Tonight, Chiose was fated to wait in vain for a Taki who was far too busy to come.
Beep—
Beep—
Beep—
In the dim room, Chiose's phone rang on and on, but Shiina Taki never picked up.
"The effect is even better than I expected."
She knew the other girl was busy — might even have fallen asleep already — but watching a movie alone in the dead of night really was a little lonely.
"Taki, you really are a genius. Haah."
The television was the only source of light in the room, and by that faint glow Yoshiiro Chiose read through Taki's lyrics again and again.
In less than half a year, could one person really have improved this much?
Taki's singing wasn't extraordinarily exceptional yet, but it was more than good enough — more than qualified — and that was before you even factored in the songwriting she'd already begun to show a real flair for.
"These lyrics… honestly, I love them. I never get tired of reading them. My adorable little Taki."
Taki had even picked up a few composition techniques from Chiose, and Chiose had a feeling that if Taki dug deeper into it, she might be able to produce truly outstanding music.
A genuine little prodigy. Was this really what the girls of the great band era were made of? Terrifying. An absolute monster — what a shame, though…
"What a shame that the only thing that's grown is her skill. How strange — why hasn't her mindset changed much at all?"
Shouldn't growing stronger make a person more confident?
"Could it really be that… because she has no results yet, no proof to show the world how capable she is, she's stuck in that gap between what she can do and what she lets herself believe she can do — and that's where the self-doubt lives?"
"That must be it… my darling Taki, that's what you meant by [the thing missing from your voice], isn't it."
Confidence. Recognition. Visibility. Respect. Hehe — everything you want comes with a price, my dear girl!
"Then let me be the price you pay to get them!"
Yoshiiro Chiose pulled back the curtain and switched off the television. The neon lights of Tokyo spilled in and polluted the stale quiet of the dark room.
"I said it before, Taki," the neon light lit up Yoshiiro Chiose's cheek, and Chiose was certain she was smiling right now. "I will be your support — and I will help you surpass your sister!"
Go viral, Shiina Taki! I've already paid the price on your behalf.
Now show me — just how far can you go?
Beep beep.
Beep beep—
Beep beep—
"Mmph… oh no! How is it already seven?!"
Shiina Taki hauled herself out from under the covers in a tangle of dishevelled hair, the grogginess of sleep vanishing the instant she registered that it was already the next morning.
She scrambled out of bed in a panic. She remembered talking with her sister until very late last night — she didn't even know when she'd fallen asleep.
Apparently her sister had been kind enough to carry her back to her bedroom. But…
"Oh no oh no oh no, I completely forgot about my plans with Chiose! I promised I'd go to her place to watch a movie — why are there so many missed calls from Chiose?!"
She was done for. Chiose was absolutely going to murder her.
And even if she didn't murder her, she'd force her into giving a full-body massage as punishment. No way was she doing manual labour like that!
How to explain it… she could say she was kidnapped — no, no, this was her own mistake. She shouldn't hide behind excuses.
Just as Taki steeled herself to go apologise in person, her sister's call suddenly cut in.
"Huh? Sis? What's up?" Taki's voice was a little hoarse — they'd talked so much last night that her throat was worn out.
Shiina Maki, on the other hand, sounded completely normal.
"Taki?! You're incredible — I can't believe my little sister wrote something this good. You're only fifteen!"
Huh? What?
Taki double-checked to make sure this was actually her sister calling and not some kind of scam.
"Did you not sleep enough? I haven't understood a single word you've said."
Sis, what an airhead.
"You — just go online and look for yourself. Open YouTube and you'll see a video of you singing."
"Hah?"
Today's first "hah" went to her own sister.
Shiina Taki was thoroughly bewildered, but she opened the app anyway.
[You can actually hear the word 'expressionless' in the song itself.]
[This song has a premium, VIP kind of quality buried in its bones.]
[This would make such a perfect vlog BGM — the atmosphere is completely on point.]
[If you pause at 2:48 in that video you can see a ghost outside the window.]
[...]
Comments. An unbelievable number of comments.
Shiina Taki got the feeling that if she tried to read every single comment under this video, she wouldn't need to sleep tonight.
The video must have been filmed during the third or fourth recording session yesterday.
Chiose hadn't stepped into frame — only her hands were visible, and occasionally the hem of her skirt drifting past the edge of the shot. The star of the video was Taki, singing.
"How did this happen?! Was this filmed secretly?! Or is this some kind of prank? No, wait… the algorithm push is insane. Did Chiose do this?"
Hah?
Hah? Hah?
Posting a video like this without telling me a single word!
This was so embarrassing! If people were going to criticise her it would really sting — not that Shiina Taki would ever tell anyone she was stinging — but the pressure alone would be crushing.
"But… every single comment is positive."
Taki lay on her bed wrapped in her duvet, rolling back and forth, one teary violet eye peeping out at the phone screen.
Was she really that good? Why was everyone praising her?
All positive, every single one — it was almost as if someone had deliberately controlled the comments.
Sure, this was the era of the great girl bands, but why would a single singing video rack up this many views?
"Wait — it's not just the one video…"
When Taki backed out of the video, she found that her entire YouTube feed had been taken over — marketing accounts and editing studios had re-cut her footage every which way, and all of it was being shared like wildfire.
There were also classmates messaging her asking whether the person in the videos — same name, same face, same figure as Shiina Taki — was actually her.
"Chiose! You — you — you — you —"
Taki was so startled she dropped her phone on the floor. She retreated to the bathroom, splashed water on her face, and slowly managed to collect herself.
[I have to go find Chiose! This idiot… what on earth has she done?!]
Too — too — too…
Taki's face was burning red, blazing hot, and her heart was hammering so hard it felt like it might shatter.
Change clothes. Put on shoes. Open the door, close it. Step out into the street.
She had to get to Chiose's place! No time to waste!
"Excuse me — are you Shiina Taki, the one who sang "Yoko" (Dancer)?"
A passerby shoved her phone in Taki's face, showing the video. Shiina Taki didn't dare look back — she bolted.
"No, no, I'm definitely not Shiina Taki! I'm…"
How did I just… suddenly blow up?!
Something inside the girl's heart caught fire.
Shiina Taki began to run.
____
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