“We’re home, Japan~!”

Three weeks ago, Mio and Meru were chosen to perform in the Hakata48 live performance of “Snow White”. Since then, we’ve all been busy with work.

Me, Nana, and Miki have appeared on variety shows and have created names for ourselves, for Nana, her diligent personality, and for Miki, her over-reactions. For me, my Smile Power and orthodox idol image.

Ryouha has been focused on work in Sakae48, and has been away filming for a TV variety in Aichi. Nagisa has stayed here and focused on her work representing Osaka.

And just recently, the five of us all went to Hawaii. We all got back from the airport to day.

Today is the official performance of “Snow White”, and we’re all travelling to Hakata to watch and support Mio and Meru.

“So this is the Hakata48 theatre, huh?”

“Hey, girls! Glad you could make it,” Sasshi said as she greeted us.

“We wouldn’t miss it.”

“It’s good you’re here. You guys get front row seats!”

“Awesome~”

“Hey, do I get a seat there, too?” A voice rose. Who is that?

“Ah! You!”

We all looked and saw another girl walking up to us.

“Wassup, sempai?”

“Chori! It’s been some time. How’s Tokyo?”

“Awesome, but still, nothin’ compared to this place.”

“Girls, lemme introduce you to Nakanishi Chiyori. She was formerly a part of Hakata48 before she moved to Tokyo and was transferred to the Akihabara division.”

“I’m still incredibly close with the other members, so I thought I’d come check out the show.”

“It’s really nice to meet you, Chiyori-san.”

“Thanks. Oh, and… uh…” A worried look appeared on her face. She gave a nervous smile and fake laugh to us.

“What?”

“Well… thing is.. I didn’t come alone.”

Eh?

“SASHIHARA-SEMPAAAAI~~~” A loud voice shouted as another girl suddenly burst in and hugged Sasshi.

“Ah… Tani.”

“Yeah~ Tani kinda followed me here. She was clinging onto me the entire way to the theatre.”

“NOT true~! I let you go to the bathroom!”

“Uh, girls, this is—”

“OOH, I wanna introduce myself! Hai, I’m the cutest cutie-patootie girl in the world, Tani Marika~~~! You can call me Marika-chan!”

She’s really hyper… and loud.

She gave a big smile as she grabbed my hands and shook them vigorously.

“It’s really nice to meet you! I bet we’re gonna be besties!”

“Uh, sure. I’m Mako—”

“I KNOW who you are! You’re a SUPER SUPER SUUUUPER famous idol, Kojimako-chan! I’ve seen you enough times on TV to know that your popularity is enough to rival against *Hashimoto Kanna-chan!”

“Eh?! I-I don’t think I’m at that level—”

“But you ARE! Even I, the super cute, super idol of Sakae48, tip my hat to you.”

“Alright, now you’re getting too into it, Tani.” Sasshi said, hitting her head.

“She works in Sakae?”

“Yes, but when she first joined, she was a member of the Hakata division here.”

“Speaking of, how is it over there?”

“It’s awesome! I’ve become really good friends with Suda-sempai and Kaotan-sempai!”

Miichan nudged my shoulder and whispered, “Those three together are a chaotic pair. If we ever go to Sakae and meet the three of them at the same place and time, be careful.”

“Uh, okay…”

“Nee, Sasshi-sempai, when is the show gonna start~?”

“Don’t worry, Tani. Just a few more minutes and the curtain will rise.”

“Hai~! Let’s sit down together, Chori-chan!”

“Eh~? Maji ka~?”

“C’mon bestie best friend~~~” She grabbed her hand and dragged her to one of the seats.

“Let’s get our seats, too.”

“Hai!”

…..

“Hey, Mio-chan, look!” Meru approached her best friend. “Makocchi and the others brought us gifts from Hawaii~”

“Uwaa~ matching bracelets!”

“They also sent a message. ‘Wear these for good luck and wow the audience!’ They’re so nice~”

“We should go to Hawaii next time, if we’re not busy.”

