Chapter 367 - New Future

Saki surely didn’t feel fine at all. The crowd of men before her, cheering and hollering with excitement gave her pause. But more than that, the figure of an idol upon a stage behind them drew her attention even more.

It would have been fine if she were a normal idol, showing off her glamorous outfit of rainbows and frills. Such a cute ensemble of clothing fitted perfectly with her tastes of similarly cute girls.

However…

The roar of a chainsaw interrupted the scene. No matter how pink and covered in bows and ribbons it was, a revving chainsaw struck a menacing chord at Saki. She looked down at her twin sets of hammers, scoffing at how benign they seemed in comparison.

This was not how Saki imagined the Goddess of Attack, Hanako, would be. Saki had been created in her image, but that made the idol standing above all the men around her all the stranger. Regardless, this was the ‘Aura’ that Hanako emitted, the grand attack that warped reality into a punishment for its target.

Hanako picked up a microphone in her other hand, and with a deep breath, bellowed into it.

“Shall we get the show on the road!”

“Yes, Miss Hanako!”

All at once, the men raised giant glowsticks in both hands. The first two charged toward Saki, swinging their weapons like nightsticks. Saki brought her hammers up to greet them, but as her weapons collided with theirs, playful notes danced in the air.

The glowsticks weren’t smashed away, along with its wielder, as Saki expected. Rather, notes of different pitches echoed around them as both weapons were repelled. Saki was thrown back, as were the fans.

“Don’t be so naïve!” Hanako called out from afar. “My fans are part of me, and by extension, my strength is theirs. Did you really think an idol comes alone onto the battlefield?”

Several more fans lunged forward. Saki swung her mallets at them as well, but each time, more musical notes were created, signifying that their attacks were cancelled out. The childish tunes seemed to be mocking her efforts.

Saki had come to face off against her original self. But knowing that she was an idol in the past, it didn’t tell her much about how the battle would play out. After all, Saki had been known for her strength. She was used to smashing her way forward with overwhelming power. But now, she stood in a crowd of fans that possessed the same strength as her.

No matter how much she swung, the sea of glowsticks did not give. Onward, they marched, surrounding her and engulfing her. Pretty soon, hands gripped her arms and legs. They ripped the hammers out of her fingers, they dug into her skin, and they held her in place, spread out like a sacrifice in waiting.

The sea of males touching her in all sorts of unnerving ways brought a wave of fear into her eyes. But then, Saki saw something parting before her. The whirling sound of a chainsaw grew ever nearer. Soon enough, the smiling facing of Hanako, looking much like a twin in a mirror, came before her.

“Not very comfortable, I take it?” Hanako questioned her.

Saki could barely move her head. Even if she wanted to respond back, she could only muster a whimper.

With a snap of Hanako’s fingers, the hands around Saki crawled all around her, diving into her clothes and stroking her bare skin. All Saki could do was tremble as Hanako pointed the chainsaw at her.

“How weak this incarnation of me has become! To be afraid of men to such a degree once again.” Hanako pulled back the chainsaw and brought her face forward. “I was once like you, taken advantage of and left to the wolves. I found that the way to rid those fears were to crush them. Slice them into tiny bits and pulverize them. To gain absolute dominion over them, so that they could not put their filthy hands on me unless I wished them to.”

Hanako kicked one of her fans to the ground before bringing the chainsaw down upon him. With a horrid cry, the man was sawed in half before Hanako brought her foot to his face to silence him. Blood speckled across her outfit now. The blood-caked shoes from crushing the man’s skull were given a flick to rid the brain matter before Hanako turned back to Saki.

“Strength lies in numbers. Of how many your voice can call upon in your time of need. And as you can see, all of these fans here worship me like the god I am!”

Once again, the chainsaw was pointed at her.

“How many have you moved? How many would stay before you and fight for your sake? The strength of one fades with time while the strength of a god persists through the ages!”

Just as Hanako was ready to swing the chainsaw to decapitate Saki, the headset that Saki wore buzzed with activity.

“There is one, right here!”

The chainsaw stopped in mid swing.

The voice of Rika echoed and swallowed up even the noise around it.

“Sometimes, one person is all that is really needed to get you started. Even though I am not there, Saki possesses the strength that I have given her. I won’t let anyone tell her that she isn’t capable. And thankfully, I am not the only one. You have friends, Saki. Those that are fighting on the same battlefield as you. Those that listened to you and prepared you for this journey. Try to remember. That song you sang for all of us as we wished you, ‘good luck!’”

Hearing Rika’s voice, Saki felt the sudden urge of notes dancing on her tongue. Even though her body was restrained by Hanako’s fans, none of them had covered her mouth. She could still speak. She could still sing.

“Tatta hitotsu~~ kawaranai mono~~ zu-uto egaiteta yume~~”

(The only thing that doesn’t change, was the dream I painted long ago.)

“Ima no jibun wa~~ dou utsuru no~~ ano koro no chiisana hitomi ni~~”

(How would the me now look, in the eyes of my younger self?)

Hanako stared dumbly as Saki sang.

“Hey, shut her up. I don’t need a funeral melody,” she said, ordering her fans.

However, nothing happened. Even though Saki continued to be restrained, the hands around her were frozen. Every set of eyes were fixed to the girl that had suddenly started singing a beloved anisong.

