A few nights had passed, the warriors on sector 24 were living safely behind the beacons' safety walls. Some warriors from other teams were open to discuss their feelings, while others grew intense resentment for the sole reason of being positioned with Kyuuto, the curse-bearer.
On one night, when some warriors gathered around a park, they talked about their past related to the sector. One of them, Kitaro, explained that he also worked as a vet assistant in the sector prior to the Great Search.
"It was nice, you know, taking care of sick pets in the hope of healing them and making their owners happy," he said, as fragments of memories flashed in his mind, "I'll never forget the happy noises from the pets,"
Hearing such a sad story, Kyuuto's eyes were flooded with tears and he was about to leave the gathering. But his steps were cut by the next sentence from Kitaro, "Don't think about it too much Kyuuto, I'm not here to take you down because of the thing that you couldn't control. In fact, I was grateful to see you still alive and well, as the centerpiece of the warriors,"
"So you think his life is more important than the rest of us?" one of his associates, Kaisuke, complained while throwing a pebble into a nearby pond.
"Well, I didn't say that," Kitaro answered while staring at the starry night sky.
From a distance, Kyuuto saw Kanata sitting alone on a bench near a half-dead tree. Staring at the building from before. Glimpse of memories flooded Kanata's mind, as she reminisced about her past life in the area.
----
Kanata remembers her life before the great search, some months before the curse was brought on the land. She was arguing with her mother because they were struggling financially. Her father left them some times before, while the mother kept on working odd-end jobs. The argument kept on going as Kanata felt it was near impossible for her to convince her mother to approve of her idea of becoming an idol.
Kanata's will wasn't deterred so easily. Starting from that day forward, she trained in both singing and dancing, smiling in front of the cameras and tried to internalize her role as an entertainer on a stage.
In one of the days of practice in her own room, she glanced through the window and saw Koori and Kyuuto walking from their training fields. She then imagined what kind of life she would have had if she had a brother or sister, life would be easier, she thought to herself. Living with her mother was her only treasure.
A few weeks went by, and the announcement of the initial audition was about to come. That day was the final audition before the announcement, Kanata performed flawlessly, making her fellow contestant jealous. She even seemed 'too perfect'.
As the night came, the committee gathered all of the contestants and selected some 20 of them.
"Hirate!!" the announcer called one of the contestants, the girl was screaming and crying out of happiness. She was the 18th contestant to be qualified with great scores. Other girls cheered for her, but feared that their names wouldn't be called. Hirate then walked out to a different room.
"Next..." the announcer paused for a good 10 seconds to raise tension, as the girls were getting more and more anxious, he finally announced the 19th qualified member, "Umezawa!" Once more, the girl was ecstatic, jumping from her chair, while the others grew more anxious.
At that moment, Kanata thought to herself that she wouldn't be qualified, looking around, there were about 50 contestants remaining. There won't be any chance for her to actually pass.
"... and the last one..." the announcer paused his speech again, and cleared his throat before continuing, "Yumi!"
...
"Me?" Kanata pointed to herself with shock, as she couldn't even blink and forgot how to breathe the moment when her last name was called. The announcer nodded and smiled, as he invited Kanata to enter the qualified room. She then proceeded to walk with noodle-feet while adjusting her own heartbeats.
"For a second I thought I'd be able to change the world, at least the life of my family. The one on my mind that day was my mother. Nothing else,"