Summary: Just after arriving in Novum Chaldea, Miss Crane quickly realizes there's a lot that can be said about the Master who summoned her. "Cute" is one of those apt descriptions for the situation. "Thoughtful" is just the icing on the cake.

Note: This was a chapter inspired by how I pulled Miss Crane in my first multi for the Moonlight/Lostroom collab event, and the feelings she gave me since.

When she was alive, Di Thuy loved making clothes and sewing like Miss Crane. It felt right honoring them both with a chapter.

The theme for this chapter is split between three songs: (1) Idol by Yoasobi for the Oshi no Ko anime; (2) Luminous by ClariS for the recap Madoka Magica movies; and (3) Rainbow Notes by Miyuki Kanbe for Mermaid Melody. Because let it be said that childhood favorites in the latter two still can be loved, while the first one is also for seeing how new works can compare. :) I can also say that the translated lyrics to Rainbow Notes are used in the chapter proper, so I do recommend listening!

Content warning for discussion of abuse, sexual assault, power dynamics, and the like in the entertainment industry by the way. You've been warned.

Oh — and let it be said that just because an industry can be corrupt, doesn't mean you can't still honor the good memories you had through it. And there's nothing wrong with trying to support the honestly earnest people, who truly enjoy the job without the money. It's just knowing the whole story, and educating yourself before submitting to biases.

Otherwise? Please enjoy!

Day 62: Crane's Blessing

"Pardon me. I'm the crane you saved a while back, Miss Crane…" Miss Crane trailed off mid-introduction once the light in her eyes cleared up to reveal the petite brunette standing in front of her as her new Master.

Oh dear.

Long brown hair, straight and shiny with no split ends in sight. Matching brown eyes, accentuated by the large rounded glasses sitting on her slightly pink nose. A small beauty mark near her chin from the side of her lip…

A classic glasses-wearing beauty!

"M-Miss Crane!" Equally tiny hands were nudging at her shoulders, pushing her up and it takes Miss Crane a moment too long to realize that she had doubled over onto the floor of what appeared to be a Summoning chamber from her thoughts. Those cute brown eyes were reflecting her image in honest concern, and if not for the faint sheen of moisture starting to collect in the corners past her glasses, Miss Crane would've preened at the attention. "A-Are you okay?!"

"F-Forgive me, Master, I lost myself in my thoughts. Let me reintroduce myself." Forcing her mush-like hands to move, Miss Crane cleared her throat, sitting up straight to match her new Master's kneeling height with a firmer smile. "I am Miss Crane, a Caster. If you need any clothes or robes made, I swear, Master, I can make them for you as a sign of my inexhaustible loyalty."

"C-Clothes?" The young brunette blinked at her, confusion highlighting her eyes enough to wipe away the moist sheen from before. "Um… not to mean any offense, but why clothes?"

"Consider it my 'trademark,' Master, if that helps." The more Miss Crane looked the young woman up and down, the more she found herself unable to stop her newfound heart from pounding against her chest as she stood up to meet Vy's gaze. "Vy… correct?"

Even her name rolled off the tongue like a new music note. One syllable and all.

Vy blinked before getting to her feet too, taking one corner of her skirt from her Winter Chaldean Mystic Code to humbly curtsy with a small smile. "Aye. I'm Vy Duong, your new Master, Miss Crane." A modest dusting of pink emerged on her cheeks once she stood back to full height, lacing her fingers together in front of her chest. "It's nice to meet you for real outside the storybooks."

Real. That had a good ring to it.

Vy Duong. Her new Master.

Someone with the same spark as—

Past the shade of her hood, Miss Crane smiled back. "It's nice to meet you too, my dear."

"So I'm not the only seamstress here?" Miss Crane couldn't stop the excitement from bubbling up in her voice as she kept turning her head to take in the sights of Novum Chaldea through its hallways. Medea, Leonardo da Vinci, Chevalier d'Eon, Astolfo, Katsushika Hokusai, and even Marie Antoinette…! To think so many beautiful, wonderful people were all gathered in one place…! Even if it was for the single purpose of restoring Proper Human History, such an opportunity was still golden. "That means I could meet up with more idols?!"

Ahead of her by a few paces, Vy paused mid-walk, turning her head to look Miss Crane in the eye with bewilderment. "Uh, yes…?" her voice trailed off the longer she met Miss Crane's gaze, brown eyes widening behind her glasses. "Wait, um. Did you say 'idols', Miss Crane?"

