Date A Re:Live
S2 Chapter 37: Miku Fantasia, Part 2
By : Tohka_Yatogami
...
Summary
Even a similar story can take it's own path. Shido and Mana are amnesiac siblings living with their friend Kotori, however the past catches up to Shido when he nearly runs into a space quake, and his world changes as one girl asks... "Are you here to kill me?" (Stronger Ratatoskr, weaker DEM, games & movie are canon to story) [Shido/Tohka/Harem]
OK, time for act 2 of the Miku arc. *blinks* Yes, I'm going to make music and performing based cracks, comments and puns until this arc ends, after that brief moment where I author talked myself into dressing as an idol, I can't stop doing it. It's like I've got acting-ivitus for that one scene, and now it's stuck and hooked on tight like a sharp fishing lure.
We've got a unique set up here. Shiori along with the Ratatoskr agents and most of Raizen High all gotta team up and work together to score more points than Rindouji on the overall scores, we got their band group that'll have all the Spirits working together, the maid cafe that Ai, Mai and Mii will manage, and since I don't recall what they offered for entertainment I've thrown in a third thing that Saya's got her hands in making and being in charge of.
Also, the DEM's about to start the plan that Westcott mentioned back in the Yamai arc's end, now that they've got notice of Miku's presence they're about to go after not her or the other Spirits, but our favorite Spirit sealer himself. Yikes! 0_0 *gulps* Well, only one thing for all of us to do now, wish them all luck in everything... except the DEM of course, because Westcott's insane.
Since this will be relevant to the chapter, I will include Miku singing Monochrome and the Raizen High team singing Q&A, but I'll use the short versions so it doesn't overload the story too much. Plus, I honestly want to describe the performance scenes, especially for Q&A which is one of my favorite DAL songs. I just really love Rock music ^^ (It is a rock song, right? I'm bad at recognizing the genres a song falls under)
Now before we start, I have one last thing to mention, this arc's total length is a bit unsure at the moment, at the least there will be three parts, but it may be four. I can't say for sure because it depends on the length of events that happen after Ellen shows up since in a sense they're still part of the Miku arc, but around that same point is also where we'll be breaking off and beginning the final arc of Season 2.
Alright, now that we've cleared that up... *holds out megaphone* ACTION!
"IS THIS SOME KIND OF JOKE!?" Reine screamed in anger, making everyone in the Ratatoskr base flinch at her yelling. Especially Shiori who was standing closest to the blast range... because she was the reason Reine was even yelling. "Why the hell would you agree to something like this!?"
"Uh... well, because it's the only way I could agree to a condition where I could have her powers sealed?" Shiori replied, sweating a bit as her Aunt's angry and annoyed face. "She realized I wasn't a normal human when her powers didn't work on me. I didn't have a choice, she'd be suspicious otherwise!"
Reine sighed, sitting back in her chair.
"I'm sorry Shiori, but I can't-"
"Now hold on there Reine, let's not be too hasty. I don't think you've even let Shiori here know why she accepted the deal." Elliot interjected, soon turning to the Half Spirit. "So why don't you tell us? I get the feeling you learned something a bit dangerous based on my assumptions."
Shiori nodded.
"Yeah, I did... Miku doesn't just have power over sound, her voice can hypnotize people. She's a lot like a Siren." Shiori revealed, catching Reine's attention. Rinne thought on that for a moment, and soon looked at her eldest daughter.
"Yeah, now that I remember it, the Gabriel regions' spirits had sound and mind based powers. Although I wasn't ever actually in that region, so I assumed that was more along the lines like telekinesis rather than hypnotics. Then again, Natsumi's powers have shown me that in this world, the powers adapt and evolve." Rinne replied.
"I even researched Miku a bit more after I noticed the waves from Shiori, her voice is considered 'audio ecstasy', 'addictive' and 'impossible to hate' by many." Maria replied, forming her hologram by Reine's desk.
"If I even had to guess, all of Rindouji's under her thumb. We can only confirm Spirits feel the effects, but they don't take hold, while Rinne? I'm pretty sure you'd be immune, the Angels only disobey their owners when it involves you in a certain manner."
Rinne nods.
"I hate to say it Reine, but I think Shiori made the best call. I mean we've already got a wild card with Nia, and we still don't have any idea where Zodiac's located since Rio and Mayuri combed the Earth for her and no luck. Miku's the only Spirit available to us." Rinne replied, making Reine sigh.
"Fine, I guess we can't argue with that logic." Reine stated, soon looking at Shiori. "Anything else you think is important for us to know?"
"Yeah, one thing. Miku said she had someone train her to use her powers. So that means it had to have been Nia or Zodiac." Shiori stated, soon blinking as she turned to Rio. "Hey Rio, do you think you know who could have trained her?"
