star gazer 6

Koga: Huh? Wh–what the hell do you want? Shut up with all that hysterical noise you’re makin’!

Ritsu: ......

Wataru: Oh my, what a cold response. I only caught wind of a little row, so I wanted to know what happened.

Please, cease your fighting! Would Rei not be heartbroken?

Ritsu: This is an A-B conversation... And we’re not even really fighting, anyway. He just decided to get up in my face all on his own.

Buuut it turns out the thing who looks like my brother decided to fuck off overseas this morning.

This guy keeps asking me where he went and why, but I don’t know and I don’t care.

Koga: You asshole, you’re his brother! You should know where he went! I didn’t say anything weird!^[1]

Ritsu: I told you, it’s just like him to disappear suddenly, so why would I concern myself about it?

Quit crying at me like some poor abandoned dog.

Koga: But there was definitely something weird going on with Sakuma-senpai!

This shithole completely reeks lately. It makes me wonder if something weird is going on...?!

I’m probably overstepping by worrying so much about Sakuma-senpai, but what the hell else am I s’posed to do?!

It’ll be too late for regrets if something actually happens, so just tell me what you know!

Ritsu: But I don’t know anything... Ugh, I’m literally just here to cheer Maa~kun on, and now I’m caught up in this mess.

Koga: ...Maa~kun?

Ritsu: Isara Mao-kun... I was supposed to perform with him at the Venus Cup.

But I had to cancel for personal reasons. I feel pretty bad about it.

So at least I wanted to support him in it.

...“Onii-chan” got unusually serious and warned me not to get involved, so I decided to listen for once.

But Maa~kun really didn’t get it.

He assumed I’m slacking off ‘cause I thought it was stupid. It’s “Onii-chan’s” fault if he thinks I’m an evil person with no morals or humanity.

Koga: Heh? You callin’ Sakuma-senpai Onii-chan now, ya bastard?

Ritsu: Oh... No, that thing is just like my brother. My Onii-chan died a long time ago, and now he’s laid to rest in a coffin.

Natsume: Hm... Rei-nii-san gave me the same warning.

It was partly that it was bothersome and insignificant, but it was also that I should avoid getting caught in a conspiracy.

There is something going on. Something dangerous and terrifying the likes of which we can’t imagine.

Rei-nii-san is a careless person, but if his brother and I are in danger, he will do whatever he can to protect us.

Or so it should be. He gave us only a vague warning, so I wonder if he, himself, does not see the full picture...

If that’s the case, it’s even more ominous.

I wonder what on earth will happen today. I would divine it for myself, but it’s a firm rule to never read one’s own fortune.

Koga: Hey, what the hell’re you even talkin’ about...? I hear singin’ from the auditorium, so I guess the Venus Cup is startin’ already.

If ya wanna to watch, we’d better go get a seat ASAP.

Be a waste of a ticket. And stupid as hell to throw away all that money.

...Hey, Sakuma-senpai’s little bro. I’ll ask you more about this later, okay?

Ritsu: I hate being called stuff like that. I’m not “Sakuma-senpai’s little bro,” I’m Ritsu.

Anyway, did you actually buy a ticket for the Venus Cup?

It looks like it’s pretty much empty in there... You must have some weird taste.

Or is one of your friends performing? It’s not Maa~kun, right? Maa~kun’s mine, got it?

Koga: No, it’s just that the top rankers in our class are performing. I wanted to see just how good they are~ Y’know, study the enemy tactics.

Well, at a school that mass-manufactures fake idols, so there’s probably not much to study.

But sometimes Akehoshi proves he’s the real deal... so I wanted to check it out.

Anyway, I’m gonna go find my seat.

Ritsu: ...I’m going, too. It’s a bad apology for skipping out on work, but at least I can pad Maa~kun’s pockets with the money I spent on the ticket ♪

Wataru: Fufufu. Then we all ought to go together. Here, let’s hold hands ♪

Natsume: Why would we want to hold hands...? Do you simply enjoy saying outlandish things, Master?

Wataru: I will take that as a compliment! In any case... The hereafter is unknowable, but for now let us enjoy the stage before us to the fullest ♪

No matter how the depraved conspiracies of reality may grow, the stage remains a sanctuary of purity and brilliance!

It is our paradise, our Eden—a haven for us weary vagrants to call home... ☆

Ritsu: Hey, don’t pull on my hand... Jeez, what possessed my brother-like thing to make a friend like this?

I know god’s supposed to tie people’s fates together, but I don’t get this one at all.