The Girl Who Played God (ch8)

Having remembered Nana, the girls are desperate to find some way to bring her back. But everything has a price, does it not...?

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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							Chapter 8. Reawakening

Junna stares at the closed elevator doors with narrowed eyes. Her heart is still pounding, aching for the friend she'd been made to live for so long without.

Behind her, her friends are in a panic that is somehow calm, stiff yet confident. They've been here before, even though this is the first time.

Junna tries to pry open the door, but it doesn't budge. She kicks it with a resounding echo.

"Hey! Let us in!"

Her voice reverberates down the empty hallway behind them. Nothing happens.

A murmur ripples through the girls.

"So all those fights," Kaoruko mumbles. "I dreamt about them every night. Futaba-han said she did, too."

"Yeah." Futaba nods, teeth grit. "I thought it was just weird dreams, till Kaoruko said she had 'em too."

"As did we," Maya says quietly. "Saijou-san and I confided in one another, but we never saw reason to tell anyone else about such strange dreams."

"We should have know," Claudine growls. "We should have remembered. Given the nature of that giraffe-"

"The giraffe!" Karen blurts. "That's right! Hikari-chan, did you ever meet him back in England?"

Hikari blinks, then closes her eyes for a moment.

"I… can't remember… Was it real or was it a dream…? I'm not sure… but I thought he said he would come to Japan next…"

"Those things," Mahiru whispers. "The revues-"

Suddenly, the elevator doors crack open, and everyone jumps.

"The revues," Junna repeats. "That's right... We had to fight each other, for the radiance-"

"That actually happened?!" Kaoruko shrieks. "It couldn't have!"

"This is so messed up," Futaba grunts. "How do we even know this isn't just the dream?"

"Because Daiba-san isn't here," Maya says quietly. "This must be reality. Because for some reason, she was erased from it." Here, Maya is overtaken by a sudden surge of nausea just to speak the word 'erased'. Claudine, too, feels a sharp pain in her chest, and instinctively takes Maya's hand tightly.

"But why?" Mahiru whimpers. "Why did Banana disappear? Where is she now?"

Junna turns back to the open elevator doors in front of them.

"There's only one way to find out."

She takes the first step forward. Karen follows, and the rest file on in turn. Once the doors have closed, the elevator creaks into a long and rumbling descent.

Darkness falls, and when they finally lurch to a stop, everyone clutches onto someone else for balance. There's a screech as the doors pull open.

Junna weaves her way to the front of the group and steps out in the darkened theater. She stops when she sees the stage, lit by only a very dim, pale spotlight. There's a figure lying beneath it.

As the rest of the girls step off, they don't breathe a word.

A giraffe is curled up at the center of the stage with his neck curled over his back, head resting against his haunches in slumber.

Junna is overcome with something - or a lot of things - and she knows it must be the same for the rest of them.

This stage. This audience. This theater. They've all been here many times before.

They've sung, danced, and acted. They've fought, cried, and lost. More times than they could count.

And they aren't the only ones.

There were shadows as well, strange creatures. And there were other girls.

But none had been here as often as they had. Repeated years, stuck fighting the same fights, because someone had willed it so. Someone who had been even more trapped than the rest of them.

They've been here. This place is engraved into their minds, bodies, and souls. Even with this being the very first time, they ache with nostalgia and memories.

Before any of them can take so much as another step, the giraffe stirs. He lifts his head slowly, as though he hasn't moved in a very long time, his neck and shoulders stiff. But once he raises his head high, his eyes settled directly on them. A deep, hauntingly-familiar voice calls out to them.

"My, my…"

It's a voice they've never heard before - and one they'll never forget.

"So you have remembered after all. I understand."

Junna doesn't take her eyes off of him, afraid he might vanish if she looks away. She starts off toward the stage without needing to look to check if the others are following. She knows they are. Like a silent army they march, weaponless, toward the stage, through the aisles of vacant seats where the shadows seem to cackle.

The giraffe watches them with unreadable eyes, but never tells them to stop.

Junna reaches the steps on the far side of the stage and leads the group up. They fan out in a line before him and regard him as they always have - wary, determined, scared.

Giraffes can't smile, but Junna could swear she sees it; whether it's kind or wicked, though, she can't be sure.

"Indeed, it's true. You have all returned to this place. I understand."

"Not all of us," Junna says, forcing her voice to be steady. "We're missing one."

The giraffe blinks.

