Chapter Text
“That’s a bad idea. It’ll not only cost thousands of yen but also will have no profit whatsoever.”
”You are being too closed minded, Shousuke. It is the best way to go, considering the state of things.”
”Well, I still think that we should just cut it off!”
Emu glanced at her two brothers. It was another one of those mornings where the two of them would argue over business. She didn’t really like to be next to them when that happened, because somehow, the conversation would always shift to her. But this time, she couldn’t help but interject.
”Why not just renovate it? Make a more thematic ride. People nowadays enjoy a lot of scary stuff. We could use that.”
She heard how Shousuke sighed loudly. But before he could say anything, Keisuke beat him to it.
”Emu, this is not the time. We are talking about serious stuff.”
”I know! Which is why I’m giving my opinion. There is no need to destroy the ride. It’s unnecessary when you could just change what is already there!”
”EMU! How many times have we told you not to stick your nose where you don’t belong? Stop with this childish nonsense!”
”Shousuke.” Warned the elder brother’s voice.
Hinata peaked over the corner of the hallway, startled by the sudden raise on the voice of her brother.
”It’s not childish! And I do belong in this conversation! Different from you, I see and hear the people that go to the park everyday! I know what they want!”
”Oh, really? Then why didn’t you help us from the beginning if you’re oh so smart?”
”Because you always shut me down!”
”Yeah, because you just spill bullshit all the time!”
”Shousuke!” Warned both Keisuke and Hinata this time.
”Look, Emu. All you have to worry about is that little stage of yours, alright? Because if that starts giving us problems too, I’ll be the first one to tear it down!”
”Well, I worry about the park! A lot! Be-“
”Please. You’re going to say one of those sappy things that the old geezer babbled, right?”
”Shousuke, I swear!”
Keisuke grabbed his brother’s shoulder, trying to make him calm down before he said something that he would regret later. The two of them, especially the younger brother, had been very tired from endless all nighters because of conference calls, meetings and papers that had to be done. So it was no surprise that their emotions were over the roof. But different from Shousuke, the eldest Otori sibling could weigh his words. The younger of the brothers shoved his brother’s hand away.
”Forget it, Emu! All he said was bullshit. He was just a senile old man who wanted to waste all of his money on worthless things in the park!”
”Don’t talk about him like that!”
”Or what? Huh? Give me a break! Stop wasting everyone’s time parroting stuff from a dead man! Stop trying to recreate his ideologies and face reality! He's dead!”
”SHOUSUKE! THAT’S ENOUGH!”
The second oldest Otori looked at his brother, who looked like he was on the brink of hitting him. He rolled his eyes, turning to face their youngest sister. He froze in shock. She looked at him with a hurt expression, her lips wobbling as tears formed on her eyes. She clenched her trembling hands before running out of the house, towards her school. Shousuke tried to reach her with his hand.
”Emu!” called Hinata.
”Do you understand what you just did? Have you lost your mind?” Yelled Keisuke.
”… S-someone had to tell her tha-“
”She was the closest one to him! Of course she’s trying to make his memory alive! And she was the one who found him dead!”
Hinata shouted at him, her face red with anger. It made Shousuke take a step back. It was rare for his sister to lash out.
”I-“
”No! You’ve said enough. You are not to try to say nothing to her, let’s wait until she calms down. You never think of the weight of your words. I hope that this serves as a lesson.”
Emu stared at the window, her head rested on her hand. Her brother’s words echoing in her head. What did he know about her? He barely even talked to her nowadays, he only screamed and told her how stupid she was. To say that about her Grandfather… How could he? When he knew what he meant to her.
”Emu, are you sure you’re alright?”
The pink haired girl quickly turned her head, staring into Honami’s worried face. She looked exhausted, her eyes sunken from the lack of sleep. It probably had to do with the fact that Ichika hadn’t shown up to school. Nor had she answered anyone who sent her any type of message. It wouldn’t be good for Honami to worry about her too.
