Chapter 1

Yew guys did greaddout dere~ Y’muss be’xhaust’d… ♪

Ahaha, you’re the one who looks like you’re about to pass out though! C’mon Nii~chan, get hype! You should eat some bread! Bread bread bread~ ☆

We literally just finished our live and you’re stiiiill this hyper… But I am starving, so gimme some of that.

Here ya go! I stopped by the school store on our way back and got some~ Which one do ya want?

I got this round bread and this not-so-round bread~ And this squishy bread and even this bright red bread ♪

You know you could say the names of them, like anpan or curry bread or something—I can’t figure out what you’re saying at all…

Ahh~ I’m exhausted. I don’t even think I can move a single finger. How are you so energetic, Mitsuru~ You look like you could run a marathon.

A marathon? Yeah, I run around a bunch! Gotta keep your body moving! One two, three four ♪

No, I meant you’re just full of energy… Seriously, how are you even still going?

Huh, Hajime? Are you okay—Are you even alive?

…Fwah?

I–I’m sorry. I must have passed out for a moment.

You’ve really got no stamina~ Well, I can’t really say anything, myself.

I couldn’t move my legs at all in the second half of that. And when my hat fell off in the middle of it all, I was too tired to even pick it up.

Sorry, Nii~chan… I really held you guys back.

What are you talking about? If you can do that much, you’re gonna make it far.

You guys basically have no experience with lives, so you did great. Here, Nii~chan will make some honey and lemon tea for you ♪

It’ll warm you right up~ C’mon now, drink up. Look, I got you some steamed towels too ♪

Wow~ …It’s so warm, it feels nice~… ♪

Nii~chan, look look! There’s some lemon seeds in it!

Jackpot! If we bury them we can grow a whole bunch of lemons to eat next year! Ahahahaha ☆

Actually Mitsuru-chin, you’re so full of energy it’s kinda worrying me… I guess you still haven’t come down from the high of the live, but if you don’t soon, you’re really gonna feel it tomorrow.

Well, you guys are young, so it should be fine. Ahh~ …Honestly, the mental tax is killing me more than the live itself was.

It made my stomach churn.

Ahaha… Just watching you from the sidelines made me nervous.

It felt as heavy and stifling as when my parents discuss their finances.

Nii~chan, those guys we were up against at the live today… Valkyrie. Is it okay to ask more about them?

Like, they were the unit you were in before, right?

Oh yeah, I was wondering about that too! I dunno what it was about those guys, but they had all sorts of creepy vibes! So much I can’t even say it!

They seemed almost otherworldly, or like, inhuman? They were so cold and, they gave me this uncomfortable feeling… But their performance was incredible.

We had all four of us fighting, but those two just kicked us around like we were nothing…

At least it was better than the S2 the other day, since we actually got to have a proper match.

I still feel like I’m going to have nightmares about this for a while, though… Seriously, it was terrifying.

But Valkyrie’s performance today probably can’t even hold a candle to the potential they had back in their golden era.

Maybe it’s ‘cause Nii~chan left, but they didn’t seem to be in top shape.

Well, we were still beaten by a landslide.

It’s so frustrating though… I thought we could’ve fought just a little more.

Don’t be Debbie Downers, you guys! They’re people too, just like us—They’re nowhere near as scary as some machine gun or tank or whatever!

So we’re not gonna lose next time~ But geeeez it’s soooo frustrating!

I’m gonna go run around the grounds! If I run and run and run then I’ll get all big and strong ☆

Wait, hold up. I told you to chill out. Maybe you don’t realize, but you’re totally gonna wear yourself out or break a bone or something, y’know?

Ahaha. Mitsuru-kun, usually you just go with the flow, but you get so heated when it comes to competitions… It’s so boyish—I could learn a thing or two from you.

Ahaha sure, maybe I’ll learn from Mitsuru too—about how to be an idiot. We’ll start lessons tomorrow~ Wait wait, we’re totally off topic now!

Yep. I’ll go ahead and tell you about Valkyrie.

…You don’t have to push yourself to do it right now, y’know?

Nngh… I’ll have to tell you guys about it someday anyway, so I might as well bite the bullet.

I’d like to have sent you home right after the live…

But I can just give you the gist of it, so it shouldn’t take too long. I still haven’t really sorted out all of my thoughts on it, and there are probably some things I didn’t remember right.

But in spite of all that, I still want you guys to know.

I don’t want to make you guys my “convenient, soothing dolls” like Itsuki had said you were.

I want to be able to talk to you as my equals, as human beings with their own hearts.

I’ll never, ever ask you guys to just sit there and soothe me. But that’s just me complaining.

It’s just that I don’t want to impose my own pain and anger on you guys. That’s why I’m going to choose my words carefully—and why there are some things I just can’t say.

If all of that is good with you then… come on over here.

I’ll tell you guys a story, one I’ve never told anyone else before.

From waaay back… when I was a puppet without a will of my own.