"I'm not certain I follow. Eight Stage Girls are all there have ever been from Seishou Academy."

"Don't give me that," she snaps. "We know you were the last one to see her. You're the only one who knows what happened to her because you made a deal, didn't you?"

The giraffe shifts, but remains lying down.

"Perhaps, in some world, at some time. It is possible."

"It doesn't matter when or where anymore," Junna says. "What matters is now. We want her back."

He tilts his head only slightly.

"Of course. All Stage Girls want for something; fame, radiance, fortune, friendship, a never-ending time of innocence." He pauses, and even his memory recalls a girl with yellow hair for a moment. "You all want. But there is always a price."

"Then we'll pay it," Junna barks. "Name it and it's yours."

The giraffe closes his eyes. He doesn't speak for a long, agonizing moment. The girls stand their ground, but move closer together. At last, he speaks again.

"She said the very same thing to me, you know. That girl whom you are seeking."

"Her name-" Junna says. "Is Nana. Daiba Nana."

"Ah, yes," he sighs. "Daiba Nana-san… She truly gave a wonderful performance in her repeated time loops. Every battle was spectacular as she defeated each of you one by one…"

"Stop it!" Karen cries out, stomping loudly. "Don't talk about her like that! Banana only made that wish because she loves us! She was our precious friend!"

"That's right." Hikari speaks up next, holding the giraffe's gaze without blinking. "I interfered with her wishes. I ruined her repeat performances. But she still accepted me anyway. She still wanted to be my friend."

"And mine!" Mahiru wails. "Even though I was so weak and had no confidence… Banana was always there to cheer me up. She helped me with my cooking and taught me all kinds of things… I have no idea how we've survived this long without her…"

"Banana-han was always there," Kaoruko says. "Whenever we stayed out training too late, she'd text us or come and find us to bring us back to rest, and even massage our shoulders."

"And she'd always have food for us," Futaba adds. "Nana was never happier than when we were eatin' her snacks. She just wanted us all to be happy and healthy together! That's why she went and made that wish of hers!"

"She gave the best advice," Claudine says firmly. "Anytime I was feeling uneasy about a role or a line, Nana would go over things with me. And not only for theatre, but for any class. She was always willing to help anyone and everyone. We won't stand to let this world continue exiting without her a moment longer!"

"Daiba-san is essential," Maya concludes. "Not only to our lives and to the existence of Seishou, but to the rest of the world as well. Even you must realize that the world of theater must have lost a good deal of its vibrancy since she has gone."

When addressed, the giraffe cranes his neck in contemplation.

"It is true that things have been much quieter down here," he admits. "Being that Daiba Nana-san never existed, we did not hold any revues here. The stage never awakened, nor called to me to bring it participants."

"We weren't enough," Junna says. Clarity pushes through the fog in her mind as she continues. "We all knew something was missing… Without Nana, none of us gave our best performances. And it wasn't that we weren't trying our hardest or anything, we just… couldn't. Not without her. Not in a world where she didn't exist..."

Around her, her friends bow their heads solemnly. Junna does the same, noting an odd pattern painted into the wood underfoot.

"Without Nana, none of us had the same radiance we should've. We were all a little more tired, a little hungrier, a little less happy. And we never knew why. But today, that accident-" She snaps her head up, back to the giraffe. "What happened? Why did Nana disappear? What deal did she make with you?"

He holds her gaze, unbothered by the spotlight behind him, while Junna must struggle not to let her eyes water.

"I resent that look in your eyes," he says. "I was not the one to take her from you. She wished it herself. I merely provided the means for her to get what she wanted."

Junna draws in a shaking breath, trying to steady herself. Fists clutching at her skirt, she grips tight enough until she can feel her nails carving into her palms.

"What… did she want...? What did Nana wish for…?"

On either side of her, her friends wait with clipped breath, squeezing each other's hands.

The giraffe remains seated, unmoving, like a sculpture.

"She wished for many things," he says. "Mostly, she wished for the same thing. For time to repeat itself. Over and over…"

And though it had never happened, Junna remembers. All of them do. Even though Nana had never existed to make that wish, they had all lived through it somehow.

"And then what?" Junna asks. "Once her repeat performances ended... what did she wish for one year later?"

"The very same thing," he replies. "Once she discovered you would all be following diverging paths in your careers, Daiba Nana-san lamented ever letting the repeats end. She wished for them again, though I warned her of the dangers. Nonetheless, she accepted, paying with the price of your very own futures."

