Traveling With a Beautiful Girl - Chapter 45: I In your Song

Even though she had scolded her boss, Kanade-san, who was planning to go to work as usual the next day, ended up returning to Tokyo by bullet train.

“I’m quitting my job.”

Kanade-san said in the train’s waiting room.

“Huh… you’re quitting… Wait, what!?”

I was surprised since she said it with the same tone as if she was simply thirsty.

“Because playing the piano is a hundred unmeasurable orders of magnitude more enjoyable than work.”

So she said. What was all that talk about job satisfaction? But it makes sense, I suppose. After watching her play so joyfully, it’s hard not to agree.

“You live only once. You should do what you want.”

“That’s true.”

“I realized that earlier.”

Kanade-san said, somewhat self-mockingly.

“I have enough savings to last about five years, so I’m thinking of uploading videos of my performances to YouTube and making the world aware of my playing. As a cool and beautiful piano-playing YouTuber, reaching 10 million subscribers is guaranteed, don’t you think?”

“You say ‘cool and beautiful’ about yourself?”

Well, it’s true. As someone who uploads videos on YouTube, 10 million subscribers is a dream within a dream. But Kanade-san can probably secure enough subscribers to make a living.

That’s what I believe.

“Can you tell me something?”

Nanase opened her mouth.

“What is it? I owe you for lending me a shoulder, so I’ll even tell you my credit card number.”

“I want to know the name of the first song you played earlier.”

Ignoring Kanade-san’s joke, Nanase asked seriously.

“…Why do you want to know?”

“I’ve been, been curious about it for a very long time.”

“That’s an exaggeration.”

“Huh,” Kanade-san said, smiling in her familiar way.

“The title is ‘Look at Me.'”

“…I don’t know it. Whose song is it?”

“It’s my song.”

“…Eh?”

Nanase let out an astonished voice.

“I composed it when I was a freshman in high school, using Vocaloid. You know Vocaloid, right? When I was in high school, it was the heyday of Vocaloids like Hatsune Miku and Kagamine Rin, with many P’s.”

I feel like she’s off by a generation, but I certainly know about it.

Even now, it’s often talked about on YouTube.

“I was a Vocaloid P(Producer) at that time. I would play the songs I created and upload them to YouTube. But the views never grew, and I became depressed… ‘Look at Me’ was the last song I created, deciding to quit if it didn’t succeed.”

She talked as if remembering that time.

“…Well, it didn’t grow as expected. I became disheartened, thinking my music wouldn’t resonate with anyone. I played it on street pianos to commemorate it… nostalgic.”

“…I see.”

A gentle smile appeared on Nanase’s lips.

“That’s what it was.”

“…What do you mean?”

Tilting her head, Kanade-san listened to Nanase.

“At least one person was moved by your song.”

“…………Eh?”

Not understanding what was said, Kanade-san heard Nanase continue in a soft voice.

“Your song moved my heart, made me start playing the piano, become passionate about it, and win a national competition in just 2 years.”

“Eh… Wait… Could it be…”

Kanade-san opened her eyes wide, as if seeing something unbelievable.

“The girl who was watching my performance back then?”

Nanase nodded.

“I didn’t recognize you because you were wearing glasses and had your hair tied back.”

Kanade-san covered her mouth with her hand, as if everything had come together. Then she smiled and said:

“So that’s what you meant by ‘all this time.'”

“I’ve never forgotten your song for 10 years.”

“You’re saying such nice things… this is bad… I’m getting teary again.”

“Aren’t you too sentimental?”

“That’s typical for a performer.”

“I can agree with that.”

The two of them chuckled together. It was a reunion that transcended time. In terms of probability, it was an astronomical coincidence. Perhaps God had arranged it.