When homeroom ended and after-school arrived—
“Konuma-kun, let’s go to the studio!”
Ichikawa called out to me with a confident smile.
“Yuri-jou and Erina-hime in the morning, and then Archangel Amanel and Sako-sama after school... What is this gap between Konuma’s youth and my own youth?”
Despite being the guitar player for the Cherry Boys, I was somehow being pestered by the 'Provisional Not-Cherry Boy' Ando.
“Yes, yes~ Natsutatsu-kun is going to Kichijoji with Erina~”
Behind him, Erina-san passed by, rolling a candy in her mouth as usual.
Erina-san always shows up for practice; she’s a model manager, but I wonder what she’s doing...
“Erina-hime—! Pull my arm too! Just like you did for Konuma this morning!”
“Natsutatsu-kun became an adult this summer, so you can walk on your own, right?”
Stopping at the classroom entrance and leaning her shoulder against the door, Erina-san looked at Ando with half-closed eyes, seeming somewhat annoyed.
“...I mean, trying to touch other girls when you have a girlfriend is the worst, you know?”
Erina-san actually has a firm sense of moral conduct, despite how she looks (no offense)... as I gave a wry smile, Ando shouted back while laughing.
“Why does it sound like I’ve got a girlfriend?!”
He delivered a grand retort. He’s got guts to talk back like that...
However, even in the face of that courage, Erina-san’s expression only grew sterner. Isn’t the temperature difference between these two a bit too much...?
“Hah...? Then, you did it with someone who wasn't your girlfriend...?”
“What do you mean 'did it with someone who wasn't your girlfriend'!”
“Well... you said you became an adult, didn't you?”
“That's right, I became an adult this summer!”
Ichikawa, standing between them, moved her head back and forth like a spectator at a tennis match, until she eventually raised her hand hesitantly.
“U-Um, you said it during the opening ceremony too, but what does 'becoming an adult' mean...?”
This was a question from the heart of the pure-bred, natural-born genius angel, Ichikawa Amane-san.
“Hah... that is...”
“It means this!”
Interrupting the exasperated Erina-san, Ando puffed out his chest and pointed his right index finger at the ceiling.
“I can drink it now!”
A snort of breath escaped Ando’s nose.
““Eh, is that what you meant...?””
My voice and Erina-san’s harmonized.
What, he was talking about alcohol...? You’re just a poser, Ando... I’m disappointed in you...
As even I let out a sigh of exasperation—
“What can you drink now?”
The natural angel tilted her head slightly.
Then, Ando made a face that said 'Isn't it obvious?', and declared with a smug look.
“Black coffee!”
Ah, so that’s what it was!?
“Oh, Natsutatsu-kun, you actually have a cute side!”
Erina-san, whose mood had suddenly improved, smiled.
“Heh, that’s amazing!”
And then there was the beaming Ichikawa-san.
Wait, wait, um, I can drink black coffee too, you know? Look, you’ve seen me drinking it at Mac, right?
“Well then, Natsutatsu-kun, who can drink black coffee, let’s go to the Cherry Boys’ practice.”
“Wait, you’re not going to pull my arm after all!?”
“You can walk on your own, can’t you?”
“Konuma can walk on his own too, can't he!?”
“Takuto-kun is Takuto-kun, so he’s basically someone who can’t walk alone!”
As the two walked down the hallway, their voices grew distant.
...Didn’t she say something kind of rude in the latter half?
“Well then, shall we go too, Konuma-kun!”
“Yeah...”
“...Can you walk on your own?”
Ichikawa offered her hand while grinning mischievously, so I—
“Come on, let’s go.”
I ignored the hand and walked past her.
A short while after entering the studio, the door opened and Sako walked in.
Sako stood in front of Ichikawa with her arms crossed.
“...Good work, Ichikawa-san.”
“...Good work, Sako-san.”
“...I heard from Takuto.”
“...I see.”
“...About the reconciliation, too.”
“...Yeah.”
“...”
“...Ow, I told you that hurts.”
What is this communication where they seem to talk only between the lines...? You can’t do that unless your hearts are in sync. Also, please stop pulling her cheek with a expressionless face...
