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“Who’s that?”
“The famous middle school singer Kana. That’s just her stage name, obviously. She has singing talent and is quite bold when on stage. But in private, it’s as you can see.”
“The type with a clear on-off switch, huh. It must be hard on her to be here when she isn’t enjoying the place.”
“You seem to do well in comparison.”
“I’m just used to these kinds of ruckus.”

While it’s a gathering of famous people here, events similar to this are common with the rogues’ den. For really large-scale ones, we even got the whole neighborhood involved. Compared to that, this is still fairly normal.

“Aya.”
“Okay. I’ll invite her here.”

She can tell what I was thinking. This is a no formalities event. The most important thing is to have fun, age and status don’t matter. In this situation, if there are people who aren’t having fun, it’s rogues’ den policy to get them involved. After all, it would be such a waste to not have fun.

“I brought her here.”
“You mean dragged her here.”

The fact that she forcefully dragged her here by the arm is fine. But seeing how she’s absolutely confused, she likely doesn’t know why she was brought here. I just wanted to tell her that she doesn’t need to be so nervous, though. After all, the two of us weren’t nervous from the beginning.

“Nice to meet you. My stage name is Unknown. I’m just an ordinary girl tricked into coming here.”
“You’re not changing your speech, huh. Besides, the fact that you have a stage name means you’re not really ordinary. You should be familiar with me, right? I’m Aya, an aspiring singer.”
“Um, nice to meet you. I’m Kana. Um, may I ask how you two are related?”
“We’re from the same school, she’s my senior. We’re relatively close friends, but what do you plan to do after graduation, Aya?”

I don’t think our relationship will ever change. Aya will fool around, cause trouble, and drag me into it as usual. We’ll definitely have fewer opportunities to meet after she graduates, but that’s all. I’ll still be at the cafe, so she can see me whenever she wants to.

“Naturally, be your rival!”
“Yeah, sure, hurry and persuade Sherry already.”
“Help me with that, Anne. I won’t be able to convince her on my own. And I can’t rely on Rin, either.”

Is it just me who’s thinking that she’ll likely be given hellish training after graduation? Though maybe Rin also believes the same, but just doesn’t mention it. The only reason she was against Aya living alone was because she’s not confident in Aya’s self-sufficiency after all. Why is it the little sister who’s more realistic between them?

“You’re still a student too, Unknown?”
“I’m a half-baked newbie who hasn’t even debuted, though. I’m just pushed ahead by my surroundings, I’m personally not eager about it.”
“Um, I don’t quite understand your point…”
“What I mean is the people around me want me to debut but I’m not interested. Still, the rail straight to this future is already consolidated, you see. How do I course correct this?”
“It’s pointless, if you ask me. Even if you course correct, you’ll definitely be pulled back on track.”

It’s mainly due to Sherry and my future manager. I can identify the problem individuals, yet I can’t see any way to resolve this. Even the use of authority is meaningless since we’re at the same level, and if they get my old friends on their side, there’s no way to fend them off. At worst, even more problematic people might join in.

“Why did you become a singer, Kana?”
“A video of me singing was seen by someone from the agency, which led to my debut. I’m still new and inexperienced, but I want to give it my all. I just love to sing.”

She’s in for the same reason as Aya, huh. These days, you can stream videos to the internet, after all. It wasn’t possible back in my day. If we had the technology back then, who knows how far our embarrassment could’ve spread. Just thinking about it makes me shiver.

“Then, why haven’t you been singing? It’s not like there are specific requirements to be allowed on stage.”
“I just think it would be presumptuous of me to sing in front of such talented people…”
“That’s an unnecessary concern. Aya, what do you think?”
“Well, as her senior, I think we should help her grow. Mainly, her mental toughness.”

As a working member of society, it’s important to prop up your seniors and superiors. However, that’s not necessary here. With Kana’s young age, everyone will just kindly watch over her. Moreover, both Aya and I have already hogged the stage earlier. It’s no formalities here in the truest sense.

“Sherry! Lend me a bass!”
“You’re finally motivated. Still, you know how to play the bass?”
“I learned it before knowing how to sing well. Also, everyone! May we have your cooperation? Let’s have Kana sing!”

Hearing me, several people stood up from their seats. There were drunk people among them, but they were stopped by people around them. Great to see everyone on board. They properly understand the situation.

“There, the stage is set. There’s no way out of it.”
“As expected, Anne. That’s so nasty. You could’ve simply forced her up the stage without all this, you know.”
“Excessive stress is necessary to temper the spirit, isn’t it? See, she’s trembling like a newborn fawn.”
“And she’s completely pale too.”

It’s good enough that she didn’t faint. Her lips are moving in an attempt to form words, but it’s practically unintelligible. I’m also intentionally ignoring it, though. Meanwhile, Aya is whistling out loud while dragging her by the hand. Both of us are blatantly ignoring her.

“What’ll the songs be?”
“A medley of Sherry’s songs.”

Hearing my reply, Kana turns to me in shock, which is understandable. Think of how nerve-wracking it is to sing the original artist’s songs right in front of her. I wouldn’t want to do it either. Still, Sherry likely wouldn’t mind at all. On the contrary, she’ll probably want to join in.

“Anne, can’t you go just a bit easier on her?”
“Let’s push it to the limit.”
“Ah, not good. Anne’s completely in full swing now.”

I’m in my party high mode, you see. Now then, time for some extreme training for this junior from an agency completely unrelated to me.