“True.”

Then, one of the staff called. “Five minutes!”

“Let’s go, Mio-chan!”

“Un!”

When the two walked out into the hall, Mio accidentally ran into Natsumi.

“Watch where you’re going, brat.” Natsumi said coldly.

“Ah, s-sorry.”

The taller girl walked off, leaving Mio a bit worried and scared.

“What’s wrong?”

“I wonder if Tanaka-san hates me…”

Meru smiled and comforted her friend. “Don’t worry. She’s just getting into character.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah.”

Mio smiled and the two headed to the stage.

But, they didn’t know. Isako was watching them and smirked.

“I can kill both of them and make it look like a show.”

…..

As the lights in the theatre dimmed and the curtains open, the show began with some opening music in the background and some narration by one of the members.

“Once upon a time, there was a king and queen who ruled a small kingdom. They were loved by all their subjects and ruled over their kingdom in peace and harmony. One day, the queen fell ill while she was in labor, and shortly passed away before having a young child.”

The sound of a baby crying was heard. A spotlight shone on a small crib, the king walking over and picking up a baby doll.

“The baby’s cheeks were bright pink like roses, and her cheeks blood red. Her hair was as black as night, and her skin, white as snow. The daughter was named Snow White.”

As the king put her down away, the spotlight faded, and now we see a young girl playing by herself.

“As she grew older, she lived life with a cuteness and beauty no other princess held, and was beloved by her subjects. She was also kind and had a heart of pure gold.”

The spotlight faded again and the music grows intense.

“The king remarried to a beautiful woman. But her heart was cold and dark, and when the king died in war, the kingdom lived in fear of the queen.”

Natsumi walked out. There was a dark, evil look in her eyes.

“The queen had many mirrors that she would look into every day, and would spend most her money on lotions and potions that would keep her young and beautiful. She raised taxes in the town and put people in poverty, for she despised anything that could be more beautiful than her.”

A spotlight shone and we see Chihiro, the mirror.

“The queen had a magic mirror, which she loved most of all, and would often go up to it, and ask the same thing, each day.”

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall,” Natsumi spoke. “Who’s the most beautiful of all?”

“And each time, the mirror responded the same thing.”

Chihiro spoke, “It is you, my Queen.”

Natsumi smiled and the spotlight faded on both of them.

Finally, Mio stepped out and knelt down in a flower garden, a smile on her face.

“However, one day, the queen was given a very different response. When she asked her mirror the question, this is the answer she received…”

“The most beautiful in this land is Snow White.”

Thunder struck.

“What? Impossible! Snow White can NOT be more beautiful than I!”

The narration continued…

“The queen grew more and more envious that Snow White had grown more beautiful than she. She could not accept it. So, she sent her into the forest one day, and ordered one of her huntsmen to kill her.”

The huntsmen was about to stab Mio, thunder crashed. But then, when Mio turned around, he had fallen to his knees and was weeping.

“He could not kill his beloved princess, and told her to run, far, far away into the forest.”

Mio got up and ran off stage as the lights faded and it was dark again.

“The huntsmen took the heart of a pig to the queen and proclaimed that he successfully killed Snow White. The queen was pleased.”

Natsumi smiled as she held a small box.

“With her gone, now there is nothing more beautiful than I.”

The spotlight on her faded as she walked out.

“Meanwhile, in the forest, Snow White had gotten lost and was being chased by a group of angry crows, when she happened upon a monkey.”

The lights on the stage rose, and now we’re in a forest. Aika, dressed in a monkey costume, was lying on the ground, holding her stomach.

“Itai… Itai… Ah~ my stomach hurts..! Someone… help..! Ah~ itai..!”

Mio came out and saw the monkey girl, walking up to her.

“What’s wrong, little monkey?”

“Ahh… It hurts, my stomach~.”

“You have a stomach ache? Did you eat too much?”

