Ash Returns to the Sky 5

Natsume: Hey. What... are you, anyway?

Tsumugi: Huh? I’m not really sure how to respond to a vague question like that!

Umm, I’m Aoba Tsumugi, and I’m part of fine! As their manager, theoretically ♪

But in reality, no one listens to a word I say!

I’m in a thorny position, actually, acting as middle management between Eichi-kun and our other members ♪

Natsume: Are... you serious right now? That’s—are you being serious?

Why are you smiling? Don’t you feel anything?

Even though I’m standing right in front of you, bleeding out from the sword you stabbed me with?

Tsumugi: Huh? Are you hurt, Natsume-kun? Let me take a look!

Wait, haaang on... You shouldn’t make such morbid jokes, okay? I don’t see any blood at all ♪

Natsume: How can you think that...?

Tsumugi: ? Umm, I don’t really know what you’re asking...?

Natsume: fine, you guys... you stepped all over us Five Oddballs.

You didn’t merely defeat us in a concert; you completely ruined our lives.

I was kept safe by the Oddballs older than me, held at a distance from the maelstrom...

They treated me like a child, pulled a screen down between me and everything else. So I’ve only sustained minor injuries.

But what you’ve done to the others is cruel. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten, fine...

The art Shu-nii-san worked so hard on was destroyed by your despicable hands.

Tsumugi: Ah, you’re talking about Valkyrie’s live, right? The one that had all the sound issues?

It’s crazy to think that Shu-kun’s perfectly constructed performance can be ruined with just one cog out of place.

Maybe you misunderstood what happened... but fine wasn’t responsible for that. So saying it was despicable is a bit...?

Natsume: Are you claiming that it was an accident?

Tsumugi: Oh, no, it wasn’t an accident.

A member of the broadcasting committee did it because he fervently sympathized with our goals! It was his own doing as a show of support.

But we didn’t order him to do that.

Well, Eichi-kun could always have given him a heads up before the show...

About how to take down Valkyrie in a single blow.

Natsume: Exactly. That’s what’s so disgusting about you people... you never get your own hands dirty.

You have everyone around you dancing in the palm of your hands, as if they were enchanted.

Tsumugi: It is a little like magic, isn’t it? I’m always so impressed with Eichi-kun’s ability to do that.

He’s basically nobility, after all, so I’m sure he’s learned all sorts of things about ruling over people.

Natsume: You knew all about this, didn’t you...? You knew, but you did nothing to stop him. You’re just as guilty as he is!

Tsumugi: There was no reason to stop him. A person may never lift a finger to help someone else, but they’ll do everything in their power for their own sake.

Everyone who helped fine is satisfied with what they’ve done.

They believe they’re the protagonists in this story, and they made the best choice for themselves.

They’re all working hard to make their lives as good as they can be, for their own happiness.

That’s not something to be censured; it’s not a bad thing at all.

They all wanted to be the main characters of this book called life... and they wanted their own happy endings.

Right? They just want to be happy.

And in this story about Yumenosaki Academy, with Eichi-kun as its protagonist...

We’re aiming for the greatest happiness for the greatest number—in the end, it will be about having as many people as possible get their happy ending.

That’s what he set out to do, so I decided to help him, with what little I can offer.

Actually, I’ll ask you: what do you think would have happened if Eichi-kun hadn’t acted?

Maybe everyone would have been sated for a moment, indulging in instant gratification.

They would have been treated like kings, pampered and spoiled.

But the reputation of this school, which had already become a hotbed of vice after years of rot... well, in the eyes of the world, it was bad.

“The idols at Yumenosaki are all worthless,” they said. “Useless, good-for-nothing, no-talent hacks.”

“And on top of that, they’re selfish, pompous assholes.” They said, “They’re not worth the price tag.”

That was the reputation we had. Years of collusion forced the entertainment industry to hire Yumenosaki graduates.

And in the end, they multiplied and carried the reputation with them to every corner of the industry.

Those people became cancer cells, rotting the industry from the inside to such dire straits.

Do you think I’m exaggerating? Or that it’s not so serious? Maybe that I’m delusional, even?

Tsumugi: No. The proof is in the numbers. This is reality, unfeeling and with no room for subjectivity.

It’s fine while we’re still in school; we’re protected here, and people aren’t so harsh.

But life goes on after graduation. I know this because I organized all of the documents as part of the library committee.

Hey, Natsume-kun. Do you know how people in the industry refer to Yumenosaki Academy?

Do you know what people around us, what the entire world thinks when they see us?

Do you know what lies in wait for the graduates of this school? Do you know that every single year, the situation gets worse and worse for anyone who graduates from here?

Hell has no bottom.

To dream, and to show everyone else a dream... that’s why we came to Yumenosaki in the first place, right? At least on paper.

We’re here to become idols—to make everyone smile happily.

But tangibly, there was no way out of this mess. We were getting to the point of no return.

Unless someone took a stand and started a revolution—even if it meant shedding blood, nothing awaited us but our own ruin.