Our performance passed by in the blink of an eye. Before I knew it, we were enveloped in the sound of applause. I had been so focused on the song that it took me a while to process that we had finished. When I finally returned to reality, everyone was wearing happy smiles.
Among the applauding third-years, more than a few of them were crying. Our song was a classic graduation number, so I had figured it might have an effect on some people, but this was more than I expected.
We bowed deeply and left the stage.
“We’ve definitely clutched first place, right?”
“Yeah! Heck, I bet the guys going on after us are suffering from a case of cold feet!”
Tatsuya and Okajima-kun had their arms around each other’s shoulders as they laughed with glee. They were definitely getting ahead of themselves, but perhaps the rest of us all felt the same, because no one stopped them.
“You’d almost forget that they were the ones who said they didn’t care about the choir competition.” Fujiwara let out an exasperated sigh. However, she appeared content.
“Yuino-chan!” Hikari raised her hands.
Nanase, uncharacteristically, beamed at her and gave her a double high five. A satisfying smack rang out. Then they intertwined their fingers without hesitation.
“I knew it! Yuino-chan, your piano is the best!” Hikari said, euphoria evident all over her face.
In contrast, tears flowed down Nanase’s cheeks. “Thank you, Hikari! I’m over the moon.”
“W-Wah?! Yuino-chan, don’t cry!” Hikari pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped Nanase’s tears.
Our class watched the pair from afar. Uta was the first to approach them. She went up to Nanase and hugged her from the side.
“That was awesome! Yui-Yui, we’ve definitely clinched victory thanks to you!”
Fujiwara also walked up to Nanase and, with a smile, said, “Yes. It really was all you, Yuino. Thank you!”
The next to timidly inch towards them was Onozawa-san. “I... I was so moved! Nanase-san, I truly do love your piano!” That opened the floodgates, and everyone began to shower Nanase with praise.
“Y-You’re all exaggerating,” Nanase rebutted shyly and then continued. “Besides, our song was a product of all our efforts, remember? This wasn’t only because of me.”
Uta, still clinging to Nanase, grinned joyfully. “That’s true. We all gave it our best too! Right? Hikarin!”
“That’s right. I wasn’t very good...but I think it turned into something wonderful,” Hikari said, as though she were basking in the joy of our performance.
“Well, didn’t we all try pretty hard?”
“Yeah, it just sorta happened, because a certain idiot took practice way too damn seriously.”
Reita and Hino wore smirks as they stared right at me.
Well, sorry I’m an idiot. “I thought if we’re going to do this anyway, it’d be more fun if we put on the best choir show ever.” I didn’t have any intentions beyond that. If I had to put it into words, I just wanted to foster an environment that would make it as easy as possible for Nanase to practice.
“That’s our Natsuki! You’re so young!” Hino teased me.
“We’re the same age,” I shot back. On second thought, we’re not actually the same age. Sorry my mental age is so low! This is how I wanted to live my salad days!
“Really?” Nanase said. “He can be weirdly cynical, which makes him seem awfully grown-up.”
Her words struck a chord in my heart. Thanks a lot, I mean it. “Okay, we should get going.” We’d spent a long time talking and needed to return to our seats.
“Right. The next class is about to start,” Fujiwara said.
Before we could give the instruction to move, Nanase spoke up. “Um. May I have a quick moment?” When the class’s attention was on her, she bowed deeply. “Thank you all. I was able to recover due to everybody’s help.”
The others didn’t know that she hadn’t been able to play without relying on me. They were all under the impression that she had overcome her anxiety a long time ago, so their reactions were lukewarm, like they thought she was making much ado about nothing. At least, they were for a bit until...
“Are you okay without holding Haibara-kun’s hand now?” Fujiwara asked—immediately, her hands flew to her mouth, accompanied by a small “Ah.”
The cozy and warm atmosphere that had enveloped our class froze over.
“Holding Haibara’s...hand?”
“Come again? What does that mean?”
“Now that you mention it, wouldn’t she go outside with Haibara before she played the piano?”
“Huh? But didn’t Hoshimiya-san go outside with them most of the time?”
“I wondered what they were doing, but hand holding?!”
“What? So they were having an affair?! Right in front of his girlfriend?!”
“A-Authorized cheating?!”
Our class exploded into conversation. We didn’t say anything because we knew this would happen!
Fujiwara had a face that said, “I messed up!” Our eyes met, and she stuck her tongue out with a small “Tee hee.”
Hey! I don’t fault you for noticing what we were doing, but don’t mention it now!
“I thought those three were aaawfully close lately,” Uta said, turning an icy gaze towards us. Towards me.
Stop it! Don’t look at me like that!
“H-He wasn’t cheating on me! Don’t worry! Actually, I’m the one who told them to do it!” Hikari interjected quickly, but she had clearly let her turmoil take the wheel.
That was a bad move, Hikari!
“So it was authorized?!”
“A... A debauched relationship?!”
“D-Does that mean the three of them do it together?!”
“So Hoshimiya-san gets turned on by those kinds of fetishes...”
Everyone was just saying whatever they wanted. Things had already spiraled out of control.
“W-Wait! I’ll explain everything properly from the beginning! Don’t misunderstand!” Nanase exclaimed, on the verge of tears. She was bright red all the way up to her ears. “H-Haibara-kun, you say something too!”
Saying anything would’ve only added fuel to the fire, so I remained silent. Honestly, I’m kinda dubious that explaining everything from square one will clear up any misunderstandings.
We were making such a racket behind the stage—not to mention we hadn’t returned to our seats yet—that a teacher got mad at us. Rightly so. This is my second lecture of the day...even though this is my second round of life!