03. Kisaragi Attention

Kisaragi Attention (如月アテンション Kisaragi Atenshon) is the third chapter of the Kagerou Daze manga.

Summary

 * Lying on the floor, Shintaro sees the shutters opening and reflects that Ene successfully hacked the control room. He sees the figures of Kido, Kano, Momo and Marry before losing consciousness.


 * The scene changes to Seto talking to a bird with a smile before Kido orders him to help with breakfast. Kido asks Momo about Shintaro's condition, and she replies that Marry is looking after him and he hasn't woken up yet. Shintaro, still mostly asleep, can smell breakfast cooking and notes that he can hardly feel any pain from the terrorists' bullet. Opening his eyes, he sees a washbasin and a towel and thinks that a nice person must be taking care of him. A second later, he realizes his situation and sits up with a yell, demanding to know where he is. His reaction startles Marry; before Shintaro can talk to her, he hears Ene's voice. He looks up to see, to his bewilderment: Kido, whom he recognizes from the mall and sees now is a girl, Kano, also from the mall, Ene, who exclaims that they should go to the amusement park, and his sister Momo, who is holding Ene on her phone.


 * Momo scolds him for worrying her while Seto, Kano, and Marry discuss going to the amusement park. Kido apologizes for the commotion and tells Shintaro that the bullet had only grazed him. Shintaro asks who they are, and Momo calls them the "Meka Meka Dan". Kido interrupts her and introduces Shintaro to the Mekakushi Dan and says that Kano came up with the name. Momo states that she is a member of it now and explains her story.


 * At 9:00 AM on August 14th, Momo Kisaragi, a high school student and idol, is running to school. Various people on the street greet her by name, slowing her down and making her late for class. At school, her teacher, Kenjirou, scolds her for being tardy and failing her biology test. She had been taking remedial classes for two weeks now, but she had flunked her test with a 2 out of 100. Kenjirou tells her that she can retake the test next week, and tells her to go off to her TV drama shoot. Momo exclaims that she can still attend school, but Kenjirou says that since it's the Obon holiday, class ends after first period, meaning that she had missed her only class for the day. Kenjirou apologizes for her situation and mentions that it must be tough being both a student and an idol.


 * On her way out, Momo notices a group of girls chatting at a table; they suddenly stop talking to look at her, and Momo sighs in relief when they look away and continue talking with one another. As she drinks from a bottle of soda, she reflects how there's something about her that seems to "attract people's eyes." When a talent scout had approached her on the street, she accepted the position as an idol because her mother was going through some financial difficulties. Despite her lack of interest in television, music, and socializing, her debut concert was very successful, and she has been growing in popularity since. She wishes that she can just talk to other people normally.


 * Since she isn't scheduled to meet her manager for the TV drama shoot until 1:00 PM, she decides to go back home, but then she spots a flyer on a table the girls were sitting at. She is immediately attracted to a promotion for a limited edition, scratch-n-sniff sockeye salmon fillet mascot keychain. Since it's limited edition, she decides she needs to go buy it now, but the store is by a crowded station. At a nearby restroom, she changes from her school uniform to shorts and a pink hoodie to hide her face. On her way there, she sees a large television ad for her first album on a building and is embarrassed, as she had a cold on the day of the featured song's recording.


 * A gust of wind suddenly blows her hood off her head, causing everyone on the crowded street to turn and stare at her. Frozen, Momo quickly becomes overwhelmed by the absurdity of her situation and how she just wants to be a normal girl. She pushes through the crowd and runs, and they chase after her with their phones out to record her. Momo wishes that she was not born this way and that she could just disappear.


 * Momo eventually loses her pursuers and rests in an alleyway. She gets a call from her manager, who asks for her location and explains that the police had contacted their agency. Her manager berates Momo for causing a scene and for not understanding that she is "[not] a 'normal' girl." Momo, upset, yells into her phone that she has had enough and that she won't be coming back to the agency. She hangs up and sits down while crying, but then she notices a pair of legs in front of her and looks up to see Kido, who greets her and asks if she is alright. Startled by her sudden appearance, Momo screams.