In a world where singing is power and idols are warriors, Hanashiro Haruka has finally found her stage. With her beloved comrades Tsumugi and Aino by her side, their first-anniversary live is a triumph—until a desperate, barefoot girl bursts through the crowd begging for help, and three armed pursuers follow.
They call her "vessel of the key." They want her. They're willing to kill for her.
Haruka has never drawn her blades against a living person before. But when the girl's plea echoes in her
Surreal Resonance: Duet of Song and Key - The night she regains her voice—acknowledging they cannot understand each other and moving forward
The air in the office was heavy and sunken, just as it had been two days ago.
The cardboard taped over the shattered window rattled with every gust of wind. The glass shards had been swept from the floor, and on the desk lay a single sheet of paper delivered by the agency. A notice of suspension of activities. In other words, an order to disband.
Hanashiro Haruka stared at the paper without blinking.
Her twin tails—a fiery vermilion—bounced with their usual energy today. The gold blended into the tips caught the evening light slanting through the window and seemed to burn. Her amber eyes narrowed sharply with every line of the notice she read.
"...You've gotta be kidding me."
Her voice echoed through the quiet room.
In the corner, Tsukimoto Tsumugi had a thick notebook open. Her ultramarine short hair was neatly arranged today. Behind silver-rimmed glasses, her gray-blue eyes tracked the words on the page. Records of resonance research. Sabedo's combat data. She had read them over and over.
"...There's still no chance of winning."
Tsumugi spoke without closing the notebook.
"Eshcel's base is unknown. Kurele's location is unknown. The song hasn't returned. By the data, our odds are essentially zero."
Her voice was flat. But her fingertips gripped the edge of the notebook hard.
By the window, Kazefuji Aino sat hugging her knees. Her pale pink long hair spread softly across the floor. The curls at the ends had returned a little. Her light purple eyes gazed at the evening sky.
"...Do you think the song will come back?"
Aino's voice was still hoarse.
Since that night, Aino had tried to sing countless times. But the first note wouldn't come out. Something caught in the back of her throat. Pikumi's smile. Epefa's back. Kurele's small hands. They all pushed the song back.
Haruka picked up the notice.
And slowly, she tore it apart.
Riiip.
"I heard Kurele's voice!"
Haruka dropped the torn paper to the floor.
"That night, I definitely heard it. 'Haruka-san.' Kurele called my name!"
Tsumugi looked up.
"...It's highly likely a hallucination. Fatigue and stress cause that sort of thing."
"No! It wasn't a hallucination! It was definitely Kurele's voice!"
Haruka pressed in on Tsumugi.
"By the data, a voice only you can hear can't serve as evidence."
"Who cares about data! I heard it! Kurele is calling me! That's enough, isn't it?!"
Haruka's voice rang through the room.
Tsumugi fell silent.
Aino slowly stood up.
"...Haruka-chan."
Aino took Haruka's hand.
"I want to sing too. I want to reach Kurele-chan. ...But my voice won't come out. My throat just trembles."
Aino's hand was cold.
Haruka squeezed it back.
"It's okay. I'm here. Let's sing, all three of us. Then I'm sure our voices will come."
"...You'll sing even with no chance of winning?"
Tsumugi asked quietly.
Haruka looked straight into Tsumugi's eyes.
"If we don't sing, we can't answer that voice. Kurele is calling me. I don't need a chance of winning to answer."
Haruka's voice didn't waver.
Tsumugi pushed up her glasses.
"...That's inefficient."
But the corner of her mouth had loosened, just slightly.
Aino took a small breath.
"...Nn."
A sound leaked from her throat.
It still wasn't a song.
But Aino took another breath.
"...Nnn—..."
A trembling voice.
But it was definitely a sound.
Tsumugi harmonized low, matching Aino's voice.
"...Nn."
Tsumugi's voice was startlingly precise. She was matching the frequency of Aino's voice theoretically.
