And so it was time for the students who wished to perform, to do so in front of a crowd of interested people. All of this was going to be judged by the ever popular Rinse Hattori, with Ishi as the so-called ‘mean’ one. He would disagree with that assessment, he was simply the strict one.

Then as a surprise for everyone involved, Ryugi would attend as a guest as well. Most everyone assumed that she was going to perform. Of course he was aware that they probably thought she was actually talented when she was actually really poor in singing. That said, the boy was confident that anything she did show off was thanks to hard work.

“Your voice was pretty off-tune.” He gave his opinion on the person who most recently performed. “And to be honest, you’re better off not dancing either.”

“Sheesh, you don’t need to be so rude.” Ryugi was a lot kinder than either of them when it came to being a judge. “And you did a wonderful job, I really liked the neat little footwork you did.”

“Really? Thank Ryugi.” She was also the popular girl between them, so most people disregarded what he said in favor of listening to her. He believed it was fortunate that this wasn’t a real talent show airing on television because they’d all be out of a job from a failure of producing any talent.

“You know, we aren’t required to be nice to them.” He spoke up after the person left the stage. There were dozens of students who were rather talented enough according to the preliminary auditions lined up to sing their songs. Either that, or they were delusional in their beliefs and somehow lucked into it by the lower standards of the initial judges.

“We’re also not required to be mean to them.” She countered. “Like, this isn’t an actual production company. They don’t have to be good to have fun.” Of course, she chose not to perform because she wasn’t good. So it was slightly hypocritical of her to state this as her reason.

Then the next person came to perform for the masses. They were massively better than the one before them. Their voice was angelic and some of the moves were precise and flashy. It was so wonderful that it garnered a standing ovation from the audience. Even Rinse was very impressed by it.

“That was really amazing.” She said when things quieted down. “That performance, I remember it. It was done by a colleague of mine, right?”

“Y-yes.” The girl answered, slightly nervous from getting the chance to speak with her in person. As well as the fact that it took a lot of energy to do all of those complicated dance moves. Her name was Rime Takeyama. “She’s one of my favorite idols, so I hope that I did her justice.”

“I think you did a great job at that.” She responded with glee. “She’d be real happy to see someone recreate one of her best performances.”

“Yeah, and I bet grouchy old Ishi here can’t complain about it.” Ryugi joked, which led to some laughter by the crowd.

“I…” He was about to speak up, but then noted that Ryugi called him by his first name for the first time in his life. That was new and unexpected, especially since they were in front of so many people.

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?” She continued to make fun at his expense for the enjoyment of the audience. Quickly, he returned back to normal and spoke up once more. However, his hesitation was not lost on one specific person. That was Rinse, who was shocked to see for the first time in her life that he actually stuttered on something. From her point-of-view, she didn’t understand why he tripped up on his words. Perhaps it was just getting a little tongue tied that happens to everyone. As he had said many time, he was human and certainly wasn’t flawless as a person.

“I’m fine... Sugimoto.” Then his response to her made perfect sense to her. That girl had called him by his first name out of the blue. Then he made sure to refer to her by family name, despite always calling her by nickname like everyone else. Wait, is that it? That’s what gets him?

Rinse saw it now, or more accurately, heard it from his own voice, his own tone. He had paused to consider on what to call her by. Because he had to think of what he viewed her as, and since he answered with her last name. Then it must’ve meant he didn’t believe her to be his friend, but also that he was still debating on the truth of their relationship.

Did he feel the same way about Rinse when he started to call her Rinse? It didn’t seem that he had much hesitation that night, but perhaps he used their conversation to buy time as he thought about it. She understood him a little more now. This boy took care in choosing the people close to him.

“Anyway, it was a beautiful performance.” He said, which created quite a stir among the audience who was surprised to see him actually say something was good. At this point, they had assumed he was just there to be harsh towards the performers for some sick twisted enjoyment for him. “In fact, you’re probably skilled enough to make some agencies if you really tried.” His next statement was certainly a shock. What made him think that he could advise someone on potential career advice when a real idol was sitting two spots away from him?

“Really? Thank!” The girl on stage was very well appreciative of his words. It meant a lot coming from him.

“But, I’d say that you shouldn’t use this performance to try and audition.” To him, it would not get her a job in the business.

“What? But it was a perfect copy of that performance.” Rinse countered him, feeling a little miffed thinking that he was trying some weird backhanded insult.

“Because it was too perfect of a copy.” He gave his case. It wasn’t that it was done poorly, if anything it was great. But that was because she was too focused on imagination the dance and song like it was in the original. “Your eyes, they weren’t focused on us, the audience.” He said. “You spent so much time in the dance, that you forgot that this isn’t for you or that idol you’re attributing this to. You weren’t even being you, just a cheap imitation of someone else.” His words pierced through the hearts of everyone there. He had found a way to criticize what they thought to be a flawless performance. But it wasn’t because he wanted to be mean or harsh. Quite the contrary, he was hoping to help in the only way he knew how.

“Cheap!?” She was upset at hearing him call her a poor intimation. “I worked so hard on this, how can you be so mean?” Tears were forming on her eyes, he had really done this to her in front of everyone here. Right when she had no escape without making things look awkward.

“Because I’m not here to listen to some idol I’ve never heard of.” He responded, appearing not to care about her feelings. Or perhaps because he already knew how to turn this to everyone’s favor. “I’m here… No, we’re all here to listen to Rime Takeyama sing.” That resonated with everyone, who thought about this girl’s love for singing. How she’d cheer someone up who was crying with the sound of her voice. Ishi was simply pointing out that who she was, was already someone that people wanted to see perform.

The girl now grew silent after hearing him out. She was almost too stunned to say anything back to him. “I believe that you’re one of the most talented students who performed on stage today. I also truly hope that your voice will always stay true.”

“…” She slowly brought the mic back up to her face. Rime was prepared to speak once more. “Then… I’ll try my best.” It was a positive result for him again. This time it wasn’t because he was willing to speak the truth when no one else wanted to. Since most people here did truly believe that this was a stunning performance by the girl. He’d certainly agree that it was a great thing to witness. “I’ll find a way to make my own song, that no one’s ever heard before.”

“That’s wonderful.” He replied. She needed someone to ensure that she didn’t lose her way despite the praise heaped onto her. “I’d like to hear you one day.”

“You’re really something else, aren’t you?” Rinse commented as the girl stepped off stage and the audience applauded.

“I’m not anything special.” He responded with little care. “I just said what I was thinking. It’s not any different than what I’ve been doing the entire time.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much the only thing he’s does in life. He’s a real predictable guy.” Ryugi was less impressed by him. Mainly due to the fact that she had lived with this for her entire high school life. “By the way, Ishi.” She had one last question for him as the show was getting wrapped up. “Do you have any plans for the bonfire?”