Yayoi Can't Hide Her Secrets - 14 - 14 - What I Can Do For You
What I Can Do For You
“Hah…“
I came home from my date and let out a huge sigh that I had been holding back for a long time.
There was nobody else at home. It was a relief to be home so early and not have Sanae think that I had failed my date.
Instead of going back to my room, I headed straight for the Japanese-styled room.
Since my mother is a piano teacher, we had an upright piano in our house for practice.
On top of the blackwood frame was a metronome, a no-bra CD that Sanae must have left behind, and some handwritten music sheets that she had copied by ear.
I took off the cover over the keys and sat down on the chair.
I hadn’t sat at this piano ever since the day I had practiced before the festival. I had been avoiding it for the past six months.
“Fuu…”
I put my hand on the keyboard.
I wanted to make sure that my earlier inability to play on the street piano was just temporary. I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t like I couldn’t play it at all anymore, but that I was just a little nervous in front of Yayoi-chan. It couldn’t have been due to trauma, I told myself.
I won’t say that I don’t regret the mistake I made in a packed gymnasium. It was just a tiny fluke that kept me away from the piano for a little while.
It’s because I had loved playing the piano ever since I was a little kid, and I didn’t think that something like that would stop me from playing it ever again… It can’t be. That’s as far as I got…
I tried to play the same Donaudi piece as I did back then. Of course, I remember the sheet music clearly. The melody is still in my head. I can vividly picture the melody inside my head.
I tried and tried… but I still couldn’t move my hands.
I couldn’t play the piano anymore.
“This sucks…”
I hung my head in disappointment at myself.
I’m sure Yayoi-chan was just trying to make me happy. If I had played the piano in a stylish way, this date would have been perfect.
And yet…
I wonder if Yayoi-chan is entitled to tell me to do what she wants to, when she can’t even do what she wants herself.
A few hours ago I was very excited about our first date.
Now, I’m devastated by my own hopelessness, and I’ve hit rock bottom.
The date ended in failure.
I can no longer find the real Yayoi-chan nor play my favorite piano.
Monday.
“Good morning…”
When I entered the classroom, all my classmates’ gazes focused on me at once.
“Satsuki! Over here, over here!”
Mayama was already waiting for me at my desk and beckoning me to come over. I could almost imagine what he was up to, because his eyes were smiling.
I glanced at Yayoi-chan’s seat and saw that she had not arrived yet, even though she usually arrives early for school.
“Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing.”
“Of course something did! You had a date, didn’t you?”
I stopped him before he got any further into it, but Mayama sat on my desk with a thump and got involved. He’s been annoying me since this morning.
Since I had so brazenly asked Yayoi-chan out on a date in the classroom, my classmates seemed to be listening in on our conversation, eager to know the outcome.
Of course, I had nothing to brag about, and I didn’t want to be reminded of it anymore.
“So, where were you?”
“Where were we…?”
Mayama, with his nose flashing, asked me something trivial. It would be a mistake to say what “where” refers to.
“Hey, don’t tell me you went home in the morning.”
“Of course not!”
The imagination of a high school boy seems to have no bounds this morning. I can’t speak for Mayama, but I had a lot of fantasies too.
“I’m fucking jealous! It’s not fair, it’s only you!”
Mayama pressed his fist against the desk.
I can understand why Mayama would be jealous of me, since it is true that Yayoi-chan is considered the most beautiful girl in the school, despite some bad rumors about her.
But right now I can’t get carried away or brag about it at all.
“I mean, did you even have a proper conversation or something?”
Mayama, who only knows Yayoi-chan’s state in the classroom, bends forward in curiosity.
“Well, in case you’re wondering…”
“I hope this helps her get comfortable in class. I wish I could talk to her too.”
“I hope so…”
That was the original goal after all. That’s what I’m hoping for too.
I was able to have some reasonable conversations and Yayoi-chan tried to smile at me in her own way. I wish I could get her to open up to the class like that, but the only thing that bothers me is the bad aftertaste at the end of the date.
If only I had been more firm…
“Yes, everyone sit down.”
While I was messing around with Mayama, the chime rang and the homeroom teacher entered the classroom.
While everyone rattled around and took their seats, I noticed that Yayoi-chan hadn’t arrived yet.