"Yes, idols! I love them a lot!" Miss Crane could feel the giddiness creep up her cheeks long before it started surfacing in her voice, the urge to find a glow stick to wave around growing with it. "With their passion for singing, making a craft that exudes their radiance to light up people's hearts no matter their place in life, they're just so lovely! It's hard to look away!" Miss Crane felt the smile on her face grow strong enough to hurt her cheeks from how much it was stretching them, her hands shaking even through her robes. "And all the Servants I've met through you, my dear, merely shows me that you could be an idol too! Just to stand among them like the beauty you are, Vy!"

It was supposed to be a bright and cheery moment. Praising a young woman who probably needed it.

So then why was Vy looking at her with all the light suddenly lost from her eyes?

Those previously lovely brown irises were now concerningly blank when reflecting Miss Crane's image, and a blink was all it took for a darker sheen of… something to emerge in the light's place as Vy slowly wrapped her arms around her middle and shook her head. "…Marie and the others, maybe. But I know I'm no idol, Miss Crane. I never have been." Even when a little bit of light resurfaced in the new darkness of those brown eyes, Vy looked… sad with the brand new smile on her face. "…With how much I've seen, I wouldn't want to be one anyways. Not when I've had to give up too many things as is. After everything that's gone down, I don't want to give up my true self just to make an idealized image of lies."

…Huh? What does she mean by—

Before Miss Crane could open her mouth, Vy had already turned on the heels of her boots to face the expansive hallway in front of them both, shaking her head. "…Enough of that self-deprecation. I can't go on that tangent forever and you still need to see the rest of Novum Chaldea, Miss Crane." The best smile Miss Crane gets next is longing and resigned all at once as Vy shrugs her shoulders. "Let's just continue the tour?"

Miss Crane finds herself reaching out to take Vy's shoulder but stopping one arm's length away once her gaze falls on the way it trembles.

Don't ask, floated through the air, almost like a strike of soft lightning if such a thing could be codified as such. Not now.

"A-Alright, Master…"

Considering her own tale of leaving loved ones behind when they peered into her atelier and broke promises, she had no room to talk.

Even with the bundle of cuteness that is Marie Antoinette sitting in front of her, sipping at a cup of tea over a matching gold and blue-rimmed saucer, Miss Crane found herself apprehensive. It wasn't even the light trail of drool that was tempted to fall from the corner of her lips, nor was it the urge to go and melt into a puddle on the floor.

No. It was the distinct lack of a smile on Marie's face as she sipped at her tea in her seat opposite of Miss Crane.

In all honesty, this was the most serious and solemn expression Miss Crane had ever seen on the woman. The closest she knew to someone who was once a Queen of France.

"…So you thought Vy could be an idol?" The Queen murmured finally over the rim of her teacup, her voice forlorn and sad. Coming from a bright person like her, Miss Crane knows it's bad. "Is that what I'm hearing?"

"Yes." And Miss Crane wanted to curse herself, feeling her hands shake for a completely different reason because she should've seen this coming. "I-I honestly thought it was the right thing to say, since she's so cute…!" And she meant it. Every single word. "But… but she…" The words weren't coming out.

Saying it or not didn't change the fact that there was something about Vy's last smile in that last moment that left Miss Crane feeling winded. Like someone had punched her in the stomach and plucked out every single feather from under her wings. Because the look in those brown eyes—

Vy already had every single one of her feathers plucked before, rang through her mind like a loud alarm bell. A loud, obnoxious, ringing siren that refused to be silenced. She thought being an idol would take more?

Marie slowly put her teacup back onto its matching saucer, the steam accentuating her lips as they turned upwards in a small smile. "And I don't disagree with you on that. Mon petit chou is very adorable, especially with her penchant for caring for the people around her. But just because she can care, it doesn't mean she should."

Miss Crane blinked. "But that's…"

"Miss Crane, I was the last Queen of France before the French Revolution." Closing her eyes while daintily picking up her teacup for another sip, Marie shook her head. Whether she noticed Miss Crane lurching back in her seat from shock, Marie gave no external sign of such. "And as much as I was in love with the nation I ruled, my people clearly did not feel the same. And if I know Vy, she most likely feels she would be in the same position I was in if she agreed to being called an idol. When she already has to shoulder the future of Proper Human History because there is no one else who can."

