"I'll pass. I'm beat."
"Same. I'll need to make sure Kazuma gets himself checked out as well. You and him, Azu...you two are the same. You two need to both take better care of yourselves..." Minako utters exasperatedly, before going off to find the EUFON leader.
Azusa snorts.
"She's got interesting taste." "What about you, Minase?"
"Yeah, I...think I need some time to think. On my own, I mean. I'll definitely join Fire Soul, though!"As you all go your separate ways, you all consider the night's events, and prepare for what tomorrow might have in store for you.
....
Hikari spends most of the next day in a state of what might be described as almost religious euphoria, humming to herself all day. For the last few years, all she'd wanted was to perform alongside Azusa, and now she was going to get to do it for real. It was like a dream, and Hikari almost couldn't believe it. Only the weight of Brisingamen, sitting in her hair, told her it was real, as it pulsed gently, synchronising with her Biorhythm pattern, as she sang quietly to the song in her earphones.
"Aitai aenai awanai me mine..."She just would also need to fight monsters on top of also keeping up. But then, that was the price of her dream. She was happy to pay it; protecting people from Amanojaku, performing alongside her idol and getting to sing on stage? It was everything Hikari could ever want.
She practically skipped through the grocery, grabbing a bottle of apple juice for herself, trying to suppress a laugh and avoid the weird glances she was getting.
And she had made so many friends, too. Misaki, Miyuki, Seitaro, Azusa...Tsubasa...
"I wonder how Miki is doing. He really seemed like he was enjoying himself, too. I hope he joins up with me!"No, she could feel it. The beginning of the rest of her life started today, and it was looking bright.
....
Today, the wind felt refreshing and cool.
The Fire Soul Agency was headquartered out of a ten-storey building in downtown Sendo. Specifically, Fire Soul owned three of the ten floors; another three floors were rented out by some group or other that were moving in today, and the rest were owned by individual companies. One of those floors was devoted to recording and dance studios, the other two for Mirager activities, with a laboratory and various facilities. The roof was a green space, used by the building's occupants for lunch or other events.
Tsubasa enjoyed the feel of the wind, sitting atop the protective fence and absentmindedly mimicking a plane with his right hand. With his left, he held Fragarach up to the afternoon sun, the green crystal pulsing with blue energy within.
He'd always liked high places. It'd been why he learned parkour; he wanted to learn how to climb to higher places. It was the one thing he was definitely sure he liked; the feel of the wind in his hair, the bracing might of the skies beneath him.
Last night, he'd gotten to feel it for more than a few seconds in a windy day.
Last night was the first time that Tsubasa had felt like he
belonged somewhere. Honestly, he had thought he was going to leave Fire Soul in a few months. He admired Kumon-senpai, he really did, and he viewed her as a personal friend - but even in this position, he felt restless, like it still wasn't right, like even leaving the stage hadn't been what he needed either. Sitting atop that motorcycle, flying Hikari through the air - he felt like that was what he wanted, to fly high. It felt different from everything he'd done before.
He yearned for that feeling again, and it wasn't going to be enough for Tsubasa to just climb higher anymore, not after that taste of flight.
And then there was Hikari. That silly girl. She had a one-track mind; music was what she liked, and all she wanted to do was perform with her idols and damn the consequences. He admired it, really, how she could fail the audition and yet still come and meet Azusa not even that much later with a smile. And yet he couldn't help but envy her; Hikari knew exactly what it was that she wanted. It was a feeling Tsubasa had never felt before, not before last night.
He wanted that feeling again.
Her song was something else too. Hers and Setsuna's; he'd felt the power of Biorhythm before, but both of them were something else. And something about Hikari's just
felt good; it reached down to the depth of his being, made flight feel even more liberating. Maybe it was the sheer energy, maybe it was whatever Biorhythm strangeness the Professor had tested him for.
Tsubasa twirled Fragarach around his hand, holding the crystal in his fist.
No, he'd made up his mind. He was going to make a comeback to the stage. The wind, the music, Hikari; all of it had awoken something in Tsubasa he hadn't ever been sure was there, and now it was time for him to indulge.
"Don't even think of leaving me in the dust, Minase. I'll fly high, just like you."The thought of performing alongside Hikari put a smile on Tsubasa's face as a light breeze rustled his hair.
.....
As Misaki and Miyuki approach the Fire Soul building, they hear a light voice behind them.
"Hey, Misaki!"A girl in a white hoodie over a familiar school uniform approaches the Mukawa sisters. Misaki recognises her immediately - Nana Yukine, one of her friends from school. Amane-senpai was always trying to recruit her into the the kendo club, but the judo team were adamant she remain part of their club. Her grades were pretty good, too, always hovering somewhere in the top ten of the class. Misaki can recall a few times where she'd had to deal with a few secret admirers of Nana, and scared off a few who seemed a little too pushy - with immense glee, probably.
Still, despite her studies, commitments and surprising popularity, Nana always found time for Misaki. Indeed, Nana seemed a little desperate to get more of it at times. Almost like...
best friends, one might say.
"I heard you two caught up in the Amanojaku attack last night," Nana inquired, tilting her head with a frown.
"You didn't get hurt, did you, Misaki?"It seems Nana doesn't know about either sister's involvement in defeating the Amanojaku.
Nearby, Hikari and Seitaro are walking towards the building, having made it there roughly the same time. The other Fire Soulers are, of course, in the office, waiting presumably. The EUFON singers were told last night that today was a day off for them, and so could be anywhere they pleased - including, of course, visiting the Fire Soul agency.
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Topic: FEF: MegaMirager IC Thread Chapter 2: Shocking Debut (IC Thread) (Read 37785 times)