stood silent for just a second, thinking she was over. But then she felt the urge to blabbermouth a little bit more, just to make it clear to her friend:

  “Just don’t sabotage yourself while doing so, Miwa-Chan! You’re not doing it only for you! You need to accept you’re not as all-powerful as you’d probably like to be and can’t single-handedly teach your younger brother everything and also make he become a responsible person just by looking at you.” Finally getting it done, the girl concluded, “Whew! My tongue’s exhausted! But that’s it! You can count on me! Whatever I can do for you, just say! Oh, we can ask Rin-Chan tomorrow for her private teacher’s contacts too! And then you can get into clubs and we can plan activities for the class! So, after all this, what do you think, Miwa-Chan?”

  Miwa’s unsteady lips smiled. With a lower voice than she commonly used, maybe to make sure it didn’t fluctuate as much, the girl spoke:

  “Thank you, Naoko-Chan. I’m really grateful for your concern and for your ideas.” Miwa opened her bag and searching for a pencil and paper, “Better take note of the arguments while I still remember all of them!”

  Naoko excused herself, already late for the Drama club meeting that she was, but she asked Miwa to keep her updated. Miwa stayed behind, sitting in a bench by the school’s backyard while writing down all the arguments. As she silently followed Naoko walk away with increasingly watered eyes, two warm teardrops retained at great costs until then rolled down around the class president’s glad face and wetted the paper beneath.

  The people at the Drama club congratulated Naoko on her first gig once she thanked them for the invaluable help by letting her rehearse. Though they were already subscribed to her fan club due to the negotiation Aratani did, only the club president Chiasa, Naoko’s classmate Takumi and two other people had watched her videos until then, so the remaining ones decided to watch it after the meeting. During it Chiasa started to discuss what kind of story the members wanted to play on the theater that semester, but since most people didn’t manifest themselves, she brought an activity where pairs would briefly discuss their narrative tastes and jolt it down on a paper. Then the pairs would change until everyone had talked with everyone and the results would be debated.

  One by one, Naoko started to discuss in pairs what kind of story they wanted. Many members were surprised, like people always were, to discover the girl’s likings of stories full of action and twists. It was nice until she had to talk with Shiori. As the girl with the glasses saw Naoko, her eyes turned cold and fearful. Sighing, Naoko remembered herself of the talk with Miwa and of her impressions that Shiori was as sad as she was reserved. Like her producer told her when talking about other idols, it wasn’t personal, they just felt the need to protect themselves from supposed rivals, but it didn’t mean they all hated one another or anything. Applying this logic to her classmate, Naoko walked to Shiori while noticing the girl looked as scared as melancholic. Trying to be encouraging and letting her cheerful, upbeat personality guide her, Naoko greeted her and immediately asked what her favorite stories were.

  The girl with glasses could barely speak, and preferred to return the question while she supposedly though about an answer. Naoko, naively, pointed out Shiori was already talking about it with the others, only then understanding the girl wasn’t really unaware of her tastes, just too afraid to talk. However, trying to undo that proved to be worse, so Naoko simply played along and answered about her favorite kinds of narratives. While she did so, she found Shiori glanced continuously to the sides, as if assessing the others, and avoided visual contact with Naoko.

  When Naoko finished her remarks, she was completely clueless as to how to tell Shiori it was her turn. Most of the other pairs had already finished and looked in the direction of the two girls, writing for them to finish so they could continue with the activity. Her classmate looked down to the piece of paper where she wrote her tastes and those of others down. The one she held shaking. She opened her mouth and whispered vacillatingly, “I… like… stories about… about… f-friendships and… biographies of… people that over… overcame uns-surmount-table hardships…”

  While she tried to speak, her eyes got full of water for no apparent reason. With her face down, the girl glanced everyone around in rapid eye movements until she could bear it no more. Asking for pardon, Shiori suddenly ran away as the first tear rolled down, leaving Naoko baffled. Seeing Shiori run backstage to
the restrooms, Chiasa asked Naoko in disbelief:

  “What happened?!”

  “I don’t know!” the girl, getting worried about what others would think, explained, “I didn’t do anything! I don’t know what happened, I swear! I asked her to tell her tastes, she asked me to do it first, I did so and when it was Shiori-Chan’s turn she… Well, that happened!”

  “Well, I saw that, I was watching,” Chiasa told her with a concerned look on the face, “I just imagined… Don’t know… It never happened, maybe you noticed something… I don’t know. Wait, I’ll see how she is doing. Everyone! Keep doing the exercise! I’ll be back in a moment!”

  Since most people were watching, they saw Naoko wasn’t at fault, but it still worried her for some reason. The club president left backstage and took almost twenty minutes to return, along with an extremely ashamed Shiori.

  After the meeting was over, and while Naoko went backstage to change clothes for her practice session, most of the members got to watch the videos of her stage debut. Seeing Shiori quietly getting away, Chiasa rushed to her and spoke in private.

  “Hey, Shiori-Chan! Leaving already? Don’t you want to stay with us for a bit?”

  The evasive girl was surprised to hear someone calling for her. Though looking to the others, who were all watching the idol’s videos on their phones, she reticently inquired: “I… but… why?”

  “Why? Because you always leave so soon, and I thought maybe you’d like to be with the others a little,” Chiasa reasoned, “You told us during your first time here you wanted to integrate the club to overcome your shyness, right? Well, I thought you’d like to be with the others if that’s your objective to be here. Of course, that’s just an invitation, don’t feel pressured.”

  Shiori hesitated. The small, timid girl looked interested in staying, but at the same time she didn’t.

  “I… I’m just… I don’t really like shows… too much, that’s all…”

  “It’s not a show, it’s just a rehearsal,” Chiasa said, “But you don’t need to be here for it too. We can just go out and talk. Are you doing well?”

  The timid girl nodded in a thankful or apologetic way, meaning she’s fine without using words. The club president, troubled, drew closer and, in a lower voice, inquired:

  “May I ask you something, Shiori-Chan? You look a bit hesitant around Naoko-Chan. Sorry if it’s a wrong assumption, it’s just my perception. Did something happen between you two? Be it here or elsewhere? You don’t need to tell me, but I can help you if you do.”

  Giving the impression of being a tad sad, Shiori denied it:

  “No… nothing like that. Nothing… happened. I just… I don’t… know. I’m sorry for bothering everyone. I… I need to go. Excuse me.”

  Seeing Shiori bow and get away as if escaping, Chiasa was left troubled. She went backstage, waiting for Naoko to change, and asked her the same question. Looking worried, the girl said:

  “What? No, nothing ever happened between us! I never even talked to Shiori-Chan before! In fact… it’s fun. In a sad way, I mean. It’s fun you mention it, because I was talking with a friend of mine earlier, who is also our class president, Miwa-Chan. That’s why I was late for the start of our meeting today. Among other things, we were discussing how to bring some people from our class together with the rest. Shiori-Chan is one of them.”

  Naoko briefly explained her impressions since she first met Shiori, the way she acted in class, how she looked especially miserable during the numerous times Takumi invited Naoko for the club, her reticence of joining it because of Shiori, Naoko’s long story of hardships with girls in her life, the only time she thought about trying to make Shiori join the fun during a Physical Education class and so on. It’s an abridged, ten minute-long version of the events, but it gave Chiasa a good idea of what was happening.

  “And like Miwa-Chan, I’m just as clueless as to how we could integrate Shiori-Chan to our class,” Naoko revealed, “Shiori-Chan always looks so sad… I’d like to help her, but it seems my mere presence is enough to make her even gloomier, to the point where I regularly go out of my way to avoid her just so Shiori-Chan doesn’t look as bad. But… that’s not going to solve anything, I think. Even Miwa-Chan had already tried to ask if she wanted help, but she always closes herself to everyone. And contrary to others, I don’t even know what she likes! How can I even attempt to start a conversation if she gets afraid of me like she was today? Does Chiasa-Senpai have any idea we could employ to bring her closer to the others?”

