E-book Exclusive Short Story: “A Certain Night’s Indoor Live”

“Phew, I’m exhausted……”

This was after doing exercise indoors with Makura and Uyama.

What we did was apparently a muscle-training dance that Makura had taught Uyama in the past, one that works out the entire body’s muscles.

We were mimicking the moves while playing a video on the TV, but it was incredibly tough, and the moment it ended, I collapsed onto the floor.

“Manamichi-kun, you okay?”

Makura grabs a plastic bottle filled with water and hands it to me. I’m grateful. Thanking her, I twist off the cap and chug the remaining half in one go.

“Wow, you’re like someone who lived on baumkuchen in the desert for three days and finally got water.”

“What kinda obscure metaphor is that?”

“I was trying to express extreme mouth dryness.”

“You don’t need to restrict your diet in a desert—doing this dance in a room is enough to make your mouth dry as hell.”

“Eh, really?”

Makura tilts her head with a cool expression. She was supposed to have done the same dance as us…… In fact, she moved even more intensely than me, with sharp precision until the end……

As if voicing my thoughts,

“You’re so lazy every day, yet you’ve got that much stamina. As expected of Senpai!”

Uyama, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a towel she pulled from her bag, joins the conversation.

“Seriously. That didn’t look like the moves of the leader of the Ruin Sect.”

When I add to that, Makura’s face suddenly shifts to a startled expression.

“Oh no, what have I done? I went and exercised so seriously.”

Then, she sits on the bed and flops down with a gude.

“What’re you talking about? You were totally into it.”

“Ugh, I couldn’t help it. When I hear music, my body just moves on its own……”

Hearing our conversation, Uyama suddenly clamps her fingers on her chin, letting out a thoughtful mumu as if something’s on her mind.

What’s up with her?

But before I can say anything, she abruptly lifts her face.

“Your body moves on its own…… right!”

Muttering this, Uyama reaches for the TV remote on the floor. Leaving the muscle-training dance video, she quickly types “Seven Little Elves” into the search bar.

“What’re you doing?” Makura asks.

“Senpai! You remember this song, right? Your debut single. It’s gotta be etched into your heart and body!”

“Wha—hold on!”

The video starts on the TV, and the song begins to play.

It’s a live performance video of the Seven Little Elves. It seems a bit old, and Makura, standing at the center, is wearing a frilly white-and-red outfit, beaming with a radiant smile under the spotlight.

I can’t help but glance at the real Makura. Uyama’s eyes are also fixed on her.

“Wait, wait, I’m not dancing! I’m already exhausted.”

Makura shakes her head vigorously.

“Even so? Your body’ll move on its own?” Uyama teases.

“It won’t move! I only got into it earlier because I was already standing and exercising, and the familiar music made my body react. Right now, I’m completely powered off.”

Saying this, Makura buries her face into the bedsheets.

“Ugh, Senpai, you’re no fun.”

Uyama pouts with a buu.

“Say what you want. Goodnight.”

“Whoa, she’s actually going to sleep!”

I turn my eyes to the TV screen. The idol Makura, bouncing and dancing energetically, and the current Makura, leader of the Ruin Sect…… The contrast between them is staggering.

“Please, Senpai! Just a little bit!”

“No way!”

“Muu…… I won’t force you, but I was really looking forward to seeing your dance after so long……”

Uyama bites her lower lip slightly and casts her eyes downward. At her sad tone, Makura glances back briefly.

The song finishes its first and second verses, moving into a long interlude.

“……Since we’ve already warmed up, maybe just a little.”

Uyama’s face shoots up.

“Just this once. Absolutely only this once.”

“Yes!”

Despite everything, she’s a kind-hearted Senpai who cares for her kouhai.

Makura stands up, lightly lifting her thighs and twisting her body for a quick warm-up. Then, as the final chorus starts, she begins to dance.

“Wow!”

Uyama lets out a gasp, and I instinctively hold my breath.

It’s breathtaking. In the small room, her dynamic arm movements are sharp, her turns perfectly steady without a hint of wobble. She sways her hips side to side, points forward, and flashes a peace sign with a smile. Her movements are every bit as flawless as the idol Makura on the TV.

She hasn’t lost her touch at all……

Even after nailing the chorus, she keeps her poise, striking poses until the music stops, then lets out a short fuu of breath.

She spins around to face me and Uyama.

“Good enough?”

Uyama, who’d been staring at Makura in awe, snaps back to reality and blinks rapidly.

“Uh, I-I-I’ll pay you, thank you so much!”

She hurriedly reaches for her wallet in her bag.

“No, no, stop that! I just danced a little. Besides, Kuruha-chan, you’re part of the same idol group, aren’t you?”

“But still! That was seriously amazing!”

Uyama tries to pull out a bill from her wallet while Makura attempts to stop her with her hands. What even is this scene?

Still, I agree with Uyama’s sentiment.

“It was great to see it up close. Thanks.”

When I say that, Makura looks at me quickly. Then she grins proudly with a “Hehe!”