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[SirAston]

"... Man."

After all this, after trying to make sense of all that once the initial rush of excitement has died down, he just slumped to the floor, transforming back mid-fall, sitting on the ground.

"I don't know if I should look forward to tomorrow's explanation or not."

Seitaro simply waves towards the others guys eagerly butting themselves into Misaki and him, introducing themselves as senpais. Even if Araki's shout did befuddle him for a hot minute.

"So, cool to meet you and all, and I bet y'all neat dudes, but I haven't signed any contract yet. A bit early for the kouhai-senpai relationship yet, ain't that right?"
"Hoooooowever... The very least is to repay the kindness of introducing yourselves. My name is Imaeda Seitaro. I'll think of a codename if I decide to join your monster hunter idol troupe."

[Solymr]

: Huh? How'd you get your Mirages then?

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Maybe I did jump the gun a little early; after all, the idol life isn't for everyone - there's a lot of rehearsals, voice training, the schedule, and of course a lot more fighting than you'd expect..."

Nagisa laughed quietly.

"I'd understand if either the Amanojaku or the performing aspect is giving you cold feet. All the same, it's rare to meet someone with the potential, so I'm a little excited."

[Twinwolf]

"Oh, the Mirages kinda just flew out of nowhere and stopped a monster from killing us. I grabbed mine and did what felt right. It was like I was sort of vibrating in tune with it or something, no clue where those words came from."

"Right, I only met a couple of you- Mukawa Misaki, good to meet you!"

Miyuki would absolutely be able to tell that Misaki had not yet processed the 'idol' part because of how tired she was.

[SirAston]

"It was... just there. Pretty much."
"Giving me trouble. Again."

Seitaro waves Nagisa's words away.

"Oh, I'm not afraid of that. I'm no stranger to performing for an audience. But you could say that I prefer being indie. My voice, unfiltered, no need to consider to appeal to the masses, or marketing studies, or the silly delusions of directors who haven't seen fans from less than fifty feet but still believe they're the veteran experts of what people want."
"Maybe I should call myself Mirage Independent? ☆"

[IamanElfCollaborator]

At Miyuki's question, Freydis pauses. She looks to Minako briefly, before back at Miyuki.

"I need to confirm a few things before I feel comfortable explaining. Tonight had more than a few oddities and I'm trying to make sense of them myself. Tomorrow, I'll share my findings with your team as well."

"If you have any further questions, please ask Shirogane. She will be more than equipped to answer your questions for now. If you excuse me, I have...well, frankly, an urgent visit to the local coffee shop to make, and a night of results to go through."

With that, Freydis leaves the scene, disappearing through a mass of approaching emergency services and fleeing civilians.

Seitaro overhears a nearby person yelling "But I AM Imaeda Seitaro!". Should he look over, he sees a man arguing with who appears to be venue staff members, pointing at his driver's license.
...
Tsubasa and Hikari transform back to normal, one after the other.

Tsubasa exhales. He examines Fragarach, now currently in the form of a necklace with a green diamond-like gem.

"Honestly...I have no clue how I even became a Mirager, but..."

He leaves the rest unsaid as he stares at Hikari, who is tilting her head at Brisingamen, now in the form of a heart-shaped gem, before setting it into her hair. Something about her song...

The feeling of the wind beneath him, the feeling of her song, all of it was still reverberating through Tsubasa, and he didn't know how to handle it.

"..."
"I'd be honored to work with you, Araki-senpai, Fujibayashi-senpai, but...is it really okay for me to become an idol?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

Nagisa answered Hikari first.

"Is there a reason it wouldn't be? You have the potential and the drive. You at least deserve a chance. We'll support you every step of the way."

Next, he turned to Seitaro.

"I understand your feelings; I used to be a busker myself. But Javier - all of Fire Soul - is different. At least give us a chance before you write us off as just a bunch of empty suits."

[Solymr]

Araki scratched his head before answering.

: Dunno what you mean by "okay for you"...  Don't you just want to be? You took the audition, didn't you?

: I dunno what you think this is like, but we weren't that different that long ago. It's not like it was a hard choice between music and Mirager... Javi made it possible for us to be both.

[SirAston]

"Eh. Not all of you. This Mirager business ain't something you can buy with money after all, I think. But... this operation also needs to get financed somehow. I get that idol business makes the most sense since, well, I experienced first-hand how important song is to this. Still..."

"But I AM Imaeda Seitaro!"

Ignoring all the exhaustion in his body, the young man jumps up straight, looking in the direction of the voice.
"Uh, what?! Okay, sorry, but give me a second. This is quite something now."

He approaches the aggravated person and the venue staff member. First confused, but now getting a hunch of what's happening.
Maybe that one mystery nagging at the back of his head gets solved tonight after all, to a degree.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

"I am Imaeda Seitaro! I bought the backstage tickets! See, right here! When are we getting a refund?"
"Sir, please understand, we can't refund you right this instant, and someone by your name already claimed the ticket..."
"What?! No! I AM Imaeda Seitaro!"

