AMBiTiON/Story/Ch. 7

## Meaningless Dance

 *Chihiro reflects on the eventful day at Live House HorizoN. Later, a stranger approaches Izumi at school...*

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The 10PM sky was dark, Chihiro's room only illuminated by the fairy lights strung up on the walls like fireflies. She laid on her bed, hair untied, scrolling through suggested videos in search of something to quell her boredom with.

She couldn't shake away the euphoria as she recalled the praises for her singing just that afternoon. She could get addicted to it, she thought. But strangely enough... it didn't feel right.

Apathy, ignorance. That was all people thought of when it came to Chihiro. Vitriol, hatred... her whole life. And yet, the same people kept uttering hypocritical nonsense about how everyone deserved their moment of glory. What about her? 'What about me?' She started thinking about that familiar, empty space again. 'Where is everyone? Love me already.'

Yes, it was only fair. It was only fair that she had the chance for revenge, to take back from others what was dedicated to her! So why was she so uncomfortable when she finally got a taste of what she wanted, just earlier that day? Well, it didn't matter. Chihiro hugged her pillow a little tighter - 'I love myself.' She whispered once again in her mind, 'I love myself.'

To Sorae, to Izumi, and especially to Aki: Were you not all the same as the others? 'I'll make you pay,' Chihiro thought, an unknowing smile crossing her face, 'for what the world made of me.' After all, it was only fair. And now, it was her turn to enter the stage - welcome the true star of the show. 'One day... One day I'll be famous, and leave everyone I've known in the dust.' And if her bandmates reached stardom alongside her, good for them, but by the time it happened, Chihiro probably couldn't care less.

'Oh?' Chihiro, having zoned out with her thoughts, found a familiar sounding video title at her fingertips. 'MagiGal' - Was this the anime Sorae was freaking out over in the rehearsal studio? The first episode had been uploaded by an official channel.

Curious, Chihiro's finger hovered over the thumbnail. The classic kids' anime - Toramon, Enpitsu-kun and the like - were fine and all, but she'd definitely heard of those with secrets only privy to the most degenerate of societal outcasts, found exclusively in their hikikomori dens or the nooks of Akihabara... So why was it that she tapped on the video?

It was about the story of a blonde, spray-tanned-looking popular girl who, despite being weighed down by the stigma of being a Cool Kid, aimed to help others in need. So pretentious, Chihiro thought off the bat, and so much effort just to keep up one's reputation. The girl encountered a weird introvert being lightly harassed, and after shooing away the aggressors, the strange girl revealed herself to be from a magical family lineage. In exaggerated gratitude, she offered to give the popular girl access to magical powers.

And thus, becoming a duo, the two went around helping others with 'inner monsters', as dubbed by the show. Their first mission was to help an ugly girl, convinced she would be hated by the world forever. The popular one transformed into a magical girl and yelled something strange about 'the heart shining more than the skin!' A physical manifestation of the ugly girl's self hatred appeared as some gross monster, but the popular girl fought it off with her powers. And with that, roll credits.

As the gentle ending song played, Chihiro could only cringe at the message. Come on - Was it *that* wrong to pay attention to appearances? After all, looks say a lot about a person. It was only a matter of protecting oneself from the untrustworthy. And plus, what a cliché moral!

But somehow, Chihiro couldn't help but become curious about the plot. Ugh, it was only a children's show, and yet...! She searched for more episodes, only to find nothing. What now?

'... Sorae.' The name came to mind, but Chihiro was, obviously, too embarrassed to ask it directly on the group chat, and too timid to make a new, private chat with just the two of them. 'Since it's Friday, I guess I have to ask her after the weekend,' Chihiro decided in the end, disappointedly.

"Hmhmm~, Happy June~." A jovial voice hummed to herself, sitting on a bench at school and eating her lunch. Though Izumi was still alone at Haneoka, the thought of meeting up with her new bandmates again made her feel a little less lonely. At least she got to see Hiro-tan everyday after school.

They had gone to Live House HorizoN last Friday, three days ago. Izumi took care of the expenses that time to make a good impression, and by 'taking care of the expenses', that did mean asking her mother for next month's allowance. It earned Izumi a sarcastic "Oh, you finally made friends?" from her but, oh well, Izumi was used to that kind of off-handed comment - The woman always preferred her sister, Kiyomi, anyways.

To be honest, Izumi wasn't sure what made her agree to join to begin with. All it took was a little speech from one weird and chatty Hiro-tan, but even then, something about her words back then felt off. "Do anything it takes, make them regret it"...? And why'd she want so badly to recruit Izumi, anyway? The second-year wondered if there were ulterior motives at play, but the thought unsettled her, so she stopped thinking about it. She was tired of thinking such things, after all.

