Chapter 114: Light Music Club

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Translator: Soafp

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It seemed they weren’t going to perform an original song after all, but instead cover a famous one—so famous that even I knew it.

Takagi played the original on his phone.

“So? The vocals aren’t that difficult, right?”

“What? They sound insanely difficult to me.”

This was supposed to be easy?

I’d have to hit some seriously high notes.

Or was this just considered easy by the light music club’s standards?

Maybe I never should’ve agreed to fill in as the vocalist. The regret kept circling around in my head.

“Alright, let’s try playing it together once.”

“Huh? Right away?”

“It’ll be fine. We’ll match our playing to you.”

Easy for him to say, but I hadn’t really practiced this song.

Sure, it was famous, but that didn’t mean I remembered all the lyrics.

Takagi turned toward the girl playing bass.

“Captain, that’s okay, right? I want to see what he can actually do.”

“We don’t mind at all. Honestly, the fact that Fukagawa-kun agreed to fill in for us is already more than enough.”

So the bass player was the club president.

“Come on, Fukagawa-kun. Don’t feel pressured. Just imagine you’re at karaoke and sing however you like. Think of us as your personal backing band.”

“O-Okay. I might end up disappointing you, though…”

“Don’t be so nervous. Honestly, we’re just a high school band, not professionals. Replacements are a dime a dozen. So relax.”

“O-Okay.”

She was clearly trying to ease my nerves.

The club president smiled warmly and handed me a microphone.

Holding it, I tested it with an “Ah… ah…”

Then I heard the electric guitarist mutter from beside me.

“We’re taking this seriously, and you’re treating it like a game? Give me a break.”

He’d been openly hostile toward me ever since I got here.

Was he actually aiming to become a professional musician?

If so, I guess it made sense that he wouldn’t appreciate some amateur substitute showing up with his girlfriends.

…Still, considering I’d only come because they asked me to, it felt pretty unfair.

Following Kokoa-san’s advice, I loosened up my throat and opened the lyrics on my phone.

“Alright. Let’s do this.”

Takagi nodded, picked up his drumsticks, exchanged glances with the others, and started the count-in.

Not bad, Takagi.

Careful not to miss my cue, I focused on the accompaniment and started singing the way Kokoa had taught me yesterday.

(This is way harder than singing by myself.)

Part of it was because I wasn’t familiar with the song.

I slipped off-key and lost the rhythm a few times.

But more than that, my own voice kept getting drowned out by the instruments, throwing me completely off.

(They’re definitely going to complain about something.)

The thought of disappointing them made me nervous.

Especially that guitarist. He’d probably tear me apart without holding back.

The song, less than five minutes long, came to an end.

…Though to me, those five minutes had felt like several hours.

(What’s going on? Why is nobody reacting?)

I looked around nervously, trying to read everyone’s expressions.

But Takagi, the club president, and even the guitarist all stood there in silence.

Was I really that terrible?

Just as I swallowed nervously…

“Damn it…!”

The guitarist’s fists trembled.

“Why the hell are you good at singing too when you’re already popular with girls?!”

“…Huh?”

“How is this fair?! I wanted girls to like me too!”

“…”

So it wasn’t really about taking the band seriously.

Well, plenty of people did pick up instruments hoping they’d become more popular.

The club president let out a small laugh.

“Seriously, Fukagawa-kun. Was that really your first time performing with us? I honestly find that hard to believe.”

“Damn, Fukagawa. You’re way better than I expected.”

Even Takagi was praising me, making me feel embarrassed.

Was I really that good?

Kokoa-san had criticized my singing nonstop during yesterday’s practice.

“President, wasn’t he way worse back then?”

“Him? Honestly, he was all style and no substance. His singing ability wasn’t anything special…”

“The guy” referred to the original vocalist who had dropped out after breaking his arm.

Apparently, he hadn’t been very highly regarded within the club.

Well, that was probably why Takagi had asked me to take over.

Airi turned to Yui.

“Did you record it properly?”

“Y-Yes…! Right here.”

“Yep. Ren-kun’s in the frame perfectly.”

At some point, Yui had pointed her phone at me.

Man… my face suddenly felt really hot.

“Why were you recording that?”

Just imagining being filmed during the actual school festival was embarrassing enough.

“Ren-kun, you know how every production has behind-the-scenes footage.”

…

For some reason, I got the feeling that if Airi ever had children, she’d photograph every single little thing they did.

◇

After practicing together several more times, I headed home.

I hadn’t spent that long at the club, but I felt strangely exhausted.

Nodoka looked at me sprawled across the sofa.

“Tonight’s dinner should be something that really restores your energy.”

“That’s right. Ren-kun is the breadwinner of this house. Including that other pillar of yours.”

“Y-Yeah! Ren has a duty to fill our lower bellies until they’re bursting!”

Maybe Airi’s influence was rubbing off on her, because Nodoka had started making dirty jokes too.

It didn’t really seem like she fully understood what she was saying, though. It felt more like she was awkwardly imitating Airi’s way of speaking.

“So, Ren, how about eel tonight?”

“Oh, that sounds amazing. But isn’t eel difficult to cook at home?”

“Not really. The supermarket sells it already grilled.”

“Oh, right.”

Nodoka would probably add her own special touch to the grilled eel.

Just thinking about it was enough to make me drool.

Honestly, after eating her cooking every day lately, I was starting to feel like I couldn’t live without it anymore.

Was I the one being trained at this point?

“Then I’ll go shopping.”

“No, you should rest today, Ren-kun. Yui-san and I will go.”

“Huh? But grocery shopping is usually my job.”

“You’re tired today, aren’t you? Sometimes you have to be flexible. Besides, there are some things I’d like to talk about with Yui-san.”

Honestly, that second reason sounded like the real one.

If Airi was insisting this much, there wasn’t any point arguing.

She was right—I really was tired and felt like taking it easy today.

And unlike me, Airi wouldn’t corner Yui until she was in trouble.

“Alright. I’m counting on you.”

“Okay. Yui-san, as disappointing as it may be, you’ll just have to go shopping with me today.”

“Y-Yes.”

With that, Airi and Yui left together.

Only Nodoka and I remained at home.

“It feels like it’s been a while since it’s just been the two of us, doesn’t it?”

Nodoka sat down beside me.

“Yeah. Before I knew it, having Airi around all the time had become normal.”

“U-Um, Ren?”

“Yeah?”

Nodoka patted her thighs.

I immediately understood.

She wanted me to use her lap as a pillow.

Taking her up on the offer, I rested my head on her lap.

Then, unexpectedly, she reached toward the front of my pants.

“I-I heard… some people do it with their hands like this…”

…

So this wasn’t just a lap pillow after all.

“Then can I touch your br**sts with my hands?”

“You don’t have to ask.”

“I wanted to hear you say it.”

“Gosh… M-My whole body belongs to you, Ren, so you can do whatever you want with it.”

She was still just as shy about these things.

Seeing her blush bright red and react so innocently made me smile.

Just as I slipped my hand beneath her shirt—

Ring… Ring…

My phone started ringing.

Talk about ruining the mood.

Still, I couldn’t just ignore it, so I checked who was calling.

“It’s the detective. Sorry, Nodoka. I need to take this.”

“O-Okay.”

“Don’t make that face. I’ll spoil you plenty afterward.”

“I-I know!”

After gently patting Nodoka’s head, I swiped the screen to answer.

Was this about Yuna-san?

Or…

“Is now a good time to talk?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

“I have an interim report.”

The detective continued in a serious tone.

“We’ve confirmed that one of the members of the group has connections to methamphetamine.”