“No… actually, I’m really hungry..!”

Mio looked and saw a banana hanging in a tree. She got it and gave it to Aika. “Here.”

“Thanks.” She peeled it and ate it, slowly getting up. “Okay, that feels better. Thank you. Who are you?”

“My name is Snow White. I came from that castle over there,” she pointed off the stage.

“Oh, you’re that princess Snow White! Many of the animals here have heard about you. But, why are you out here?”

“I’m being chased by some crows.”

“Just then, a loud caw was heard. The crows were approaching, so the monkey quickly took Snow White and lead her deeper into the woods to hide.”

More cawing sounds were heard as the stage faded to black. Some of the members came out and ran around the theatre, pretending to be crows.

After they had left, the lights went up and we see Mio collapsed on the ground.

“After running for so long, Snow White grew tired and fainted due to exhaustion. While she slept, seven dwarves who lived in the forest came out and found her.”

Meru popped her head out and she and the other dwarves, Anna, Sakura, Haruka, Aoi, Nako and Miku, went towards Mio. Aika also came out and ran to her.

“Oh no! Snow White, are you okay?! Wake up!”

“Lil’ monkey, what’s wrong? Who is this?”

“This is Snow White. She’s a princess from a small kingdom near here. She was being chased by some crows and fainted.”

“Is she gonna be okay?”

“Hey, wake up~. Miss Princess~.”

Nako and Miku kept poking her.

“Hey, what if she’s dead?”

“Hearing the voices of the fairies, Snow White woke up.” Mio opened her eyes and sat up in front of the fairies.

“Kyaa! She’s a zombie!”

“The princess has become one of the undead!”

“She’s not a zombie, you two.”

Mio stood up and dusted off her dress.

“Are you okay, Snow White?” Aika said.

“Yes, but where are we? And who are these people?”

“These people are the dwarves that live in the forest.”

“Hi ho~” They all greeted her.

While the scene was going on, Isako, still disguised as Natsumi, came up to Wakatabe Haruka, who was narrating.

“Boss, what’s wrong?”

Isako placed a finger on her forehead and the girl instantly fell in a trance.

She flipped the script and started heading something ahead of the current scene as Isako put on a black robe and hood.

“Just then, Snow White encountered an old woman carrying a basket of apples.”

“Eh?”

Mio was very confused as to why Natsumi had come out so early in the play.

“Hello, dearie. What’s your name?”

“Uh…” Mio didn’t know what to do, so she kept her ground and continued. “I-I’m Snow White.”

“Snow White… what a pretty name for such a cute girl. Would you like one of my delicious, red apples?” she said, handing her the red poison apple.

Isako smiled evily under the hood.

“If you eat this, you will surely become more beautiful.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Go on, have a bite. It’s delicious~.”

“Okay~!”

Mio was about to take the apple, but then her ring sensed the dark energy of the poison inside it and reacted to it.

“Eh?”

Meru also sensed it on her ring.

“What?”

“No! Don’t eat it!” Anna suddenly started ad-libing. Of course, it was already a weird situation. “That person! She’s definitely suspicious!”

“Wh-what do you mean..?”

“Look at her!” She pointed to the woman’s face. “You don’t see any old hags like her just randomly appear in the woods and offer food! Plus, she probably stole those apples, anyways!”

Anna made a weird face to the audience and made them laugh.

“She’s right,” Haruppi added. “Plush, she probably poithoned it!”

“What?”

“Poisoned,” translated Sakura.

“Ah.”

“Snow White,” Meru stood beside of her best friend. “This woman is most likely a witch!”

Isako sneered inside as the girl had figured out her plans. She took off the hood and transformed from her queen costume to a more evil looking black dress.

“Well, it seems you’ve seen through my façade. That’s right; I am a witch.”

“Why are you after our princess?”

“I will not stand for something that is more beautiful than I to live. Princess Snow White must be killed!”

“Not while we’re here.”

