CHAPTER 10
Saying thank you and good-bye to first love.
The live show ended up being a huge hit. The cheers and applause from the audience echoed like thunder while a few people even jokingly started yelling “Encore!” Alisa thereupon stood before the other four members as a prisoner of some sort of sensation she had never experienced before. Had she ever felt this adored before in her life? Had she ever felt this wanted before?
Oh… This is…
This was what it felt like to have your hard work finally pay off. Up until now, she had continued to work hard while avoiding the praise of others. She felt that she was the only one who needed to feel good about her efforts. However…
Once I just mustered up the courage to take that one step forward, I found so many people who accepted and appreciated me.
As something warm suddenly began to swell in Alisa’s chest once more, she narrowed her gaze as if to hold it back while bowing deeply to the audience. Amid the ever-growing applause, Alisa then made eye contact with the other four band members before they all retired from the stage.
“Yesss!! That was so awesome!!” exclaimed Takeshi the instant he stepped down the stage wing. His body trembled as if he couldn’t take it anymore while grinning from ear to ear. The other four rather excitedly nodded back at him as well.
“Yes, that really was great! Really, really great! And I mean it! That was probably the best we have ever sounded!”
“…I agree.”
“Hmm? Saya? Oh my god. Are you tearing up?”
“No! I’m not…”
“Are you suuure?”
“Nono, stop! Ah…!”
Sayaka looked away uncomfortably, realizing that she had called Nonoa by a nickname that only her family and close friends used. The sight made Alisa smile even more, and she bowed to her friends.
“Everyone, thank you.”
Thank you for making me your leader. Thank you for showing me something so wonderful.
There were so many different things she was grateful for as she bowed while her friends smiled back at her.
“We should be thanking you, Alya! I honestly think the biggest reason the show went so well was because of your singing! Ah! Of course, Sayaka’s bass playing and Nonoa’s skills on the keyboard were incredible as well!”
“Thanks for the footnote at the end… Anyway, we all worked together to make that happen. There’s no need to thank anyone.”
“Come on, I didn’t mean for it to sound like a footnote. I—”
“Like, other than Takeh-C dissin’ us, that was a lot of fun. Thanks, Alisa.”
“Allow me to thank you as well, Alya. We couldn’t have done it without you. Not only did you agree to be our vocalist, but you became our leader and gave us guidance as well.”
“Now you’re all making me feel awkward for saying there’s no need to thank us.”
“Nah, I’m the one in an awkward position here. I—ah! Kanauuu! Did you watch your big brother’s show? I was so cool, wasn’t I?”
Almost immediately after leaving the stage, Takeshi found his little brother among the crowd before running straight for him. The others warmly smiled while almost rolling their eyes, but before long, other members of the audience started to notice them, too.
“Alisa Kujou! You were incredible!”
“Nonoa, I love you!”
“Hikaru! Over here!”
Passionate voices began to push through the crowd, so Hikaru promptly stepped forward to guard the female members of the group, but heated female gazes immediately began to lock on Hikaru as well, making him tense and tremble in despair.
“Oh my god, Alisa. Look at you. How about hitting ’em with some fan service so we can peace out?”
“‘Fan service’? ‘Peace out’?”
But the unfamiliar phrases only confused Alisa.
“Like this,” added Nonoa while she put on a radiant smile like a celebrity. You could almost see a star shoot from her eye when she winked at the crowd.
“Thank you all sooo much. ☆ I’m sooo sorry, though. We actually have somewhere we have to be, so do you think you could clear a path for us?”
The incredible fan service immediately took the passionate fans’ breath away, immediately causing a ripple in the crowd as people asked those behind them to move to the side and make way until a path opened before them.
“And that’s how you do it.”
“Uh…? Sorry… I can’t…”
Alisa smiled awkwardly, unsure how to convey that there were countless reasons why she would never be able to do that.
“Anyway, I wonder where Masachika is. Maybe he’s still busy helping the school festival committee with something?” Hikaru muttered suddenly, prompting Alisa to begin surveying the area as well.
Oh, yeah, she thought. I want to share this excitement with him—these powerful emotions. This world he brought me to… These friends he introduced me to… The stage that he prepared for me… I want to share every emotion I experienced because of him as soon as possible. Masachika…!