  “Well… Not really, unfortunately, Shiori-Chan was introduced to the Drama club last year but even today she’s still a mystery to me,” Chiasa exposed, “Last year she personally asked me to have a very small role on our play, which kind of contradicts her explanation of wanting to become less timid. Now that you mention Takumi-Kun, though, it starts to make sense. She joined us soon after he did and she was usually fond of him. The eyes have it when a person likes another, and her eyes had it. Since Takumi-Kun seems to just have eyes for you nowadays, I can understand it.” After thinking for a moment, she rapidly added, “Even so, Naoko-Chan is not at fault here! Shiori-Chan was already like that ever since she came here, last year. I’m glad to hear you’re interested in helping her. I’ll try to think about something, and you can count me in if you or your class president finds a way to achieve this goal and need any help.”

  Rehearsing the same songs over and over, Naoko was already so used to them she could even have glimpses of thoughts about the matter, though nothing conclusive. She still thought it’d be hard to get close to Shiori if she didn’t even know what were her preferences, and asking seemed a bad idea. Even when Naoko asked Shiori about her favorite kinds of narratives the girl looked troubled. Saying she like stories about friendships and biographies of people that overcame hardships made her hesitate, cry and run away. Recalling that moment over and over, though, Naoko was left with the impression Shiori was ashamed of it, or was afraid of how the others would react. Stories about friendships and overcoming hardships? That looked the opposite of how Shiori acted! She’s always lonely and evading everything and everyone.

  That made Naoko’s mind suddenly click, though. She’s looking for stories with elements she didn’t have in her life! It’s an obvious thing, but it took Naoko quite some time to comprehend. Thinking about it, wasn’t that the same with Rin, who was afraid of boys but had a fall for love stories? Weren’t they both trying to experience through narratives things they were unable to, or at least felt like they were unable to, have in real life? How many people used narratives that way, to live in fiction what they couldn’t do in reality?

  Eventually her mind digressed. If that was the case, would it apply to Naoko herself too? What was she expecting to live with action stories that she was unable to in her life? The girl quickly laughed it out, though. Action stories usually had impossibly exciting settings with superpowers, magic, epic fights and such. Of course she couldn’t do those in real life!

  Though, deep down in her mind, something told her that wasn’t the case. No one was able to do such feats, but not everyone was interested in these kinds of stories either. Still, the girl dismissed those thoughts. They had nothing to do with Shiori and the task at hand, after all.

  The theme about stories hooked Naoko’s attention, though. When she went back to her dorm and after calling her parents, getting her lunchbox ready and so on, she felt before going to bed the desire to play a few games. She also texted Rin about her private teachers for Miwa but also requested the next volume of the manga about the stockbroker girl she lent her.

  In the morning Naoko, accompanied by Miwa, met Rin during the break. Rin handed her a couple of volumes, the entire story – which was not that long, anyway – and the contacts of her private teachers to Miwa. During the free time Naoko helped the always funny Rin getting a little more used to talking with boys, though the girl looked as helpless as ever. After parting ways and while going back to class, Naoko asked Miwa
:

  “Changing subjects, did you already say anything to your parents about the idea of the private classes?”

  “Not yet. I’m a little nervous about it,” Miwa answered unsurely, “I tried to talk with my younger brother about it first, but he downright rejected the idea. If I told my parents about it then, my brother would probably undercut it. Now I’m trying to figure out how to convince him.”

  “Convince him?” Naoko repeated, getting upset, “Convince him?! Tell me, Miwa-Chan: does someone needs to convince you about frequenting classes?! No! That’s not something you get to choose, you’re forced to do it! There’s no convincing. The same way works with your brother: he will have to study in high school someday. Or have a job. These kinds of stuff. He needs to become a responsible person, that’s not a matter he has a choice on! That’s not like you to act as if something that is an obligation needs convincing! You’re always so firm!”

  Nodding, Miwa agreed in a strangely bashful way:

  “Naoko-Chan is right, isn’t she? My firmness at school is, however, limited to the school. I don’t know what happens to me, it’s as if I’m a different person at home. I… admit I have a few difficulties imposing limits to my brother, though I don’t know why.”

  “That’s all the more reason for your parents to have a private teacher taking care of him instead of you!” Naoko replied, taking her friend by surprise. Stopping next to the door of their class, Miwa pondered about it:

  “When Naoko-Chan says all those things it makes complete sense to me, but the moment I have to put it in action, I just… flinch. I forget the reasons I memorized for an hour straight. I can imagine myself negotiating it, but when the real situation presents itself, I simply falter.” In a half joking, half serious way, she added, “I wish I had you with me at home to say all those things to my brother and to my parents! Ha ha…” Looking down, she returned to her old self, “Some class president I am. Unable to be forceful and do what’s best even for my own brother.”

  Her friend looked so distressed that Naoko reluctantly said:

  “Miwa-Chan knows I’m nobody to barge in your home and suggest anything to your parents, but if you want, I can… talk with your brother. Or something? Though I have no idea how much will that help.”

  “Oh, no! Please, don’t concern yourself! I was just kidding.” Miwa told her. Recovering her usual firmness, she assured, “I’ll find a way to do it, don’t worry. Naoko-Chan has already been an enormous help, I’ll do the rest. Somehow. Even so, thanks for the offer!”

  The two went inside their class. Miwa went straight to her seat, but as Naoko did the same, something called her attention. Those two boys who always talked about games and had barely any connections to the rest of the class were involved in an apparently electrifying multiplayer local match using a pair of handheld video game consoles. The way they talked about combos and button sequences involving a direction and a chain of inputs, it’s probably a fighting game. A little because of the talk she had with Miwa the day before about unifying the class and a lot because the way the boys reacted, it looked an awesome brawl, the curious girl zeroed in and silently tried to watch the match. Only as the two saw her attempting to gander it, they paused the game and discreetly tried to hide the screens. Though trying to look casual, both blushed and were clearly nervous.

  “Hey!” excited, Naoko repeatedly touched and separated both index fingers in front of her chest and joyfully petitioned in a cutesy way, “Can Naoko take a tiny-teeny peek?”

  The two exchanged nervous looks. Naoko, getting slightly uncomfortable with the anxiety the boys demonstrated, reassured them:

  “Don’t worry! I know about games! You boys are playing a fighting game, aren’t you?”

  Pale, one of them, with black hair divided in the middle and fringes falling over his forehead, asked in the most self-betraying casual voice ever:

  “Did Naoko-Chan… saw it?”

  “No, I just overheard you guys talking about combos and I though it should be a fighting game, but…” Naoko started to explain herself, but stopped, “Hey, why are you guys so tense?”

  The boy with a messy brown hair tried to lie saying they weren’t tense, but he just lost his breath for a few moments. Seeing Naoko was getting suspicious, the two looked one another. They probably thought about turning it off, but it’d only raise even more distrust. As so, they hesitantly showed the screens while saying, “But… please… let us explain!”

  The moment Naoko looked at the unpaused screen, she recognized the game and understood why the tension. It’s a fighting game with a female-only cast. Despite having arguably solid and fun fighting mechanics, one of them revolved around the tearing of clothes as the fighters got hit or performed a few special attacks. When completely torn the combatants were left in nothing but their underwear.

  The two boys petrified under the void, cold stare of Naoko, with semi-closed, unimpressed eyes. They tried to say something about the game but the girl, intimidatingly resting her hands on her hips, interrupted it in a sour voice:

  “Don’t bother explaining, I know this series. A friend of mine lived behind his father’s game store, I’ve seen games like this being played more times than you boys can imagine.” Though reminding herself she was the one asking for a chance to watch the gameplay, Naoko cut them some slack and merely changed topics, “Okay, let’s pretend I didn’t see that. Do you guys have other games?” Getting eager again, she mentioned, “Like, I have a few! If you guys also have any of those, I can bring them tomorrow! It’s been long since I had a multiplayer match on those, since I’m currently only playing it on my computer!”

  She told them the eight only games she owned for that console, and while it’s a small number, most were full-blown action games or mixed, action-RPG ones. Surprised and enthusiastic, the two confirmed to know about all of them and to also have a few. They had little time to talk before the teacher arrived at class, but the eager Naoko promised the equally eager duo, if not more so, to bring one game to school the next day.

  By the end of classes the two boys came talk to her again, asking if she had some time to talk about the multiplayer games she said she like to play on the computer, but this time she excused herself. Making up her mind, Naoko quickly departed, following the class president that in the last two days looked slightly troubled.

