Let's shine together
Mahiru used to love Karen's radiance.
She used to love the way she felt by her side at the practices, or whenever they were partnered together on the stage. She used to love the way she shone so brightly with her, feeling like the sun in a summer day, warmth running through her veins as happiness took over her, making her smile wider than ever in her life.
But now she hates it.
As soon as Hikari appeared, that radiance was stolen from her without notice, cruelly. It slipped through her fingers like sand, as well as the happiness that came along with that radiance.
Everything was snatched away from her until she was left with nothing more than a cold feeling seeping through her body.
Slowly, her own radiance started to fade away until there was nothing left but a feeling of emptiness inside her.
She didn't shine anymore...
Mahiru slowly noticed how her happy smiles changed until they were no longer happy nor genuine, they no longer reached her eyes and sparkled them like they used to do.
She noticed how she turned into a mere shadow of who she used to be, she turned into what she hated the most, a ghost.
Mahiru sighs, staring at the ceiling of their shared room as she recalls everything that changed in her since Hikari appeared in their lives. Feeling how each day feels more and more difficult to stay in the room, sharing it with Karen and Hikari.
Each day it feels harder to have under control the mix of jealousy, emptiness and replacement she feels.
Mahiru sighs again, languidly this time, and cleans the tears that fell down her face with the sleeves of her sweater to then slap her cheeks lightly.
I can't keep like this.
She tells herself before getting out of her bed to go and get her baton. She looks at it affectionately before she starts to twirl it between her fingers to distract herself, like she used to do whenever she felt down or stressed. Now she can't even do that.
Not even two fingers later than she started to twirl it between her fingers, it falls. She tries again a couple of times more, getting the same result.
She shuts her eyes tightly and takes a deep breath to fight the tears that threaten to well up, then, she picks her baton up from the floor to try out a different exercise with it.
Once again, she takes another look at the baton, smiling sadly at it before tossing it up to the air for the third time, but she fails in the reception, the baton ending up falling onto the floor with a loud thud as a result.
Frustration now runs through her veins, driving her to try over and over again, but each attempt it's even worse than the previous one.
In her last attempt, the baton ends hitting her in the head before it lands on the floor and she falls on her knees, crying hard out of frustration and despair.
She reaches for the baton, gripping it tightly and looking at it with rage flashing in her eyes before she throws it away and gets out of the room in a sprint, not caring about who she crashes against on her way out, not bothering to turn around to apologize to them, instead, she keeps on running away.
Suzu, who is calmly walking towards the Seisho dorms in that exact moment, witnesses her friend running away, noticing the tears rolling down Mahiru's precious face, and she can't help but feel her own heart breaking at the sight.
She hates to see Mahiru crying and even though it tears her apart to see her friend like that, she chooses to not chase her, turning around with a heavy sigh to go back to her own academy. She has a feeling Mahiru needs some time alone, so it'd be better if she comes back and visits her another day.
The sun has already set up when Mahiru comes back to the dorms, trying to pass by the common room without being seen, but she doesn't have such luck as Nana spots her and intercepts her.
- Mahiru-chan! Dinner is ready – Nana tells her cheerfully, approaching where she's standing.
- Thank you Nana-chan, but my stomach bothers a bit so I don't think I'd be eating with you girls tonight – Mahiru tries to say with an apologizing expression present on her face, her gaze wandering over each one of her friends.
- Oh, don't worry Mahiru-chan, I'll save you some food in case you're hungry later. Do you want me to prepare you something to help your stomach to calm down? – Nana offers her gently and Mahiru can't help but smile at her concern.
- It's okay Nana-chan, I probably just need to lie down for a bit.
Nana nods at her, offering her a calm and friendly smile. Mahiru smiles back her before bowing lightly and continue her walk to her bedroom, their bedroom, with fast steps.
- Mahiru-chan! Do you want us to go with you!?
- Karen, just let her rest by herself.
She hears Karen yelling out at her from the common room, then Claudine's voice telling Karen to let her rest in the background as she keeps walking off.
Mahiru feels her stomach churn at the sound of Karen's cheerful voice. Part of her wants to turn around and tell her no, that all of this and the way she feels is her fault to start off, but that wouldn't be fair. Another part just wishes that Karen would be the only one going after her to take care of her…
How stupid.
