ACT II - The Final Reveal I

The next morning started with me texting Ria, as Micchan was still sleeping—I definitely didn't want to wake her up after such a night. Thankfully, Ria was also awake so I had someone to spend some time with, without having to leave my futon!

Ria: Good morning, Seira. I decided to do a full-day study session today, as I felt like I've been neglecting my studies. I can't just relax because exams have ended… But before that, I wanted to ask how you and Michiru are doing

Yuujin: Oh, good morning Azuma-senpai! We had a great time yesterday, and I'm looking forward to spending more time with her today! Good luck w studying btw!!

I sent her a cheering sticker. 'We had a great time' was an awful summary of yesterday, but hey, nothing to do…! It's not like I could enclose the full details to my senpai. She replied with a smiling Harmony-chan sticker.

Ria: Oh, one final thing. Seiten-senpai has recently told me that there's a popular karaoke place near his home, he told me that it's a hit with the students of our school. We are both busy so we unfortunately can't participate, but how about inviting Kajimaru as well and having fun with you three?

Yuujin: Karaoke, huh! Sounds fun, I'll try asking Reo when he wakes up! Thank you for the rec, sad that you guys can't come tho TT—TT Maybe next times?

She sent the location link and wished us fun. I didn't know if Reo would manage it, as there was a high possibility he had his part time job for today. But, at least, I had no doubts that Michiru would be thrilled to go—especially because it was a place Seiten-senpai had recommended!

I thought about Seiten-senpai a bit. Since he was so popular, he was probably always invited to places. At the same time, he seemed to value his family a lot, and also had a part-time job; all the while studying hard, as it was his last year. All that without a hint of fatigue on his features! He really was incredible. However… The Michiru situation had shown me just how people's appearances could be deceiving. Was there a possibility that something was hidden even under senpai's perfect brilliance…?

Even though I had told myself I wouldn't search for Reveals myself, since Seiten-senpai was the only one remaining from our friend group that I didn't know about, I was greatly curious! But then, he was someone difficult to reach, so… I had no idea what item of his would trigger a Reveal. Oh well. It didn't matter—what mattered was that me, Micchan and Reo were in front of the karaoke building!!

"Waah, I'm so happy you could make it, Reo-chan!" Micchan gave our handsome friend a big hug. Afterwards, Reo held out his hand to do a fist bump with me. "Yeah, thankfully I was allowed to leave my part-time a bit earlier today… It was such a borin' day too, so you two have my thanks. Well then, let's go?"

Even though I was trying not to show it, I was a bit nervous—as it was my first time visiting a karaoke cafe! Michiru deduced this fact since karaoke rooms weren't exactly common in Canada. She squeezed my hand and reassured me that it was just us three and we should just focus on having a blast. She was right! I was feeling much less depressed after yesterday's events too, so it was a perfect chance to go all out.

After placing our orders for the drinks, it was time to get singing!

Micchan requested to go first with enthusiasm, which me and Reo had no problems about. Taking a sip of her chocolate milkshake, she thought of what song to choose, with her adorable habit of placing her finger on her lips. She decided on a cute idol group song, and even performed the dance moves. Me and Reo couldn't help but grin wide about her cuteness! As she sang a second song, we also got impressed by her stamina. She was performing like a pro!

"Wow, I didn't know I was friends with an idol," commented Reo, holding his strawberry matcha smoothie. I added, "Yeah! You're just like a pro! A round of applause for Michiru Sayonaka!!" She shook her head and did a few shy jumps. "Nooo, you guys are too nice! I just dance and sing a lot in my room, that's all~"

Reo chuckled. "Just like my lil' sis Mio, then. Ah~ I wish she could be here also, I'm sure she'd have the bestest time…" Hearing that, our cute blonde friend handed the mic to him. "Well then, how about you perform a song for her sake?" He took the mic and stood up. "Alright, sure thing~ But I also have Nao-chan, so it'll be two songs, yeah? Then Yuujin can sing. That alright?" I nodded, of course it was no issue for me. In fact, my heart was quite excited to see what genre of song he'd choose…!

He browsed the list, saying "Woah, they even have this band… This karaoke knows their stuff~" He had chosen a Canadian indie rock band that even I knew about! As he sang, he encouraged me to sing along with him, which felt rather thrilling! Even though Micchan didn't know the band, she clapped along excitedly as she watched us sing together. It was so, so fun…!

"To think you know this band, Reo-kun! Your English pronunciation is so good, too! I have to say, I'm very impressed!" Hearing my praise, he scratched his neck, I could see his ear getting red! "Thanks, man. Well, let's just say I've been practicing a lot…" It was a rare sight to see him flustered like this! Just as I was about to question whether he meant practicing this band in particular or his English skills (as I wanted to be of help, in either case!) Micchan grabbed the mic and waved it in front of me.

"Conversation can be done later! You can't run away Yuujin-chan, it's your turn to go~" I chuckled. "Haha, I wasn't trying to buy time, really!! Alright, lemme just refresh my throat with my coffee and think of a song." I thought about all the songs I tended to hum in the shower. If I was going to sing, something I had practice in would be the best bet! I browsed the top hits list, as those were the songs that would get stuck in my head the most—plus, maybe it'd make my two friends join me in, meaning less embarrassment for me! I was nowhere near a good singer as those two were.

I chose a song, grabbed the mic and—my two friends disappeared from the room, only leaving me and… Seiten-senpai?!

No way, was this a Reveal…?