Chapter 2: Minute Waltz
“—Hey, Iori, let's go grab lunch.”
“Yeah.”
It was lunch break at school.
When Renji called out to me, I closed my textbook and stood up from my desk.
For just a second, my eyes flicked toward Kashiwagi-san across the room.
Surrounded by her circle of friends, she was smiling and chatting as she walked out of the classroom.
“What's up? If we don't hurry, the cafeteria's gonna be packed.”
“Ah, my bad.”
I stepped out into the hallway alongside Renji.
As long as she was able to smile like usual, that was enough for me. Telling myself that, I shook off the tangled knot of feelings in my chest.
Yet as I walked down the corridor with Renji... I noticed something strange.
“...Is it just me, or are people staring at us?”
For some reason, almost every boy and girl we passed in the hall kept sneaking glances in my direction.
When I tilted my head in confusion, Renji snickered beside me.
“That's the Mr. Shirayanagi effect for you. How's it feel to be a campus celebrity?”
“Ugh... so that's what this is about.”
At Renji's explanation, my mouth twisted into a grimace.
All because I had somehow stumbled into third place—an honor way out of my league—everyone passing by was sizing me up.
“Why did I even get third place anyway...? There had to be plenty of better candidates in the basketball club or the soccer club.”
“Come on, man, after you played like that right in front of the whole school, what did you expect? Honestly, even I thought you were seriously awesome up there... Hey, Iori, why not use this as your big chance to graduate from being a loner?”
“Don't ask for the impossible.”
That part of me wasn't about to change overnight.
Sure, I had wished to change myself—but a person's fundamental temperament, the core of who they are, doesn't flip like a switch.
Just as I let out a quiet sigh, Renji spoke up again as if something had just occurred to him.
“Speaking of people talking, Kashiwagi-chan also—”
The instant her name left his mouth, he caught himself and trailed off.
He froze for a beat, then awkwardly scratched the back of his head with an apologetic “Uh...”
“Hey, Iori.”
“Yeah?”
“About you and Kashiwagi-chan...”
He didn't need to finish the sentence for me to know what he was asking.
Renji wasn't an outsider to all this; he was Kashiwagi-san's friend too. I bowed my head slightly toward him.
“Sorry. I don't think the three of us can hang out the way we used to anymore.”
“...Gotcha.”
Those few words alone were enough for him to understand everything.
With a complicated expression on his face, Renji gave my shoulder a firm clap.
“Looks like it's back to just the two of us guys for lunch for a while, then.”
“...Thanks, Renji.”
“What're you thanking me for, dummy?”
Renji laughed it off lightly. I really did owe this guy more than I could count.
Hopefully, I'd find a way to pay him back for it someday.
Just as that thought crossed my mind and the entrance to the student cafeteria came into view—
“—Huh? Iori-senpai?”
A bright, bubbly voice rang out down the hall.
Turning toward the sound, I spotted a girl with short black hair trotting over to us.
“Ack.”
“H-Hey! What do you mean, ‘Ack’?! Is that any way to greet your adorable kouhai?!”
Round, expressive eyes and a beaming smile. Petite, yet trim and athletic.
She was the very picture of cheerful innocence.
Inoue Asahi.
She was a first-year on the girls' basketball team who, ever since we crossed paths through a certain incident a while back, had taken a baffling shine to me.
“Oh, Asahi-chan! Cute as ever, I see. Long time no see!”
“Oh, Miyama-senpai! Good to see you! Still as much of a shameless playboy as ever, huh? Mind keeping a three-meter distance from me?”
“Ouch! Isn't that a little harsh right out of the gate?!”
While this underclassman of mine was almost universally bright and polite, she had a mercilessly sharp tongue reserved exclusively for Renji.
The reason for that was simple: apparently, Renji had asked her out within three seconds of meeting her for the first time.
According to the man himself, his thought process had gone no deeper than, “A sporty, cute kouhai? Don't mind if I do!”
Predictably, she had shot him down on the spot, and she had kept her guard up around him ever since.
She'd even hit him with something along the lines of, “My grandma always told me never to trust a handsome guy with dyed brown hair... and she was right on the money.”
“More importantly, Iori-senpai! What's the big idea?!”
“What big idea?”
“The Mr. Shirayanagi Pageant! Nobody ever told me you could play the piano like that?!”
Asahi leaned in close, puffing her cheeks out indignantly. Not that it was my fault nobody had told her.
“Well, yeah. I never mentioned it.”
“Why didn't you tell me?!”
