Even the next day, the world was operating as usual.
Blessed with a spitefully clear sky and woken by the cooing of pigeons, the train arrived at the station at its set time. People transferring at Shinjuku Station hurried toward their destinations without stopping their pace.
How was I supposed to organize my feelings?
“Takuto-kun, if you keep crying there, the ground beneath your feet will turn to mud and you won’t be able to stand up anymore, you know?”
“Please. Even if you have to force yourself, stand up.”
How exactly was I supposed to force myself?
Even if I did force myself to stand up, in which direction should I take the first step?
Not knowing any of that at all, I realized just how much the core principle of my actions had been tied to the existence of amane.
Since that day, I had lived for amane.
I wanted at least a crowning glory for the end, but I still had no idea what kind of ending would be considered beautiful.
I arrived at school in a daze. After passing through the ticket gate at Shin-Koganei, I found someone hopping and waving their hand at me.
“Konuma-senpai! Good morning! Over here, over here!”
Despite the bouncy movement, she had a somewhat panicked expression. I approached the small animal-like junior—Tsubame Taira.
“Good morning, Taira-chan. It’s rare to see you in the morning.”
“Yes, yes. Usually, I wallow in idle slumber at home until the very last second, so I usually arrive much later than you senpais.”
“Idle slumber, huh...”
Maybe because of her shut-in nature, this junior seemed to have a lazy streak despite her polite character.
“So, what's the reason you pushed through your idle slumber to wait for me?”
“...I heard from Shishō. Airi-san asked for both of your contact information, so I thought it was a lucky chance and gave Shishō a call.”
“A lucky chance.”
It seemed the disciple really wanted to stay in touch with her master as much as possible.
“...And then, well...”
...Well, there’s only one topic it could be.
“...Let’s go this way.”
I pointed to the right at the fork in the road.
“What is this road...!?”
“Apparently, it’s the route favored by normies.”
I felt like it had been a long time since I last took it, but there are two paths from Shin-Koganei to Musashino International High School.
The ‘Normal Route’ and the ‘Detour Route’ favored by normies.
“Why is the detour route favored by normies!?”
“Apparently, it’s because the detour drastically reduces the foot traffic...”
“Reduces the foot traffic...?”
She looked blankly at me for a moment with a face that said ‘Huh?’, then after one... two... three seconds—
“That’s scandalous!?”
Her eyes widened.
“W-w-w-w-how do you know about such a road, Konuma-senpai!? Who taught you!?”
“Azuma.”
“Shishō did...!”
Taira-chan’s face filled with disappointment. It’s not like I did anything scandalous with Azuma, okay?
Actually,
“Back then, Taira-chan, you probably hated Azuma, didn’t you? Because you thought she was bullying Hoshikage-san.”
“Please stop talking about the time when I was foolish.”
“Right...”
Taira-chan’s face suddenly became serious.
“...So, Konuma-senpai.”
It wasn't just a side effect of her serious expression; Taira-chan was staring intently at me.
“Is it true... that amane is disbanding? It’s a joke... right?”
“Azuma wouldn’t say something like that as a joke...”
“Right... so... it’s true?”
“Yeah.”
“Why...?”
Taira-chan had a puzzled look on her face.
“We thought that maybe things would work out better if it wasn't just the four of us.”
“But, but, you’ve been doing this with the four of you all this time. You said debuting was a dream for all four of you. So why would you stop here?”
“...The four of us together as amane didn’t have the talent.”
In the end, that was probably it.
Each of us might have a place where we can shine individually, but the band amane lacked talent. I should probably consider us lucky that we each have a place where we can shine on our own.
“Talent...”
“Actually, this is more natural. There are more things that don’t work out than things that do. In the midst of that, you just have to repeat trial and error and gradually move toward success. This was the first band for all four of us, you know? A first band... no, successful bands are only a tiny handful. Everyone knows that.”
To those words I spat out along with a dry laugh.
“Are you senpais... really talking about probabilities now?”
Taira-chan glared at me with eyes sharper than I had ever seen—many times sharper than the day she unleashed her anger at Sako.
“That’s a given, isn't it!”
A roar that seemed impossible to come from such a small body echoed around us.
“Isn't effort meant to overcome that? Aren't miracles meant to overcome that!? Senpai, didn't you—didn't all of you—come this far anyway!? Reunited with Amane-bucho, meeting Shishō, making up with Hasu-senpai... to me, just the fact that the four of you gathered is already a miracle that’s too good to be true! On top of that, at Lock-on, the school festival, and the audition live, you performed miracles! After creating that many miracles, don’t blame probability now!”
“But, it’s already—” “It’s not impossible!”
She clung to the front of my shirt, looked down, and whispered in a strained, tearful voice.
“It’s irresponsible...!”
Then, she looked up again and stared straight into my eyes.
She, who was supposed to be shy, was looking into my eyes from this close.
“The thing that changed my life was amane’s music, you know? It was the music you created, Senpai!”
“...!”
“...Please, Senpai. Take responsibility for changing someone’s life. You—amane—is...”
And then, I realized that I was in the same place as her, much further than I had imagined.
“—My idol.”