Kuro and Shiko rush by the doors of the changing rooms and further back to find Haru and Aiko leaning against a table on the corridor, Aiko looks to be mumbling, annoyed and making choking motions with her hands, Haru's face looks like it's saying "yikes", Shiko let's out a light sigh of relief that Aiko looks like she'll be fine
Kuro: Is everything... alright? He looks at Haru and back at Aiko, Aiko grunts
Aiko: UGH!. NO? I was already dealing with my intrusive thoughts of what the hell THIS she points at Haru up and down as he averts his eyes little dumbass could POSSIBLY see in ME and I go up there overthinking everything while THAT EGOTISTICAL LITTLE- she's talking about Zero and makes choking motions again UGH. DAMN HIS ENTIRE BLOODLINE!. Haru looks at her with a shocked face
Haru: OUCH!- Th-That's my BROTHER ya know! He puts his hand on his chest with an offended look on his face I'm offended. Damn him personally if you're gonna say anything- Yeesh he opens and rolls his eyes, Kuro face palms, Shiko lightly smiles a little and puts her hand on Aiko's arm
Shiko: I... thought you did great... and President Zero was just trying to personally get in your head. Aiko takes a Deep breath and nods slowly At least in this school you won't get in trouble for- pointing a middle finger at him in front of everyone- she open teeth smiles nervously, Aiko does the same without the smile and looks at her, her voice now calmer
Aiko: I- did do that didn't I...?- Shiko, Kuro and Haru all slowly nod Yeesh- welp... You're right! She looks at Shiko I will not get in trouble and was pretty good! She looks at Haru Sorry... I kind of let my insecurities get the better of me.... Let's properly talk later... Haru slowly nods with a light smile, Aiko stops leaning on the table Still fuck your brother tho. She starts walking away, Haru looks behind her with a wide smile, Shiko lightly giggles
Haru: Wowwwe... It's always been "fucked your brother" and not "fuck your brother"... Kuro and Shiko look at Haru extremely surprised
Kuro: What?!? Are you serious!? Shiko quickly nods in awe, Haru lightly shakes his head no with the same big awe struck smile
Haru: Nope! He's a filthy virgin all the way through. He starts walking behind Aiko and rushing towards her
Kuro and Shiko look at each other and lightly start laughing. After a few seconds they notice they notice they have 15 minutes left, they look over at Haru rushing back at them after saying a few things to Aiko and all together they go back to the changing room area. In 15 minutes, Shiko gets in a dress a bit more comfortable but other than that, stays the same. Same with Kuro and Haru so they meet up back stage on time, further back from the stage side
Kuro: Haru you're up first. You sure with changing your song? He looks at Haru with a light smirk, Haru has a huge "little shit smile" on
Shiko: You're gonna sing something other than the songs you practiced...? Why..? Shiko looks at them confused. Haru giggles lightly and smirks
Haru: I've got a thing or two to tell my brother!~ AgAin!~ he giggles again, Shiko looks at him, at Kuro and back at him
Shiko: Well... If that's what you want..? She lightly smiles and glances at tripple trouble a little further back than them. Erika's eyes meet with her and she pulls a middle finger at Shiko. Lucy is looking at her phone and Nagisa has her back turned, Shiko looks away, Kuro looks at the direction she was looking and back at her
Kuro: Did they do or say anything at you in the changing room?. He says seriously, Shiko looks at him and lightly smiles, she shakes her head no
Shiko: Lucy was in her phone the entire time... I saw Erika take a pill but she didn't look at me... and Nagisa wasn't there... Kuro nods slowly as if saying "good... good..." Haru lightly twists his head a little to the side like a confused puppy and looks at Shiko
Haru: I noticed you stopped using honorifics for them (like -San, -Chan etc. in Japanese) I might GOOD for you! They don't deserve your respect! He smiles but then looks confused again but why..? Shiko's eyes widen a little
Shiko: I.... Didn't even notice... she puts her hands up and closes her mouth My mother would be so mad... Kuro smacks the back on Haru's head. Haru looks back like "WHAT!?". Kuro rolls his eyes and looks at Shiko who looks a bit frozen. He snaps his fingers a few times in front of her
Kuro: You haven't done anything wrong. Right now, this is none of your mothers buisness. And Haru is surprisingly- right... They don't deserve respect from you. He lightly pets her hair, she slowly looks up at him, gets a little pink and slowly nods
