What If I Told Tomori-san, The Girl Who's Cold Only Towards Me, That I Knew Her Secret Account? - V2 Chapter 8.3

Dance on the Keyboard 3

“Amazing.”

“Hey-hey, is Kazami that skilled at the piano…?”

“Idiot! Are you a new student? Don’t you know Kazami’s old nickname?”

“The ‘Piano Prodigy.’ She comes from a musical family, and until she was in 8th grade, it wasn’t rare for her to be ranked first in the whole country.”

“But I’m impressed that Azusa-chan can keep up with her.”

“Speaking of which, didn’t Tomori take piano lessons from Kazami in the past?”

“Even if they say they’re fighting, they’re childhood friends after all. Their harmony is perfect.”

“It’s like they’re playing together while helping each other…”

Some students whispered in subdued admiration.

(Playing together while helping each other… huh?)

You don’t understand any of this. That’s not playing together while helping each other.

It’s just two childhood friends having their first fight.

*****

What does she think she’s doing———!?

Desperately struggling to keep up with Azusa’s performance next to me, I was screaming inside my head.

From the moment it began, Azusa’s performance was chaotic. Adding arbitrary arrangements, selfishly attempting solos, not playing the piece we created as it was, but rather freely wreaking havoc on the keyboard.

To everyone else, it might sound like a perfectly synchronized duet, but that’s because I’m desperately covering for her.

(This, this person…!)

There’s absolutely no intention of helping me!

‘To settle the friendship, Azusa Tomori intends to help Kazami Chifuyu’? Completely off the mark!

Otherwise, she wouldn’t play a performance like she’s showing off her skills for hire!

“!?”

Azusa’s performance deviated greatly from the course I anticipated.

To prevent the audience from realizing this fact, I immediately followed and recovered. Thus, we continue to play in unison.

(Ah, seriously!)

‘What’s her purpose!?’ While cursing in my mind——.

Perhaps inspired by the melody of my childhood friend, I remembered something.

(Come to think of it, Azusa used to be like this)

She often stuck her nose into unrelated fights, saying [There’s a kid being bullied!] She even dragged my shy self around the town for explorations.

Even in the duets we used to play when we were younger, Azusa wanted to play as she pleased, and I always had to bring our performances together.

Honestly, it was quite challenging to keep up with her whims…

(——Being with Azusa was really enjoyable.)

I was genuinely surprised by my own thoughts.

Is it possible?

—Am I actually enjoying playing the piano again?

No matter how much effort I put into competitions, I couldn’t achieve good results, and I even grew to hate the piano to the point of running away…

I stopped playing the piano around the time I was in 9th grade.

At that time, Azusa had become the hero of the school.

With piano being my only skill, I was anxious about being left behind by my best friend.

So, I tried even harder to achieve better results in competitions.

But the more I tried to play flawlessly and accurately, the less chance I had of winning.

(——Ah, I see.)

Following Senpai’s advice, it’s clear now after these two years of hardly playing the piano.

It’s boring to play with a focus on accuracy and a fear of making mistakes. That’s just pandering to the judges.

Yes, it’s true that I used to achieve results in competitions…

(Because I genuinely enjoyed playing the piano.)

And it was Azusa who gave me that feeling.

I come from a musical family, but initially, I disliked playing the piano.

Even as a child, I detested being told to play by someone.

『Hey, Chi-chan! Can you teach me the piano?』 But young Azusa changed me.

She begged me to teach her the piano, and when I played a piece, she smiled and rejoiced.

Of course, duet playing like today was also enjoyable—

“It’s fun, Chifuyu.”

I was taken aback by the soft voice that sounded just inches away. Is this real?

Can people really talk during a duet?

How much of a perfect superhuman are you?

This girl wasn’t only good at sports and studies; she also had a talent for music…

(Can’t I even keep up with Azusa in playing the piano?)

Despair creeps in.

Azusa Tomori is an extraordinary and capable individual.

So, maybe it’s okay that I can’t win against her on piano…

『Are you okay, Chifuyu?』

In an instant, Senpai’s voice resurfaced in my mind.

Just before the prom started, I received a call from Senpai.

『In DM, I thought you seemed down lately…』

He quickly saw through my condition—.

『Could it be that you had a fight with your childhood friend?』

『!? How did you know?』

『We used to talk about your childhood friend a lot over DM, but you haven’t mentioned anything for the past few days.』

『…As expected of Senpai. Still sharp as ever. And compared to that… I’m the worst. Fighting with Azusa and even making Senpai worry about me—』

『Have more confidence. I’ve thought about this since we talked in the park. Chifuyu, you have a complex about your childhood friend, but from my perspective, Chifuyu, you’re already an impressive person. You’ve put in enough effort, from studying anime and manga to have conversations with me to trying to change your appearance and personality. That diligent side of you, I deeply respect it——I like it.』

He encouraged me.

Even saying the ‘like’ that I longed to hear that night we met at the park.

Then, why should I just give up?

Lose my confidence and once again make excuses like ‘it can’t be helped,’ and run away?

(There’s no way I can do that!)

I don’t want to lose!

As Senpai said, I’ve been working hard on the piano all this time!

I ignite the remnants of pride as a pianist that still remain in my heart.

To not lose to my childhood friend beside me, I return with all my might.

Kazami Chifuyu in her prime.

When I wholeheartedly enjoyed playing the piano.

I’m going to recreate my performance from the days when I was known by the exaggerated nickname of ‘Piano Prodigy’.