She grew restless, her eyes suddenly darting in every direction…when a voice suddenly caught her attention.
“What?! A debate?!”
The discussion inevitably piqued her curiosity, and she reflexively directed her gaze in the direction of the voices, where she saw a male student holding his phone out while talking enthusiastically to the girl by his side.
“Yooo! It’s actually not a debate?! They’re having a piano competition in the auditorium!”
“What? Who is?”
“Yuushou Kiryuuin and Masachika Kuze! And the match has already started!”
It was the name of the young man she had been searching for, but she was immediately overcome with surprise after hearing the flood of information.
Masachika…? Debate? Piano…? Why…? What is going on?
Her eyes wandered in search of an answer…until she noticed Hikaru staring hard at something.
“…Hikaru? What’s—?”
When Alisa followed his gaze, she noticed three strangers up ahead, but she knew who they were. Call it intuition. Call it a gut feeling. Regardless, she somehow knew that these were the original band members in Takeshi and Hikaru’s band.
“Hikaru—”
“We’ve got this, Alisa. Go.”
“Huh?”
Alisa turned around to find Nonoa lethargically narrowing her gaze back at her.
“You wanna see what’s up with Kuze, right? So go.”
“Yes, just go. Hiiragi! Can we get some help?”
Hiiragi Kurasawa, a member of the disciplinary committee who was wearing glasses and men’s clothing, suddenly appeared out of nowhere, pushed up her glasses, and assured everyone:
“You need me to be Alisa Kujou’s bodyguard, yes? Very well.”
“Thank you.”
“A’ight, let’s clear a path for you, then,” Nonoa stated listlessly before doing a little fan service for the crowd while asking (ordering) them to move. The crowd moved to each side as if Moses from the legends had held up his staff, creating a small path for Alisa to follow Hiiragi down.
Why is Masachika…?
The baffling question felt like a tornado spinning in her head while the anxiety and frustration swallowed her like a wave, making her unable to process what was going on. It was as if Masachika had gone somewhere really far away, so Alisa began to run as fast as she could so that she wouldn’t get left behind. She ran, believing that once she saw him, this anxiety would go away. It would prove that she was only worrying over nothing, and that this bad feeling in her gut was nothing but a little restlessness.
After Alisa arrived at the auditorium smoothly, thanks to Hiiragi’s guidance, she took a moment to catch her breath, then bowed in gratitude.
“Thank you so much.”
“It was my pleasure. Anyway, I need to head back to the stage, so you’re on your own now.”
“Thanks.”
Alisa faced the door to the auditorium after Hiiragi ran off.
“…All right.”
She then mustered up enough courage to push open the large double doors and stepped inside, but what she found…was silence accompanied by the soft melody of a piano.
This is…
The crystal-clear notes were reminiscent of a moonlit lake. It was so tranquil that one would worry to even make the slightest of sounds. Alisa, however, slowly moved forward until she saw the young man who had created this world.
Masa…chika…
It was the one she sought, and yet it wasn’t. The individual there was not the Masachika she knew. The young man she knew would never open himself up to everyone like this. Instead, he would always joke around to hide his true feelings. Never would he put his true feelings into words—into music.
Stop…
Alisa knew. She knew that this piece was dedicated to a special someone. The way the notes echoed, the way his fingers danced, the way his entire body performed: every bit of him conveyed his undeniable yearning and sorrow that he had tucked hidden away in his heart, and it made Alisa unbelievably jealous of whoever this music was for.
Stop! Make it stop!
Her voice inwardly exploded with cries like a spoiled child. She wanted to cover the ears and eyes of every person in this auditorium. She wanted to hide the true Masachika from everyone else. She didn’t want him to open up to anyone but her.
He’s my partner… I’m the one closest to him… I should be the one who knows him better than anyone!
Alisa couldn’t make sense of the powerful, overflowing emotions as she was suddenly overcome with the urge to scream and cry for reasons that she didn’t even understand herself. It was as if she didn’t even know who she was as she clenched her fists tightly.
Masachika was so far away. Further than he had ever felt before. I thought I was standing right by his side. I thought I had found my way a little closer to his heart. But he went off all by himself, yet again…
“<My wizard…>”
But Alisa’s faint whispers were erased by the piano.
