iridesenescence

Writer: Akira
Season: Autumn
Location: Madara, Sora, Subaru and Wataru's Dorm Room
Proofread by septetstarlet

[Nighttime of that day]

Sora: ~... ♪

Subaru: — And so?

Sora: Huh? What is it, Sparkly oni~san?

Subaru: You can just call me Subaru-paisen instead of "Sparkly oni~san", y'know. Like how I call you So~ran?

Sora: Sora's never heard that nickname before!?

Subaru: I just think it's sad for you to keep acting like we're strangers, is all~ ... But more importantly, what happened after that?

Sora: What do you mean?

Subaru: I mean, as someone who was just a li~ttle bit involved, I wanna know all the details. So how did things go after that?
Did anything change for Switch — or rather, for the other two members? Was the mysterious machine part that we dug out together any help?

Sora: Apparently, it's not all that mysterious — it's from something called a magic lantern.
Sora looked it up on his phone afterwards, and it looks like they were the precursor to projectors~? Those machines that project movies and other stuff!
Back when these were still uncommon items, people thought they were like magic, and using a magic lantern on stage was an amazing form of art~?
With the help of sparkly light, something beyond the ordinary is projected! Magic lanterns were sort of seen as machines that could show people pretty dreams?
Without them, we wouldn't have movies or TV, and idols might not have become as prominent as they are now?
No, maybe... The entire concept of idols might never have been born?

Subaru: Hmm. We might still have regular singers, dancers, actors and comedians, but I guess we'd never know if they would have borne fruit in the form of "idols", huh?
Well, even now it's such a vague concept that I can't properly answer if I was asked "just what is an idol?"

Sora: HaHa~? So even you can't answer that, Sparkly... I mean, Subaru-paisen?
Out of everyone Sora knows, you're probably the best representation of the concept of an idol, though~?

Subaru: Yeah, I get that a lot, and I think the same! So I try my best to live up to that, but it doesn't mean I can explain it in words.
That's why it was a real struggle then... Back in summer, when that kid straight up asked me, "what is an idol?"

Sora: That kid?

Subaru: That strange, cute kid from Alkaloid. If Hokke~ had been raised without any burdens or stress, I wonder if he would've turned out like that?

Subaru: Mm, or maybe this is just how it feels to look after a child... Your gaze is just like that kid's, so I'm sure always being under that scrutiny is tough on Natsume and Blue-senpai too.

Sora: Um~m? Is Sora causing trouble for Shisho~ and Senpai? That's something that Sora is trying to avoid as much as possible, though?

Subaru: Why?

Sora: Why...? Because if Sora causes trouble and bothers them, he'll be hated.

Subaru: Will you?

Sora: He will... not?
Of course, Sora knows Shisho~ and Senpai treasure Sora very much, so he trusts that they won't hate him just because he bothers them a little~?
But still, Sora is afraid. Sora's always been avoided and excluded like that. People say that he's weird~, that he's like an alien.

Subaru: So that's why you kinda end up holding back, even with those two? You think you'll be despised if you get close, so you just orbit in their surroundings like a planet and watch them?

Sora: ......

Subaru: If someone did that to me, I'd find it really lonely, you know~. Anzu's been like that too, lately — it feels like she's keeping a strange distance from us.

Sora: But... Isn't that unavoidable, because of changes in positions and the environment?
Shisho~ and Senpai are working hard to help Switch grow stronger, even if just by a little bit. It's probably because they think that we can't save anyone if we lack strength.
Shisho~ in Yumenosaki, and Senpai in ES... They're both in the middle of boosting their power... magical power.

Subaru: Why'd you correct yourself with "magical power"?

Sora: It's important to set the mood~? Anyway, that's what it is, so, we're fine!
It's a little lonely right now, but Sora is sure things will get better soon! That's how it's always been!

Subaru: Really? Back when you guys did the "Next Door" thing, weren't you saying that too? "Someday, sometime soon, for sure"?
I don't really wanna butt into other people's business the way Eichi-senpai does, but from where I'm standing, it looks like you guys have just been doing the same thing over and over again.
You go forward and back, forward again then back again — you guys are perpetually stuck. It's true that Natsume, Blue-senpai, and even you might be getting stronger in each of your individual positions...
But the distance between you guys doesn't change. You keep leaving the same gaps between one another and shining all by your lonesomes. It's such a waste, cos if you came closer together, I think you'd shine so much brighter.

Sora: ......

Subaru: I mean, if you guys are satisfied with that, then I guess it's fine.
But y'know, when I heard that Natsume, the guy who's always so insistent on being alone, had formed a unit that was to his tastes—

Subaru: I was kinda imagining a slightly different future from this. At the end of the day, isn't he just doing the same thing as before?
He hated being shut out and sequestered away so much, but now he's choosing to put up those same barriers himself~?
Same goes for Blue-senpai. It kiiinda feels like he's got the same vibes as when he was in fine.
I wasn't all that involved in the conflict, so I can't say for sure.
But I think the two of them have naturally ended up repeating the methods they used in the past.
I'm sure those are the methods they're more used to and confident in, so I don't blame them for subconsciously falling back on that...
But you're still a blank slate. A child of the new age who knows nothing of the old ways.
That's why I was ho~ping that you might be able to change something.
I thought, just maybe, you'd be able to lead poor Natsume and Blue-senpai towards happiness.