She reprimands herself, finally reaching the bedroom door's, opening and closing it behind her to then lean against it as she finally releases the tears she has been holding back ever since she came back.
She walks a couple of steps forward before throwing herself onto her bed, hiding under the blankets to let her tears run down her face freely, gripping the sheets in her fists tightly. She shuts her eyes as more tears keep streaming down her face until she ends crying herself to sleep.
She doesn't even hear Karen and Hikari coming back to the bedroom. She doesn't hear Karen's giggles neither Hikari shushing her before they also go to sleep.
The sun is already up in the sky when she wakes up, feeling exhausted from crying so much the previous night.
She lets a shaky breath out and peeks out slowly from under her blankets, finding the bedroom empty. A relieved sigh escapes her lips, although she can't help the pang of hurt she feels in her chest at haven't been awaken by neither of her bedroom mates.
- I guess they don't really care... – she whispers, putting her feet onto the cold floor before slipping them into her slippers and moving to the bathroom to smarten up, getting dressed in her casual clothes.
She stands in front of the bathroom's mirror, staring at her reflection sadly as it looks back at her, bags under her red and puffy eyes from have been crying the entire night.
She sighs and wets her face, smoothing out her clothes to try to look a little bit more presentable. Then, she takes a deep breath and steps out into the hallway with the best look and smile she can muster, walking around the academy as if nothing had happened, as if she didn't feel deeply hurt and miserable.
In another bedroom of a different academy, a girl with dull green hair is staring intensely at the object she's holding in her hand, gripping it tightly before she puts it into her bag and leaves with a determined look on her face.
Soon enough, she finds herself at the entrance of her rival's academy.
She takes a deep breath and enters, she has a person to find, a mission to accomplish.
She wanders through the hallways of the academy, greeting politely the girls she comes across before she reaches her destination, the dorms. She stops in front of one of the bedrooms' doors, knocking on it twice and waits patiently for it to be opened.
Nothing.
She furrows her brows and knocks again.
Nothing again.
- They went out – an ash-blonde girl tells her in a friendly way – And if you're looking for Mahiru, I think she needed some time alone.
The ash-blonde says again, passing her by, and even though she didn't clarify her much, Suzu understands perfectly what she was trying to tell her.
- Thank you! – she yells at the ash-blonde, seeing how she keeps getting away, raising a hand to dismiss it.
Suzu smiles and searches for the stairs to go up to the rooftop. She knows how much Mahiru has always liked the rooftop. She always used to choose it to practice or simply to have some time alone to think about things. Suzu hopes that didn't change over the years.
As she opens the rooftop's door, she finds her midnight-blue haired friend looking down at the campus, a mix of calm and sadness written all over her precious face.
Suzu admires her from afar, taking in her beauty before she makes her presence noticed.
- Mahiru-chan! Here you are! – she says cheerfully, startling Mahiru who just turns around surprised, her antennae lifting up.
- Suzu-chan? What are you doing here? And how did you know I was here? – Mahiru asks her confusedly.
- I came to see if you wanted to practice with me, you know, like in old times. And let's just say it was easy to find you – Suzu says winking at her playfully, to then take the baton out of her bag.
Mahiru looks at the baton warily, somehow with hurt flashing in her eyes, before she shakes her head.
- I-I'd love to practice with you Suzu-chan but I didn't bring my baton with me, s-so maybe another day – Mahiru rejects her offer politely yet with a smile on her face, but Suzu can see the tension in her smile.
- It's okay, we can use mine – she insists, getting closer to Mahiru to place her own baton on Mahiru's hand – You start!
Mahiru sighs, looking at the baton in her hand again, warily, then at Suzu, wanting to tell her no, but when she sees her bright and happy smile, she can't.
She sighs again, starting to twirl it slowly and tentatively between her fingers, focusing thoughtfully on not letting it touch the floor while Suzu observes how Mahiru doesn't seem to be enjoying it in the slightest as she did before. Mahiru is simply thinking too much on it, on not letting it fall, that she can't even enjoy it or feel free as she used to do, which saddens Suzu.
