“That was amazing, huh...?”
“It sure was...”
“And now it’s over...”
“It sure is...”
Class 2-A’s idol show was a wrap. The curtain fell, our class rep announced that it was all over, and the audience began gradually filtering out and dispersing across the rest of the festival. Mukai and I, however, remained in place. We were still too caught up in the heat of the moment to move just yet.
The performance had been amazing. So amazing that “amazing” was the only word that could do it justice! Using popular, mainstream songs for the first two numbers had gotten the audience hooked, and then right when everyone was perfectly warmed up, the third song had swept in to knock our socks clean off! It was the best!
Especially everyone’s solos! Yuna was crazy adorable, and Rinka was just ridiculously cool in every possible way. And Makina was just...I don’t even know what to say other than “overwhelming.” Overpoweringly cute, cool, and beautiful, all at the same time. It was like some sort of divine entity had inhabited her, instilling her with its presence from top to bottom... Anyway, the point is that I was super, super, suuuper moved!
Mio’s nitpicking partway through the performance had made me a little worried for just a moment, I’ll admit, but once it was over, I knew for a fact that it had been as super ultra satisfying as a show could be. The audience wouldn’t have gone that crazy if it hadn’t been! It was just...just perfect!
I spent a little while basking in the moment, and by the time I thought to take a look around, Mio, Koganezaki, and Emma had all vanished. They sure were in a hurry, huh...? I thought before turning to Mukai, who was still nearby, and giving her an appreciative nod. “Thank you so much, Mukai!” I said.
“What?”
“You’re the whole reason we were able to make this show into such a big deal and get the audience so excited for it! So, thanks.”
“D-Do you think so?” Mukai bashfully stammered. “I don’t think I did anything particularly important at all, though...”
“Are you kidding?! You so did! Super important!” I shouted. Not only did we have the illustrations she drew to thank for gathering up such a big crowd, it was also thanks to them that the class came together to work as such an effective team. Her art was where everything had started, more or less.
“Okay, but in that case, you deserve just as much credit, Hazama! If it weren’t for you, everyone would’ve just kept doing their own thing. I don’t think it would’ve turned out nearly as well if you hadn’t pulled us all together,” said Mukai.
There she goes, being humble again. She should be proud of how she managed to turn the event into this much of a smash hit!
I really couldn’t exaggerate just how well the advertisement Mukai drew had turned out. It was pretty, and adorable, and I felt like I could stare at it for hours on end if I let myself. Not to mention how high-level it was as a piece of art! It had a refined sort of elegance, and even knowing it was an advertisement, it felt like it had value in a way that a photo never could have accomplished...or, well, that was how Koganezaki had explained it to me. Plus, all that stuff about me having contributed? Like...come on, right?
“Honestly, looking back? I think it would’ve turned out this way even if I hadn’t said anything,” I replied.
“Huh?”
“I mean, everyone wanted to make the most of the festival from the start, right? They wouldn’t have been able to work together so well if they didn’t. All I did was say what everyone was thinking in a kind of stuck-up sort of way, that’s all. I guess I made it sound all pretty and stuff, but at the end of the day—”
“That is not true!” Mukai shouted, cutting me off mid-sentence. It was loud enough that a few of the people who were still making their way out of the gym looked up reflexively, and I was so startled I completely forgot what I’d even been trying to say. “Maybe I have no right to say this... Actually, no—I do have a right to say it, more so than most people: You need to stop doing this, Hazama.”
“I... What?”
“You were the one who told me you liked my art, remember? You gave me the push I needed. Your encouragement was the whole reason I could work up the nerve to put myself out there...and if it weren’t for you, I don’t think I’d have ever managed it.”
Mukai was mad. I’d been under the impression that she was the sort of person who didn’t get angry at all...but somehow, I’d managed to upset her anyway. My deep-seated negativity had set her off.
“U-Umm, Mukai—” I began.
“There’s something I need to apologize to you about, Hazama,” Mukai said, cutting me off again.
“Huh...?”
“Do you remember how back when we’d only just started preparing for the festival...I told you that I liked drawing as a hobby?”
“Y-Yeah. Of course I do.”
“Well, the truth is...I only said that because I wanted to show off.”
“You...what? But it was true, wasn’t it? How would telling me about a real hobby of yours be showing off?”
“Because I only said it to prove that I was better than you. I...didn’t want you to think I was the same as you,” Mukai choked out as she looked away from me. Her fists were clenched so tightly they were trembling. I could easily tell just how much effort it was taking her to admit all of this. “You’re always failing tests, and you never do well in gym either. I thought you, well...I thought you came across as a total screwup, so...”
“Makes sense.”
Mukai paused. “You’re...not mad?”
“Well, it’s all true, so...”