"Are you ready?" asked Naru who was now ready with a bass guitar in her hand. Naru looked very confident, I could feel how some kind of aura of confidence radiated so strongly. Contrast that with her annoying attitude that tends to get on my nerves all the time. Naru looked a little different each time, she held the bass guitar in her hand.
I draped my guitar around my neck. Then plucked a few strings, not knowing what kind of song I was going to play. But I let how I felt choose what kind of song I would play.
Every day this grueling... how could I possibly get through it?
Sometimes I wonder in my heart, why does it feel so bitter?
I want to get out of here, someone take me from this dark and boring place
I'm so confined in this dark world, take me... take me... take me
I'm cooped up where this place feels so very toxic to me
I want to leave
I want to be free
Can I?
Take...take...take...me away from this boring place
And unconsciously, my mouth continued to utter various interesting words that even I, myself, did not clearly know the meaning of. It's like a miracle, I can make up songs so quickly. Then adjust it to my guitar playing.
I glanced at Naru, she seemed to be enjoying this performance. She let her fingers dance over the guitar strings effortlessly. I could see that she was confidently letting herself get lost in the music.
This momentary pleasure, so pleasant and intoxicating, I think I'm beginning to understand why. Naru could be so in love with the world of music. She was enjoying the pleasure of the world of music itself. Slowly I began to understand, how her love that I considered unreasonable. could make her go so far.
As my mouth continued to sing, and my fingers danced smoothly on the guitar. I could see with my own eyes. How people slowly began to gather to watch this impromptu performance.
A sense of excitement came over me, seeing so many people watching me perform. A joy that had never been present in me before.
Even this overwhelming sense of joy, made me not realize. That soon the show would end. And when my mouth began to almost stop saying a few words, and replaced them with mumbles. Slowly the sound of the music began to fade. I could feel how the turmoil began to subside gradually.
Until finally the show really came to an end. I could clearly see how people were screaming in pleasure. They all enjoyed my performance. People I never asked to come. They all came and gathered in one place. Just to see my performance together with Naru.
The excitement that there were so many people watching this impromptu performance. Making me unaware, that there was a mysterious man, constantly observing as well as watching my performance from the very back row.
***
I uncorked the bottle of mineral water that Naru gave me. After the show we stopped by the convenience store for a while.
"How are you feeling?" asked Naru excitedly. After the show she didn't even look tired at all. I wonder where all that excess energy she has comes from.
"Pretty good, that was fun for me," I said with satisfaction. That performance was so much fun for me. Even I wasn't so sure I could do a performance like this in my real body.
Naru looked shocked as soon as I said those words. She seemed to not believe how I could give her those words.
"I'm quite surprised how, you can talk like that. It seems like you really enjoyed the show, didn't you?"
"Why does your reaction look so disbelieving? Is that something strange?" I wonder if it would be surprising if I showed my enjoyment this time.
Naru laughed awkwardly. "Not that, gosh how do I explain it huh," she said nervously. I don't know why she suddenly turned out to be misbehaving like this. It's a bit odd to see her acting like this.
"Did I look weird earlier?" I asked her suspiciously. Perhaps when I was performing, I had shown an unexpected facial expression. Because I was so immersed in the song.
"You were amazing. There was nothing strange. You even look like an Apollo God." And some of the compliments that kept flowing from Naru's mouth, made me feel amused. I almost doused her with the water in my hand.
***
Arriving home. When I opened the door to the house, I found Rei who as usual greeted me at the front door of the house warmly. Every time I see Rei greet me like this, it makes me miss my twin. Especially after I was thrown into the past, everything feels so foreign to me.
"Saki-nii, how was your day?" she greeted kindly, every time I came home.
Honestly, getting a greeting like this makes my heart feel warm. It would be nice if I had a biological sister like her. Although in reality, I was the one who was the younger sibling because Fujisaki, herself, was my twin sister.
"It was fun. I did a performance on the street. There were a lot of people watching, and it felt really good to me," I told her. It was also my habit that whenever I came home I would tell Rei everything that happened during the day.
Rei smiled brightly. And I love that bright smile of hers. "That sounds like a lot of fun Saki-nii, if only I could have seen you perform earlier."
"Next time I'll take you with me when I'm busking. Of course you have to see me perform, even if it's not a big show," I said excitedly.
Rei smiled again. From the look on her face she looked like she wanted to tell me something. But she was clearly hesitant to tell me about it. I knew she must be feeling uncomfortable.
"Is there something you want to say?" I asked her. Luckily I was sensitive enough that I could figure out what she wanted quickly.
Rei looked hesitant at first. There seemed to be something important that was so difficult for her to tell me.
"Just tell me, I won't scold you," I said gently. I was as gentle as possible, so that Rei would feel comfortable with me. I didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable with me.
Rei let out a heavy breath. Then tried to speak as calmly as possible. "Saki-nii, I don't feel comfortable staying too long with you. So I want to go back to my home. Maybe I've been living with you for too long. Father may already feel worried about me. Maybe, you're not as angry as before. I hope Saki-nii doesn't mind my decision," Rei said in a low voice. She looked hesitant when saying this to me.
Hearing Rei speak like that, made me feel sad. It seems like I unconsciously started to feel comfortable when living together with Rei. I knew she would return home, but I still felt unprepared for her to just leave.