The evening streets were bathed in warm amber by the setting sun.
Tsushima Kagami had just walked out through the school gates with Sayuri, Kosaka Akane, and Machida Sonoko when they spotted a familiar figure hurrying toward the station.
It was Shimizu Nayotake.
She had a faded, well-worn canvas bag slung over her shoulder and was walking quickly with her head down, her bangs covering most of her face — the whole of her like soone trying to erase herself from the world. Even on the sidewalk, she instinctively hugged the wall, doing her best not to be in anyone's way.
"Nayotake-san!"
Sayuri called out and waved. The slight figure paused, slowly turned her head, and when she saw it was Tsushima Kagami and the others, gave a stiff little nod.
"H-hello… everyone…"
She said it in a voice so small it could barely survive the evening breeze.
"Heading to your part-ti job again?"
Sayuri moved closer, her tone warm with concern.
Since the drinking party they'd all attended together before, everyone had picked up at least so idea of what Shimizu Nayotake's situation was like.
Shimizu Nayotake nodded.
"Convenience store. Night shift."
"When do you finish?"
"Nine o'clock."
Sayuri's eyes lit up. She glanced back at Tsushima Kagami, Kosaka Akane, and Machida Sonoko.
All three of them instantly understood what that look ant.
Sure enough, Sayuri took Shimizu Nayotake's hand and said, "Then after your shift, let's all go out! Karaoke! My treat!"
Shimizu Nayotake froze. She opened her mouth, seed about to say sothing, but in the end just lowered her head.
"I… I still have work…"
"We said after your shift!"
Sayuri was not letting this go.
"Nine o'clock finish, karaoke stays open till past midnight — plenty of ti!"
Shimizu Nayotake stood there, at a loss. Her gaze drifted across each of their faces and finally settled on Tsushima Kagami.
There was a lot in that look — unease, hesitation, and buried beneath it all, sothing so faint it was almost invisible: sothing that might have been hope.
Tsushima Kagami smiled at her.
"Co along."
"Think of it as… unwinding a little."
Shimizu Nayotake was quiet for a few seconds. Then she gave a small, gentle nod.
9:15 PM. A private karaoke room.
Sayuri had already seized control of the song-ordering tablet.
Kosaka Akane sat on the sofa sipping her drink. Machida Sonoko had her notebook at the ready, poised to capture any inspiration that might strike. Shimizu Nayotake was curled up in the corner of the sofa like a hedgehog that had tucked itself into a ball.
"Nayotake, sing sothing!" Sayuri held out the microphone.
Shimizu Nayotake shook her head, her voice barely audible. "I… I can't…"
"Just give it a try! It's just us here!"
Sayuri pressed the microphone into her hands.
Shimizu Nayotake gripped it, her fingers trembling slightly. She looked at the screen — Sayuri had already queued a song for her. It was an insert song from so ani, its lody gentle and unhurried.
The intro played through.
And then a long silence passed without Shimizu Nayotake making a sound.
Everyone looked over at her.
"I… I don't know this one."
"What? It's super popular right now!"
Sayuri had barely finished saying it when Tsushima Kagami also turned toward Shimizu Nayotake.
"Which song do you want to sing? I'll look it up for you."
Shimizu Nayotake clutched the microphone and nodded nervously, over and over.
"F… First Love."
"First Love" is a song written and perford by Murashita Kouzou in 1983. It is such a tiless classic that countless artists still cover it to this day. Many people outside Japan will also find it familiar — most of them probably first heard it as the Cantonese cover in Stephen Chow's "The God of Cookery." And in the world of ani, one simply must ntion the ending the of "Heaven's Lost Property," covered by Hayami Saori.
Everyone was a little surprised to hear the title. Then Tsushima Kagami queued it up.
As the opening bars of the song began to play, Shimizu Nayotake drew a deep breath.
And then—
She sang.
In that instant, the air in the whole room went still.
Shimizu Nayotake's voice was clear as a mountain stream, bright as the first ray of sunlight on an early winter morning. It was utterly unlike the near-inaudible whisper she spoke in day to day — this voice carried a piercing quality that drove straight into everyone's chest.
Kosaka Akane's drink stopped halfway to her lips.
Machida Sonoko nearly dropped her notebook and pen.
Sayuri's mouth fell open in a perfect O and stayed that way.
Tsushima Kagami leaned back against the sofa, thinking to himself: a gift from the heavens, truly. Sayuri's SOS signal had clearly reached the right deity.
Shimizu Nayotake finished a verse, noticed everyone staring at her, and her face flushed crimson. Her voice cut off. She shrank back into her corner, bangs falling forward to hide her eyes again.
"Wh… what's wrong…"
"Shimizu-san!"
Sayuri lunged over and grabbed her hands.
"How can you sing like that?!"
"I…"
"It's my mother's favourite song."
"She used to sing it for when I was little. I just… naturally learned it."
Shimizu Nayotake didn't know what to do with herself.
"Another one!" Sayuri was already browsing for the next song.
"No — ten more!"
For the next hour, Shimizu Nayotake was "forcibly" walked through several more songs by Sayuri, Kosaka Akane, and Machida Sonoko.
Every ti a song ended, the room erupted in applause and astonished cries.
But what surprised them most wasn't just her voice — it was the way she was when she sang. The mont the music started and she picked up the microphone, she beca a completely different person.
That girl who was always shrinking into corners, head down, desperate to disappear — the vacant look in her eyes suddenly had light in it, her gaze bright and alive. Her body swayed gently with the lody; her expression, usually so blank, ca to life.
But the mont a song ended and the microphone went down, she turned back into the sa quiet, withdrawn Shimizu Nayotake.
The contrast struck everyone in the room with a strange, profound sense of wonder.
"Shimizu-san, you've really never had any singing lessons?" Machida Sonoko couldn't help but ask.
Shimizu Nayotake shook her head, then hesitated before speaking.
"When I was little… my mother used to sing for a lot."
She paused, her voice growing quieter still.
"My mother has a beautiful singing voice. She taught a lot of songs."
Sayuri, Kosaka Akane, and Machida Sonoko all reached out at the sa mont and took Shimizu Nayotake's hands.
"Shimizu-san, please join us!"
"…?"
"The SOS Brigade!"
Sayuri's eyes were sparkling as she looked at Shimizu Nayotake.
"We're forming a band for the culture festival! We're short a lead vocalist — and you're exactly who we need!"
Shimizu Nayotake was taken aback. She looked at Sayuri, then Kosaka Akane, then Machida Sonoko, and finally at Tsushima Kagami.
"But… I can't…"
"What was wrong with what you just sang?" Kosaka Akane said it in the sa tone she reserved for Sayuri — the kind that left no room for argunt.
"That was better than a lot of professional singers!"
"And besides —" Machida Sonoko also turned to Shimizu Nayotake. "When you sing, you beco a completely different person. That state you're in — that's exactly what we want to capture in our manga!"
Shimizu Nayotake lowered her head and was quiet for a long mont.
Then she said softly, "I… I have my part-ti jobs. I don't have a lot of free ti…"
The others exchanged glances.
Seeing Shimizu Nayotake starting to waver, Sayuri quickly jumped in. "We practice together whenever you're free! If you're not free, we don't practice! The culture festival is still over a month away — no rush!"
"Right." Kosaka Akane nodded with a smile. "We can work around your schedule. It doesn't have to be every day."
Shimizu Nayotake looked up at them, uncertain.
"I… am I really okay for this?"
"Yes! Absolutely! One hundred percent yes!"
Sayuri and the other two, reading Shimizu Nayotake's answer as a yes, were already jumping up and down with glee.
____
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