24 Tadano's Hidden Talent
-Hito-
After the last subject ended, he would usually accompany Komi to the school gate and Nishimiya to the bus station till they parted ways.
However, today was different. Yumiko Miura, one of the popular kids in class, unexpectedly invited him to go with their group to a karaoke.
Hito couldn't understand why she suddenly invited him, for now, reason, he wasn't that popular after all.
"So, what do you think..?" Miura said while playing with her nails.
"Well…I'm flattered bu-" As he was about to refuse, suddenly he was assaulted by Najimi from behind.
"Hey! Tadano-kun! Let's go to the karaoke! It's been a while since we hung out!" Najimi eagerly said.
"That's true…" Hito muttered, he hadn't hung out with his childhood friend since that day, it was mainly his fault of course, because he was in his edgy state at that time, and he wouldn't talk to anyone aside from his family.
"What are you hesitating for anyway!" Najimi asked with a pout.
Ugh…he isn't cute at all, or is she? Whatever their gender it doesn't matter it's Najimi.
"Well, I was supposed to accompany Komi-san and Nishimiya-san today." He admitted.
"Don't you do that every day?"
Wait, how does Najimi know about that? Is this creature stalking him?
"No, I can tell what you're thinking I'm not stalking you, it's just hard to ignore the fact that you are friends with Komi-san who is the unofficial goddess of school, and Nishimiya-san the unofficial saint of school," Najimi stated.
Wait, what?! That's the first time he heard about such a thing!
"From your reaction, you haven't heard about those rumors, figures that's totally like you Tadano-kun, you haven't even realized that your friends are popular," Najimi admitted with a sigh.
He's not entirely incorrect, but he knew that Komi would be popular in time, but he didn't expect Nishimiya to gain the same popularity.
What did they do behind his back anyway?
After this conversation, he sighs and decides. "Alright, I'll go."
Going with them can't be that bad.
—
He takes his previous statement back, it's bad, is this his popular kids' hangouts?
He can't keep up with their conversation, and while he could understand some of their topics, most of whatever they are talking about is an alien concept to him.
So, he left Komi and Nishimiya for this?
Anyway, the group has Yui, Miura, Tobe, Hina, Hayato, and Najimi.
Since he followed them, no one aside from Najimi tried to strike up a conversation with him, but he expected this to happen honestly.
But it doesn't mean he had to like it, he felt like a piece of extra baggage in their presence, maybe next time he should be careful accepting this kind of invitation.
Suddenly Hayama decided to ask him. "So Tadano-san, last P.E. you were really fast, in fact, you almost reached the world record for the 50 meters sprint, are you perhaps part of the track team in middle school?"
Now everyone's attention was on him, Hayama's presence was truly powerful.
No wonder he's the leader of this pack, he had that natural leader vibes that he felt from him.
But something like this wouldn't intimidate him, the things he experienced in the past few days were nothing but bizarre, and a handsome high school prince is something insignificant.
"No, not really in fact I've never been on a track team." He answered without hesitation, it is the truth after all.
"I-i see…" Hayama was stunned for a bit, he didn't expect that at all.
Now, before anyone could think that he's bragging, Najimi came to his rescue adding evidence to his words.
"It's true, Tadano-Kun is my childhood friend and as long as I've known him, he hasn't joined any track team, that's why it's a surprise to me too, that he could run that fast," Najimi said.
Because of that, the rest had accepted his words as fact, after all, they were also Najimi's childhood friends, they met at least a few times in the past only to be reunited in high school.
They took his words for granted because they knew that Najimi isn't someone that would lie about something like this.
"That's surprising, if you didn't practice and could run that fast, then you're gifted in running," Hina said with a thinking pose, it was as if she's solving a mystery.
"You're not exactly incorrect…" Hito wasn't sure what to answer, but she wasn't entirely wrong before he got his ability he was quite good at running actually but not as fast as he is now.
"Ah ha! It seems that I am correct! Indeed I'm a genius!" Hina exclaimed and started to pose exaggeratedly.
That got a laugh from most people in the group, while Hayama just smiled awkwardly and Miura rolled her eyes.
