Nana Tamanoi's What-If: The Day She Was Fired from the Ranfoo Grand Circus - The first wall of the two-person tent.

It was the darkest hour before dawn. Along the Kreven riverside road, the surface of the Mieren River glimmered faintly white. Morning mist drifted over the cobblestones, and the smell of fish soaked into the warehouse walls mixed with coal smoke in the damp air, stinging the nose. Tamanoi Nana sat leaning against a gas lamp post. Her eyes were still swollen from crying all night, and the back of her throat was raw. The hem of her bright red skirt was caked with mud, and her black short bob was damp with mist, the flipped strands behind her ears plastered flat against her cheeks. (*I couldn't sleep...*) Ever since she'd been thrown out of the Ranfoo Grand Circus, the core of her body had stayed cold. She'd left the dormitory, wandered aimlessly along the riverside road, and before she knew it, morning had come. She gently touched the silver earring in her left ear with her fingertips. A small ornament shaped like a lion. The one and only keepsake, made from the clasp of Sieg's old collar. (*Sieg... what am I supposed to do?*) Even calling out in her heart, there was no answer. That great mane, that low growl—none of it was beside her anymore. That was when it happened. The orange light of the gas lamp flickered. She looked up. Standing before her was a girl with white hair. Pure white hair reaching down to her waist. Straight-cut bangs, with a loose braid in the back. Large crimson eyes that, catching the lamplight, occasionally flashed into gold. "...Good morning." Eve stood in the same spot as last night, in the same posture as last night. Hands folded in front of her, head tilted slightly, gazing steadily at Nana. "H-How long have you been there...?" Nana hastily rubbed at her eyes. Not wanting her tear-swollen face to be seen, she deliberately forced a bright voice. "I watched you until you fell asleep. When you didn't move even after morning came, I got worried." Eve's voice was far quieter than the morning wind crossing the river's surface. Nana was at a loss for words for a moment. (*This girl... she was here the whole time? On a cold night like this?*) Eve, showing no concern for Nana's bewilderment, smoothly held out her hand. "Here, this is for you." Resting on her small hand was a hand-cranked organ. A wooden box with brass fittings. An old instrument with a mechanism where turning the metal handle on the side produced sounds like a music box from within. "Wha—isn't this... your precious thing?" "It is precious. That's why I want to play it together with you." Saying that, Eve hugged the organ tightly to her chest. Then she looked up at Nana with those crimson eyes. "Let me hear your drum, big sister." "...I don't have a drum." "You can just hit something with your hands." Nana smiled awkwardly. (*This girl... she's strange.*) But it didn't feel bad. If anything, the cold lump deep in her chest seemed to loosen just a little. Nana stood up. She brushed the mud off her skirt with a few pats, then held both hands up to the base of the gas lamp post. "...Okay, here I go." *Tap.* She struck the post with her fingertips. *Tap-tap-tap.* She carved out a rhythm. A light sound, nowhere near a drum. But Nana's body remembered. The rhythm she had beaten thousands of times on stage. Eve began turning the organ's handle. *Kree, rattle-rattle...* The creak of old gears. Then, small notes spilling out like scattered droplets. Their two sounds overlapped on the misty riverside road. Nana's hand-claps quickened. Eve's organ chased after them. The sounds merged, becoming like a single song. —At that moment. "Oh?" A low voice sounded, and Nana stopped her hands. A burly porter who had been pulling a cart since early morning had stopped in the street, watching the two of them. His stubbled face wore an expression of interest. (*We're being watched...*) Nana's spine straightened. It was different from the tangled mess of feelings from the night she was fired. The same sensation as when she stood on stage—a hot core running straight through the center of her body. (*I can still... show people something.*) The porter left without saying a word. Eve, still holding the organ, looked up at Nana's face and smiled. "See? Someone listened." Instead of answering, Nana sniffled. * * * The sun rose, and the riverside market began to open. Fishmongers laid out fish on ice, greengrocers piled fruit into wooden crates. The voices of vendors hawking their wares mixed with the sound of cart wheels, and the lower town's morning was lively. Nana and Eve sat side by side on the stone steps at the edge of the market. "...Hey." Nana, still hungry, gazed at a distant food stall and spoke. "I, actually... yesterday, I got fired from the circus." The moment she said it, her heart squeezed tight. (*Ahh. I said it. Will she laugh at me? Will she be disgusted?*) But Eve wasn't surprised. "I know." "Huh?" "Because you were crying yesterday. That's why I called out to you." Eve looked straight at Nana from beneath her straight-cut bangs. "And so. There's something I have to tell you." Eve twirled a lock of her white hair around her finger, then pointed at her own crimson eyes. "I... everyone calls me the 'Child of Calamity.'" Nana's throat made a small sound. "When I'm nearby, food rots. Machines break. The sky darkens. So everyone drives me away." Eve was smiling. As casually as if she were saying *nice weather today, isn't it*. "...Why are you smiling when you say that?" "Because it's the truth." That was when it happened. A scream rose from the fish stall at the edge of the market. "Wh-What the—! The fish—!" Looking over, the fish laid out on the ice were changing color before their eyes, beginning to dissolve into mush. Scales peeled away, eyes clouded white, and a fishy stench spread through the air. At the same time, a nearby streetlamp spat gas and went out with a *poof*. "Eek...!" The surrounding people shuffled backward, murmuring. (*This is... Veera...