Chapter 41: Like siblings.

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Translated and Edited by: luccayn.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you're close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it's cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one's older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

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After listening to our seniors’ performance, the applause came naturally. Saki and I were in pure awe.

“How was it?” Ayaka was the one to break the silence.

“It was amazing!”

My reply was immediate. I honestly don’t believe it can get any better.

“If our performance was enough to hook you guys in like that, I’m relieved,” Karen smiled unusually shyly, a wave of relief clear on her face. Yuki and Rin were the same.

“We need to get to this level by next year then… Quite the challenge.”

“For sure…”

Juggling student council duties and the grueling practice for a band… I couldn’t help but gawk at the superhuman feat of managing it all.

“Well then, how about you two joining us for this next one?” Ayaka threw us a cheeky grin.

“Yes,” Saki was born ready as she grabbed hold of a microphone and walked up there. I grabbed mine as well.

“Hmm, the song’s ‘Blue Sky,’ right?” I asked just to be sure. Can’t sing a song I haven’t heard before, after all.

“Mhm. Have you heard it before?”

“I have.”

Saki had me listen to it once yesterday. Well, the girl in question seemed to have something to say, but she kept quiet and settled for a meaningful gaze.

“Alrighty, let’s try adding vocals this time!”

“Yeah!” Everyone nodded, and soon, the music started again.

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“Akito and Saki… These two are great. Too good, even.”

Yuki, holding the bass lazily, was astonished for once. The other senior seemed to share the sentiment.

“Well, it’s amazing~ I knew Saki-chan was good, but to see Akito at this level…”

“Thank you,” I bowed slightly.

“To achieve this level of perfection… Did you two practice behind the scenes, maybe?” Rin tried to commend our proactiveness as our senior. And her smile was incredibly gentle. However…

“I practiced. He didn’t.”

“Huh?”

“Akito heard me singing this song yesterday… Once… And he nailed it,” Saki held her head in her hands as she said it.

“It’s just ’cause your singing is amazing, Saki,” I argued. And honestly, I wasn’t an opinion, it was fact. I could only sing because she her pitch, her intonation, the little vibrato she put in sometimes, and even the little minutia of the song were perfect for me to hear.

If anything, I felt like I lost to Saki. Her performance was just exceptional to a tee.

“P-Praising me won’t get you anywhere…” Saki’s blush was uncontainable.

“Whoa… A genius~” Karen mused, expressing her admiration. “But, y’know?”

“Mm?”

“For a first-time duet, you two were incredibly in sync! Felt like you two were siblings!”

“Ahaha,” her spot-on observation prompted a dry laugh from me.

“Speaking of siblings… Saki-chan, you’re going to become Yuya-kun’s stepsister from now on, right?”

Saki froze, and so did I.

“Come to think of it, there were rumors like that floating around.”

“Not just rumors. It’s a hot topic among the sophomores.”

Yuki and Karen tried to spice up the conversation, but what happened instead was that Saki… Well, I didn’t want to turn and look at her. I could sense the scary aura emanating from that corner. That was a nope from me.

Fortunately, a savior appeared.

“But being his stepsister… I honestly feel sorry for you,” Rin gave Saki the point of view she probably agreed with the most. It was what she wanted to hear.

“Thank you so much, Rin-san!” She latched onto her only hope.

“Hey, get away from me!”

“No! The other three are being mean to me! You’re the only one on my side, Rin-san!”

“Let! Go!”

“No!”

The chatter continued to get louder and cheerier by the second.

“Alright, alright, enough chit-chat. Let’s continue. Time won’t wait for us, after all.”

“Are you the one to say that, Ayaka?”

“Hm?” She stared. Menacingly.

“Nope. It’s nothing.”

I quickly avoided further teasing when I received a formidable smile for my retort. From there, we practiced for about an hour.

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“I’m beat…”

The seniors, who had to play instruments all the time, were putting stuff away in the council room. As they had been playing for a long time, their fatigue must’ve been overwhelmingly greater than us, vocalists.

It was 6 PM, almost time to go home.

“We’ll practice whenever we have time until the cultural festival, okay?”

Was there any need for more practice? I mean, I think we’re on a good level already.

“No compromises, Akki! We have to get first place no matter what!” Ayaka read my mind. “The Light Music Club is our rival every single year. We don’t have time to slack off. They’re formidable enemies.”

“I see…”

I dispelled my own naiveté. I’m honestly just a guy that copies, and it all ended up working out somehow. Arrogance is not good for me. “Sorry,” I said.

“Nah, nah. Though I put it harshly, thanks to using you as a guinea pig, it got everyone motivated again. It all worked out fine. Don’t worry,” Ayaka was all smiles, which meant she had something prepared for this. “In short, we’ll practice whenever we have free time! Including weekends.”

“Yes!”

“And for the seniors, this is our last cultural festival! Let’s give it our all so that we don’t end up losing in the end!”

“Yes!” They all cheered.

And so, the incredibly intense cultural festival began.

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