The sudden dryness in the back of Miss Crane's mouth was hard to ignore as the realization sunk in. The last Queen before the Revolution had met an end by the guillotine. And if she was making a comparison between herself and Vy… "I… I wasn't meaning…"

Marie's smile held the same tinge of sadness that Vy's had before as she steadily met Miss Crane's gaze, nodding her head while replacing her teacup back on its saucer. "I'm sure you weren't. The delivery of said context is the important factor here in the end, Miss Crane." With a soft sigh, Marie traced one edge of the rim of her teacup, watching the steam waft up towards the ceiling with a thoughtful eye. Eye contact wasn't even involved anymore as she went on with a softer, "Even if she is our Master, she didn't ask to be the last. Nor does she have the heart to be an idol as I had, when I was alive, and I was born to be one. And despite my disposition, my ending was a sad one, and I've been with mon petit chou long enough to know Vy doesn't want a repeat."

"So…" To her surprise, Miss Crane couldn't get another word out. It wasn't from the air, or the lack of tea that she could be drinking.

No. It was when the light reflected off of Marie's clothes and jewelry in that moment which, for once, made the friendly Rider appear human for the first time since the conversation was initiated.

With one more shake of her head, Marie lowered her gaze to meet Miss Crane's own, a crooked edge emerging at the ends of her smile. "So if you're curious as to why she truly reacted that way, why don't you ask her instead of me?"

The look Vy gives her when she's found a few hours later is one caught between sheer innocence and surprised bewilderment, her glasses sliding down the bridge of her nose as the book in her hands slips from the looser grip she has on its spine. The light of the study room Vy had chosen in Murasaki Shikibu's library merely illuminates the shock that had arisen in those lovely brown irises, and Miss Crane tried not to fidget in place when staring into them. "Why… why I don't seem to like idols? Am I hearing this right?"

"Y-Your reaction during the tour earlier worried me, Master." Miss Crane could feel a flush start to climb up her cheeks, and she knew it wasn't from Vy's unintentional projection of cuteness. This flush felt hot, heated, and wrong as sweat dotted the lines on her palms. "And Queen Marie recommended I ask you directly instead of avoiding the question."

That was a good way of putting it. Not being too invasive while still leaving the topic open for the young woman to talk as much as she wanted. Miss Crane knew it was the least she could do.

Asking "are you okay" felt like it was too much in the end.

More so when the dark sheen from before surfaced again, darkening those brown irises enough to blot out the star-like highlights originally shining in them. Those brown eyes could've been the inside of a dark galaxy as Vy slowly put down her book, folding what looked like a trading card (and was it just her, or did it read "Black Rose Dragon"?) between its pages to mark her previous place. "Ah," is all she says at first, and then she smiles shyly, putting an index finger to her own lips while getting up from her chair.

Miss Crane found herself transfixed as Vy approached the nearby whiteboard, hesitating when looking up at it. "Master…?"

"It… it might be better for me to write it out," Vy murmured, not facing Miss Crane while picking up one pink marker to take off the cap. "Just because I might ramble. And the last thing I want is to unintentionally overwhelm you with my thoughts, Miss Crane." The simple yellow dress and green hair ribbon she's wearing merely highlights how small Vy looks against the large expanse of the whiteboard in front of her, even accentuating how tiny the tip of her pink marker is when it touches the whiteboard surface too. "Just let me know if you want to say something, okay?"

Barely able to muster a nod, Miss Crane couldn't look away once Vy slowly wrote out a neat, Idols are… complicated for me. Once she finished the sentence, Vy paused, the index finger of her left hand coming up to touch the bottom edge of the "d" of complicated before she went about raising her marker to make a dark pink underline beneath the word for extra emphasis. Then Vy crouched down to write out another line. While I appreciate their music and energy in staying positive, I don't like the toxicity that comes with them.

"Toxicity…?" Miss Crane read aloud, disbelief and curiosity emerging in her voice all at once as Vy turned slightly towards her in acknowledgement. "How are they involved in…?"

Vy proceeded to write faster in response to Miss Crane's questioning, nearly scribbling the next words — Contractual Purity — in larger letters on a nearby corner of the board. Without hesitation, she went on to draw a curved arrow from the phrase, ending it at a previously unoccupied part of the board for her to then write out a short blurb of, When someone isn't allowed to have relationships outside of their fans. Lovers or children alike, else they risk betraying said fans. And emotional damage and societal death at best. Actual abuse and/or death by murder or suicide at worst.

