Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Only Starlight
Night falls.
It is a night without visible stars.
After listening to Ryouko’s story, Kanade stood frozen, unsure of how to react.
The root cause of the nightmare that had always troubled Nagi… turned out to be this…
“Is it Mashiro… deliberately trying to ruin Nagi?”
“That’s right. It was all part of Mana’s plan. She colluded with that woman privately and deceived Hoshimiya-chan into following her to the basement warehouse…”
“Impossible, you’re lying!” Kanade retorted with wide eyes.
“Actually, you had your suspicions, didn’t you?”
Ryouko maintained her calm tone, using gentle words to provoke Kanade’s doubts about her childhood friend.
“When I mentioned the abuse Hoshimiya-chan suffered just now, you weren’t surprised, were you? Who told you?”
“By the way, I learned it from Mana~. She was so happy at that time~”
“She excitedly told me how that woman abused Hoshimiya-chan…”
Her half-truths made Kanade hesitate for a moment.
“No, that’s not true. You’re lying… Mashiro isn’t…”
“You seem to protect Mana quite a lot~?” Ryouko’s lips curved into an uncontrollable smile.
“Could it be—are you in cahoots with her?” She stated the words she had long prepared, meant to shatter the spirit of the boy before her.
Tsukimi Kanade, Nagi’s childhood friend, the boy who saved her from that shadow, was her emotional support.
What if she could ruin him too!?
Then she could thoroughly push Nagi into that abyss of despair—
Maybe she would even take her own life like before—how wonderful—!!!
Ryouko laughed wildly in her heart.
Ayasaki Mana, thank you so much! You have left me such a wonderful gift!
Thanks to you not giving up on your friendship with Nagi! I managed to turn this worthless card with no evidence into a trump card!
This information, which wouldn’t even make the news if sent to the media, could cleverly destroy the trust and hearts of these children—
That woman is a sponsor with perverse tastes.
She is also Ryouko’s collaborator.
Ryouko has lured talented actors to knock on her door more than once, ensuring they cannot become obstacles on her path to success.
At that time, the one standing in her way was the proud Hoshimiya Nagi. As long as she existed, Ryouko would never become the most dazzling being.
When she was thinking about how to set up a trap to destroy her, she unexpectedly saw Ayasaki Mana coming to find her.
Although she didn’t feel threatened by Mana at that time, how could she let such a feast go?
As a result, she was surprised to find that the one who was hooked in the end was the very Hoshimiya Nagi she had been infatuated with, making her feel that heaven was favoring her.
Although she didn’t know why that sponsorship incident spiraled out of control, wanting to strangle Nagi on the spot.
Moreover, it was later confirmed that the individual developed severe mental health issues, reacting aggressively to words like “evil spirit,” and has since been confined to the intensive care unit of a psychiatric hospital.
But with this, she couldn’t expose herself; indeed, she was a lucky embodiment—
She was undoubtedly favored by fortune!
That’s how she was able to see the close relationship between Mana and Nagi in newspaper photographs~
“So it’s like this, Mana destroys Hoshimiya-chan beyond recognition, and you, as the accomplice, pretend to be the prince charming at her side—”
“No way! That’s not how it is!”
“You two really are a disgusting pair of childhood friends, huh? When did you start planning this together?”
“Can’t you stand that kind and gentle girl?”
“You’re talking nonsense! What do you know about Nagi?!” Kanade yelled, her face flushed with anger.
“But I know you, Tsukimi Kanade.”
“What?” The unexpected response made Kanade reflexively counter.
“Kanade, weren’t you once different from this?”
“You, abandoned by your parents, only able to live with your uncle and aunt, were a very bad kid, weren’t you?”
“Now you pretend to be gentle and introverted; isn’t that proof of how you and Mana deceived Nagi?”
“Me… in the past…?”
Hearing this, Kanade froze. He wanted to rebut, but Ryouko’s words grazed against his most sensitive psyche.
He was a child abandoned by his parents.
Seeing Kanade’s reaction, Ryouko laughed in her heart, knowing she had guessed correctly.
She had had a private detective investigate Kanade’s past and knew his background.
It didn’t matter whether the old Kanade was the same as the current one.
Guiding Kanade in the direction she wanted, after all, he was just a child, and he couldn’t possibly remember things from his childhood.
The truth didn’t matter; what’s important was to crush him!
“I… I am…”
“You must have been bothered by Hoshimiya-chan being loved by everyone, right?”
“Clearly abandoned, but she showed that happy smile in front of me—”
“So you wanted to destroy her, didn’t you?”