“Seriously...?”
What was I supposed to do, walk up and brag, “By the way, I happen to play the piano”? As if I'd ever embarrass myself like that.
Besides, if I had brought it up out of nowhere, I knew for a fact she would've teased me with, “Bragging about yourself like that is kinda cringe, Senpai.”
“Grrr... Now even the girls in my class are asking me stuff like, ‘Does Amano-senpai have a girlfriend?’ and it's making me feel weirdly conflicted...”
“Oh, yeah, some of the girls in our class were saying the same thing. Something about it clashing with their headcanon of him.”
“That's it! Exactly! I wanted Iori-senpai to stay a hidden gem quietly blooming in the shadows, you know?!”
“Will you two stop making up weird narratives about me?”
Don't give me “That's it! Exactly!” Stop projecting bizarre character tropes onto real people.
Dealing with either of these two on their own was exhausting enough, but putting them together multiplied the headache tenfold.
I made a mental note right then and there to never let the two of them team up again.
“Anyway, Inoue, we're on our way to grab lunch.”
When I dropped the not-so-subtle hint for her to run along if she didn't need anything, my kouhai puffed her cheeks out in a pout.
“Why are you treating me like a nuisance?! ...Wait a second—‘Inoue’?! Why are you calling me by my last name all of a sudden?!”
“Why, you ask...”
Of course she'd latch right onto that.
I could hardly tell her out loud that now that I had a girlfriend, calling another girl by her given name felt like crossing a line.
Just as I was scrambling for a plausible excuse—
“Gasp! D-Don't tell me! Now that you placed third in the Mr. Shirayanagi Pageant, you think you're too big a deal to bother with lowly underclassmen like me?! Have you tossed me aside now that I've outlived my usefulness?!”
“No, no, knock it off! Stop shouting stuff that sounds terrible out of context! Everyone's staring at us!”
I could practically feel the curious stares of the students around us burning into my back as whispers started rippling through the hall.
Yet Asahi seemed completely oblivious to the commotion she was causing.
“N-No way! I refuse, I refuse, I refuse! Call me Asahi like you did before!!”
“W-Whoa, hey, don't latch onto my arm!”
“Nope! Not letting go until you call me Asahi!”
“O-Okay, fine, I get it! Asahi! There, happy now?!”
“Hmph! As long as you understand.”
Beaming triumphantly, Asahi promptly let go of my arm.
I let out a massive sigh of relief, while Renji stood beside me snickering his head off.
Seriously... what did I ever do to make this kid get so attached to me?
“Man, color me jealous, Iori-senpai! Must be nice having such a cute kouhai wrapped around your finger.”
“Wanna trade places, then?”
“Nah, I'll pass.”
Renji threw both hands up in surrender.
It wasn't that I disliked her or anything—just that keeping up with her boundless energy wore me out.
“How rude! Honestly, Senpai, you really don't appreciate how lucky you are! Once you're an adult, having a cute younger high school girl fuss over you like this would cost you a fortune, you know?”
“...”
As my kouhai peered up at me with a smug little grin, I gave her a flat, unimpressed stare.
At this point, I was genuinely worried for her future. Was she going to get sweet-talked into some shady get-rich-quick scheme after graduating? I could totally picture her strolling right into a scam without a second thought.
“...Do me a favor and promise you'll never get roped into sketchy compensated-dating gigs or anything like that in the future, okay?”
“Of course I won't?! What kind of person do you think I am?!”
I couldn't help worrying about this airheaded kouhai's future—like getting fleeced at a host club someday.
Right as that thought crossed my mind, I noticed a sudden murmur of excitement rippling through the hallway around us.
“...Hm?”
“Oh?”
“What's going on over there?”
Renji and Asahi seemed to have picked up on the shift in atmosphere too.
Following the gazes of the students around us toward the end of the corridor—
“—”
A breathtaking girl with long black hair came walking down the hall, flanked as always by her usual circle of admirers.
Even the crowded entrance to the cafeteria parted like the Red Sea with every step she took.
Both Renji and I stopped in our tracks at the sight of her. Beside us, however, my kouhai gasped aloud.
“W-Wait... is that Yukimura-senpai?! That's Yukimura-senpai, isn't it?!”
“Whoa—!”
She made me jump. Why did she have to yell right next to my ear?
I shot her a look to quiet down, but Asahi didn't even notice, letting out a dreamy sigh instead.
“Waaah, it's the real Yukimura-senpai in the flesh... Sh-She's way too gorgeous...!”
