He found Ikumi at reception, and they hit up the food stands as the skies darkened. The warehouses were bathed in orange lights. The music festival venue faced the water, and across that, they had a good view of the lights on the cruise ships anchored at Osanbashi Pier.
It was almost time for Mai’s show, and the crowds steadily grew denser.
Half an hour before the scheduled start time, it was so packed they could barely see a few feet in any direction.
“Even more people than in the dream.”
He couldn’t tell exact numbers, but it felt like three times the size of the dream crowd.
The space before the main stage couldn’t hold the crowd, and they were overflowing into the area meant for the second stage (on the opposite side of the square).
“Everyone saw those #dreaming posts. Not that I’m one to talk.”
True—in Sakuta’s dream, Ikumi hadn’t been here.
The #dreaming posts were widely believed to predict the future, and that was enough to make people like Ikumi change their plans.
In the night sky, the stars of spring were twinkling—just like in his dream. Regulus in Leo. Spica in Virgo. Arcturus in Boötes.
Sakuta located each in turn while the main-stage lights were out.
As they came back on, the rock band started playing.
A roar, almost a shriek, went up from the crowd.
Four men driving the audience crazy were the band from Sakuta’s dream. A guitar/vocalist. A bassist. A keyboardist. And a drummer.
“……The opening song.”
“To what?”
“A TV show that just went off the air.”
Ikumi knew more than he did.
They were standing shoulder to shoulder but had to yell to hear each other.
Mai was a guest vocalist and had yet to take the stage.
But the crowd was already hopping to the beat. Like ripples running through the whole venue, making them all move as one.
The crowd’s excitement had reached a fever pitch—but the first song lasted less than four minutes.
When it ended, the venue felt impossibly quiet. Like the last few minutes had never happened.
In the silence, anticipation was building.
Everyone was waiting for Mai.
The vocalist picked up on that and shrugged.
He pulled the mic stand in close.
“It was supposed to be a surprise,” he grumbled.
The crowd laughed.
“But oh well. Let’s just have fun with it!”
He moved the stand to the side of the stage…and the drummer started the next song.
The one Mai sang in the movie, in character.
“I’m gonna keep on singing this song! Right here!”
Yelling a line from the movie, Mai ran onto the stage.
As she reached the center, she started belting out the lyrics.
The crowd’s energy slammed into her like a shockwave.
Mai stood her ground onstage, singing hard enough to match the power of a crowd thirty thousand strong.
The temperature rose even higher, a pulsing vortex of emotion.
Unseen forces echoed through them, threatening to swallow them whole.
And Mai was at the heart of that overwhelming energy.
Her voice soared, and she pointed at the crowd. They went wild.
The crowd pulsed like the earth was rumbling, like they were trying to summon an eldritch monster from the depths of the ocean.
This number also lasted less than four minutes, but by the time it ended, it felt like half an hour had passed. The air in the venue was electric as a general sense of excitement and satisfaction swept through the audience.
The drummer hit the final cymbal crash.
The hush that followed had a murmur running through it. A low-level tension.
There was a brief lull, then the male singer said, “A big thank-you to our guest vocalist, Mai Sakurajima.”
“Thank you!” Mai said, smiling and waving to the crowd. She bowed low.
The applause was thunderous.
Mai was only here for this one song.
All she had to do was straighten up, say a few more words, and walk offstage while waving.
That was the plan Sakuta had heard.
But before she could, a cry went up from the crowd.
“Encore!”
At first, it was one voice.
But soon…
“Encore!”
…several hundred joined in.
“Encore!”
The third call was a chorus, venue-wide.
“Encore! Encore!”
No one told them to.
“Encore! Encore!”
But thirty thousand people were all clapping together.
“Encore! Kirishima!”
And the chant began to change.
“Encore! Touko!”
The calls took on a mind of their own.
“Encore! Encore!”
No signs of it stopping.
“Touko Kirishima!”
The uncanny scene showed no sign of ending.
