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“I guess we just need to wait for Amia and Leo to come!”
Nene and Minori stood in their SEKAI, the blinding white and colorful shapes fading away after being transported there.
“Mhm. Every time I come here, it feels like it gets bigger…” Nene mumbled, turning around to observe the area. An abandoned mall, with empty shops with crossed out signs and still elevators. It was dim, as some areas had lights that worked while others were just engulfed in darkness.
“You’re right--!” Minori replied, walking around, her footsteps echoing on the white tiled ground. “Hey, what’s this?”
“Hm?” The other girl walked towards the brunette. “What is it?”
“It’s like a ball of light! Hey, let's play catch–!” Minori stood up with the ball in her hand, about to throw it, but a flash of light went out, almost like they were leaving SEKAI.
“Minori–!” Nene covered her eyes with her arm, not warned about the sudden flash of light. A few seconds later, she blinked as she moved her arm away. Now on the ground, Nene looked up, trying to regain any idea of where she was.
“Minori…?” She spoke quietly as she stood up and straightened out her skirt. Nene’s voice rang softly as it hit the walls around her and the door she was leaning against. “Ugh, that was probably a prank Mizuki set…–”
Nene abruptly stopped mumbling to herself and raised her head. What was that…? She carefully stepped forward, turning her head to try and figure out what happened. And what she just heard. It was dark where she was, but her footsteps followed the warm yellow lights she saw.
“Wait…” Feeling around with her hand extended, the girl felt the back of what seemed to be a seat. The kind of seats with the fuzzy cushions that you would find at a theater.
Ah. That’s what this place was. She sat down with the intention of taking her phone out and leaving the strange part of SEKAI she found herself in, but before she could do that–
“The old you would never have said you didn’t care about the people!”
Nene’s head shot up once more, now realizing that she wasn’t the only one in the seemingly desolate theater. The warm light had been coming from the stage lights, casting its glow onto the people on stage. And that voice… It sounded like…
She was one of the people on stage. Nene’s eyes widened and her breath hitched when she saw herself on the stage, along with 3 others– A blond man standing in front of her with the costume of a prince, a woman with taffy pink haired standing in the back looking like a fairy, and another man in the back with a head of lavender whom she’d recognized. In fact, she also recognized the blond as someone who went to her school. Tenma. The two boys were in that singing group, and the girl was in that theater troupe with girls from her school. Otori was her name, right?
And herself, standing at the center of the stage, almost all the lights pointed towards her. She looked beautiful, her hair done in a half-up half-down and wearing a red, pink, and white dress resembling a princess.
Despite how Nene’s heart had begun racing anxiously just from seeing herself up there, the other version of her seemed… confident. Not nervous. Collected. Brave. Courageous. Like she didn’t mind standing up on that platform, with the eyes of potentially thousands watching her every step. Like her courage wasn't battered.
The play went on while Nene watched from her seat, enamored by not just the story of the princess and prince, but how she was seeing herself on stage, performing. This other version of her… Did she not make that mistake…? No, she had to have, otherwise she would have been with her old troupe. Not this troupe with Tenma, Otori, and Rui. But this courage…
The play in this fleeting moment ended as Nene saw the four of them bowing to the audience, the red curtain slowly falling onto them. The only person Nene could see in the theater was herself, but maybe there were other viewers she could not see. Realistically, she shouldn’t be able to see an alternate version of herself, but here she was.
The girl heard echoes of loud clapping from the other people not visible to her who were watching, but the girl kept her clenched fists in her lap, staring at the Nene on stage with one thought ringing in her own mind:
That could’ve been me in this world.
The curtains closed. The orange-yellow lights on stage faded away, leaving Nene in momentary darkness. Then, the lights from the walls and above turned on, now leaving the theater with regular lighting.
That… could have been me.
Performing again. Jumping back from the incident that shunned her from acting. Regaining her confidence to stand on that stage again, going back to pursuing her old dream.
Nene felt her stomach twist at the thought, but not at the thought of performing in front of crowds again– at the thought of how now, she was just a regular teenager. Just your average quiet girl who went to school normally, working towards a regular life with no specific goals or aspirations. Nothing significant was going on in her life. Sure, she had Minori, Honami, and Mizuki, but they were just a small group of friends who discussed their hobbies. That’s really it.
Nene stood up and exhaled, berating herself for thinking of her friends in that way. She’s thankful she even has friends to talk to. She wasn’t very sociable. But still…
Her eyes moved back to the stage. Her heart clenched. With one last lingering look at the closed curtains, the girl slowly turned around, taking out her phone and being sent back to the abandoned mall.
“Nene!! I’ve been looking for you!!!” Minori exclaimed as Nene reappeared. They were both back at the hall they were previously in, before Nene was sent to that theater. The ball of light wasn’t there anymore.
“Y-yeah, so have I…” She replied, regaining her bearings. That wasn’t exactly a lie, she did call out Minori’s name a few times before being drawn into the show. Nene was about to ask if Minori had been sent somewhere weird as well, also shown a version of her from an alternate universe, but was interrupted.
“Hey guys!” Mizuki waved, walking towards them with Honami beside her. “Sorry for taking so long.”
“No worries!” Minori replied. “Hey, I found a new area of SEKAI,” She pointed down the hallway. “We should go check it out!”
“Let's go then.” Honami said, following Minori as they began walking.
With a heavy heart, Nene began following them too.