Drunken Confessions

The message was written bluntly. As if I had sent it in a hurry, or she had.

Had it really taken her two days to think of replying—right in the middle of the festival? Had she not checked her phone this whole time?

The Lyra I had seen always gave a reason and tried to make things right. She knew how to do the right thing without hurting others with her kindness.

But I had overlooked something.

"The Lyra I had seen" and "the Lyra I knew" were two different things.

After all, I didn’t actually know Lyra. And once again, I had witnessed the difference between seeing someone and truly knowing them.

What was I supposed to feel? I couldn’t say I liked her that way—I just enjoyed spending time with her. Her energetic and confident nature made me feel lacking and weak, yet just being around her gave me a different kind of energy. Not that I could have liked her even if I wanted to—she had a boyfriend.

I could feel my emotions slowly morphing into frustration. Waiting two days, setting aside extra time to think about where we’d go in the school, what festival activities we’d do… I had put in effort. 

And this was what I got in return—a short, simple response.

I hated unnecessary moodiness and dramatic sulking. Maybe she had a reason for it? 

But even thinking that felt like making excuses for her, and I knew deep down how pathetic that was.

Sitting alone, I continued to watch my friends perform from a distance. I wasn’t the type to sing along with them, nor did I have any other festival activities in mind.

What else can I do? Just scroll through my phone and consume social media? Was that all fun and socializing amounted to?

Whatever. I just wanted to enjoy myself, and that meant listening to music. Analyzing songs and giving feedback to my friends was the most enjoyable and useful thing I could do.

Because I knew one thing for sure—
The only thing that would never betray me was my own taste.

13 - 2

The concert had lasted almost two hours. The crowd had grown larger by the minute, with people coming to celebrate their good times with great songs and great company. It was beautiful.

My back was starting to ache from sitting on the ground for so long, but it didn’t really matter.

The entire setlist was finished. The best part had been the Lyola songs—because those were the ones people enjoyed the most. Whether it was because of Lyola itself, or because of how well my friends performed, or both—I wasn’t sure. But they had really improved.

The concert had ended, and people were starting to disperse. The club booths were also slowly packing up. I headed back to my friends. They were all sweaty and exhausted, but I could see the glow in their eyes—the satisfaction. They were still full of energy, despite everything. This was what real youthful fun looked like.

“Great job,” I said with a smile.

At some point, I had gotten separated from Ray and Yasu. Ray turned his head and looked at me carefully. 

I understood what he was thinking and shook my head in response.

We were surrounded by people and club members. Some had come over to take pictures. I took a step back. I didn’t want to get in their way.

Then, something even more interesting happened. A girl was particularly interested in Ray.

The moment I noticed them, I started observing. The girl had short blue hair and was a bit shorter than most other girls. She was asking Ray questions enthusiastically, and Ray, looking slightly shy, was answering her.

Seeing him like that made me want to burst out laughing. It had been a long time since I had last seen Ray properly talking to a girl. Back in high school, he had been unfairly accused of things by girls and ostracized. Now, he was far away from all that, starting fresh.

That thought alone made me happy.

The last thing I saw before turning away to carry the boxes was them taking a picture together.

When I arrived at the club room, I ran into Aiko. She was placing a notebook filled with song lyrics on the table.

“Hey, you guys did great today,” I said.

For some reason, she hadn’t turned on the lights. Why was she standing there with just the light from outside?

“Thanks,” she replied in a flat tone.

She didn’t sound like the energetic Aiko from the concert earlier. She seemed down.

I wanted to ask about it, but I knew it wasn’t my business. I didn’t want to stick my nose where it didn’t belong.

Then, Aiko spoke again.

“…Was I good?” she asked.

“Huh?”

I wasn’t expecting that question.

Even if this was the third time we had spoken today, Aiko seemed to be in a terrible mood. I could see that she had turned to face me. She almost looked angry.

My next words came out in a stammer.

“Y-you guys were great.”

She had truly given an amazing performance.

Then, suddenly, Aiko started walking toward me.

“A-Aiko?!?”

I instinctively took a step back, but my back was already against the wall.

She placed her right hand on the wall beside my head.

She had me completely cornered.

“‘You guys were great’? You mean I was great, right? I was asking about myself!” she yelled.

Her voice sounded like someone in pain.

What the hell was happening?

At that moment, I noticed it—she reeked of alcohol.

She was drunk!

“A-Aiko, listen. You did a great job, y-yeah. Please just calm—”

“YOU TRIED TO FIX ME, BUT WAS THAT GIRL BETTER THAN ME?”

Aiko pulled her hand back and looked at me, tears streaming down her face.

We were so close that I could feel her breath on my face with every word she spoke.

What the hell was going on?!

“Aiko, where is this coming from?” I asked in shock.

“Where did you even find that girl?”

She had started crying, wiping her eyes with her hands.

Crap. She was completely wasted.

“Aiko, just calm down.”

I slowly placed my hands on her shoulders, trying to reassure her, to make her realize what she was doing. Even though it was dark, I looked straight into her eyes.

But then…

She placed her right hand on my right hand and started rubbing it.

“I’m not as pretty as her. I never will be. I don’t know where you met her… but I can’t afford to lose this easily.”

She rose onto her toes, lifting herself up slightly.

We were so close that our faces were nearly aligned.

Her tear-streaked eyes shimmered with sorrow.

And she was coming even closer.

My brain shut down completely.

“Aiko, I…”  tried to speak,

“…Stop!” then I shouted.

Just then, the lights suddenly turned on.

And instinctively pushed Aiko away from me.

And as I did, I made eye contact with the club members standing at the doorway, staring at us in shock.

What kind of situation had I just ended up in?!

There was no logical way to explain this.

“Yuta…”

Aiko, thrown off balance from my push, stumbled and ended up slumping into a nearby chair, holding her head in her hands.

The room was still silent. Everyone was still staring at us.

“Uh…” I swallowed hard.

“... I um…”

“HAHAHAHA!!!!”

Suddenly, everyone burst into laughter.

“Huh?” What the hell now?! “…What happened?” I asked, but no one even heard me.

They were too busy laughing their heads off.

I stood there watching them, knowing full well that this was going to become a huge joke. Damn it…

Later, I found out that Aiko had been drinking a lot during the festival. Since she was a year older than me, so it was legal for her.

While I was processing all this, Aiko had already fallen asleep. She had ignored all the warnings and drank way too quickly. That’s why she had ended up like that.

As people cleaned up and our story spread like wildfire, I continued carrying boxes.

“Wow, Yuta, I didn’t expect you to be so bold. Attacking in her weakest moment, huh?”

The club president teased me, laughing and nudging me with his elbow.

“I TOLD YOU—” I was red as a tomato. And both embarrassed and furious.

“Well, whatever. At least we have a great story for the hot springs.”

“…Hot springs?” What hot springs?!

“Yeah. Didn’t we tell you? We’re all going as a reward for our festival success.”

“Huh?”

And just like that, I found out last minute. As if all this wasn’t enough already…