Chapter 148

I tried to stop her, but it was too late. “Sorry, Himejima. I’m next,” Deguchi said as he moved toward the stage. Himeji returned to her seat, her face burning. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she fumed. “You just wanted me to embarrass myself, didn’t you?!” “I tried, but you were too fast.” “Gosh!” Himeji huffed, then took a sip of her juice. Torigoe pulled my sleeve. “Takamori, wanna go to the room next door?” “Uh, I don’t mind, but why?” “I wanna practice…” “Oh, okay.” I understood exactly how she felt, so I followed her and left the room. There was only one other door next to ours, so we didn’t get lost. It was a small room—the complete opposite of the one we’d just left. When we sat down on the tiny sofa, our shoulders touched. It must have been meant for a single person, or maybe a couple. Just then, our shoulders crashed together. “…!” “Ah, sorry,” I said. I wasn’t used to being so close to a girl, no matter who it was. “N-no… It’s okay.” Torigoe shook her head and grabbed the portable touch screen. “Everyone else is so brave. They don’t have any problem singing in front of the group.” “Yeah. I don’t know how they do it.” “I know, right?” Torigoe used the attached stylus to navigate the touch screen. I glanced over and saw she was looking through anime songs. “I’m not good like Hiina or Himeji, but there’s levels to badness, y’know? There’s funny bad.” “Uh-huh.” I knew what she meant. “It also depends on the person’s character.” “I think it’d make things easier if people would crack a joke or two about my singing, but…” “Yeah, I’m not the joker type, either. So everyone politely tries to avoid mentioning it, which only makes things more awkward.” “Right?!” Torigoe selected a song and entered it into the machine. It was the theme song of a popular anime from the previous year. I’d watched it all the way through. She must have remembered that. What’s more…it was a girl and boy duet. Torigoe grabbed a second mic, turned it on, and handed it to me. “You do the guy’s part.” “Okay. We’re just practicing anyway, right?” Footage from the anime played on the screen. But when the song began, Torigoe panicked. “D-don’t pretend like it was fine if I’m really bad, okay? Oh, but don’t just diss me outright, either.” “You’re making things really complicated…” Still, I agreed with a smile. “Do the same for me, too, okay?” “If you turn out to be really good, I’m gonna hit you.” “Why would you hit me?!” Torigoe chuckled as the lyrics for the girl’s part appeared on-screen. She wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d feared. She wasn’t good, per se, but it wasn’t painful to listen to. Come to think of it, Himeji had said singing well was all about practice… Torigoe must have practiced this song a fair bit. The guy part began, and I joined in. I tried playing the song back in my mind and replicating it with my voice. I glanced to the side and saw Torigoe softly bopping her head as she mouthed the lyrics. Watching her, I understood what Deguchi meant about just putting your soul into it. Torigoe glanced over at me, her profile lit up by the screen’s glow. Ah, this is the part where we sing together. Soon, the song was over, and Torigoe seemed refreshed, like she’d accomplished something. “Takamori, may I speak?” she asked. “Just don’t slam me,” I replied. “That was…pretty nice.” I sighed, relieved. “Thank goodness.” “Singing that on my own is cool and all, but doing it with someone else is… Well, yeah.” Torigoe nodded excitedly. It seemed she was satisfied with her performance. “You’ve sung that song a lot, huh?” “Yeah.” “You didn’t sound weird. Or bad.” “…Good.” She smiled in relief. “You should come here with Fushimi and Himeji, too, once in a while.” “The thing is, I don’t think it’d be fun for the others. I tend to like singing songs other people don’t know and can’t join in on.” Right. Considering Torigoe’s interests, it’s probably more comfortable for her to go by herself. Her response was logical—very much like her. I glanced at the door, which had a small window in it, and saw Mana staring at us so intently, it felt like her eyes were burning a hole right through the glass. “Whoa, what the heck?!” I exclaimed. “…?! ManaMana…!” She opened the door and came inside. “So you pulled him away from the big room to get cozy in here… Bad girl, Shizu.” “We were just practicing,” Torigoe protested. “But you said you’d sing with me! Why take Bubby with you?” That’s your issue? “I just figured it wouldn’t be fun to sing with you, since we have such different tastes.” Isn’t that being kind of harsh?! “Isn’t that being kind of harsh?! Try to have a little consideration, okay?!” We really are brother and sister, huh? Mana sat on the sofa and snuggled up to Torigoe, then reached around her back. “I gotta teach you a lesson, you naughty girl,” she said. “Wha?! Hey, don’t…!” Torigoe tried to twist out of Mana’s grasp. At first, I thought Mana was just tickling her, but she was clearly groping the other girl. Did she think I wouldn’t notice in the dark? “I’m going to get mad for real, ManaMana.” “Stop hiding these huge melons!” Unable to stop myself, I glanced at Torigoe’s chest, then quickly looked away. I hope she didn’t notice. “Wah! No! Ahh… Please.” “Stop it, moron,” I said, unleashing a karate chop onto Mana’s head. Torigoe was blushing as she struggled to escape her. “What’re you doing?!” Mana exclaimed. “Right back at ya.” “I was teaching her a lesson and checking on her development.” Who asked you to do that, exactly?! “Wanna see for yourself?” she said. “ManaMana!” My eyes met Torigoe’s as she shouted back, and she quickly put some distance between us. “No!” I shouted back. “What’d you even come here for?” “I was gonna tell you Ai’s turn is coming up… And then I found you two singing together, and I felt like you had stolen her away from me. I got mad and… Oh… Hmm?”