Magicians of ES 9
A few minutes later, in reality. Inside Valkyrie’s room in the ryokan rented out for the ES idols
Shu: ......
Natsume: Fufu. Good work in there, Nii-san.
How are you feeling? Does your head hurt? If there’s any discomfort or pain in your body, please let me know. I have a team of medical specialists on standby who can check you out ♪
Tsumugi: That was fun, Shu-kun~! For better or worse, it really made me laugh to see you fumbling about in a different world ♪
I can’t even tell if you did all that on purpose, or if you’re just a natural at it. I never would have guessed that you have such a talent for variety!
Shu: ...Hmph. Will you stop blathering on for five seconds? Do you love me that much?
I’ve just woken up and can hardly think straight. I can’t even give you a proper response right now.
Tsumugi: All right. Just take this time to rest a bit. The rest period will last this whole week, so you can relax without worry.
I’m sure you have plenty of questions for us, and we’ll make sure to answer them one by one—to the extent that we’re able, at least.
Shu: Just what do you take me for? I have no questions; I’ve already deciphered most of your goals and intentions.
So I’ve been pretending to dance in the palm of your hands, all while working toward my own goals.
Tsumugi: Hmmm? That makes you sound like a sore loser, you know? It’s a bad habit of yours to act so full of yourself for no reason.
Shu: ...Anyway. I don’t see Kagehira anywhere; has he been able to return to reality?
Sora: HaHa~ ♪ It looks like Mika-chan-san did some unexpected things, and it’s taking a while to deal with it, okay~?
Shu: Unexpected things?
Sora: Yes! He ignored the choices the Goddess of the Spring gave him and started hacking up everything that annoyed him with a chainsaw~!
Shu: Oh, that’s right. He did purchase that chainsaw at the weapon shop in town...
He always does this. Whenever I tell him to pick out something he likes, he goes and chooses the most heinous thing they have.
Tsumugi: A chainsaw isn’t a particularly heinous tool though, is it? At least, not by nature.
Shu: People are swayed by their impressions.
It’s the same thing as when I or the boy are disgusted by words such as emperor or angel, both of which are meant to sound beautiful.
Natsume: I think I’ve sorted through all my feelings, compared to you, Shu-nii-san.
Shu: Is that so? I’d like to believe that what you’re saying is true.
I’d been worried about you because you seemed to be even more tied down by the past than I am.
Each time you desperately try and forget about it, the memories just sink further within your mind. If you try to look away, they swell up into a colossal beast that plagues your vision.
It’s futile to try and fight the monster that exists within your own mind.
Natsume: ......
Shu: That’s why I’m quite relieved to hear you’re doing well, boy.
Natsume: ...?
Shu: You’re moving forward, just as I am.
There were countless experiences I was forced into while I was within that SHINSEKAI place.
But I couldn’t find a single trace of the grudges you bore related to our struggles within Yumenosaki, the Five Oddballs, or anything else from our past.
Even though it was all entirely absurd and I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, I could tell there was something new within it all.
You created that world, not for settling the scores of bygone days, but for the happiness of the future, yes?
But I didn’t know for certain. That’s why I’m relieved to hear it.
Surely it’s all because you joined forces with Aoba, of all people. You’ve been haunted by the past ever since Switch’s formation.
Natsume: ......
Shu: Ever since the Five Oddballs met their demise, you’ve been living in the present, forged from the past.
You have lingering attachments and regrets, and you’ve been doing everything you can to dispel them.
But recently, the winds of change have been blowing just a little, haven’t they?
Natsume: Maybe so. Ever since Sora became Switch’s center, I feel like I’ve become calmer.
Sora: HiHi~? Yes! That’s why Sora’s here!
Natsume: Fufu. In the past, I was so eager to try and do every single thing all by myself.
And maybe at my core, that hasn’t changed.
Every time I make a mistake, my meddlesome Senpai points it out to me and acts as a bad example for me to learn from.
And our treasured Sora is someone who sees the world differently from us. When I was trapped within the mire of the past, he led me to a more brilliant world.
This experiment with the SSVRS is not something I can do by my will alone.
So long as there are other people involved, it’s impossible to dye everything in my own colors.
And I’m starting to think that’s a good thing... I feel like I’ve been able to put a foot down on my bad habits and make developments according to our ideals.
Shu: I think it’s a good thing, too. Unlike me, you don’t know how to turn your hatred into strength. You are a prodigy who grew up surrounded by love and affirmation, after all.
In becoming one of the Five Oddballs, you learned how small you truly are. You tasted your first defeat and your first setback, and you fell from your ivory tower.
You could have led a perfectly happy life, but you didn’t know how to climb up from the bottom of the ravine.
And so you could do nothing but struggle desperately for little gain.
Switch gave you wings to fly again, and recently you’ve learned how to use them. You’re finally starting to reclaim your true self.
Shu: It suits you to be so free, to act so self-important as if you’ve surpassed humanity.
It is in that where you find your greatest allure. The god of SHINSEKAI, was it—?
And so you rule over a miniature garden and paint its interior in all the colors of your ideals. You’ve always been the best at working within narrow constraints.
Natsume: Yes. I learned it by watching a certain somebody up close as he forged masterpieces out of his stages.
Shu: What a cute thing to say.
Natsume: Yeah. I really am glad to have met all of my nii-sans, for so many reasons.
Even through all the harsh battles and miserable defeats we’ve faced, that has never changed.