ACT II - The Final Reveal II

The point of view for this Reveal allowed me to see Seiten-senpai from a bit above. I could comfortably see him, and the entirety of the karaoke room. To my surprise, he was completely alone. Wouldn't a popular guy like him prefer to be surrounded by his friends on a day out? There were no belongings in the room other than his bag and one cup of coffee, so there was no way his friends were out in a restroom break. Intrigued about the timeline, I tried to figure out how much back in the past this Reveal was showing me. He didn't wear glasses, so it was most likely his third-year self. Honestly, he looked exactly like how he was at our last club training, so it might as well as be just yesterday!

Well, I suppose even popular guys needed a moment of solitude, and singing was a good way to let go of stress, indeed. I watched as he chose a song and held the same mic handed to me by Micchan. Nothing could have prepared me for the shock I'd receive (which made me glad I didn't have a physical form, or else my jaw would drop), as he had the most beautiful singing voice I'd ever heard in my life…!

He had chosen a slow ballad song, and my god, was he singing the crap out of it! Such emotion and such high technique… Was there anything this Mr Perfect wasn't able to do?!

As the song ended, the scene transformed into another one. Again, he was completely alone, and there was no sight of glasses, either. This time, he picked a rock song. It was from a popular band who had a vocalist praised for his strong vocals but after hearing senpai sing it—I think his version was much better than the original!

As the songs ended, the scenes shifted into a new one, each bringing a different genre of song. Despite his clothes changing; therefore, pointing at different dates, he never had anyone with him! That was, until the scene changed into the next one, showing my senpai in his glasses—sitting next to his older sister! I immediately recognized her from the photo he had shown in the picnic.

He held her hand and said, "Come on, onee-san. Today is my treat so please, have lots of fun!" She shook her head and timidly put her hands in a fist over her lap. "I… I'm not talented like you, Akito." He wasn't intending on giving up just yet. "Karaoke isn't about singing like a pro, you just need to have fun! You deserve to feel good and let it all out once in a while, so let's go—Let's sing together!" Since senpai was such a confident person, it surprised me to see how anxious his older sister looked, despite the fact that they were the only ones in the room. Thankfully, as the song went on, she started to warm up into the situation, with a bright smile on her face. With a smile so radiant, there was no doubt that she was as gorgeous as her younger brother.

I wondered about her age and how she liked to spend her time. I listened carefully to their conversation to get any info about her (her younger brother, too—as this was his Reveal!) but to my dismay, in the next scene, senpai was alone once again. He had his glasses on again, and he did look slightly younger, which made me wonder if this was a scene from his second year. After singing a song, just like all the previous scenes, he brought out his laptop from his school bag. Huh, a laptop? What'd he need it for…?

He sat and hummed a tune as he waited for whatever software he wanted to use to boot. Then, he tapped away on his keyboard for a bit. I really was intrigued by what program he was looking at, as it wasn't possible to see it from my angle. I deeply wished for a clue I could hang on, and within a few minutes, I got it: He hit "play" and a piece of music started playing! He played it over and over, constantly pondering and editing the piece as he liked. He was making music of his own! But why was he doing it in a karaoke room, ignoring the poor mic waiting to be used for singing? Couldn't he edit his music back at home?

Unless… That wasn't an option for him…?

The scene changed once more. This time, he definitely was younger for sure, but he did have our school uniform on, making me think that it was most likely his first year. I had a tingly feeling inside of me, witnessing a much younger looking senpai was quite the interesting experience! His older sister was also present in the room, examining some pamphlets. They had ordered some drinks, but they didn't seem to have any interest in singing. Seiten-senpai was looking down, with a bitter expression on his handsome features. What was wrong?

"Akito… Are you really sure about this? I'm sure that they'll accept you if you go and explain the situation to them—" Seiten-senpai's strong voice filled the room. "No. Their auditions are long over. The semester has begun already. They can't make exceptions." His sister desperately searched for something in the pamphlets. "W-what about transferring to the neighboring school, Kankitsudou? It's a good school, plus you'd be near Hoshinoniwa to maybe grab on some opportunities—" Seiten-senpai interrupted her sentence, holding her hand down so she couldn't look at the pamphlets anymore. "Onee-san. Stop. I've made my decision. Going to Kankitsudou and being near my dream school at all times… My heart would waver."

The picture was getting clearer and clearer, and I had a rough idea of what was going on. Hoshinoniwa High was a famous private school raising many important entertainers ranging from actors to musicians. Now that I knew that he had a great talent in music, there was no doubt about why Hoshinoniwa would be his dream school. But what had gone wrong, why was he in our school, and not even in Kankitsudou, a school that was a few minutes of a walk away from Hoshinoniwa?

Perhaps, was it because—

"Akito, you don't have to give up on your dreams! I can explain to our parents that being a music producer can bring lots of money and a prestigious status, and if it's you, you're more than capable to earn such a place in the industry! Please, just don't give up…!" Ah, it was a matter of parental disapproval, after all.

Suddenly, I got a flashback at our jog together, and all the conversations we had that day. Not only had he mentioned that he understood about parents' disapproval of artistic careers… That's why he looked a bit upset about being called as a music producer when he tried on my glasses…! My god, I wanted to punch myself. My intuition was spot on, but at what cost…?!

"It's fine," said Seiten-senpai, with a voice that definitely didn't sound fine. "You know they'll never listen, they never did. They're not people to reason with. So… I'll do my best and be a good student, and then find a high-salary job and get you out of this hellish household. I've seen you endure all the abuse under our parents, and I can't stand it anymore… I'll save you, onee-san. Don't… Worry about me. I'll be happy as long as you're happy…"

His older sister had started sobbing at his declaration of certainty of his future path, leaning forward to hug her dear younger brother. The sudden movement made the mic on the sofa fall, and with its descent, I was back to current times. As usual, the weird feeling of suddenly having my body back made me flinch, earning a comment from Micchan.

"Maaan~ Why is it that whenever I'm handing you something, you're so startled? Are you still sleepy, Yuujin-chan?" I shook my head, saying that I was just lost in thought for a bit. Reo grabbed my shoulders and gently shook me back and forth. "C'mon, ya can't just space out when it's your time to sing. Focus, and enjoy the moment to its fullest!" How much I wished to do so, but as usual, such a thing was impossible after a Reveal. Not only was I upset about the fact that senpai had to give up on his dream, what kind of household did he and his sister share? He had mentioned 'abuse' and it made me shudder. Just what kind of parents did these two beautiful, bright siblings have…?

Even though I tried putting aside thoughts of the Reveal for now, it was a difficult task as I was still in the very same karaoke room senpai had visited many, many times in the past three years. It was his sanctuary, almost a holy space. Was there anything I could do to help him…?

As our karaoke evening came to an end, it was time for everyone to go back to their respective homes. Micchan had volleyball training the next day, so she said she couldn't stay in my home a night more, but that it was a most… Fun experience. As we exchanged some bittersweet chuckles, Reo tilted his head, curiously examining us. "Oh, well… I'm glad it's been a good weekend for y'all. I had so much fun as well, it was a blast! I'll go catch my train now, see y'all at school…!"

He left with hasty steps towards the train station, while me and Micchan headed towards the subway. I had waved goodbye to Reo, saying that I'd see him in class next time, but… Life had very different plans for me. Usually after each Reveal, my life had taken a different turn, but it was generally a positive one as I could help people and become friends with them, alas… The turn it was about to take the next day was something of a whole different scale.

My memory about the following events are quite patchy, so I'll have to pass the narration to someone who knows exactly what went on to happen…