Rio thinks for a moment.
"...Ah, Rio remembers when Rio and Mayuri went to talk with Nia, Nia brought up that Nia trained the current Diva." Rio smiled, making everyone face fault to her confusion. "Did Rio say something wrong?"
"Rio! Why do you always forget the important stuff until the last or worst possible moment to reveal it!?" Mayuri groaned loudly, slumping onto the ground. "Well, that makes this worse, Nia's a veteran among all the Spirits. She's been one for 27 years."
That got Rinne's attention while the others looked surprise.
"27, are you serious!?" Kotori asked in shock.
"Yeah, according to what Rio told me, she asked her Angel a certain set of questions and now the DEM can't catch her cause she knows they're coming before they even get near her. That girl's clever." Mayuri replied, soon getting back up.
"That's probably why her being the one who taught Miku is dangerous. You're looking at the oldest and most experience of the Sephira Crystal induced Spirits. Not to mention she called Shido's successes as luck. Miku's have experience and proper teaching... we're facing a dangerous enemy right now."
Everyone sweated a bit before Rinne giggled to their surprise.
"The goal is to beat Rindouji for the top spot, right? Think less of her as a Spirit and more as a rival student, so get out and win it! Entertainment, Food services and the Stage performance. Blow them all away!" Rinne smirked, making everyone do the same.
"Yeah, let's do this!" Kaguya exclaimed.
"The battle isn't over until a winner's chosen, let's not forfeit before we've begun." Yuzuru replied, and soon Shiori smiled.
"Alright, let's figure out how we're gonna do this then." Shiori stated.
Meanwhile at DEM Industries, Westcott was handed a report by Ellen about Shido's most recent contact with Nia, the Spirit better known to them as [Sister], the one Spirit that was just as elusive to them as Rio/Phantom had been.
"So, the first of the remaining Spirits he chose to come into contact was [Sister]? Shame, that seemed to put a damper on acting on our plan." Westcott sighed, noticing the similar look Ellen gave him. "She's always been the one we can't seem to touch, much less near."
"I know, I found it nothing but unpleasant. Imagine what she could have told him too. The only benefit I see in this is she didn't seem to bother sticking around to be sealed." Ellen sighed, rubbing her head slightly. "I guess we'll have to wait until-"
Suddenly Marina forms into view to their surprise.
"I have some good news father, mother. So there's no need to wait." Marina smirked, looking at Westcott while Ellen had a vein form from the usual mother comment. "That Shido Takamiya? Well, he just made contact with [Diva]."
"[Diva]? Ah, what a perfect chance this is, she's a Spirit we know all too well. Didn't we have someone who was involved with her one ago?" Westcott asked.
"Surely you jest father, wasn't the point of having Edgar meeting with her as a TV producer last just so you could have a predictable Spirit? Phantom did end up making her just that, shame we had to kill him but he served his role enough." Marina replied, giving a cruel cackle. "Enough about the past, what are we gonna do here?"
Westcott smirked at that.
"No matter how strong the Spirits are, they won't risk their full strength when civilians are in harm's way, I'm pretty sure Tenguu Square is the worst battleground for us to ambush them at. Knowing that..." Westcott replied, turning to Ellen.
"Understood Ike, I have a certain Spirit to crush. Let's see how it feels to do that emotionally." Ellen said, smirking widely at the thought.
Back at Raizen High, everyone was in the Ratatoskr Classroom as Tamae had ended up naming it, everyone was gathered as they prepared their strategy against Miku and Rindouji at the Ten-Oh Festival.
"OK everyone, Miku's challenge was like an attack against our awesome, so let's do everything we can to make sure we win this!" Ai declared.
"We have three areas to focus on, we've gathered everything we need so now we're gonna choose what to do." Mai followed, looking at Mii. "So, what options do we have compared to the other schools?"
Mii checks her notes.
"It looks like in regards to the entertainment it's mainly games, so let's try something unexpected. We'll have Saya do the job there." Mii replied, looking at her. "You have an idea?"
"Oh yeah, for this time of year there's only one thing unexpected but guaranteed to force people in... a Haunted House!" Saya replied, somehow managing to get the lights to turn off while holding a flashlight for emphasis, freaking nearly everyone out. Soon she giggled and looked at Maria's hologram. "Thanks for getting the lights off for me Maria."
Maria giggles and everyone chuckles nervously.
"Well at least we know you know what you're doing with that idea." Mii replied, still shaking slightly.
"So what about the food service, how are gonna do that?" Kurumi asked.
"Leave that part to us, we've seen enough of the crowd between these schools to know how to suck in everyone like flies to honey." Ai replied, making Kurumi blink as Ai tapped her hands on a certain box nearby. "Don't sweat the details Kurumi."