A chilled silence settles over the girls, like a layer of unseen snow. Mahiru stammers.

"She paid… with our futures…?"

All around her, the others begin to tremble.

"Banana…"

"What the hell… how could she-?"

"Because she loved us!" Junna cries. She's become fearful at their shock, afraid it might make them hesitant to do what they'd come here to do - to bring Nana back. "She did it for the same reasons as before. Because she wanted us all to stay together and be happy. Because she didn't want us to lose each other-"

"And yet, that is exactly what ended up happening, is it not?" the giraffe says calmly. "In spite of it all, now you all have lost her. No matter what she tried to do, someone was always lost where others could not follow."

Junna feels her throat starting to close up.

"Why…?"

From her right side, Hikari speaks up.

"Because I got scouted," she mumbles. "Because I was going to leave Japan."

"So were we…" Claudine says hollowly. "Tendo Maya and I… we were going to leave…"

"And us," Futaba croaks. "Kaoruko and I were gonna move-"

"I was going back home…" Mahiru whispers. "And Junna-chan-"

"I'm supposed to study abroad…" Junna speaks of the present, because all of the things they are mentioning now had just been decided and announced a few days prior. "So then… when this first happened… Nana must have stopped time there and had it rewind… so none of us would have to go…"

"So then…" Karen sniffles. "We… did this…? Because of the paths everyone chose… that's what caused Banana to disappear…?"

"In a way, yes," the giraffe said. "Though at that point in time, she remained with you. She repeated those days together with all of you, and I was given my dues as well. I was able to witness all of your revues from the very beginning. All the way up until the day that would end up being 'today.'"

"Today…?" Junna's stomach flips. Her mind buzzes with an awful static. She watches it happen differently than it had happened this morning. She understands just as he reveals it.

"You see…" he says. "There was an accident…"

Junna watches it again. Only this time the bus doesn't hit a pole.

It slams into Futaba's bike, which is thrown into their group of friends. Karen lies dead and twisted on the sidewalk. Futaba is crumpled at the edge of someone's driveway. Kaoruko lies pinned and sobbing, trapped beneath the bike. Maya breaks her neck after being slammed against a car. Claudine begs for help that doesn't come in time.

Junna watches them die right in front of her.

All around her now, her friends choke and stagger as they finally relive that reality. She hears their voices breaking with sobs.

"Hikari-chan… Mahiru-chan…" Karen mumbles. "I-"

"Karen-chan!" Mahiru screams and throws her arms around her before sinking to the floor. "K-Karen-chan! You-!"

"Karen…" Hikari shakes her head and her legs give out beneath her. She folds her arms around her roommates and breaks down. "Karen… Karen…"

Futaba clutches her stomach, her arms unable to catch Kaoruko who collapses against her chest.

"Futaba-han-!" Her voice shatters as violent sobs take hold of her. "You wouldn't wake up- You left me-"

"Kaoruko-" Futaba grits her teeth as the tears come. She locks her arms around Kaoruko's back and cries.

Claudine turns to Maya with eyes full of horror as tears begin streaming down her face.

"Tendo Maya… Ma Maya…" She can't even bear what she'd just seen flash through her mind. Claudine throws herself at her and sobs until she can barely breathe. Maya catches her just before they sink to the floor.

"Saijou-san-" she whispers. "I felt no pain, but you… you felt all of it… you suffered until the very end…"

They all crumple around her, until Junna is the only one who remains. But even then, she begins to feel a terrible pain at her left wrist. Trembling, she glances down.

For an instant, there is a flash of darkness, and she sees red. But then the current reality settles back in.

It takes a long while for the eight of them to stop crying, to help each other back onto their feet. The giraffe hangs his head, and for once Junna can tell he is truly feeling regret.

"So you understand now, yes?"

"There was an accident…" Junna recites the words hollowly, as though it were part of a script. "And we-"

"I warned her of anomalies," he says. "She was convinced there was nothing worse than being separated by space. But when she realized she was wrong, she sought me out once more."

The others huddle together, tears still dripping, bodies still shaking, hearts still aching. Junna keeps her eyes on him. She has to know.

"Nana… What did she do…?"

The giraffe finally looks at her again.

"She brought you back, of course."

"But how-?" Junna nearly chokes.

This time when he answers his voice is almost sad, and he looks to the stage below.

"She paid her price."

Junna feels her insides constrict as she follows his gaze downward. The odd pattern she'd seen on the stage before becomes more apparent.