Something deathly cold was starting to creep up the back of Miss Crane's neck now.

Note that this is something I've observed — I never experienced such things myself. I only studied it. Vy turned her head to give Miss Crane a smile that seemed more apologetic before she focused back on the board in front of her. But the idol industry is just part of a bigger mess that's the entertainment industry — a place that chews up naive talent and spits out tired, hurt people instead in the name of money. In the name of profit. Just to keep "fans" happy.

"Vy…" Miss Crane whispered. For some reason, the words were starting to become more than just about "idols."

With a little sigh, Vy lifted her hand to write more, absently grabbing a whiteboard eraser nearby to clear out her previous words along the way. I remember from before Chaldea how there was a big scandal about an idol being attacked outside her home by stalkers who called themselves "fans." Where the courts didn't convict the culprits and the idol's company made her apologize for "causing a scene." Because she wanted to find love outside the industry. The scene word was written particularly messily, the felt tip of Vy's marker bending against the whiteboard thanks to her grip shaking from unspoken emotion. When said "fans" should've been the ones apologizing for putting her up on such an unrealistic pedestal in the first place. Asking her to be a "doll", not a living human like everyone else.

Miss Crane was tempted — so, so tempted to raise her hand to stop Vy from writing anymore. Especially when every word being written looked like it hurt. But nothing was happening. Her voice wasn't working.

Vy merely kept writing.

That's not even getting into the scandals I learned about when I grew up. Despite her following sentences being relatively neat, Vy's hand continued to shake. Alfred Hitchcock — famous movie director who isolated his lead actress Tippi Hedren from friends and her own daughter, keeping her from getting any other jobs because he was too much in love with her image, committing sexual harassment and emotional abuse. Harvey Weinstein — movie producer who used his position of power to abuse so many women for his own pleasure, not to mention silencing others with his own self-made spy network to keep his reputation. Bill Cosby — comedian-turned-criminal because of his actions behind the scenes. Even Disney — a part of my childhood — has a lot to be ashamed of with how they treated the original voices behind Snow White, Genie, and Peter Pan. All because of entitlement, power, and corruption.

Miss Crane knew she was in something deep by this point. Something far more dark and pent up. Then, Vy—

The marker in Vy's hand slanted then, and it took a moment for Miss Crane to see past the horrified haze in her mind and realize Vy's shoulders were shaking too. A single water drop fell down onto the floor below just as Vy vigorously shook her head, moving her right hand again while erasing with the whiteboard eraser in her left. Entertainment is a cruel place, Miss Crane, is what Vy writes finally after a pregnant pause, a shakier sigh punctuating the sentence. And when it's scary enough standing in front of more than 100 Servants to sing for the person I love, I don't want to contribute to it. Idol or not. Not when it means I have to lie just to keep up expectations. When I have to sing for someone else's memory and not for those I truly love.

Oh god.

Another water droplet falls to the floor once Vy writes out, Besides. I've had to put myself aside enough to where I am still trying to remember where my real self is. And after seeing the Mages' Association and what they did to Mash and me, I don't want a thing like the entertainment industry adding onto that. Not when the industry already darkened parts of my childhood and I didn't know.

Oh god, is all that goes through Miss Crane's head again.

Vy shakes her head again, both her arms shaking as she erases her words to add one last blurb onto the used board with a long sigh. After killing millions of people through every Lostbelt Chaldea has pruned from history, I can't just lie and say "I'm innocent" when I know I'm not. When it feels like I already have to lie to everyone who hasn't been in the original Chaldea when I say the words, "I'm okay," to keep going. Just to keep up the image of "the last reliable Master." I can't—

It's when a sniffle echoes in the study room that Miss Crane gets up from her own chair. She ignores the weight of her robes, ignores how Vy is in the middle of writing the next sentence of, Because there's no one else, because in the end, it just hurts seeing the young woman stand up there by herself.

No. It's not just a young woman. At that very moment, it was a little girl standing there in front of that whiteboard, having been denied the chance to grow up by herself until now with more than cruel circumstances surrounding her.

It was inhumane.