What’s going on? Is she late? She’s usually earlier though?
“Kinoshita is absent today.”
“What?”
I rattle my chair at the sound of Shinoda-sensei’s voice as she checks the attendance record.
My classmates’ gazes darted to my reaction.
“What’s wrong, Fukase?’
“No, nothing.”
Yayoi-chan is absent? Is she on sick leave?
No, maybe it’s…
With the timing of her absence, it was natural to wonder if it was because of our date on Saturday.
Was it because she met her father? Did he scold her for going on a date with me?
Or is it because I couldn’t play the piano? Was she that disappointed in me and so she didn’t want to see me again?
I can think of all sorts of bad scenarios, but they’re all not impossible to occur.
I couldn’t ask the homeroom teacher why she was absent, and after all, she was an agent, so it was possible that she was absent due to work instead.
Without any answer, that day became the first day since I started the second year where Yayoi-chan wasn’t in the classroom.
But it did not end there.
The next day, Tuesday, and yet again on Wednesday, Yayoi-chan was still absent from school.
My feeling of doom was accelerating.
It was the third day since Yayoi-chan had stopped coming to school.
It was lunchtime, and I was on my way home after buying some bread at the store.
“Satsuki-senpai!”
I was about to take the escalator from the first floor when I was stopped.
I looked up toward the voice and saw Uzuki leaning out of the second floor stairwell. I turned my head immediately away, almost seeing the inside of her skirt from down below.
“I have to go over there for a minute, so please wait for me!”
She said, running down the escalator.
I was actually thinking of going to the first-year classroom floor to see Uzuki-chan during my lunch break anyway, so this is convenient.
Of course, the purpose of that was……
“What happened to Kinoshita-san?”
As soon as Uzuki-chan came down to the first floor, I immediately asked about Yayoi-chan.
“That’s…”
I guessed another reason for Uzuki’s tone of voice.
“I guess she wasn’t on sick leave after all?”
As expected, Uzuki nodded her head with her mouth in a grimace.
Actually, yesterday, Mayama had asked her homeroom teacher to confirm the reason for Yayoi-chan’s absence. According to the homeroom teacher, Yayoi-chan had a cold, but I didn’t really believe her.
“In fact, my sister stopped coming out of her room completely.”
“Eh? What do you mean she stopped coming out of her room?”
The reason was completely unexpected and unnerving.
“I saw her when we had dinner, but she didn’t talk to me about anything. I didn’t think that she would even miss school though…”
The way she thought about her sister with her lips twitching, she was not her usual cheerful self.
“Why would she do that?”
“It’s my fault. It’s because I made fun of my sister and teased her about Satsuki-senpai…”
Uzuki-chan’s eyebrows drop and her shoulders slump, as if she was about to start crying.
“Uzuki didn’t do anything wrong! I knew it, it was because of what happened on Saturday…”
“What happened on Saturday?”
Uzuki asked me in a downcast manner, as if she was reluctant to say anything.
“‘There were a lot of things that happened that day…”
I’m not sure how much I should tell her about our date that day.
I don’t see how this is not related to the timing of Yayoi-chan starting to take a break.
“If you have something difficult to say to me, could you please talk to her directly? I think Sis would be willing to talk to you, Satsuki-senpai!”
Uzuki-chan holds her hands in front of her chest and gives me a sullen look.
As a sibling and family member, it’s Uzuki who worries about her more than I do.
“Even if I talk to her…”
Of course, if there’s anything I can do, I would definitely do something about it.
I was asked to open Yayoi-chan’s heart, but so far only the exact opposite has happened.
“Could you come over to my house after school? Please meet my sister!”
With tears in her eyes, Uzuki’s request was impossible to refuse.
After school that day, I met up with Uzuki at the school gate and we headed for the Kinoshita household.
I wanted to get things a little more straightened out before I met Yayoi-chan, too.
“Has Kinoshita-san been acting strangely ever since Saturday?”
On the way back to the Kinoshita house. The first time I saw her, she was walking a little quickly, and it was obvious that she wanted to get home as soon as possible.
“I was at a friend’s house that day, and when I came back in the evening, my sister was already locked up in her room. At first I thought maybe Satsuki-senpai had dumped her…”
She looked up at me with a glare, but her eyes were serious.
