Actually, Mahiko hadn't originally needed to go up on stage at all.
Their idol group had registered with exactly three members — no more were allowed — so even if Mahiko wanted to join, there was no slot for her.
The problem was that Jogo had flatly refused to budge.
"What? You're asking me? I'm not going. I'd rather die than go up there." Jogo was sprawled lazily in a backstage chair, slurping noisily at her drink, and shot a sideways glance toward Hanami and Mahiko. "What I promised Dagon was just to mess around with her on the small stage. The main stage is none of my business. I have zero interest. I'm not going."
Hanami, for her part, was perfectly indifferent about performing or not.
But Jogo was absolutely, thoroughly opposed.
Lil' Dagon turned to look at Mahiko, her eyes wide and shimmering with hope and pleading. "Jogo-sis is being mean and won't help me… so can you help me, Mahiko-sis? I really, really want to go up on stage."
Honestly, even Mahiko found those big, teary, hope-filled eyes a little hard to refuse.
A look like that — so full of a little girl's wishes and wonder — if she turned it down, Mahiko had a feeling she genuinely wouldn't sleep well that night.
"Ugh…" Mahiko scratched irritably at her hair.
She did think it would be embarrassing to go up there, and she didn't want to — but it wasn't like she couldn't. She was a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, after all. She wasn't going to flinch over something like this.
The bigger issue was that she had no idea how long the event would run.
When Mechamaru delivered the package that afternoon, if she couldn't get to it right away, wouldn't that be a problem?
So ideally, staying off stage was still the better call.
But what then?
Mahiko could easily have just turned around and walked away right now — that would've sidestepped every headache. But she was held back by how she felt about these three disaster-class Cursed Spirits.
If she'd treated Jogo and the others like strangers she happened to know, she'd have thought it was too much trouble and not given any of them the time of day.
But the unfortunate truth was that Mahiko had, just a little bit… started thinking of them as friends. After all, they were the same kind. They were all Cursed Spirits.
Right at that moment, the "talent scout" showed up backstage. In name, she was the on-site handler for the "Calamity Sisters."
Mahiko still had absolutely no idea how this woman had managed to pull these three walking catastrophes out of a crowd. But right now, all she could do was consult the professional and see if there was any way to work around the situation.
The talent scout scratched her head, looking pained. "Well… that's tricky. Because any change in personnel or group size would result in disqualification from the main stage."
Ah. So even if Mahiko subbed in, it wouldn't count. Understood.
It had to be Jogo herself who went up.
The woman coughed twice and leaned toward Mahiko. "Are you a friend of these three? Or their guardian?"
Mahiko: ?
"Both," Mahiko said.
If you were going to insist on an answer, then yeah — both.
The woman: "Well, if things are really at an impasse…"
Mahiko tilted her head. "At an impasse?"
The woman wiped the sweat from her brow. "If it really comes to it… going up there and breathing fire again wouldn't exactly be the worst thing."
Mahiko: …
Mahiko stopped acknowledging her and instead rubbed her chin thoughtfully, eyes drifting over to Jogo. Then she turned to Hanami and asked, "By the way — how did you guys convince Jogo to perform on the small stage in the first place?"
Jogo had been reluctant but still showed up. Why?
Hanami tilted her head gently. "Lil' Dagon just kept wheedling and begging until Jogo couldn't hold out anymore and gave in."
Mahiko blinked.
Wait.
That's it? It was that simple?
When she thought about it that way, convincing Jogo to get on the main stage actually wasn't going to be that hard at all.
So Mahiko let a slightly mischievous smile cross her face, leaned down, and wrapped an arm around Lil' Dagon's head, giving it a gentle pat. "Don't worry. I've got plenty of ways to make your awful Jogo-sis agree to go up on stage with you."
Lil' Dagon blinked, then her eyes lit up. "Really?"
Mahiko held up one finger, nodded, and said with a grin, "That's right. I'm about to teach you a special water-based technique. Use this move, and you'll have your stinky Jogo-sis eating out of the palm of your hand, no problem."
From across the room, Jogo caught the tail end of what they were saying and let out a dismissive click of her tongue, not even bothering to look up.
"Give me a break. The three of you combined probably still couldn't beat me. And you think you can force me onto the main stage? Don't make me laugh."
Mahiko raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Don't you know that water beats fire? Just watch."
The talent scout had no idea what these girls were plotting and figured they were just indulging in some kind of dramatic group fantasy together.
Jogo clicked her tongue again, said nothing more, and went back to reclining in her chair with her fist propped under her cheek, eyes closed.
Honestly, when Jogo had said all three of them combined couldn't beat her, there was a fair bit of bluster in that.
But there was also a very large part of her that genuinely believed it.
Because Jogo really was that strong.
So whatever this "water-based technique" Mahiko was talking about was, the idea of it actually countering her fire was basically impossible.
Lil' Dagon was still just a cursed womb — she couldn't beat Jogo in a fight, let alone physically force her to do anything.
Not worth paying attention to.
Jogo let the big blue-hair and the little blue-hair murmur and conspire together in the corner, paying them no mind.
About ten minutes passed.
The two of them seemed to have reached some kind of agreement.
Mahiko stayed standing in the back to watch. Lil' Dagon walked forward, one small step at a time, tiny fists clenched tight, and planted herself in front of Jogo.
Jogo slowly opened her eyes, keeping her lazy posture, gaze full of contempt.
"Well?"
Lil' Dagon's little face was set with resolve. "Jogo-sis, do you really not want to go on stage with me?"
Jogo let out a snort and leaned back against the chair. "Don't want to. But if you can actually beat me with that 'water technique' of yours, then I suppose I could reluctantly humor you and go up together — however, you're too weak. You can't do it."
Though, if she was being honest, Jogo was actually a little curious and even looking forward to seeing just what kind of "water technique" Lil' Dagon could come up with.
Around Lil' Dagon, Jogo, Hanami, and Mahiko all instinctively felt like they were the older ones who were supposed to look after her.
So now, Jogo watched with curious interest as Lil' Dagon clenched her fists, watched as her little body seemed to be gathering strength.
She watched Lil' Dagon take a deep breath.
And then——
She sniffled.
Fat, soybean-sized tears came rolling one after another from the corners of her eyes.
"But… but I just want to go on stage together with Jogo-sis…" The blue-haired little girl stood before Jogo, wiping her eyes and sobbing with everything she had. "I don't know which day I'm going to die, so I just wanted to seize the chance, before that day comes… to make more memories with Jogo-sis… wuu wuu wuu…"
The blue-haired little girl cried with such heartfelt, theatrical conviction.
It left Jogo completely dumbstruck.
Her lips trembled. She looked up and met Mahiko's eyes from across the room.
And Mahiko — like a one-woman hype squad — was standing in the background dabbing at her own eyes too, looking for all the world like she'd been swept up in the emotion herself.
"Tears count as water?! You!!" Jogo jabbed a finger at Mahiko and shouted. "You really went there! That move is absolutely shameless!"
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Author's Note: Sorry, this chapter's a bit of a filler one. Not in the best headspace today. I'll head out for a walk during the day and reset a bit. Look forward to a burst of updates from me! Huu huu…..
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👻🔥+40 ch: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Arknights Endfield: Picked Up a Gugugaga
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