After submitting the stage plot to the live house Planetary System, Yuri and I were sitting on a bench in a back alley near a general store.
"...Um, isn't it cold...?"
"It is cold," Yuri replied as she adjusted her seat to huddle closer to me.
"How’s this?"
Even though Yuri, a member of the Seishun Rebellion, usually wears her uniform, she was in her private clothes today since it was a holiday. I could feel the soft texture of her coat pressed against me.
"Oh, yeah..."
I couldn't exactly say it was cold anymore. If she got any closer, it would be a problem in more ways than one.
...Is this part of her plan?
"So... what was that about wanting to tell me everything? Is this the opening of FF10?" I asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.
"Whoa, Konuma, you're talking about old games..."
"I don't want to hear that from someone who was just talking about Yu-Gi-Oh."
"...Yu-Gi-Oh isn't that old."
"Well, uh... maybe, but..."
I was getting talked into a corner over something trivial.
—No, that wasn't it.
The reason I felt cornered wasn't the argument itself.
In fact, to be precise, I wasn't being talked into a corner at all.
My mind had simply gone blank because of the sensation on my arm.
Suddenly, Yuri's left hand was tightly gripping my right sleeve.
"Konuma, did you play Yu-Gi-Oh much?"
"Uh, well... wait, are we still talking about Yu-Gi-Oh?"
"Is it a problem? Did you play it or not?"
Yuri stared at me, prompting the conversation as if nothing were unusual. Her face was buried up to her mouth in her muffler, so I couldn't read her expression.
"Ah, well, no, I didn't have anyone to play with..."
"Oh, I see... I'm sorry... I forgot that's how it was for you, Konuma..."
"Hey, stop getting so serious about it."
Having her show me the same kind of pity she did when we first met actually hurt my heart a little. ...But that joke helped me regain my pace.
"Did you read much manga?"
"Of Yu-Gi-Oh? Why are you so stuck on Yu-Gi-Oh?"
"No, it doesn't have to be Yu-Gi-Oh. What about rom-coms? Like 'Nisekoi'?"
"I read it, but..."
"Really? Whose side were you on?"
"Onodera."
"You're so consistent, Konuma..."
What did she mean by that?
"What about you, Yuri?"
"Kosaki-chan."
"We're the same then."
"Truly. We have those things in common, don't we?"
"I guess... Do we?"
"Well, then, how about 'The Quintessential—"
...We continued talking like that for about thirty minutes.
"Mmh, alright," Yuri said, standing up and looking back at me.
"Let's head home soon. It's cold."
"What!?"
I stood up reflexively, startled by her sudden shift. I felt like a variety show comedian reacting to a punchline.
"Why are you shouting?"
"No, wait, didn't you have something you wanted to tell me!?"
"Something I wanted to tell you...?" Yuri tilted her head with a look that said, 'Huh?'
"'It might be the last time, you know? I want to tell you everything.' You set it up so meaningfully! Are you telling me there's actually nothing?"
"No, I was just parodying the opening line from FF10."
"So it really was FF10!"
God, what a cliché retort from me.
"Wait, what about tomorrow's live? Or, you know... wasn't there some important talk like that?"
She had created such a heavy atmosphere!
"There's no need to talk about that."
"Ehh...?"
"Besides, I didn't say 'tell.'"
Yuri showed me the palm of her left hand. Oh, right, when she stood up...
"—I just wanted to let go properly."
"That's..."
I felt like I had heard those words somewhere recently, and I paused.
"The live, amane... it'll be fine. I believe in us."
Yuri clenched that left hand into a fist and gently bumped it against the left side of my chest.
"Because the one who always turns the world upside down is Takuto Konuma."
"Hey, don't expect me to be some kind of hero..."
"You are a hero, Konuma. Maybe not a 'Great Hero,' but in the sense of being a 'Protagonist.'"
"Protagonist? Me?"
"Yeah."
"No... the protagonist of our band is Ichikawa. She's the frontwoman. Even this time, she's the one who—"
"What are you saying? I'm standing here right now because you are the protagonist, Konuma."
"...?"
"...That face."
Yuri bit her lower lip as if she couldn't take it anymore and suddenly hugged me.
"You're uncool, you can't act stylish, and you're not cool at all until the very last second. ...But in that very last moment, your sound has always turned the world upside down. Right?"
"No, I wouldn't say..."
"I'm the one saying it!"
"...!"
"I'm so incredibly grateful to you, Konuma. Thank you for bringing me this far."
Against my shoulder, right by my ear. Her muffled voice bounced and trembled with emotion.
"I saw so many sights I never could have seen without you. I found so many songs I love, so many places I love, so many times I love, and... a person I love."
Drip by drip, her words carried a definite weight as they passed through my eardrums and seeped into my heart.
"I... I was always useless... I had no confidence because I had nothing. Because I had no confidence, I had no courage. Forget saying 'stay by my side,' I thought I had to hide my feelings forever. I thought I had to put my own feelings last."
Hearing her say that was so convincing it made a raw, neglected part of my heart ache.
"But I learned that it's okay not to be that way... and I learned that from you, Konuma. Not from anyone else."
"Yuri..."
"I'll say it one more time, Konuma. Listen carefully."
The grip of her hands on my shoulders tightened.
"We were able to come this far because you are the protagonist."
When she used 'We' instead of 'I,' it reminded me of the retirement performance at the school festival.
"I believe in you. Waking the heroine up and saving the heroine... that's the hero's job, right?"
"...Yeah."
"Then, I'm letting go. This is the last hug. —We're making this the last hug, okay? Got it?"
"...Y-Yeah."
With a small, happy laugh, Yuri gently pulled away. She cast her eyes down for a moment to wipe them.
"Ah well, I ended up talking about pretty important things after all. Alright, for real this time, let's go home."
She turned on her heel and started walking toward Kichijoji Station.
"Yuri."
"Hmm?"
Yuri looked back when I called her.
"To me, you're a protagonist too, Yuri."
"...?"
"Because your lyrics brought us here. Your lyrics are... um..."
...Damn it, I can't find the words.
"They're... really good."
"Wow, your vocabulary just died at the most important part..."
Yuri let out a massive sigh of exasperation, looking at me with genuine disbelief.
"I'm really sorry..."
"Well, I guess that's why I'm here!"
But then, she gave that cool, older-sister-like smile and looked up.
"Takuto Konuma needs Yuri Azuma."
And then, the girl who once said she had nothing, who had no confidence because she had nothing, and who used to write lyrics under a pseudonym, gave a bold, fearless smirk.
"Leave it to me. As long as amane is singing them, my lyrics are the strongest."
And then, the next day. December 25th.
"Thank you! We were the Cherry Boys!"
Backstage at the live house Planetary System. After hearing the Cherry Boys finish their set, we formed a huddle.
"Well then."
After taking such a long detour, finally.
—Finally, amane’s show begins.