Chapter 131: Cultural Festival Live Performance ④

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Translator: Soafp

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“Haa!? What the hell are you talking about!? Are you actually a different person!?”

“……”

Well, I couldn't exactly blame him for being wary.

After all, even I was aware that what I was saying was completely ridiculous.

The method I had come up with to avoid this particular “nightmare” was to switch the target of the precognition from the light music club president to someone else.

In other words, someone else would have to take the president's place, trip onstage, and expose their underwear.

Maybe there was no need to go as far as actually exposing his underwear, but I decided it was better to be overly cautious just in case.

(What should I do…?)

To convince Takagi any further, I would have to tell him about the theory Airi had come up with regarding my precognitive abilities.

No matter how much he liked the club president, asking him to expose his underwear in front of everyone wasn't an argument that was going to work anymore.

Maybe I should do it myself.

Or perhaps I would have no choice but to accept that the live performance would be ruined and make the president wear shorts underneath her skirt.

As I pondered what to do, Takagi, who had been staring intently at my face, suddenly said something I never expected.

“If I really trip onstage and show everyone my underwear, the president won't have to suffer, right?”

His expression was completely serious.

Apparently, he had realized that I wasn't simply joking around.

“To be honest, I can't say it's one hundred percent certain. Even so, I think it should have an effect, at the very least.”

I was sure Airi had reached the same conclusion as me. That had to be why she had sent me that message at this particular moment.

Of course, there was still a possibility that our hypothesis was wrong.

Maybe this wasn't something that could be controlled by human will in the first place.

Even so, if I wanted to have my cake and eat it too by both making the live performance a success and preventing the president's accident, this seemed like the only way.

“…I see. If you're saying that much, I guess I have no choice but to believe you. Especially since it's you saying it.”

“Takagi…”

He quietly pulled on his pants and peeked inside.

“Damn it! If I'd known this was going to happen, I would've worn a better pair of underwear!”

“…What do you mean by ‘better underwear'?”

“Something like Michael Jackson's gold pants.”

“Wait, do they even sell those?”

If they did, I'd honestly kind of like to see them myself.

Takagi gave me a firm thumbs-up.

“Anyway, leave it to me! My underwear might be a little plain, but I'll make sure I fall spectacularly and show it off!”

In every sense of the word, he was remarkably reassuring.

---

Somehow, I managed to convince Takagi.

Honestly, I had expected it to be difficult, but the conversation went much more smoothly than I anticipated.

The fact that the two of them actually had mutual feelings for each other was probably a major factor as well.

(At least the setup for avoiding the ‘nightmare' is in place now, but…)

There was one thing that still bothered me.

If things continued like this, all the president would see in Takagi was an idiot who had tripped onstage and exposed his underwear.

She would never dream that he had done it to save her.

There was even a possibility that she might become disillusioned with him after seeing him like that and lose her feelings for him.

(Should I somehow give her a hint that Takagi put himself on the line for her?)

That didn't mean I could reveal my abilities to her, though.

There was no way she would believe me in the first place.

Just as I was wondering what to do, the president spoke to me somewhat hesitantly.

“Hey, Fukagawa-kun.”

The president spoke to me somewhat hesitantly.

“What about Takagi?”

“Something about him seems strange. Did you perhaps say something weird to him…?”

“What exactly seems strange?”

“He suddenly started winking at me and saying that he was going to do his best for me… And then he told me to make sure I watched him.”

“……”

I really hoped making Takagi realize his feelings for her hadn't backfired.

No, if I hadn't gone through that whole process, I probably wouldn't have been able to convince him in the first place.

“I didn't tell Takagi about what we were just discussing. I only asked him for a small favor.”

“A favor?”

“Yes. I told him to keep a close eye on you because you might get too excited and accidentally do something stupid.”

“I see…?”

The president still looked puzzled as she tilted her head.

Well, it was unreasonable to expect her to be completely convinced by that explanation alone.

Besides, there was something I wanted to tell her anyway, so perhaps this was a good opportunity.

“President, make sure you watch him closely. Takagi is genuinely prepared to embarrass himself today for your sake.”

“Eh…?”

“And when you see Takagi today, please give up on that jinx. He's going through all this trouble precisely so you will.”

If she continued believing in that erotic-underwear jinx, there was a chance that the same accident could happen every time we had a live performance, not just today.

That was why I hoped Takagi's self-sacrificing actions would give her a reason to reconsider that jinx.

The president gave a small nod.

“Y-Yeah… I'm sorry about all this, Fukagawa-kun.”

“It's fine. I'm okay.”

Honestly, I never imagined I'd have to worry this much over a cultural festival live performance.

I had thought all I needed to do was quietly practice singing.

But thanks to all of this, I'd also gotten the opportunity to reconsider my precognitive abilities.

And the method I was about to test, switching the target of my precognition to Takagi, was in a sense the perfect opportunity to test Airi's hypothesis.

(I should prepare for the possibility that the hypothesis is wrong.)

There were, in fact, several uncertainties.

The laws of causality might come into play, causing Takagi to somehow avoid falling altogether.

Or perhaps Takagi might lose his nerve when the actual performance began.

(…In the end, I guess I'll have to be the backup plan.)

Just like with Nodoka and Ito-san, if the president looked like she was about to fall, I would have to drop the singing and rush over to her.

Or perhaps, rather than trying to catch her, it might be more reliable for me to throw myself in front of her and hide the problematic erotic underwear myself.

Either way, I would have to keep an eye on the president throughout the performance while singing.

“President, I have one favor to ask.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“With our current formation, the president and I are a little far apart, right? Could you change the formation so that we're a little closer together?”

In our current formation, the bass player, namely the president, was to my right from the vocalist's position.

But considering my physical abilities, I wasn't confident I'd be able to reach her in time from this distance if something happened.

“Oh, what's this~? Fukagawa-kun, you already have two girlfriends, and now you're hitting on me? ‘Don't leave my side,' and all that?”

“That's completely not what I mean, so please rest assured.”

“Somehow, that response kind of annoys me.”

The president covered her mouth with her hand and giggled.

“Well, fine! Something that simple is no trouble at all.”

“Okay, then I'm counting on you.”

“Likewise.”

---

After that, preparations for the live performance proceeded in a hectic rush.

Since I didn't have an instrument to handle, I was much more relaxed than the others.

The other three were all busy making final adjustments to their respective instruments and equipment.

“Light Music Club, you're up!”

“Yes!”

The moment of truth had finally arrived.

A tremendous sense of tension, completely different from what I had felt during practice, suddenly washed over me.

I walked onto the stage.

There was a single microphone in front of me.

And filling my field of vision was a huge crowd that had gathered to watch our live performance.

Airi, Nodoka, Yui, and even Kokoa-san and Ayano-san.

(So they really do this as if it's nothing.)

Once again, I was reminded just how incredible Kokoa-san and the others were.

Honestly, this was a level of nervousness I never wanted to experience again.

Even so, when I saw Nodoka waving at me with her eyes squeezed shut shyly, I found myself thinking that maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

I exchanged glances with the male student on electric guitar, Takagi, and then the president.

Everyone seemed to be ready.

We nodded deeply to one another, synchronized our breathing, and shouted together.

“Hello, everyone! We're the Light Music Club! Thank you for joining us today!”