Chapter 13: Monster's Ballad
Before the people below could voice their doubts, Haruka beat them to it.
"Haha, just kidding. Everyone can hear it too."
Only then did the crowd relax.
It turned out he was just livening up the atmosphere.
In the entertainment world, this kind of tactic was quite common.
"Of course, I am performing a sign language song. And, this song, I am singing it specially for one person."
Haruka's gaze focused on a specific direction.
There.
Shoko Nishimiya looked at him with eyes full of shock.
She didn't understand why he would go up on stage.
It wasn't just her; Yumiko Miura, Yui Yuigahama, and other classmates beside her were also whispering among themselves.
Then, coincidentally, everyone turned their gaze toward Shoko Nishimiya.
A sign language song, sung by Haruka Kasugano... if he said it wasn't for Shoko Nishimiya, who would believe it?
However...
To go up on stage and sing under the gaze of countless people for the sake of a friend.
This... was truly too romantic...
The eyes of many female students were twinkling with little stars. Even Yumiko felt a mix of complex emotions; she turned to look at Shoko Nishimiya, a smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.
As for Shoko Nishimiya, her gaze had long since frozen, simply staring blankly at the person up there who was trying to give her courage.
"..."
"She is my friend. I learned this song to encourage her, to help her gain the courage to face the future directly. If you feel like you can't go on, just turn around and look at us friends. Don't despair, don't be downcast. Always keep moving forward."
"Song title: The Monster's Ballad."
Then.
Haruka placed the microphone in the stand, raised both hands, and slightly opened his mouth.
"In that place where love and the sea embrace..."
"A giant monster awakens..."
"..."
"I just want to reach that love and that sea..."
"I want to learn how people love… truly..."
"...Even a monster has a heart that can be beautiful..."
"So I keep running toward the horizon..."
"Hoping to find that sea of love one day..."
The Monster's Ballad was a fairly famous song. The singing difficulty wasn't high, but the meaning was deep. It was full of encouragement, a song brimming with positive energy.
It was widely circulated, even listed as a class song in various elementary schools. Even if many people didn't know how to sing it, they had heard it.
The general meaning of this song was about hope—speaking to those who were trapped in reality for various reasons, speaking of their hearts, their hopes, and their cravings.
This song was an incredibly perfect fit for Shoko Nishimiya.
A monster. In modern society, aren't anomalies like deaf-mutes considered monsters in the eyes of ordinary people?
No one tries to understand their hearts.
And no one truly cares about them.
Although they are part of civilized society, they seem to be isolated from it.
When they try hard to integrate into normal society, they learn just how difficult it is.
Inconvenient communication, misunderstandings, discrimination, psychological gaps...
These are all sledgehammers pounding down on them.
The final result is usually heading toward the hell of death in despair, or retreating to a place where monsters huddle together for warmth, isolating themselves from the world.
"..."
"..."
No one had ever done this before.
Everyone understood.
What it meant for Haruka to sing this song.
Courage.
His own courage.
And the courage he was giving to his friend.
This was a person who dared to stand out.
This was a true friend!
Many people watched from below.
Their gazes were different, their emotions were different.
There was mockery, touched hearts, shock, surprise...
A whole variety of reactions.
The difficulty of the song wasn't high, but coordinating it with sign language caused the difficulty to skyrocket. Haruka's hands needed to coordinate with the lyrics and the tone, splitting his focus in two.
At the moment he finished, a layer of fine sweat had already broken out on Haruka's forehead.
But a smile remained on his face from start to finish.
"This is what I wanted to tell my friend. I hope that in the future, she can move forward with full confidence. Don't be afraid, don't be lost, don't hesitate. The future is ahead, and I am ahead too!"
When Haruka finished speaking.
Thunderous applause erupted from below.
For this kind of truly heart-shaking emotion, people were never stingy with their applause.
Moreover, Haruka sang quite well. Especially that voice—the timbre was very distinctive.
And where Haruka's gaze was focused, Shoko Nishimiya's slender palms were pressed tightly over her mouth.
The expression on her pure white face was extremely complex.
Moved, inferior, excited, lonely, pained, joyful...
That small face had become somewhat distorted by it all.
Only the tears sliding from the corners of her eyes represented her true mood at this moment.
***
In modern society, livestreams are extremely widespread.
The Cultural Festival was also being livestreamed by the school's students, and even the school's official website was broadcasting it in real-time.
Many people paying attention could see it.
In a certain high-end apartment.
Inside a clean and tidy room, a slender yet proud girl was lying on the bed. Her face was as pale as thin paper, her gaze calmly watching the livestream on her phone.
A smile with an indecipherable meaning played at the corner of her mouth.
"Ah, so you learned the song for this..."
Yukino Yukinoshita's mood was somewhat complex.
"Friends" looked so beautiful at the Cultural Festival.
Yet here she was, sick in bed, all alone.
A strong sense of loneliness suddenly surged into her heart.
Like a man-eating monster, it devoured a heart made fragile by serious illness.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
A violent fit of coughing rang out, bringing with it a wave of dizziness.
As the Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee, in order to manage the Cultural Festival and clean up the mess left by that irresponsible Chair, she had burdened herself with too much, to the point that she now had a severe flu.
She couldn't even go see the fruits of her labor, the Cultural Festival, in person.
Smack!
She lay weakly on the bed, quietly watching the livestream.
***
At the Cultural Festival venue.
Haruka's program ended, and he left the stage.
But the shock and emotion he brought were still influencing the people below.
Not far away, in a certain high-end, independent VIP seating area.
With black hair and red eyes, carrying an imposing aura, Kaguya Shinomiya—who was even colder than Yukino Yukinoshita—watched Haruka walk off the stage with a flat gaze, yet she nodded imperceptibly.
[Image : Kaguya Shinomiya]
This man reminded her of her own... well, probably one of her only two friends, Chika Fujiwara...
[Image : Chika Fujiwara]
She had passed the friendship tests Kaguya set. Like Ai Hayasaka, she was her friend.
For someone raised under strict aristocratic training, a friend was a luxury.
Many people had weak wills and simply couldn't pass her friendship tests; they were just unqualified tools to be used.
But this man before her eyes made them light up.
Of course.
This didn't mean she would let him become one of her friends.
He wasn't worthy yet.
However, someone with such qualities, and a student of this merged prestigious school Soubu High... perhaps he could be useful?
Beside her.
Ai Hayasaka, who had come today serving the Young Lady as a maid, looked at Haruka. Her eyes held a hint of yearning and appreciation.
[Image : Ai Hayasaka]
How nice...
"This might be an excellent talent, Hayasaka."
Kaguya Shinomiya suddenly spoke.
Ai Hayasaka bowed her head slightly in tacit understanding.
"Yes, Kaguya-sama."
...
[The Cultural Festival has ended.]
***
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