Overcome with awe, Asahi clasped both hands tightly in front of her chest.
Her exclamation was loud enough to catch the attention of the group approaching us.
“...”
For the briefest instant, Mizuki's eyes met mine. Her lips curved into a faint smile, and she gave a tiny, subtle wave of her fingers.
“...!”
Idiot, what is she doing in front of everyone?!
“H-Hey, Iori. Did she just—”
Just as Renji did a double-take and started to say something—
“U-Um, excuse me!”
A sudden shout right beside us yanked my attention back.
“...?”
“You're Yukimura-senpai, right?!”
As the petite first-year bounded right up to her, Mizuki tilted her head slightly.
That very instant, the eyes of the girls surrounding Mizuki sharpened into glares. I had to hand it to Asahi—she had serious guts charging straight into that lion's den when most guys in our grade wouldn't dare.
“My name's Inoue Asahi! I'm a first-year! U-Um, I've heard so much about you... It's a huge honor to meet you!”
“O-Oh... sure.”
Faced with Asahi's puppy-like enthusiasm out of the blue, even Mizuki looked uncharacteristically taken aback.
“Waaah... you're even prettier up close...! Your face is so tiny, and your eyes are so big... I-I know what they call someone like you! You're what they call a top-tier queen bee, right?!”
“Pfft—!”
Renji snorted so hard he nearly choked, doubling over and clutching his sides as he tried to stifle his laughter.
Mizuki, meanwhile, cast a helplessly bewildered glance over at me.
Naturally, walking right up and acting that familiar with the school's Madonna wasn't going to go over well with her entourage...
“...Who's this kid?”
“Someone you know, Yukimura-san?”
The girls of Mizuki's unofficial royal guard eyed Asahi up and down with frosty expressions.
Knowing this could get ugly fast, I quickly stepped forward.
“Hey, Asahi.”
I tapped her shoulder, silently gesturing for her to read the room.
“Ah! S-Sorry! I got so excited I got carried away... U-Um, if you don't mind, could I just shake your hand?!”
“Sure, I don't mind.”
Without a hint of hesitation, Mizuki reached out and gently took the hand Asahi was holding out like a supplicant.
“W-Wait—!”
“Yukimura-san?!”
Scandalized gasps went up from the surrounding crowd. Completely unfazed, Asahi beamed from ear to ear as she gave Mizuki's hand an enthusiastic squeeze.
“Waaah... your skin is so smooth and soft... Ugh, nothing like my calloused basketball hands...”
As Asahi happily cradled Mizuki's hand between both of hers, the surrounding royal guard looked ready to draw swords.
...Honestly, getting away with something like this was a privilege reserved strictly for cute first-year girls.
Just as I was mentally detaching myself from the surreal scene unfolding in front of me—
“What are you guys up to, Amano-kun?”
Mizuki turned her gaze toward me and spoke up.
Hesitating for a fraction of a second, I answered as casually as I could.
“Oh, nothing special. We were just heading into the cafeteria for lunch.”
Before I could add until this loudmouthed kouhai ambushed us—
“Oh! You see, since Iori-senpai here is still tragically girlfriendless and spending his youth drying up like a withered leaf, I figured I'd do my duty as his kouhai and brighten up his lunch break!”
Puffing out her modest chest, my airheaded kouhai looked immensely proud of herself.
Talk about minding someone else's business—especially coming from someone who didn't have a boyfriend either.
I gave her head a light chop with the side of my hand, earning a squeaked “Ow!” and a betrayed glare. Hey, I was the one who should be glaring here.
“I see. The two of you get along really well, huh?”
With her hand still held in Asahi's grasp, Mizuki offered a faint, unreadable smile.
I opened my mouth to deny it on the spot, only for Asahi to let out a weirdly bashful little giggle.
“W-Well, yeah, I guess! Though for now, we're strictly senpai and kouhai!”
She even shot a coy sideways glance in my direction.
What do you mean, for now?! It's going to stay that way for life!
Panicking at how misleading that sounded, I quickly looked toward Mizuki to clear up the misunderstanding—only to find her staring at Asahi with strangely distant, unfocused eyes.
...Mizuki?
Right as a flicker of unease stirred in my chest at the look in her eyes—
“Well, I should get going,” Mizuki said.
“Y-Yes! Thank you so much for talking with me!”
In parting, Mizuki reached out and gave Asahi's head a gentle pat before walking on down the hall.
Asahi stood rooted to the spot, gazing after Mizuki with stars in her eyes.
