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                  Chapter 1: Opening Act

               ———————

“Are you joking Hana? Becoming a singer? That’s what you want to do? Quit joking, go tend to your studies! Someone like you could never do something like that!” The voice of a mature woman sternly said as she called off Hanako.

Hanako attempted to negotiate with her mother “B-but, Mom! You don’t understand, I could look after sis and-!” 

“I don’t care! Out! Go study, now, young lady!” Hanako’s mother ordered her, not caring to talk to her daughter any longer.

“Y-yes Mom... I’m sorry.” Hanako said with her head down, as she left her mothers room while holding in her tears.

———————

15 Years Later

———————

Cheers rang out, thousands upon thousands, they all melodically sung out the same name.

HANAKO!

HANAKO!

HANAKO!

HANAKO!

A myriad of voices called out to the empty stage that lied in front of their eager eyes.

All calling for the same person.

This wasn’t just any concert, this was one of Hanako’s many concerts where the funds would be donated to various organizations that fought against the shrinkee disease.

The world had been taken by storm by the shrinkee disease. The disease that rapidly shrinks its host... They were still technically recognized as human and had rights by the law. But it was still clear how little people actually truly cared. Countless people still took advantage of them daily, and with the low solvability rate, most shrinkee abuse cases were dropped for convenience. Being a shrinkee nearly guaranteed you’d fear the possibility of an earthly hell daily. It was important for them to stay around normal sized people who they trusted. Even in her crowd there were some shrinkees present. She’d done her whole tour to raise money for all things that help them.

It had claimed many without anyone ever even knowing... It being close to Hanako's heart, as her mother had caught it and gone missing, as many who catch the virus often do.

The crowd continued to cheer out when they finally saw the curtains split... But what transformed into cheers quickly turned into synchronized sighs of disappointment when they realized it was not at all the beloved Hanako.

It was a tiny woman, none other than Hanako’s manager, Olivia, trying to calm down the rambunctious crowd, with a tiny microphone in hand.

“We’re sorry for the wait, in just a few minutes Hanako will be out.” The woman’s manager said to the disgruntled crowd.

After those words, there was a cascade of complaining shouts, all jumbled together to where no one would be capable of making out a singular word.

The manager groaned, and began to rub her temples, as she walked away from the deafening complaining of the crowd. 

“Ugh... that woman has quite the demanding devotee of fans...” Olivia groaned, as she walked off backstage into the changing room, where the star of the show rested.

———-

The manager, Olivia, crawled under the door where her star hid away, the star savoring the only rest she’s been able to get for weeks.

“All right Ms. Lee, are you about ready?” She said as she peeked through the agape door.

“Still asleep, huh?” The manager said with a sigh, as she climbed up to Hanako’s ear, looking at the woman’s drooling face. 

She watched the beautiful Popstar gently resting. She looked so peaceful, she felt bad to wake her from her dreams, whatever she could possibly be dreaming about... 

———

Hanako felt herself being taken away, as she laid there on the beach, completely at peace.

Here she was free from all her worries, and until she woke up she would be none the wiser of those worries...

That’s when a tiny voice in her ear shocked the sky around her... 

“Ms. Lee! Ms. Lee! Ms. Lee...” 

It was time for the show to begin...

“MmmmMm” Hanako groaned as her eyes slowly fluttered open.

The star wiped drool from her mouth as she sat up and adjusted her hair. “Oh... it’s time, already?” 

Hanako took her hand and took Olivia away from her ear before setting her down. She had been used to Olivia’s presence, unlike when she first started, out in the business, there were seldom any mistakes with her not seeing the tiny woman.

“Y-yes... Comr, now... You wouldn’t like to keep them waiting. This is a charity event for shrinkee awareness, after all. Plus you’ve gotta announce your last tour location for your 15th debut anniversary!” The talented woman’s manager said, as she watched Hanako walk off, ready to take the stage...

And her 15th anniversary since she debuted as a popstar... Her life had been taken up so early on by her career. She was now 28 years old, but she was able to look after her sister and boyfriend, and make millions happy... that’s what really mattered to the kindhearted woman.

Hanako stepped out from beyond the curtain, and the cheers increased tenfold, as she put on a tired smile, and approached the microphone.

“I’m sorry I was a few minutes late, it’s been busy, but It’d never stop me from giving you all a show! And after this I’ll give the date and location of my last tour for this year! But until then, I’ll do my best to give you all a good show!” Hanako said as she took a deep breath... and prepared to sing.

——————

Higante High...

In this school lies two girls with an unbreakable bond

Surrounded by the sounds of teenagers running around, the echoing and screeching of the large gymnasium. 

There were only two girls who were sitting on the benches in the PE class.

Two girls who were completely different, but got along in a way no one else could. 18-year-old Serena and Bonnie.

