Invitation to Listen Pt. 2

Sunayomi... All of them are here, and they're looking at me.

"W-what... is this...?" I stuttered.

"They were all listening from behind the door," Yoshino said.

"Then..."

"You probably guessed it. They heard everything."

"Ehehe... S-surprise?" Suguha chuckled with the guiltiest face.

It's like the world knows that I wanna be alone, but instead of giving me that, it's constantly shoving me into these weird situations that force me to talk. What am I even meant to do here? I just wanna crawl under this table and stay there.

"Okay, so why all this?" I asked.

"Well, I had a lot of time to think about what you said to us, Yozora," Yoshino sighed as she leaned back. "It was during the moment when I realized that we were wrong about you, and I had initially planned to personally apologize for it. However, I haven't seen you around since then."

"Oh. Is that so...?"

"Yeah! I couldn't find you no matter how hard I looked!" Suguha perked up and exclaimed. "Which, honestly, I didn't even look that hard, but still! I was gonna show you the video of Nabi falling when she wasn't around."

I could see the back of Natsume's hair standing from that declaration.

"Uh... huh..."

"Ahem. I was also looking for you," Natsume chimed in. "I wanted to pay you back with a mochi ice cream for fixing our speakers. Without you... We would've had to move to an unfamiliar rehearsal room."

"I-I see..."

"And wouldn't you have guessed it when we asked Manager Na where you've been," Mitsuki muttered. "You..."

She marched over to me and threw an arm past my neck, barring me from any chance of escaping.

"You were going to quit," she said. "Why?"

So, they knew. Of course they did. Damn that Manager Na. He really went and spilled it to the very people who were the catalyst of my decision.

"Why would you even care?" I asked. "Weren't you the one who said that I was just a nobody?"

"W-wha—!?"

"Oh~" Suguha hummed. "So it 'was' Mira's fault."

"I mean... That does sound pretty bad..." Natsume coughed.

"It does, doesn't it?" Yoshino whistled.

"Hey! Yoko! Don't act like you didn't play a part in it!" Mitsuki shouted.

"I tried to stop you, didn't I?"

Mitsuki let out a heavy breath. She turned her attention back to me, and I was surprised to see that her face wasn't filled with hostility like before.

"Did I really make you want to quit?" she asked.

"What kind of a question is that?" I scoffed. "Not only did you antagonize me, but you also—"

"I know what I did!"

The tone of her voice surprised me even more. It was loud, so loud that it startled me. Her body was trembling, yet all I could do to offer any kind of reaction was to simply stare back at her. She seemed genuinely... disappointed.

"I know what I did and said to you," she mumbled. "That's why I want to know... Was it really all my fault?"

I was taken aback when Mitsuki Mira, of all people, looked at me with an uncertain expression as she asked that question. It was so unlike her to seek validation or admit she might be wrong. I was in disbelief.

In the little time that I've known her, I always saw her as the type to deflect blame, not confront it. The way she hesitated, her eyes searching mine for an answer, threw me off balance. I couldn’t decide if I should be annoyed that she was questioning me or impressed by her vulnerability. It was a strange mix of emotions, but it made me rethink everything I'd assumed about her.

At this very moment, the look I saw in her eyes... It was a stark reflection of my own.

"Your... fault...?" I whispered.

For the first time in my life, I heard the words—words that I had long asked myself—coming from someone else's mouth. She felt what I had felt so many times, the feeling of guilt and self-consciousness that I felt when I was blamed. To make anyone else feel that way is the last thing that I want.

"No, it wasn't," I finally said.

"What?" she lightly gasped. "How can I possibly believe that? What else can explain why you wanted to quit all of a sudden? I know what I did was bad, but I didn't want you to... I didn't mean... for you..."

I let out a deep breath. "Mitsuki."

We locked eyes again. This time, I wouldn't let her fall any deeper, because I would know better than anyone what it feels like to force the blame on yourself.