Kurumi chuckles and sweat drops at that reply, but just decides to go with it.
"And what are you guys doing about the performance portion? That's the area Miku's gonna be at, and likely where Rindouji's gonna keep us from getting any higher than second place." Mayuri asked.
"Not to mention Miku's got her voice on hand, if we're not careful... this might be the hard part for multiple reasons-" Maria started, before gasping. "Wait, her powers won't work on other Spirits! We just need something you can all do together."
Shiori thought on that, unsure of what to do.
"How about you guys play in a band?" Rinne suggested, making everyone look at her as she put out some instruments she pulled from the school's band room. "Instruments are varied, and it's not anything too special but still popular. Not to mention you don't need any real routines with it."
"Well, I can play a little guitar." Shiori replied, holding up a guitar and playing a little. "I think it's good enough to play on stage at least."
"I know how to play the keyboard." Kurumi answered, dancing her fingers across the keys of a keytar.
"I've got the drums!" Kaguya exclaimed, playing a drum roll. "And the winner for tastiest bass lick is..."
Soon everyone saw Yuzuru jamming on a bass.
"Is this passable?" Yuzuru asked.
"I find it demeaning to give point scores, but for this instance for all of you..." Mana said, soon pulling out said score card. "10!"
The Yamai twins high five each other.
"What about the rest of us?" Tohka asked sadly.
"No one said the band had to only be a few of you. Sometimes bands have multiple members play the same instrument, so anyone else know how to play?" Cecile wondered.
"Well... kinda embarrassing, but I kinda stalked Shiori on some of her guitar lessons and learned how to play myself." Kotori admitted, Shiori went white at that comment but dropped it when she heard Kotori's skill. "Well, maybe I also did a lot of personal lessons."
"I am a mimicker, and drums are better solo so..." Natsumi began before transforming into Yuzuru and back, picking up a bass and jamming on it. "I'll play a spare bass."
Rinne writes that down, soon realizing Tohka, Origami and Yoshino were left.
"Hmm... I think one of you can sing, but as for instruments that's a different-Oh wait!" Rinne said, bopping a fist in her hand as she finds two tambourines. "The one instrument that's an essential and doesn't require anything but a good sense of rhythm."
Tohka soon shook one of the tambourines, and soon got all excited as she tried to shake it in every possible form.
"I love this thing!" Tohka giggled.
"I'll use it too, uh... if Origami doesn't mind." Yoshino replied, Origami answered simply by picking up a microphone. "Origami?"
The Light Spirit replied by breathing before singing a lovely hum to the surprise of everyone.
"Holy... guaca...mole!" Maria replied.
"Wow, Rio didn't know Origami could sing like that, Rio always thought Origami was too shy to sing." Rio smiled, clapping while Origami turned her head bashfully. "Rio wants to hear it again!"
"We'll save that for the performance itself." Origami said, turning her head a bit more. "I think that covers everything though?"
"It does, now... time to begin our counterattack against Rindouji!" Kotori exclaimed with vigor, everyone else raised their hands in response to that.
Back at the DEM's Main branch building, Chinami walked into the locker room after a long round of training as she wiped the ocean of sweat off her body. As she opened her locker...
"Hey Chinami, are you listening?" Jessica asked, getting the brown haired wizard's attention.
"What is it Jess?" Chinami asked.
"Tomorrow on September 23rd at precisely 15:00, the both of us, the other Adeptus numbers excluding Ellen, and many other DEM wizards are going to be attacking Tenguu Square. It's a difficult mission to capture those Spirits and that boy from Ratatoskr." Jessica stated, catching Chinami by surprise. "I'd let me finish, that's just the cover story."
Chinami blinked.
"...OK, I'm listening. Cause I find it crazy to attack a public event, if only because that'd cause people to learn the truth about us. Not the smartest move considering we just kicked off Murdoch and the other board members." Chinami asked.
"It's quite simple, we know the AST will be deployed to try and stop us, and that'll divide their attention. The moment [Diva] sings her song..."Jessica continued, making Chinami's eyes widen as she realized where this was going. "Ellen will claim our targets while everyone's blinded by her voice."
Chinami soon went silent and threw her towel away.
"I'd personally rather take out Angel, but I guess Master Westcott's orders are more important for the time being." Chinami stated, cracking her knuckles a bit. "So, up for last minute sparring practice then?"
The following day at Tenguu Square, fireworks went off in the air around the building.
"[Ladies and Gentlemen, we will now commence the 25th annual joint High School extravaganza! Welcome to the famous and beloved Ten-Oh Festival!]"
Cheers were heard as everyone swarmed into the building. In one area, Saya and a good number of Raizen Students, and even Hiroto, were all seen by the Raizen High Monster House they made as they began scaring everyone who went inside.
