"…Mana."
That voice again.
Mana Jorita snapped her head up, realizing she was still seated in the milk tea shop's gazebo.
For a while now, she'd been hearing this mysterious call, coming from who-knows-where. The voice was achingly familiar, like it belonged to someone long gone.
"Miss Mana?"
The blonde girl sitting across from her called out, concern in her tone. Caught daydreaming, Mana forced a smile. "Oh, it's nothing… I've just been a bit sleep-deprived lately, so I keep zoning out. Sorry about that."
Her words brushed it off, but deep down, she couldn't help but wonder: Was she just missing her old partner that much? Why else would she keep hearing her voice calling out?
Her thoughts drifted, and Mana's eyes conjured her image again. The memory of that golden hair slowly blended with the girl in front of her, and the voice echoed once more.
"…I'm waiting for you."
What a cruel joke. Wasn't it you, Chuuka Mitsukaku, who left with nothing but a "sorry" and walked away?
Mana wanted to snap back at the voice, but the words stuck in her throat. To her shock, a part of her actually hoped it was real.
A scalding sensation at her fingertips yanked her back to reality. She flinched, realizing she'd been lost in thought again, and set the milk tea she'd been clutching too long on the table.
"By the way, I was lucky enough to hear one of your singles," the blonde girl said, her voice bright.
Mana perked up a bit. "Oh, really? I hope you liked it! Which one?"
"I loved it," the girl replied, and Mana's face lit up with a genuine smile. But the next words froze her in place:
"The title was Here, the World, right?"
Mana's bright smile faded, turning ashen, like plaster crumbling away. She forced herself to keep it together, dipping her head slightly and saying in a cheery tone, "Thank you… Honestly, that's my favorite song too. My absolute favorite."
She wasn't lying. Here, the World was her favorite, for a lot of reasons. Mainly two: it was sumimi's final single, and…
It was the last song Chuuka Mitsukaku wrote before she quit.
Chuuka was a prodigy, unlike Mana, who was just good at singing and dancing. Chuuka could play guitar, belt out ballads, and handle both lyrics and composition like it was nothing. Sure, Mana was sumimi's lead vocalist, but the duo only earned the "singer" label behind "idol" because of Chuuka's talent.
So when Chuuka left and sumimi fell apart, Mana kept performing, but her spark dimmed. She wasn't scraping by as an underground idol, but she'd never recapture the glory days of the duo.
Even if Chuuka had her reasons—reasons Mana could understand—it still felt like a betrayal.
Suddenly, Mana regretted indulging this blonde girl's conversation. It had ripped open a wound she'd rather keep buried.
"Mana…"
The voice was back, closer now, more real. In a daze, Mana blurted out, "Chuuka…"
She snapped out of it, realizing her mistake.
"Chuuka?"
The blonde girl caught the name, her curiosity piqued. "You mean the Chuuka you were in the duo with?"
No dodging this one. Mana plastered on a smile. "Yeah~ She wrote that song, you know."
"I see," the girl said, her face falling. "That's such a shame. sumimi was amazing back then. Why'd you guys just… break up like that?"
Yeah, why?
Mana wanted to scream that question herself. If that hadn't happened, would Chuuka have stayed? Would they still be together?
But the world didn't deal in "what ifs."
Facing this fan, Mana could only muster a soft smile and vague words. "Well… there were a lot of reasons."
"Like… pressure from some big shots?" the girl pressed.
She wasn't letting it go. Maybe she'd seen the flicker of anger and resentment on Mana's face. But Mana couldn't answer—not wouldn't, couldn't. Though in moments like this, silence was as good as a confession.
Why not deny it? Mana asked herself.
The answer was obvious. Deep down, she wanted someone to know. To do something—for her, for Chuuka.
"I'm so sorry," Mana said, standing abruptly and bowing to the blonde girl whose name she still didn't know. "I've got to go."
She turned and hurried off, her steps rushed, almost frantic.
---
Nero sipped her milk tea, silently watching Mana's retreating figure.
Let's cut to the chase: the reason behind sumimi's breakup was crystal clear. Little Ace was pulling the strings.
As a demon of lust, Little Ace could easily manipulate someone with enough clout to force Chuuka and Mana into ending their idol careers. Piece of cake.
On the flip side, Shoko's crew didn't play that subtle. When they wanted someone gone, they went straight for the target.
Like right now.
Nero's eyes lingered on Mana's fading silhouette, lost in thought. This was her first time catching a target in the middle of being lured by Shoko's group. Watching Mana's reactions, Nero pieced together how these girls were being drawn into the Red Moon World.
Talk about a lucky break. Nero hadn't expected to approach Mana only to find her already marked. From the aura clinging to her, that "call" had been haunting her for a while. The Manfool Carnival would probably come for her soon.
Maybe even tonight.
As Mana's figure shrank into the distance, Nero took one last sip of her milk tea, stood, and followed.
Through sumimi's collapse, Nero had started to see a pattern in the Carnival's targets: every one of them had been touched, directly or indirectly, by Little Ace. Mutsu, Kairin, Chuuka, Tomori, Mana—all of them.
Was this a turf war?
If so, Little Ace must've noticed this pattern. Was it deliberately creating these vulnerable targets?
If that was true, things just got a lot messier. Shoko's group dragging people into the Red Moon World might be exactly what Little Ace wanted.
Whether Shoko was clueless or being forced into it, she still hadn't broken free of Little Ace's grip.
(End of Chapter)