May 15, 2069 Over the Sea of Japan.
"Yokosuka Airlines is now en route to Tokyo International Airport," came the flight control broadcast. The butterfly slipped through the cargo hold and into the private cabin, where eight idols chatted and lounged. A half-foreign rapper blared music from his earbuds:
"Junior Mafia—uh, yeah yeah~!" The beat jolted Seokjin awake. The pink butterfly shimmered and merged into him as he blinked the sleep from his eyes.
Tanny munched on snacks to my right; Tom was rapping loudly to my left.
"Crunch, crunch—awake already?" Tanny teased.
"Mm… how many hours did we time-jump?" I stretched, then heard the flight attendant's voice:
"Attention passengers, we'll be landing in fifteen minutes. Please remain seated and keep your seatbelts—blah blah—" Moon, sitting beside Jinam, exhaled vape smoke right into his face. Jinam stirred, glared, then— Slap!
"Goddamn it, Moon!" he barked, tossing the vape into the trash bin. "You'll blow the whole damn plane up, fucking moron."
In the front row, Lucky was watching an old sci-fi movie.
"What movie even is that? Looks ancient," I asked.
Lucky handed me the disc case — 'A Space Odyssey.'
"Ohhh, the one everyone says is tough to understand, right?" Tanny leaned over, gripping his seat. Lucky just rolled his eyes and pointed—
yeah, it's that one.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now approaching Tokyo International Airport." Mikki said as the plane touched down, jolting everyone a bit.
"Oof!" Minjun jumped in his seat while Mikki chuckled beside him.
We grabbed our luggage, stepping into the brilliant sunlight beyond the plane doors.
Neon towers gleamed. Air freighters zipped overhead. A geisha hologram smiled from a massive billboard, holding a skincare product.
"Wooh! Konnichiwa, Tokyo!" Tanny shouted, hopping down the stairs and spinning in delight.
Moon stumbled, still half-asleep, while Jinam dragged him by the arm. "I've been to Japan 100 times. But this time, with bunch of morons." Jinam said quietly.
The eight of us followed the red carpet laid from the runway all the way to the exit.
Fans swarmed behind barricades, screaming our names.
"White~! Look over here!"
Camera flashes burst in my face. "Ahh—too bright!" I winced, and Tanny quickly grabbed my arm.
"Please turn off your flash!" a bodyguard yelled.
"Kyaaa Jinam so hansamu!" Fans waved glowing banners of every member's name.
Moon leaned close and muttered, "Fans here are way better than in D.C. Last year was a war zone."
I laughed. "Guess I'll have to toughen up, huh?"
Minjun nodded. "You'll get used to it."
Mikki added, "What feels overwhelming now will soon feel like home."
We stepped out to find a limousine waiting— a wheeled one, since Japan still banned hover systems under the 4th Highway Act. As we drove through the neon cityscape, holographic schoolgirls danced across the building fronts, singing:
♫ Mochi mochi yuresuka-chan desu~ ♫
♫ Saikō no kiroku~! ♫
When the limo stopped at the massive crossing, thousands of fans filled the plaza. Security set up barricades, keeping the crowds back. Holographic billboards played nothing but D8 and Y.N.G., our upcoming collab concert. On stage stood two masked men— one in a blue butterfly hoodie with a glowing blue mask, the other in a dragon-embroidered baseball jacket, his mask glowing yellow.
"You know them?" Tanny nudged me.
"The guitarist's Eska, the drummer's Esto, and the last member." I paused.
Eska raised a finger to the sky. "Oh, looks like she got here long before we did."
All eyes turned upward.
A flash of pink against the blazing sun.
"Good afternoon, everyone~" a bright, lilting voice called.
"Life's shorter than you think, so why not make the most of it, right? Ki-hi-hi~" Floating above us was a girl in a swirling pink skirt, moth-patterned black stockings, smiling like a character who'd just stepped out of a Japanese cartoon.
"So, you are sons of D8 hmm?" she asked playfully.
Every single one of us froze— mouths open, silence blanketing Shibuya.