Chapter Twenty-Two: Revue (Happy birthday, nnn~) / Chapter Twenty-Three: Yukina Minato, You Are So Beautiful

But sometimes they still had no choice but to play cover songs.

That night, everyone studied the hand-drawn map sprawled across the table.

"Our recent progress has indeed slowed down a little," Nijika said.

Lisa glanced at Yukina. There was no need to say whose fault this was. Preparing for each live performance required a great deal of practice, which had taken up a lot of time. They had no choice but to slow down their daily progress and searches. These past few days, they had barely moved at all.

Yukina folded her arms. "Our goal is to find people, not reach any particular destination. It's fine if we go a little slower, right?"

Sayo's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly at that.

"Of course it matters." Shiko braced herself against the table. "If our progress slows, the area we can search also shrinks, which lowers the chances of finding them."

Nijika raised her head and looked at Yukina. "That's why, although I'm sorry, Yukina-senpai, we have to postpone the next live performance."

"But..."

"Yukina~" Lisa put her hands on her hips.

"Mm... I'm sorry..." Yukina lowered her head, a rare sight.

"Don't be like that, Yukina-senpai!" A voice familiar to Roselia yet impossible to hear here suddenly rang out. "If we find Poppin'Party sooner, we can see cat-eared Kasumi sooner~"

Everyone looked over. At some point, Shiko had put on a brown wig styled with cat ears and donned a Hanasakigawa uniform. She wore an energetic, optimistic expression as she clung to Yukina.

"..." Yukina had absolutely no idea how to react. The scene remained frozen for five seconds, until "Kasumi Toyama" could no longer hold back. She yanked off the wig and climbed down from Yukina.

Covering her face, she returned to her usual voice. "Ah, I feel like I've added another embarrassing chapter to my past."

"Uh, well..." Lisa struggled not to laugh. "I don't think... Kasumi would say something like 'cat-eared Kasumi'..."

"Right." Shiko gazed resentfully at Yukina, whose eyes were fixed firmly on the cat-ear wig in Shiko's hands. "I only did this for someone..." Shiko tried swaying the wig from side to side, and Yukina's eyes followed its movement. It was incredibly amusing.

"Hm? When did it come out that Yukina likes cats?" Lisa had no memory of Yukina ever saying that she liked cats.

"I happened to hear her sleep-talking," Shiko lied casually.

However, everyone in Kessoku Band saw what Yukina looked like now.

"Meow...?" Kita made cat ears with her hands above her head.

"Ah... ah..." It was obvious that Yukina was doing everything she could to maintain her composure.

In the end, everyone agreed on a plan: they would push forward with all their strength, and Yukina would receive several cat plushies.

Everyone was happy.

After they disbanded, Yukina left with a stiff expression, carrying several plushies. Although she was in no hurry to hold a live performance, she still wanted to continue practicing.

Someone followed behind her. She turned her head.

"Lisa?"

It was her childhood friend, Risa Imai. Once she realized Yukina had noticed her, she walked openly to Yukina's side.

"Yukina, is something on your mind?" There was no shortage of concern in her voice.

"Why do you say that?"

"You weren't like this before. You practiced desperately by yourself and kept holding live performances without caring about anything else... Whatever it is, you can always come to us." Lisa patted Yukina on the shoulder, then left silently. In the distance, Sayo watched what was happening. In the end, she tightened her grip on the neck of her guitar and turned away.

Yukina stood there for a moment, shook her head, and continued toward the practice area.

On the way, she passed the entrance to a dense forest. A cacophony came from the distance, accompanied by the sound of a tree trunk falling.

What had happened? Yukina followed the noise and eventually saw Shiko beside a fallen tree. She stood next to the stump. The trunk, thick enough for two people to wrap their arms around, had just snapped and fallen, carving a gap into the canopy of branches that had kept the forest top in darkness for years. Golden sunlight poured through it and illuminated the girl's slightly panting face.

"Are you practicing too, Wu-san?"

At those words, Shiko turned her head and saw Yukina emerge from the shadows.

"Yes," Shiko said. "The more I practice, the more I feel that I'm still not strong enough."

Just as Yukina practiced outside of band rehearsals, Shiko constantly honed her abilities outside of battle. Of course, she always had someone accompanying her, so she would not suddenly have another episode.

Ichiri watched timidly from the corner. Yukina glanced at her, then turned back to Shiko.

She revealed a faint smile. "You're already very strong, and you're still working this hard. Thanks for the effort."