Now she realizes. It isn't rust nor paint.

"No…"

Junna staggers back. Her friends catch her, but she can't take her eyes off the dark brown spots that have been stained into the stage itself. Tears swell up, fogging her glasses, spilling heavily to join those dried splatters below.

"No… she couldn't have-"

"I am afraid she did," the giraffe affirms. "She did it for all of you. In order to bring back those who perished in the accident. In order to heal the wounds and bring you all back together."

"No-"

But in spite of Junna's pleas, he confirms it anyway.

"In order for this reality to exist, Daiba Nana sacrificed herself to the stage."

"No-!"

Junna screams, struggling against whoever is holding her until she sinks to the floor. She lands on her hands and knees, sobbing as she watches the tears drip, seeping over the stains of Nana's blood. She's only vaguely aware of the others crying out around her.

"No-"

"Banana-!"

"For us… she did it for us…"

"Indeed," the giraffe agrees. "And had things worked as she intended, none of you ever would have remembered her. Or would have been able to find this place again. You never would have known of this stage or of Daiba Nana-san's existence. And yet, it would appear there are anomalies in this reality as well. Because here you are calling out her name."

Eventually, Mahiru and Maya help Junna back to her feet. All around her, her friends are wiping tears away. But their eyes are all the same. Junna draws strength from each of them and wipes her face, adjusts her glasses, then faces him once again.

"What's the price?" she demands. "How can we bring Nana back without losing anyone else?"

The giraffe flicks an ear.

"Bring her back? It is not possible to bring back something that never existed in the first place. Instead, you must seek to bring this world back to a time and place where she did exist. But in order for that to succeed, the stage will require a hefty price."

Junna shudders, her gaze flashing back down over the stains.

"Blood… does it have to be blood-?"

He considers for a moment.

"It would be a safe bet in ensuring the outcome you want. You see, Daiba Nana-san was seeking to bring back five lost lives, and heal three others that were severely damaged. For that, her life was all that would suffice to pay. But with eight of you now, and only one life that needs sparing…"

"A revue!"

Everyone jolts and turns to Karen. She stands unwavering, her eyes scared, but bright.

"Why don't we all have a revue and show our radiance…? Isn't that what this stage wanted from the beginning...?"

The giraffe chuckles, just once.

"This, coming from the girl who was never invited to be a part of them in the first place. I understand."

"A revue…?" Mahiru says. "B-But we've never done one… at least not in this world…"

"But we have before," Hikari says. "In some other world, at some other time. Right?"

"I remember 'em all," Futaba agrees. "No way they were all just dreams."

"We're doing one of those battles?!" Kaoruko yelps. "Right now?!"

"Hold on," Claudine says. "I want Nana back as badly as the rest of you, but no one else should have to get hurt in the process."

"I do not think we need to worry about that, Saijou-san," Maya soothes her. "This stage that used to see us perform and soak in our radiance has not seen anything from us now. I believe we do not need to put on an actual fight. No one needs to get hurt."

"I would have to agree," the giraffe says. "Eight Stage Girls holding a revue here now after all this time… surely even a brief performance would awaken the powers of this stage."

Junna snorts, regarding him warily.

"Why are you being so cooperative? I don't remember that happening before."

The giraffe lifts his chin, as if in mild offense.

"Because you and I are working to achieve the same outcome," he says. "In this world where Daiba Nana-san does not exist, nor do any performances here. No plays, no recitals, no revues. In short, it would be in my best interest to see her alive and well again, too."

Junna almost scowls, but she holds it back. Though he isn't helping them because he loves Nana like they do, he is still on their side, and she doesn't want to jeopardize that.

"All right." Junna sweeps her gaze around to her friends and sees the same conviction in all of them. "So how will we do this?"

At this, the giraffe begins to move, bending his legs as though he hasn't moved in years, pushing himself up slowly.

"I believe," he says as he stands at his full height again. "These may be of some assistance."

Junna looks past him to the rest of the stage. There, lying neatly in order are a variety of weapons.

And though she's never used them here before in this time, Junna's eyes go directly to her bow and arrows. She senses the same trill of excitement in the others as they spot their own blades.

Together they advance across the stage. Junna goes to her bow and quiver, picking them up already knowing their weight and make exactly. Her friends ready their weapons and face one another. Though they've never done this before to their knowledge, their spirits are eager.

The giraffe eases back out of their range, tail swishing. He, too, has seen this sight many times before, and has been waiting a very long while to be able to see it again.