”Yeah! I just couldn’t sleep very well...” She trailed off with a laugh.
Honami didn’t look very convinced but decided to let it go, which made Emu quite glad. It was hard to keep a smile the whole day, her brother’s hurtful words repeating over and over again made her eyes sting. The moment the recess began she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She sped out of the classroom, getting to the school's patio in a question of seconds.
Emu looked around, trying to find a place where no one could bother her. She entered the small storage room on the other side of the patio. No one ever got near there, so it would be the perfect hiding spot. The moment she shut the door, she saw that there was someone who also thought that the storage was a good place to be alone.
Nervous pink eyes met dull purple ones. The senior sat on one of the many boxes that were scattered around the dusty place. Emu thought that it was funny how she wasn’t scared of Asahina, even if the expression that she wore was dark and bleak compared to the unnerving smile that she wore all the other days.
”…! I-I’m sorry! Asahina! I- I’ll go-“
”Come sit.”
The junior rigidly obeyed the monotone command. She sat next to the honor student, her hands fidgeting with her skirt. Why did she hear her? Why couldn’t she just come with some excuse and laugh it off? It was strange, she wasn’t like this with the others. Not even with Nene! Was it because she wasn’t really close with the purple haired girl so she didn’t mind upsetting her? Or was it because of the strange sense of understanding that the senior gave her when the younger girl would try to make everyone happy even on the days that she didn’t really feel like smiling?
”You’re crying.”
Emu’s hands shot to her face, only to meet the wetness that covered her cheeks. She tried to wipe them off, but more tears would fall from her eyes, making her efforts useless.
“Ah! Hahaha… I don’t know why-!”
”It’s fine. You don’t need to explain.”
A hand suddenly squeezed her shoulder, making Emu look at the older girl. She wasn’t looking at her face, but was staring at the wall in front of them. She seemed to be trying to soothe her, but wasn’t quite sure how to do it. The junior’s face scrunched up in sadness as she threw herself on the senior, who wrapped her arms around the smaller girl in surprise. Emu wept on her shoulder, burying her head deeper at each shake of her chest. Hiccups and wails filled the small room.
Asahina just held her, only occasionally squeezing for some seconds. It felt like hours passed when Emu’s cries died out, her face now swollen as she pulled back from the hug.
“Sorry for that…”
”It’s fine.”
”I kinda ruined your uniform, though.”
”It’s alright. I don’t mind.”
”But I also kinda took away your alone time and-“
”Emu. It’s fine.”
They stared at each other for some time before the pink haired girl erupted in giggles and sniffles.
”I’m sorry. It’s just that, you’re so different from how you normally act!”
”… Is it bad?”
“I don’t think so? You look more natural? Like, y’know shwaaa! Not forced. It’s a little sad that you don’t look happy, but it’s way better than that unnerving smile you had… N-NOT THAT IT WAS BAD OR ANYTHING! But, like…. ehrm…”
”Why was it unnerving?”
”Oh! Uhm… I ‘dunno… I guess it didn’t really reach your eyes? The way your cheeks were contracted sometimes also looked forced. You could kinda see them trembling from the stress on the muscle and all…”
”I see…”
Emu giggled as she kicked her feet. She would’ve never expected to find comfort in the same girl that she was scared not too long ago. But seeing her like that made the small girl want to be closer to her. To make her smile for real! Yes! She would definitely make Mafuyu smile, as a payment from helping her out!
”Thank you, Mafuyu! You really helped me get a bit better!”
”I did? How so?”
”Well,” Emu tilted her head, “you were just there for me. It made me feel seen and understood! So thank you! AND! Be prepared, because I’ll one, super duper, percent will make you smile one day!”
She jumped up and ran to the door, opening it. Before dashing out, she gave her senior one last grin.
”And you don’t need to act around me, Mafuyu! Your secret is safe with me!”
The honor student was left alone in the storage. Why wasn’t she bothered by the fact that Emu knew about her persona? Was it because of the numbness she felt after her “encounter” with Hinomori? Or was it because of the bigger pain in her chest?