“T-That’s not true!”
I was embarrassed to deny it, but I had to answer seriously considering her sister’s feelings.
“Um… your dad didn’t say anything about it?”
“Dad? Why?”
Uzuki stared at me with a strange look in her eyes. Apparently, she hadn’t heard that I had met their father on the way to the date.
“I actually ran into your father on the way over.”
“Is that so?”
I wasn’t sure whether I should tell her that or not, but I felt like I should.
“Actually, my Mom and Dad have been away on a business trip since Saturday. That’s why my sister has been taking these days off of her own will.”
I guess business trips are a part of an agent’s job.
The Kinoshita family probably has its own unique circumstances at home, and I cannot go into this part of the story without getting too into it.
“I thought maybe your father scolded her. If he saw his daughter with a man, he wouldn’t be at peace with it. And I got a stiff stare back then too…”
If a guy like me, who I don’t even know what kind of horse I’m riding, was dating his daughter, then as a father, he would have been really angry.
I remember the look he gave me at that time, as if he was assessing me, and it sent chills down my spine. It was the look of a man who had been through the trials and tribulations of being an agent.
“He was just tense because he met Satsuki-senpai. He’s got bad eyesight and he’s shy, but he just looks like that and he’s actually very kind.”
I couldn’t believe Uzuki’s words in their entirety, but she certainly didn’t seem to be angry with me from the way I psychometricized her father.
Rather, he was happy to see Yayoi-chan laughing. His mind even leaked out that he wanted Yayoi-chan to be a normal girl. My left hand assured me that it was not a lie.
“And it’s not like her to miss school just because she was scolded by Dad.”
‘Well, what caused it then…? Didn’t she say anything?”
“Nope. She said nothing at all.”
Uzuki really doesn’t seem to know the reason why and twists her head.
So what’s the cause of this then…? Is it anything related to her work as an agent? Or Is it because of me?
We looked at each other and fell silent as if we were doing a crossword puzzle in which we couldn’t fill in the squares with the word “agent”.
With no answer in sight as it stands, the Kinoshita family’s house approached us mercilessly.
“Satsuki-senpai is the only one I can rely on. Please.”
Bowing in front of the house, Uzuki-chan didn’t seem to be joking.
“Yes. I’ll do what I can.”
I agreed to Uzuki’s request, although it was hard for me to see her because of the failed date.
If Yayoi-chan has grown tired of me, then that’s something I can’t really help.
If she thought I was cool when she saw me playing the piano at the school festival, then I would have no appeal now that I could no longer play it. I’m just a useless guy who can’t even escort a proper date.
But even though I am like this, I really want to do something for Yayoi-chan. I can’t just leave her like this.
“Please, come in.”
My second visit to the Kinoshita house was a different kind of experience than back before.
Looking up at the Kinoshita house again, I saw that it was a magnificent building in a quiet residential area.
I had no idea what to expect then, so I just followed Uzuki and didn’t go inside, but today I came over with a firm purpose in mind.
“Sorry for the intrusion…”
My back naturally straightens as I enter the Kinoshita household.
The house is quiet and a sweet smell wafts in from somewhere.
“Wait. I’m going to go get my sister. You can wait for me on the sofa over there.”
Yayoi-chan seemed to be upstairs in her room.
I was led into the living room, but I looked around uncomfortably.
There was a magnificent couch and a tall shelf lined with expensive-looking glasses. On the table was a newspaper. Upon closer inspection, it was a newspaper written in English.
It was more like a celebrity’s house than an agent’s house if I’m being frank.
If you look closely, you can see a large number of trophies on the shelves, were they awarded for something agent-like? I’m afraid to look at them…
I felt kind of bad about sitting on the couch, so I just stood there and waited, and soon Uzuki came back.
“Where’s Kinoshita-san?”
“Nope, I can’t make her come down. Could you please come to her room instead?”
Shaking her head, Uzuki’s spirits were low.
I doubt that Yayoi-chan would want to meet with me, but I have no choice but to do it.
I followed Uzuki up the stairs. The door to Yayoi-chan’s room was simple and unadorned.
“Big Sis?”
