Season: Winter
Location: Downtown Alley?
...Actually, that's a bad way of putting it. I wouldn't say that meeting Hajime was a bad omen. I'd say it was the opposite—befriending Hajime was one of the best things that happened to me.
Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I never met him. Maybe I would've never became an idol.
His support was even able to make an ordinary guy like me consider applying to an idol training school like Yumenosaki.
I always loved idols and admired the performers on TV. I wanted to be like them. I wanted to be someone special. I wanted to shine just as bright as them.
Everyone would just laugh at me if I said that. Those people are worlds away from me.
If I ever said that I wanted to step into that other world—the world of idols—everyone would tell me that it was an unreachable dream. Just a joke to laugh at.
.........
Hajime was the only person who understood me. He was the only one who believed that I had a chance to turn my outlandish dream into a reality.
He would listen to me talk about these things and nod his head earnestly.
But that guy came from a poor family and had a hard time taking Yumenosaki's entrance exams. He didn't seem to have any interest in becoming an idol either.
Despite all of that, he still decided to go to Yumenosaki with me.
We were middle schoolers taking the entrance exams then.
As a break from studying for those gruesome exams, I dragged Hajime along for a little field trip to Yumenosaki to show him what interesting things they offered.
Being there mesmerized me more than words can explain. I mean, I went because I knew it would, but I also saw someone beautiful on stage. I saw a goddess.
Ohh? A goddess...?
Yep. I also heard a beautiful dissonance in the distance that sounded like it was going to break.
Those were the screams of Valkyrie in their final moments. Up until then, I had lived an eventless life. I would've never heard these melodies up close.
It wasn't normal at all. I wanted to hear more of those rare, precious melodies—no, I wanted to take them all for myself and show them to the world.
For the many bored ordinary people that have nothing going on in their lives, like how I was in the past.
I felt like I could make my dull, uneventful life a little more interesting by doing that.
......♪
Oh, sorry. I started rambling again. A kaleidoscope of memories somehow passed before my mind's eye.
No need to apologize. I find it very interesting. My own childhood is the exact opposite of yours, yet—
It's intriguing that we're on equal footing now, even though we departed from completely different points.
Nah... No matter how I look at it, you're always somewhere far, far away.
All of us in Ra*bits work hard day after day in order to improve... I don't think it's okay for me to think that I'm anywhere close to you.
It is alright. It may feel like we're all stuck in an endless cycle, but we are all constantly improving.
The more we train, the more our muscles grow and the more we hone our art. Nothing is ever the same as the day before.
Ahaha. You told me something similar before: that one has to constantly evolve, to constantly run with all their might—
To work to death to stand their ground. It's dreadful, don't you think? That's what you said.
I finally understand what you meant at that time.
Maybe I finally arrived at the same level you were at.
Hehehe. I don't have any recollection of that time, but I would've enjoyed talking to you as equals.
I thought that I had finally reached your level, but here you are saying words again.
Since you're inherently talented, not only will you be able to "hold your ground," you're also able to advance further than anyone else.
I envy you, Wataru Hibiki.
Good♪
You're happy no matter what I say, huh?
I'm actually glad that you're jealous of me. Other children my age were never compared to me. I was simply too out of anyone's league.
No parent would ever tell their child to "be like Wataru Hibiki."
I was too much of an abnormality to be anyone's role model. I wish I could be a proper, magnificent person that everyone looks up to.
Everyone only watched me from a distance and applauded at my performances, as if I wasn't human.
I was really lonely... That's why I'm so happy that you spoke to me in such a friendly manner.
So thank you, Tomoya-onii-chan.
Who the HELL are you calling "onii-chan"?! Gross! I'll have you know that I only have a normal sister that's a normal student at home!
But I'm five years old right now? I'm younger than you? Please spoil me, Onii-chan♪
Shut up! You are so gross! More importantly, it's starting to get really cold, so let's put an end to our small talk and find shelter!
Ehhh? But weren't you the one who started our conversation in the first place?
I told you to shut UP! C'mon, we gotta hurry! There's no time to waste!
Alright, alright. Tehehe. Sorry, "Hajime-kun"—
But it looks like your precious little prince is all mine now.
- ↑ A callback to Marionette, where Hajime and Tomoya snuck into Yumenosaki to watch Wataru's play. The anime shows the play in question being Sleeping Beauty.
- ↑ Referencing Phantom Thieves vs. Detectives, particularly "Epilogue (3)."
- ↑ A possible reference to the Red Queen Hypothesis, which states that species must constantly evolve to survive while pitted against opposing species, who also evolve in response. This results in an ever-changing species that don't actually get any fitter, as if it's running on a treadmill. It's named after the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass. She explains the nature of Looking-Glass Land to Alice:
Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!
The Alice in Wonderland theme will also be revisited in later chapters. - ↑ In Cinderella Burning at the Stake's Stage, Wataru tells Tomoya "to become a prince that can rescue all the Cinderellas in the world." It heavily implied that Wataru is one of the Cinderellas that needed to be saved. Looks like that's a reality now.