"You heard everything I said before, didn't you?" I asked. "I'll say it again. I don't like being around people. That's just who I am. A lot of factors played into my decision. While you were one of them, trust me when I say that it wasn't just you. I won't sugarcoat it by saying that it wasn't your fault, but still... Stop placing all the blame on yourself."

Mitsuki's eyes flashed, as if a wave of relief had washed over her. It felt oddly therapeutic, like I was finally making sense of my own struggle by giving her the words that I wish I had received. Seeing her slowly regain her composure made me feel a way I had never felt before—fulfillment.

Suddenly, Yoshino pulled out her phone and made a call. All of us turned our heads to face her, but she simply acted as if we weren't there. Whoever was on the other end of the line picked up, and she held the phone to her ear.

"Manager Na," she said as she scratched her own nails. "Remember what we were talking about the other day? Hm? No, not that. We had just gotten back from the meet-and-greet, and you pulled me aside. Yeah."

Her eyes shifted to look at me, and beneath it, a confident smile formed.

I learned something from the few encounters I've had with these girls. For something that's supposed to represent joy and happiness, whenever it comes from them... It's always followed by something bad.

"Well, hehe. I've come to a decision," Yoshino giggled, keeping her gaze on me. "I want Yozora Noa to be Sunayomi's official assistant."

Natsume's lips pursed. "Eh...?"

Suguha's eyes widened. "Eh?"

Mitsuki's jaws dropped. "Eh?!"

"Mhm. Alright. We'll see you soon," Yoshino said, then she ended the call. "Congratulations, Yozora. You've just been promoted."

"W-wha... What?" I mumbled. "H-hold up. Wait, what?!"

"Yoko!" Mitsuki shouted. "This isn't something that can be decided on a whim! Shouldn't this be discussed with everyone else?!"

"I'm down for it!" Suguha cheered.

"Huh?!"

"I'll go with what everyone else thinks," Natsume added.

"B-but!"

"That's two to one, Mira," Yoshino smiled.

Slowly, their voices faded into obscurity, as if my mind knew exactly what I didn't want to hear.

A promotion...? In what world is this a promotion? This feels more like a pair of handcuffs, another layer of responsibility that I never asked for. And with it comes the fact that I'll inevitably have to stay in close proximity with these girls. That... sounds like a bit too much.

"Yozora," Yoshino called out for me.

I snapped out of my trance, only to find that everyone was looking at me strangely.

"What are you thinking?" she asked. "Excited?"

"Yoshino... You brought this up before, and I rejected it," I said. "Don't you think that my answer would've stayed the same?"

"Hm? Am I to take this that you don't want to be our assistant?"

Again, I felt their collective eyes piercing through me like knives.

"N-not really...?" I muttered almost incoherently.

"Is that so?"

The moment Yoshino stood up, I felt a jolt that made me jump. For a while, she dug around Manager Na's desk until she found a sheet of paper. She then slammed it down on the table in front of me.

"This is the contract you signed with YE when you were hired," she said. "It states that the contractor must give a ninety days notice before the contract can be fully terminated. Which means, Yozora Noa, that you can not leave for the next three months."

I couldn't help but notice that tantalizing face as she was explaining all of this to me. Every time her eyes met mine, I subconsciously averted her gaze.

"W-well... If that's the case, then I can still refuse the promotion, can't I?" I gulped.

Yoshino pointed at yet another bullet on the contract, keeping that smile steady and clear just for me to see.

"Any changes in position, whether through the employer or Sunayomi themselves, can be altered to fit the immediate needs of Sunayomi," she recited. "Looks like you're all out of luck."

She stood up to leave, but not without taking the contract with her. The rest of Sunayomi followed behind us, but they all stopped at the door.

"Then, Yozora," Yoshino smirked. "Goodbye... for now, anyway."

"See you tomorrow, Yozora!" Suguha waved her arms back and forth.

"Bye, Yozora," Natsume smiled.

"Hmph..." Mitsuki crossed her arms.

Just like that, they were gone, leaving me alone in Manager Na's office.

What the hell... just happened?