Vy makes a wounded noise of surprise once Miss Crane wraps her arms around her shaking shoulders from behind, hugging her close to her chest as she ducks her head to press her cheek into that lovely brown hair. The faint scent of hazelnut coffee creamer and fruity shampoo mixes into something that tickles Miss Crane's nose — a dull comfort compared to the shock coursing through her veins as Vy trembles in her arms. "I'm sorry, dear," is all Miss Crane finds herself saying. "I'm so so sorry."

Not even cuteness changes the fact that you've been hurt, and I'm sorry. For not seeing it until now.

"Caster… Miss Crane…" Vy gasps, caught between a cough and a sob as she shakes her head again, her hands trembling against the whiteboard in front of her. "It's not your fault, i-it's not…" The pink marker is the first thing to fall to the whiteboard's stand as Vy slowly leans back into Miss Crane's touch, shutting her eyes. "It's… It's hard," is the admission that eventually graces Miss Crane's ears, punctuated by a barely hidden sniffle and Vy tellingly raising the back of her right hand to wipe at her face. "Choosing m-me. But… but there's people here that remind me that I have to. Even if I still doubt myself. E-Even if the world is dark and unforgiving. B-Because they wanted to stay, because they chose to care, and… a-and singing for me, it's…"

A burst of emotions flooded the back of Miss Crane's head in that moment — flashes of images accompanying them too. A tanned man with glasses playing his guitar, singing quietly while strumming the strings in peace. A shorter, black-haired woman with a face similar to Vy's own, humming a lullaby when a younger girl cried into her chest. There was even a slightly pudgier, taller black-haired boy in another image, raising his hands in awe of a sci-fi like tune over a TV screen as his little sister watched in awe.

It all made Tsurume-no-Kimi pause as the girl in her arms continued to tremble from so many unspoken things, refusing to meet her gaze as the number of water droplets increased on the floor. "Singing is something for you," leaves her lips in a mix of wonder, surprise, and dull realization. Because why didn't she see it sooner? Vy didn't want to be an idol for everyone. She just wanted— "Not for the masses, but something your heart uses to express its feelings towards those you truly care about, isn't it?"

She just wants to sing for the people she loves. Her family, her friends, her Servants. No one else.

Because she loves them. Not the masses. Just them. It's why she—

Vy doesn't answer, merely nodding her head fast enough to look like she was possessed as she let the whiteboard eraser in her left hand fall to its previous stand.

Miss Crane did her best to put on a smile once she forced enough strength into her limbs of jelly to turn her young Master around, cupping those wet cheeks in her palms. The brown irises from before are now glossed over from the wetness built up in them, reflecting what could've been a lighter sky as Tsurume-no-Kimi leaned in to press a soft (and hopefully apologetic) kiss to the young woman's hair.

Then, if you don't want to be an idol for everyone—

"Then, if it's alright with you, dear, how about I make you an idol's stage just for you to sing to those people you love? Not for the masses, but for you and those around you. After all, singing isn't just for contributing to a pre-existing industry. It can be for you too."

"…Eh? Really?"

Well. It was a start. Because singing in that limited form at least made it sound less like a lie.

A few days later, there's silence.

"…Wow," Vy says.

The Caster version of Leonardo Da Vinci whistles in appreciation. "'Wow' is right, mia bella." The inventor gives Miss Crane the first look of approval she's ever gotten since arriving in Novum Chaldea, hands resting on her hips as a smirk climbs up on her face. "I can see how you could fund an entire man's career in your legend now, Miss Crane. Great work."

Miss Crane ignores the jab, stretching her arms while giving Vy an appraising look. "It took blood and feathers, but the stage's done!" In a softer voice, she couldn't help herself from asking, "What do you think, dear? Of your own idol stage, just for Chaldea?"

Because it was for that little girl still lost in the darkness. Because it was for the young woman who was trying to stand up through the darkness.

Vy tellingly stayed silent, only taking one hesitant step forward to look over what was previously another break room facility in the Wandering Sea, bespectacled brown eyes reflecting the glitter of the hanging streamers above the podium. Even past the glare of her glasses, Miss Crane could see the wonder and joy come back in sparkles that highlighted those brown irises — just like their first meeting — as the spotlights up above bathed the room in a soft yellow pastel hue that wasn't hard on the eyes.

It was hard to miss how Vy's eyes had looked past the raised stage (covered in more glitter, stars, flowers, and even some cake drawings — all provided by Nursery Rhyme, Voyager, Hokusai, and Sei) to focus on the one white microphone stand holding a mic tipped in blue seashell accents, going on to sparkle even more once Vy turned back to meet Tsurume-no-Kimi's gaze with a smile.

