Chapter 58 The True Evil Spirit
A woman riding on the girl.
Flashing lights.
Maniacal laughter.
The faint mournful cry from the girl, echoing in Mana’s ears.
It jolted her awake from the nightmare.
The time was already deep into the night.
Mana sat up in bed, gasping for breath, covered in sweat.
Her platinum blonde hair clung to her skin, making her feel very uncomfortable.
Even after so many years.
The scenes of that day had never faded from Mana’s memory.
Why could she remember so clearly what had happened at that time and tell Kanade?
Because—
She was right there at the scene.
She witnessed everything unfold.
Mana struggled to prop herself up, wanting to get out of bed to pour herself a glass of water.
But the next moment, she suddenly felt the room spinning and fell out of bed…
……
……
“Fever?”
The next morning.
Nagi and the others learned from Ryo about Mana’s reason for taking leave.
“How could that be… She was still full of energy when I parted ways with her last night…” Kanade said.
Yesterday, when Mana accompanied him to practice in the gym, he didn’t notice any signs of her being feverish.
“Ah, that’s because it rained after school yesterday, right?”
“I have a friend living near Shirayuri Mountain who seems to have seen her getting soaked in the rain on her way home last night. That might be the reason,” Ryo shrugged and explained.
“By the way, has Nagi contacted Ayaka-san?”
“Not yet, the message sent via LINE to Mana-chan is still unread. Maybe she hasn’t recovered yet?”
“Should we buy some fruit and visit her?” Alice suggested.
This proposal was unanimously approved.
It was decided that Nagi, the one closest to Mana, would represent them.
After all, it wouldn’t be appropriate for too many people to visit a sick person at once.
And Kanade had stage play practice after school every day, so he could only leave it to Nagi.
“In that case, can you also bring my class notes to Ayaka-san?”
“No, Ryo, your notes are a complete mess, right?”
“Huh? Let me see how your notes are, Kanade!?”
“Sigh~”
Alice silently sighed as she watched the two boys suddenly start comparing their class notes.
With Nagi, the top student of their grade, present, what were these two competing over?
Ryo seemed to see through Alice’s thoughts and turned to say:
“You must be thinking, since we have Nagi, we can just use Nagi’s notes, right?”
“?” Alice showed a puzzled expression, seemingly not understanding why Ryo asked that.
At this moment, Kanade came out to explain: “Actually, little Nagi… doesn’t take notes at all…”
“A genius!?”
Time moved to after school.
Nagi returned to Ayaka’s house after a long absence.
She remembered the first time she came here, back when she was in the first grade of elementary school.
Her identity was as Ayaka’s apprentice.
It was also the first time she met the first heroine of “Star Draw 2” in this world—Mana.
It officially began her journey of taking away the childhood friend attribute from her and becoming Kanade’s closest heroine.
At that time, she hadn’t mastered the use of the card “Starlight” and, with the mentality of an adult male, couldn’t form a good relationship with Mana.
“Thank you for coming, Nagi-chan…”
After ringing the doorbell.
A haggard-faced Ayaka opened the door.
As Nagi stepped into the entrance, she suddenly whispered nostalgically:
“I’m back.”
Hearing this, Ayaka was momentarily stunned, memories flooding back, and she softly replied:
“…Welcome back.”
To Ayaka, her apprentice Nagi felt like another daughter.
Years ago, Nagi and Mana resembled a pair of sisters.
They learned acting together, performed together, debuted as child stars together, and were both given the title of “genius child star.”
Those were the happiest times since her divorce.
But it also led her to neglect her own daughter’s feelings.
From an actor’s perspective, she had to admit that Nagi was far superior to Mana.
Although the two appeared equally matched on the surface, Nagi’s acting was extraordinarily refined.
She was a true “genius,” which made Ayaka unable to help but invest more of her energy in Nagi.
Looking back now, that might have been the trigger for the unforeseen incident.
If she had been a more competent mother back then, these two children would not have encountered such a thing…
“Has Mana-chan not woken up yet?”
“……Hmm, but she has already broken her fever. She even had some porridge at noon, and her health is fine.”
Nagi’s voice pulled Ayaka back from her thoughts.
“Really? That’s wonderful~”
Seeing Nagi’s radiant smile made Ayaka’s heart ache subtly.
She felt guilty for keeping a secret from her.
At this point, even if this child hates her, she must—
“Nagi-chan, can we have a long-awaited chat?”
…..