Haru goes up where they watched the stage from the side before and looks into the students that are taking their seats without tryna make himself too visible. He spots Aiko. Kuro and Shiko go up where he is. Kuro pulls him near himself so people don't see him
Kuro: It's about to start. You should really be focusing on yourself Romeo. Haru shrugs and smile like an idiot, he puts his arm around Kuro as Kuro rolls his eyes with a light smile. A few seconds pass in silence as Haru's smile gets a bit more genuine
Haru: I wanted to say.. thank you Shiko. Shiko looks at him confused
Shiko: For.. what...? You guys are the ones always helping me...... Haru shrugs a bit again and takes his arm off of Kuro's shoulder
Haru: I wasn't as close as now with Kuro before you got into his life... Kuro looks at him, a bit confused too It was always like he just was standing by presence. We were and are friends yes but you softened him up enough to be more human and less- workaholic robot with trust issues... We got closer thanks to you being in his, or our life... So thank you for that. Kuro's expression fades a little, he lightly smacks the back of Haru's head again and looks away in thought. Shiko lightly smiles. Looks at Kuro and back at Haru. She slowly nods
Shiko: Well.... You guys changed my life... in a good way... so I thank you too... she looks at Kuro and her smile turns lightly blue, she speaks with a little hesitation When Haru says you're softer... he means it in a good way. Living your life... does not make you weak... Haru looks at Kuro and face palm slaps himself
Haru: You know I didn't mean it that way!! Dumba- Kuro looks at him like "U WANNA FINISH THAT WORD?." Kinda half mad half surprised looking face AA-Dumbbell's are cool! If u feel weak ever, not that you are- Ahahaha He giggles jokingly nervously, Kuro let's out a breath like laugh
Kuro: Good. Heh... Shiko giggles a little as Kuro lightly smiles
The lights in the hall dim and stage lights open, Kuro, Shiko and Haru look towards Zero. He taps his mic and puts on his big, fake smile before speaking
Zero: Welcome back students!!~ Second round of the Karaoke competition is about to begin! We have 6 contestants left that ended up being- less of a bore and we even got to see one or two ACTUALLY good performances. Let's see how many of them will actually make it through! First up- his voice gets a little less excited Haruka Tetsu... a few people cheer
Haru smacks Kuro's back and skips on stage, he takes the mic in his hand and a huge smirk overtakes his face, Zero closes his own mic and sighs, rolling his eyes, Haru blows a kiss at Aiko. She face palms with a light smile as Haru turns his eyes to Zero
Haru's Song starts playing: "Hot Girl Bummer" by Blackbear - https://youtu.be/k-T4Odb-r5c
Haru: "Fuuuuck you. And you, and you... I hate your friends and they hate me too. I'm through, I'm through, I'm through... it's that hot girl bummer anthem, turn it up and throw a tantrum." He sings with a smirk, pointing sometimes at Zero, sometimes at the students and sometimes at himself, Zero's face slowly turns mad. An extremely shocked smile overtakes
Shiko's face and she closes her mouth with one hand, she looks at Kuro and back at stage in awe, Kuro is also smirking and Aiko who's sitting amongst the students start holding in a laugh. Haru later starts walking around as the song continues
"It's that college dropout music, every day like that she be too thick and my friends are all annoying but we go dumb, yeah we go stupid" he sticks out his tongue at Zero who seems to be boiling up and has starting tapping his fingers on the table in front of him and Yami. Shiko whispers to Kuro mid giggle
Shiko: A-Almost sounds like a personal change of song...(!) she seems to be having fun, Kuro smirks, also enjoying himself. As are the students
Kuro: Heh... I bet Aiko is enjoying this more than any one of us Lucy who will go next slowly approaches them from the back and looks at Haru on stage
Lucy: Wow... Ballsy isn't he..? She looks like she doesn't care much but there's a smirk smile on her face, Kuro and Shiko's face fades a little bit, Kuro sighs and looks back at Haru
Kuro: He... does like to have fun.. he smirks lightly again as Haru starts pointing at Zero and the students while singing once more
Haru: "Fuuuck you. And you, and youuu... I hate your friends and they hate me too. Fuck you and you and youuu... it's that hot girl bummer anthem turn it up and throw a tantrum." The song ends as most the students cheer, Zero quickly lifts his hand but the cheering ends a little after that
Zero: SURE. Swearing is allowed. Haru lifts his brows and back down with a smirk. Zero sounds ticked off But. Too much. "Disqualified". Or more so, failed. Bye. He doesn't even try to sound fake happy or say his usually "Ta-Ta~" and shoos Haru with his hand.