"I will eat your souls!" Saya exclaimed darkly, wearing an outfit that made her look like a burning demon and a voice machine that distorted her voice, scaring a couple who had walked in together and ran head, Saya smirked as she hid back until the next group came. 'Best idea ever!'
Meanwhile in the refreshments area, a maid cafe was seen as Raizen High's mini-restaurant where Shiori had come to see how things were going. Needless to say, seeing Mana wear a maid outfit was quite surprising.
"Hello master, can I take your order?" Mana joked, sticking her tongue out cutely. "So how do I look?
"Cute, but I didn't think you'd ever where something like this. So our food presentation is a maid cafe?" Shiori asked, causing the talkative trio to walk into view.
"No one used it and considering our diversity, what could have been better?" Mai asked, soon pointing at some of the other girls. "We have a beautiful but surprisingly innocent girl type."
Mikie smiles at that.
"A wild tsundere type girl."
Ashley forms a vein at that comment, but ignores it knowing it was for the sake of getting Miku sealed.
"And a tall yet timid and bashful type."
Katie blushes as she waves at that, and soon all the girls lined up.
"The boys are gonna love us! Unless they like older girls or swing the other way, eh... don't think there's too many of them." Ai replied.
"And if they are, go for it anyways." Mii replied, soon turning to Mana. "Now go get them poster girl! You're the head maid here!"
Mana smiles at that, and soon the other students lined up.
"Your wish is our command!" They all replied.
"Then let's make sure all of us work hard!" Mana replied, making everyone cheer. Soon turning to Shido. "Oh, and we got your band outfits ready. It's over there in the corner."
"Thanks Mana." Shiori replied.
After taking a moment to change, the girls were all seen changed into styled T-shirts that gave a mix of a rock and pop theme by being normal but having exotic pink symbols as their designs.
Each of the group had their shirt in their respective Spirit color, with the pink symbols representing Rinne who was the reason they had even become Spirits and Shido and each other, with Shiori's being cyan. They also had jean shorts with torn out bottoms in more faded colors of their shirts and also boots following the same color theme.
"Wow, these are rocking!" Kotori commented, putting her hands on her hips while giving a toothy grin. "I gotta hand it to Saya, that girl knows how to rock things into the fun zone. You sure she comes from a rich family Kurumi?"
"She does, it's when she's in public like this she lets loose. Learned that firsthand when she was your predecessor." Kurumi giggled, her usual hair ribbons replaced with ones that had a black star pin on each of them. "It'll be a while before the show so let's take this chance to enjoy everything."
With that, Tohka ran off to everyone's sudden surprise.
"I'm guessing that's Tohka's of way of telling us to just do it. Well, I'll buy it, see you guys in about an hour!" Kotori waved as she went off herself, and after a few minutes only Shiori was by herself as she chuckled at everyone's energy.
"Well, it's good to see how far they've all come." Shiori smiled to herself, though right as she did... she swore she saw Nia in her undisguised form looking at her and holding a candy apple. However, the moment someone walked by, she was gone. 'Meanwhile I'm so stressed I'm seeing things.'
Shiori soon heard footsteps and saw none other than Miku and a quartet of Rindouji's girls walking besides her. Soon Miku notices her.
"Good morning Shiori, how are you today? From the looks of things, I'd say you're doing quite well." Miku greeted.
"Um... yeah, I guess I am?" Shiori sweated, unsure how to respond to her. You couldn't blame her though, Miku was technically her enemy in a competition sense right now, and she didn't want to aid Rindouji's efforts by accident.
"I've gotta admit, those clothes suit you. In fact, it might be interesting for you to wear that outfit every day." Miku stated, making Shiori blush before Miku giggled at her reaction. "My, you always get flustered so easily. Ever heard of joking?"
Shiori stutters a bit at that.
"I-I've heard jokes, you just make it hard to tell what's a joke at all!" Shiori replied, making Miku giggle again.
"Yeah, maybe I do." Miku admitted, soon looking at the girls by her side. Shiori soon noticed the ripple effect from her powers come out. "Give me and Shiori a little alone time, would you please?"
All four of the girls walk off without any resistance or reluctance, making Shiori sweat.
'No matter how many times I see it, the sight of that power always gets me on edge. Hearing Nia helped train her just makes it worse.' Shiori thought, soon recollecting herself. "For someone scoping out the enemy you're not exactly being discreet."
"Oh no, that's not what I'm doing at all. Even I have lines I won't cross. After all, despite how I hate men do you see a string of deaths anywhere." Miku asked, making Shiori pale at the dark humor of her example. "You take things too seriously Shiori. Though as for why I'm really here, I came to ask you on a date."
Shiori blinks a few times at that.
"A date?" Shiori repeated.