She knocked on the door and as Uzuki-chan and I waited quietly, Yayoi-chan’s grumpy voice came back, “What?”
“Satsuki-senpai’s here.”
“Ehh?!”
Yayoi-chan’s voice immediately changed. At the same time, I could hear the sound of something moving with a clatter.
“Why are you here, Fukase-kun? Wait a minute!”
Suddenly, the situation in the room became hectic.
Anyone would be surprised to suddenly have a classmate come into their room. I could hear the sound of something being opened and closed with a bang.
After a while, the door opened a few centimeters and Yayoi-chan peeked out through the crack.
“Kinoshita-san, I’m sorry for coming so suddenly.”
I apologize to her for now.
“I’m going downstairs. Satsuki-senpai, take your time.”
Uzuki-chan, perhaps acting a bit clever, went down the stairs. I was now completely in charge, and I felt tense.
“…Come in.”
The door was opened, and surprisingly, she let me into the room with candor.
For some reason, Yayoi-chan was dressed in her school uniform. She must have changed her clothes when she heard that I was here. Her black jersey was sticking out a little from her closet.
“Oh, excuse me.”
Of course, this was the first time for me to enter a girl’s room.
Yayoi-chan’s room was, in a single word, dull. The room was about the same size as my room, but it looked much larger, probably because there was nothing in there that was out of place. There was a bed, a desk, and a closet. That’s about all there was in it.
I remembered that she once told me that she had no hobbies. It didn’t look lively, or like a hotel room either, and there were extremely few colors present within. The black curtains seemed to symbolize this, and I felt as if I was watching a black-and-white Fellini movie.
The only girly thing in the room was a stuffed bear that was kept on the desk.
“What’s wrong? Coming here all of a sudden.”
Yayoi-chan was as calm as ever, not snapping at me as she had done the last time I came here.
She didn’t glare at me like she had in the past, but she didn’t smile either.
“You’ve been out of school for three days, so I was just curious.”
“I’ve been feeling a little sick…”
As if to cover it up, Yayoi-chan touched her hair and turned her back.
“Is it because of me that you’re absent?”
I didn’t take Yayoi-chan’s words to heart, but instead cut right to the chase. I had confirmed with Uzuki that there was nothing wrong with her physical condition.
“Is it because I invited you to…”
“That’s not true!”
As if to cut me off, Yayoi-chan turns around and denies it.
“Well then, why…?”
Yayoi-chan did not answer me back. The expression on her face was complicated and it seemed as if she was hiding something.
We both seemed to feel some kind of obligation to each other, and I could feel the air getting heavier.
I couldn’t play the piano, and Yayoi-chan met her father.
Each of us was holding back, and each of us was reserved. It was as if we were wandering in a maze with no way out.
“Because there really isn’t any… I’m sorry for making you worry.”
Yayoi-chan laughed brightly.
Showing her white teeth, it was a picture-perfect smile.
“Kinoshita-san…”
I felt uncomfortable with her smile.
Because Yayoi-chan, who’s not very good at smiling, was smiling so perfectly.
“Really, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
I couldn’t pursue the matter once she had said so much. The moment I did, I would have no place in this room.
“Then, I’m going home…”
“Yes… Thanks for coming all the way.”
I gave her a blank smile and tried to leave the room.
I’m sorry Uzuki, but I still couldn’t help her.
I couldn’t talk about her agent work, and I couldn’t talk about anything more.
After all, information learned through psychometry is useless in reality. Secrets are secrets and cannot be revealed to one another.
There was nothing I could do to open Yayoi-chan’s heart.
“See you at school again.”
Realizing how helpless it was, I gripped the door knob.
The cool metal feeling of the door knob made a certain memory flicker across my mind.
It was the afternoon of the festival, the first time I touched Yayoi-chan’s hand.
The unsociable, icy, salty Yayoi-chan Kinoshita was a distant presence that I had known only through rumors.
Even after learning of her fondness for me through psychometry, and even though we were in the same class, I kept staring at the back of her head. When our eyes met, she glared at me and we couldn’t even have a proper conversation.
We worked together by chance, and Uzuki-chan meddled with us, but in the end I did nothing for Yayoi-chan.
And yet, I am trying to escape again.