"Let's meet up every Friday from now on!" Izumi felt a surge of thrill, recalling Aki-yan's enthusiastic declaration as they walked out the doors of HorizoN. Izumi wasn't sure why it had to be a grand announcement, but she was eager nonetheless. "Hnnm!" She buzzed excitedly, rambling under her breath, "Band time, yay yay--"

"Takimoto-senpai."

Izumi went ghost quiet and snapped her gaze up at the green-haired girl standing before her. Her eyes were dead serious, staring back at Izumi.

Wary, Izumi responded with a standoffish tone. "... Who are you, and what do you want?" The energy that Izumi was radiating had been shoved forcefully back into her chest by the stranger's sudden appearance. Izumi narrowed her eyes.

"Would you mind if I take a seat here?" The stoic girl asked, her voice betraying no emotion.

"Go ahead." Izumi shifted aside to be a little further away from the untrustworthy girl.

Her skirt flowed as she settled on the bench. From the stranger's green tie and skirt, Izumi deduced that she was a first-year - If she was in Izumi's year, she would've had blue instead.

She examined the stranger up close: The girl had long, dark, mossy-green hair and a hair bun tied on the back of her head. Her skin was snowy pale, almost lifeless, and she looked at Izumi with a pair of deep chestnut-brown eyes as she said, "My name is Mai Moriuchi."

Izumi didn't dare say anything out of line, for fear of saying something stupid in front of the girl named Mai Moriuchi. "And you know who I am?"

Moriuchi nodded. "You are Izumi Takimoto of class 2-B. Your younger sister, Kiyomi Takimoto, is in class 3-A in the junior high school branch."

Hearing her heart pound and ears make static with the silence between them, Izumi stared at Moriuchi, who had been emitting such an odd aura. Izumi wasn't sure if she wanted to know where that information came from. Oh, curiosity killed the cat... but satisfaction brought it back.

"Where'd you get all that from?"

"By any chance, is your sister in a band? A band named 'ECL:PSE', to be precise." Moriuchi seemed to have completely dodged the question and presented another piece of info.

"Yeah?"

"Perhaps you know of her friend, Fuyuna Moriuchi."

Izumi took a few seconds to recall. 'Fuyu-who? What?' Until she remembered the times Kiyomi would say, "Fuyu-yun!" and her eyes widened.

"Uh, wait, are you Fuyuna-chan's older sister?" Izumi stared back, a bit of shock in her teal eyes.

Moriuchi nodded once again. "With that being said..." She continued to stare Izumi down, an intensity in her chestnut-brown gaze.

"Would you allow me to join your band?"

"What band?" Izumi hoped to deter her by faking an unmoving confusion. The confusion was, in fact, moveable.

"Forgive me for the directness, Takimoto-senpai, but you know exactly what I'm talking about. Last Friday, on the 3:30 train. You were with three others heading to a rehearsal studio, were you not?"

Now put off by the fact that Moriuchi had witnessed her guard down and 'being herself', Izumi nearly felt her face go scarlet with humiliation.

"Hmph... You wanna join the band?" She let a tiny, smug smile appear, finally showing a casual side. "Too bad, you're outta luck. Gotta ask the band leader, not me..."

And she was about to go with that excuse when she remembered the leftover guitar from the rehearsal studio.

She'd copied what the girls of ECL:PSE would have said, word for word. Back then, Izumi got bored and tagged along with Kiyomi to their rehearsals - much to her sister's dismay - and since they didn't have their own instruments the first few times, they rented at the studio instead. HorizoN was rather new at the time, so their prices were lower than ever... And thus, Izumi unknowingly rented a guitar! But if their band truly needed a guitarist, then...

"... Unless you can play the guitar. Hey, Moriuchi, can you play the guitar?"

"No."

"Heh. Too bad, you're outta luck, gotta ask the--"

"But I would be willing to learn it, so long as you let me join your band."

Izumi ceased her tomfoolery and stared at Moriuchi. She hoped to find some hint that it was a joke, but as it had been for the entire conversation thus far, the girl of forested hair was stone cold and absolutely, utterly serious. 'She actually means it,' Izumi thought, bewildered. 'She actually wants to take the plunge, just like that!'

But Izumi merely cleared her throat. "Well, well... If you insist." She finally accepted the offer. "Say, do you take the train home?"

Moriuchi nodded her head yes.

"Now you'd be in luck. I see the leader of the band everyday after school." Izumi smirked. "Mind if I fetch you from class when the bell goes?"

"I don't mind. My classroom is 1-A."

"Cool."

Moriuchi got up from the bench, her hair flowing behind her. "I will be taking my leave now. Excuse my intrusion."

"Oh? 'Kay. See you 'round, Moriuchi~." Izumi simply waved a lazy goodbye.

She watched her leave before the bundle of energy in her chest escaped. Izumi let out a quiet but happy squeal and grabbed her phone, ready to text everyone about their potential new member...!

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