That’s when it happened.
“Okay. I accept your challenge.”
A voice said unexpectedly.
Erio, Nakameguro, and I—we all turned around, startled by the voice.
Shiika’s hair, washed out by the bright lights, sparkled. She was wearing a baggy, ill-fitting shirt and shorts. No shoes. Bare feet. She looked like she’d just been mugged or something.
Shiika Ikebukuro. For some reason, my little sister, who ought to have been sleeping at home, was here.
“Shiika. You…,” I mumbled, dumbfounded.
I was so shocked to see her here that I couldn’t find the words.
I was probably more surprised than anyone.
More than anyone else.
No one else could have felt the same level of shock that I felt right then.
Shiika left the house of her own accord. I was the only one with any idea of how unlikely an event that was.
Shiika’s shoulders were going up and down, her breathing ragged, like she’d run all the way here.
Even so, she managed to catch her breath, then spoke again.
“I wanted to hear you sing again, Eri, so I opened the Impachi Live app. And you’d sent me a message, asking to meet.”
“So that’s why you came here. But are you serious about accepting the challenge? It’s not like we’re going to get anything out of it,” I said.
“Get something out of it? I don’t understand. Even so…”
Shiika’s eyes were shining in the moonlight. Erio seemed fascinated by the golden glow of her eyes.
“Eri, I want you to realize…that isn’t your real singing voice,” Shiika said.
Shiika had formed her own thoughts, using her own voice.
Tortured in a classroom filled with filthy emotions, Shiika had cut off all relationships with others. She had no other way of interacting with society except immersing herself in solitary creative activities and sharing her work online.
But here she was, taking a step forward, trying to communicate with Erio.
Perhaps going to school had been good for her after all?
Or was there some message she was passionate about conveying to Erio Shibuya?
Maybe it was both.
I had no idea what Shiika’s true intentions were. What was she thinking? What was she feeling? If, as her brother, I had no way of knowing, then how could a normal person ever understand?
Even if I can’t understand my genius sister’s thinking, it doesn’t really matter.
If this is what Shiika’s decided, then I’ll do my best to make it so she can do whatever she wants. She doesn’t need my understanding or consent. Call me a freak with a sister complex if you like, but this is my stance as her manager.
“What…what the heck? You don’t know the first thing about me or my voice!”
Erio started yelling, clearly mad.
She let go of me and darted toward Shiika, about to grab her instead.
“Calm down, Erio!”
Nakameguro stepped in, holding Erio’s arms.
“Don’t get violent!”
“I know that! But did you hear her? She’s making fun of me! Undermining all my effort, spitting on everything I’ve built, with that smug face of hers!”
Despite being restrained by a grown man, Erio continued to struggle, her emotions having gone wild.
Her eyes were wet. Perhaps it was the heat of the moment?
“I’m angry! I’m mad! I’m pissed! I will not accept this! She’s gonna regret this!”
“I understand your frustration. Yes, I understand.”
“Then let me go! You’re my manager. You know how determined I am to get ahead in this world! In a competitive society like this, where it’s dog-eat-dog, survival of the fittest, do you have any idea how much time and money it took me to get this singing voice?!”
“I understand. I understand.”
“My singing voice… She said…she said it gives her the ick! Do you think she should be allowed to get away with that? No, right?!”
“But if you get mad here, you’ll lose everything you built. Erio, those who have the eyes to see it will understand your talent.”
Nakameguro looked desperate as he tried to restrain Erio.
For a singer just about to debut, an incident of public brawling would ruin her whole career. The manager would get it in the neck, too. He’d be lucky just to have his pay docked. But depending on how much the company was expecting to earn off Erio, he could end up being fired instead. No wonder he looked so frantic.
In the face of Erio’s railing, Shiika spoke, her expression calm and still.
“If I win, you’ll try singing in the way I suggest. I would like to do a collab with you, Erio, if you can sing like that.”
“Huh? Are you insane? You seriously think, after everything you’ve said to me, that I—”
“It’s just because I’d like to hear it. And I think that kind of voice would suit you much better, Erio.”
“…!”
Erio suddenly stopped trying to attack Shiika. But she was still agitated, with her brow furrowed and breathing rough. Shiika’s unflinching calmness in the face of her rage seemed to have had somewhat of a cooling effect on Erio.
Gritting her teeth remarkably hard, Erio finally took a deep breath and calmed down.
Her entire body seemed to go limp.
“You’re after my view count, aren’t you? All right. That makes sense. I’m fine; you can let go of me now.”
“…All right.”
Erio was speaking calmly, and Nakameguro hesitantly released her.
Rearranging her disheveled clothes, Erio looked at Shiika.
“Okay. If you win, I’ll do anything, even a collaboration. But if I win, you won’t sing a single one of Nokia’s songs. And you’ll delete your stream archive.”
“Mmn. All right.”
Shiika agreed without hesitation.
Her collab with Nokia Komae had really grown her channel, and most of her ten thousand subscribers had come from her stream with him. With that stream archive erased, and no more collabs with Komae, Shiika would lose momentum. There might even be weird rumors going around about her after that.
But if that happened, we’d deal with it later. If Shiika was determined to win, then there was nothing I could do to dissuade her.
“You’ve got some cheek, haven’t you? Just watch. I’ll mess up that poker face of yours.”
After spitting out those words, Erio turned on her heel.
Nakameguro followed her as she stormed out of the park.
Just before getting into the car that was parked at the entrance, Erio suddenly looked back, as if she’d forgotten something, and with a defiant look, she said:
“Make sure to bring a handkerchief on that day. You’re gonna want to cry after being humiliated in front of the judges.”
Then she disappeared into the car.
Nakameguro gave us a quick bow before getting into the driver’s seat and starting up the engine.
I sighed a little as I watched the car vanish into the darkness of the night.
“Shall we go home, too?”
“Yeah. Achoo.”
“Going out dressed like that in the middle of the night… Please don’t go catching a cold.”
“Piggyback. My feet hurt.”
“You should have worn shoes.”
Rolling my eyes, I willingly let Shiika hop on my back. I could feel her warmth, and she was light as a feather.
Her bare feet poked out in front of my waist. Seeing them, all scratched up from walking on the asphalt, I felt happy.
Those scratches were signs that Shiika had taken action on her own…however clumsily.
Running out on her own volition. Winning her battles on her own.
She was doing things she had never done before.
That fact alone made me so happy that I wanted to cry.