Chapter 6:

Living My Youth

My First Love Tastes Like Glitter


As soon as I had left Hajime’s company, my thoughts went eerily quiet. I wasn’t used to listening, much less talking as generously as spending time with her had required me to – my system was likely just going through a reboot.


Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to recharge as it looked like my next chaperon was already waiting for me: Iruka had indeed spawned to the lobby, just like an NPC after completing a quest. He seriously wasn’t there when I passed the spot with Hajime no more than a minute ago... Should I have started to suspect that murky glasses guy of practicing witchcraft?


“Kujiran! There ya are. I knew I packed that knife for nothing”, he greeted me.


I knew it was a joke but I couldn’t help the chills that ran down my spine after hearing his words.


“Yeah, good evening. I’ve got a lot to say tonight”, I saluted back.


I followed Iruka to the room he had spent most of his evening in. That place corresponded more to the image I had when it came to get-togethers: it was one of those I would’ve probably dismissed as intimidating by my original criteria. Sheltered by the lively atmosphere of the room filled by at least a dozen happily chattering high school students, I told Iruka everything that was worth telling. I wasn’t sure how much he could make out of my words amidst all the noise but based on his stunned expression, he did pick up everything of crucial importance.


"I can’t believe ya went and scored a woman when I wasn’t looking!” he wheezed.


"Shh, not so loud! I don’t want any unnecessary eyes on us”, I shushed.


Though, I doubt anyone would’ve cared. I was fortunate enough to be conducting my studies in an environment where most people tended to mind their own business and even if some drama happened to stir up, it was easy to wash your hands clean and stay out of it – you just had to know which soap to use.


"Don’t sweat it. Is she still around?" Iruka questioned.


"I think so. But I don't want to bother her anymore, that'd be awkward. I’ve had at least a month’s dose of awkwardness in the span of this one evening... Please let me forget everything that happened before Neri-nee stepped in!” I whined.


"Aww... Any chance she had a Yona-chan lookalike bombshell with her?" he grinned.


To my advantage, his laid-back attitude was contagious: even though I wasn’t in my element, especially after all that had happened, I felt surprisingly at ease in the crammed cubicle. Sure, my heart was beating aggressively and at times I felt like I was on the verge of rearranging my insides right on the carpet that had seen better days but... I was managing.


"Besides the most beautiful girl to ever exist, there was a rattling blonde delinquent and a witty nadeshiko. Pick your poison”, I described.


“Ooh, I’ll have to keep an eye out for the latter one. Introduce us, won’t ya?” he pleaded.


Iruka had a thing for intellect. He was one of those people who would instantly, even in the largest swarm of variety, lean towards the sole character with glasses. Of course, that had nothing to do with me – whatever tickled his pickle.


"I suppose I’ll have to make amends after everything you’ve done for the sake of resuscitating my social life. By the way, me and Neri-nee scheduled a date on Monday! What should I wear? I have to look my best for her!" I rambled.


"Cool, how about enjoying your time over here first?" Iruka suggested.


"Fine, I’ll try my best. That reminds me, why weren't you answering my texts?" I interrogated.


"Because I knew what fate had in store for ya! Just kidding, I was belting my heart out with some random guys from class D in a different room and had left my charger here”, he defended.


Before I had time to grill him further, an unsettling demand reached my ears.


"Yo, Ran-san is here! I didn’t think he’d bother. I wanna hear him sing next!"


My stomach proceeded to entertain itself by doing approximately 17 backflips: I had absolutely no idea who the guy making that arrogation was, so the fact that he remembered me and my name was slightly unsettling. My already hopeless case wasn’t helped by having an apparently sadistic best friend feeding the flames with gasoline.


"Come to think of it, I've never heard this guy sing..."


"Hey, hey... The fact that I'm here doesn't mean I signed up for this! I’m a total beginner", I quivered.


"Actually, it does. That’s what karaoke is for. Just sing something, ya fuss... And duetting is cheating!" Iruka sneered.


I was out of options: my shaking hands, ornamented by tiny beads of sweat, were basically forced to grab the microphone. The sheer balls I had been carrying at the beginning of this evening had shrunk to the size of mere peas. Actually, I had probably dropped one on the way here – that’s just how dithered I was feeling.


As I was nervously skimming through the catalogue and its complete lack of anime songs, I was instantly stripped of choice: there was only one song I knew in the entire roster.


“Sorry guys, this is the only song I’ve heard out of these...” I wavered. Along the lust-exuding saxophone intro of Indiscreet Innuendo.


The original song would’ve lasted a whopping five minutes in all its erotic glory. To my relief, the karaoke edition had been cut a little shorter and my suffering came to an end after about three and a half minutes. Once I was done, the people in the room started applauding zealously – I got a standing ovation. Though, I sincerely doubted it had anything to do with my singing skills.


“I wouldn’t have dared to sing that song, especially not with a voice like that! I’m so glad I came here”, a guy acclaimed.


His face was florid with amusement. He was slapping the poor leather couch with both of his hands, not even trying to hide the fact that he was totally laughing at me.


“Please don’t make this my trademark! No more singing from me tonight, I’ll learn something else by next time”, I stammered awkwardly as I took my seat.


That ass wasn’t going to be moving an inch until it was time to go home and I would’ve been prepared to stand my ground if any danger approached. To be frank, singing in front of so many people, or actually anyone at all, had been quite a frightening experience. I kept myself afloat by thinking that refusing altogether would’ve been even more shameful but I still regretted giving in to the peer pressure. Iruka accepted me back with open arms, commending my effort. In his usual way, of course.


“I can’t say I thought it was good but relative to your experience, ya can say it was”, he stated.


During the time I had spent embarrassing myself in front of a bunch of students I’d have to face after the summer break was over, I had gotten a message from Hajime. She had sent me the picture we took earlier, accompanied by a very in-character caption.


“Thanks for all your support! I will keep doing my best for producer’s sake.”


“Holy shit, she looks exactly like Neri! And apparently, she’s got the character down as well. Congratulations, don’t ya scare her off now”, Iruka commented as he leaned over.


His sudden closure startled me a little but I managed to smirk as an expression of agreement.


“Iruka, do you want to sing something?” one of the guys asked.


“Huh, you’re being asked politely?! What’s this biased treatment?” I questioned jokingly, exaggerating my supposed anger to produce amusement in my peers.


“That’s because my answer is always yes. I’ll show ya how a pro does this”, Iruka grinned as he seized the microphone.


When it came to staying in tune, the difference between me and him wasn’t too drastic. However, he made up for it by knowing how to keep the audience entertained. He was spicing his performances up with hilariously clumsy choreography and making up his own lyrics as the songs went on. Our classmates demanded encore after another.


As I had thought, Iruka was busy mingling with the more spirited people and wouldn’t have needed me there in the first place. That solitude was completely fine with me though: I spent the rest of the evening glued to my seat, just like I planned, exchanging messages back and forth with Hajime. Our conversation was mainly me showing her the ropes of Kira-Kira Party, since she had downloaded the game for herself. She told me it was for research purposes but one shouldn’t take idol hell so lightly.