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Taking a peek at the choir club’s practice room, I’ve judged that there’s no need to add pressure to them. They’re completely serious, and their adviser is coaching them earnestly. With not much time until the show, I can understand their desperation.

“But they still have to know.”

I’ve already undone my disguise. Actually, I took it off before the meeting in the conference room. I can’t be wearing a disguise in an important situation like that. Finding a good timing as they paused, I entered the room, and everyone had an uncomfortable look on their faces. Guess why.

“My apologies for the troubles my selfishness has caused. And thank you for your cooperation.”
“We weren’t told who was behind this, but I’m not surprised to know it’s you, Kotone.”

One member of the choir club, who’s also a classmate of mine, came forward and replied. The others are a bit on guard. Still, it’s not surprising, huh. I’m pretty sure I’ve been relatively well-behaved at the academy. Maybe a friend talked about how I am outside?

“Is practice going smoothly?”
“Absolutely not. We’ve never sung this song before, and there aren’t any seniors with us, it’s really rough.”

With only members from one year, they’re suffering from a lack of people, huh. There are 11 people here in total. I don’t know if that’s many or few, I’ve never been in a choir club before. Still, haven’t your seniors already retired?

“I’ve come to share certain news.”
“It’s not bad news, is it?”
“I’ll let you be the judge. I came to tell you that there will be people supporting the choir club during the event.”

I could’ve kept it as a surprise, but they might feel shocked and overwhelmed during the show, and we can’t afford to fail. That’s why I thought of telling them now. Still, they’re blatantly relieved. I guess they were really worried about performing by themselves.

“You will be supported by me and Sherry.”
“Ha?”
“Is it unsatisfactory?”
“For real?”
“I’m absolutely serious.”

A few people staggered on their feet. I guess Sherry’s just too much. Sherry’s impact was so strong, they didn’t even question why I’m supporting them. Though my classmate does know about yesterday’s concert, that might be why she’s not against me joining.

“Just what kind of connections do you have?”
“It’s a matter of privacy, so I cannot tell.”

I could just tell them that she’s Aya’s mother, but this could be a secret, so I kept it to myself. I’m scared that she’ll take some sort of revenge. There’s still a possible issue, but we’ll see to that when Sherry arrives.

“Weak voices will be overpowered, so please do your best.”
“This way of encouragement is absolutely wrong, okay!”

It’s just a light joke. No one’s telling you to compete with a major artist. Only other professional singers can do that. It’s wrong to ask that of the choir club, who’s only experienced in participating in contests. You guys just need to do your best.

“I’m derailing the topic, but you seem pretty in-the-know regarding music, Kotone. There was yesterday’s incident too, are you planning to sing again this time?”
“Just to be sure. There’s a monster lurking on the stage, after all.”

Everyone’s confused about what I just said. There are monsters lurking everywhere. It may be in sports or the arts. Performance anxiety is a really common thing.

“No need to be concerned about it. Our job is simply to support, after all.”

Ending the conversation, I then left the room. Staying too long would just get in the way of their practice. There are probably people who became self-conscious just by my presence. I’ll practice in a different room. First, I need to see if I can even sing with Kotone’s voice.

“Not that it’s much of an issue so far.”

Hearing the original song, I tried to sing a bit and it didn’t go as badly as I expected. It’s been more than half a year since I became Kotone. I’ve gotten used to Kotone’s voice; actually, I can’t remember what my previous voice was like anymore. All that’s left is to see how much I can polish.

“Only repeated practice can solve that.”

I sing, review my recorded voice, search for faults, and repeat. It helps that I’m familiar with Isami’s singing voice, but I also have some singing experience since I had to keep her company in song practice. I remember Isami would find fault with my voice during those times.

“Shirose was much harsher.”

Shirose is the type to demand a professional-level performance from inexperienced students. Her high standards have been there since high school and, being a sore loser, I try to win her over but I’ve never gotten a passing mark from her. Just how high do I have to aim?

“It seems like you’re working hard.”

Because I was focused on myself, I didn’t notice someone entering the room. Turning around, I see a certain famous artist leaning on the wall. She waited for a good time to call my attention. How much did she hear?

“Thank you very much.”
“I believe it’s natural to arrive before the start of a show.”
“I’m very grateful that you didn’t bring Aya along.”

The one thing I feared the most is the possibility of Aya coming here. If it’s her, even if she had classes, she’d probably feign illness just to come here. She scares me. Hearing my response, Sherry’s eyes went wide in surprise before she suddenly broke into laughter.

“True, that girl would have come along. I didn’t tell her about today, so rest assured.”
“If Aya came, she might end up ruining the whole plan.”
“My daughter has built quite the reputation, it seems.”

Seeing her sigh, there’s probably a lot of incidents she’s reminded of. Aya previously wanted to live alone without even considering the logistics, and since I haven’t heard of her bringing it up again, I suppose she reconsidered. I’ll ask Rin about it later.