  “Miwa-Chan! Wait up!” Naoko caught up with her in the lockers area by the entrance of the school, “Are you going to pick your brother at his school now? I only need to take a train in one hour, so I kind of have to kill time like always. Can I come along?”

  Surprised, Miwa opened her mouth, but instead of saying anything, merely closed it back and smiled. The two walked out of the gates together, talking, Naoko describing the incident with Shiori in the Drama club last day and Miwa asking about her chat with the two boys. Then the conversation got sidetracked and Miwa started to talk about her hobbies when Naoko asked what did she like to do with all the time she spent at home.

  “Besides studying, you mean?” Miwa asked, and Naoko repeated, “I said “like”! Don’t tell me you actually like to study, Miwa! That’s just wrong! I said what do you like to do in your free time! Come on! Free time is me time! What you do as a hobby, not for being responsible or for others or anything like that!”

  Laughing, Miwa reflected about the inquiry:

  “I like movies. I watch series and soap operas. I read books too. Oh, I also like to cook. What? Don’t look at me like that! It’s true! I enjoy experimenting in the kitchen. You can see sometimes I bring different food to eat during break. That’s me experimenting. Sometimes it ends well, while at others… Well, at least I learn with my mistakes! And it’s fun. I also have a few potted plants at my home that I like to take care. There are miniature fruit trees, some vegetables and some ornamental plants. It’s relaxing to tend to them, and some gives me ingredients for my culinary inventions.”

  “Well, now you’re officially the second person I know that r
eally like to take care of plants, so I can’t say the janitor from my dorm is a one of a kind weirdo!” Naoko joked, and told her friend about Yamamoto-San and his night garden tending habits. While, as usual, Naoko’s retellings leaned on the absurd aspects and made Miwa laugh, the girl was also pleased to hear about that man and the passion he showed for plants.

  Laughing, they arrived at another school, situated at the corner of a block. Many parents waited in front of the gates and lots of children stood in the garden next to the exit. Miwa waved to a group of kids playing and a boy, looking frustrated, bid the others farewell while the rest stared at the other high-school girl nearby. Contrary to Miwa, who was even slightly taller than Naoko, the boy was rather short for his age. Even then, his facial lines, with a thin nose and slender, small chin were very similar to Miwa. While on the girl they made her look very pretty, they gave the boy a somewhat feminine face that, while beautiful, made he look a little fragile too. Even then, his frowning expression was as boyish as it came.

  Raising his eyes from the ground when the boy got close to his sibling, he looked perplexed as he noticed the unknown girl in high-school uniform.

  “Naoko-Chan, this is my younger brother Tamotsu.” Miwa introduced him, “Tamotsu, this is my classmate and friend Yano Naoko.”

  The boy stood still in silent contemplation. Naoko, smiling, greeted him with a high-spirited “Hey there! Nice to meet you!” but the boy, as if still trying to comprehend what was going one, timidly responded “Hi.” His sister immediately scolded him:

  “That’s not how you properly greet new acquaintances! Introduce yourself right now!”

  Looking frustrated, the boy did so against his own will:

  “Hello, my name is Horiuchi Tamotsu. It’s a pleasure to meet you, please be nice to me.”

  “That’s better,” Miwa evaluated severely. Relaxing a bit, she told him “Naoko-Chan is the friend of mine I told you that is an idol.”

  The boy, looking back to Naoko with his quiet, perplexed but reserved countenance, replied a concise “cool!”, not too enthusiastic but a little more admired than before. Naoko smiled back again, though the boy remained silent and resorted to nodding when his sister questioned:

  “Did you remember to put your coat in your bag? Did you fold it? Let me see.”

  Taking his backpack off, Miwa opened it to check if it was there and only then, returning the bag to the boy, proceeded to walk away. After a few steps she said:

  “You’re awfully quiet today. Is it because of Naoko-Chan? Or did you do something bad in school?” The boy denied having done anything wrong, and Miwa proceeded, “Well, Naoko-Chan, he looks timid and well-mannered now, but I can assure you he’s the opposite of it.”

  Naoko, walking on the left, glanced across Miwa to the quiet boy on the right, looking down to the floor. By the way he walked and the look on his face, he was probably just uncomfortable, and since the ambient got a little tense, the girl decided to ask:

  “Soooo, Tamotsu-Kun! What do you like to do?”

  Miwa faced the silent, short boy from above and waited only a few moments before instigating him with a somewhat severe voice:

  “Hey, Tamotsu, Naoko-Chan asked you a question. Tell her what you like to do. Tell her you’re always plugged on your games.” Turning to her friend, she explained with a hint of criticism, “He likes to play video games a lot. That’s the only thing he does the whole day.”

  With no way to ask Miwa in a way that wouldn’t sound offensive to stop criticizing her brother, Naoko decided to try again talking to him about something his sibling wouldn’t be able to speak in his place:

  “Video games? Cool, I like it too! What consoles and games do you have?”

  The boy, glancing over to Naoko and looking a little disbelieving, mentioned a few games he had. To his surprise Naoko looked animated and started talking about them. She didn’t actually like the few games he listed, mostly about races and a few not so amusing action titles, but she enthused over them just to show she knew what she’s talking about. Also, while she didn’t say that to her friend so as not to embarrass her, most of the games the boy named weren’t really for video game consoles, but for smartphones and computer-like devices. Miwa probably didn’t know the difference and simply used the words “video game” like an umbrella term for every kind of electronic, digital games.

  “But do you only have five games?” Naoko insisted, and this time the boy looked more responsive. He told her about a few more and the girl, in an energetic tone, replied a few simple comments about them. She actually didn’t use to play smartphone games too much and hadn’t played many of the ones he told her, but the mainstream game industry had a “problem” that was, in this case, a saving grace: the abuse of franchised games. Each major gaming company had a few flagship series that they milked to the last drops. Since to create AAA games all around the world was very expensive, at least dozens of millions of US Dollars and usually more, and marketing costs alone could easily make up for a large chunk of the budget, to create a successful game was a risky and difficult task. As such, once a new intellectual property was accepted by the public and found followers, companies typically took advantage of the feat to transform a standalone title into a franchise. It allowed them to sell new titles for an already existing fan base, and with a name people already knew about. And while a AAA game could take many years to be done, simpler games could take only a few months and be sold for relatively less profit, but keep the series name in the minds of gamers. Many of the games Tamotsu mentioned, while for smartphones, a platform Naoko didn’t enjoy too much, were installments from well-known franchises for video games and computer devices. Hence the girl’s salvation: she was able to generalize the knowledge she had from the video game counterparts and make broad statements. It’s a cheap tactic, but it worked.

  Soon the boy opened up and Naoko could ask him about actual video game platforms, where she was at home. Miwa discreetly traded positions so that Naoko could stay in the middle of the trio and talk to the boy without obstructions. Amazed a female friend of his sister would know so much about things he also liked, Tamotsu initially asked questions that clearly tried to assess how much the girl knew. Naoko, however, had much more experience than him not only about games, but about conversations, and after each answer she gave, she retorted with a question too. About classic games that served as inspiration for the ones he mentioned, titles that had similar mechanics to the ones from games he thought were so innovative, curiosities about the consoles and so on. Questions she could almost guarantee the boy didn’t know the answers.

  And he didn’t. If she wanted, she could have lied and he wouldn’t even know, but it wasn’t necessary, she knew more than enough about the subject to impress an eleven year-old boy. Soon, instead of trying to test Naoko, Tamotsu was the one trying to prove himself. He made bold statements about games, some of which were incorrect and others just exaggerated, and in both cases Naoko had no qualms to call him on that. The boy still had a mentality that the world was born with him and knew nothing of the many generations of games that existed before him. Even mentioning trivial facts about very well-known games from the beginning of the game industry, back in the decades of nineteen sixties and nineteen seventies was enough to shock him.

  Conversely, his “incredible” facts were either well-known by Naoko or too insignificant for her to care, like about a specific object or creature in a specific level of a dumb game. Naoko, having an uncanny ability to talk with boys, even if kids, didn’t ever minimize his knowledge and kept her fun-loving attitude, though she also didn’t feign any awe about silly trivia and his claptrap. Her data was much better, in any case. And since all he told her was either too basic, incorrect or not that interesting, even though she maintained her cheerfulness and positivity she end up looking a next to impossible girl to impress. A true challenge. This wasn’t calculated by her – or as Rin would say, not consciously calculated anyway – but it had an enthralling effe
ct.