Junna takes an arrow between her fingers and checks to ensure her friends are set to begin.

"Everyone, are you ready?"

"Yeah!"

"Yes!"

"Let's do this!"

"For Banana!"

"Ca, commence!"

Junna feels a small smirk tugging at her lips as she turns to the giraffe again.

"So say we all."

He dips his head once before raising it high, letting his voice ring out.

"Now then, let the Revue of Reawakening begin!"

The girls leap forward at each another, moving as one. They dance, twirl, and jump, weaving around and through their allies in a display of grace and beauty. They move as they've never moved before, in ways their bodies and hearts seem to remember when their minds had forgotten.

They give it everything they've got. All of their most fluid dances, their most beautiful notes, their most powerful leaps and swings.

All of their flare. All of their passion. All of their radiance.

All of their love.

For Nana.

One by one, more spotlights begin joining the lone, pale yellow from all angles as the stage awakens from its long, cold slumber. Unseen gears begin to churn, and the stage begins to rumble with life. Throughout their fight, as each girl passes through the shadow of the giraffe, she emerges on the other side in revue attire, colorful and vibrant. Jackets flutter on their shoulders, but every attack on those is dodged with trained precision.

They sing, dance, and do battle. Not to steal. But to give.

To give life. To rebirth.

Each one of them shares a bit of her own radiance with the stage to revive it and its strange magics.

The giraffe looks on in silent delight, relishing the sight and sound of them.

Their power. Their passion. Their love for the stage and for one another causes something to move.

At last, the eight Stage Girls come to a halt, all in a circle, each with her weapon positioned at the button of the one beside her. They wait, disheveled but lively, inspired at this prospect of bringing things back to how they should be. All around them, the stage whirs with hidden movement.

Everyone looks to Junna. She meets each of their gazes, then gives a sharp nod.

All at once, they cut loose the button of the person beside them. All eight jackets fall to the floor at the same moment. The giraffe bellows.

"This concludes the Revue of Reawakening!"

The girls lower their weapons and turn to him. Junna speaks.

"With this... can we do it?"

He considers, closing his eyes to listen to the stage.

"Indeed, the offered radiance has been acknowledged and accepted. However, to ensure there are no other… unwanted anomalies this time around, I would suggest a bit extra, just to be certain. You understand?"

Junna nods. She wants this done right the first time with no strings attached. They can't afford to let it happen again. With this she turns back to her friends, holding out her left hand.

"Everyone, please…"

They understand. Copying her motion, they each lift a hand and hold their weapons in the other. They position the blades across their open palms and slice in unison.

Scarlet wells up and drips down each of their hands, splattering bright red puddles over the faded stains Nana had left before them.

With this, they've given enough; lifeblood and radiance, on top of the world they would be exchanging for a better one - one where they could all live, even if apart.

The giraffe turns his head and flicks an ear to the whispers of the stage.

"The stage acknowledges your desires. I understand."

"Wait," Junna says. The flow of blood is already slowing from her hand. She turns back to the others. "She... She has to forget all of this. Nana can't know about any of it. If she remembers what happened to us… it'll drive her crazy."

"I agree," Maya nods. "Even if we are all fine in the new world we create, Daiba-san will still be upset to remember what might've happened otherwise."

"It's better if she forgets," Kaoruko agrees. "After all, in the past she's the one who remembered everything about the repeated years. We can handle it this one time."

"We'll remember it so she doesn't have to," Hikari says.

They all look to him now, as if daring him to oppose. The giraffe dips his head.

"Very well. I understand your terms."

"Good," Junna says. "Then let's do this." She draws in a shaking breath, feeling herself tremble. But all around her, her friends step close, taking hold of her hands or her arms or her back. Junna finds the strength to finish. "Take us back to before any of this happened. To a time where Nana was here with us."

Just saying her name makes Junna tear up and soften all over again.

Nana. Her best friend. Her partner and roommate. And the flutter in her chest is telling her she was something more as well.

There's a rumbling beneath and all around them. Overhead, the multicolored spotlights rattle, the pale yellow surrounded by the vibrant blues and pinks and greens.

The girls reach out their still-healing hands and hold onto one another.

There's a collective sigh as they close their eyes and hold tight.

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A/N: Even the Giraffe wouldn't want a tragic ending that results in the irrefutable loss of the Stage Girls. I fully believe even he is not that kind of character!

The radiance and blood of eight stage girls was their price. The story will wrap up with a small epilogue!