...I don't understand myself. I don't think I ever will. Every feeling that wells up inside me is somewhere behind a curtain; I know they're there, but I can't see them. And when the curtain opens just a crack... it's too bright, too hot. Like I'm staring into the sun, and if I reach out my hand, it just burns. Even now, I don't know what my heart is trying to tell me about not being able to fight this Nightmare with my own fists. It's too much.
But I understand other people- no, that's not right. I understand what they make. When I look at what they write, how they act out their parts, the way they sing... I can see every emotion they put into their art.
It's beautiful. I thought... I thought I could never reach it. That it's impossible for something like me.
I want to, though! More than anything else! [ for the first time in her life, kenko is shouting, her flat voice trembling ever-so-slightly. her dreamer form glows, specks of light floating all around her. ] Because when I sing and dance, I can feel it, all those emotions—anger, love, sadness, all of it!—that were put into those words, those steps. For just a few moments, I can feel like... like I'm a real human being!
For the longest time, I thought I didn't deserve to, but... Ruby-san. I've finally figured out who I want to be. I won't stand in my own way for a single second longer!
[ the studs on her gloves break, and kenko is enveloped in a cocoon of sand. the nightmare swings at it, blade carving a fiery arc through the air... but something deflects it, cutting through the sand, as kenko's voice joins ai's in song. ]
They say the future’s open wide, but I still feel I’ve lost my stride I gave up dreams, but deep inside, I haven’t really tried I realized it's wrong to live, not knowing what I really seek The walls I built to hide away, I’m ready now to break...
2/3
But I understand other people- no, that's not right. I understand what they make. When I look at what they write, how they act out their parts, the way they sing... I can see every emotion they put into their art.
It's beautiful. I thought... I thought I could never reach it. That it's impossible for something like me.
I want to, though! More than anything else! [ for the first time in her life, kenko is shouting, her flat voice trembling ever-so-slightly. her dreamer form glows, specks of light floating all around her. ] Because when I sing and dance, I can feel it, all those emotions—anger, love, sadness, all of it!—that were put into those words, those steps. For just a few moments, I can feel like... like I'm a real human being!
For the longest time, I thought I didn't deserve to, but... Ruby-san. I've finally figured out who I want to be. I won't stand in my own way for a single second longer!
[ the studs on her gloves break, and kenko is enveloped in a cocoon of sand. the nightmare swings at it, blade carving a fiery arc through the air... but something deflects it, cutting through the sand, as kenko's voice joins ai's in song. ]
They say the future’s open wide, but I still feel I’ve lost my stride
I gave up dreams, but deep inside, I haven’t really tried
I realized it's wrong to live, not knowing what I really seek
The walls I built to hide away, I’m ready now to break...