As I watched with a mix of admiration and exasperation—
“Takuto, good work to you too.”
Sako called out to me while still pinching Ichikawa’s cheek.
“Sako, about yesterday, well. ...Thanks again.”
“...Same here.”
Whether my words satisfied her or she simply got bored, Sako let go of Ichikawa’s cheek and began preparing her bass.
“Alright, then, shall we do this!”
While holding her cheek, Ichikawa made a triumphant declaration just then.
“Hm?” “Mm?” “Oh?”
All three of our smartphones vibrated.
“Whoa...!”, “Oh”, “Ooooh...!”
What was displayed there was—
‘Yuri has created a Note.’
Yuri: ‘Sorry to keep you waiting! The lyrics are finished!’
That was the message.
＊ ＊ ＊
『Kyousou』
Shoelaces untied, I stepped, I fell
Crouched down, unable to move
That was probably not because of the scrape
But because I learned the pain of a scrape
Afraid of the restart, sulking, moping
While I was throwing a fit, you went far away
My aspirations are out of reach
Before I knew it, I was in last place
Just as I was about to retire
A powerful sound was heard from somewhere
The true identity of that sound, keeping the rhythm and hitting the beat
Was the pounding of my own heart
I have no confidence, I don't even know the definition
But I've decided now, to become the strongest
Don't wait for me
I'll be there right away
Just as I was about to lose my breath
A powerful sound was heard from somewhere
The true identity of that sound, like fireworks, like drums
Was the words I received from you
I might be bad at it, I don't know if it'll reach
But I've already decided, to become the strongest
Don't wait for me
I'll go even further right away
Goodbye, my sulking self
Goodbye, my moping self
Goodbye, my fearful self
Goodbye, my losing self
La la la~♪
＊ ＊ ＊
“Whoa...”
I let out a sigh of admiration.
I’m really glad I asked Azuma.
Azuma always scoops up the things I can’t put into words and gives them form.
“This is good.” “Wow...!!”
Sako and Ichikawa seemed pleased as well.
But there was one thing that bothered me. Or rather, there’s usually one thing that bothers me whenever lyrics arrive from Azuma...
“What’s this 'La la la~♪' at the end...?”
I threw out the question.
“Um, does it mean we should sing the last phrase as 'La la la'?”
“Maybe it’s like 'Hey Jude'?”
“Hmm, the lyrics are indeed short by one phrase, but it feels a bit half-baked for that, and it doesn't repeat like that song does...”
While we were discussing this, an additional message arrived from Azuma.
Yuri: ‘Sorry, I forgot to mention! For the very last phrase, no words felt quite right yet, so I just wrote La la la for now! I’ll figure it out by the time of the performance!’
Ho, I see.
“Mmm, Master Azuma is quite the teaser!”
““What’s with that tone...?””
Ichikawa said with a full smile, while Sako and I retorted with exasperated looks.
Feeling heartened that the interaction between the three of us had returned to normal, Ichikawa suddenly tilted her head.
“By the way, Yuri’s lyrics use 'Watashi' for the first-person pronoun, don't they?”
“What about it?”
“No, doesn't Yuri always call herself 'Atashi'? I thought maybe I was just hearing it that way, but look, the name of Yuri’s lyrics blog is apparently 'Atashi no Kashi' (My Lyrics).”
“That’s true...”
Sako also groaned in agreement.
“That’s probably because she’s writing them as amane’s lyrics. 'Heijitsu' was like that too.”
“Ah, I see!”
Ichikawa clapped her hands happily.
“That’s quite sharp for you, Konuma-kun!”
No, anyone could normally figure that much out... also, that’s rude.
With a beaming smile, Ichikawa gave the order.
“Alright, then, shall we do this!”
We readjusted our instruments.
There was no longer any need to confirm which song we would start with.
“One, two, three, four...”
From my count, we resumed the performance.
And so, as we continued to practice, nearly two weeks passed in the blink of an eye, and finally, the day of the school festival arrived.
The school festival that had changed my life had begun.