Be A Star

The awaited day finally came. As I entered the place, there were already so many people. How am I supposed to sing in front of this many people?

“Here.”

Mika handed me a face mask.

“Thank you.”

“You don’t want people to know your true identity, right? Are you ready?” asked Mika.

“Of course!”

Suddenly, someone hit my back.

“Ouch! Who is—wait! What are you doing here, Chiba?” I was surprised to find Chiba here.

“I heard someone is battling a popular singer here. I never thought that you would be that person.”

“A lot happened.”

Chiba seemed to understand my situation right now.

“Everyone! Tonight, I will lead you guys to witness the biggest fall of some weak singer. He will realize that he has made a big mistake challenging Ryu. Right, guys?”

That emcee purposely made that speech.

“Without wasting time, let’s give a big applause to our big star tonight! Ryu!”

I could hear many people shouting Ryu’s name. It’s fine. I can do this.

“Hello everyone! I am Ryu. Tonight, I will teach some idiot who doesn’t know his place. With my voice and a popular songwriter, I will make all of you fall in love with me. Ready, guys?”

“Yeah!!!!!!”

As he started performing, almost all the audience raised their light sticks. His new song seemed like a pop-rock style. He really asked a popular songwriter to write the song for him, I guess. His song was not bad to me. With all the dancers on the stage, he could win an award for best performance. His performance was too colorful. How can I beat him?

“Don’t give up, Ken.”

Her unwavering support made me come back to my senses.

“Thank you.”

“Ryu, your performance earlier was the best. I don’t know if anyone can beat you. Now, just come on stage. We don’t have expectations for you anyway.”

That emcee really didn’t care about me at all.

“Ken, wait!”

Mika called out my name before I went to the stage.

“What is it, Mika?”

It happened too quickly. Mika came closer to my face and—

“W-why did you kiss my cheek?” I was a bit surprised by her action just now.

“I thought that would help your performance. Just do your best.”

“Right! Do your best and we will wait for you here,” said Chiba.

“Guys, you are the best!”

With a big step, I made my way to the stage. It’s been a long time since I last performed in front of many people like this. I could see the audience, and they really didn’t have any interest in me at all. But who cares? The reason I’m here is to prove that I like to sing. No matter what or who they are, I will make sure my feelings reach them.

“Hello everyone! Tonight, I will perform a song that I wrote myself with my best friend. I don’t expect you guys to love my song. As long as you can lend me a bit of your ear, that’s enough for me. Bad or good, you guys decide.”

Enough talking. I continued my speech with a song. Slowly strumming my guitar, I took a deep breath before letting out my voice. I wondered why some of the audience suddenly started to have interest in me. Not only that, they brought out their light sticks. Old feelings that I thought were gone came back to me. I really missed them. When I finished my performance, the audience stood up and gave a big applause. Without realizing it, I started crying. Thank you. No matter what the result is, tonight I have grabbed my own trophy.

“Good job, Ken! Your performance earlier was just like our high school days,” said Chiba excitedly.

“I thought about that too when I was up there. Mika, are you crying?” Mika’s eyes looked so red right now.

“No, idiot! It’s just something entered my eyes,” Mika tried to rub her eyes in embarrassment.

Now, it was time for the winner’s announcement.

“I can’t believe what I heard just now. It was so sweet, but at the same time, it was sad. I have fallen in love with that song and its singer. Okay, if anyone liked the powerful performance by Ryu, please shout his name.”

“Ryu!!”

Is it just my ears having a problem? That shout was not as loud as before.

“How about the rookie with his sweet ballad before?”

“Yes!!!!!!!!!!!”

I could hear the place almost shaking from just shouting my name. Is this really happening? Why?

“The winner has already been decided. So, the winner is—”

“Wait!!! I can’t believe what just happened! How can I lose to him? He doesn’t even have a name in this industry. How can he beat me?”

Ryu was not satisfied with the result.

“It shows how bad you are as a performer, Ryu.”

Since when did Mika go up to the stage?

“I know! This is your doing, right? Surely you persuaded all the audience to turn against me. This is so unfair!”

“How low can you go? Is this still not enough to make you understand? Of course your performance was the best. But how about your singing? You relied heavily on AR backing vocals. Meanwhile, his performance was full of emotion and connected with the audience. Do you have the power to do that?” Mika explained to Ryu.

“What did you say just now?! I will not let you get away with that!” Ryu seemed ready to slap her.

“Stop!”

The incident almost happened on the stage. Fortunately, I stopped his hand in time.

“Let go of my hand!”

“I don’t really care who the winner is tonight. As long as I can make them happy, I am fine.”

“You!”

“There, security! Please bring him out,” Chiba came with the security guards.

“Let go of me! I am the star here! Don’t you know who I am?”

The security guards didn’t seem bothered by Ryu at all.

“Thank you, Ken.”

“You’re welcome, Mika.”

“Sorry, may I know your name? Also, I want to apologize for my behavior toward you before,” asked the emcee.

“It’s okay! My name, huh?”

I smiled slightly.

“My name is Oni Sing.”