  It was only a brief conversation, since eventually they stopped at a crossing where they’d part ways, and even if they stood there for a couple of minutes, it wasn’t too much. Even so, fifteen minutes was all it took to make Tamotsu go from a quiet boy into a happy chatterbox. With his high-pitched, child voice getting loud with enthusiasm, the boy started talking about his records in his games just when Naoko was about to go, and did so right when the conversation was getting extremely exciting for the boy. It’s the best moment to leave, she knew it. On the downside she’s unable to talk about the private classes to help Miwa like she wanted, but Tamotsu looked so radiant it’d only break the mood. Better let him have some fun and get to like her a little before asking him favors or force him to accept things.

  Looking seriously impressed, Miwa bid her farewell as well and Naoko left for her karate training. Even though the conversation with Tamotsu was certainly not too interesting for Naoko, the girl still felt somewhat satisfied about it. He looked nice. Maybe a little too active, but that was to be expected from a boy his age. Miwa, on the other hand, seemed very severe with him. She probably had some anger stored up, Naoko could feel, though it’s also to be expected. To be unable to go out because of a brother five years younger should be horrible. And to see her parents letting he do as he pleased while bugging Miwa to set a perfect example would be even worse, though since Naoko didn’t know Miwa’s parents, she couldn’t really say how much of this was true and how much was part of her friend’s imagination. Naoko was one to say imaginations could be many times worse than reality. She could only hope that was the case, for she liked Miwa too much to let the girl be imprisoned like that. No one deserved that, much less the first and one of the best school friends Naoko ever had in the capital.

  Her desire was to quickly solve the matter, but it’s of no use to worry about that. She put those thoughts aside using the travel time to read some more of the manga Rin lent her and dove into fantasies of knowing how to make fortunes in the stock market.

  “Must be awesome to be able to hear a two hour show free of charge three days of the week!” a charming boy with stylishly messy black hair who had just finished cleaning the windows said while watching in his phone a video. “And this Naoko girl is actually good! I kind of wish I had free time to spare for the Drama club, Chiasa-Chan. Probably wouldn’t join it just to watch her shows, but it’s a nice bonus! Even unknown idol’s show tickets in a place such as the restaurant from this video can cost three thousand Yen or more for one hour, and that’s not even mentioning what you’re going to eat! I’m sure if you tell others of it there’ll be more people joining the club.”

  “It’s not a show, but a practice session, and we don’t need people joining the Drama club just to watch her rehearsal afterwards,” Chiasa replied while brushing the desks of her classroom, “But that’s not the best part! We’re going to have money for this year’s theater play and even support from Naoko-Chan’s agency to promote it! Along with her own show in our school, of course. It’s going to be a blast! Oh, I’m so excited for this year’s play!”

  In the distance, facing the teacher’s table he scrubbed, a short boy attentively overheard the Drama club president and that guy from the soccer club talk. Katsuro wasn’t smiling, since he only did so when people could see his face, but as soon as he finished cleaning the table he would instantly put on a grin again. He couldn’t help it, it’s automatic. Though at that time the boy almost let a tiny, real smile fold his lips. It’s the first time he heard about Naoko being on a club. And thankfully it wasn’t a girls-only one!

  Though the next instant his happiness faded away. It’s still the Drama club, and he was terrified of theater plays. Along with masks, it’s an extreme fear he had. Actually, not just theater plays, but anything that forced him to present himself in front of others. Why did Naoko had to take part in the Drama club? Why didn’t she choose a club he’d have no problems in enrolling? Why didn’t she choose the calligraphy one, where he’s already a member?!

  Though wasn’t that to be expected from a girl like her? Every time Katsuro saw that girl or heard about her he liked her more. She was kind but distant with him when she introduced herself to him, and she was always upbeat, positive and energetic! He always saw her running down the stairs in the morning! And she probably had lots of things going on in her life, because she always seemed lost in thoughts and never appeared to notice him. She’s usually gentle, happy and very humble, but could also be very scary and cold as a snow woman! She played it tough and was too perfect to be true, he thought, but she was the first girl Katsuro actually felt something deep for.

  That made him ponder what was he doing with his life and if there was a way out of the darkness that surrounded it. When watching her debut videos, he felt captivated. For her, yes, but also for her lifestyle. He never had any interest in the outside world, really, but seeing her perform in such an awesome restaurant with a cool atmosphere and lots of people enjoying the show… it made him go as far as wanting to go out of his room! So far he only did so for school and feared once he graduated, he’d have no reason to leave his bedroom in his parents’ home anymore if he didn’t manage to get to a university as soon as possible.

  Reminding himself that after watching on his room the videos of that girl – so close and so distant at the same time – he looked back to his reflex on the mirror and told himself he’d not commit the same mistakes he’d been making his own life and try all he could to be with her, Katsuro felt a cold wave of fear slipping down his spine. Well, now he knew Naoko was a member of the Drama club, a place he could join too. Only problem was that not only he was too paralyzed by fear to even talk to the girl under normal circumstances, he was also petrified by the idea of getting on a theater play. Then again, it’s as if the prayers he hadn’t done because he doesn’t pray had been heard. Now he had a chance to actually be with her (and a lot of others, unfortunately). Unlike in the stairs during morning, when the girl was always on a rush. A real chance. Only no one said it’d be easy.

  Frozen by the mere idea of getting on a stage, Katsuro lost himself again in thoughts, pondering what he should do.

  Drawing her own handheld console from her bag after eating the contents from her lunchbox, Naoko sat near the two boys. Miwa got closer to look, as did many of her classmates. Though most of the female students cared little or nothing for games, the novelty of the situation made them flock around, loudly cheering for Naoko even though they didn’t understand what was going on and some couldn’t even see the small screens.

  After choosing a free-roaming arena battle game that pitted every player against all the others and a few weak cannon-fodder enemies controlled by the dumb artificial intelligence, the three students got to choose their combatants. Loading previously saved files, each got their usual characters. The two boys, once again hesitating and nervously looking to the crowd that amassed nearby, contrary to their expectations, revealed their avatars while explaining them to Naoko, though in reality saying it out loud so that everyone could hear their oh-so-fair reasons for selecting those characters as their main ones.

  The messy brown-haired one, revealing a small, cute girl in a lilac dress and graciously holding an intricate stave, quickly said, “This character has the highest raw magical output in the game, making her a powerful Damage Per Second dealer, albeit being a glass cannon due to her low physical resistance. Her Area of Effect attacks are also amazing and can stun-lock multiple enemies easily! That’s the only reason why I play as a girl! I swear!”

  “Right…” Naoko said with a non-convinced voice and face. At least most of the people around knew nothing about that game and presumably believed in that lie.

  “As… As for me…” said the boy with the dark hair parted in the middle while vacillatingly presenting a tall, ridiculously well-endowed female fighter with ash-gray hair, crimson eyes and skimpy attire that regally sported a bow, “I just play as her because of the high evasion rate and… h
uh… long-ranged attacks being very versatile. That’s all.”

  “O-okay…” Naoko, getting slightly uncomfortable, quickly chose her own character. A huge, bulky, barbarian-looking man with an enormous dark beard, burning eyes, clad in a sinister black and red spiked armor and holding a pair of colossal hammers eternally on fire. Under the wide-open eyes of everyone around, Naoko eagerly introduced that behemoth with a bloodlust-infused grin, “That’s my fighter! I chose him because he’s so fucking badass! Let the bloodshed begin!”

  In less than ten seconds the two female combatants were being hammered brutally into the air and chased by an onslaught of burning projectiles before falling and being pummeled into submission by fiery flurries of blows. The two boys scratched their heads at the same time while their supposedly vastly powerful and technical fighters had their life bars drained by Naoko as if she drank it from a straw. Smiling cutely, she commented under applauses:

  “Ah, I never get bored of it! It always feels so satisfying! One more round?!”

  While the girls around cheered, many boys started to make fun of the two secluded players, making them look gradually less confident, easy to beat and getting more introverted every round. The worst offender was Sadao, the coward student who liked to importunate and make fun of defenseless people. Naoko, getting worried the two players were closing themselves again in their shells, waited after another victory to defy all the male students who were mocking:

  “Oh, you guys are laughing so much, you must think you’re so much better than them, right?” turning to two particularly irritating guys, one of which the short class clown Sadao, she challenged, “You and you. Here. Against me. Now.”

