Episode 76 – Valentine’s Day Live 3

The live concert was scheduled to end at 21:00. There were about 20 minutes left until then.

But I’ve seen many people mistakenly believe that the concert is over now that all the performers have come out.
But in fact, from here on out, the stage will be more spectacular than anyone has yet imagined.

“Rin dono. There is still time, that there is, but what is the meaning of this?”

Sawamura has a subtle intuition and is quick to notice such things.
Well, let me tell you one thing, that it is very noisy, that it should be.

“H-How would I know?”

But as you can imagine, I couldn’t be so wild about clearing up the story, so I just neatly covered it up.
I feel like I’ve been lying all year. Like about pornographic books.

When I was thinking about such a stupid thing, I suddenly felt calm. Or rather, I became.

“Ah!”

I still have the hoodie that Mia took off!! If someone sees something like this, but it smells really good!!

I need to do something about this before my perverted taste comes out. But I can’t throw it away. …… I didn’t bring a backpack or anything, so there’s nowhere to hide it.
Wearing it would be out of the question.

What would I do? Should I just open it up and deliver it to the lost and found? But there might be someone who might get under my skin and steal it because of this good smell!
After much deliberation, I decided to make a phone call.

Of course, it’s for Mia san. I don’t think she will even notice, but if I am lucky, maybe the manager or someone will pick up the phone.

“Sorry sawamura. I’m going to the bathroom.”
“Oh, that’s a standard phrase when Koan kun goes to cheat on his sister. I see that Rin dono is also ……”
“Shut up! Shut up you otaku!”

Good grief, this is why I hate brats with intuition (culprit).

Well, putting all that aside, I left the arena with my cell phone in hand.

“Well of course she won’t answer….”

Well, if she doesn’t answer, I guess I’ll just have to successfully mislead Sawamura and deliver it to her in the waiting room after the concert.
But I don’t think it would be easy to go to the waiting room after the concert, and I don’t think it would be good if someone saw me hand it over.

With this in mind, I called three times, praying for someone to answer the phone, and fortunately the call was connected.

“…Hello?”

It was apparently Mia san’s manager who answered.
She responded in a slightly quizzical voice.

“Um, this is Nagishiro. ……”
“Oh, Nagishiro kun? Wait a minute.”
“No, um, just a minute!”

The manager ignored me and put the call on hold, even though there was absolutely no need for Mia san to switch since I was just returning the hoodie.

My tension reaches a maximum as I listen to the delightful tempo of the classics I’ve heard.

This makes it sound like I’m calling Mia san because I couldn’t wait for the show to end!?

“Yes, hello?”
“Um, this is Nagishiro. ……”
“Eh, Rin!?”

Mia san was on the other end of the phone and she was shouting loudly.
I guess the manager also interjects pranks in vain, like not telling her my name. ……

“I’m sorry, in such a busy time.”
“Oh, no problem. I’m having a little trouble here, too, so I have time.”
“O-Oh, I see. ……”

Without a hint of emotion, Mia san’s voice over the phone sounded nervous. Apparently, she has gotten into some pretty serious trouble.
No I’m nervous for another reason.

“I’m just wondering if you’re okay with that ……?　Any equipment trouble?”
“No, it’s just that the girl who was supposed to play the piano at the concert got a little tired from the heat.”
“Because of the heat?”

Is there such a thing as collapsing from the heat this winter?
Maybe that’s how much heat this concert has. Everyone was in short sleeves from the middle of the show.

However, hoodies are a trivial matter when the field is in such a difficult situation.
It is not good to add more trouble at a time like this.

“So what was Rin’s errand?”
“No, it wasn’t anything important. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay, bye.”
“Mia san, who are you talking to?”

And there I heard a pleasant voice over the phone.
It was definitely Azusa.

“It doesn’t matter. It can be anyone.”
“If you’re going to hide it, is it …… Rin kun?”

Then, a voice emanated from a very close place. Was this Kotoha?

“W-What if it was?”

Mia san is extremely flustered because she has been pointed at the right place.
I still can’t grasp her character because she reacts in an age-appropriate or rather girlish way at times like this.

“Give me that”

Then it would be Mirei. Her voice became distant at the same time as Mia san’s voice said, “Ah.”

“Mirei?”
“Ah–, it’s Rin senpai!”

Then, as if in response to my voice, Azusa responded. It might be that the speaker was turned on.

“You look like you’re in some kind of trouble, are you okay?”
“well. I don’t know, maybe I’ll have to go without musical accompaniment at the worst.”

Azusa responds in a no-nonsense voice.
She has a relaxed attitude that would not be a problem even in such a situation. Well, maybe this group can do acappella.

I was about to hang up my cell phone when I made such a calculation.

The dark clouds were beginning to gather.

“–Oh, by the way, Rin. Rin can play the piano too, right?”
“……………… eh?”

It was an abrupt proposal.
How abrupt? So abrupt that even over there the air froze.

“Oh, Nagishiro kun can play the piano?”
“I had never heard of it before.”

Shizuku san and then Harushita san reacted that it was unexpected.

“No, well, I can play lightly. ……”
“Well, Rin, could you come to the waiting room?”
“What? You just made a decision in a split second?”
“The staff is relieved to have found an alternative.”
“Stop filling the empty!”

I haven’t even received a formal request yet, let alone an approval. ……

I mean.

“I’d never be able to perform in front of that many people.”

I couldn’t play piano in front of more than 10,000 people. With my ability, I would have screwed up and ruined the concert.

And if I made a blunder at the most important moment of such an important concert, the entire concert might be considered a failure.

But I could never do it, I was about to repeat myself, when Mia san interrupted me.

“It’s all right. I can cover for one person’s mistake.”
“Mia san…..”

Her voice is not Mia san’s usual joking voice, but serious.

“In general, the members here aren’t that soft. Isn’t that right?”

Then Mia san says to Mirei and the others as if testing them.
I felt an out-of-place happiness at Mia san’s words as if she was acknowledging them. Mia san, whom I had thought of as a monster, recognized Mirei and the others, at least to a certain extent.

Instead of indicating a response to it, each of the girls sent another word.

“Rin kun is the one who wrote this song, right? You should take responsibility.”
“I want to hear Nagishiro kun play the piano.”
“Senpai, it’s not cool if you’re so sullen!”
“Rin. get a grip.”

These are encouraging words. Behind these words was the confidence of the girls that even if I made a mistake, they would pull it together.

Then there is Harushita san, the last one.

“Then let’s have him come in early.”

What a mood-destroying clerical thing to say.
Then I made up my mind.

“I understand. I’m on my way.”

I’m nervous. My hands are already sweating profusely, and to be honest, I feel really lame.
I’m not sure if I’ll be able to give a proper performance at this rate.

But at the same time.

There was a certain uplifting in the pure instinct.