Aoi Hoshino did not sleep last night.
Not because she was nervous. Okay, maybe a little because she was nervous. But mostly because her song wasn't finished until two in the morning, and after it was done she still couldn't sleep because she kept overthinking the part that felt slightly off.
So now she's standing behind the curtain with her eyes 60% open and a cup of coffee that's gone cold and completely useless.
Okay. Okay. This is fine.
It's just a selection. Just over a thousand contestants. Just three judges deciding your entire future.
Totally fine.
Not fine at all.
( >_< ) [ nervous.exe is running ]
The speaker crackled with a flat, tired voice —
"Audition number 47, Hoshino Aoi."
The kind of voice that had already called 46 audition numbers before this and had no emotional energy left.
Aoi wiped her palms on her pants. Took a breath. Stepped out.
— — —
Three judges. One long table. Spotlight.
Every single time Aoi walked to the center of a stage, some part of her brain always thought the same thing: oh wow, this is actually happening huh.
The one in the middle was Miyamoto Sae, the name that always came up whenever anyone talked about the NOVA Project. Right now she was writing something without even glancing at Aoi.
...Hello to you too.
"Please introduce yourself."
Aoi put on her best smile.
"Hoshino Aoi, eighteen years old. I'll be performing an original song."
Only then did Miyamoto Sae look up.
The judge on the left furrowed his brows. The one on the right set down her pen.
Okay, maybe that wasn't the safest idea she'd ever had.
But she'd already said it out loud.
— — —
The music started. Piano. A little violin. An arrangement Aoi had put together herself at eleven at night.
Aoi took one breath.
And sang.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In Front of Your Door
( original, Hoshino Aoi )
I'm standing here again
in front of a door that isn't mine
your voice slips through the old wood
but I stay anyway
not because you invited me
not because someone's waiting
just because everywhere else
my feet don't know where to go
and maybe —
standing here is enough
just listening
just this
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The room went quiet.
Not the uncomfortable kind. The kind that happens when something reaches a place you didn't expect it to.
The judge on the right had stopped writing without realizing it.
Miyamoto Sae didn't blink.
It lasted four, maybe five seconds. A warmth with no source — not the stage lights, not the air. Something that started in the chest and spread outward without asking. The two staff members standing at the back of the room exchanged a glance. Neither of them had words for it.
Then the moment passed. The warmth faded. The music kept going.
Miyamoto Sae wrote something in the margin of her evaluation sheet. Two words, circled once. She did not show it to the other judges.
And in the row of seats that was supposed to be empty, one person had gone completely still.
Straight black hair. A grey uniform that looked almost too neat. An expression that was hard to read. She was supposed to be preparing for her own turn.
Instead she'd listened to the whole song.
...How annoying.
— — —
The song ended. Three seconds of silence.
Aoi had no idea if that was a good sign or a bad one, so she just stood there smiling like everything was perfectly fine.
"Did you write that yourself?" the judge on the right asked.
"Yes."
"When?"
"...Last night."
( -_-# ) Left judge : *audible exhale*
Aoi pretended not to hear.
Miyamoto Sae looked at her for a moment. Then —
"The song isn't finished."
Aoi blinked.
"Huh?"
"The person standing in front of that door," Miyamoto Sae said quietly. "You never said what they ended up doing. Was that intentional or did you just forget?"
Aoi opened her mouth.
Closed it again.
Be honest or play it safe —
Be honest or play it safe —
Be honest or —
"I don't know the answer yet."
It just came out. No filter.
"So I couldn't write it."
Miyamoto Sae looked at her, with an expression Aoi couldn't read. Then she looked down and wrote something.
"Okay. Wait outside."
— — —
The moment the curtain closed behind her, Aoi leaned back against the wall hard.
Ha.
Ha ha ha.
Why did I say that.
Her legs felt a little shaky. She closed her eyes, counted her breaths, and tried not to think about the possibility that she'd just blown her audition by being too honest about an unfinished song.
"...That song just now."
Aoi opened her eyes.
A girl was standing two steps away. Straight black hair, a neat grey uniform, and a face that, even up close, was still hard to read.
"Yeah?" Aoi said carefully.
"It's weird."
"...Thanks?"
"That's not a compliment." The girl frowned slightly. "The melody's too simple. The structure's a mess. And your high notes were shaky."
( #>`_´ ) Aoi : this girl just met me and she's already coming for my neck???
"I know," Aoi said quietly.
The girl was quiet for a moment. Like she was weighing something that was a little hard to admit.
"But I couldn't stop listening."
Said with a tone that sounded almost irritated. Like someone who'd tried not to be interested, failed, and now had to say it out loud.
Aoi held back a smile.
"Reina Kurose." The girl extended her hand. Short. Formal. "Audition number 72."
"Hoshino Aoi." Aoi shook it. "Audition 47. Love how you said that just now, by the way."
"Said what."
"That you like my song. While looking genuinely annoyed about it."
( =_= ) Reina : *blank stare activated*
"I didn't say I liked it."
"But you couldn't stop listening."
"Those are different things."
"Sure, Reina-san."
A short silence. Not the awkward kind, more like two people deciding whether this conversation was worth continuing.
"Were you nervous up there?" Reina asked.
"No."
Reina looked at her.
"...A little," Aoi corrected.
"It showed."
"Thanks so much."
( ?_? ) [ rival? enemy? or... something else entirely? ]
— — —
Two hours later, the results came out.
Aoi stood in the crowd and scanned the board for her name. Found it. Ranked 4th out of the thirty moving forward.
She read it twice. Three times. Four times because that's just who she is.
...Okay.
This is real.
Across the crowd, Reina Kurose was looking at the same board. Her name sat at rank 1.
They made eye contact for a second through the noise and the people crying and the ones who were screaming.
Aoi gave a thumbs up.
( -_- ) Reina : *turns around and walks away*
( -_- ) Reina : no response. just. leaves.
...
Okay then.
But Aoi was still smiling when she finally walked out of the building. The evening air hit her face, and for the first time in a pretty long while, her chest felt just a little bit lighter.
The stage wasn't done with her yet.
And maybe, this time, she didn't want to be the first one to walk away.