Ryouko’s seemingly enchanted voice repeatedly tunneled into Kanade’s heart, coating it with layer upon layer of dark muck.
“If you were really that shy kid, how could you frequently go to Hoshimiya’s house to play?”
“Do you know there were reporters crowded outside her door 24 hours a day back then?”
“If you were genuinely an outsider, you wouldn’t know what happened to Hoshimiya-chan, so pretending to ‘comfort her’ doesn’t hold up!”
“And during that time right after her incident, Hoshimiya-chan showed no signs of wanting to commit suicide…”
“Weren’t you the one who encouraged her to do it?”
“I… I… wasn’t…” Kanade’s legs gave out, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.
In front of him, he saw the slightly ajar door of Nagi’s room.
That was a memory he couldn’t recall no matter how hard he tried.
What had he done at that time?
(…Kanade.)
“Stop lying, tell me this is a lie!” Kanade pounded the ground violently with both hands.
“It’s me—”
The blurry remnants of memory flickered.
“Could it really be me—”
The sun was completely buried below the horizon.
On this starless night.
Darkness enveloped the earth.
Kanade completely lost his direction.
Just before the darkness fully consumed him—
He saw a glimmer of light.
It was a faint starlight.
But it shone so brightly in this darkness.
“Kanade is not that kind of person—”
“Take those words back—”
That voice pulled Kanade’s consciousness back from the endless abyss into reality.
He immediately noticed that the faint light came from a star bracelet on the girl’s left hand in front of him.
The girl’s frail body stood between him and Ryouko, as if to protect him, keeping him behind her.
“Little… Nagi…”
“Hoshimiya… Nagi…”
Ryouko’s voice lost its composure for the first time as she gritted her teeth while uttering the name of the girl in front of her.
…..
…..
Her goal was to make Kanade live with remorse for the rest of his life.
After stealing Ryouko’s plan from Futomi.
Nagi should have felt happy.
Because Ryouko would help push Kanade into the abyss…
Surely leaving an indelible scar in Kanade’s heart that would be useful in the future…
But…
Why does my Kanade have to be spoken of like this—
She, who should have been observing in the shadows.
Her legs moved as if against her will.
Yes, she hoped to become the childhood friend who would make Kanade live with regret, but definitely not in this way—
A scene flashed through her mind when she first saw Kanade.
That was when she first learned that in this world, there was not only herself as the “protagonist.”
Like a beam of dawn shining into the darkness.
He was her sole redemption for wanting to live in this world—
Her right hand unconsciously grasped the star bracelet on her left hand lightly.
That was—the only starlight.
“Little Nagi, could it be… I used to…”
“I’ve forgotten, but I know that by my side is Kanade, and that is enough.”
“But I…”
“Didn’t I say? No matter what Kanade has done to me, I will forgive him.”
“If not for me… Nagi would still thrive in…”
“If not for Kanade, I would never have become an actress—”
“Because of Kanade, I resolutely decided to step onto the stage—”
“My performances have always been solely for Kanade—”
“As long as it’s for Kanade, I can return to that stage anytime—”
“As long as Kanade is by my side, I can do anything—”
“As long as Kanade is willing, I can perform for you for a lifetime!”
“…..Little Nagi.”
…..
“What a disgusting scene, Hoshimiya Nagi…” Ryouko expressed with a sinister smile.
“What friendship, what love, what bonds—such naive and laughable thoughts.”
“On this stage, only interests and gains matter—”
“It’s because of your childishness that those around you get hurt, and you get kicked off this stage.”
“…..Yes, it’s all my fault for being too naive, thinking that as long as I stood out enough, I could protect Mana from you…”
“…..It’s all because I was too simple-minded that Kanade is suffering like this now….”
“So, this time, I won’t let you go—” Nagi turned to look back at Ryouko.
“What?”
“Yano Ryouko, I will stand in for Mana on the cultural festival stage—”
“This time, your opponent is me.”
“Hahahaha!!” Ryouko couldn’t help but burst into laughter upon hearing this.
“You? After being away from the stage for so long, do you really think your talent can make up for the lost time?”
“Perhaps you were once an unparalleled genius, but your time has passed! Hoshimiya Nagi!”
“I accept your suicide challenge—”
“I will make you feel the full gap between our acting skills! And then I will completely destroy you—”
“My performance is staked on my career, my reputation, my wealth, and it is fundamentally different from your acting! The weight is completely different!”
“Yes, the weight… is completely different,” Nagi spoke softly: “So, I will make you regret hurting my childhood friend—”
