Chapter 10

All right. Now that the anxiety of missing your friends has been resolved—

Allow me to explain what SANCTUARY is one more time.

Pardon, but while we’re talking about missing people, I am a tad bit worried about Hibiki-sama. I haven’t seen him all day.

Oh, now that you mention it, Hibiki-senpai isn’t here. But it feels like all four of you in fine have gotten really close lately.

I’m the worst… I’m so caught up in my own head that I can’t see what’s going on around me.

Don’t worry! Even if you can’t see everything by yourself, we’ve got the four of us to cover you!

That’s right. …You don’t need to worry about Wataru. He’s quite the carefree person.

Well, he wouldn’t die even if he were killed. So I’m not particularly worried for his safety, either.

Yeah. He’s probably just pulling some magic trick again. He always says something like that right before he disappears.

Anyway, he’s probably just using it as an excuse to grab a bite to eat.

He’ll be fine, I’m sure of it. Even if we don’t look for him, he’ll just pop up with a huge smile on his face.

Yes, I’m sure he will. I’d like to believe that, too.

In any case, what do you all think about these Qualifying Rounds in the Kanto region?

Huh? What do we think…? I suppose for some reason, it doesn’t feel all that exciting.

I haven’t thought about it at all! No matter what’s going on around us, we just have to keep doing our best, like we always do!

Yes, that’s true. But try not to assume that the other idols will be as earnest and honest as you are.

Humans are quick to give in to lethargy. So long as we are animals, we can’t do anything about this instinct.

In the natural world, we must expend as few calories as possible or we’ll die.

If we work too hard or put in too much effort, we’ll starve, wither away, and eventually die.

We’re born into a world of abundance, one we do not have to work hard to enjoy—And since we are living beings, it’s only natural to remain idle.

You could even say there’s something wrong with someone who would struggle and fight even when it is not exposed to danger.

Somewhere in our circuitry, one of our biological functions has broken.

But you know? I think that broken piece is the source of our humanity. It’s because we are such abnormal creatures that we were able to conquer the earth.

Ngh? What’re you talking about, dude? Everything you say is so hard to understand, it’s making me sleepy!

It’s fine—It’s natural for a living being such as yourself to shut off your mind, Tenma-kun. The brain is a glutton; it consumes vast stores of energy just thinking about this and that.

That’s why words like “think,” “act,” or “persevere” are all synonymous with “die.”

Of course I would be met with resistance if I said these things aloud.

But when we were still in high school, when we were still young and inexperienced—we didn’t realize that.

We thought we were in the right for pushing others to do their best, and we thought everyone else, the ones without motivation, were wrong.

Keito, who’s always been such a serious person, would always say these things, brimming with indignation. “Something’s not right, this is all wrong—”

“We need to start a revolution.”

We vowed to reshape the minds of those pseudo-idols, who lived as if they were already dead; we said we would fashion them into ideal beings filled with motivation.

And that vow inspired us to start our revolution. We believed without a doubt that it was the right thing to do.

And then, with the appearance of that miracle—Trickstar—we finally accomplished what we set out to do.

That’s why I was trembling with emotion when I witnessed Trickstar shining brighter than anyone else during last year’s SS.

I knew in my heart that we were never mistaken.

Yes, Akehoshi-senpai and the others were amazing last year. I still get a little teary-eyed when I think about it.

Even after such a terrible thing happened to them, they still stood atop that stage and sparkled so brilliantly—and made everyone, made us, happy.

We’ve admired that for so long. We want to be just like them—

Then do it. Actually, that’s what ES is for. And it’s what SANCTUARY is for, as well.

It’s a system made to prevent that miraculous existence that is Trickstar from becoming nothing more than a shooting star which lit up the night sky for but a moment.

What do you mean…?

Seeing is believing—I think it’s quicker if you see it for yourselves, rather than me trying to explain it in words. Come along, everyone ♪

I’ll show you the newest incarnation of the dream we once had.

…?

(—You’re watching it from somewhere too, aren’t you, Wataru?)

(I hope that you can see it, that you can recognize it—And this time, I hope that you’ll understand and approve of it.)

(Otherwise, I’ll have to trample over your corpse once more.)

(……)