Leave a comment

Give Kana some encouragement. Saying that is simple, but it’s actually difficult to do. If I word it the wrong way, she might end up even more dispirited. Even so, I am not smart enough to think of encouraging words.

“Kana, are you alright?”
“I-I’m not alright.”
“That’s bad. Capital B-A-D, bad.”
“Kotone, how are you so unfazed like that~”
“I’m not unfazed at all.”

This is my first time performing at a dome stadium as well. There’s no way I’m not nervous. Despite everything, I am a normal human. I’m ju~st a bit different in some regards.

“While this will be our first time singing in front of an audience, you don’t really need to be anxious about making mistakes.”
“But if I cause trouble for the veterans…”
“Hmm, I don’t think you need to worry about that. I’m not even thinking about that at all.”
“Eh?”

Yup. I don’t think about what to do after failing. This is our first time, so it’s only natural to make mistakes. We’re lucky if we do well. That kind of casual mindset is good enough.

“In fact, you can make all the mistakes you want here.”
“Eeh~!?”
“Even if you blunder something, the veterans will be there to cover for you. We don’t need to feel pressured over this.”
“That’s right. For you young girls, our juniors in music, we can take care and cover for any blunders you make.”
“We just have to sing any way we like.”
“Wait. Let’s not go with ‘any way you like’, Miss Anne. Your sense of freedom may even rival the boss.”
“Eh~”

That’s absolutely impossible. If we talk about being as free and whimsical as Sherry, I would need to have the fools with me before I could start to compare. Besides, I don’t think I can carry myself as well as Ani could.

“No worrying about blunders and how to recover after a mistake. We’re pretty fortunate to have a first time this favorable for us, you know?”
“You’re saying that it’s all in how I think about it?”
“You have to be optimistic, you know? Otherwise, you’ll drown in the negativity. And if that continues, you might even remain feeling down when you perform your first solo concert.”
“I can’t be like you, Kotone.”
“You don’t have to be like me, Kana. I am me, and you are you. You might need to become aware of your own style.”

Regarding this, I’m not really in the position to lecture people. What is my style even? In general, I’m merely imitating Ani right now. To know myself, I’m even thinking of changing my way of speaking to be closer to Ane’s. Even though it might just be another imitation.

“I’m still in the middle of self-discovery myself, so I’m not really any different.”

Am I Ani, or am I Ane? No matter what I do, their shadows pop into my head. What is “me”? I’m probably the one who understands it the least right now. Even so, those two taught me that life is something to enjoy, and I understand that it’s right.

“Whatever happens, you win if you have fun. That’s my personal motto.”

If you fail while having fun, that makes a good memory. You just need to make sure to learn from it and be better next time. Everything is just a chain of trials and errors. Is this from Ani’s life experience? I can’t deny that it’s peculiar, though.

“Whether you succeed or fail, does it really matter? As long as you can laugh it off later, it’s all good. If we don’t enjoy ourselves, there’s no way the people listening to us would enjoy our performance either.”
“That’s… I know that, but…”
“Just so you know, our veterans here are absolutely on the kind side. My acquaintances, for example, wouldn’t share any consideration and will only do as they wish. It’s hell, in a sense.”
“That’s… not really relevant to me?”
“This is a good opportunity, so I’ll drag you to them.”

Okay, now I’ve got a companion. She had a look of despair worse than when we started, but as she gets acquainted with the fools, she’ll get more mentally resilient. Yui is a good example. Rather, she probably had the aptitude to begin with.

“Acquaintances of Miss Anne, I suppose she’s speaking of EXIST.”
“They’re well-known for holding impressive performances. Apparently, all of it is mostly ad-lib?”
“I hear they always get scolded afterwards.”
“Fools who never learn, huh. They sound like ambitious people.”

They were probably just having fun. Though thanks to that, it seems like they got a reputation for holding concerts you never get tired of. Is the one scolding them the company president or Yui? Maybe it’s even both. I can easily imagine a future where I’m dragged into it.

“EXIST… If I’m not misremembering, I do recall hearing that they are graduates of my high school.”
“Kana. That’s where you’re attending? That’s a twist of fate.”

Frankly, Ani’s class was the only anomaly. Other than that, it seems like a pretty normal high school in my memories. However, I can’t help but suspect that it’s only normal by Ani’s standards, which isn’t reliable.

“They are graduates, sure. But they, or rather their whole class, is banned from returning there.”
“Graduates being banned, is that even possible?”
“They caused enough mayhem to warrant it. Just, so much mayhem.”

The school headmaster enjoyed it, though. The other teachers told us not to come back. They genuinely cried when Ani’s class graduated. I think it was from the relief of no longer having to deal with them ever again.

“I’m guessing you act like some well-behaved kid at school, don’t you?”
“I am well-behaved to begin with.”
“That’s no good. You need to mess around and enjoy your youth more. You only go through high school once.”

There are some who go through it twice, but that’s rare. In my case, this is my second time, which practically feels like my first time. That’s why I plan on doing as I please. To hell with Ani’s inheritance.

“Umm, Kotone, are you talking about that legendary class?”
“So it did become a legend.”

After causing that racket, I don’t believe for a moment that there wouldn’t be any rumors. I am curious if there have been some embellishments to the story. If there were, then just how terrifying are we?

“Leave the high school talk for later. There’s a more important problem at present.”
“I’m finished calming Kana down.”
“You heard her. Miss Anne succeeded.”

By shifting from work talk to a more casual topic, her nervousness got diverted. It might come back if she starts getting self-conscious, but there doesn’t seem to be signs of that happening. I pray that this doesn’t change during our rehearsal and performance proper.

“Real talk, these old men are the highlight and we’re just extras, so no need to beat yourself over this. They’re the stars, so I probably won’t be even up on stage for long.”
“Yeah. It’ll be the last 10-20 minutes, I reckon.”
“That’s surprisingly long.”
“With Kotone, I’m sure you’ll be there for a whole 20 minutes.”
“Just what do you take me for?”
“You get along so well with Sherry, don’t you?”

That’s rude. I’m not as free-spirited as her. I’m sure even Ani would deny that. After being roped around, in the end, I’m basically dancing on the palm of her hand. It’s insane that she basically decided my future.

“Now then, let’s hurry with our rehearsal. We’re pressed for time.”
“Because of Kana.”
“Well, I can’t deny that.”

With that, we started rehearsing and shortly ended. It’s pointless to go all out for a warm-up exercise, but I’ll go all out on the performance proper. I still haven’t decided on what to do, so I’ll try following my feelings. As for what to do after that, I’ll think about it then.

Support Us

Unlock Early Access ------- Select Project ------- Project Gender Bender Project Necro ∴ Support your favorite series and unlock chapters before the public release.