I am trying to admit my failure again, without being able to do anything for Yayoi-chan.
I had decided to face her properly this time, but…
“Kinoshita-san!”
I turned the doorknob back and reflexively turned around to look inside the room.
“W-What’s wrong?”
I was about to leave when I suddenly turned around, and Yayoi-chan was surprised.
“Kinoshita-san, I have something I want you to know!”
I turned around and faced Yayoi-chan head-on once again.
“Fu-Fukase-kun?”
I shrugged my shoulders as if my serious attitude had been conveyed to her.
“I, There’s something I haven’t told Kinoshita-san.”
I’ve been afraid to let my mind be known to others even though I could understand what another person’s mind would say due to my psychometry ability.
That’s what happened to me at the festival, the one that I had failed.
I didn’t want to be disappointed. I didn’t want to be hated.
I knew how Yayoi-chan felt about me, but that would be too cowardly of me. There was no way I could shorten the distance between us.
If secrets were going to be a barrier, I have to expose my own secrets first.
I am who I am now, including that failure.
You can’t change anything about other people by keeping quiet and hoping for the best.
The only person you can change is yourself.
I won’t run away anymore. I won’t chase after their backs. No more relying on psychometry.
I’ll push Yayoi-chan’s buttons by showing her that I’ll open up to her.
That’s what I can do now!
“About the piano the other day…”
I voluntarily touched on a memory that I had never touched before.
“The reason I couldn’t play that time wasn’t because I forgot the sheet music.”
“I-Is that so…?”
Yayoi-chan’s voice trails off, as if she doesn’t know how to react to this sudden confession.
“Um, please sit down first.”
Perhaps deciding that this was going to be a complicated conversation, Yayoi-chan pointed to the bed.
Both of us had been standing for a long time, and there were no cushions in this room, either.
Yayoi-chan sat down on the bed, and I sat down on the spot next to her. I could smell Yayoi-chan’s scent on me, and I was a little afraid of revealing my past.
I squeeze my left hand to shake off the strange nervousness.
“I… can’t play the piano anymore.”
I gulp in my breath and let out the trauma that’s been lingering in my heart.
Yayoi-chan looked at me with concern, wondering if she should ask why.
“The reason is that I failed at last year’s festival. Wasn’t it terrible, that performance?”
“I don’t think of it as a failure. I…”
She denied my self-deprecating words, but swallowed her following words.
Even if Yayoi-chan had seen me fail at that time, it took courage to talk about it by myself like this. I realize how painful it is to reveal my hidden feelings.
“I had been playing the piano since I was little. No one told me to play it, but I started it on my own. You could say that it’s my only hobby. Of course, I still love it.”
Yayoi-chan nodded silently beside me.
“When my fingers touched the piano for the first time, I was moved by the sound it made. Then I practiced, and the sound became a melody, and I fell in love with the piano more and more. I never got tired of playing it, day after day.”
I think I was five years old when I was first exposed to the piano.
I remember my mother getting angry with me when I touched the piano without understanding what I was doing. But little by little, I learned to read music, practiced as if competing with Sanae, and gradually became able to play it well. I did it because I wanted to, not because anyone praised me for it.
“I had confidence, you know? That’s why I was shocked that I failed… I had never played in front of anyone before, so I got nervous. I think I was traumatized by the fact that I
interrupted Mayo-senpai.”
That’s when I subconsciously distanced myself from the piano.
I used to love playing the piano every day, but that mistake turned everything upside down.
“On Saturday, in front of the piano, I realized for the first time how traumatic it was.”
The horror I felt when I realized I could no longer play on that street piano makes my hands shake even as I recall it now.
The separation between me and the piano. I felt like I had lost everything I had ever done.
“……I couldn’t play the piano anymore.”
Once again, I put the darkness of my heart into words and looked down at my outstretched hands.
I loved the sound that these ten fingers made. Each note played by these fingers would overlap and become a melody. The feeling of happiness was so rich.
Only when I was playing the piano, I was able to express myself freely. The sound that my fingers made was the most honest and truest of them all.
I had the piano, and the piano connected me to the world.
But when I stopped touching it. I was truly alone.
“Fukase-kun’s performance impressed me, you know? It was amazing that you could play it in front of such a large audience. I don’t think you failed, okay?”
