“Ladies and gentlemen. The moment we’ve all been waiting for. Which of these eight brilliant young musicians will be crowned the winner of the National Music Contest? Let’s find out.”

He walked over to the judges and was handed an envelope again.

“Once again… I’ve got the winner’s name right here in the envelope,” he was speaking slowly again, stalling for suspense.

He slowly opened the envelope, but didn’t look at what’s inside. Without losing eye contact with the camera he said, “The jury made their decision. The audience’s votes influenced the result. For the jury, the race for the top spot was tight, the same applies for the audience. It was close. But we’ve got a winner.”

This time he looked at the sheet of paper inside the envelope. He threw it high in the air and shouted in the microphone, “The winner is no other than Koji!!”

I thought I was dreaming, but when Katou launched herself onto me, I quickly realised I wasn’t. This was reality. I was the best junior musician in the entire country.

“Koji! You did it!”

I wondered where she got the energy from to be so happy for me. I thought she would be more like the other contestants; devastated.

There was a single other contestant who didn’t show any distraught on his face; Kashimoto.

“You beat me, Koji,” he said. He called me by my name instead of calling me ‘forty-seven’. “This will be the last time I’ll lose to you, mark my words!” he laughed in his silly manner again.

“Come on, Koji!” Katou said. “Go greet the audience!”

I left the room and walked on the stage. I looked at the audience and saw everyone applauding. The announcer walked up to me and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, our very best junior musician, Koji!!”

I looked at one of the camera’s and realised that I was live on television. People all across the country might’ve seen my performance. My winning performance.

For the first time all evening, the judges stood up and applauded as well.

The announcer placed a microphone in a stand in front of me, “Koji, do you have any words to share with the audience here and the people at home?”

What should I say…

Should it be something loose or serious. Funny or something with deep meaning. What was it that I truly wanted the audience to know…

I slightly leaned forward towards the microphone and said the words I felt like sharing, going with my gut feeling.

“…Have you dared to dream big?”

I could feel the surprise at the sound of my words. I added, “It’s my big dream to become the world’s best guitarist. I’m far from it, but as long as I believe that I have what it takes… I feel like I can do it. I’m sure you guys can achieve your goals, too. So, please, dare to dream. And if you dream—dream big.”

After the clarification of my words, the audience applauded, the judges and the announcer seemed to like my words as well.

“Koji, brilliant with music and brilliant with words. What a wonderful kid. So, Koji, which song will you be playing to say a final goodbye to the audience?”

I didn’t have to think long before saying, “Silent Mayhem.”

To which the audience was audibly shocked once more.

“But, it won’t be me who’ll be playing. My rival, Katou… Her sister will be studying abroad soon. She wanted to use the winning performance as a parting gift for her.”

All this talking in front of the audience started making me dizzy, so I quickly wrapped it up, “So, please, welcome to the stage; Katou Emiko!”

I reached a big achievement; winning my first competition—and a national one, no less. And on top of that, I was able to help Katou reach her goal of playing her song in front of her sister.

My first victory of many to come… that’s what I believed at the time, at least.