“...Uh, earth to Asahi?”
“Waaah, I actually talked to her... What do I do?! She's insanely gorgeous! And she smelled amazing! So that's the back-to-back Miss Shirayanagi champion...”
“Yeah, well, Yukimura-san's in a league of her own, sure, but you're plenty cute yourself, Asahi-chan!”
“Hehe, I've gotta brag about this to my friends! ...Wait, agh! I should've asked to take a picture with her!”
Breezily ignoring Renji's smooth-talking attempt altogether, Asahi remained lost in her own euphoric world.
Leaving the two of them where they stood, I let out a weary sigh and headed into the cafeteria on my own.
—After finishing lunch, I slipped away from the cafeteria.
Alone, I climbed the stairs toward the school rooftop.
Strictly speaking, the roof was off-limits to students—but the lock on the door had been broken for ages, so anyone could push it open if they wanted to.
...Creeeak...
Slowly, I pushed the heavy metal door open.
Stepping out into the open air, I spotted someone already waiting there ahead of me.
“...!”
The sight made my breath catch in my throat.
Leaning lightly against the chain-link fence, a lone girl stood with her long black hair fluttering in the autumn breeze.
She looked so ethereal against the sky that it felt like stepping into a painting. Slowly, she turned her head toward me.
Our eyes met. Seeing me standing frozen by the doorway, she let out a soft laugh.
“You know this place is off-limits, right, Amano-kun?”
“...Look who's talking, Yukimura-san. You're an accomplice too.”
With deliberate formality, we addressed each other by our family names.
There wasn't another soul up here on the roof, of course—but whenever we interacted at school, I had asked her to stick to calling me by my last name just in case.
...Though convincing her to agree to that rule had taken no small amount of effort.
“So, what's up? Calling me out here all of a sudden.”
As soon as I walked over to stand beside her, Mizuki slipped right back into the warm, relaxed tone she always used at home.
While eating lunch earlier, I had sent her a message on LINE.
I'd phrased it as only if you can get away, yet she had managed to slip free of her crowd of admirers without a hitch.
“...It's about Asahi earlier. I didn't want you getting the wrong idea.”
“The wrong idea?”
“Yeah. She has zero sense of personal space, as you saw, but there's seriously nothing going on between us.”
If anything, I was the one who wanted to know why she had latched onto me like that in the first place.
Still, now that I had a girlfriend, letting another girl hang off my arm in the hallway definitely wasn't a good look.
“It's okay. It didn't bother me,” Mizuki said.
“...Really?”
“Because I trust you, Iori.”
Murmuring that, Mizuki turned her gaze back out past the fence toward the cityscape below.
From her tranquil profile, I couldn't quite read what was going through her mind.
Feeling slightly wrong-footed by how calmly she was taking it, I brought up the other thing that had been bothering me.
“...Also, if you don't mind, could you smooth things over with your fan club so they don't give Asahi a hard time?”
“Sure.”
Worst-case scenario, some of her more overzealous admirers might single Asahi out. Things like that had happened more than a few times back in middle school.
Unpleasant memories flashed across the back of my mind. Wincing slightly, I gave my head a small shake to clear them away.
Stepping up beside Mizuki, I looked out over the view from the rooftop with her.
“...Everyone was talking about you today, Iori.”
After we had stood side by side in silence for a few moments, Mizuki spoke softly.
“Hm?”
“They were all saying how cool you were playing the piano at the pageant.”
“Oh... right.”
So that was what she meant. I thought back to the commotion in the classroom that morning.
Between morning homeroom and lunch break, more people had complimented me than I could keep track of.
“Does it make you happy, Iori?”
“Well...”
Under Mizuki's steady gaze, I mulled the question over.
Honestly, I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel good at all.
Having that many peers praise and acknowledge me was something I had never experienced before.
Even so... there was only one thing that really mattered to me.
“...I didn't play that piece for them, anyway.”
Turning my face slightly away to hide my embarrassment, I muttered the words under my breath.
At my roundabout admission, Mizuki blinked once in surprise.
“...Hehe.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Thank you, Iori.”
Her lips curved into a warm, genuinely happy smile.
“We should head back downstairs soon. Lunch break's almost over.”
“Yeah.”
As Mizuki nodded, I turned toward the rooftop door.
Right before I reached for the handle, however, a thought struck me.
“...Hey, Mizuki.”
“Mm? What is it?”
Now that Mizuki and I had finally become a couple—
There was someone we really ought to go tell in person.