*) Nana was witnessing, right before her eyes, a phenomenon she had only heard about in worldview textbooks. A constitution that distorts the physical laws of the surroundings, occurring extremely rarely. It rots food, breaks machines, and disrupts the weather. Those who manifest it are called "Children of Calamity" and are exiled from their communities. —It's real. A voice sounded in the corner of Nana's mind. (*This girl is a genuine Veera manifester.*) Eve pointed at the rotting fish and tilted her head. "Should we have that for lunch?" "Like hell we would!?" Nana raised her voice without thinking. Eve giggled and picked up a dry piece of bread that had fallen by the wall. "Just kidding. I thought this might be safer." "...You, seriously." Nana went limp. (*This girl, really acting like it's nothing...*) Eve broke the hard surface of the bread with her small hands, snapping it into pieces. Then she held out half to Nana. "You're hungry, right? Let's eat together." Nana's stomach growled audibly. "...I'll eat." She'd lost. The two of them shared the dry bread. It was so hard it felt like it might break her teeth, and it barely had any taste. But somehow, it felt delicious. Nana, dropping crumbs as she ate, suddenly asked Eve: "Hey. Aren't you scared of my song?" Eve bit off a small piece of bread, chewed, and swallowed. "I'm not scared." "Why?" "Because your song is the warmest thing in the world." Eve narrowed her crimson eyes and smiled. "Besides, the only things that don't rot near me are your voice and your sound." Nana's eyes grew hot. (*My song... is warm?*) (*Doesn't rot?*) No one had ever said anything like that to her before. Nana stuffed her mouth full of bread, as if to hide her tearful face. * * * With their stomachs filled, the two walked through the market. Eve stopped in front of a fruit stand. Her eyes had caught sight of slightly bruised apples piled in a wooden crate. "These are discounted." The moment Eve approached the storefront— "Hey!! Get away from there, Child of Calamity!!" The shopkeeper burst out from the back of the stall. A red-faced, greasy middle-aged man. In his hand was a stone the size of an apple. "Don't interfere with my business! Just you coming near makes fish rot, makes fruit rot! You plague-bringer!" The man hurled the stone with all his might. —Nana's body moved first. "Eve!" She dove in front of Eve and deflected the stone with one hand. *Thud.* The stone struck her palm. A sharp pain shot through it. "What do you think you're doing!? Throwing a stone at this child!? What did she ever do to you!?" Nana crushed the pain in her palm into a fist and glared at the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper flinched, but immediately raised his voice again. "What did she do... what do you know about that child!? She's a Child of Calamity! Just being near her brings misfortune! Even my apples rot because that thing comes around!" "That's wrong! This child hasn't done anything! You're just making assumptions on your own!" At Nana's voice, people gathered around. "Hey, what's going on?" "They said it's a Child of Calamity." "That white-haired kid... don't get close." "Spit on her. Ward off the bad luck." —*Ptui.* Someone spat at Eve. Yellow spittle landed on her white hair. Eve didn't move. She just kept staring straight ahead, her crimson eyes open. "...You've got to be kidding...!" Nana's entire body trembled. (*Why. Why won't anyone listen to this child?*) (*Why can they throw stones and spit at a child who's done nothing?*) Nana picked up a stone from the ground. "I am this child's partner!! Anyone who does anything to her will answer to me!!" She thrust her stone-clenched fist in front of the shopkeeper. The surrounding adults shuffled backward. "Whoa, that's dangerous." "Is she crazy?" "She said she's with that Child of Calamity." "She's the same kind. Don't go near her." Whispers spread like ripples. At that moment, a cold, small hand wrapped around Nana's wrist. "Nana. Let's go." It was Eve. "But—!" "It's okay. Let's go." Eve pulled Nana's hand and dashed into the back alleys of the market. They ran through the cobblestone lanes. They turned corner after corner, running until the clamor of the market grew distant. Leaning their backs against an old brick wall, the two caught their breath. "...I'm sorry, Nana." Eve said quietly. "Why are you apologizing?" "Because of me, you almost got stones thrown at you too." "I didn't get hit. I deflected it." Eve let out a small laugh. "Nana, you were so strong. Those adults were shocked." "...This isn't a laughing matter." Nana pouted. But seeing Eve's smile, the heat of her anger cooled just a little. Nana noticed that behind Eve's smile, the corners of her eyes were slightly red. (*This girl... she's forcing herself to smile.*) Nana couldn't say anything, and just squeezed Eve's hand back tightly. * * * Evening came. The sky was stained red with the smoke from the harbor. Nana and Eve walked south from the Kreven riverside road, along an old cobblestone path. "Hey, there's something over there!" Where Nana pointed stood a crumbling brick wall and a gate of rusted iron bars. "It's the ruins of the old brick factory. They say it shut down twenty years ago." Nana recalled a story she'd once heard from a troupe member. An abandoned materials yard on the southern edge of Kasselma that no one used. A place littered with broken kilns and brick debris, a hangout for stray cats. The two passed through the collapsed gate. There—was a crushed, shabby tent. The canvas was torn, the support poles broken and stabbed into the ground. The red-and-white striped pattern was blackened with mud and dust. "...A tent." Nana ran over. She lifted the broken timber, checking whether it could be used as a pillar. "Eve! This might still be usable!" Eve, still holding the hand-cranked organ, stepped inside the tent.

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Episode 2

Name: Nana Tamanoi's What-If: The Day She Was Fired from the Ranfoo Grand Circus
Author: Novelia

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