At first, it seemed like Tio simply threw Papi in a random direction, but the truth was slightly different. She actually used her incredible strength to launch Papi into the air, allowing her to take off. Birds need a running start to fly, and harpies are the same: they need some momentum to get lift. The Tomas Theater didn’t have enough space on its stage for her to hit flying speed normally, so Tio stepped in to help. Kind of like a catapult, Kimihito concluded.
Powerful☆Voice used their special move to let Papi fly over the audience.
She didn’t understand the aerodynamics or thermodynamics or whatever, just that she needed to move fast and Tio had an incredible throwing arm. This move took advantage of both their skills and personalities, and gave them an exciting edge over other performers.
The theater was awash with oohs and ahhs.
“Whee!” Papi cheered as she flew overhead, skirt flapping in the wind. She could tell their move had gotten people excited! She was excited, too! It seemed like their work experience was a huge success.
Wait—wait a minute! It turned out there was a bit of a problem with the whole flying idea. Which way’s the stage again? As a diurnal subspecies of harpy, her eyes didn’t work in the dark, and the dazzling spotlights that washed randomly over the crowd didn’t help. Between disorienting darkness and blinding colors, she had lost all sense of direction.
The final issue was…
“Wah!” Papi shrieked as the brilliantly lit stage came into view. The floor lights were at an angle that would keep them out of the eyes of the concertgoers—but unfortunately pointed them directly at her eyes. She couldn’t help but close them, and every time she managed to open them again, she saw another confusing blast of color. There was absolutely no way to know where to go.
Neither Tio nor anyone in the crowd had flown before, so they couldn’t understand how upsetting the lights were. Their cheers continued as Papi struggled above them.
The song ended.
She had to return to the stage—now—but she still couldn’t find it. As she searched for another landmark to orient herself…a noise rang out!
It was a strange, whistling sound—an artificial bird call. It was so clear and high that it soared over the rest of the theater to reach her. Moments later, she heard it again. Someone was calling for her. A homing whistle.
Kimihito.
“Bossssss!!” she cried and dove towards the noise. Her eyes still stung, and she barely knew which direction she was flying, but she understood by instinct: Kimihito was calling her.
“Guh?!” he shouted.
“Waaaah!!” she wailed.
The sound of a collision rang out through the theater. Papi landed hard, but she didn’t crash into the walls or the crowd, and now, someone was supporting her.
“Nggh—Boss?” she murmured.
“Are you all right, Papi?” he asked. Kimihito had been waiting for her in the wings, but now he was laid out underneath her on the floor, having taken the full, brutal impact of her dive-bomb. He didn’t seem worried, though. He wrapped his arms around her.
Tio, still on stage, shouted, “A-and that’s it for us, ‘Powerful☆Voice!’” She was shaken too, but the show had to go on. The audience didn’t seem fazed by Papi’s dramatic exit, so it was on Tio to finish their act.
“Thanks, Boss!” Papi wrapped her wings around Kimihito in return.
“No worries. It looked like you were having trouble landing, that’s all,” he said with a slightly embarrassed smile.
“Heh heh heh… Guess I screwed up a little! We didn’t practice the flying onstage, is why.”
“But you got through okay in the end, didn’t you?”
“Yeah! ’Cause of your whistle, Boss!” Papi grinned. Even if she hadn’t slowed down enough to avoid him, she’d made it back safe, which was enough for both of them.
“It was really smart of you to understand that.”
“Huh? Understand what?” Papi asked. “I just heard you and followed the noise!”
“Ah…hmm. So was it a harpy instinct?” Birds communicate with chirps, tweets, and whistles—if that worked for Papi too, it was worth practicing for other emergencies. For now, though… “Uh, could you please stand up?” he asked. He’d put his arms around her when she flew in, but she’d made herself comfortable as they talked, sitting with her butt on his stomach.
“Wah! Sorry ’bout that, Boss!” She rolled aside. Of course, as a bird-like liminal, she weighed much less than a human woman her size—but she still wasn’t exactly light.
A normal man might’ve been seriously injured in that collision—but Kimihito was used to being constricted, kicked, bound, and drowned without any lingering damage. Considering the violent communication style most of the girls used, he’d adapted to this sort of treatment.
“Papi! Are you okay?” Tio rushed over as soon as she formally ended their set and left the stage. The harpy in question had moved clear of Kimihito and was scratching her head with one blue wing. “Yep…thanks to the boss!”
“Snookums, you’re amazing! ☆”
Kimihito was abashed. “It was nothing…hah.”
“Boss is awesome!! He always helps Papi when there’s trouble!!” Papi chirped.
“And he can sew! I’m so jealous~!” Tio said, lifting Papi with one arm and helping Kimihito to his feet with the other; she was both as strong and as gentle as ever.
“Boss, didja see Papi’s dance? Pap pap papeee!”
“Did I do okay as an idol, do you think? ☆” Tio wondered aloud.
Despite their contrasting bodies and how quickly they’d formed their unit, they’d been perfectly in sync, just like they hoped. “You were both amazing. I couldn’t tear my eyes away,” Kimihito said.
“Yeah!”
“Yay! ☆”
Even their response was in unison.
On the other side of the curtains, the audience was still cheering. Despite Papi’s rough landing, the show was a resounding success.
“Our next performer—” the director’s voice announced over the speakers. Flushed and smiling, Tio and Papi looked back at the stage.
It was now covered in a diaphanous blue curtain that made the whole stage look like it had been plunged underwater. Through it, Mero’s silhouette could be seen—from the front, she was a vaguely humanoid seated shape in a veil, though in the wings they had a full view of her as she prepared to sing.
“We have a special treat for you tonight: a concert by a mermaid songstress. Known only by the initial M, she is unable to reveal her face, but she wanted to share her song so desperately that she found a way to sing out from beyond the deep.”
The spotlights all turned matching blue, and the crowd thrummed with anticipation. Nobody told them what to do, but the change in the stage’s presentation cued them in, and the feeling in the room shifted on its own. Kimihito peered at the onlookers curiously. So this is how idol concerts work.
Mero wore the same outfit as Tio and Papi, but because she wouldn’t be dancing, her version featured a much longer skirt. The director had prepared the costumes specially for each of them, and Mero seemed happy that she got to match with the other girls. Even though the crowd wouldn’t be able to see her, and Kimihito was the only one who’d get to appreciate them as a set, it must have made her feel like a proper part of the group.
“Please drink in the song of our mysterious songstress M before you enjoy ANM48’s concert,” the director said to intense applause.