Another twirl and the baton finally ends on the floor. Suzu bends down to pick it up and places it again on Mahiru's palm.
- Again.
- Suzu-chan, I-
- Come on Mahiru-chan, you can do it!
Even though Suzu smiles at her friendly and encouragingly, there's a fiery determination sparkling in her eyes, wanting nothing more than to see Mahiru shining again. To see her dancing, playing and enjoying with the twirls of her baton.
Mahiru tries again, failing miserably over and over again. Suzu simply picks the baton up from the floor every single time to place it on her hand while Mahiru starts to get frustrated at it.
She can't even twirl the baton neither toss it up in the air without it slipping through her fingers to end falling onto the floor.
- Suzu-chan, I can't-
- You can do it, now try once again Mahiru-chan – Suzu interrupts her, chopping her head lightly with her baton. Mahiru pouts, making Suzu laugh – Pretty pleaseeeee.
Mahiru feels a blush creeping up her neck to her cheeks as she sees Suzu's puppy expression and pleading eyes staring at hers intensely. She nods and turns around, unable to resist looking at that cute look neither the tender smile on Suzu's face without blushing even more.
She takes a deep breath, looking at the baton one last time before she tosses it up in the air.
She watches the baton go high up in the sky, momentarily becoming blinded by the sun light hitting her eyes as the baton starts to fall again.
I can't see it.
She thinks, panicking as she extends her hand to catch it.
She starts shaking, thinking about how she's going to fail again in the reception, when suddenly, she feels a hand on her waist, bringing her closer to the body behind her and another hand guiding hers forwards. The baton keeps falling and the hand grabbing hers moves in time to grip the falling baton.
She gasps, she caught it.
- You did it.
Suzu whispers in her ear and Mahiru can't help but start crying, loosening her grip on the baton that falls onto the floor. She quickly turns around to cry against Suzu's chest, gripping her shirt in her fists.
Suzu smiles softly and holds her tightly against her chest, letting her cry until there aren't any more tears coming out her eyes.
Then, she wipes some tears away from Mahiru's face.
- I told you that you could do it.
Mahiru giggles because they basically cheated but she doesn't mind and smiles timidly at Suzu, seeing her grinning back at her nonchalantly, caressing her cheek.
Suzu missed Mahiru's sweet smile and the way it reached her eyes, sparkling them. She missed the way Mahiru shone as brightly as the sun itself.
- T-Thank you Suzu-chan – Mahiru says timidly, looking down and Suzu can't help but giggle, finding her endearing cute.
- Mahiru – she calls her name seriously, trying to make her look back at her before continuing – You're the brightest star of all of us.
- That's not-
Suzu silences her placing a finger against her lips.
- You are. You're always gonna be the brightest star of all of them to me, and I want to see you shine again as brightly as you used to do, as you just did right now.
Mahiru's smile falters at it.
- I-I can't. They, no... she stole my radiance... – she murmurs quietly.
- Nobody did that. Mahiru you still have your radiance. You don't need anybody else to shine, you just need to believe in yourself again.
Suzu keeps seeing the hesitation on Mahiru's face as she says those words, making her sigh. She caresses her friend's cheeks, wiping the fresh tears that started to roll down her face away before she continues talking.
- If you can't, then please let me to be by your side until you shine back as brightly as you have always done, then let me witness it.
Suzu extends her hand under Mahiru's intense gaze, who shakes her head.
- M-Maybe we can shine together – she says shyly, slowly reaching for Suzu's hand to take it, but Suzu is faster than her, taking her hand first to hold it and leave a light kiss on its back.
- Then… let's shine together! – she says happily, winking at Mahiru, laughing as she sees Mahiru blushing furiously but cutely.
- L-Let's shine together – Mahiru repeats shyly, looking at Suzu with a happy glint in her eyes and a wide smile on her face.
Suzu's face beams at her expression, suddenly pulling Mahiru in a tight hug and Mahiru can't help but blush even harder as well as laugh happily in her arms.
Maybe it was something good that Hikari stole her radiance, now she has somebody willing to shine brightly with her. Maybe this time she won't end feeling hurt nor replaced.