"Just go with it Shiori, after all we'll have to tell her the truth about you being a guy eventually. Best we improve your relationship with her so maybe we can calm the storm when that finally happens." Maria replied, making Shiori mentally sigh knowing she was right.
"Uh... OK, I guess we can do that." Shiori replied, soon blushing as Miku took her arm. "M-Miku!"
Miku giggled as she dragged Shiori off.
"Oh, don't worry. We're both girls, aren't we?" Miku replied, ignoring the fact that Shiori was aware of her sexual orientation. Soon they stopped by a crepe stand as Miku buys them each one. "Here, enjoy!"
"Thanks." Shiori said while sweating slightly, looking at Miku eat hears.
On the Fraxinus, everyone watched the particular scene as Miku commented on how the crepe tasted. Rinne, Rio and Mayuri were also present on the ship due to Rinne suggesting her presence would protect the Fraxinus if something went off with Miku's powers.
"Just one day and she asks for a date. I can't tell if Miku's really into her, or just full of herself?" Rinne wondered.
"Hey Shiori, be careful of what you say. While we were fine the other day, Miku seems to be masking her stress, if you push her too far... well let's just say it's very possible for the end result to be her undergoing an Inversion." Maria replied, making Shiori gulp.
"We currently do have a way to protect everyone via another addition to the headsets, but this is based on her normal form. If she were to Inverse we risk not just the people present, but aside from us here in the Fraxinus we might not be able to keep anyone but the Spirits unaffected."
"Right, I'll be careful." Shiori replied.
Maria sighs nervously.
"I can't help but worry, after Nia's tricks and what we see with Miku... I don't have the same confidence with these last three Spirits." Maria admitted, looking at Rinne.
"Any of the Spirits can be dangerous, if Seigo's taught me anything the fear you can feel depends on how overwhelming something feels to you, especially something clearly above you." Rinne replied, patting her hologram's head. "We just have to try our best, and go beyond it if needed."
Shiori was soon seen eating her crepe, and after taking a moment to look away at something, Miku takes a bite of hers. Shiori blushes in surprise at that.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess it's only fair you have a bite of mine too." Miku giggled, holding it out.
'She totally made an excuse to get an indirect kiss, didn't she!?' Shiori thought, blushing as she takes a quick bite of Miku's before turning away and blushing.
"You know, that was almost like we kissed." Miku giggled, and Shiori whimpered upon getting confirmation Miku had intended that. She then heard Miku gasp as she saw a Ring Toss game. "A ring toss, I love these! What prize do you want? Just tell me and I'll win it for you."
Shiori looks and notices an adorable cat based prize, making her eyes sparkle as the cuteness grabs her.
"I guess I want the cat... but please don't use your voice to get it, it's not any fun like that." Shiori answered, making Miku pout playfully.
"Alright, I won't. I'll just get it on the first try then." Miku replied, soon being handed the rings and tossing the first. She missed. "...OK, first payment of tries."
She throws the second and misses, and sweats as she throws the third... and just barely gets it on the ear, which was enough to count.
"Who knew it would be that much harder than I thought?" Miku sighed, embarrassed about her first try claim as she was handed the cat before giving it to Shiori. "Well I still won it anyways. Even if I hadn't, I could have-"
"Do you even hear what I asked, or did just shrug it off so I wouldn't call you out?" Shiori sighed, making Miku blink at that. "That's not how things work! For someone who claims they don't cross lines, you sure still have a lot you will walk past."
Maria sweated, paying attention to the emotional graph, though nothing serious came up yet.
"In that case, what am I supposed to do?" Miku asked.
"If you want a prize, then you win the game fair and square. If you lose then just try again until you succeed. Think about the people who work here!" Shiori replied sternly, looking at the people at the ring toss booth who didn't notice their conversation yet seemed to enjoy someone enjoyed their game.
"They put all this effort in making this, they didn't take any shortcuts or just form it out of nowhere. Nothing but their own strength came into making this and they'd be sad to know they were manipulated."
Miku slightly froze at that as a certain memory flashed through her mind, though Shiori didn't notice.
"Sad? They should be honored that I even accepted a silly prize from their silly game." Miku answered, her eyes shadowed and making Shiori unaware what they were expressing. "They're my playthings and nothing more, my pawns to get whatever I want. I think highly of you thought, isn't that all that-"
"You're kidding right!? If that's how you see people, and if you really think I'm that shallow to be an exception, then you should know I think lowly of you. I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, but now I'm starting to think otherwise." Shiori replied, making Miku stare in surprise. "Someone needs to remind you what it means to be human."
Unaware to Shiori, Tohka had walked nearby and been listening for quite a while. After hearing that she noticed an odd expression on Miku's face that it Shiori didn't seem to notice either due to standing right in front of her, or because she was angry and less rational than usual.