…..
As the sun set.
Night gradually fell.
Kanade finished today’s practice, changed back into his uniform, and walked out of the gym.
Just before heading back, he thought about stopping by the supermarket and headed towards the west side of the teaching building.
On the road behind the teaching building, he noticed a figure in front.
Her shadow stretched long in the evening glow.
The other party seemed to notice Kanade, turning gracefully to walk towards him.
“Long time no see, Tsukimi-kun.”
The visitor was the popular actress, Ryouko.
“Y, Yano-san, good evening… Why are you here…?”
Kanade recalled Mana’s warning and became somewhat nervous.
“Of course, I’m here to wait for you~” Ryouko said with an alluring smile.
“…..Wait for me?”
“Yes, because I heard Tsukimi-kun is a kind-hearted and gentle child…”
“…..Ha, thank you…..” Kanade shyly lowered his head at her words.
“So I don’t want a sweet child like you to be deceived by your friends without knowing it…”
Ryouko’s voice was soft, but it seemed to possess a kind of magic, penetrating into Kanade’s heart and making him care deeply.
“What do you mean?”
Kanade suddenly lifted his head and met Ryouko’s clear gaze.
“Indeed, you don’t know that you’ve been deceived by your childhood friend—”
…..
…..
From the moment of her birth, Mana was seen as a winner in life.
Both parents were well-known beauties in the entertainment industry, especially her father, a foreigner of Nordic descent.
As a mixed-race child, she inherited her mother’s dignified and elegant beauty, resembling Yamato Nadeshiko, alongside her father’s striking features unique to his Nordic lineage.
These traits created a seemingly perfect balance on her smooth, fair face as if meticulously crafted by the heavens.
With her father’s striking platinum blonde hair, she was incredibly cute and charming as a child.
However, the happy times for this family of three did not last long.
Her father suddenly wanted a divorce from her mother.
After abandoning her with her mother and leaving a large amount of child support, he left Japan and retired from the entertainment industry.
Her mother took this opportunity to exit the industry as well and changed her surname back to “Ayaka.”
Since then, Mana felt her mother rarely smiled and hardly looked at her.
Perhaps because her platinum blonde hair reminded her of her father.
Until one day, her mother brought home a black-haired girl of a similar age to Mana, introducing her as her disciple.
With shoulder-length, as deep as the night sky, black hair, skin as white as snow, and delicate and upright features, her beauty was stunning and angelic.
Mana felt that her own pride in her beauty paled in comparison to this girl.
This was the first time Mana met Hoshimiya Nagi.
Soon, Mana discovered through her interactions with her mother and Nagi.
It seemed that only acting could draw her mother’s attention and make her smile.
So she hoped her mother would teach her acting skills too.
Mana was precocious and displayed incredible talent in various fields, and acting was no exception.
At first, her acting was far superior to Nagi’s, catching up and surpassing her in just a few months.
Eventually, they debuted together as child stars.
Her mother was their manager.
But after debuting, Nagi’s acting began to soar, rapidly creating a gap between them.
She was once referred to by the industry as a “genius paving a new era.”
No matter how hard Mana tried, she couldn’t catch up.
That was when her mother began to care more about Nagi than about her.
This made Mana anxious.
Without becoming the most dazzling star, her mother wouldn’t look at her…
Such thoughts consumed and distorted her heart.
But in terms of acting ability, she could not compete with Nagi at all.
If this continued, her mother would be taken away…
Before Mana sank into despair, she encountered the “Yano Ryouko” who would later change both her and Nagi’s lives.
At that time, Ryouko was an elder in the entertainment industry to Mana, as well as a friendly rival.
Young and innocent, she failed to discern the true nature hidden behind Ryouko’s smile.
“Want to become more famous than Hoshimiya Nagi? Of course, I have a great method to teach you~”
That was a devil’s whisper, yet to Mana at that time, it was full of allure.
So she accepted the invitation.
To meet the master of that old mansion—
…..
“So, actually, this is all my fault…”
Mana suddenly stepped out from the room.
Taking over her mother’s words.
“It’s me who has been deceiving Nagi-chan; it wasn’t an accident… it was all self-inflicted…”
Mana’s voice was hoarse and trembling, her red eyes dim and filled with tears.
“The one who got kidnapped back then was me… the woman wanted to choke me to death…”
“If Nagi-chan hadn’t come to save me, she wouldn’t have…”
“I’m the real evil spirit…”