Shiko's abilities were already extremely well-rounded. Combined with her [Treasure Record], they had no upper limit as long as she had enough teammates to let her copy their skills.

"It's not enough." Shiko looked up at the hole she had smashed through the canopy. "I'm still far from fulfilling the promise I made back then."

"A promise..."

(Was it a promise to Miss Marina?) Yukina thought.

"Aren't you the same, Yukina? You're always practicing alone."

Shiko turned her head and looked at Yukina.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Revue (Happy birthday, nnn~)

"Aren't you the same, Yukina?" Shiko smiled faintly at Yukina.

"...What are you trying to say?" Yukina seemed to hear the implication in Shiko's words.

"That's exactly what I mean. You're working hard for everyone, too."

Shiko took a step toward Yukina. Yukina took half a step back, nearly entering the shade of the trees.

"What I'm working hard at..." Yukina clasped her own hand.

"Oh my, don't tell me I'm wrong?" Shiko raised her face and looked at her with an exaggeratedly mocking expression. "Oh, right, right, Yukina works hard every day. She works hard to become a good vocalist, a good leader for the band, rushing around every day for the next live performance."

Shiko's face was almost pressed against Yukina's. "What about everything else? Are you working hard for our current situation?"

The clash of Iron Light and thorns sent sparks flying.

"'What do you hold within your heart—'" Shiko suddenly sang. Her expression was solemn and showed no unusual emotion.

"'What lies ahead in the distance your sparkling eyes behold—'"

"'Even if it is a star still beyond my reach,'"

"'If it is for the sake of a promise,'"

"'I will continue running toward it—'" (Note 1)

The sound of metal striking metal rang out. The thorns scattered, revealing Shiko behind them, holding a treasured sword level and pointing it at Yukina's eyes.

"Yukina Minato, what are you thinking?" Her face was expressionless as she returned to her usual speaking voice.

Yukina regained her composure. Around her, iron thorns intertwined with roses. "I'm thinking that I'll continue honing my skills until I reach the pinnacle of music."

Shiko was still dissatisfied.

"But that isn't you, Yukina Minato." Shiko's voice deepened. "The Yukina Minato I know wouldn't spend every day immersed in her own world."

"You're saying I'm immersed in my own world?" Anger entered Yukina's voice. Thorns formed a ring behind her and spiraled endlessly.

"Isn't that the case? Music is indeed important." Shiko stared aggressively into Yukina's eyes. "But there's much more to Yukina Minato than music. Especially in a situation like this. Yukina Minato would never delay everyone's journey for the sake of music."

"Yukina-senpai! Let's be kirakiradokidoki together!" A figure suddenly appeared to Yukina's left. She turned and saw a wooden board bearing a chibi depiction of Kasumi Toyama. Kasumi's energetic voice came from Shiko's mouth.

The wooden board exploded with a bang, releasing a cloud of smoke. Yukina waved it away and discovered Shiko standing behind the board, holding it up with both hands and tilting it slightly to the left so that it covered only half of her expressionless face. "Don't you want to find Poppin'Party sooner?"

Another cloud of smoke appeared. Yukina spun sharply to the right and found Shiko standing there as if she had always been there, the wooden board in her hands now bearing Ran Mitake and tilted to the right.

"Yukina, is this what the leader of Roselia is like?" Her tone changed as she spoke in Ran Mitake's voice.

Yukina could not take it anymore. She stepped forward and grabbed Shiko's wrist. "What do you know about me? What do you know about them?"

"Know?" A steel thorn shot in from the side. Yukina had to divide her attention to block it, loosening her grip and allowing Shiko to break free. Shiko tossed aside the wooden board and stepped back twice, covering her face. She seemed to find it funny, because she began to laugh. That laughter made Yukina's heart tremble.

For a while, the only sound in the forest was Shiko's laughter. Yukina stood opposite her, watching coldly.

Shiko finally stopped. "No, no, no. I know far more about Yukina than you think... At the very least, you wouldn't disregard everyone's thoughts and insist on holding live performances here even if it meant stopping our journey."

Iron Light surged in Shiko's eyes. "A Yukina like that could never be my Yukina!"

A storm rose around Shiko. The ground lifted like a stage, raising Shiko and Yukina into the air and isolating Ichiri, who had nothing to do with the fight.

Ichiri saw that the two of them had been at odds from the moment they met. She was still hesitating over whether she should intervene when they suddenly started fighting. When she saw the platform rise, Ichiri tried to send a stream of water up to them. However, the platform rose faster than she could move and soon reached a height she could not reach.

