Chapter 204

Chapter 101 – Tachibana’s Song

Makoto’s face was gloomy; she did not want to argue with Miku at this moment. Finding and defeating the Selfish Beast to reclaim her voice and get back to Yotsuba Arisue was their top priority.

“Please move aside…”

But one could tell from Makoto’s clenched fists and slightly trembling shoulders that she was not as indifferent as she portrayed herself to be.

Dabi, seething with anger hidden in his pocket, would have transformed back into human form to teach this little girl a lesson had it not been for the consideration that he needed to stay in fairy form to transform anytime and deal with potential Selfish Beasts.

“Ha—?” Makoto muttered, her voice barely audible. Seeing the once competitive opponent now like this, Miku approached aggressively.

“With such a weak voice, who do you think will hear you?”

“It’s not just about the rumors of big star Makoto Kanzaki retiring, but even your recent new song release was canceled. What’s the matter? Are you afraid to confront me when I’m in my prime?”

“No, that’s not right!” Ai couldn’t tolerate this any further. She immediately spoke out for her friend. “You don’t know how Makoto P—”

“Mana…”

Though Makoto’s voice was low, Ai still heard it. Turning back, she saw Mana shake her head at her.

“Please step aside…”

“Heh, you—”

“Future, enough!”

A man’s reprimand from behind stopped Miku Future’s nonsense. The plain-looking man pushed his reflective glasses up with his index finger; his badge on the chest confirmed his identity as Miku’s producer.

“Future, haven’t you still got recording work with O over there? Hurry up and prepare yourself. Acting like this in front of Makoto is unbecoming!”

“Ugh… Fine, I understand.” Turning her head away, Miku moved aside to walk in another direction. It seemed she still held a great deal of respect for her producer.

“I apologize, Miss Makoto and friends for Future’s disrespectful actions just now!’

Seeing her producer bow apologetically, the girls looked at each other and the anger in their hearts subsided considerably.

“That’s alright, Producer sir. Please stand up.”

The producer left a good impression on the girls with his amiable and talkative nature. He explained about Future’s situation to them while Makoto provided supplementary information. Through these explanations, they roughly understood the background of things.

“Hmm… That means Future was always second to you in popularity, true?”

Ai nodded, finally understanding why Future had so much unexpected hostility towards Makoto.

“Yes, Future has consistently boasted about surpassing me,” Makoto said embarrassingly while talking about this thing.

In fact, Future had challenged Makoto based on the popularity of her new songs before, but she always lost by a large margin.

“In truth, during your hiatus, Future’s singing skills improved dramatically, so much that professional music reviewers say she can match yours now. Hence, she felt a bit… Overwhelmed.”

With this, the producer bowed again to apologize.

“So Future was naturally quite agitated when you announced your retirement because she always wanted to beat you truly.”

“Even so…” Even if one can understand, acknowledging it is different. Future went too far, taking advantage of Makoto’s predicament. Neither Makoto nor the girls around were okay with this.

If not for the producer explaining things so meticulously, they wouldn’t have forgiven Future easily.

“By the way, since this is a rare chance, would you ladies like to see Future recording songs today live?”

“Eh? Is it possible? Isn’t it usually confidential?” Upon hearing this, the girls instantly became interested. Makoto also looked over, wondering what changes had come over her rival who was now confronting her directly.

“It’s fine, it’ll be like compensation.”

♩♭♪

Without a doubt, Miku Future showed a stark contrast to her arrogant demeanor previously. Standing in the professional recording studio and fully focused, she exhibited no traces of past events affecting her expression. Even the amateur girls watching from outside couldn’t find fault in her performance.

“MissingpieceComebacktohere [The Lost Fragment Rebounds Here].”

“ラストは今じゃない [It’s Not The Last Now].”

Miku’s body movements also instinctively followed the tempo of the song. Bending down, she closed her eyes without shouting violently, choosing instead to use the depths of her body to project her voice, emphasizing the sincerity of her song.

This seemed to be an energetic tune. Miku’s passionate vocals were filled with genuine emotions, obviously reflecting her utmost dedication. One could feel this passion even from outside, as Miku lost herself in her love for music.

Above all, even the unpolished initial version sounded fantastic to the other girls!

“Future has already become so talented?”

Makoto involuntarily opened her mouth wide. She had heard Future’s songs before, but never thought her vocal skills had reached such a high level. While she was absent due to disappointment, Future had made remarkable progress.

“How is she, isn’t she impressive?” The producer’s voice brimmed with pride when he talked about Future. “Currently, we’re recording a song for the popular hero Kamen Rider Wizard. Apparently, someone sighted a real-life Kamen Rider, boosting the series’ popularity. And Future managed to benefit from this, too.”

Hearing this, the girls froze momentarily, knowing full well that the appearance of Kamen Rider was indeed true.

“It’s you guys.”

The recording booth door opened. Seeing the thumbs-up from the recording staff confirming that she had passed in one take, Future excitedly swung the door open, bumping into Makoto and her friends.

With the producer nearby, Future didn’t utter any spiteful words this time, only raising an eyebrow to challenge. Taking the towel handed by the producer, she wiped off the sweat from her forehead, knowing that singing consumed a lot of energy.

“Producer, do you see it! My grand performance!”

“Yeah, Future worked hard. Drink some water first.”