'What is she talking about? Everyone has ulterior motives, she's no different. Why should she care about others more? Wait... of course, she doesn't care, she's just trying to justify her own motives with fake nobility.' Miku thought, almost as if her mind was forcing her thoughts into a single direction. "I'd say our date is over now."
Miku turned before walking off.
"Test those words and win then, or admit they're hot air. I'll see you on the stage Shiori. Don't chicken out, I want to beat you fair and square."
Shiori watched her walk off, and Shiori looked down and sighed. She soon felt Tohka tap her shoulder, making her look behind in surprise, and noticing Tohka's expression... it was clear where she had been.
"...You heard everything, didn't you?" Shiori asked.
"Yeah, I did. Will you be OK?" Tohka asked.
"I think so, I just... the way Miku seems so indifferent just irritates me. I can't understand why she doesn't get it." Shiori sighed, looking at the cat prize.
"It might sound weird, but... I saw her give this strange look while you were talking. Almost like something you said was familiar to her." Tohka admitted, making Shiori look at her. "I'm not sure what though, but all of us who became Spirits have had sad stories. The question is what is hers? What does Rio not know?"
Shiori looked back where Miku left, starting to wonder that same question herself.
"[Attention all performers, please gather in the waiting room immediately. The events will begin shortly.]"
In a room where all groups for the Ten-Oh festival's stage performance were waiting, Shiori took out here phone as she and Tohka waited for the others to show up. She heard it ring as she was dialing Saya to check on her status with the haunted house. Soon she picks up.
"Saya speaking, what's up Shiori?" Saya answered.
"I wanted to check, how do things look with our entertainment so far?" Shiori asked.
"They're great! The shouts are attracting more people, and luckily since Rindouji's entertainment stand isn't near ours, I made a deal with the nearby booths that we'd give anyone who made it through the whole house a coupon for a free try at their games. Benefits all of us." Saya smirked, making Shiori sigh.
"Now get out there and rock their musical worlds!"
Shiori chuckled before hanging up and dialing Ai's number, soon hearing her pick up.
"Yeah, what's up Shiori?" Ai answered.
"How's the Maid cafe looking so far? Saya says we're good in entertainment, and since we're about to start playing-" Shiori began.
"No need to finish, I get what you're asking. It's going great here too. Mana's getting us a flood of customers... just don't tell her why. She might cry." Ai answered, making Shiori sweat drop a bit. "Oh yeah, we asked Ryouko to check Rindouji's stands for both and they seem like they're not trying much."
Shiori was surprised at that.
"They're not?" Shiori wondered.
"Maybe they're expecting Miku will wash out the competition through her act alone. She wasn't at last year's Ten-Oh festival so she's a whole new factor for them. Though that may give us a good chance-Oh! Gotta hang up, I think we found our rush hour!" Ai explained, quickly hanging up to go to a table.
"Uh... what?" Shiori blinked, confused at the situation. Meanwhile Maria was thinking at the situation.
'You're not giving us enough credit Miku, and that'll be your biggest mistake. If this is how you're gonna play it then get ready to see our own bag of tricks. Nia made it clear we gotta push, now you're gonna see the price for not trying to shove.' Maria thought, soon getting an alert and gasping.
'What!? Not now, why would the attack here of all times? No choice, gotta call in the AST!'
Outside in the sky, the sight of Chinami and Jessica alongside Adeptus 4-12, many other DEM wizards and multiple Einherjar units were flying through the sky towards Tenguu Square as the clock on their CR-Units gave the signal that the set time for the operation had begun.
"Adeptus 4-12, move into position. All auxiliary wizards be on standby, Einherjar wait for commands by me or Adeptus 3." Jessica ordered, everyone readying to attack. "Prepare to move in!"
Before they could, a suddenly blast from the spot where the sun was fired, and dozens of the Einherjar units were shot before they could see the attack and defend against the hidden strike with their territories.
"What was that!?" Adeptus 7 gasped.
"That would be us!"
Everyone looked to where the sun was, and floating in the air was none other than Mana with an upgraded White Licorice attached to her Murakumo. The sight of her rival made Jessica growl with anger.
"It's you and that damn White Licorice! Mana Takamiya, I'll take care of you myself!" Jessica shouted.
"What? Are you serious, but its just-" Chinami began, soon seeing a shot barely miss and turned to see Katie had fired at her, and then the sight of the other AST members excluding Artemisia and Karen who were absent for some reason. "Never mind, it's not just her. Almost thought she was the only one who showed up. Bring them down!"
"YES MA'AM!" All other Wizards answered.
Mana zoomed ahead.