She fell back to the ground, gritted her teeth, and ran toward the others.

On the platform, the two stood facing each other. Yukina stood at one end, thorns spreading behind her to form enormous butterfly wings.

At the other end stood Shiko alone, with only a sword. She raised the tip, its cold glint reflecting toward her idol.

"There is only one most brilliant starry sky,"

"I will protect the light of this moment forever."

One iron pipe after another radiated behind her like musical notes. It seemed as though she bore a crown of iron sunlight. The crown gave her figure a sacred majesty, but it also blocked the true sunlight, shrouding her real expression in shadow.

"Kessoku Band, Shiko Wu."

Shiko shouted, "I'll bring back the Yukina Minato I know!"

Seeing that this battle was unavoidable, Yukina closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they held nothing but determination.

"The road to the summit is never smooth,"

"I'll ignite the iron thorns with my singing voice,"

"And use notes to bring forth the Rose of Purple Flame."

Yukina raised her right hand high. The thorns behind her wove themselves into the shape of a phoenix spreading its wings and let out a shrill cry.

"Roselia, Yukina Minato."

"Music is everything to me!"

In an instant, smoke and dust blocked out the sunlight. A rain of iron spears collided with rebellious thorns in midair. The sound of iron annihilating iron could be heard a hundred miles away. A nimble figure flipped gracefully through the iron rain, dodging the thorny vines that constantly burst from the ground and flying toward Yukina. Thorns came from every direction and bound her figure, but that figure immediately turned into a cloud of smoke, only to reappear behind Yukina a moment later, her longsword pointing straight at Yukina's back!

"I've always—I've always been working hard to become stronger!" Shiko shouted. "What are you doing? You're always hiding in the world of music!"

"I'm not!" Yukina spun around. A wall of thorns grew at the final instant, blocking Shiko's attack and sending her flying back again. "I can only realize my dream by reaching the pinnacle of music!"

Shiko flew through the air. A pillar suddenly rose from the platform beneath her. She rolled twice, stabilized herself, and stood atop it with her hands behind her back.

Thorns stabbed toward the top of the pillar. Shiko caught a crimson celestial talisman between two fingers of her left hand and swept it through the air. Flames burned the thorns into drifting black ash. She pushed off with both feet, took up her sword once more, and flew toward the ground.

She began to sing again:

"There are no dreams in this place,"

"I have seen calamity ash and death."

"Unless I break through this cage and return to the sky,"

"How can the firebird release dazzling Divine Light?"

Unbearably bright Golden Wrathful Flame ignited along the treasured sword. It spun through the air as the thorns surged toward it again, only to be cut apart. Shiko forcibly carved a path through the thorny forest, pointing straight at Yukina herself!

Yukina's pupils widened. Shiko had reached her in an instant!

Note 1: Reference: Pride and Arrogance

Chapter Twenty-Three: Yukina Minato, You Are So Beautiful

A thunderous explosion erupted atop the platform. Smoke and dust billowed upward, obscuring everything. When it cleared, Yukina lay on the ground while Shiko crouched over her, one hand pressed beside Yukina's head and the other holding a camera aimed at Yukina's helpless face.

The flash went off. A photograph slid out of the camera, depicting Yukina and Ryo facing each other aboard a ship. This memory slowly descended, blending with the Yukina who fought, the Yukina who sang, and the Yukina who rode the ship.

Shiko delivered her verdict. "Your will has been covered by cowardice. You can no longer reach that stage."

Her words held no warmth. The sword pierced through the photograph, carving a rift between Yukina and the others. Her figure blocked out the sunlight, leaving only those bright yellow eyes in Yukina's vision.

Yet faced with such a scene, Yukina smiled.

"Hmph." She looked at Shiko disdainfully. "What right do you have to criticize me? You're the one who split off an entire personality just to escape!"

Shiko's gaze did not waver. She straightened her upper body and looked down at Yukina. "That's right. I once escaped. To escape, I tore myself apart. I killed myself. The current me was reborn atop my own corpse. The current me..." She stood up and spread her arms, letting the sunlight cast shadows across her face. "Fears nothing."

"But I'm afraid." Yukina sat up and looked at her enviously. "I have the strongest technique in music, but my current stats have nothing exceptional about them! Even in battle, I'm the one who gets hurt the most! Music is the only thing I'm good at. Outside of music, I'm nothing!"

Shiko lowered her hand and let out a cold laugh.