The music was a slow hum of Biwa, made by a musician sitting alongside the quiet streams of the river. Sera's fingers, like the first brushstrokes on a canvas, traced the air whilst her body was a dancing Yggdrasil. Not just moving with the beat, her dance translated into something unseen, something deeply felt.
Her arms arched in a wide, sweeping gesture, framing a real, ethereal experience. Her eyes were not on the audience, but fixed on an imaginary point just beyond the stage lights. Each turn, each pause, spoke a thousand deafening words; a respectful silence of peace after war embodied every crowd.
Her performance was perfect. However… That's the wrong dance!
The defiant Hina Satou, sitting from the far right of the judges' table, already wrote Sera's points earlier than the other judges. Usually, this should be done after the performance, but if not, it's a personal bias. I clicked my tongue, my jaws clenched, and whispered, "She was dead-serious about not letting us win."
The moment of silence was broken after Seraly ended her performance with a bow. A round of applause supplemented the loud cheers of Shizu-sama fan boys, mostly praising the reincarnation of Shizu-sama to Earth. Sera left the stage, unaware of the disappointment she demonstrated to others.
Still, when she came to me, the applause already washed over her in a warm wave. Her chest rose and fell with steady deep breaths. Her gaze swept across the sea of satisfied faces, and when she looked at me, a dazzling smile of accomplishment touched her face. The calming of her nerves prevented her from speaking.
She might have not referenced the exact Anime scenes we were going for, but deep inside, she told a story not as the character, but as Sera. "You did your best, Sera. I'm so moved," I responded with an upturned face, rubbing her hair with my palm.
It was time that the judges gave their verdict. From the left, they raised their scores: 8, 7, 7, 8. Hina, as the last judge, raised the placard, signed 5 on it, like the one she drew on the polaroid image. I couldn't complain, knowing the unmatched reference was likely her reason.
My upturned lips soon went flat as I uttered while bowing, "If we don't win this competition, blame it to my lack of competence." That's when I realized; even siblings do really think differently. Due to the lack of time, I gambled on Sera's choice of reference to be the same as mine.
Sera touched my chin to direct my eyes at her, and said, "I'll never blame you, Kou-nii. Providing me with elegant clothing to show to the world, you also did your best. We'll go through this together, remember?"
I chuckled, like my overthinking self got flushed away from my body, "You already won the heart of the audience anyways. This is still a win for us." If we lose this competition, this might only mean that we're not ready to ascend the Regent of the Glamour rankings… yet.
"The next contender was the winner who claimed the CosFiesta competition and was Shizu-sama's previous rival. Since this competition is a revenge match for the two icons, will the challenger take the trophy? Or will the champion take their second victory? Performing Marionette Sari's warrior stance, let's welcome…Rise!"
Speaking of Rise, I haven't seen her at all today. She wasn't even present when we passed her cubicle but the sound of heels stepping on a tile caught our attention. When I turned around, Marionette Sari already passed through us and climbed up the stage, ignoring us and walking like she was the final boss.
Unlike the Rise I'd known, she stood at the center of the spotlight, shoulder back and chin high. Instead of glaring at an imaginary spot, her aura was directed at Hina, whose head jerked back with bulging eyes.
The intense atmosphere felt like everyone was left out except the twins, like they established their own domain in a millisecond. Rise pointed her weapon prop, a spear, towards her sister. Hina exposed her clenched fist over the table, gripping her pen to death, her nostrils flaring.
The slow beat of drums initiated the performance, Rise's body performing stances of Marionette Sari's famous scene, The Battle of Atlas. The mixture of colors on her silk costume radiated light, a rainbow after a rain. She spun her spear left and right, each frame depicting a defensive ancient martial art stance against a hundred imaginary foes. For every cycle of a movement beat, the audience shouted an amused 'Woah!' As her performance continued, the more I realized…
Her enemy isn't us…
It's Hina.
Rise's eyelids felt heavy and eyes involuntarily drifted shut. She kneeled on the ground, bowing, her weapon resting on the ground as she gripped it. Her discernible teeth clenched with breaths that went in and out. A subtle smirk appeared on her face before her body fell down the ground, her pose representing Marionette Sari's impossible victory in that notable battle scene. After the last drum beat, the air of calmness filled the air. The room was lit, and the crowd's loud cheers broke the silence, some even shed tears.
"Marionette Sari's battle scene… How majestic! This is the reason why that Anime is unforgettable! I'll rewatch it right away!"
"The performance was properly executed! Sari's performance was one of the hardest to do, yet she nailed it! While she danced frame by frame, I could see… no, it felt like Sari's enemies were there!"
"I've never seen a performance as good as hers! Rise was her name, wasn't it? It seems like she's on par with Hina Satou's performance!"
Witnessing how Rise conquered the audience, my hands went limp, my chin lowering. My cheeks felt like it was lit on scorching fire. Shivering, I couldn't look with my heart thudding dully while attempting to stare at the stage. And even wherever I looked, I paced through something far, unable to return to reality. The following thoughts deafened the blaring noise:
That performance was on a professional level, with hundreds of hours of practice. However, for us, I only counted on Sera's interpretation of the scene, letting her grasp an experience, real or fake, just to present it to the masses. When Rise took over the stage, she intentionally avoided our gazes like we posed no threat. That is when I realized, in her eyes, we're just beginners.
The judges finished writing their points on the document they had on their tables and readied their number placards. Staring from the left, Marionette Sari's – err, I mean, Rise's points were 8, 9, 8, and 8. My stomach churned, a lump forming at my throat. Summing these numbers, the absence of hope made me want to run away.
The last point took a long time. Hina's clenched fists shook the judges' table, her teeth baring. Her protruding eyes exchanged a glare with Rise who stood at the center and squirmed her hands. Her hand quivering, Hina held the face-down placard and raised it at a snail's pace. The weight of the reveal was palpable. Every eye in the venue was glued to that single piece of cardboard, the collective breath of the audience held in a single, agonizing moment.
1
A hush fell over the crowd, a silence so thick one could almost grasp the dust motes lingering in the spotlights. All eyes widened, everyone at a loss for words. I, the most stunned, went pale, inheriting everyone's expression in extreme. Subconsciously, from a clouded mind, my lightened head cocked, yet still able to look at the stage. I whispered, "No… This is impossible…"
Hina slammed the placard on the stage and stood up from her chair with a violent scrape. She turned and strode out silenced, the heels of her shoes hitting the floor with sharp, unforgiving clicks. Rise stood still with a dazed look, breathless. A lone 'Woo!' echoing across the room, she left the stage, her arms crossing over her chest. Her narrowed eyes gazed flatly straight, unable to glance at us.
"Kou-nii… What's the decision?" Sera asked, unable to grasp the meaning of the numbers raised, her forehead forming lines.
I would like to answer her with a tone of congratulations, but the tone of my response turned flat. Unfortunately… "We won."
"Really!? I can't believe it! We really won!" She exclaimed, gesturing her arms with a We Got It pose. Sera's prominent cheekbones were raised, her appearance becoming warm and relaxed. When the host called her, her eyes sparkled with the lights, her uncontainably brightest smile declaring a confident win. After the host wrapped a bronze medal across her neck, Sera pinched the medal and pushed it upward, tears crawling down her eyes.
With my current state, I would only bring discomfort if I'm with her on stage. This victory was only for her, whereas I don't deserve it. I let her enjoy it, since it's her first win. For me, this competition is just a realization that I still have a long way to go. I shouldn't depend on Sera's beauty to win. If I'm also a part of the judges, I would clearly and proudly say that…
Rise deserved to win.