If one wanted to tell someone their singing was terrible—truly, catastrophically terrible—there were many gentle, tactful ways to do so.
"XX-kun, your singing is okay. Not bad."
"XX-kun, maybe let me sing instead?"
Fujiwara Chika, however, was not a subtle person.
"Horrible! So horrible! It's like rotten animal entrails! Sea cucumber entrails, even!" she cried, clutching her head as if she had just witnessed a war crime. Her brain trembled from the shock of Shirogane Miyuki's singing.
"Shirogane-kun!! Just lip-sync! Please, I'm begging you!!"
Her despair echoed through the music room.
I, Fujiwara Chika, beg you—stop singing!
Moments earlier, she had walked in and seen Sakurai Saki coaching Shirogane. As a musical prodigy who had won piano competitions since childhood, Chika had first covered her mouth, giggled, then confidently demonstrated her own talent.
Finishing a perfect rendition, she puffed out her chest proudly.
"Hehe~ Shirogane President, this is my strength!"
Then Sakurai Saki said the fateful words:
"Fujiwara Secretary, how about you teach him then?"
Faced with such an opportunity, would Chika refuse?
Absolutely not.
She had assumed—tragically—that Shirogane Miyuki was a genius who simply needed a little polish.
"I was wrong!!!" Chika shrieked, crouching on the floor with both hands over her head. "Terribly wrong!!!"
She desperately wanted earplugs. Anything to shield her from another blast of vocal destruction.
Why did I agree!? Chika, what were you thinking!?
"Have mercy on me, Shirogane-kun!" she wailed, shaking her head. "Your singing is like the screams of innocent people when Godzilla destroys a city! Everyone is waiting for death, and I'm suffering an undeserved calamity right now… Ahh, why did I open that door!?"
Her words grew more incoherent with every sentence.
Shirogane Miyuki stared at Sakurai, distressed.
Was he really that bad?
In reality, he wasn't quite as awful as Chika described. After a full day of practice yesterday, he had improved a bit—just enough that Chika hadn't fainted outright. If not for that improvement, she wouldn't be squatting right now; she'd be collapsed.
Don't question it—Shirogane Miyuki's singing truly possessed that level of destructive capability.
You say no person could make someone collapse from a single song?
Have you no faith in the existence of siren-tier voices?
His Song of Catastrophe was comparable to Karthus's ultimate.
Ordinary mortals stood no chance.
"Fujiwara-kun, are you giving up? You just said you would definitely teach him," Sakurai said lightly, deploying the simplest bait.
This wasn't deception—this was survival.
If a person fell into water, they would instinctively drag others down with them.
This was human nature.
If you forget your homework, don't you hope someone else forgot too?
Yes. That is the shameful truth.
And Sakurai was not letting Fujiwara Chika escape.
Good things must be shared.
Good things. Must. Be shared.
"Um… Saki-kun~ do your best!" Chika squeaked, attempting to shuffle toward the door. She had already made up her mind to skip dinner with him.
If she stayed, she might actually die.
"…"
Sakurai watched her retreat and then remembered Shirogane's singing.
The fear outweighed the embarrassment instantly.
He strode forward and caught Chika by the hand.
Their palms pressed together.
Chika froze. The warmth spreading from her palm short-circuited her brain.
H-Hand holding…
Abba abba abba—
She could no longer feel her fingers. Her nervous system had given up.
Sakurai gently led her back to the room. He had seen her earlier desire to hold hands, and this time, he simply fulfilled her wish.
"Shirogane President… thank you," Chika murmured.
Shirogane blinked in confusion.
Then Chika continued, "Even though your singing is really terrible! No—super terrible! Worse than Gian!"
Shirogane flinched.
"Gian is too much, isn't he? My singing is much better than Gian's!"
Sakurai Saki & Fujiwara Chika: "…"
Are you serious?
"Well, Shirogane," Sakurai said gently, "confidence is a good thing. But blind confidence will only destroy you."
"What Saki-kun means is—Shirogane-kun, you really don't seem to understand how terrible your singing is," Fujiwara said, brutally direct.
She felt sweeter now than if she had eaten candy.
Saki-kun's hand was big—hard to fully hold—but warm.
So this is what it feels like to hold hands with someone you like…
On the other side, Shirogane Miyuki squatted on the ground in despair, drawing circles with his finger.
"Terrible… terrible…"
"My singing is terrible… my singing is terrible…"
As someone with extremely strong self-esteem, Shirogane had taken too many musical hits in the past two days and was now teetering on the edge of a breakdown.
"Don't worry! Shirogane-kun! I'll teach you properly!" Fujiwara Chika declared, trying to cheer him up.
Thank you, Shirogane Cupid President!
Fujiwara Chika had thought her first base would have to wait until Golden Week, but thanks to this unexpected chaos, she had gotten it early.
She still did not, however, want to hear another second of Shirogane Miyuki's singing.
"Thank you, Fujiwara Secretary!" Shirogane said earnestly.
He believed completely in the musical genius Fujiwara Chika.
As long as she was here, his singing still had a chance.
…Half an hour later.
Fujiwara Chika lay limp on Sakurai Saki's lap, eyes vacant and soul leaving her body.
"Just let me die… living is so tiring…"
Shirogane rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"Heh… sorry. I'm a little tone-deaf."
"A little?" Fujiwara Chika echoed weakly.
You call this a little? Is your 'little' on a cosmic scale?
"Didn't you say!! Didn't you practice with Saki-kun yesterday? Why… why are you still so bad?!"
She sounded like a critically ill patient having one final burst of strength.
After screaming, she collapsed completely.
"…Saki-kun… help."
With that, Chika closed her eyes.
Shirogane, President or not, no longer mattered.
She had a lap pillow.
She had held hands today.
Everything else could be thrown away.
Good night.
"Fujiwara Secretary!!! No—!" Shirogane cried.
Sakurai Saki gently stroked Chika's hair.
Softly, he whispered, "Tomorrow again?"
Fujiwara Chika trembled slightly at those words—
then immediately played dead even harder.