"Puppet Show" | KanaMafu

< The Beginning of a New End >

Timeskip, the time of the puppet show

"Kanade's pov"

It was the day. The day when we'll finally put an end to this mystery, once and for all. We're all here to save Mafuyu, and this is exactly what we're gonna do! ...Or at least I hope

We stood in front of the museum, looking at the entry door. We all looked at each other, nodded, and went in

The museum's interior has changed. Probably for the sake of the show. The doll cages looked a bit more clean, and most of them were empty. What's the point of cleaning them if the dolls aren't even on display..?

Well, that doesn't really matter. What matters right now, is that we were gonna rescue Mafuyu. So the three of us bought tickets for the show, and entered the main hall, where the show was supposed to happen

There were quite a few people: most of them were kids who seemed to be on some kind of field trip. I feel kinda bad for ruining their stay like this, but this has to happen. We need to help Mafuyu somehow...

We sat in the 3rd row: on seats 24, 25 and 26. How convenient, cause I sat in the 25th seat

We waited for around 10 minutes or so, but then, the show finally began...and what we saw first? Well...a black room, cause they turned the lights off. But after that...we saw Mafuyu dancing as one of the main puppets. She had a really pretty dress on, it was different than the original one...it made me blush slightly. Wait. No, stop that, this is not the time for that!

Speaking of dresses, Mizuki wore the one she talked about in the group chat recently. The one that looked a bit similar to Mafuyu's original puppet outfit. I wonder where she got it from...

That's not important...I'm getting off topic again

As Mafuyu danced on the stage, we all glared at each other. The plan we came up with was simple - replacing the already playing song with the one I made for Mafuyu. That seems...easy enough, right?

The three of us stood up, and we left our seats. We stood on the stairs nearby the stage. Mizuki was supposed to make sure that nobody was watching me, Ena was supposed to distract the guards, and I was supposed to change the music. So we went our ways, and did our work

As I slowly snuck onto the stage, I got a chance to look closer at Mafuyu. She was so beautiful...I feel so bad that she had to go through all of this. I wish I was there to prevent it...She never deserved this. I wanted her to be happy...

Her dress was replaced with a white, light blue and purple dress, which was decorated in tiny music notes and colorful flowers at the bottom. It looked truly amazing...she managed to stay pretty, even in a situation like this..

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was..Mizuki?

"Kanade, what are you doing? Hurry up! The crowd's starting to suspect something...and Ena can't keep the guards busy for long!" They said, a slightly nervous look on their face

"Right...Sorry, I was spacing out.." I said, before I quickly replaced the song. The original music stopped, as the puppets and crowd looked towards the speakers in confusion. I immediately connected my phone to the speakers, and then the song started playing

Mafuyu looked over at us, a surprised look on her face. That face...it didn't look expressionless and emotionless anymore. It was filled with emotion, in fact. A slight mix of surprise, happiness and confusion. She started moving on her own slowly but surely...

She had strings wrapped around each of her arms, which she almost effortlessly ripped in half. She...she was actually moving? And she looked over at me...?!

Her eyes started filling up with small tears, as she smiled and ran towards me. It seemed to work...our plan actually worked!

She hugged me. She hugged me as tightly as possible, to the point where I was almost unable to breathe. She finally felt better...she was almost saved!

Ena ran up to the stage, guards chasing her down

"Everyone, run!!" She said, a half-terrified, half-angry expression on her face as she tried to outrun the guards

"Oh no..." I mumbled, still holding Mafuyu in my arms

"Run, Kanade!!" Mizuki replied, running towards Ena

I slowly but surely picked up Mafuyu as we stood up together. I held her hand, as we tried our best to run along with the rest of the group

As we left the museum, the guards started chasing after us...