'Just now... should I not have talked to... Utaha-nee like that?'
Pouting slightly, hugging a cute panda plush on the sofa, Aragaki Ayase suddenly slumped sideways, her eyes filled with a hint of guilt as she stared at the phone on the coffee table.
Ayase felt guilty not just about her tone on the phone with Utaha.
More so because she'd lied. She had no magazine shoot commissioned today, and her cram school was on break too. Yet she told Utaha she had to "prepare for a shoot." This made the pure-hearted Ayase feel a pang of unease and guilt.
Shifting slightly, she turned from lying on her side to lying on her stomach, hugging the panda plush tighter. She rubbed her cheek against the soft sofa cushion unconsciously.
"Mmm... I'm sorry..."
A muffled, quiet apology echoed in the room.
But even though she apologized, it wasn't in person, and the other party hadn't even heard it.
This did nothing to ease her guilt; instead, it deepened her unease and remorse.
However.
Even if Utaha appeared before her right now, she might still not be able to calmly say "I'm sorry."
Yes, even if it was Ayase's fault.
'Big Brother is dating a senpai.' Gritting her teeth slightly, Ayase got up from the sofa, hugging the plush, and took small steps toward the family photo hanging on the living room TV wall.
Looking at the photo—where she and her brother stood between their parents, holding hands happily with bright smiles—a trace of loneliness flashed across Ayase's face.
"It's so nice, Ayase, to have a brother who spoils you so much."
Ayase recalled a friend from class, whom she was fairly close to, saying this to her before the holidays.
"You'd better keep an eye on your brother, Ayase-chan. Otherwise, once he gets a girlfriend, he won't pamper you like before anymore."
That day, hearing her friend say this, Ayase had naively asked, "Why? How could Big Brother stop caring about me?"
Hearing her counter-question and seeing her carefree attitude, her friend's expression turned slightly serious, speaking almost prophetically to the innocent-looking Ayase:
"Because once your brother gets a girlfriend, the most important person in his heart won't be you anymore. My brother turned out exactly like that, sigh..."
At the time, Ayase didn't think much of it.
To her, her friend's brother and her own brother were completely different.
However.
Although she had told herself "Big Brother won't abandon Ayase," ever since summer break started, she'd gradually noticed a shifting routine.
The nightly phone calls with her brother grew shorter.
From an hour, to thirty minutes, to fifteen, and now down to ten minutes.
Like clockwork, the call at 7 PM sharp would just feature his "Good evening, Ayase" and "Get some rest, bye."
Similarly, after every call, looking at her phone which hadn't even warmed up from a long conversation, Ayase would silently swallow the words she wanted to say.
As the short summer days passed.
Gradually, unease began to grow in her heart.
She started to fear—fear that the brother who had always held her hand, smiling and saying "Don't be afraid, Ayase, Big Brother is here," would no longer watch over her as she walked step by step into the unknown future.
She began to dread—dread that she could no longer be, and would never be again, the most important person in her brother's heart.
She grew anxious—anxious that without her brother's protection, walking through life's hardships alone with unsteady steps, she could safely overcome every obstacle.
But ultimately, her brother still hadn't come home. He remained in Tokyo as always.
Guarding Kasumigaoka Utaha, Utaha-nee, who had suddenly intruded into their quiet, warm daily life.
"I can't! I can't think like this! Ayase."
Realizing the gloom that had unknowingly crept into her heart, Ayase snapped back to her senses. She quickly raised her hands and lightly patted her own cheeks.
Dispelling—or rather, forcing back—the gray fog in her heart, her face returned to calm. She bent slightly, picking up the panda plush that had fallen to the floor.
Carefully wiping a speck of dust from the plush's face, Ayase looked into its dark, mirror-like eyes that reflected her own, and hugged it tightly.
The little girl, squatting down unconsciously, buried her unreadable face deep into the plush's soft, warm body.
Mr. Panda.
I don't want to... I won't accept not being the most important person in Big Brother's heart anymore...
Please help me, Mr. Panda.
....
Tokyo, Sakuragawa Talent Agency.
"Nee, can you carry my feelings to the boundless blue sky~~?"
"Is it merely because we crossed paths in the hallway~~?"
"Why does my heartbeat speed up uncontrollably, growing faster and faster~~?"
"Finally gathering my courage, yet unable to utter a simple 'Hello'~~?"
"..."
Watching Miyahito sing in the recording booth with headphones on, Maki's expression grew slightly heavy.
Beside her, the sound engineer in charge of vocal tuning, Ishida Yousuke, wore the same look.
Frowning slightly, he tilted his head, his gaze fixed on Miyahito in the booth, and asked Maki quietly:
"Maki, are you sure this is Miyani's new song?"
"Yeah."
Maki nodded slightly, replying softly.
Although she herself hardly believed Miyani would release a track like this.
But facing Miyahito's firm confirmation and his absolute determination to complete it, Maki had no choice but to believe it was indeed the new song.
Of course.
It wasn't that the Love's Metronome Miyahito was currently singing was bad.
Quite the opposite, the overall quality was quite good. Aside from minor flaws in rhythmic transitions and vocal layering, the song was already at a solid standard.
Considering the short creation time (by Miyahito's own admission) and the complete lack of post-production polishing,
the quality Miyahito was delivering in the booth right now was actually quite impressive.
However.
"Miyani-sensei's song this time..." After a moment of thought, Ishida looked at Maki hesitantly and spoke carefully.
"It's very... conventional."
Conventional... In other words, completely lacking innovation.
Perhaps, for many singers, a "conventional" song isn't a big deal.
However, for Miyani, who had written and sung chart-topping classics like I Wanted to Die, Snow Flower, and Loser...
"Conventional" meant...
"Just give Miyani some time." Slowly lowering her crossed arms, Maki let out a small sigh and smiled at the worried Ishida.
"Well, don't worry."
"Even if not for Sakuragawa Agency's reputation, Miyani will absolutely not disappoint."
After all.
This was the theme song this kid was preparing for his novelist girlfriend's first anime adaptation.