When we first stepped into the karaoke place, I was honestly consumed with the thought that I had to sing well, somehow. I paid for an hour upfront, closed the door to our assigned room, and picked up the remote. After a moment of hesitation, I passed it to Hina.
"Hina-chan, why don't you start with the songs you wanted to practice? I'm just going to browse the popular charts for a bit."
"Okay, I will. If it sounds bad..."
"Ahaha, that'll never... yes, that'll absolutely never happen, so don't you worry."
I listened attentively as Hina began to sing, scrolling through the charts. There wasn't a single familiar song.
...Well, of course there wouldn't be.
I could see Hina was also struggling to sing an unfamiliar song, so I turned on the sheet music function. It was a feature I was going to need for myself anyway.
In the end, since I wouldn't know any of them no matter what I picked, I decided to just reserve a random song from the top of the charts. Then, with a relaxed mind, I enjoyed Hina's singing.
Compared to before she started vocal training, her breathing, vocalization, and pronunciation had definitely improved. She seemed to be stumbling a bit because it was an unfamiliar song, but at this level, I felt she had surpassed the point where people would just say she's a good singer.
After Hina finished, the instrumental for the song I had chosen began to play. But right from the start, the notes were suspiciously high...
Why is it that ominous feelings are never wrong? As the chorus approached, the notes climbed higher and higher, naturally hitting a 3rd octave F.
Just when I thought I had somehow managed to get through that, what do you know. What I thought was the chorus wasn't the actual climax, and the notes went up even further.
A 3rd octave G? Why on earth, of all the songs, did I have to pick this one? There was no way I could hit that...
Anyway, I lowered the key as discreetly as possible and managed to finish the song after a struggle. Hina's applause cheered me up a bit. Is this why Maestro is so obsessed with applause? I felt like I could understand it a little.
After that, Hina and I took turns singing, but for some reason, every song we picked had ridiculously high notes. The songs themselves didn't seem particularly good either; it felt like as long as a song had you belting high notes from the get-go, it would rank high on the popular charts. So, I deliberately chose a song from the lower ranks, and sure enough, the vocal range was a bit more reasonable.
Hmm, singing like this really made me miss my old go-to karaoke songs. In my current state, I could easily sing any of them in the original key, and probably handle most of them even with the key raised.
But then, as I was browsing the charts, a familiar title greeted me.
Even though I knew perfectly well it wouldn't be the song I knew, I couldn't help but fall for it. Resisting this was impossible. It was like an act of God.
And just as I expected, the song was completely different from the one I knew, closer to a quiet, ballad-style love confession. But thanks to that, for the first time, I found myself becoming more emotionally invested in the song itself.
I could mull over each lyric, empathize with its meaning, and pour my emotions into it. Without getting overly hung up on the notes, I gripped the microphone tightly, hoping that my feelings, though not perfectly conveyed, would reach Hina.
If you were to ask if I sang the song itself well, the answer would be no. It was obvious that it would have a completely different feel from the original. Since I had sung an unknown song in my own style, it would be difficult to call it well-sung, even as an empty compliment.
After the song ended, I paid no attention to the score that appeared on the screen and turned to Hina, who was sitting next to me with her head bowed low. Her face, flushed bright red, seemed to indicate that she, too, had understood at least a little of the sincerity I had poured into the song.
"Hina-chan. If you won't even look at me, I might get a little hurt..."
"...Ugh. Mika, after singing something like that, what do you expect me to do?"
Judging by how she completely turned her head away and covered her cheeks with her hands, this situation must have been more than just a little embarrassing for her. Her feelings for me were likely a little deeper than mine, which were scattered about, since she only had eyes for me.
But I was confident. It wasn't something to be confident about, but I decided to be. At the very least, I was fully prepared to make Hina happy.
"Hey, please, just look this way. Hm?"
I gently took the hands covering Hina's cheeks and pulled them away. Only then did Hina look toward me, but her wavering gaze still wouldn't meet my eyes.
"I see. It seems Hina-chan doesn't like me after all—"
"Th-That's not it. Don't misunderstand, Mika. How much I...! How much I..."