“After school today... do you want to go visit Tokiko-sensei together?”
When I asked her that, Mizuki paused for a brief beat before nodding in agreement.
◇
After classes ended for the day.
I met up with Mizuki away from the school gates, and we rode the train two stops past our own neighborhood.
Up until we graduated from middle school, I used to walk down this street all the time. Yet ever since starting high school, I had consciously avoided coming anywhere near here.
Looking back on it now... I don't think my failure at that piano competition was the only reason I had stayed away.
I had been dreading the inevitable day when my childhood friend and I would go our separate ways.
Because a place filled with this many shared memories would only hurt all the more once she was gone.
“Here you go, you two. Help yourselves.”
Accompanied by a warm, welcoming voice, cups of black tea and a plate of sweets were set down on the table before us.
I bowed my head in my usual thanks, and beside me, Mizuki inclined her head politely as well.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you... very much.”
There was a stiff, almost formal reserve to Mizuki's manner. Seeing that, Tokiko-sensei let out a fond, wry chuckle.
“Oh, come now, Mizuki-chan. Don't act like such a stranger! You're going to make your old teacher lonely.”
“...Um, I'm sorry.”
Mizuki gave an awkward, sheepish little frown—a rare expression to see on her face.
Apparently, Mizuki hadn't visited Tokiko-sensei once since our middle school graduation either.
...Honestly, there had been no reason for her to stay away just because I had.
Yet even though it had been nearly two years since our last visit, Tokiko-sensei had welcomed us back just the way I remembered.
“—My goodness, look how gorgeous you've grown, Mizuki-chan.”
She didn't make an over-the-top fuss or fawn over Mizuki's looks; she simply smiled with genuine delight that the two of us had come to see her.
Almost everyone else who met Mizuki either fell over themselves trying to curry favor with her or kept their distance in awe.
That warm, unpretentious kindness was so typical of Tokiko-sensei.
“So then, Iori-kun.”
“Yes?”
“Since you brought Mizuki-chan here with you today... may I take it that things between the two of you have finally turned out that way?”
A teasing grin spread across her face as she leaned forward.
After hesitating for a brief moment, I gave an embarrassed nod.
“...Yes. We started dating.”
“Well, well!”
Beaming with undisguised delight, Sensei pressed her hands to her cheeks.
...Yeah, this really was embarrassing—all the more so because she had watched the two of us grow up since we were little kids.
“I'm so happy for you, Mizuki-chan,” Sensei said warmly.
“Thank you,” Mizuki replied.
Sensei's eyes were full of gentle affection as she spoke to Mizuki.
Mizuki nodded happily in return, while I couldn't help tilting my head in confusion.
“Um... shouldn't you be congratulating me on being the lucky one here?”
When I asked why she had congratulated Mizuki first, Sensei gave me an exasperated look for some reason.
“Honestly, Iori-kun... if you keep being this dense, she's going to run out of patience with you one of these days, you know?”
“Huh?”
“When Mizuki-chan has only ever had eyes for you from the very beginning!”
“Isn't that right?” Sensei prompted, turning toward Mizuki, who gave a small nod beside me.
“Iori really is dense when it comes to this,” Mizuki agreed.
“Right? Even though you couldn't have made it any more obvious!”
“...”
With both of them staring straight at me, I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat.
Easy for them to say. From where I stood, she had never shown any romantic interest like that until the festival...
Watching me flounder, Sensei grinned wider than ever.
“So tell me, Mizuki-chan—what did Iori-kun say when he confessed to you?”
“Um, well...”
“Whoa, hold on, timeout! You don't need to answer that!”
Flustered, I threw my hands up to stop her before she could say another word, while Sensei laughed in pure amusement at my panic.
—Even after that, despite all of Sensei's relentless teasing, the three of us spent a warm, nostalgic afternoon together just like old times.
We shared sweets, caught Sensei up on everything that had happened recently, and then I sat down at the piano.
Just like back when we were kids, Mizuki perched neatly on her usual chair beside the piano and listened quietly as I played.
“My, doesn't this bring back memories?”
Sensei watched the two of us with a fond, nostalgic smile.
She even insisted on treating us to dinner afterward... and by the time we finished chatting over our meal, it had gotten quite late.
When I finally told her we ought to be heading home, Sensei looked a little wistful to see us go.
“Thank you so much for everything today—especially for treating us to dinner on short notice.”
“Think nothing of it! Come visit again soon, okay? You too, Mizuki-chan.”
