Shinju stands in the small kitchenette in the basement of the gym, beside a running microwave. She makes sure to stop the microwave before it beeps. She takes out a bowl of warmed water with a cloth in it and takes it out of the kitchenette. Most of the people staying in the gym are asleep, their cots scattered behind dividers like tiny bedrooms. Niko’s is one of the farthest from the kitchenette. Shinju walks quietly, careful not to disturb anyone. 

Niko is hard at work in the Dreamscape. Another rough night working against Luca, if her face was anything to go by. Shinju wrings out the warm cloth thoroughly before laying it over Niko’s forehead. The gym basement got chilly sometimes. Suddenly, Niko jolts awake, breathing heavily as she brings her fist down onto the mattress in frustration.

Niko: God! (realizing it’s the middle of the night, she lowers her voice) … damnit! (she winces)

Shinju: (She recoils in surprise) Shh sh sh. It’s okay. I’m here. 

Niko: (she groans, clutching her head) I know it’s all a dream, but it can’t be healthy getting to experience yourself being killed over and over again…

Shinju: (She sits down on the bed beside Niko, loosely wrapping her arms around Niko’s shoulders) Want to talk about what happened? 

Niko: I… I think he’s managed to imprison even more people… Kept rambling on about his “brand-new aegis” or something? And then… he just “strikes me down”, as he always does. All while that dumb Maestro is nowhere to be seen. I’m so tired of people using me as their plaything!

Shinju: Geeze, yeah… with “friends” like Mr. Maestro, who needs enemies? 

Niko: I guess Mei’s a bigger help to him than I am. And I couldn’t even save her when I needed to. (she groans) Ugh, not that it matters! It’s all about me, me, me, isn’t it? No wonder that Worldeater guy doesn’t even take me seriously…

Shinju: Aw man, I’m sorry, bunny… (She rubs Niko’s shoulders) He doesn’t know who he’s messing with. 

Niko: Really thought it’d be easy after I secured that mask, huh… But I do wonder what the Troubadour was thinking entrusting it to me when the Maestro seems so much more competent.

Shinju: I-isn’t the Maestro dead or something? ‘Sides… maybe you have more imagination or charisma or something than him. 

Niko: (she sighs) I guess the one advantage being alive gives me is that I can get killed by Worldeater in the Dreamscape as many times as I like… S-Sorry, Shinju… It’s no fun hearing me whine, I know…

Shinju: Don’t say that. What else am I here for, huh? I’m glad I made it back so I can support you… at least, a little.

Niko: We have a special connection, right? I-I mean, m-maybe I could… use that somehow. So I can find you in the Dreamscape and you can kick Worldeater’s ass for me.

Shinju: Heck yeah. I bet he wasn’t expecting me to make it back into town.

Niko: Technically, I, eh, should have been able to find you even when you were out of town… It’s just… (she groans) Even if we end up defeating him once, it’s not going to change anything… In the end… I have to be better than him. I have to, eh, out-mask his mask. Dreamscape more than he does. 

Shinju: Right… (She tilts her head, pondering) You have the real mask, though, right? His is just a weird fake that Kyubey and his freaks cooked up? 

Niko: Unless the Troubadour’s been, eh, gaslamping me all this time… He said I was his heir, so… My mask must be the real one. He gave it to me. I don’t think he ever gave it to Worldeater, since he… doesn’t seem to like his father very much.

Shinju: Yeah, you can say that again. He must’a had a reason to choose you over his “son,” and looking at how he acts I bet I know what it is. (Shinju leans in conspiratorially and whispers) Oh, and say “gaslighting” if you mention this to the Maestro or anybody. I don’t want them to hassle you. 

Niko: (she blushes) H-Huh? T-That’s what I said, wasn’t it?

Shinju: Oh! Sorry, I guess I heard wrong. (A very faint note of kindness in her voice. She knows she didn’t mishear, but is choosing to spare Niko’s feelings anyway.) 

Niko: (she sighs) I guess you’re right, though… My mask must be the real one… And whatever tricks they’re using to take the Dreamscape away from me… there has to be a way to take it back.