The moment I dangled the bait, Hina reflexively bit, and our eyes met. The distance between us closed. Hina's eyes widened before her eyelids slowly fluttered shut.
I, who had always stopped at kissing her forehead, cheek, or the bridge of her nose, tasted Hina's lips for the first time. It wasn't a passionate kiss, but a fresh, innocent one. I planned to move forward slowly from here.
"Chuu... mwah..."
After Nagisa's jab that had slightly wounded my pride, how many rough real-life practice sessions have there been? I imagined Hina's soul leaving her body as I playfully nipped her lower lip, traced it with my tongue, and sucked on it before moving to the next stage.
Yes, that's what I imagined.
"...Hmph?"
That is, until I was swept away by Hina's sudden, aggressive pace.
Even though today marked the first proper kiss between Hina and me, she pressed her lips against mine with a familiarity and naturalness that was almost practiced, launching a counteroffensive.
Caught off guard by her sudden change in attitude, I lost the lead, and at some point, Hina was straddling my lap, exploring me passionately. From beyond her small lips, an invading army declared its sortie with a light preemptive strike.
"Hah... Chhup. Mmm..."
And Hina's short-lived rebellion ended there. Hina, who had seemed surprisingly accustomed to light kisses, immediately became a complete novice the moment our tongues began to tangle.
Without even trying to regain control, Hina just followed my lead blankly. I broke the kiss for a moment to give her a chance to breathe.
But even then, with our lips practically touching, I whispered to her.
"I love you, Hina-chan... no, Hina. The Prefect Leader Hina, who takes on difficult tasks for everyone and never loses her strong demeanor... and the shy, everything-is-a-bother girl Hina hidden beyond that. Both sides are so lovely, I feel like I'm going crazy."
"Just calling my name in that voice is cheating..."
"But unfortunately for you, there's no referee here to make that call."
"Hnngh...! Hnng..."
At some point, we were locked in a fierce battle, tangling our hands in each other's hair, and what brought us back to our senses was the notification from the karaoke machine that we had five minutes left.
But Hina immediately added another hour and pushed me down.
It seemed she had no desire to break the mood.
So much for singing practice. It looked like we were going to get a whole lot of kissing practice instead.
***
"...Hina-chan, about that favor you were going to ask the other day."
"U-Um? What about it..."
"Were you perhaps going to ask me to kiss you—"
"...Please, just be quiet, Mika. Even if that wasn't it... I was planning on working up the courage myself today."
After our passionate time at the karaoke place, we fixed our messy hair and makeup and went back out to the street, walking with our fingers interlocked. Hearing Hina's honest confession felt nothing but adorable.
"Ahaha, so you were planning on having our first kiss when we said goodbye tonight?"
"..."
"Hmm? Why'd you suddenly stop responding?"
"Ah, it's nothing. You're right. It's just that... it felt like you saw me more as a child you had to take care of than a lover... so I wanted to change that a little. But I was worried you might reject me, so..."
"Shh. I understand how you feel, Hina-chan, but isn't it about time you realized? I'm really, really weak when it comes to requests from people I cherish."
"...That's definitely true."
So that's how Hina felt about my attitude towards her. Apart from her self-esteem issues, I could understand her feelings because there was some truth to them.
It was true that I saw Hina as someone I needed to take care of, but that wasn't limited to just Hina.
And I couldn't deny that Hina's physique influenced my attitude towards her. It was a simple fact that her excellent figure and handsome face were closer to my type.
Still, I thought that unique "soft on the inside, strong on the outside" quality of hers, which naturally evoked a desire to protect her, was one of her unique charms.
"Hey, Hina-chan. What should we have for lunch?"
"...Anything you like is fine."
"Oh, what a coincidence. Me too☆"
Answering "anything" when asked what you want to eat is a taboo, a crime. I think it should be legally prohibited.
After persistently questioning Hina about what she wanted to eat, I led her to a nearby ramen shop. I had a reservation at a restaurant for dinner, so I planned to take her there later.
I slipped our interlocked hands into my coat pocket, and the way Hina squeezed my hand back was so heart-meltingly lovely. Really, this is why I can't keep my head on straight.
***