“Azusagawa,” Ikumi said, shooting him an anxious look.
“This is the perfect chance to refute the charges.”
If everyone wanted her to talk about it, that gave Mai a golden opportunity.
She had to see this as an opportunity.
Sakuta was sure of it.
But things quickly took a turn.
Before Mai’s head came up, the drummer started tapping the high hat. The snare and bass drums soon joined in.
Then the bassist stated strumming.
The music made the encore cries fade out.
Anticipation. Rising expectations.
When the keyboard joined in, that switched to certainty.
Thirty thousand people oohed and aahed at once.
They knew that melody.
They knew this song…
…and whose song it was.
Even Sakuta did.
“That’s Touko Kirishima’s…,” Ikumi muttered, eyes glued to the stage.
Then they saw Mai’s head come up.
A smile was on her lips.
She took a deep breath and held the mic to her lips.
Her voice soared over the crowd.
✦ ✦ ✦
I’m glad I met you.
✦ ✦ ✦
Just like he’d dreamed it.
The song from the dream.
✦ ✦ ✦
That’s not how I see things.
My soulmate’s no longer out there.
✦ ✦ ✦
The crowd was stunned, focused purely on Mai.
This was why they’d come here, but it still hit hard.
✦ ✦ ✦
But the love songs we listened to all agree.
We will meet again.
✦ ✦ ✦
Sakuta was frozen to the spot.
Her voice rose.
Soaring.
A strong, beautiful voice that matched the band’s performance note for note.
✦ ✦ ✦
Don’t be afraid to get lost.
Get up, fling that door open, step outside.
✦ ✦ ✦
What was he seeing?
What was he being shown?
Sakuta’s mind filled with questions.
He knew the girl holding the mic.
Everyone in Japan knew her.
She was Mai Sakurajima, former child star, still acting in movies and TV shows.
She was definitely Mai.
✦ ✦ ✦
But the future’s not guaranteed.
I’ll be alone again tomorrow.
No one to split things with.
This empty hollow in my heart.
✦ ✦ ✦
Mai sang the exact same way she did in the dream.
Like this was her song.
Like she was Touko Kirishima.
The crowd was speechless. They didn’t sway to the rhythm, didn’t clap along. Everyone just stood there, stunned.
✦ ✦ ✦
If I have to feel like this…
I wish I’d never met you.
✦ ✦ ✦
As the crowd’s surprise began to fade, Mai finished the Touko Kirishima song. It was a surprisingly short song that didn’t even last two minutes. The band’s performance faded out.
The coastal venue became as quiet as any ordinary day. A hush settled over the crowd. Yet in the darkness, thirty thousand people stood.
They were holding their breath and waiting for Mai to speak.
Their impatience was palpable. Any second now.
Onstage, Mai must have felt their expectations. And for that reason, she offered a sheepish smile.
She took a breath.
Sakuta recognized each movement.
It was just like the dream.
Mai raised the mic to her mouth again.
“I’d like to take this moment to share something with you all.”
The crowd stayed still. They were watching her every move.
“I imagine some of you have already figured it out.”
Mai paused again, scanning the crowd.
Every mind here was champing at the bit. Mai shut her eyes, soaking it in. When her eyes opened once more…
…she said, “I’m Touko Kirishima.”
A full second of silence followed.
Then another.
Then all that built-up anticipation erupted. Without anything to hold it back, time began moving once again. A roar shook the air like a thunderclap. The mood had completely changed.
Nothing but cheers filled the venue.
“Azusagawa, what does this mean?”
Only Sakuta and Ikumi were left reeling.
“How should I know?”
He’d meant that as an answer but had no idea if she’d heard. The roar of the crowd swallowed their words.
Surrounded by cheering people, they stood perfectly still, unable to move.
Their eyes were still on the stage—on Mai.
She’d called herself Touko Kirishima. She felt so far away. Until the concert ended, Sakuta stood rooted to the spot, muttering “Why? What for?” to himself on a loop.