Meru came close and whispered in her ear.

“Don’t worry, Mio-chan. We’ll protect you.”

“Meru-chan…”

“Let’s go! Dwarves, let’s beat this witch!”

“Hi HOOOOO!!!”

Mio held out her hand and her wand appeared. However, this time, it combined with the magic of the others and created a strong light.

*“Snow White Beam!”

The light enveloped around Isako and made her disguise as Natsumi disappear.

“Damn! I’ll get you next time!”

She disappeared from the stage as the light faded and everything was back to normal.

The audience was amazed by the show, well, what they thought was the show, and applauded. The girls bowed one last time and simply smiled.

Mio laughed a bit. “I’ve never imagined Snow White like this. Haha.”

…..

The day after Mio’s performance, she and Meru came back to Tokyo to resume work.

“So, what I did earlier… was that.. really me?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“I felt all of them were connecting their hearts with mine.”

Miichan smiled. “That happened because all of them lent a part of their own powers to help.”

“They did?”

“It’s because we wanted to protect you, Mio-chan!” Meru hugged the short haired girl and smiled. “I mean, you are Snow White after all.”

Mio simply smiled.

“Thanks.”

Well, another crisis averted…

Oh, yeah. And, speaking of which, we found out what happened to Natsumi. Apparently, Isako came in disguised as a music industry manager and poisoned her, but we got the apple bite out of .

Good thing she didn’t swallow it…

It seemed like no one remembered what had happened, and the whole audience thought it was part of the show.

"Still, I can’t believe we actually pulled that off."

"Sasshi even treated us to a big dinner buffet afterwords."

Ah, that’s right. Earlier, I asked Sasshi…

Flashback

“What?”

“Is it possible that… one of your Clow Cards can bring back lost memories?”

“Why are you asking this?”

“W-well…”

“Look, Mako, even if it was possible, I wouldn’t do it.”

“Eh?”

“Using magic to alter memories in ANY way is forbidden. Only the Senate are allowed to do so, but they created the law. It absolutely cannot be done. I’m sorry…”

End of Flashback

“Mako?”

“Eh?”

“What are you spacing out for? Let’s go.”

“Oh, yeah.”

As we were about to enter the office, Ryouha accidentally bumped into someone.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!”

We were surprised when both of them had the same reaction. They both bowed at the same time and passed each other, the girl running into the office in a hurried pace.

“Who was that?”

“Another member?”

“I didn’t see her face.”

Just then, the girl came running back, several items wrapped in her arms. What I was consisted of a cushion, a folded up kimono, a cloth, and a paper fan.

As she ran by us, I got a quick look at her face. She was very pretty, with pale skin and pitch black eyes, slightly hidden behind her dark hair.

“Excuse me!” She bowed to us one last time before running down the hallway.

That was…

“Rena-san!” Rina came running in, a worried look on her face. “Ah, guys, did Rena-san come in here?”

“Rena-san?”

“She has a *rakugo performance today. I wanted to make sure she got her things.”

“What does she look like?”

She thought for a moment, then pulled out her phone and pulled up a picture.

“Here…”

When we all looked, we saw a beautiful young girl with pale skin and dark hair.

“Ah, that’s..!”

“Her name is Rena. Matsui Rena.”

“You mean… that famous actress who works under Sakae48?”

“One half of the WMatsui pair?”

“Why were her things in this office?”

“Because she’s working under Nogizaka Productions, too.”

“EEEH?!”

================================

Footnotes

*1. Hashimoto Kanna – An idol and member of the idol group Rev. from DVL. After photos and videos of her were posted online, she became a viral hit in Japan. She is known as a “once in 1000 year” idol.

*2. “Snow White Beam” – An attack created by Mio after her powers were combined with the Hakata48 members’ magic.

*3. Rakugo – A type of traditional performing arts in Japan where a single narrator portrays multiple characters and uses only a cloth and paper fan as various props to tell a comedic story.