“I will.”
As Sensei saw us off at the front entryway, Mizuki gave a small, earnest nod. I really was glad I had invited her along today; both Sensei and Mizuki had looked genuinely happy the entire time.
“Well then, good night.”
Just as I bowed my head and turned to step out the front door—
“—Iori-kun.”
Hearing Sensei call my name softly, I paused and glanced back.
“Yes?”
“Um, listen... this is strictly just a suggestion, alright?”
“...?”
Sensei sounded uncharacteristically hesitant. As I tilted my head curiously—
“—Have you given any thought to entering a piano competition again?”
◇
After we got back home.
Sprawled out on the living room sofa, I stared up at the ceiling lost in thought.
Tokiko-sensei had looked overjoyed from start to finish today—which, by the same token, drove home just how lonely I had made her by staying away for two whole years. That realization stung a little.
Sensei was single and lived alone; to her, Mizuki and I were probably almost like her own children.
Just as I was resolving to drop by her place more often from now on—
“—Deep in thought?”
From right above the backrest of the sofa, Mizuki leaned over and peered down into my face.
Suddenly, my entire field of vision was filled with her breathtaking features. Even now, seeing her this close without warning was enough to make my heart skip a beat.
As a faint, sweet scent drifted from her hair, I did my best to keep a straight face and answered.
“...Just thinking how lonely we must've made Tokiko-sensei feel all this time.”
“...Mm. Yeah, you're right.”
Mizuki gave a quiet nod of agreement.
Ever since we were little kids, both Mizuki and I had been looked after by Tokiko-sensei and showered with her warmth and affection.
...Certainly far more than Mizuki had ever received from her own mother.
And because of that—
“Let's go visit her together again soon,” I said.
“Yeah.”
Having made that quiet promise between us, I let my shoulders sink back into the sofa cushions.
A gentle warmth rested against my hair. Cracking one eye open, I saw Mizuki softly stroking my head from behind the sofa.
The soothing touch felt so nice that I let my eyelids drift shut.
“—Have you given any thought to entering a piano competition again?”
The words Tokiko-sensei had spoken at the door echoed through the back of my mind.
“...A competition, huh?”
Truth be told, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind until she mentioned it.
Everything leading up to the Mr. Shirayanagi Pageant and confessing my feelings to Mizuki had taken every ounce of focus I had.
I hadn't had the mental bandwidth to think about what I would do with the piano after it was all over.
Still... I suppose there's nothing stopping me from continuing now, is there?
I had already overcome my stage trauma at the festival. If I stepped onto a concert stage now, I doubted my fingers would freeze up on the keys the way they had back then.
If that was the case... should I try challenging the competition circuit one more time?
“Do you want to enter a competition?”
Having caught my quiet murmur, Mizuki asked the question from right above me.
I mulled it over. If I had to say whether I wanted to or not—
...Part of me does want to give it a shot.
I wanted to test how far my current playing could take me.
And yet, compared to before, that desire felt strangely light—almost lukewarm.
Unlike at the school pageant, I didn't have a single, burning purpose driving me onto that stage.
“...What about you, Mizuki?”
“Hm?”
“Would it make you happy if I entered a competition again?”
At my question, Mizuki's eyelashes lowered ever so slightly.
After a brief pause, she answered.
“Who knows... Either way wouldn't change anything for me.”
“...It wouldn't change anything?”
Not quite following what she meant, I tilted my head back to look at her.
“Even if you never enter another competition, I'll always be right here listening to your piano, Iori.”
“...”
“Is just having me listen... not enough for you?”
Leaning down close, she whispered the question with a sweet, lingering lilt.
Her voice was so intoxicatingly gentle that it threatened to melt my thoughts into a haze.
When she put it like that... she had a point.
After all, the whole reason I had started playing the piano—and the reason I had picked it back up—was for my childhood friend.
So long as she was right here to listen to me play, what more could I possibly ask for?
“Yeah... deep down, maybe that really is all I need,” I admitted softly.
Mizuki tilted her head slightly as she looked down at me.
What she said wasn't wrong. At the bottom of my heart, playing for her was probably all I truly wished for.
...Even so.
“Still, I need to keep moving forward.”
I had Mizuki beside me now, I had reconciled with Tokiko-sensei, and my life felt more fulfilled than I could have ever dreamed.
Yet something told me that if I simply coasted along and let myself be spoiled by this happiness, I would come to regret it someday.
“Even if I tell you that I love you just the way you are right now, Iori?”