The annoyed man points at his phone, revealing an email receipt with the name 'Seitaro Imaeda' on it. It is then that Seitaro remembers that his name was in English characters on the ticket, whereas the person's name is the same as his, but with different kanji.

It would seem that his presence tonight was truly a coincidence.
...
"Eh? But...didn't I fail the auditions? I...well, Miki told me it was for finding new Miragers, and I didn't pass..."
"Uh, I don't think that matters right now, Minase. I wasn't supposed to be a Mirager either, but...here I am."

Hikari thinks carefully.

"..."
Everything in Hikari's heart wanted her to say "Yes".

"If you ride the wind, you can fly. If you can fly, you can sing."

Hikari didn't remember where she'd heard that before, but those words had been in her head as long as she could remember. Tonight had been so dangerous, yes. It had been wild and insane. She'd gone from seeing her idols to fighting for her life against Amanojaku.

But she'd finally achieved her wish. She'd sung with Kumon Azusa. And now she was being offered a chance to keep doing it. She had to fight, too- and she was afraid, so afraid - but...

She looks back at Tsubasa, who was still examining Fragarach. Something about how he soared upon the wind...he'd looked so carefree, though he didn't know how to fly. It was like he belonged up there.

Hikari had felt that too. She belonged on the stage. She'd wanted to be on the stage all her life. This was what she wanted.

She clenches her fists, and nods, trying to looks as resolved and fearsome as a petite 19-year old girl could. Which is to say, not very. Still, the effort was to be respected.
"I'll definitely be back tomorrow and...and I'll join Galactic☆Fairy and sing with everyone!"
"Attagirl. You and Mukawa...assuming she's so kind as to join us, you two'll be interesting. And Blueberry there...well, maybe he might be some use out here, no?"
"Hey, didn't Minase and I just save your asses from that mysterious lady like two minutes ago? Don't count me out."

Azusa addresses the comments about Javier.
"Yeah, the Bossman's not the average exec. He used to be a trendsetter himself, back in the day when he was still a frontman for a band. He was the only one who'd touch me after I uh....the thing that I did."

[Twinwolf]

"Hey, Hikari, if anybody is up to be an idol it's you. I've known you for like an hour and you're practically radiating the energy!" Misaki chimed in in support.

Actually saying the word idol seems to have been what it took for Misaki to process what was being said.

"...Wait oh crap the idol stuff applies to me too. I was joking about the whole 'sisters in different agency rivalry' thing..."

Sure, she could like, kind of sing, but that didn't mean she wanted fans... on the other hand, well, that energy she'd felt through the whole thing... god that felt right though...

"Well I'm definitely coming over tomorrow at least. I've got to think about... like... all of that. Seriously this is a lot. But, I mean, helping people and punching monsters was pretty fun..."

[Chevaleresse]

"Either way, we need to get home after all this. Mom and Dad need to know we're okay, at least."

[Twinwolf]

"On the bright side I don't think we've ever had a better excuse not to go to school tomorrow!"

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Tsubasa rubs the back of his head.
"I can't lie, Mukawa, I feel that too. It's fun and all, but...I don't think I'm cut out to be a star. I kinda went into backstage work to avoid that for a bit, you know?"
He absentmindedly moves his hand through the air, palm laying flat against an unseen surface, looking up as he speaks.

"If you risk your life, you can ride the wind. If you ride the wind, you can fly."

Tsubasa had heard that somewhere before, and he couldn't remember where.

He hadn't known what he wanted to do for a long time. He knew he liked the free skies, he knew he liked dancing. But was that really a career? Was that really a dream worth pursuing? Certainly, it wasn't as concrete as Hikari's. She'd known exactly what she wanted the minute she walked into that audition weeks ago and she'd known almost instantly what she wanted here, too.  He'd drifted from job to job for the last six years. Parkour, then singing, then street dance, and now being first a PA and then...whatever the hell his actual job was now.

But flying, even trying to figure out the controls to that flying bike thing he'd had, felt exhilarating. Like he could dance in the sky. It felt right, for the first time. As he soared upwards, looking at Hikari singing, that was what he felt too.

And her song....there was something about it. Almost irresistible.

No, he wasn't going to leap into this. Tsubasa had spent his whole life drifting from place to place without forethought. He had to think it through this time.

Fragarach glinted in the moonlight, pulsing a faint blue. Brisingamen, clipping together Hikari's hair, pulsed a faint red.
"Yeah. I'll think it through. I....this is kinda big. I need some time."
"You're not joining us?"
"Don't miss me too badly, Minase. You'll be seeing me every day. Didn't know you were the type to fall in love so quickly."
"Eh?! That's not what I meant!"

[Twinwolf]

"He didn't say no, he said he needed time to think about it!"

"He's talking big, but I bet he's the one who can't stay away~"