  From behind his large, freckled nose, Sadao lost part of his smile. The two sad gamers gladly passed their consoles to the hands of the new unwilling challengers, and Naoko focused. Despite she having trampled the two previous boys because their character choices were simply aesthetical and held no real chance despite their attempts to say otherwise, they were actually very good players, and she managed to beat both repeatedly with her overpowered monstrosity. As such she wasn’t too concerned about those newbies, but Naoko nevertheless had a point to sustain and couldn’t afford to lose.

  And she didn’t, like she imagined. Even after giving her new opponents a few moments for them to get used to the controls, she obliterated them.

  “Ha-ha! What were you losers laughing about a few moments before, again?” Naoko laughed loudly right in their faces as soon as she delivered the final blow. It’s a slightly cruel thing to do, but the two well deserved it. Sadao, the sore loser he proved to be, blamed his inexperience in that game, but the other boys and even girls, out of spite for that coward clown or merely following Naoko’s snarly remarks, followed her laughs. Butt hurt, Sadao left the console as well as his partner for another duo Naoko high-spiritedly and cutely (for the most part) challenged.

  “Now, let me see… ah, you two there! Yes, yes, exactly you, Takumi-Kun! Long time no see! Having fun there, right? Let’s see how much you’ll be laughing after you and your happy friend Gorou-Kun face me IN MORTAL COMBAT! Get over here!”

  Two by two, the girl decimated all the male students of the class who had been mocking the original players. The two secluded boys, at first looking ashamed by the supposed public humiliation Sadao started, got back to joy as they watched Naoko rip through all opponents. A few boys who’d previously laugh started to dissipate before their time came, but Naoko asked the girls around to prevent them from escaping and resorted to infallible tactics to make any boy do what she wanted him to:

  “Are you fleeing?! What, so afraid you’re running from a girl?! Are you a man or what?! Are you admitting you’re a sissy? Be a man and come back here! Show me what you’re made of after I’m done with your merry little friends here!”

  Pride was such an easy target and an immediate critical hit on boys, Naoko knew. The break wasn’t even over when she finished felling the two last guys that were laughing. The ones that hadn’t been mocking the secluded duo were spared, but as of the rest, at first it looked a little shameful for the losers to be called on by Naoko in a purposely flippant act, but eventually so many were defeated it got funny. The apparent absurdity of the situation got not only the female students laughing and cheering loudly, but also the male ones. Rooting for their peers and laughing out of disbelief after every round, the boys were taught an important lesson that day: not to make fun of introverted people, and especially not in front of Naoko. Not the most important lesson, which would be how to change character to ones that actually stood a chance against the one the girl played as, but an important lesson nevertheless…

  It’s a different break, but an immensely fun one. Even the two otaku who initially faced Naoko rooted among the crowd – for the girl, of course. It let the two cheer, commemorate and laugh side by side with Miwa, Sayuri and all female students that watched the matches. The pair reclaimed their honor and their handheld consoles with deeply glad faces once Naoko defeated the last opponent and, in an upbeat tone, declared to all:

  “Get rekt! Yup, like I thought! You guys were laughing of Akio-Kun and Hiroto-Kun, but they’re the best of you all. And no lame excuses about they being the owners of their games and such! Guys, assume your “wreckedness”, it’s much better than being sore losers!”

  The only one around who wasn’t laughing or having fun, paradoxically, was the class clown Sadao, so Naoko rated it a ten out of ten, “would play again” type of job well done. Applauded and being awarded yet another informal title on her class, the now Class Beauty Queen MVP Hardcore Gamer girl’s trophy was to get the two otaku boys to open up a little more not only to her, but to the rest of the class too. After the amused crowd dissipated Akio and Hiroto turned ecstatic to Naoko, who immediately apologized:

  “Hey, boys, sorry for putting you all through the trouble. I hope you guys don’t be sad by the jokes at the beginning. The other boys weren’t insulting you two or anything. They’ll also think twice after doing that again, okay?”

  Looking glad, the two bowed slightly, almost a nod. The boy with the black, divided hair, Hiroto, put his console back on his bag and eased the seemingly troubled girl:

  “Thank you, Naoko-Chan is very kind. You’ve nothing to apologize for. It was amazing.”

  “You bet!” the thrilled boy with untidy brown hair and contact lenses, Akio, agreed, “Naoko-Chan is incredible! Granted, your character was also…”

  Akio silenced. Naoko, smiling, satirized:

  “Was what? Come on, tell it! “Overpowered”, isn’t it? You knew, you both knew it, and yet you guys chose female avatars saying it’s because of magic output and agility and whatnot! Ha!” Seeing the two look embarrassed, the girl calmed them with a happy face, “Guys, it’s okay to play as girls if you want! Heck, I play as a huge, hammer-wielding barbarian man from hell! I’m not going to judge you two or anything! Just don’t make dumb excuses for it! I’d respect a guy much more if he actually said he chose his female avatar just because he thought she looked smoking hot! It’s not like you guys are fooling me and I’m still here, not judging you two, so just drop the acts, okay?”

  Though looking even more embarrassed, the two exchanged looks and chuckled about their own faces. Hiroto, the dark-haired boy, changing subjects, asked in a shy and roundabout way, sometimes correcting himself as if speaking with his own mind:

  “Uh… Naoko-Chan? Speaking of games, we were discussing… like, me, Hiroto-Kun and two others who play RPG with us… And we were discussing that conversation we had the other day about RPGs, remember? The one Naoko-Chan said she had never played a tabletop RPG and wanted to… I mean, f-from what I… we understood Naoko-Chan appeared to… to know how to… No, not to know how to play, because Naoko-Chan probably knows it already, at least theoretically, but, ah… When Naoko-Chan mentioned, from what we understood, that she’d be interested in playing it. Remember? And we were discussing it, and… well, our group only has three p
layers. Well, four people, but I’m the Game Master, so I don’t really count as a player. And many adventures are made for a four-player party in mind, so…”

  Seeing the teacher standing by the class door to talk with another instructor before coming in and the girl getting ready to go back to her seat, Akio hesitantly but quickly invited her:

  “We thought, maybe Naoko-Chan would like to, you know, give it a try… or something? You know a lot about games, we can see it, so… What… what do you think? Would you like to…? You know, we can teach you and… No, not teach, but… You can play RPG with us… if you want. It’s okay if you don’t want too! Just… an invitation, but…”

  With no time left, Naoko smiled and happily agreed in concise sentences:

  “Sure, I’d love to! Thanks! I’m a bit short on free time, but after classes we talk about when we could arrange a play session, okay?”

  Returning quickly to her seat, Naoko left the two boys awestruck. They weren’t the only ones excited, though: she had no idea how she would make it work with her full agenda, but she was eager to try it. Despite the anxious way of Hiroto, the boy who would be the Game Master, from what little she knew about tabletop RPGs it looked like a fun experience she wanted to have.

  After the end of the classes Naoko wanted to hear from Miwa how her situation was, but before it she quickly told Akio and Hiroto she had a full schedule on that week, though they could try to arrange a play for on the next. In fact, it wouldn’t make too much of a difference since her Saturdays and Sundays would be full anyway, and she had clubs and dojo classes during week, but she felt bad about saying that to the two secluded boys who looked so exhilarated. Postponing taking this decision, she left for the Drama Club, but not before inquiring Miwa if she had any progress in her endeavor.

  “I haven’t talked with my parents yet, since I still couldn’t find a way to do so without my brother interfering,” she revealed. Naoko raved back, though in a joking way, “Miwa-Chan, for the love of all that is good, stop postponing taking this decision! You look just like me, who just postponed a decision I had to make! Stop following my examples! What’s the excuse now?”

  Giggling for a moment, Miwa stated:

  “For as much as my parents would comprehend all those arguments, they’re just too soft with my brother. They always end up doing what Tamotsu wants. If my brother refuses himself to have private classes, my parents will most likely comply. Things are like this in my home.”

