Chapter 10

……

(…Oh, this isn’t good. I fell asleep.)

(Where am I? The PA system says this station is nowhere near where I was going…)

(It isn’t like me at all to oversleep like this.)

(I shouldn’t be let myself relax so much, not when I’m aiming for perfect attendance.)

(I’m the class president, after all; I need to be more serious about keeping a good attendance record.)

(Then again, I’ve realized by now that I won’t learn anything meaningful even if I do go to class.)

(But I won’t let my efforts be wasted. I’ll just have to get off at the next stop and turn back around.)

Ho~ku~to~kun ♪

…Oh, good morning, Hibiki-buchou. What are you doing on this train? Yumenosaki Academy is in the opposite direction.

You weren’t surprised at all, were you? I did expect that much, but that’s no fun at all!

Sorry. I’m used to seeing extraordinary and unexpected things, so I guess I’m a little numb to it.

You’re a thoroughbred of the entertainment world, through and through. From my perspective, that is an enviable position to be in—Your life must be overflowing with excitement.

No, it’s pretty normal.

Yes, I’m sure it’s normal for you.

What’s that supposed to mean… Quit bothering me; it’s annoying. You’re not supposed to talk on the train, anyway.

Oh, boo-hoo. I remember when you first joined the club—you were so clingy it was annoying. And now look at you…

Have you finally gotten tired of me? You’ve been so short with me recently.

Fufu, no matter how much I teach you, you can never learn a single technique. And yet, you refuse to be discouraged, coming back to ask me the same questions time and time again…

I found it quite the bother.

However, I’d also be lonely if you were to stop coming to me for help.

Hm… The more you teach me, the more I can feel the difference in our abilities. It just leaves me at a loss for what to do.

But I’m studying a lot right now so that I can get the basics down first.

You’re very good at putting on airs of exerting yourself. But you know, no one would reprimand you if you took things one step at a time, or if you skipped a few steps in the process and jumped straight into a conclusion.

There are other skills you can learn for just that.

Putting on airs, huh… Yeah, I’m sure that’s how an ordinary person like me looks to you.

What are you sulking for? I do believe you’re a genius in your own right—though I’m not sure in what.

That which we call a genius is but a one-of-a-kind flower, and each one must be cultivated differently. If you raise them according to a standard, they might never bloom.

It’s like comparing tomatoes and watermelons. And yet, you are a watermelon who wants to grow as if you were a tomato.

Someday your stem will break—snap right off ♪

I have no idea what you’re trying to say.

Yes, that’s just fine. It’s just idle chitchat; it doesn’t need to make sense.

Chitchat is a waste of time. How about you go read a book instead?

A book has truth written on its pages, but it is never truth itself.

The answer to every question that exists in this world is either infinity, or humanity.

Thus, you must either mingle with humanity, or you must enjoy the process of pondering such questions.

Buchou… I don’t really care, but don’t just pull on my braid for no reason.

Don’t say that~ Your braid makes me feel somewhat closer to you.

Did you do this to imitate me? If so, I must say I’m overjoyed! It makes us look like we’re brothers, don’t you think? ♪

I don’t need a brother like you. Being compared to you would just give me an inferiority complex.

…My mother tied it for me when I first started school because I told her I was joining the drama club.

For one reason or another, I left it this way. But it’s annoying to have to tie it up every single day.

Ah… Just as I thought, then; this is the work of your mother.

Fufu. Once, when I stood atop a stage with her, she gave me a word of advice: Performers and authors alike are only as good as their impersonators.

Impersonators…?

In other words, the works or the people who follow after them with the intent to imitate their style.

You see this all the time—As soon as something gets popular, we are flooded with similar works all trying to ride the wave.

Such is an impersonator: the bamboo shoot that springs up after the rain. And it is only once those shoots are born that a performer can truly be a performer…

And so, because I had no impersonators to speak of, I was denounced as an amateur.

Are you on bad terms with my mom, Hibiki-buchou?

Is that how you see it? I saw it as a pep talk filled with love, myself. Everyone else praised me endlessly, saying that I’m a genius, that I’m brilliant.

Yet she did not. When she told me that I was still an amateur, still so inexperienced…

When your mother looked down her nose at me and laughed, I felt that I had been saved.