“...Yeah.”
I gave a wry smile. It was precisely because she spoiled me so unconditionally that I was in danger of growing complacent.
“Because I want to be someone I can be proud of, too.”
“...I see.”
Murmuring those two words, Mizuki straightened up and stepped back from the sofa.
Perhaps that hadn't been the answer she was hoping to hear. Even so, I felt certain it was something I needed to do.
Whatever form it took, I couldn't afford to stop moving forward.
Reminding myself not to drown in the sweet, unconditional affection Mizuki offered me, I quietly braced my resolve once more.
If I do enter a competition again and manage to achieve something worthwhile...
Would I be able to stand a little taller beside her than I could right now?
◇
SIDE: Kotoha
“...Hah.”
Flopping face-first onto my bed, I let out what had to be my hundredth sigh of the evening.
—A full week had passed since the Shirayanagi Festival.
With the ache of my broken heart still raw in my chest, I had spent every single day since then merely going through the motions.
...At least at school, I've managed to act like everything's normal.
Nobody in class had noticed anything amiss, so I figured I was doing a decent enough job of keeping up appearances.
Once I got home, though, all my energy evaporated. I couldn't muster the motivation to do a single thing; the textbooks and notebooks spread open across my desk had gone practically untouched for an entire week.
With college entrance exams a little over a year away, I knew I couldn't afford to slack off like this, and yet...
“—Kotoha-chan? How long are you gonna stay holed up in your room?”
“...”
From the other side of my bedroom door came my older sister's voice.
Still lying sprawled across my mattress, I pulled my comforter over my head as if hiding from the world.
“Dinner's ready downstairs, you know!”
“...Not hungry.”
When I mumbled back in a voice barely loud enough to carry through the door, another insistent knock, knock sounded against the wood.
Fed up, I tried ignoring it—only for the doorknob to click and my sister to waltz right in without permission.
“...Don't just barge into my room.”
Standing there was a college girl with long chestnut hair, soft droopy eyes just like mine, and an airy, carefree demeanor.
Unlike me—who had been shy and reserved ever since I was little—my sister might have looked spacey on the surface, but everything she actually did was bold and flashy.
...To be completely honest, I had never quite known how to handle her.
“Uh-oh, look at you moping under the covers. Wait... don't tell me that boy you liked turned you down?”
“...?!”
At her bullseye guess, I bolted upright in bed.
“H-How did you know...?!”
“What do you mean, how? When a girl wins second place in the school beauty pageant and comes home looking like the world just ended, anyone with eyes can put two and two together!”
My sister giggled in amusement, leaving me staring at her in dismay.
“Amano-kun, was it? The boy who played the piano in the Mr. Shirayanagi Pageant, right? He really did have a super pretty face—I bet he's popular with the girls. Honestly, he might even be a little bit your big sister's type too.”
“—?! N-No! Don't you dare!”
I yelped before I could stop myself. My sister might have looked soft and harmless at first glance, but when it came to romance, she was a total apex predator.
Even counting only the boyfriends I knew about, she had dated more guys than I could count on both hands.
If someone like her set her sights on Amano-kun, she'd gobble him up in a single bite...!
Seeing me panic like that made my sister burst out laughing.
“Hehe, relax, I'm kidding! I would never steal my precious little sister's crush.”
“...!”
Walking over to the bed, she patted my head with a fond There, there, making my cheeks burn hot.
...It had always been like this between us.
Because I was clumsy and terrible at going after what I wanted, my sister always treated me like a little kid.
I hated being babied like that... and more than anything, I hated the part of myself that still wanted to lean on her whenever she did.
“So then? What did he say when he turned you down, Kotoha-chan?”
Still gently stroking my hair, my sister steered the conversation back to the main topic.
After hesitating for a long moment... I reluctantly opened my mouth.
“...He told me there was already someone else he liked.”
“Oh my.”
“And a few days later, he told me he started dating his childhood friend... though I don't even know who she is.”
Figuring there was no point hiding it anymore, I confessed everything.
That was the truth: I knew nothing at all about her.
I didn't know her name, what class she was in, or what kind of girl she was.
Hearing that, however, my sister let out a theatrical sigh and shook her head.
“W-What?”
“...Kotoha-chan, seriously? Why haven't you even done basic recon on your rival?! If you don't even know who you're up against, you're surrendering before the battle even starts!”
“B-Because! Amano-kun looked like he really didn't want to say who she was...”