“Nee~~ miagete~~ konna ni hiroi yozora dakara~~”

(Look, up there, at the vast night sky.)

“Sou~~ sugu ni~~ wakaru you ni, seiippai, kagayaku kara hayaku, furu muun wo sagashite~~):

(So that, soon, you’ll understand. I’ll do my best to shine, so hurry and look for the full moon.)

Hanako took a step back. Given that she was an idol, she knew the power of words, especially when given in song. The strength of her voice had commanded unshakable devotion from her fans, enough so that they would do anything for her.

That was what she wished for. To see them all bowing to her whims, just like how she struggled for so long.

The path of an idol was hardly as glamorous as people believed. One misstep and those frills that protected her image were torn away, allowing for slimy hands upon her. That was not how she wanted to live, especially since she was given a second chance, and the power to bend the crowd in her favor.

“What foolishness is this!?”

Hanako started singing as well. She belted out the lyrics, strong and proud. However, not one head turned toward her. Her eyes swam across the sea of fans as they waved their glowsticks around in tune with Saki’s voice.

“Let’s sing a song!~~”

The crowd of fans chanted along with Saki’s chorus, creating a wave of energy that isolated Hanako from the rest. Slowly, her eyes widened as a wall formed around her, her own lyrics being drowned out by her former fans.

“It’s just like before…,” she whispered in a panic.

The empty venues… the looks of indifference… the more that Hanako tried, the less the crowd responded. She didn’t understand why the crowds no longer cared for her voice.

Her eyes became plastered to her phone, reading slander of how much of a ‘has-been’ she now was. The more that she saw it, the more she tried to up her performance to draw the crowd again.

She would get back at them for belittling her efforts. She would force them to hear her again. She would… she would…

“More and more!~~”

But now… the girl before her, an inferior clone, was stealing the spotlight from her. She wouldn’t stand it! She wouldn’t!

Hanako brought down the chainsaw, hoping to shut Saki up. But to her surprise, the arms that remained all around her stopped the saw. Hanako’s weapon bounced off with a musical note and sent her sprawling back.

Surprised by this, Hanako stared at the crowd, who were now glowing purple around Saki.

“Let’s sing a song!~~”

And still, Saki sang. Bestowing her strength to the crowd that now listened to her. They had now become ‘her’ fans. They had become ‘her’ strength.

Saki pulled away from the crowd, their arms willingly retreating to let her bend down and retrieve her mallets. But then, she looked back and kindly nodded to the fans that were holding onto her.

“Strength cannot be forced. It comes from empathy. It comes from an understanding between people, enough for them to fight for your cause.”

Saki swung her mallet, slamming it right into the chainsaw that Hanako brought up in defense. The machine exploded into pieces, dropping to the floor. Afterward, Saki let her mallets fall as well. She walked right up to Hanako, feeling the most confident that she has ever been.

“Violence begets violence. It is not until we learn to lay down our arms that others will understand that we don’t need to fight each other. It is not until we tear down our walls will they come to receive us.”

“They will never understand us! Give them what they want, and they’ll only betray us, sooner or later!”

Saki shook her head. She had to sigh at how much this version of her had been frozen in the past.

“Have you actually tried to listen to any of them? To notice how much you betray yourself without realizing?”

Several of the fans approached Hanako, making her flinch away instinctively. Their hands grew ever closely, but all she could think about was keeping her distance. She didn’t want to be touched. Because they would only lead to bad things for her. She pulled a fist back in response, but suddenly, Saki stepped forward to grab it.

“See… you never got over your trauma. It has been left in limbo all this time. Instead, you wished for people to do exactly what you wanted, to be judged by you to check if they were worthy of being by your side.”

“I cannot trust-”

“Someone that sees herself as a god cannot trust humans. You must be at the same level. You must reach out. Feel pain, feel sorrow. We seek strength because we react to those interactions. To gather our faith in everyone for those moments when life does fail us. If we don’t, just what good does this strength do us?”

Even though Saki had been through a lot, she had friends that pushed her in the right direction. But for Hanako, she had taken a wrong turn and devoted everything to herself, ignoring others.

Perhaps, if she had been more considerate of her fans, they wouldn’t have moved on to the next popular idol.

Perhaps, if she hadn’t blown off the advice of her management, she wouldn’t have fallen into shady deals.

Problems arose around her, so much that they threatened to drown her. Amidst all of that, she had lost sight of her original purpose, left afloat on a single raft with no one nearby.

Being an idol and singing to the crowd was supposed to make her feel proud. But somewhere along the way, it became all about numbers. And to get those numbers, she was willing to endure ridiculous things.

It was supposed to make her stronger, but instead, she became broken and obsessed. She no longer felt proud unless everything went her way.

“Shall we sing a song together, a song for you?” Saki offered. “Maybe then, you’ll find what you lost so long ago.”

The two of them walked up to the makeshift stage from before. And amidst a cheering crowd meant for the two of them, they held a concert. They sang what they wanted. But the crowd didn’t mind; they were enjoying it regardless.

Eventually, their voices started to harmonize, and their movements became in sync. Excitement took over wariness. Because no one had to fight anymore. The crescendo of their melody was accompanied by a brightening glow as everything started to fade from existence.

All that was left was a feeling that empowered Saki through the toughest times. And now, Hanako carried it also as she drifted off.