Shinju: Right! I’d be happy to come with you next time to give that Maestro a talking-to. I’ve got some words for him, keeping stuff from you. Especially when everything’s so serious now. 

Niko: Hmmm… (she furrows her brow) So, it’s like… If you wanna use one of these Conductor thingamajigs, you have to get permission from the previous owner, right? But it also works if you have, like, a family bond. That’s why I can use the Masque even though I’m not related to the troubadour… Because he gave it to me. But Rinju can use that magic wand thingy because the guy who used to own it was like her great-uncle or whatever… That’s the rules. But that doesn’t explain why the Maestro or that stupid shithead can control the Dreamscape!

Shinju: Wait, this Maestro guy can too? It’s not just that boy with his creepy fake mask? 

Niko: Seems that way… Or at least he can make things comfy for himself in there… It’s why he can keep sending me on wild goose chases and get killed while he’s kicking back and listening to his dumb opera music.

Shinju: We ought’a show him a thing or two! Maybe we can get him to tell us the secret, if we can’t get it from that dumb boy. 

Niko: Ugh, he’ll probably go like, “ah, but the truth is right in front of you, Diva, all you need to do is get killed another fifty times and you will find out, blah blah blah” again…

Shinju: Well, it might be easier to bully it out of him than getting an answer out of ol’ boy wonder. 

Niko: A-Are you saying I should… bully him?

Shinju: That’s what you gotta do with bullies! Fight ‘em right back! 

Niko: Y-Yeah… that went great the last time I tried…

Shinju: I-I’ll be with you this time! No worries! 

Niko: Technically, you were the “bully” I was trying to fight back against, last time! (she groans) I was such an idiot back then… Well, more of an idiot.

Shinju: HUH? Me?? 

Niko: (she jumps, quickly urging Shinju to tone it down)

Shinju: I thought you were talking about Tomato! And you’re not an idiot, c’mon.

Niko: Remember when that big fight at school happened? T-That was all because I attacked you… in the auditorium.. b-because you kinda leaked my, err, secret profile to the entire school… Sure, that was all Rui’s fault, but I did believe her when she said you and Shirahara were the bullies.

Shinju: Aw, man… I can’t believe she had the nerve to call anyone else a bully. That’s totally not why we did that…

Niko: I know, I know… That was even before you made a contract. Didn’t need a soul to do the right thing, though… R-Remember that talk we had? While Sasaki was fighting Yasu?

Shinju: Oh, yeah… still, I’m sorry. Now n’ then I remember some stuff I did while I didn’t have my soul and I just cringe. Y’know, I got uprooted a bunch of times as a kid to follow my sister’s job around, and I made new friends every time… ‘cause I was friends with so many different people, and I’d shown up to schools friendless so many times, I promised myself I would accept everyone and not look down on anybody… but I guess I needed my soul and feelings to do a good job of that after all. 

Niko: … You don’t have any friends from before you moved to Mitakihara? A-aside from Kinu, I mean…

Shinju: I mean, yeah, but they’re all out of town. You know how it is. You say you’re gonna stay in touch and you do for a little while, but you know you’re not gonna see them again.

Niko: Do… Do you think people can’t be friends when they’re far away from each other? I… S-sorry, I… All my friends are dead.

Shinju: !! (She flinches, then scoots away) … I’m sorry. 

Niko: I-It’s okay… I… didn’t have many friends to begin with. At least I have you… (she takes a deep breath, relaxing) Alright… I am the proper heir to the Dreamscape. I don’t need to beat the Maestro, or Worldeater. I am stronger than they are.

Shinju: (She nods) Yeah. I think you’ve got this. 

Niko: Y-Yeah… Err, not that I don’t need lots of… s-support, though…

Shinju: You can leave that to me, Niko. (She flexes her arm, patting her bicep) Right? 

Niko: D-Does muscle strength even work when you have magical powers? … N-Not that I mind…

Shinju: Absolutely. Yes. Of course. … Feeling any better now? 

Niko: Mmh… R-Ready to sleep like there’s no tomorrow!