I never really understood what it meant to have a sense of accomplishment. Being praised by my grandfather made me happy. Being praised by my mother made me happy. Making my little sister happy made me happy. Those were emotions I could understand, but a sense of accomplishment was foreign to me. Maybe that was why I always felt a bit empty inside. Maybe that was why this emptiness was all I had ever felt since I stopped being Masachika Suou.
The boring days of freedom went by while I lived with my grandparents on my father’s side, but the emptiness remained. One day, however, I casually turned on the TV and randomly began watching a cartoon for children, which actually made me realize why I felt so empty.
“I have a dream! And I’m never going to give up, no matter what obstacles get in my way!”
The talentless protagonist of the show worked as hard as he could to make his dream come true. At first, everyone simply laughed at his foolishness, but their laughs eventually transformed into admiration until everyone was cheering him on. Although he struggled at times and suffered setbacks at others, he managed to succeed with strong passion and tireless effort.
He was a true hero whom everyone wanted to succeed, and when he did succeed, they were all there to celebrate his success. Furthermore, the happy ending for the hero and the heroine, who had been supporting him through it all, couldn’t have been any better.
…Struggles, setbacks, passion, effort: I had none of these. All I had was a waste of talent that I was born with. Never were there struggles nor setbacks, and the effort was just menial work, as if I were grinding in a video game to level up. There was no way to feel a sense of accomplishment from easily succeeding like that. Who would cheer someone like me on? Who would celebrate my success with me? I was sure nobody even wanted me to succeed.
But when the emptiness gradually swelled like a black hole until I was apathetic about everything…she was there to give me hope. She appeared out of nowhere like a miracle. My heroine. If she was going to cheer me on and celebrate my success, then why would I care what anyone else thought? Her smile was my hope. Her smile alone filled the emptiness in my heart. The memories had been sealed away so long because I believed they were terrible memories that I wanted to forget, but the truth was far different from what I thought I remembered. The long-standing misunderstanding had been dispelled…and now all I felt toward her was gratitude.
And that’s why…
That was why I had to fulfill my promise and end this once and for all. The story of my first love needed a conclusion so that I could continue to move forward without any regret. I was going to tell her what I should have told her that day, and I was going to do so with a smile. I was going to tell her that meeting her was a miracle full of nothing but happiness. I was going to tell her with all the gratitude and love in my heart:
Thank you for everything. Good-bye.
[Спасибо Тебе За Всё… Прощай…]
The whispers left his lips as he removed his hands from the keyboard, and when he closed his eyes, he could see her innocent smile just how he remembered it. Masachika smirked wryly at how convenient his interpretation was, but it was being able to laugh at himself that felt somewhat refreshing as well.
Once the last note finished ringing, he stood within the unchanging silence, bowed, then withdrew from the stage.
Only after Masachika disappeared into the stage wing did the audience begin to clap, but Ayano didn’t join them. She was busy rubbing Yumi’s back.
“Madam Suou…”
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…!”
Yumi buried her face in her handkerchief, sobbing convulsively while repeatedly apologizing, so Ayano just continued to rub her back—the back of a woman overcome with regret. Far behind them—standing even behind the last row of seats—were people who not even Masachika could have predicted would be here, clapping as well.
“…Who was that? There’s no way a pianist of that caliber goes unheard of,” exclaimed one of the men, but not a single person answered him. A few in the group glanced at Gensei to gauge how to react and noticed he was going to maintain his silence, so they remained silent as well.
“What a shame,” groaned another woman, prompting others to quickly agree.
“Yes, it really is a shame.”
“Losing is losing, though.”
After nodding heavily in agreement, the oldest man in the group coldly handed down his verdict.
“I respect his ambition and the courage it took to raise hell at the school festival…but if he cannot deliver checkmate and falls in battle in the end, then this is as far as he goes.”
The old man then turned on his heel and faced Touya, who had brought them here.
“Let’s head back.”
“What? Are you sure you don’t want to stay to see the results?”
“No need.”
“…Very well. This way, then, please.”
Each member then followed after Touya as they left the auditorium behind.
“Uh… Why am I winning?” grumbled Masachika as he walked out the door leading outside from the stage wing. Right after the performance ended, they promptly had the audience vote for who they thought had won…and most people were surprisingly voting for Masachika. What was most astonishing was that it wasn’t really even close. Each member of the audience raised their hand to vote for the winner while members on staff used tally counters to count the votes, exchanging glances as if to say, “We don’t really need to tally the votes, do we?”