The Caster barely heard her fellow Servant's gasp of surprise.

Because when compared to the previous smiles that Miss Crane had seen associated with Vy Duong the Chaldean Master, this smile could only be attributed to Vy Duong the girl because of how vulnerable and happily pure it looked. It didn't belong to an idol, nor the savior of Humanity in another time, but to a simple human girl. "I… I love it," she murmured softly, closing her star-filled eyes to resemble a housecat saying "I love you" to its owner with the gesture as she turned her head back to the seashell-adored mic standing a few feet away. The lotus ribbon clip in her hair seemed to glow in the spotlight as she went on with a quieter, "Think… Think we could use this today, Miss Crane? Just for a small show?"

Tsurume-no-Kimi extended her arms to let her wings spread out in the air. "You don't have to ask when I already have the perfect outfit for you. With Da Vinci's permission, of course."

The crowd of curious Servants was expected. After all, it was not everyday their shared Master decided to put on a base-wide performance, on one of her break days to boot. In the name of gratitude and a break for them as well. (Miss Crane could've sworn she heard some like Sanson and Mata Hari mutter to themselves with fond smiles, "Typical Vy." Was Master like this even back in the original Chaldea? She wasn't sure.)

It's why Miss Crane wasn't even surprised to find all of Vy's handpicked Grailed occupying the frontmost table with Mash close nearby (camera in hand, definitely recording) as they all waited for the lights to dim in favor of the pastel spotlight. Because of course they would, when they were the ones Vy loved the most, with their "lieutenants" (a female Miyamoto Musashi (ooh!), Marie, that red Archer calling himself EMIYA, Enkidu, Sieg, Kama, the Altered version of Arjuna, Kingprotea, and Edmond Dantes) and other old friends sitting in surrounding seats.

Kingprotea was probably the odd one out of Vy's closest group thanks to her taking her own corner of the whole room from her size, but if Sieg passing her a large cup of lemonade with a larger dragon hand was any indication, no one minded.

It's when the spotlight finally shines its signature yellow pastel hue to highlight the one performer walking up to the center of her stage that all surrounding chatter quiets down. Vy still looks tiny against the stage Miss Crane made for her, but with the tailored white áo dài dress and rainbow hems, the yellow light accentuates her shy smile past her straw rice hat as she takes one part of her skirt to curtsy. With the blue seashell-accented mic in hand, Vy swayed back and forth on her black flats as the song she chose started playing over the loudspeakers, taking one deep breath.

"If a rainbow-colored morning were to come, then we would open a map made of lights!

You can hear it too, right?

You know… this planet's melody!"

It was definitely an odd sight, seeing a Vietnamese girl sing a Japanese song, but for someone like Vy, who preferred to befriend every single Servant she could as people instead of nursing grudges over differing cultures, it was very fitting. Her voice spoke volumes to the practice Miss Crane never got to see, her little spins in place and raised hands showing her growing excitement as joy shined in her eyes.

"The rhythm of the clock is sometimes faster than my heartbeat, rushing and taking deep breaths.

When I get lost in the future,

I want to believe in my calm, honest self…"

Vy brought her hands together over the blue seashell-marked microphone, mimicking a prayer with her stance as she closed her eyes, and Miss Crane couldn't look away. With how steady her voice came out over the speakers to match the music, Vy really could've been an idol if she had a dance routine, or even a partner to dance with.

But no. She was just one human girl, singing an old yet simple song for the Servants sitting in front of her.

"Say 'good morning!' and reset yourself, listening closely to your heart—

I'm sure that you'll remember what you forgot."

No one was looking away. Miss Crane knew she couldn't even if she wanted to. Some of the Servants were even pulling out their weapons to serve as makeshift glow sticks (one sticking point being the Grailed Saber in Arturia Pendragon pulling out Excalibur itself just to wave in the air in honor of her "Princess" — wow) as Vy continued to sing with growing confidence.

"Seven lights reacted to the rainbow prism

If you live then, surely, you know of love.

Whether it's that coral reef of one summer, or all the birds on the cape...

I love them!

Everyone surely knows this planet's...

You know, this soundless melody!"