Haru blows a kiss at the students and walks off with victory hands in fists both above him. Some students cheer. He joins where Kuro, Shiko and Lucy are, lifts Kuro and Shiko's hand and high fives them, Kuro rolls his eyes with a light smirk and Shiko giggles
Kuro: Heh... Happy for someone who didn't pass aren't you? Shiko nods in agreement as Haru shrugs with a smile
Haru: Meh, I did what I wanted and enjoyed the hell out of it!~ he giggles, Lucy smirks at him
Lucy: Weren't you a sight for sore eyes before I got on stage~ she looks at him up and down Sing for me in Karaoke if we have a drink night maybe? Haru makes a happy go lucky thinking face
Haru: Hmmm~ I'll think about it!~ Lucy winks at him and walks on stage after her name is called. Kuro and Shiko look at him confused and bothered. Haru's smile disappears and he makes a "yikes" face
Yeaa- No I won't. he pats Kuro and Shiko's back before walking further backstage and getting out of there to go to Aiko's side to watch, Kuro and Shiko look at each other and lightly giggle before looking back on stage
Lucy's Song starts playing: "I Did Something Bad" by Taylor Swift - https://youtu.be/MLHjNzlX9is
Lucy: "I never trust a narcissist. But they love me~ ..... So I play 'em like a violin and I make it look oh... so... eaaasy.... Cause for every lie I tell them, they tells me three. And this is how the world works. Now all he thinks about... is me."
Kuro lightly whispers to Shiko
Kuro: Haru told me before Lucy had multiple bad break ups. She's been manipulated a lot so I doubt she knows what a real relationship platonic or romantic is like. Especially while being a pawn of Nagisa... Shiko looks at him and slowly nods before looking a bit confused
Shiko: W-Why... do you think Haru knows so many details about so many girls... didn't he say before he knows the name of every female student...? She asks sort of hesitantly. Kuro crosses his arms while arching Lucy and talking to Shiko
Kuro: That's a lie... he knows the name of every student. Not just the girls. He's like an information source in my eyes but he knows so much because he's "friendly" with everyone with the character he puts on... might be a comfort thing... Shiko slowly nods again and looks back on stage
Lucy: "If a man talks shit, then I owe him nothing! I don't regret it one bit cause he had it coming." She starts walking around a bit while singing, a light smirk appears on her face
"They say I did something bad! Then why's it feel so good?~" Zero smirks lightly while watching
"Most fun I ever had!~ And I'd do it over and over and over again if I could."
The song passes through and slowly comes to an end after a bit, few people cheer, way less than Haru who didn't pass for other reasons but still a good amount, Zero opens his mic and let's out a sigh
Zero: Well well Lucy Greenstone. Besides a few bad things you've done, how impactful really are you?~ He says with a fake happy smile and voice, Lucy looks unentertained and shrugs
Can't wait to hear about the bad things you've done in a show and tell!~ But I got bored. Next! Ta-Ta~ he shakes his finger as a buh-bye
Lucy rolls her eyes, shucks her shoulders, puts the mic on the mic stand and walks off stage, through Kuro and Shiko and further back as Erika approaches, she seems to be ignoring Kuro and Shiko, she gets on stage after her name is called, Shiko looks at her on stage
Shiko: Erika... looked so passionate... I hope she passes.. President Zero is being more strict... Kuro slowly nods
Kuro: Besides how he is with Haru and his snappy remarks at everyone, I'm sure even Zero is trying to be fair here. He'll make her pass if he feels it will be a good time... Shiko let's out a sigh of relief. Kuro lightly smiles Heh... aren't you cute being considerate of your competition? Shiko gets slightly pink from being called cute
Shiko: W-Well- like Haru said... I did what I wanted... which was singing the first song I did, so now it's worth it and I'm happy with that... she smiles lightly, Kuro ruffles her hair and looks on stage
Erika's Song IS playing: "ilomilo" by Billie Eilish - https://youtu.be/wnUJv5Ej39I
Erika: "Hurry, I'm worried... The world's a little blurry........ Or maybe it's my eyes...? The friends I've had to bury.... They keep me up at night-" she walks around as she sings, looks mostly tired to make the song come through in character and putting the meaning aside, sounds very comforting
"I tried not to upset you... Let you, rescue, me the day I met you, I just wanted to protect you...... But now I'll never get to..." time feels like it disappears and the song ends without anyone realizing or getting bored. She just sold it that well. Students applaude for a bit and stop when Zero lifts his hand. He opens his mic and smiles
Zero: Good!~ But is the next one better? He seems like he doubts her, Erika quickly puts on a huge smile on nods, Zero rolls his eyes and sighs before putting on his big fake smile again Very well!~ See you next round Erika- what was your full name again..? Looks down at his papers and back up at Erika as she looks a little ticked even behind the smile Erika Natalia Josephine. Ta-Ta~ he waves his fingers to see Erika away
