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Mafuyu gritted his teeth. He stared at the cheering crowd, the bright stage lights, and his opponent, as if he could make them disappear. In a morbid way, he supposed, he was right. Either Shiho would disappear when the aliens dragged her body off stage, or the lights and crowd would disappear when he got shot. Neither outcome was good, but at least it was over soon, whichever way the chips fell. He bit his lip, in an attempt not to clutch his violin so hard it broke. Against an opponent like Shiho, losing his instrument would be a death sentence. Her guitar was her trademark, carrying her through an entire previous competition and the two rounds she'd competed in so far. If Emu could lose to it, anyone could.
Mafuyu inhaled sharply. Emu. God, Emu. He bit down harder on his lip, tasting blood. The angel of Anakt Garden, his only reason for living. He didn't see her get shot, but since Shiho was here and Emu wasn't, it didn't leave much to the imagination. She lost. Mafuyu knew she was going to as soon as she came back from round 1. She was still smiling, still putting on a brave face, but there wasn't a fire behind her eyes anymore. If Nene had lived, maybe she would have had a chance- but that's not how the game goes. One of them was always going to die, and Nene made sure it wasn't Emu. He understood, in a way; if he had gone up against Emu, he would have done the same thing. Emu might as well have hung the sun and all the stars- she was more than an angel. She was his God, his Universe.
While Mafuyu was deep in thought, Shiho walked up to him. She extended her hand, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"Good luck. I'm sorry." She was never one of many words. Mafuyu shook her hand curtly. Shiho masked a grimace, a bruise faintly visible under her fingerless gloves. Mafuyu realized with a start that she might have been practicing the entire twelve hours since they'd gotten their music, suddenly noticing the slight bags under her eyes disguised by concealer. A pit grew in Mafuyu's stomach; Shiho approached this like she would have time to eat and sleep afterwards, and he- well, he hadn't even thought beyond the competition. Was he expecting to lose? To die? He wasn't sure.
The crowd roared as the stage lights flashed and then dimmed into nothing, signaling the performance would start soon. Mafuyu handed his violin to the alien who was going to throw it to him and stretched his hands. I have to win this. A vibrant pink star streaked across the sky. For her.
He took a deep breath in, and sang his first line.
~~~~~
Emu watched on in horror as the screens flashed from Shiho to Mafuyu. On a subconscious level, she knew that one of them wouldn't make it to tomorrow, but it only really sunk in as she was watching the performance. In the corners of each frame, guns and security robots were just barely visible, seeding a horrible, unshakeable dread in Emu's heart: One of them is going to die today. Those days in Anakt Garden were like yesterday to her- she couldn't bear the thought of losing another friend. She tore her eyes away from the screens and paced around, trying to ignore the purple light cast on everyone from Mafuyu's hair.
Ichika grimaced and clutched her side as she worked on the machine. Out of their five person team, three of them had offered to do it for her, but Emu didn't know how to operate the system and the other two wouldn't even know what to look for. Honami was supposed to be their medic, but there wasn't much she could do for a side wound, so she'd only bandaged it and given Ichika a rag to press against it. Ichika bit her lip to muffle a grunt and went back to work. She typed for another minute before finally getting into the system properly, beginning the upload.
~~~~~
Mafuyu was already messing up more than he wanted to. His notes were pitchy with fear, his volume inconsistent. Shiho was perfect, her voice smooth as always. She was seemingly unaffected by the adrenaline and the crowd and the very real prospect of death. She did some perfectly practiced choreography before catching her guitar with ease.
Mafuyu, on the other hand, did not catch his violin so smoothly. It wobbled in his arms, and even though he had a few seconds before he was supposed to start playing, he couldn't recover fast enough. He messed up his choreography, played a few notes too short and nearly fell backwards. For just a moment, he thought about when he slipped backwards earlier today and Kanade caught him and-
-Mafuyu tore himself away from that thought. He couldn't think about Kanade right now, about the girl who threw her life away for nothing. Kanade would be beating Shiho right now, a voice in his head whispered. He dug his nails into his palm to chase it away, and hoped the audience didn't see his frazzled expression.
~~~~~
Emu watched as Mafuyu started to fall behind. Something was wrong, something was failing- she had to help him. She wasn't just going to sit here and let her friend die!
Ichika caught her leg as she started out of the room. They couldn't talk, for fear of being caught, but her confused and imploring gaze said everything it needed to. What are you doing? If you go out there, you'll die. You can't save him. All things Emu knew. She stared back at Ichika, trying to communicate determination. I have to try. She ran out of the room, and behind her, she heard someone swear under their breath.
The hallway she ran into was a clinical white with a large robot patrolling it. Emu used a smoke bomb to blind it and run into the elevator.
~~~~~
As Shiho danced around, one of the stage lights focused on her silver hair, making it almost the same color as-
-don't think it don't think it don't think it
and her smooth voice almost sounded like-
-when she wrapped her hands around your neck but didn't squeeze because she didn't want to hurt you when she kissed you when she laid down her life for yours when you tasted iron as she was kissing you when she crumpled in your arms with a smile in her eyes when she reached up to stroke your hair when-
Mafuyu gasped for air, trying to push back the memories. Now was not the time. He couldn't think about how soft her skin was or how bony her hands were or how she used to offer him food all the time even though she clearly wasn't eating enough or-
Mafuyu pinched himself so hard he drew blood. Not. The. Time. He did his best to put his focus back on the performance.
The scores began to calculate. He was behind. By how much, he wasn't sure- the screen merely said "Shiho: 1st" and "Mafuyu: 2nd". He didn't have time to stare at the screen, even as it flashed behind him; that would put him behind even more for not facing the audience. All he could do was pick a god and pray.
Mafuyu looked out to the crowd, desperate to win them over. The song was nearly over, but not everyone had voted yet. He scanned the crowd, trying to make eye contact with the strange creatures in the stands, and his eyes skipped over a head of pink hair.
Wait... pink hair?
He looked back at the flash of bubblegum. There, in the midst of all the aliens, was Emu Otori. He blinked hard, waiting for this illusion to disappear. There was no way Emu was in the crowd. She's dead, she's BEEN dead, he thought to himself. But there she was, with shorter hair than usual, looking more tense and afraid than he'd ever seen her.
Mafuyu kept singing, but ran towards where Emu was in the audience. She was really here, alive and well and real. The sun, the stars, his God, his Unive-
~~~~~
Emu reached out to Mafuyu as he ran across the stage to get to her. He smiled, something she hadn't seen since the competition started. He reached out his hand in return, and Emu fought through the crowd, the two of them closing the distance faster and faster and-
-Just before the two of them could touch fingertips, a loud bang rang out. Blood sprayed from Mafuyu's neck as he hit the floor of the stage.
~~~~~
a searing pain
a flash of white
a haze of pink fills his vision
smile as bright as the sun
her laugh twinkles like the stars
he could die happy like this
somewhere,
he hears
water
dripping,
~~~~~
Emu was hunched over Mafuyu, stroking his face. Tears fell from her eyes onto his cheeks.
Nonononono this can't be right- this can't be happening- I have to stop it-
Mafuyu smiled weakly and reached up to touch Emu's face. He wiped her tears away from one eye, too weak to lift both arms. He let out one final wheezing breath, and his arm fell to the floor.