Serena was an extroverted popular girl... While Bonnie was a dorky shut-in who was too introverted and anxious to make any friends besides Serena…

Serena would’ve loved to be active during PE class, but Bonnie always took the chance to recharge from her tiring social interactions, so Serena didn’t want her to be entirely alone... thus this is how they usually spent PE every time without fail.

Just the two friends, talking. And that is how they first met as well. With Serena being the only one willing to try and push past Bonnie’s barrier and get to know her.

“So Bonnie, what do you plan to do once you’re back home?” Serena asked her dear friend.

“Hmm, well today Hanako is doing her last tour! Then she’s announcing her tour dates!! What do you think are  the chances she comes here?!” Bonnie said eagerly to one of her only friends as she looked at her with puppy eyes.

“Uhhm...” Serena didn’t wanna break her friend's heart... but the truth was it was unlikely any celebrity would choose their small city for a tour... But Serena couldn’t bear to see her friend sad, so she could just lie and hope the pop star by some miracle tended to her friend's wishes.

“She’ll definitely come here! Just don’t worry about it, Bonnie!” The extroverted girl said with a smile.

This caused the young nerd to grin, as she got internally giddy, before her happiness was obstructed, as they heard a squeaking like voice speaking to the two peas in a pod.

Just then the bell rang, it was the end of their last class, and Bonnie didn’t wanna hesitate to leave the presence of any excess people. 

The socially inept girl buried her head behind Serena like a scared child clinging to their mother.

“Can we go Serena?” Bonnie whispered into her best friend's ear, causing Serena to only smirk at her friend's awkwardness, before the popular girl reached her hand to Bonnie’s beanie covered head and briefly rubbed it.

“Of course, Bon...” Serena whispered back, as they got up, and prepared to make their way home, Bonnie stuck right to Serena the entire way.

———————

“Hey, Bonnie, my parents left me a few dollars, what do you say we buy a few snacks before we head to your house?” The long haired brunette asked the shut-in, as they began to approach their local corner store.

“C-can’t you just do it later... I just wanna go home already. There’s too many people there! Plus I’ll miss Hanako’s announcement and I still need to grind in-!” The wallflower was interrupted by her cheeky bestie.

“Bonnie, do you want snacks or not? Consider it like training. You could use a chance to work on your social skills.” Serena said, trying to convince Bonnie to open up in the only way she knew Bonnie would want to.

“True I guess... I’m hungry anyways...” The awkward girl said as she stuck close to the brunette and took a deep breath.

Bonnie's heart always raced whenever she had to have a painstaking interaction with strangers, but Serena tried her best to help her open up, this was just one of the many times.

———-

After one painful interaction where Bonnie once again failed to make any eye contact, they finally made it to Bonnie’s house.

“Bonnie? You’re home? Your sister has been waiting to see you! Oh! And you brought Serena!” Bonnie’s mother said. The older woman took a liking to Serena, as she was the only one her outcast daughter was friends with.

Bonnie looked around “Huh? Where is she?” It was usually noisy when she walked in because of Mia.

“You two took too long, she decided it’d be easier to go over her friends for a playdate. It did take Mia a few minutes of you being late though before quit waiting...” Bonnie’s mother snarkily replied.

Bonnie let out a groan “Whaaat? I was like 10 minutes late!” 

Serena playfully poked at Bonnie’s shoulder “Aww, but she waited for a few minutes... Isn’t she so patient?” 

“Your fault, Serena! Coulda been faster if you did the shopping for me...” Bonnie humorously nagged as she crossed her arms. They both then made their way to the girls room.

Serena had grown used to the shut-in’s dark room, but it would’ve taken any others by surprise.

Between the various video game and anime posters, there were also posters of Hana, and collectible figurines scattered about on a shelf. And soft drinks and junk foods for her to consume on her desk.

Bonnie shut the door before jumping in her chair and spinning around before facing directly away from Serena.

Then the dorky girl rested her neck on the top of her chair, craning her neck backwards to face her friend.

“Yo, Serena...” The high pitched voice of the dork spoke out to her friend.

Serena giggled, seeing her friends gleaming almond eyes stare up at her through the frames of Bonnie’s circular glasses, as the girl's short and unkempt dark hair rubbed against the chair. Before Bonnie took off her beanie and dismissively threw it onto her bed, the top of her hair was a bit frizzy from wearing it.

“Soooo... You wanna watch Hanako’s concert with me? I usually rip it off the web... I mean... obviously I’m not there.” The introvert said, knowing her friend didn’t have a wealth of interest in the Popstar, but still confident she’d indulge her interests... as they both do.

“Totally!” Serena cheerfully said as she walked over Bonnie's bed and took a seat by the dork, “Besides, I should see the performance my bestie is all so thrilled about, hm?” The brunette said cheekily as she impishly poked her friend's nose.

Bonnie instinctively backed away when her friend poked her nose, but she didn’t mind. All she did was give a slight chuckle.

“Careful when you boop my nose, I bite!” The ravenette teen said as she childishly chomped her teeth in front of Serena.

