As a newcomer, Rin didn't have much screen time on the program.
Therefore, she simply gave a brief introduction of her group, answered one or two surface-level questions, and then began preparing for her performance.
Outside the TV screen, Hisashi unconsciously crossed his arms, watching Rin on the screen with a scrutinizing gaze.
To be precise, he was looking through her presence at Akira behind her.
Hmph, he wanted to hear for himself just how good this song written by Akira really was.
Standing alone on stage with nothing but a microphone stand and an acoustic guitar, Rin looked exceptionally charming, appearing fresh and refined.
And the moment the accompaniment started and she began to sing while playing the guitar, her charm was showcased to its fullest—
"
The wind blows fiercely,
My heart wavers a little too.
Watching you so focused and serious,
Makes my heart skip a beat...
..."
When the singing began, Hisashi was surprised to find that he had actually heard this song before!
But not by choice; it was passive listening.
Especially recently, while walking down the street, he would occasionally hear shops playing this song on their loudspeakers.
Although he had never heard it in its entirety, he had to admit it was quite pleasant, and hearing it played in public didn't feel noisy at all; it was a very comfortable song to listen to.
More importantly, when he happened to hear it on the roadside, he only thought it was "pretty good."
But seeing Rin perform it with his own eyes on TV now, it could only be described as stunning!
Rin's singing skills were excellent, and her interpretation of the song's emotions was spot on.
Furthermore, if one closed their eyes to listen, they would find that her live performance was almost identical to the version played on CDs in the streets.
But only "almost."
The subtle differences between the two actually made Rin's performance this time feel more alive.
Besides her voice, her pure and clean appearance, her bright eyes, the contrasting warm smile on her face, the crisp movements of her hands as she played the guitar, and her body swaying gently to the rhythm...
All of these elements combined to form a complete performance, achieving a "one plus one is greater than two" effect that made Rin look dazzling as she sang on stage.
The aura Rin exuded at this moment was not even slightly inferior to the so-called popular singers who had appeared earlier!
Thus, it wasn't hard to understand why the record companies Rin had talked to before Being all wanted to train her as a "songstress" or an "idol singer."
Because she truly had that kind of talent, like a natural-born songstress.
Of course, Hisashi didn't understand all these complicated things.
He only knew that her performance was outstanding and captivating, and even the song itself seemed much better than what he had heard on the street.
Although he was reluctant, he had to admit that Akira indeed seemed to have created a very good song and found an excellent partner.
Manga, light novels, songs...
They were three completely different fields, yet he had created excellent works in all of them...
How can someone be this talented? Is this even reasonable?
Not only that, Hisashi suddenly noticed some movement beside him.
He looked down and saw his daughter staring intently at the screen, swaying her head slightly as she hummed along:
"You in your straw hat~ like a swaying Marigold~..."
It was clear from her appearance that she had been completely captivated by Rin's performance on the screen.
So cute!
Seeing his daughter's adorable appearance, Hisashi couldn't help but smile; even he felt that the song was indeed quite good.
However, at the thought that this was a product of Akira's "distraction," he felt very conflicted, as if two thoughts were fighting in his head.
Meanwhile, as the song ended, amid thunderous applause from the audience, Rin received a few more brief compliments from the host before politely exiting the stage, and the program immediately moved on to the next segment.
However, little Ayano seemed still immersed in Rin's performance just now. Her eyes seemed to shine as she said excitedly:
"So this song was sung by that big sister! It's so good! She's amazing!"
"So?"
Hisashi raised an eyebrow at her words and asked:
"Ayano-chan, have you heard this song before?"
"Hehe, of course!"
Ayano nodded somewhat proudly, then suddenly left the sofa, ran to the cabinet next to the TV, rummaged through it for a while, and pulled out something that looked very familiar to him—
A single CD.
Then, Ayano brought the single CD to him and introduced it boastfully:
"Look, Daddy, I even have the CD for this song!"
"I see..."
The corner of Hisashi's eye twitched slightly as he asked while forcing a smile:
"But, where did this come from?"
"I bought it for her."
His wife, Oriko, who was nearby, answered his question. She smiled and said:
"A while ago, when Ayano and I were at the mall, we passed by a record store, and they were playing this song."
"Ayano liked it a lot when she heard it, and I thought it was pretty good too, so I bought a CD."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing..."
Hisashi shook his head with a complicated expression and then let out a long sigh in his heart.
Fine, fine, you're infiltrating my own home now, are you?
Akira, you win.
Finally, he decided to stop obsessing over this issue; otherwise, wouldn't he be tormented by it at home forever?
Come to think of it, as long as Akira didn't delay the manga serialization while doing these things, it didn't really matter to him, right?
Besides, he had no right to interfere in things other than manga anyway, so why make things difficult for himself?
With that single thought, the world suddenly felt much wider.
After letting go of these conflicts, Hisashi instantly felt much more relaxed.
At that moment, he suddenly thought of something and asked Ayano with a smile:
"Do you like this song a lot?"
"Yes!"
Ayano nodded vigorously and said:
"I love it! And I really like the big sister who sings it!"
"Alright, I see."
Hisashi nodded with a smile, his expression thoughtful.
Speaking of which, Ayano's birthday was next month, and he was still thinking about what gift to get her.
Coincidentally, in his drawer at the editorial department, there was still a signed CD of 'Marigold' that Akira had sent...
Since Ayano liked it, it should make a pretty good gift, right?
Imagining his daughter's reaction when she received the gift, Hisashi couldn't help but smile again.
As for the matter of Akira writing songs, all he could say now was—
As expected of Mochizuki-sensei, he easily did what we could not!
Also, I'm sorry, Editor-in-Chief, but it seems I can't side with you against Mochizuki-sensei anymore.