  “Oh… I’m sorry to hear that. That’s bad,” Naoko told Miwa, who contrary to her speech, in fact looked cheerful, “It’s okay. Also, Naoko-Chan, my brother was fascinated about you! I’ve never seen him as excited as after we’ve gone our separate ways yesterday. Well, I have, but you get the idea. He couldn’t stop asking questions about you. He even looked for your fan club when we got home.” Laughing, Miwa happily told her, “You should have seen his sad face when he found out only people aged thirteen and older could subscribe! Ha ha!”

  Enjoying the conversation with a smile until the last bit, Naoko acidly pestered:

  “Hey, Miwa-Chan? Why did the part of your speech where you got the most happy was when telling me your brother got sad?”

  “No reason at all!” Miwa responded in an upbeat way, “In any case, he asked me if you’d be coming again today with me to pick him, and of course I told him you wouldn’t. And he got disappointed again! Haha! Anyway, that’s only to say he liked you a lot. He looked eager to see you again and said not even his friends know as much about games as you do. I can’t recall the last time he spoke with me for so long. I don’t get it how you’re able to do it, Naoko-Chan! First my brother and now those two boys from our class! Is video games such a universal topic for conversations?!”

  Trying not to look fazed by her friend’s curious reactions to her brother’s frustration, Naoko nodded in agreement, though relativizing it:

  “It is for most of the boys, anyways. It’s not as fail-proof with adult men, though: the older they are, the less they tend to be interested in it, or at least less enthusiastic about it, with some exceptions. With girls and women it’s also a mixed bag, but in my humble experience it won’t do you nearly as much good as it will with boys. Maybe it’s just me who was unlucky enough to only ever meet a handful of girls who liked it. I know there are a lot out there, but I had no luck in finding that many. So, not really a universal topic, but if you like games, it won’t do any harm to bring up the subject either, especially with eleven year-old boys. Or game otaku, whatever.”

  “Still, it’s pretty useful,” Miwa maintained, “I’d like to know about it. Or rather, I’d like to like it. This way I’d at least have something in common to talk about with my brother. I suppose Naoko-Chan would make a far better older sister than me. In less than fifteen minutes you already made him like you more than he probably likes me.”

  “Or I’d be the exact opposite of you, just play with him and not make him do anything he had to and ultimately be a horrible older sister!” Naoko gave her friend an alternate perspective to cheer her up, though Miwa didn’t look sad in the slightest despite all she said. It’s hard for Naoko to tell if she should be glad or not by it, but the girl opted to use the opportunity to insist, “But since he liked me so much, I think we can use it to our advantage! Or… your advantage.”

  Returning the smile, Miwa joyfully admitted:

  “If I were to bet on one person who can do it, I’d bet on Naoko-Chan! I should tell you to not bother, but… since we started talking about me having some free time, I dream with it every night and have gone as far as make plans of what I’d do with two hours for myself every day from Monday to Friday! So… I know it’s very egotistical of me to ask this, but…” Miwa bowed reverently and sustained it while asking, “Please, can you help me achieve it, Naoko-Chan? Or at least try, it’s alright all the same.”

  Both because helping her friend made her happy and to break that awkward moment, Naoko immediately responded:

  “Stand up already, there’s no need for it, Miwa-Chan! Of course I can help you, and of course I will! Wasn’t that the plan to begin with?”

  Straightening up her posture, Miwa looked very animated and optimistic.

  “Thank you, Naoko-Chan! I don’t think I remember we having a plan, but having you by my side fills me with hope!”

  “Don’t mention it!” Naoko replied with an also energetic disposition, “Though Miwa-Chan is right about the plan part. Okay! So we’ll make a plan!” She uttered a few words in a lower voice before reverting it to normal, “Only I’m kind of late again for the Drama club meeting, so we’ll have to do it tomorrow, but! We’ll make a plan! Let’s call it Project… ah… Project Freedom!”

  Clapping lightly, Miwa agreed, albeit with a small note:

  “It’s settled, then! Thanks, Naoko-Chan!... Though did we really need to name our plan? Not that I’m complaining! It’s a nice name! Sounds like an idol band placeholder name. I couldn’t expect any less from you!”

  “Ah… does it?” Naoko inquired, looking puzzled, and Miwa confirmed, “Yes. I thought you did that on purpose! You know? The way lots of idol bands, before getting a final name, receive a placeholder one that often starts with “Project” in it?”

  For a while Naoko looked even more puzzled. Miwa, also getting lost, questioned:

  “Huh… Naoko-Chan… didn’t know that? But… I thought you… as an idol… would…”

  “Miwa, let me tell you something,” Naoko clarified it, “Last time my producer asked me a question about idol things I confused a band with a Russian assault rifle. First lesson you need to learn: all I know is how to dance and sing my few songs, don’t ask Naoko questions about idol-related stuff. You probably already know more about it than me. Just don’t tell that to others.” Leaving Miwa baffled, Naoko wrapped it up, “Anyway, let’s discuss our plan tomorrow! Let’s make it Plan… No, Operation! Operation, ah… Operation Free Miwa-Chan for Great Justice!”

  That was a soli
d idea! To make a plan! Now all they needed was an actual plan, but Naoko wasn’t concerned about such trifle detail. She left in high spirits for the Drama club, rushing into the theater and asking the people already on the stage for forgiveness for being late. The club president Chiasa, calming her down, said:

  “Don’t worry, Naoko-Chan, we hadn’t start yet. I’ve just introduced to everyone our new club member, my classmate Fukuda Katsuro.”

  As Chiasa uttered that name and gesticulated with her hand in the direction of a short boy lost among the crowd, his already large and edgy grin grew even bigger, his non-smiling eyes wide-open turning to look at the girl with evasive, rapid movements. Naoko froze, shivers descending from her nape down the spine the instant the girl saw her creepy, snake-faced neighbor. His posture was completely retracted, maybe even more than Shiori, and a vein pulsated on his partially hidden, sweating forehead. He wasn’t even able to move properly, his muscles – or whatever little musculature he had – awfully tense.

  Just as him, Naoko was on edge during all session. Notwithstanding his overwrought smile being spine-chilling by itself, the boy often sent unintentional glances over to her, which he immediately corrected while trying to act casual. Of course, she could be getting paranoid and be imagining things, but her gut feelings were almost always spot-on about those kinds of incidents. After a series of relaxation exercises which Naoko was hardly able to do and a few other teachings, Chiasa continued prompting people to talk about narrative ideas for plays, and while Naoko had many concepts in her mind, she wasn’t able to express them. The thought of attracting attention to her while speaking and having Katsuro look to her was too much.

  She’d never noticed how intense the dark circles under that boy’s eyes were. He’s either having bad sleeping patterns or she just never had the displeasure of facing him under good lighting conditions. The only time she’s forced to do so, during the laundry incident, the place was too bright and the girl too afraid to see anything. Now she’s only too afraid. The boy also couldn’t even say a word during the meeting and every interaction he had to do with others was artificial and calculated. Even then, it’s abysmal.

  Once the meeting was over, Naoko suddenly remembered she’d be staying there rehearsing for two hours and usually people only stayed to watch for a few minutes. Her mind immediately began fantasizing worst-case scenarios. What if she’s left alone with him? He, watching her from the empty auditorium. What could he do? Or even worse: what if, when she finished practicing and returned exhausted to the dark backstage bathroom to change, she raised her eyes from the faucet only to find his creepy smile from behind her in the mirror? Desperate, she called Chiasa to the backstage, and as the woman started inquiring if she had any idea about how to bring Shiori closer, Naoko interrupted her:

  “No, not yet. Listen: please, please, will Chiasa-Senpai stay to watch my rehearsal until the very end today?” Noticing the girl was upset and concerned, the club president asked what had happened and Naoko told her about Katsuro since she first met him and how he stood by the stairs of her dorms every day. Chiasa, listening attentively, muttered:

  “I know him, he studies in my class for years now. Yes, he’s… somewhat strange, I know. But I can assure you he’s fairly harmless despite arguably looking scary. He just lives in his own world. In class all he does is to draw. I understand your concerns and I know it’s no use telling you not to be afraid, but trust me, he’s not the threat he seems to be. At first I was scared too, but you get used to him, that’s just how he is. He smiles when he’s nervous, and as far as I know, he’s very afraid of people. It’s a miracle he wanted to join our Drama club! I thought he’s terrified of theaters!”