"Territory Lock, deploy!" Mana shouted, expanding a territory that caused many of the weaker Wizards to be caught and start falling from the territories trapping them.
"Captain, help us!" A wizard called out.
Soon Mana deployed all the White Licorice's weapons, now run by her spirit mana as she fired out. The other AST members quickly rushed by to combat the DEM wizards and Einherjar, in only short time the AST's weapons proved to be more advantageous and they took the lead.
"Damn them, this isn't gonna work." Chinami groaned, tapping her headset. "This is Adeptus 3, we need help Marina. Send new Automaton reinforcements!"
"Deploying now, ETA should be around 5-10 minutes. Hold out until then." Marina replied, making Chinami groan at the time she was told. "Hey, I'm not the one who decides where a building happens to be. Suck it up."
Chinami soon noticed Ryouko clash against her Arondight, and the two were locked in place by their clashing blades.
"I've heard of you, the one who killed the Adeptus 2 of 12 years ago. Well, let's see how much that matters when I take you out here." Chinami stated, Arondight opening its blade out and creating a burst that send Ryouko flying.
"Damn, you're strong, but not strong enough to take us on!" Ryouko declared, rushing forward as she brought out the C-C-C and began firing at Chinami.
Meanwhile, back in the stage of Tenguu Square, everyone was currently seeing the performance of Senjo University High as they had a trio of students dancing to some music and finished up with a post that made the entire crowd cheer.
Shiori's group was watching from the side stands, impressed at their performance and wondering how much more applause that Rindouji's performance would do in comparison to the one they had already just seen.
"Rindouji's next and then it's us, here we go..." Origami gulped, grabbing Shiori's hand to calm her nerves.
"[Next up ladies and gents, its Miku Izayoi of Rindouji singing one of her hit songs!]"
A few minutes after the call, everyone cheered as Miku came on the stage, strangely though she had a cloth around her that most people expected she'd take off to flash her outfit, but what ended up happening was ever light suddenly going off.
"Uh... is that supposed to happen?" Natsumi asked.
"It might, Miku could make that flashing we expected into something-" Kotori began, soon gasping. "Uh... guys?"
Everyone saw Miku's body starting to glow indigo.
"Shaddai El Chai!"
Miku's Astral Dress forms, shredding the cloth around her and poses as the lights come back on, making the crowd go crazy.
"She used the darkness to pull out her Astral Dress without suspicion! Worse, that's pumped the crowd on its own already! She's not playing fair here!" Kaguya shouted, flailing her arms around.
"Hope you ready for some fun, the real show's about to begin!" Miku declared, making the crowd shout.
- (*Date A Live II - Monochrome*) -
Soon Miku poses, and the lights shift as the music to one of her songs starts playing.
"[When skies are turned from Monochrome, to an excess of tones... the world is sure to begin!]" Miku sang as she walked forward across the stage, her arms held out and then stretched before her. She pulls one back before pulling the other and crossing them, closing her eyes.
"[And if I have you by my side, anytime day or night... then I am sure to smile!]" She then extends one hand out and waves it, then puts it on her hip before moving the other to flashily point at herself. She moved to the music a bit before holding it in the air.
(I can't stop loving you every day, wo-oah!) She slowly steps to the right of the stage.
(I can't stop loving you every day, wo-oah!) Then Miku began walking towards the left side.
(I can't stop loving you every day, wo-oah!) Miku holds out a hand and moving like there was a wall, then swirling like she simply had to open a door.
(I can't stop loving you~) Finally, Miku returns to the stage's center and holds her arms up before moving them down like forming an arc above her head.
It was at this moment that Shiori suddenly noticed that Miku's face looked happier and enjoying herself more than at any moment she had before now, in fact... it was almost like she was looking at the real Miku. No using her voice beyond normal sing, no tricks at all, just a desire to sing and see everyone happy and enjoying it.
'What's going on? Is that really the same girl I saw act so uncaring about an hour ago?' Shiori wondered, starting to feel there was something Miku was hiding. The question is... what was it, and what did she have to hide consider what she was seeing before her?
"[Holding your hand in mine, and squeezing it so tight! Don't wanna let you go.]" Miku sang as she brought her arms together, soon clasping them tightly. Only slightly bouncing in place as she sung her song.
"[My heart is open wide, you are my one desire. I hope... you feel it too!]" She stretched her arms out, like longing for someone to take her hands and pull her away to somewhere special. Twirling a bit after her voice picked up a bit.
"[Anytime that I can have you near me!]" Miku began to skip in place as she sang.
"[Every worry I have is disappearing! You melt my cares a~way.]" She wagged her finger in the air, soon skipping in place again and dancing a bit.
"[I hope that we're all closer, just a little every day a little better!]" Miku then waves her finger out in rhythm to the crowd shaking their glow batons.