Erika tries to smile as bright as she can and waves at the students who are cheering her off as she goes to the side of the stage and back. She stops next to Kuro and Shiko. Her fake smile disappears and she let's out a tired breather, Shiko takes a deep breath and hesitantly asks
Shiko: A-Are you... okay...? Erika looks at her, annoyed. She takes a breather and slaps her face from both sides, smiles in an annoying way
Erika: Never. Better. Her smile fades, she clicks her tongue and walks away further back to Nagisa's side, Erika starts looking genuinely excited and you can tell it's true. They start talking back and forth. Shiko looks at Kuro, who is looking on stage and at Zero, waiting for his name to be called since he is next
Shiko: Y-You're gonna do great! I know...(!) she makes her hands into fists again in a "you got this" way. Kuro lightly smiles and ruffles her hair. His name is called so he walks on stage, some students start cheering, Shiko looks at him before hearing a commotion behind her, she looks back
Kuro's Song starts playing: "Distant Worlds" by Susan Collaway, from Final Fantasy XI, covered by Jason Bravura - https://youtu.be/WHH_vY_vRQQ
Shiko sees Erika walking away from Nagisa looking frustrated and looking like she's about to cry. Nagisa rolls her eyes with a smirk and noticed Shiko. She walks towards her
Nagisa: Problem?~ she smiles innocently
Shiko: Wh-what did you do...? She asks silently with hesitation, Nagisa looks at her confused and bats her eyes
Nagisa: What?~ I was just talking to my friend!~ Meanwhile you're up here not even watching your own she sticks out her bottom lip and makes a fake sad smile.
Shiko quickly turns to Kuro and focuses on what he'd been singing. In seconds, she notices how light his voice is despite not sounding especially special, how comforting it sounds and him standing without moving. She quickly falls at ease
Kuro: "Angels chained... by a beast locked in slumber... Sin washed away... by the swift flow of time." Shiko smiles lightly, forgetting Nagisa is even behind her, also watching. She feels like she's again alone in the music hall with Kuro but he's the one singing
"I may know the answers... Journeys over snow and sand. What twist in fate has brought us... to tread upon this land..?"
Slowly the song comes to an end, few people applaud. It feels like he wasn't singing for attention but more because he wanted to get a message across. For someone... Zero opens his mic and speaking sounding relieved
Zero: I can't believe I'm saying this to YOU in my full honesty- But you were just boring. LITERALLY. Kuro shrugs his shoulders and lightly smirks
Kuro: Meh, the students are spending an entire day in your presence. I thought they could have been tired so figured I could relax some people maybe? Heh... some "OOOO~"s are heard from the students watching. Zero's face falls annoyed really quickly. He clicks his tongue
Zero: Failed. Next. He points to the side, Kuro puts the mic on stand and leaves. He gets by Shiko and Nagisa, Shiko's eyes glistening
Shiko: That was so great... she says, genuine and relaxed
Nagisa: Voice was- alright but of course people got bored. She averts her eyes, Kuro ruffles Shiko's hair and looks at Nagisa
Kuro: I don't care. Not about the random students thinking I sing any sort of way Shiko's name is called shortly after and after a deep breath she has to get on stage, she takes her place while looking down a bit
Shiko: "Relax.... Relax... Kuro's song made me feel better.... I got this..." she lifts her head and sees that her mother and sister are sitting near front row now, Hikari's eyes glistening. Shiko knew she wanted to come watch but, not that her mother actually decided to let her. She takes another deep breath
"I'm going to be... okay......."
Shiko's Song starts playing: "Undo" by Sanna Nielsen - https://youtu.be/tFEjfkIRDUg
Shiko: "Silent... I can't wait here silent... Waiting up a storm inside my head.... Nothing, I just stood for nothing... so I fell for everything you said..." Lisa (Shiko's mom) lifts up her eyebrows, slightly unamused. Shiko continues to sing with emotion, her voice light and comforting. She listens to the lyrics as they escape her mouth
"Hear... the rumble... hear my voice........ Silent, I can't wait here silent, Gotta make a change and make some noise...." She lightly smiles at Hikaru and looks into her mothers eyes as her expression turns blue
"Undo my sad.... Undo what hurts so bad.... Undo my pain.... Gonna get out... through the rain..." she starts walking around as she sings, Kuro scoots over next to Lisa and Hikari. He sits down, Hikari looks at him and smiles brightly. She whispers
Hikari: Kuro(!) Kuro(!) Kuro lightly giggles under his breath, puts his finger to his lips and silently hushes Hikaru. He points to Shiko on stage, Hikari quickly nods and does a "zipping my lips" movement. Lisa looks at Kuro with the corner of her eye and nods once with a light know it all "smirk"/smile in agreement for him making a good example in front of Hikari. All three look on stage and watch as the song slowly passes through and ends
Shiko: "My sad love.... Undo.........."
