Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 6 Chapter 5 (section)

==5.06 The Others==

Rio's turn drew near.

Waiting backstage, her mind was numbed due to how tense and agitated she was.

Jarre had appeared before her in a form unchanged from before.

If so, what was that corpse she had seen? 

Had she gone crazy from all the pressure?

Would she be able to act out her role in this condition?

Her heartbeats became abnormally fast.

"Uuuh…"

Her turn approached moment by moment.

''Maybe I should just run away—''

Such thoughts surfaced in her mind.

She had been accepted in the audition only by luck. And so she thought of just running away from the Concertgebouw without thinking of the consequences. 

Having a dream led to nothing but pain.

Giving up on everything, not wishing for anything and spending her days without any pressure would obviously be more enjoyable. 

"…!"

It happened just as her tension reached its peak and she averted her eyes from the stage in search of an escape route. 

The entrance door, behind the very last audience seats, opened. 

Since the seats were dark, once light entered she knew immediately who it was.

"…Shachito… senpai."

She clenched the fists fastened against her chest.

The bell sounds—

The cracked metallic sounds that remained in her head—

"…"

Were gone.

So she felt.

Since she was far she couldn't see well, but Shachito seemed to be somewhat unsteady on his feet. Was he tired due to having hurried all the way there? 

There still remained some tension.

And anxiousness paralyzed her feet as always.

However—her doubts were gone.

"…Yeah."

She would fight.

So she thought.

She wanted to show off to Shachito, who was said to live irresponsibly and thoughtlessly. 

As long as she thought this, she could keep giving her best—

"I'm going!"

Raising her voice, Rio leapt into the stage.

She felt as if she could hear a painful groan—a hoarse voice.

But instead of it, pushing her back was a deep, kind voice. 

"Yeah, do your best."

Jarre Harissi's calm voice was mixed with the cheers from the audience and vanished.

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