Haruka layered her own voice over theirs.
"...Nnn—..."
The instant the three voices overlapped—
The air swayed, soft and light.
It was the resonance phenomenon. The universal law of this world: the moment songs overlap as voices, the output of body and weapon surges.
The power they had lost flickered back, just a little.
"...Ah."
Aino's eyes went wide.
"I felt it! Just now, that was definitely resonance!"
Haruka shouted.
Tsumugi closed her notebook.
"...Layering our voices itself is the reacquisition of power. Just as the data says."
Tsumugi's voice was calm. But her gray-blue eyes wavered faintly.
The three of them kept singing, trembling all the while.
It still wasn't a complete song. But it was definitely the beginning of one.
That was when it happened.
Knock, knock. Someone rapped on the office door.
The three voices stopped dead.
"...Who is it?"
Tsumugi said, low.
From beyond the door came a calm, low voice.
"It's Sabedo. I left my sword behind. I want to talk."
Haruka's body went rigid.
Sabedo. That swordsman. The Eshcel executive who had appeared targeting Kurele, sheathed his weapon after being driven back, left a few brief words only for Kurele, and departed.
Tsumugi gripped her notebook.
Her hand was trembling faintly.
"...Sabedo."
Tsumugi's voice cracked.
Haruka noticed the change in her.
"Tsumugi, what's wrong?"
"...His fighting style. That belongs to a senior from the dojo where I learned swordsmanship as a child. There's no mistake."
Tsumugi forced the words out.
"Huh? Then Sabedo is someone you know, Tsumugi?"
"...I don't know. But his stance was the same."
The voice came again from beyond the door.
"Open up. I mean you no harm."
Haruka looked at Tsumugi. Tsumugi gave a small nod.
Haruka opened the door.
Standing there was a man with long dark brown hair tied back. An old scar on his left cheek. His gray eyes held a somehow sorrowful light. He was tall, wearing a black coat. No sword at his hip.
"...It's been a while, Tsukimoto."
Sabedo's voice was quiet.
Tsumugi pushed up her glasses.
"...So it really was you. Senpai."
Tsumugi's voice trembled faintly.
"Yeah. I'm the man who taught you the sword at that dojo. Now I'm an Eshcel executive. I stand with those who do not sing."
Sabedo stepped into the office.
"I want to talk. About Kurele. And about Eshcel."
Sabedo sat down on a chair.
"...Why now, after all this time?"
Tsumugi asked.
"Pikumi and Epefa have made their move. They took Kurele from you and are acting independently within Eshcel. Those two are no longer following the organization's orders."
Sabedo looked at each of the three in turn.
"Their base is underground in Naruse City. An Eshcel underground facility connected to the old drainage network. Kurele is there."
Haruka's heart leaped.
"Kurele's location...!"
"Yeah. But you won't get close easily. Pikumi and Epefa are among the strongest in Eshcel. Unless you regain your song, you can't win."
Sabedo's gray eyes fixed on Haruka.
"...Why am I telling you this? It has to do with what Eshcel is trying to do."
Sabedo paused a moment.
"Eshcel intends to use an item that will change the world. The key to that item is Kurele. And the item's power—nullifies the law of song."
Haruka's breath stopped.
"Nullifies... the law of song?"
"That's right. Erase the power only singers possess, and create a world for those who do not sing alone. That's one part of Eshcel's goal."
Sabedo's voice was heavy.
Something blazed up inside Haruka.
"You've gotta be kidding! The song disappearing?! You mean our song, our power, all of it gone?!"
Haruka shouted.
"That's right. That's why I came to talk to you. Erasing song is wrong. As one who does not sing, I don't want to deny the power of song."
Sabedo stood.
"I'll only guide you and provide information. I can't join the fight. I'm one who does not sing. Within resonance, I can't fight alongside you."
Sabedo's words lingered heavily in Haruka's chest.
Just then, there was another knock at the door.
This time, it was a more hesitant sound.