  “Please, Chiasa-Senpai…” distressed, Naoko begged, “…stay with me today! Just today! I’m sorry for troubling you! I’m… just… I’m afraid to be alone! Sorry! But he lives close to me! I know he waits for me every day in the morning! I just know it! Please…”

  Seeing the girl was almost about to cry, Chiasa reluctantly agreed to stay with her that day. It gave Naoko some respite, but she’s still too scared about the next week to think. Her desire was to get away and never come back again to the Drama club, but she needed the precious hours of rehearsal. The club president, though assenting, requested in a serious voice:

  “If you need it so much, I’ll stay with you today. But, Naoko-Chan? Let me ask you a favor too: please give Katsuro-Kun a chance. I know he’s strange. I know he’s scary. I personally don’t like him too much and I don’t know anyone who does. You don’t need to tell me that. But please, all I ask is that you give him a chance at our club.”

  Unwillingly remembering her horrible imagination about the smiling boy appearing behind her on the female backstage restroom’s mirror, Naoko shook negatively her head, giving a step back. The club president, getting worried, pleaded in an unusually grave voice, mentioning things that haven’t even occurred to Naoko yet, but probably would eventually:

  “Please! I know if you get so scared and go away we’ll have problems like we did last years. Okay? I know it. We need you here. For all the support your agency gives to us, for all the promotion, and because I can see you’d be an incredible actress. You cheer the others up, you’re… we just need you. We like you. I wouldn’t risk losing you, and if I was put in the spot of choosing between you and Katsuro, I’d… I’d choose you. There, I said it. But… please. Please, Naoko-Chan, I ask you… I beg you: please give Katsuro-Kun a chance! I know him for years! There’s nothing to fear from him! I’d personally take responsibility if anything occurs!”

  Upset, Naoko sighed. Thinking while facing the club president’s concerned face, the girl weighted the risks. She’d not yet thought about her importance to the Drama club before. To know Chiasa would choose her over the boy was slightly reassuring, but her fears only worsened when thinking even that wouldn’t stop the boy if he really had ill intentions. So what if she expelled him if he attempted something? He’d already have made what he wanted by then. Her desperation grew so strong that, in a moment, she could clearly see herself facing the terrifying assailant in the bathroom. The boy trying to grab her. She, exhausted, reacting. Only, even tired, she was still stronger and taller than him. A chop to the neck, a bite, a punch to the plexus, anything, and once the boy flinched she could blind him. Hit him below the belt. Pull his head against the sink. Though what if he was armed with a blade or something? She’d need something to also protect herself too. Maybe… she’d need to conceal a metal baton or something similar somewhere. In her footwear, perhaps. As a decoration on her gloves. Whatever.

  Everything changed. Her fear gave in to some sort of calmness, though not really. She’s still tense, only she could imagine scenarios and prepare accordingly. There was a big problem in the president’s speech which the scared and irritated girl pointed out in a slow pace to get the message clear, aggravated and without the least remorse:

  “Chiasa-Senpai, if I’m left alone with him during a common rehearsal day and I, after draining my energies away dancing for two hours, open the door of the toilet of that dark woman’s restroom backstage only to find him waiting for me with a knife or something, would you take responsibility for whatever happened? And, more importantly, what would I care if you did?”

  Too shocked to even seem outraged, Chiasa vacillated:

  “Naoko-Chan! That’s…! He’d never…! That’s… not going to happen!”

  “How can you be so sure?” Naoko questioned, gradually transitioning from looking scared to looking scaring, her eyes getting ice-cold and her demeanor shifting, looking calm, collected and, for whatever reason, a little bit dangerous. Her eyes had something in it that was past fear, like if the girl was actually living in the moment of her frightening imagination and became capable of doing anything to protect herself. Anything. Chiasa had never seen Naoko look like that, and the way the girl suddenly changed in the dusk of the backstage was intimidating. Coupled with her straight questions and hard to bend
arguments, the otherwise cheerful, humble and easygoing girl got frigid, calculating and imposing, her eyes borderline cruel, but in a subtle way that couldn’t be called on. Getting extremely uncomfortable and left speechless, the club president unconsciously turned a little to face the light that came from the stage through an opening on a side of the backstage.

  “Y-You… are right…” she said hesitantly, looking scared as if she’d seen a ghost, “I… will be… with you during your… rehearsals.” The plural on “rehearsals” was nice, she had to admit. Naoko, not really comprehending why the club president got so scared out of nowhere but trusting it’s because of the grim scenario she painted, and not really caring for Chiasa at the time, left to the restroom to change. There she analyzed the whole place, the three toilet cabins in front of a large mirror and three sinks. There was nothing to be used as a weapon there, but Naoko still had her school bag. She could throw it on Katsuro if he appeared, provided the shock didn’t make her faint first. She also had her lunchbox inside her bag, and her tiny, retractable umbrella.

  She suddenly had an idea: an umbrella! It could be useful, provided she found a sturdy one to buy. It’s such an obvious choice of object resembling a sword or a club that she’d be surprised if no one sold modified or sturdier-than-normal umbrellas on the internet.

  The presence of Chiasa during the rehearsal got her calmer, but Naoko was already strangely chill. Previously she thought she’d be unable to so much as appear onstage in her attire for gigs, but not only was she serene about it, Katsuro didn’t faze her in the slightest. True to her hunch, the boy stood there during her whole practice session, along with the increasingly concerned Chiasa, but Naoko managed to perform as usual. In fact, better than usual.

  Previously she focused on herself and forgot the existence of others until she’s fine with it, but at that time it’s different: she sang and danced while fully aware of the others, but not caring in the slightest for anyone else. What others would think was not a concern. For the first time she really felt that even if the auditorium was full, she’d still be able to act in the most carefree way in the world.

  Her chest felt a little off, as if there was a hot knot inside her, not unlike what she felt when food appeared to get stuck midway. Still, it wasn’t nearly as intense and the girl only briefly noticed it before forgetting. Despite the little nuisance, she never felt so good on a stage. Like she’s in control of everything. As if she’s performing for a pair of bunnies or tree stumps. Irrelevant. Like what happened in the laundry, she noticed that whenever she looked directly to Katsuro he got even more tense and smiling harder, while sinking in his seat. Even though she’d noticed it before, only then Naoko could fully comprehend how much the boy looked scared. She could smell his anxiety, a cold fear of sorts, from miles away, and it’s such a delightful aroma.

  Every time she made a pose he blushed. Whenever she sang looking at him he evaded his eyes after a brief contact. She found out she could paralyze the boy by merely glaring at him. It undid any fears she had left. By the end of the rehearsal it’d become almost a pastime, toying with him to see if she could force him to leave or have a heart attack. He looked close to both.

  Even after going backstage and getting in the dreadfully dimly lit bathroom she’s still okay. In fact, she almost wished Katsuro came to visit her. That way she could end her worries, though a certainty he wouldn’t do that grew on her. A gut feeling he’d not attempt anything. He’s too afraid to even look at her face. She couldn’t imagine if she’d be as confident if Chiasa wasn’t there, but she was. And she would be on every future rehearsal.

  Naoko understood she could force things to be her way on the Drama club, and they would be. It was the club president’s fault Katsuro was accepted on it, so she’d answer to protecting Naoko from the results of her stupid decisions even if it meant Chiasa would be losing six hours every week watching the same songs over and over again. Either this or expelling Katsuro, it was the club president’s call.

  When she left, Chiasa accompanied her to the school gates, though being only the three, Katsuro wound up tagging along. In the two hours she had to wait the club president probably had a lot of time to create her own scary fantasies about what Naoko had said and of what could happen to the Drama club and to its representative if a girl, and on top of it, an idol was assaulted by a boy while rehearsing. Even worse: in a situation that the victim had already foreseen, and the club president had taken too lightly. Chiasa looked desperate, contrary to Naoko, who was cool as snow. While they walked around the school, through moonlit gardens, to get to the front gate everyone stood in silence, though only Naoko looked okay with it.

  When they arrived at the gate the club president glanced nervously to Naoko, knowing the two would have to walk one block to reach their dormitories. It’s a bad idea to let Katsuro in the Drama club, she knew it now. Damn, why did the boy had to join them exactly now, after things were finally settled thanks to Naoko’s presence and her agency?