"[Much more than yesterday!]" Right after, she held her hands to her face like she was calling out to someone.
Shiori soon noticed Tohka tapping her foot and smiling a bit to the song.
'OK, this definitely doesn't feel like the Miku we've gotten to know by now. Even Tohka's not on guard anymore!' Shiori thought, looking back at Miku as she still couldn't find the oddity in her previous actions compared to now.
"[When rainbows enter through the air, lining a road with flare! The trees will smile with such happiness there!]" Miku sang as she waved her hands hand back and forth a total of four times, making the illusion of a rainbow with each one. Soon making a blushing face as she held her hands to her face.
"[Like being wrapped up, in a love story... a journey that has only begun!]" She shook to the rhythm, then crossing her arms and kneeling to the ground.
"[When skies are turned from monochrome, into an excess of tones. My heart will race and my pulse will beat on!]" A ripple of light formed around her before spreading out, turning the entire stage indigo briefly, or monochrome in a sense. Doing a series of finger poses after it changes back.
"[Having you near me, is so astounding... you make everyday so colorful!]" Finally reaching the song's end, Miku held her arms out before crossing them while stretched out.
At the last few seconds, Miku spun before giving a pose with her right hand stretching out its thumb and pointer finger.
- (*insert song end*) -
The crowd's cheering went crazy at that very moment, Shiori and the Spirits in awe at what they just witnessed.
"That was incredible!" Tohka cheered.
"OK, be honest... anyone suddenly feel like before this point we haven't actually seen Miku?" Natsumi asked, making the others look at her. "She felt like someone else, and going with my experience? I feel like the Miku before we heard her singing's the fake here."
"I thought so to. Wait, you can recall the recent memories of someone you transform into, right? Maybe you could-" Shiori suggested by Natsumi shook her head. "Wait, no?"
Natsumi sighed.
"I can only see the recent memories, if I had been in my Inverse Form... that'd be a different story." Natsumi answered, turning to the stage. "If we want our answers, we gotta get them from the source. We've gotta win the overall rankings for today."
"[Next up ladies and gents, for our final act for the day, its' a band performance from Raizen High!]"
The group all turned at that.
"That's our cue, we better hurry down there." Shiori noted, and everyone headed over while picking up their instruments. After doing so, the stage lit up and showed them all to the crowd who began cheering. 'If it weren't for the fact our freedom's on the line, this would actually be kinda cool.'
Everyone got into position, and then... they noticed Origami was suddenly shaking like a wind-up toy.
"Origami, what's the matter?" Shiori whispered.
"I'm sorry, but I think I may have, sort of, kind of neglected to mention that..." Origami whispered back, sweating heavily. "...I have terrible stage fright!"
The whole group pales that.
'...Oh boy, we are SO screwed right now!' Shiori mentally panicked.
Oh boy, that's the worst possible time for something to go wrong 0_0 *sighs* you really should have warned them Origami, since you're onstage now, you can't have Natsumi mimic Miku to sing in your place. It always seems like things go wrong at the worst possible time whenever you have an event that has a crowd watching you... staring at everything you do... the audience in your underwear trick doesn't work... *shivers*
I hope that scene where I showed Miku singing and performing turned out alright, that wasn't like my intros because it was in real time, it was pretty fun to write though! ^^ *giggles* And luckily, I'll be doing an Encore in the following chapter when the Raizen High band begins singing Q&A. So I better get ready to take the stage again real soon.
To anyone curious on why I had Shiori note Miku looked different, when I saw her singing Monochrome in the anime, her face looked a lot like it did after she let Shido seal her powers, so I felt like that was representing Miku subconsciously wishing to see someone love another from the bottom of their heart, the wish she still had even if she hadn't been honest with herself. She said it herself, she didn't want fame, she wanted to make music for others to enjoy.
Well, next chapter things are about to turn on their heads, so as my heads up to all of you? If you don't care about spoilers, or just want an idea what's about to happen next, go back to Chapter 25 and see the intro song again. Similar to how Inverse Tohka was in it before we saw her show up, there's been a hint there all season for an event that will finally show up in the next chapter.
See you next time when we begin act three of this epic performance! Until then, stay awesome everyone ;)
-Spirit Bond Levels & Passive Abilities-
Tohka - 97% ( Form a mana barrier automatically )
Origami - 92% ( Teleport Dodging )
Yoshino - 85% ( Dampen enemy territories )
Kotori - 88% ( Healing from fatal wounds minus losing his head, doesn't work on wounds caused by blunt force )
Kurumi - 83% ( Hide in his shadow, and only his )
Rinne - (Secret)
Natsumi - 77% ( Transform into Shiori )
Kaguya - 67% ( Flight )
Yuzuru - 67% ( Weight Manipulation )