I glanced at Yayoi-chan, who looked like she was about to cry even more than I was.
I was grateful that she said that, even if it was just to flatter me.
“But, I can’t get that sigh I heard from inside the gym when I failed out of my head. I’ve been putting a lid on the memory for a long time, but when I sat down at the piano on Saturday, I remembered it.”
It was a sigh that only I could hear. A sigh that I didn’t need to hear.
“It’s because I asked you to do something unreasonable…”
“That’s not true! It’s not Kinoshita-san’s fault. It’s…”
Yayoi-chan was holding my hands in her lap.
This is my problem. A wall I have to get over.
“I don’t know much about music, and I’ve only heard of the piano in music class, but even so, Fukase-kun’s performance…. to me was hope.”
Yayoi-chan’s words knocked on the door of my heart that I had kept closed for half a year.
“Hope…?”
“Yes, I could see it. A light of hope.”
Yayoi-chan gently placed her hand on her chest and closed her eyes.
“When I saw Fukase-kun playing the piano, I respected him for being able to do what he wanted to do…”
Yayoi-chan seemed to be remembering that performance of mine.
I wonder what kind of scenery was reflected behind her eyelids.
It was as if she was comparing me to herself, not being able to do what she wanted to do.
“That’s why you don’t have to think of yourself as a failure, because it reached me!”
Yayoi-chan put her hands in front of her chest.
Now I know why she thought I was such a cool guy. I had never thought that my failed performance had moved Yayoi-chan’s heart.
I had only been able to perform for myself, but I was able to reach only one person, Yayoi-chan.
That was also a hope for me. I was not alone.
“Thank you. Kinoshita-san.”
I felt saved and thanked her.
I had only heard rumors about Yayoi-chan six months ago, but now she was standing next to me, encouraging me so brightly.
She blushes easily, is sisterly, gives her dog a funny name, usually wears a black jersey, likes sweets, and has a bad smile…
These are the various sorts of Yayoi-chan’s I’ve found so far.
Just like notes on a blank sheet of music, various Yayoi-chan’s make up melodies too.
Just by sneaking a peek into her mind with psychometry, nothing will change. Nothing can be done by just learning things about her.
I can’t even make her quit being an agent.
So I’ll just push her back.
So that Yayoi-chan can do what she wants to do.
“I’m not doing what I want to do right now, but I’m going to do my best so that I can play the piano again. So, Kinoshita-san, too…”
I can’t mention any of the agent stuff, but I’m sure that Yayoi-chan will get the message.
“I want you to do what you want to do too, Kinoshita-san.”
I confided everything I wanted to say.
Somehow, the blurring of my mind seemed to have cleared up with those words.
I told her about the piano, about my trauma, and about my feelings for Yayoi-chan.
I grabbed my knees and turned to the side, and Yayoi-chan’s face was red.
I stared at her face, as if waiting for a flower bud to open.
“Fukase-kun…”
Yayoi-chan’s piercing voice.
The distance between the two of us, so close and yet so far.
Yayoi-chan takes her time, not trying to hide her red face, not trying to cover it up by touching her hair, but looking up with a pout.
“Me too, there’s something I want to do.”
Yayoi-chan’s eyes, which seemed to be lost in thought, finally opened and she stood up.
“It also has something to do with Fukase-kun.”
“With me?”
My crystal-clear emotions shook again.
“So, I’ve been wanting to do this for the past six months. I’ve been taking time off from school to do it.”
“Eh? What do you mean?”
I was surprised at the sudden link to the reason why I had come here.
Yayoi-chan got up and opened the closet.
Yayoi-chan took out a small toy piano.
“I bought it last year. I can’t afford a proper one, so it’s just a toy for kids.”
She patted the piano shyly.
“I only bought it and hardly touched it, But Saturday, after I got home, I practiced it all day.”
Yayoi-chan touched her hair again and again, acting very embarrassed.
“Practicing? the piano?”.
She nodded and put her hand on the toy piano.
“I wanted Fukase-kun to listen to me…”
“Eh?”
I couldn’t hide my surprise at the reason.
She took time off from school to practice the piano for me to hear?
Yayoi-chan sits on her haunches in front of a small toy piano. I watched her silently.