“…Masha, I hate to ask you this, but did you hire plants to pretend to be audience members?” asked Masachika, 30 percent seriously, but Maria immediately pouted in protest.
“I would never. How rude.”
“I know, but, like… You saw that, right?”
He laughed bitterly as he could feel his heart gradually grow cold, for Masachika had won, making him much more aware of the emptiness inside.
Sigh… Life on easy mode sucks.
Although Masachika grimaced at his despicable victory, Maria wore a gentler smile as she stepped in front of him and wrapped her arms around him.
“O-oh…?”
“Thank you for keeping your promise… That was a wonderful performance. I almost wanted to cry.”
“…Really? I’m glad you liked it.”
Maria’s words seemed to fill the hole in his heart a little bit. While he still didn’t feel any sense of accomplishment, her praise comforted him just like in old times. He surrendered his body to her while being smothered in her kindness and the memories of what once was. He gave in to her embrace…and gave in some more…and…
Uh… How long does she plan on hugging me for?
It was a long hug…and it gradually felt like it was becoming more passionate. In fact, she was starting to stand on the balls of her feet while rubbing up against his body, slowly reaching his cheek.
O-oh, gosh! This is kind of bad. This is kind of bad! We aren’t kids anymore! She’s softer all over now! Like, there’s a lot different about her!
An alarm went off in his head, warning him that he was reaching the point of no return, so he reached out to gently push her away…when she suddenly let go of him herself. Maria’s lips innocently curled while she gazed at Masachika’s relieved, yet also a little disappointed, expression.
“You’re so cute, Sah. ♡”
“I, uh…”
“Giggle. Yep. I’m still in love with you.”
“Ah—”
Her casual admission was genuine, and that was why Masachika’s eyebrows reflexively slanted downward. However, seeing how he reacted put a touch of sorrow into her smile.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to make you uncomfortable. I just had to say it.”
“No…”
But he was unable to tell her that it made him really happy to hear her say that.
I like Masha as a person…but she isn’t that girl anymore.
He couldn’t feel the same way about Maria as he felt about Mah. But…
I already found closure and said my good-bye. So maybe one day…
Complicated emotions twisted his heart as he gazed at Maria, which made her eyebrows lower even more in despair.
“If—”
But right before another word was spoken…
“Masachika!!”
…a sharp voice called out Masachika’s name.
“Huh…? Alya?”
He shifted his focus toward the voice to find Alisa still dressed in her stage clothes, wearing a panicked expression for some reason.
“What’s wrong…? Did something happen?” he asked, as though he was alarmed by her behavior, but Alisa clenched her teeth, swallowing her words.
“…Go talk to her.”
“Uh… But…”
“It’s okay. Go,” Maria said, gently smiling and patting him on the shoulder. After a brief bow, Masachika ran over to Alisa’s side while glancing back a few times, but Maria continued to wave and smile.
“<If only we had actually promised to see each other again that day, then… Then again, maybe it’s a good thing I was interrupted, for I said too much.>”
There was a hint of sorrow in her voice as she watched until she could see him no more.
“Not only did you resort to nasty tricks, but you lost at what you’re best at as well. I cannot even look at you,” Sumire muttered while reading the letter Masachika had handed her. She stood by the grand piano after it had been rolled back into the stage wing while Yuushou gazed at the piano in a daze, with a hand on the keys.
“Therefore, I must ask: Why do you look so happy?” she asked with a worried tone, but a few moments went by before he finally replied:
“Sumire… I actually do love playing piano.”
“Oh my. You are just now figuring that out?”
Yuushou snorted at her unceremonious, unsurprised reaction, since this was a rather important admission, in his eyes.
I’m really no match for you, Sumire.
He had been telling himself a lie all these years. He claimed that piano was nothing more than a hobby and convinced himself that it was nothing to take seriously. But that was merely an excuse so that he wouldn’t have to admit how he really felt. His true feelings were sealed away, pushing him to find something else to fill the void in place of the piano…and he somehow convinced himself that taking over his father’s business was his goal in life, but that was all over now. He couldn’t keep up the lie any longer.
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