"What about this version?"
"Boring."
"This one?"
"Also — not quite there."
"Then surely this one's fine? This is my personal favourite."
"Is there even any difference from the last one? No good! Boring! So incredibly boring! Did you take the wrong medication before sitting down to write this, my sweet little darling!"
"I refuse to believe it — what about this one? I rewrote it overnight!"
"Now this one is good!"
"Really?! Then—"
"This one is goooood — and booooring —"
"Hah?"
Dragging it out like that — are you actually messing with me right now?!
Shiina Taki flopped bonelessly onto the sofa in Chiose's apartment, both hands dangling over her knees, head lolling slightly forward — the picture of someone who had completely burned out.
She'd rewritten the thing over a dozen times, and not a single version had managed to pass muster with Chiose.
"I can't do it anymore. I'm all out of words. This is way too hard."
It wasn't self-pity — it was the genuine, hollow bewilderment of someone who truly had no idea how to move forward.
"This kind of thing is really subjective, you know. Just pick the version you like best — the music festival is coming up soon anyway. As for how the song turns out, leave that to the audience to decide."
Yoshiiro Chiose wore her complete and utter lack of enthusiasm right there on her face. She set down her phone and notebook and moved closer to Taki.
"..."
"Don't make that face — it's actually pretty decent music, isn't it? We're only middle schoolers, after all."
This was exactly the opening Chiose had been waiting for. She gently cupped Taki's chin in her hand, just as she had on the very first day they met.
"Hang in there, little Taki!"
"I…"
"I've always been Shiina Taki's biggest fan, you know."
...
"Hang in there, little Taki!"
"I… wait, huh? How are we already about to go on?"
Taki hid behind the curtain, fumbling somewhat frantically with her collar.
Time really did fly.
Only a few days after finishing the lyrics, and here they were at the music festival.
Not even a moment to properly mourn Shiina Taki's daze — and just like that, it was time for the original piece that Taki and Chiose had brought to the festival!
Taki had taken Chiose's advice and gone with the version of the lyrics she liked best.
"Hey, Taki — do you remember what I told you about the Black Parade?"
Chiose straightened out Taki's dishevelled collar. She had remarked more than once that while Taki was generally so capable and reliable, the moment something like this came around she turned as hopeless as Tomori.
"I remember. What about it?"
Taki was still muttering her own lyrics over and over under her breath — it was obvious she was genuinely nervous.
"Actually! I've always had a slightly different take on it! The way I see it — in certain circumstances, if you happen to meet the right person, you should spare absolutely no effort to encourage her, to support her."
"Because I fell head over heels for your… lyrics the moment I saw them — so I will absolutely, without question, serve you with my whole heart. I am your loyal retainer, and you are the little fish I've pledged my allegiance to!"
"So you are not allowed to be nervous. You go out there and you perform at your very best. Remember — in this duo, I'm on guitar and backup vocals, and you are the lead. Pull. Your. Self. Together."
The white-haired girl tilted the black-haired girl's chin up in her familiar way. Chiose was just slightly taller than Taki, so Taki had to tip her head back a little to meet those crimson eyes.
"You — got it! I'll give it everything I have!"
"Off you go, little Taki. Don't look back and don't look into the audience. Everything is going according to plan — nothing will go wrong."
"..."
Shiina Taki said nothing more. She pushed the curtain aside and walked out onto the stage.
[Will my sister be watching from the audience?]
[Will my own lyrics actually hold up?]
...
Will my own lyrics actually hold up?
A breath — and in what felt like the blink of an eye, the performance was over.
The audience's reaction was reasonably enthusiastic, but far stranger than Taki had imagined.
Had her lyrics moved anyone?
The people in the audience seemed excited. Taki was excited too — she spun around immediately to look at Yoshiiro Chiose, who was breathing hard.
Chiose had been singing and dancing up a storm just now; it must have been exhausting.
"Chiose? We actually…"
We actually pulled off a whole performance with an original piece?
"The above performance of "ChitoseXTaki" was brought to you by Shiina Taki of Year Two Class B and Yoshiiro Chiose of Year Two Class C. Next up is the Wind Ensemble's performance."
"Our set just ended — let's go see how the audience is reacting, shall we?"
Chiose pulled Taki around from the backstage area to the back of the audience seating. Honestly, she felt the performance had been middling at best — Taki's singing was average, the lyrics were average, but at least the delivery had been solid and their arrangement was decent enough.
Passable for middle schoolers, at least — probably?
"Don't worry, Taki. I think at the very least—"
"Oh oh, that song just now was so good — and apparently it's an original, too."
The chatter from the girls in the front rows cut Chiose off mid-sentence. Chiose had a fairly good idea of what the audience's reaction was going to be.
In that case — let Taki go hear it for herself.
Yoshiiro Chiose let out a quiet sigh, chose to say nothing, and took a silent step back, glancing at her watch:
1:15. Five minutes at most.
She was betting that the current Taki would make a run for the door.
Chiose looked around at this school — familiar and yet somehow strange — and found that the first face to surface in her mind wasn't Takamatsu Tomori but Sakiko Togawa.
Hmm… she hadn't expected that Shiina Taki also knew Sakiko Togawa. That chance encounter at the school gate still stood fresh in Chiose's memory.
Takamatsu Tomori, Sakiko Togawa, Shiina Taki — just what was the connection between those three? It was deeply, irresistibly curious.
Maybe she'd find an opportunity to look into it at some point.
Taki hadn't noticed that her partner was standing there staring vacantly at the back door. She drifted casually toward the girls in the front rows, doing her best to seem indifferent.
Please… at least say something nice about it.
"Is Section Head Shiina performing next?! Amazing — I literally came to this music festival just to see her!"
Taki's excitement died on the spot.
"Right, right — Section Head Shiina has led the Wind Ensemble through every challenge — I wonder what they'll perform today!"
Taki took a step back, quietly abandoning any lingering hope.
"Ha, the one who just performed is apparently Section Head Shiina's little sister — living up to her name, really. The lyrics were average, sure, but the composition was genuinely good. She really is talented for her age."
"..."
Taki's violet eyes shrank and shrank. She began to question everything.
This — was this what people thought of her performance?
Boiled down to a single sentence, it was:
As Shiina Maki's little sister — she'd done pretty well?
"No. I didn't work this hard for an evaluation like that. If all I come away with in the end is something like this… I…"
She turned and bolted for the back door.
Total disaster, total disaster, total disaster!
She really still wasn't good enough after all!
Chiose waited a few seconds after Taki had run off before stepping out through the back door herself.
She tilted her head and checked the time again.
"Not even a second off. Oh, little Taki."
Easy to predict.
Though — just like Takamatsu Tomori, Taki did seem to have quite the habit of running off.
Yoshiiro Chiose glanced back one last time at Shiina Maki up on the stage, then closed the door and went after her.
____
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