Because of that, he became part of their conversation, which was quite surprising to him, so they weren't actually ignoring him, but just didn't know how to start a proper conversation with him.
He thought they were ignoring him because he's the only one who isn't as popular as they are, but he guessed wrong they just don't know how to talk to him.
They were basically strangers a while ago, so it was understandable, while classmates they didn't really interact with each other.
Hito got comfortable with talking with them, although he was still left behind with their unusual topics.
'So this is how it feels to be part of a group.' He thought.
It wasn't a bad feeling, but he still prefer hanging out with his friends than them, while his friends got odd quirks, at least he knows them better than these people.
Finally, they arrived at the karaoke Hayama went to the counter and started talking with the employee.
After that he paid quite a lot of money, he shouldn't be surprised that he's rich, as he's literally giving off that vibes, he's literally the prince charming of modern times.
But all of that is from the outside perspective of an outsider, the inside is different while he might act cheerful outside, the inside felt hollow.
Only Hito knows this, because he has a cheat to feel emotions, not that he'd say it to them though, they won't believe him anyway.
That the prince charming of school is dead inside.
Thankfully though, he's the only one from the group who feels like that.
He's basically an emo, but with extra steps.
—
First time inside a karaoke room, it's a lot bigger than he imagined, he's not complaining he prefers this over a cramped one.
His classmates and especially Najimi expertly used the remote to set things up, while the others were looking for songs to sing.
He let them do whatever they want to do, he had no idea how to use those things anyway, everything is new to him here.
So he'll just observe first because maybe he'll get the chance to go back here with his friends.
No scratch that, he's definitely going to invite them next time, he can't just keep this for himself.
A few minutes later, Yui started singing her voice was good, but just normal good, not an idol level but good.
Then the rest of his classmates started singing, some were good and some were bad.
Tobe particularly is a very special kind of bad, it's like listening to sheep mating with each other.
It's a metaphor but, his point still stands it's terrible.
Who made him sing in the first place?
Then it was his turn.
"Me?" Hito pointed at himself, he asked surprised he was totally fine with not singing at all.
"Yeah! It's been a while since I've heard so sing, why don't you surprise them!" Najimi eagerly said.
Now everyone's attention was on him because Najimi said something that he wasn't supposed to say.
This was his secret, no one knows even his family, by pure coincidence Najimi found out about this particular talent of his.
With the excited and curious look of his classmates, he decided to comply.
He stood up from the coach and took the mic, before starting he tested the mic's volume.
After that, he picked a song that he was familiar with.
He took a deep breath and started singing.
(A/N: 'You're Beautiful' by James Blunt. I specifically choose this because of childhood memories ah those times~)
"My life is brilliant."
His first sentence caught them off guard because of how fluent it was.
"My life is brilliant
My love is pure
I saw an angel
Of that I'm sure
She smiled at me on the subway
She was with another man
But I won't lose no sleep on that
'Cause I've got a plan
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You're beautiful, it's true
I saw your face in a crowded place
And I don't know what to do
'Cause I'll never be with you
Yes, she caught my eye
As we walked on by
She could see from my face that I was
Fucking high
And I don't think that I'll see her again
But we shared a moment that will last 'til the end
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You're beautiful, it's true
I saw your face in a crowded place
And I don't know what to do
'Cause I'll never be with you
La-la-la, la
La-la-la, la
La-la-la, la, la
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You're beautiful, it's true
There must be an angel with a smile on her face
When she thought up that I should be with you
But it's time to face the truth
I will never be with you…."
After he finishes the song, he looks at his classmates, and their reactions were priceless.
Their jaws dropped.
"Umm…guys?"
It wasn't a minute later, Najimi started clapping.
"Brilliant Tadano! Brilliant!" Najimi excitedly clapped at the end of his performance.
If you noticed closely, you can some tears in his eyes.
He didn't realize the emotional rollercoaster that he brought upon them.
"Woah…" Yui said in awe.
—
Well, suppose I would continue the rest next chapter was supposed to be a short scene of them going to karaoke, but I decided to add some extra to it.
If you liked the story please support me on Pa.treon, even if it's just for a month I'd be really grateful.
Pa.treon/charlottes143
