I was starting to feel a little anxious, but I did my best to tell myself it was all right and put a lid on that apprehension. In the meantime, the second song had already come to an end. I was watching the whole time, of course...but, well, let’s just say that if I hadn’t handed photography duty off to Emma, things probably would have ended very poorly for me.
I glanced to the side and saw Mio staring down at the stage, her chin resting in her palm. She was frowning, unsurprisingly. I had no idea whether Makina was really feeling sick or not, but I could tell that as far as our bet was concerned, her performance definitely wasn’t hitting the level it needed to convince Mio to give up and admit defeat.
“So, umm, once again—hello, everyone!” Yuna called out as she took a step forward. Now that the second song was over, there was a brief period scheduled where the performers would get to talk before the final number. Yuna was really into it in the most adorable sort of way, and the way Rinka calmly and affectionately watched over her was just so perfectly kind, I couldn’t get enough of it!
But Makina, though... I thought as I glanced at the third performer. The worries that I’d put a lid on earlier were doing their very best to worm their way out of their prison. Makina was still smiling, but she looked tired, somehow. It was like she wasn’t fully present in the moment. Just looking at her made my chest clench.
Assuming Makina really wasn’t feeling well, and assuming it wasn’t because she had a cold or something—that is to say, assuming it was an emotional problem rather than a physical one—then wasn’t there something I could do for her? I would’ve laid a hand on her shoulder and said something to encourage her if I could, but there was no way I could reach her like that from the very back of the crowd, as far separated from the stage as I could’ve possibly been. I couldn’t...but someone could.
Yuna, Rinka... Help her, please!
Two girls who were way, waaay more reliable than I could ever be were right by Makina’s side. Two girls who’d happened to enroll at the same school as me, miraculously ended up becoming friends with me, and given me the strength and encouragement I needed time after time after time since even before we’d started dating. As far as I was concerned, Yuna and Rinka were my saviors. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have been standing in that gymnasium at all...so I decided to believe in them. I believed with all my heart that Yuna and Rinka would find a way to pull things through.
“Ah...!” I gasped.
Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe my prayer had been answered. One way or another, at that exact moment, my eyes met Rinka’s. She flashed a slight, affectionate smile in my direction, then shot a glance over at Yuna. I looked at Yuna too, and found that she’d caught Rinka’s signal and was looking toward me now, grinning up at the gallery.
“It’s all right.”
“We know.”
Neither of them actually spoke, of course, but they didn’t need to. The warmth and reassurance of their feelings got through to me just fine anyway. I was so overjoyed, I gave them the biggest wave I possibly could.
“Well, Yotsuba,” said Mio, “I honestly hate to do this to you, but at this point...”
I cut her off. “Don’t worry.”
“Huh?”
“Makina has Yuna and Rinka with her, so it’ll be all right.” I put it as plainly as I could, but even that wasn’t enough to express how little there was to worry about. I had absolute faith in Yuna, in Rinka, and in the fact that Makina was about to exceed Mio’s wildest expectations. So I turned to her and gave her the most confident grin I could. “If you really don’t think her performance was good enough when it’s over...then I’ll do whatever you tell me to.”
Mio had offered to do whatever I told her to if I won our bet, back when she was trying to provoke me into accepting her challenge...and now I’d turned it back around on her, offering the same stakes. There was no way she could possibly misunderstand what I was trying to express.
It seemed totally possible that she’d already come to a conclusion about the performance and didn’t think that anything could change her mind. The show was already two-thirds of the way over, and so far, Makina hadn’t passed muster. Maybe she was so far behind, there was no way she could possibly make up for her weak opening in the remaining third.
I, however, believed in them. I believed in Yuna, in Rinka...and in Makina as well.
I’m so glad that I’m not the one whose efforts this bet’s riding on.
The winner would be determined by a totally subjective opinion. Mio would watch the show, evaluate it for herself, then decide who had won, with no oversight whatsoever. If I were the one performing, I would’ve been a pessimistic wreck—but if they were the ones who my hopes were riding on, I had a bottomless well of faith that I could place in them. I knew that they would produce results more satisfying than anything I could’ve ever possibly managed.
“Oh...?” said Mio, her eyes wide with shock. I didn’t have a clue what she was thinking, but she took a moment to closely study me, staring me straight in the eye...then smiled, as if she’d been convinced of something. “Someone’s confident, huh?”
“That’s right!” I replied.
Koganezaki, who was the one other person who knew everything that was going on, rolled her eyes with a shrug. Mukai, meanwhile—who didn’t know about the bet at all—looked a little bewildered by our exchange. You’d think that I would’ve been worried, considering the situation, but I was actually as excited as could be. Yuna, Rinka, and Makina’s performance had been wonderful so far...but I knew that we were about to see something even more incredible. I was positive of it.
You can do it, everyone...!