“I didn’t have any hobbies, and for the first time, I had something I wanted to do on my own. That is this.”
I look at the toy piano and Yayoi-chan in turn. I tried to say something, but the words failed to come out of my mouth.
“I’d like to say something, but I can’t. The sound of Fukase-kun’s piano at the festival still rings in my heart. When I saw him play, I wished I could play like that. Then I too wanted to…”
She broke off her words there and tucked her hair behind her ear.
I somehow understood what Yayoi-chan was trying to say.
I tried to open myself up with the piano. I thought I could be honest.
That was the sound of Yayoi-chan’s hope.
Yayoi-chan let out a peep and a “la” sound.
“All of this is because of…… all of this is because of Fukase-kun, okay?”
Yayoi-chan’s face turned around, her eyes narrowed, her lips softened, and a smile blossomed like a sunflower.
It wasn’t the bad smile that I had seen the other day, but a very natural and beautiful smile.
It was the moment I found the real Yayoi-chan.
“Kinoshita-san…”
Yayoi-chan had finally opened up to me, and I was overwhelmed with emotion.
“I was going to have you listen to me when I got better at it… I didn’t think you would come to my house today.”
“S-sorry…”
I never thought that this piano was the reason why Yayoi-chan was absent from school.
Playing the piano for me, is that…?
“I know I’m terrible at it, but I’ll do my best, okay?”
Yayoi-chan smiled modestly and tucked her hair behind her ear.
She put her fingers on the keys of the small piano and glanced at me.
“I’ll go, okay?”
Yayoi-chan then took a deep breath and began to play the piano.
She played a melody with both hands as if she was checking each note.
It was Pachelbel’s “Canon”.
The notes had been cut for beginners and it was very slow, but I could tell that she had practiced hard these past three days.
She was not very good at it, but the piano that Yayoi-chan played was filled with emotion.
This is the kind of music you play for someone else….
“Umm?”
Her playing stopped. It was as if she had forgotten the sheet music, and her right hand was wandering about in the air.
“Next is the ‘Re’.”
“Oh, that’s right. Thank you!”
Yayoi-chan, who was struggling to follow the sheet music, resumed playing. After that, perhaps she had become accustomed to the music, or perhaps because she was no longer nervous, but she smoothly played the whole song to the end.
“You did it!”
Yayoi-chan looked embarrassed, but I applauded her.
“You were very good. I can’t believe you’ve only been playing the piano for three days!”
“I even took time off from school to practice!”
She said it jokingly, but it was true, so it wasn’t funny at all.
Then Yayoi-chan turned around and straightened her back toward me sitting on the bed.
Our eyes met, and Yayoi-chan blinked twice.
“I wasn’t afraid of making a mistake, okay?”
Yayoi-chan’s cheeks were even redder than before, perhaps from the sense of accomplishment she felt after finishing her performance.
“I wasn’t scared at all because Fukase-kun was listening to me.”
Yayoi-chan looked at me with a bashful smile, and I looked her in the eye.
“Fukase-kun, you are the best.”
Yayoi-chan looks me in the eye and speaks with a firm but unwavering smile on her face.
“Kinoshita-san…”
“So don’t be afraid, Fukase-kun! The failure of the school festival can be a precious memory for both me and Fukase-kun!”
Yayoi-chan clutched her knees with both hands and her eyes were moist.
This is what Yayoi-chan wanted to do and what she wanted to tell me.
The thought that went into the performance earlier was conveyed through the melody.
“Kinoshita-san. For me…”
This was a message to me, who was traumatized by the failure that had dragged me down.
Yayoi-chan played the piano and told me that she was not afraid of failure.
Failure is not something to be afraid of.
You can’t move forward if you’re afraid of failure.
“Thank you.”
I now understand why Yayoi-chan thought it was so cool when she heard me play at the festival.
So this is what it means when the sound reaches the heart. It’s a performance for someone special.
“Thank you so much.”
I bit my lip and thanked her again and again.
“Thank you for that.”
Yayoi-chan gave me the biggest smile she could muster.
Then we laughed out loud.
I had finally found the real Yayoi-chan.
It was so great, so normal and so happy.
TL: “”
ED: Spynine01