Oh no! They all seem a bit off!

Chapter 52 This time, it's Shiina Maki's turn to protect him.
While Makoto Akizuki and Maki Shiina whispered secrets in a corner under the dim light, Rin Shiraishi, surrounded by everyone, began her performance.

The prelude begins with the sound of pattering rain.

"Find people who are even more useless than yourself."

"Immersed in this sense of superiority"

"But every time I do this, I start to hate myself a little..."

Rin Shiraishi's singing voice is clear and pure, like a babbling brook, light and cheerful yet carrying a touch of melancholy.

Everyone quieted down, listening intently to her sing, silently waving their jingles, swaying their bodies, and cheering her on.

Karaoke in island nations has a scoring system. Generally, singing a score of 80 or above is considered good, meaning you only sing off-key in one or two places throughout the song.

After Shiraishi Rin finished singing, a score of 92 appeared on the screen that occupied half of the wall!
"Wow, that's amazing!"

"Is Shiraishi really that good at singing? I never expected that. I've been to karaoke so many times and I've never seen a score of 92 before."

When the scores were announced, everyone gasped in surprise and cheered and applauded for Shiraishi Rin.

But Shiraishi Rin had no interest in their flattery. She looked at Akizuki Makoto and Shiina Maki, who were huddled in the corner whispering to each other, and felt an inexplicable sense of irritation.

This feeling is like having a cherished toy stolen.

At first, she didn't pay attention to Akizuki Makoto's movements, and was thinking about what song to sing. Then, when she started singing, she put her whole heart into it, thinking that she would surprise Akizuki Makoto and amaze him with her beautiful singing voice.

She's actually quite good at singing. When she stays at home reading, she likes to listen to music and occasionally hum along.

Naturally, she learned to sing and showed an exceptional talent for it, namely perfect pitch.

But just when she had planned everything perfectly and executed it flawlessly, she saw Akizuki Makoto and Shiina Maki huddled together in a corner, being all lovey-dovey and incredibly intimate.

At that moment, she couldn't quite describe how she felt, only that she had really embarrassed Akizuki Makoto.

She wished she could immediately pull out her phone and hypnotize Akizuki Makoto so he would finish what had been interrupted last time.

But she can't do that because the number of people she can hypnotize is limited. She can only hypnotize a maximum of three people at a time, and the hypnosis time will decrease as the number of people decreases.

Filled with resentment, Shiraishi Rin sneered and, holding the microphone, said, "Akizuki-san, Shiina-san, why are you two sitting so far away? What are you whispering that we can't hear?"

In an instant, all eyes turned to the two people in the corner.

Shiina Maki reacted quickly, realizing what Shiraishi Rin was about to do a second before she could speak, and immediately distanced herself from Akizuki Makoto.

Therefore, from other people's perspective, she and Akizuki Makoto were just sitting on the very edge, whispering to each other.

Only Shiraishi Rin saw that she and Akizuki Makoto were whispering to each other with their bodies pressed close together.

The difference between the two is significant. If others saw them whispering together with their bodies pressed together, they would definitely have to redefine their relationship.

But if they're just whispering in a corner, that's somewhat understandable.

"Akizuki-kun, why are you sitting so far away? Why don't you sing a song too?"

"Yes, we are all looking forward to Akizuki singing a song."

Hearing his classmates' invitation, Akizuki Makoto shook his head and politely smiled, "I'm sorry, I have to disappoint you, I can't sing."

"It's okay, how can you come to karaoke and not sing? Let's all sing a song, whether we can sing or not!"

"Yeah, it's so sneaky of Akizuki-kun and Shiina-kun to be whispering in the corner, isn't it?"

Those who egged on Akizuki Makoto to sing were all girls. On one hand, they genuinely wanted to hear Akizuki Makoto sing, and on the other hand, they couldn't stand Shiina Maki being able to monopolize Akizuki Makoto.

The male gods of Ming Sheng High School are people they can't have, but they still want to get close to.

Unfortunately, Akizuki Makoto treats everyone the same, neither warm nor cold.

To this day, no one has ever been as close to Makoto Akizuki as Shiina Maki. Not only is she protected by him, but he also takes care of everything for her, and even now, he has to leave everyone else behind to be with her alone.

"Okay, then I..."

"I want to sing!"

Just as Akizuki Makoto was about to reluctantly agree, Shiina Maki suddenly interrupted him.

She stood up, suppressing the timidity that rose within her as everyone stared at her, and said, word by word, "Give me the microphone, I'll sing!"

"Eh……"

"Shiina-kun, would you like to sing?"

The students' reactions became subtle, and they all seemed somewhat bewildered.

No one expected that Maki Shiina would suddenly jump out and say she wanted to sing.

Isn't she socially anxious, withdrawn, and introverted? Shouldn't she be cowering in a corner like a withdrawn quail, not daring to say a word?
Makoto Akizuki was also surprised. He looked up at Maki Shiina, who had stood up and was blocking his way, and felt a strange sense of emotion.

In the dim neon light, he could clearly see that Shiina Maki's shoulders were trembling slightly.

This guy……

They're really going to fight when something happens.

She was trembling with fear, yet she still forced herself to stand in front of him, wanting to help him out of his predicament.
What song do you want to sing?

Shiraishi Rin asked the question with a smile of great interest on his face.

She was really looking forward to Shiina Maki's performance—actually, she was hoping Shiina Maki would embarrass herself.

It's obvious without even thinking that someone as obscure as Maki Shiina has never been to a karaoke bar before and has zero singing experience.

Now that he's standing up and saying he wants to sing, it's just showing off.

"Just, let's sing "日かない爱"! "

Shiina Maki mustered up her courage and opened her mouth. This was the song she had heard the most, and the only one she liked.

The opportunity to encounter this song came from its title, which translates to "Unrequited Love," perfectly reflecting her state of mind.

"Okay, let's play the song for Shiina-kun."

At Shiraishi Rin's command, students immediately went to the karaoke machine to play songs.

Most of the people present had never heard of the song that Shiina Maki was going to sing, since it came from a visual novel. These people, who were all social butterflies, wouldn't even watch the anime, let alone play visual novel games.

As the rousing drumbeats began, many people thought that Maki Shiina was going to mess up, and that this song was definitely not suitable for her to sing.

However, they themselves didn't have high expectations for Maki Shiina.

"Lonely なふりをしてるの?なぜだろう気になっていた (Are you pretending to be lonely? Why is my heart so moved by you)..."

As soon as the intro ended and the lyrics appeared on the screen, Maki Shiina immediately began to sing. Her voice was not loud, but it was firm, without a trace of trembling or being off-key.

Her voice was naturally very pleasant, belonging to the mature and gentle older sister type. However, she was not good at communicating and always spoke very softly, which caused everyone to overlook this.

As her soft yet firm voice echoed in the private room, many people widened their eyes and stared in shock at Maki Shiina.

This includes Shiraishi Rin.

She couldn't believe that Shiina Maki not only didn't sing off-key, or stutter or falter, but actually sang better than her!
Maki Shiina sang the version sung by Touma. If you're interested, you can give it a listen. It's a song I personally really like, and Touma is one of my favorite heroines in anime, comics, and games.



(End of this chapter)