“Ooo, scary... But you gotta catch me first!” The pigtailed brunette announced before she once again gave her friend a quick poke in the nose before moving her finger away.

“Boop!”

“Ughh! Fine! You win for now... but be warned, the dead alligator will strike when you least expect it...” Bonnie slapped Serena’s purple-painted nails away from her face.

Both of the high schoolers laughed at their childish playing, before Bonnie turned to her computer, quickly finding a rip of Hanako’s currently live concert...

Bonnie’s frown slowly faded, as she realized she had just missed the concert.

“Whaaaat?! Are you serious?! I just missed it...” the wallflower announced to her friend.

“Oh, that’s totally lame!” The popular girl chimed in.

“They’re doing the last tour date announcements... Ughhh... this freaking sucks... I already know Hanako isn’t gonna come here in this stupid city... Why am I even bothering to check that dumb announcement...” The dweebs high-pitched voice rang out in a sulkily pouty manner, as she tabbed out of the stream and opened one of her favorite MMO’s to grind out a boss.

“But... what if she does... I think her number one fan might wanna be there to hear about it... don’tcha think?” The extroverted girl to her side whispered in her ear teasingly, egging the girl on.

All Serena heard was a sigh from Bonnie before the nerd spoke. “Urgh... you’re totally right...” The words shamefully uttered out as Bonnie tabbed back into the stream...

The dorky girl temporarily decided to tough out her admittedly short attention span, diverting her attention from the grind of her favorite MMO game she decided to join the live video countdown for the anniversary announcement of her favorite star.

“O-oh? This is for the shrinkee disease?” Serena asked, as she choked up a bit.

It was a bit of a touching topic for her, since her siblings mysteriously went missing a bit after getting the disease. Investigators said they’d probably been killed by someone unwittingly, but her parents still held out hope they were okay somewhere out there. 

Serena had felt she lost a part of her she was still trying to find. 

Bonnie just looked at Serena before rubbing her shoulder.

Bonnie always helped fill that void... that’s why it made her so upset when she was mistreated. 

“It’s okay Serena...” the socially-inept girl said, doing her best to comfort her friend, even though she wasn’t great at it... it made Serena happy to know she was doing her best. Certainly better than her jerk of an ex-boyfriend ever did—hence the word ‘ex’.

Serena just smiled, before Bonnie’s attention was caught by words on the stream.

“H-hey! They’re announcing the dates!” 

Serena stood up from the bed and peered over Bonnie’s shoulder to get a closer look at the stream.

“OooOo... Let’s hope they don’t disappoint you~!” Serena said as she put one of her hands on Bonnie’s shoulder.

The introverted high schooler slowly turned to Serena’s hand, confusing the popular girl... before Bonnie lunged at the girl's finger and gave it a swift bite.

“O-ow!” Serena said and she swiped her finger away.

“Told ya I’d get you back! Hehe...” Bonnie teasingly said as she flaunted her chompers to the pigtailed girl.

“All right, you little dork... you win this round but you totally got a war coming!” Serena said as Bonnie gave her a confident glare, before both of the playful girls looked back over to the stream, to see they’d already announced the dates...

Before Serena even got a chance to process the words on the screen, Bonnie jumped out of her seat in excitement.

“T-they’re coming here! Hanako is actually coming to my city!” Bonnie cheered, as she put her shoulders on Serena and shook her back and forth in her elation, the brunette's pigtails shaking to and fro.

“O-okay, okay! T-that’s great, Bonnie... but be careful on the shaking next time...” Serena said as Bonnie realized she was overwhelming her friend and immediately stopped shaking her, the nerd slightly embarrassed as she let out an awkward giggle.

Serena adjusted her hair that was in a slight disarray, before she looked to Bonnie. 

“B-but... I can’t go to that concert alone... that’s so many people! I’ll die... What if bullies from school are there... I won’t have you with me.” The overdramatic introvert cried as she put her hands on her head.

“Bonnie, I could just go with you, ya know?” The brunette announced, which caused Bonnie to look at her excitedly, before she hugged Serena and jumped up and down.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You’re the bestest! Oh... but I still need tickets for us... I’ll beg my mom for them... Be right back!” The introvert said as she let go of Serena and immediately got ready to plead to her mother.

“W-wait... Bonnie I can just ask my parents for money for both of u-!” Serena didn’t get to present her idea before her best friend opened her door and ran off. 

“Moooooom! You have gotta give me tickets! Pretty please! I’ll get good grades!” 

Serena sighed, as she heard her best friend negotiating with her mother in the distance.

After a few minutes Bonnie came back into the room with a triumphant smile.

“I nailed it! We’re gonna have the greatest time ever, Serena!” Said the girl as she gave her friend a thumbs up.

“Yeah, I know we will, Bon.” 

With that Bonnie gave her best friend a fist bump, as they both smiled.

Now they just wait for the big show.