Some students start applauding, Shiko let's out a sigh of relief and lightly smiles, she looks at Hikari applauding a lot and Kuro giving a thumbs up. Lisa is also lightly clapping with a polite expression. She stops when her eyes meet with Shiko and the students also settle down as Zero opens his mic and puts on his "smile"
Zero: Somehow, you made sad entertaining... a few seconds pass in silence, he looks down on his paper You pass, Ta-Ta. He says without sounding excited at all. Not even something fake, Shiko bows a little and quickly goes to the side after putting the mic back on the stand. She passes by Nagisa, puts her hand on her chest and takes a breather again. Nagisa looks at her up and down
Nagisa: Wow, couldn't have asked for a better person to go before me. She says with pity I'm going bring the room from the dead. I'm actually gonna be entertaining~ Shiko ignores her as her name get's called and so, she leaves as Kuro comes back next to Shiko from further behind. Nagisa takes her place. Shiko turns to Kuro and gets close
Shiko: H-How did they like it...? She asks nervously, Kuro smiles lightly
Kuro: Hikari-Chan loved it... and Lisa-San... might have somewhat understood the message... Shiko's face gets filled with relief as she falls to her knees and gets teary, Kuro pets her head. He sits besides her and they look on stage at Nagisa who is singing, walking around and smirking at most the audience
Nagisa's Song IS playing: "King's & Queens" by Ava Max - https://youtu.be/q6LhCim5y_Y
Nagisa: "Can't live without me, you wanna but you can't, nah-nah-nah. You think it's funny, but honey, can't run this show on your own" she winks at Zero and looks back up at the students
"I can feel my body shake. There's only so much I could take. I'll show you how I real queen behaves!~" she looks really confident and sings believing in the words
Shiko glances at her sister and mother from the side. Lisa looks like she has a headache, holding her head from the side and shaking it in disapproval. Hikari looks confused, she tries to look over to where Shiko is but can't see from there. Nagisa is walking around anyway.
"Oh!~ No damsel in distress, don't need to save me. Once I start breathing fire you can't tame me!~ And you might think that I'm weak without a sword. But if I had one it'd be bigger than yours!~"
Slowly the song passes through and ends after a while, most the students start applauding and some get up, Hikari closes her ears from the noise and Lisa rubs the side of her head. Zero makes everyone settle down
Zero: Easily passing through. And we are done with round two!~ What a grand way to end the round!~ The 3 people going to round two is- a student comes up to Zero from the side, cuts him off and whispers something in his ear
Would you look at that- I guess she didn't have something better after all. He says a bit more quietly but still audible from the mic before returning to his normal happy voice
Turns out Erika Natalia- whatever... Backed down and won't be participating further!~ Kuro and Shiko's eyes open wide. They get up from the ground where they were sitting. Nagisa on stage innocently shrugs and lifts her hands like "I don't know" with a fake smile and waves at the audience as she walks away to the back and through Kuro and Shiko with a smirk
The TWO people going to the finale are...(!)
-Shiko Kagome
And the queen bee -Nagisa Yamaguchi! The crowd cheer and after they settle down a few seconds passes in silence from Zero. Yami takes his mic and starts to speak. Because it was so unexpected, the students get even more silent than they were, his deep voice echoes in the hall through the speakers
Yami: After the two finalists, before the winner is announced, we have someone who isn't a student who is also going to sing. The reason is classified. Few seconds pass in silence, Zero takes back the mic
Zero: 20 minute break. Closes the mic and sits down. He starts writing something on a paper. Kuro and Shiko look at each other, confused
Kuro: Why would Erika decide to not participate...? She looked so passionate like you said... Shiko's eyes open wider and she tells Kuro about how she saw Erika walk away from Nagisa, After hearing about it, Kuro falls in thought
This.... Could come in handy... I'm not trying to sound calculated but if Nagisa has anything to do with it, then you talking to Erika might set her free... I don't wanna put any extra responsibility on you but... Shiko hesitantly cuts Kuro off
Shiko: I-I want to help... A light smile
appears on Kuro's face, Shiko looks down On another topic though... any idea who's gonna be the non-student that's gonna be singing...? She slowly looks back up at Kuro in thought. His smile slowly disappears. He sighs
Kuro: It's.... Ningyo.......
â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢â¢