"...It's me. Arso."
A young man's voice came from beyond the door.
Haruka opened it.
Standing there was a man with a bow slung across his back. Around twenty. Short black hair, sharp eyes. An Eshcel member, Arso. The man who had been shaken by Aino's song that night and spoken his sister "Pikumi's" name.
Arso lowered his bow.
"...I brought my weapon. But I don't intend to shoot."
Arso stepped into the office.
"Pikumi is my sister. I didn't know she was operating as a spy."
Arso's voice sounded pained.
"I refused to go back to Eshcel. I want to stop my sister. But I don't want to fight you either. ...I don't know what to do."
Arso clenched his fist.
Haruka stood before him.
"I don't expect us to understand each other completely. Pikumi and Epefa—we'll never see eye to eye with them. I already know that."
Haruka's voice was quiet.
"But I want you to lend a hand in saving Kurele. That's all I'm asking."
Arso looked into Haruka's eyes.
"...All right. I'll guide you. The entrance to that underground base is in the old drainage network. I'll take you there."
Arso nodded.
Haruka held out her hand to him.
"Thank you, Arso."
Arso hesitated a moment, then took it.
"...Save your thanks for after we rescue Kurele."
Arso's hand was cold.
That night, Haruka was on the office rooftop.
Stars twinkled in the sky. The nightscape of Naruse City spread out below. From the direction of the sea, a harbor whistle sounded low.
Aino stood in the center of the rooftop.
"...I'll sing. I'm going to sing."
Aino looked up at the sky.
Then she opened her mouth.
"...Nnn—..."
Her trembling voice melted into the night sky.
Tsumugi stood beside Aino.
"...I'll match the harmony. At the theoretically optimal frequency."
Tsumugi harmonized low.
Haruka layered her own voice powerfully over theirs.
"Here we go! We're taking our song back!"
The instant the three voices overlapped completely—
The air burst.
The resonance phenomenon maximized.
Haruka's dual blades took on light. Tsumugi's scythe resonated and shone too. Aino's singing voice wasn't an attack—it rang across the rooftop as a power to melt away the three's fear.
"...I can sing. I can sing again!"
Tears traced down Aino's cheeks.
"Of course you can! We're Surreal!"
Haruka laughed.
Her smile was genuinely bright for the first time in a long while.
Tsumugi pushed up her glasses.
"...Resonance, fully restored. Now we can fight."
The corner of Tsumugi's mouth loosened, just slightly.
Haruka gripped her dual blades anew.
"Tomorrow, we take Kurele back. No matter what."
Haruka's voice was strong.
But Sabedo's words lingered in her chest.
I'm one who does not sing. Within resonance, I can't fight alongside you.
An enemy you can stand beside, and an enemy you can't.
That boundary line pierced Haruka's chest like a cold thorn.
When they came down from the rooftop, Sabedo and Arso were waiting in front of the office.
"We move tomorrow night. The entrance to the old drainage network is on the east side of Naruse City, at the foot of the hills. I'll guide you."
"I'm going too. To stop my sister."
Haruka looked at the two of them.
"Yeah. Tomorrow, we're definitely taking Kurele back!"
That night, Haruka tended her blades alone.
She retied the red cord wrapped around the hilts, carefully. Wiped the blades with a cloth.
Pikumi's cheerful smile surfaced in her mind.
"Haruka-chaaan! You're cute today too!"
And Epefa's silent profile.
"...You've gotten stronger, huh."
That time had been a lie.
But even the feelings she'd shared with them hadn't been entirely a lie.
Haruka told herself so.
Even so, she had to stop them.
To save Kurele.
So the song wouldn't be erased.
Haruka sheathed her blades.
Outside the window, the entrance to the drainage channel leading beneath Naruse City sank into darkness.
Haruka remembered Kurele's voice one more time.
"Haruka-san."
That frail voice.
Haruka closed her eyes.
Tomorrow. Without fail.
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