  Chiasa’s heart abruptly skipped a beat and her pupils contracted when she asked herself that. Katsuro, who had multiple chances to join them years before, was joining them just now, after the stunning girl he lived close by decided to do the same, the same day Chiasa told one of her male classmates about the idol’s importance to the club and he decided to tell everyone about it. Also, she was very perceptive, and could see Katsuro acted a little differently when close to Naoko. The boy Chiasa knew was always daydreaming and never interested in his surroundings, but when near the idol he looked attentive. His eyes had it in them.

  Unlike any other person when smiling genuinely, his eyes never expressed the happiness his mouth tried to emulate, but they weren’t opaque and distant as usual that night. The more she thought about it, the more the club president got a bad feeling about that. At first she’d been very outraged when Naoko said those things about a person Chiasa knew for years, but the more she witnessed Katsuro behave unlike his usual self, the more she got preoccupied Naoko could have actually noticed that before her.

  Looking apologetic and worried to Naoko, Chiasa reluctantly asked:

  “So… are you two… going already?”

  Eternally smiling, though leaning in a way that created a small hump whenever Katsuro was close to the idol, he glanced over to Naoko. The girl, in an abnormally serene mien that was even more impressively on par with her long strides performed in a tranquil gait, refused:

  “No. I’m going already,” watching Katsuro’s already forced grin falter, she calmly said, not caring if it’d disappoint the boy, “I have clear instructions of my producer not to be seen walking together alone with a boy. Much less in strange situations the journalists of scandal tabloids could mold to create distorted stories. And to walk alone at night with him would be the end of my career if I’m unlucky enough to meet a paparazzi that takes a picture of me now, only to use it against my agency years later. Forget it, I won’t take the risk. I’m going by myself.”

  Though looking disheartened, the boy, in a whispering voice, respectfully agreed in a way that, for once, felt honest:

  “I-I understand it! I’d hate to cause… Yano-San any trouble!” Hesitating, he asked, looking embarrassed, “Ah… can I… just… ask Yano-San… a question? Did… Yano-San enjoyed… any of the… the manga I… I…”

  Naoko let the boy stutter for a while, amusingly noticing he actually looked a bit funny when afraid. Which was the whole time when close to her. Also, recalling the Drama club session, he looked so terrified it’s now a bit hilarious to remember. Maybe Chiasa was right: he’s nothing to worry about. Yes, Naoko would still be taking precautions, but after being so afraid because of that boy, it’s nice to watch him getting petrified too. If he’s like that it’s okay, she could see herself giving Katsuro a chance, like Chiasa requested. As long as the club president acted her part of the deal and watched all of her rehearsals like she promised, Naoko would at least have some entertainment.

  The fun of w
atching Katsuro stutter out of fear or humbleness – to remind someone of a present given was a delicate art – grew old quickly, though. Getting annoyed, Naoko responded exactly as things came to her mind, not stopping to think if it’s verbally abusing or not:

  “Stop stammering already, it gets on my nerves! No, I didn’t read any so far, I’m busy. I don’t even have Saturdays or Sundays free, that’s when I’m working, and I always come back home at night, exhausted and with lots of things to think about. I have to practice for my work and study for school while also finding ways to babysit people like Shiori-Chan and others. I’ve no time to read manga. Now if you excuse me.”

  Departing without looking behind, Naoko went back to the dormitory building. The janitor was taking care of his stupid plants like always, and people crowded the laundry since the weather was bound to change the next day. It’s only while taking a shower and getting to relax under the warm water jets, in lieu of a bathtub, that her cold stare finally subsided.

  Thinking about how fantastic it felt to be on a stage not caring about anyone’s opinions, she began to reflect on all that had occurred. Of everything she said and every thought she had. It started to feel odd. Of course, she’s afraid of Katsuro and it felt somewhat good to see he was also scared of her during the practice session, but to actually enjoy letting him stutter for a while? The more Naoko thought about how much fear a person needed to feel to make him stutter, the more it felt cruel. And, true to what Chiasa told her about the boy being harmless, he hasn’t done anything, though Naoko couldn’t say if it’d have been different if the two were alone during the rehearsal. Though, judging from the way he looked frightened to even face her and blushed whenever she posed while staring at him, it seemed hard to conceive. Still possible, but the more her mind was put back at peace, the more it seemed a far-fetched possibility.

  The mere thought of having him appear close to her on the backstage bathroom was maddening, but yet again, her imagination was pulling the strings. When Naoko told him she’d be going alone because of her job, Katsuro looked honest and respectful enough. As Naoko recalled those things she gradually came to worry about how oddly she’d acted. It started to make sense why Chiasa had that surprised and intimidated semblance on her face moments after she told her about her importance to the Drama club. It’s about when she asked Naoko to give Katsuro a chance.

  Breathing deeply, Naoko felt embarrassed about all that had occurred. Her chest suddenly felt slightly numb when, to her surprise, she discovered the warm knot inside it, that she’d already forgotten, was suddenly gone. It left behind just a tingling feeling that soon went away. Only then tranquility was really restored, and Naoko could notice how different it was from the sensation she’d previously called calmness. Back then it was a state of vigilance, controlled and attentive. It was not unlike when she played first-person shooter games and waited patiently behind a sniper rifle’s scope for a newbie target that posed no threat. She knew the enemy would eventually come under the crosshair, it’s just a matter of waiting. Tense but patient, passive-aggressive. And that was how her mind worked at that time, Naoko began to remember. After she got so horrified and dragged away by her imagination she started to reflect on what she could do to protect herself, and her fears were supposedly gone, giving place to a strategic way of thinking. But her fears, now she could see, weren’t really gone at the time, she’d just found in herself the will to do anything to get through that imaginary situation. Like a cold rage.

  Reflecting back, while her ability to perform onstage without a care in the world and do so in a better way than she ever did left Naoko amazed and curious to learn how she was capable to achieve such incredible mental state that could certainly help her a lot, the rest made her so worried and ashamed she couldn’t even bear to reminisce about it too much. And even if her stage performance left even her impressed, she couldn’t feel any joy from being there except for the fun she had frightening Katsuro. It’s like in that day in the laundry when she briefly asked herself why she was so afraid of that short and frail boy, despite him having the smile of a psycho, but not of that violence-prone Daiki, who until then was still part of a gang. Once again Naoko felt that Katsuro, easily frozen in place by his dreads, was less of a threat than another person to which the girl wasn’t afraid of, but probably should. Only this time it’s herself.

  Cringing, Naoko left the shower trying not to remember anything from that night, but the harder she tried, the more her mind forced her to face all the things she said. The way she left Chiasa and Katsuro to go back to the dorms. Even the way she’s annoyed by Yamamoto-San when she saw the janitor tending with love to the potted plants. It’s good to be back to her usual self, though Naoko was left a little concerned. Not about Katsuro as much as she was about herself. All she wanted was to pretend nothing had ever occurred, but since that was impossible, she’d have to make amends.

  Initially all she thought about was Chiasa, but as she left the bathroom, her eyes instinctively moved towards the pile of manga Katsuro has gifted her, still inside its meticulously made wrapping and forgotten half-opened in a corner. Just imagining a hypothetical situation where the boy had given that to her personally while grinning a huge and psychotic smile got her tense, but it’s nevertheless a thoughtful present. Even Rin said so. And even though Naoko wasn’t too interested in those particular manga stories, it wasn’t Katsuro’s fault. She couldn’t deny he’d tried to satisfy her tastes with not one or two, but ten different narratives, and told her he could lend her any subsequent chapters she so desired.

  He tried too hard, that’s for sure, and Naoko was afraid to know to what extents he could go or what he could do if turned down. He had the face of a madman, after all, and no one could get inside his mind to assess if he posed danger to others or not. If it wasn’t for this, though, Katsuro would probably not cause her the intense aversion he did. He’d still be a short, weak, nervous and fidgety boy, certainly not attractive qualities, but she wouldn’t flee from him like a fish swims away from a smiling piranha, no matter how small it is.

  Chiasa’s plead started to make sense, though. The club president, who knew him for years, asked Naoko to give Katsuro a chance. Well, Naoko felt she owed one to both. Not a chance so Naoko could pester him like she previously thought, but a real chance. She only hoped not to regret it.