With the glowing weapons and Vy's singing, Miss Crane could've closed her eyes and imagined herself to be in the middle of a concert hall, listening to the debut song of the world's newest idol. But no.

Taking in this reality, of the many Servants waving their weapons as glowsticks and silently cheering on their shy Master, felt more fulfilling for once.

"Those who become happy will always believe in happiness.

Through tears, and surely smiles, you will still have your friends.

I always love your voice, it's not just a special yell.

Isn't that right?!

Surely this kindness is, too...

You know, this planet's melody!"

It's when Vy opens her eyes and turns her gaze towards the table where her Grailed were that Miss Crane sees it.

Stars — legitimate, bright, and happy stars — shine in those lovely brown irises once they reflect their only target of a man dressed in green sitting at the Grailed table that Tsurume-no-Kimi feels the breath suddenly leave her throat. The man — Robin Hood — merely smiles back at Vy with pride and — and pure love as he sets his arms on the table in front of him to watch closer, a glimmer of silver shining from his right middle finger through his green glove that really sets the tone of the scene playing out.

The glimmer of silver matches the pink flower glittering from Vy's own left middle finger, past her bright red lotus Command Seals, that Tsurume-no-Kimi really gets it for once.

He's why you don't want to sing for those you don't know, huh, dear? Because even in a Bleached world, he's still your—

Vy's voice comes out sweeter and more heartfelt once she gets the courage to take one more spin in place, mic in hand to sing the last lines.

"After I change my clothes, I'll come and meet you.

This world, overflowing with hope and love, is a wonderland!"

It takes all Miss Crane has to not squeal once the song finishes soon after its singer, with all the other Servants getting up from their seats to applaud — Mash being one of the loudest alongside Vy's handpicked Grailed. In response, Vy merely smiled bashfully, rosy red dusting her cheeks as she set the microphone back onto its stand on the stage before bending one knee to curtsy again.

The last thing Miss Crane expected was for Vy to take off her straw hat (nearly tearing it) and go onto jumping off the stage. She shouldn't have been so surprised at seeing Vy running over to the Grailed's table and tackling Robin in a hug by throwing her arms around his neck, but nothing was leaving her lips anyways.

A chorus of voices rang out (one part surprised as Miss Crane was, the other part supportive and happy) as the Archer wrapped his arms around the young woman's waist in return, surprised laughter leaving his lips as she snuggled him. They were most definitely exchanging words meant for lovers alone (Miss Crane could barely make out the quiet, "Did I do good?" and Robin's confident reply of, "Of course you did. I loved it," through their lips) instead of Master and Servant as they embraced each other, rocking back and forth against each other in their own rhythm.

Miss Crane's lingering suspicions ended up confirmed in barely half a beat once Vy drew back only to stand up on her tiptoes through her flats to press her lips to Robin's. The voices around them were starting to cheer louder as they kissed sweetly, and Tsurume-no-Kimi closed her eyes with a fond sigh to hide the next squeal starting to bubble up in her throat.

A hand went on to gently rest itself onto her shoulder for a warm squeeze, and Tsurume-no-Kimi didn't flinch once her ears were graced with Marie's voice. With a natural idol like a Queen of France coming by to give her some company, she didn't feel ashamed turning around to meet Marie's gaze with her own. "Now do you understand, Miss Crane? Why Vy insists on being human?"

"I-I do. And what you have here, Queen Marie, with your little cream puff—" Tsurume-no-Kimi takes out a handkerchief from her robes, wiping at her nose and eyes while ignoring the small tinge of red coming out from the gesture. Nosebleeds could be handled later. "It's just beautiful."

Turning around merely confirmed Marie smiling back at her, large and bright stars shining in her blue eyes to match Vy's own. "Of course! It's mon petit chou, after all!"

And for the last Queen of France to sing such high praises of Chaldea's last Master, Tsurume-no-Kimi could do nothing but agree. Teary smile and all.

Note: To Carim — partialdignity on Tumblr and GlyphArchive on AO3. Consider this chapter "part 1" of your friendversary present. You and your spouse Lunar have been with me for two years as of 2023. Thankie for sticking with me. I love you two so much.

For everyone else, I hope to see you at the next chapter. This one took a lot out of me, no thanks to revisiting some of my older memories I wish I didn't have to, as well as getting to know Oshi no Ko and how the main idol — who's voiced by Mash — saw her own ending. So I'm gonna sleep it off.

See you all soon.