“… Understood huh?…”
It all started with a small bright red envelope. Her little brother had given it to her when he collected the mail for their parents. It looked normal, it was red with some small flowers drawn on its corners. A white sticker held it closed. It began to look weird when she opened it. Minori expected a normal sized paper, maybe from Kohane or Shizuku, the both of them looked like they would send letters to people. But instead, there was a small piece of paper that had a simple line written on it: You should stop.
It confused her. Stop what? And who could have sent this to her? The writing wasn’t familiar to her, so the idol was sure that it was someone that she did not know, or just didn’t have much contact. Minori didn’t give much thought to it, so she just ignored it all together. That’s how it started. The next day, a similar envelope reached her house again. Addressed to her, again. She opened the envelope and, again, a similar phrase was written in it. That pattern continued for three days, until today.
The brunette opened her school looker to change her shoes. On top of the pair of shoes, the damned red envelope was set, mocking her. She quickly shoved it inside her bag, hoping that no one had seen it. As the school day went, the idol thought about the paper. So the person who sent her those letters studied with her. But who could it be? And what did this girl mean by “Stop”? And why would this letter be sent to her at school? Could it be that it had a different phrase?
With curiosity taking the best of her, Minori went to the bathroom, hiding the red paper inside her uniform. She leaned at the closed door of the stall, her heart pounding with anxiety as she opened the envelope. Eleven words, that was all it took, eleven words were all it took to make Minori feel sick in her stomach. Have you no shame? You are only dragging them down. Stop. That’s what was written in this one.
Her hands began to tremble as a bile taste filled her mouth. So this is what it was all about. Someone was not satisfied with just sending her comments on MMJ’s videos and lives, so she decided to start sending her letters too. Her vision started to become blurry as her eyes filled with tears. With a deep breath, the brunette looked up, trying to stop them. This was fine. She was fine. It was a dumb reason to be crying. It’s normal for idols to receive such things. Airi received them. Shizuku received them. Haruka received them. So of course she would too.
She crumpled the paper and hid it again, starting to go back to the class. It was hard to concentrate after that. Her mind always fell back to the message. Airi told her to ignore those kinds of things, but it was hard. It was hard because it was true. Different from the comments that the other three idols received, all the ones addressed to Minori were right. She was a disappointment, she was bad at everything, she was holding the three of them back. What if she turned out to be the reason MMJ failed in the future? What would the other three tell her?
”Minori, are you feeling good?”
She looked at Kohane, who had a worried expression. Right, they were supposed to be working on a project together. She smiled at her.
”Yeah! Why do you ask?”
”You looked scared for a few seconds.” Tiredly said Shiho.
The younger Hinomori looked bad, for the lack of better words. She was anxious, her eyes always darting to the halls and the school’s entrance. Minori knew why, Airi had briefly explained to her and Haruka. Something happened with Shizuku and another senior, the accident was quite bad, so bad that even Ichika, who Minori didn’t know how she got involved, got upset by it. And now, the vocalist wasn’t appearing at school, nor talking to anyone. That made Honami, Saki and Shiho quite worried.
And Shizuku, she too wasn’t feeling good either. Minori insisted for her to go home, that if she wasn’t feeling alright she didn’t have to stay for rehearsal. The eldest girl denied it, saying that she would just sit down and watch the others. Airi wanted to argue, but she knew it could make things worse.
So Minori knew that she shouldn’t add any drama.
“Oh, yeah. I- ehrm, I kinda left my computer open back home, you know? And I’m sure that my brother will mess something up… Hahahaha! I got scared because my fan accounts are there so…”
“You’re scared that he’ll mess something up?” Laughed Kohane.
”Nah, I’m more worried that he’ll post something embarrassing!” Joined Minori.
The interaction made Shiho smile a bit before bringing a hand to her mouth. She cleared her throat to get the duo’s attention.
“We should really begin to do the assignment…”
”Right! So, maybe we could…”