“Ugh, backing off right there is exactly why you lost! All's fair in love and war, you know! You've been blessed with a figure to die for, so why didn't you press up close and charm the answer right out of him?!”
“M-My chest has nothing to do with this?!”
Flushing crimson, I crossed both arms defensively over my chest. How could she say that when she knew how self-conscious I was about it?
Girls at school were always poking at them in the locker room, and guys were always sneaking stares.
Having a big chest had never brought me a single good thing in my life.
Seeing tears of embarrassment prick at the corners of my eyes, my sister offered a gentler, wry smile.
“...Listen, Kotoha-chan. Unlike me, you really are a sweet, honest, good girl... but if all you ever do is play the polite good girl, you're going to end up losing everything that matters to you, you know?”
“...”
“The world isn't made up solely of nice, considerate people like you, Kotoha-chan. If you leave things the way they are now, I think you're going to regret it for a long, long time.”
“...T-That's...”
I couldn't find a single word to argue back.
Deep down, I knew she was right—in fact, the exact situation I was in right now was proof enough of that.
Without ever learning the face or name of the other girl, I had already lost the boy I had loved for so long.
“...I don't know what I'm supposed to do, even if you tell me that.”
Hugging my pillow tightly to my chest, I buried my chin in the fabric—only for my sister to suddenly wrap her arms around me from the side.
“Hehe, you really are too cute, Kotoha-chan.”
“...!”
I almost snapped Leave me alone, but I swallowed the words before they could leave my tongue.
Throwing a petulant tantrum now would only make me feel even more pathetic.
“Hey, Kotoha-chan.”
“What?”
“What is it that you truly want to do?”
“...”
“Do you really want to give up on him just like this and go look for some other boy?”
Confronted with that blunt question, I pressed my face deeper into my pillow.
If she was asking whether I truly wanted to give up on him or not—
“I don't... want to give up on him.”
“Hm?”
“I don't want to give up.”
At the very beginning, I had simply thought he was a boy with unusually neat, striking features.
Yet as we worked side by side on the library committee, I came to see how earnest, hardworking, and endearingly clumsy he could be.
And more than anything else...
“I don't think you need to compare yourself to anyone.”
“You're an amazing person in your own right, Kashiwagi-san. You have plenty of wonderful qualities that Yukimura-san doesn't have.”
Every word he had spoken to me back then was still etched vividly in my heart.
“Because Amano-kun was the only one... who ever looked at the real me.”
“...I see.”
“Even so, Amano-kun is already...”
His heart already belonged to another girl.
A childhood friend he had been in love with for years—and even I could tell just how deep his feelings for her ran.
...No doubt that breathtaking performance of 『Moonlight』 at the festival had been played solely for her sake, too.
“Who says you have to give up just because of that?”
“Huh...?”
“It's not like the two of them are married! If you really love him that much, why not steal him away for yourself?”
“Wha—?! I-I could never do something like that!”
How could my sister say something so outrageous with a straight face?
As I gaped at her in shock, a knowing smile curved across her lips.
There was something remarkably mature about that smile—an air of worldly experience I couldn't hope to match.
“Listen, Kotoha-chan. I'll only tell you this one more time: if you insist on staying a polite little good girl forever, you'll end up with nothing at all in your hands.”
Leaving me with those parting words, my sister decided her lecture was over and strolled right out of my room.
“...”
Left sitting all alone on my bed, I stared blankly at the closed door.
“—If you insist on staying a polite little good girl forever, you'll end up with nothing at all in your hands.”
Those words lingered stubbornly in my ears.
Amano-kun had a girlfriend now—the childhood friend he had cherished for so long.
The two of them had finally gotten together and found happiness. Trying to come between them and steal him away... I didn't want to become such a selfish, awful person.
And yet...
“...I really don't want to give up.”
That was my undeniable, honest truth.
I still didn't know what I could possibly do. Even so, if there was still the slightest chance left—
“...”
Reaching down beside my bed, I picked up my school bag and rummaged inside.
What I pulled out was a printed handout titled 『School Trip Itinerary & Guidelines』.
Ever since our first year, I had been secretly looking forward to this trip—hoping against hope that I might end up in the same group as the boy I liked.
...The school trip to Kyoto, huh?
I couldn't claim I had the resolve to do anything drastic yet. Still, if this trip could help me bring my feelings to a true conclusion one way or another...
“Kotoha-chan, dinner's getting cold!”
“Ugh, I'm coming right now!”
Shaking off my spiraling thoughts, I threw back the covers and climbed out of bed.
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