Seeing the confident expression on Shiro’s face, Yuta and Ken glanced at each other, knowing that a good show was coming. Since the guy’s voice was still rather immature, neither of them thought it would translate well to singing.
The three girls held their tongue, not wanting to distract the poor fellow.
In reality, Shiro had chosen the perfect time to perform, while Ken’s lackluster singing was still fresh in everyone’s minds. This way, even if he was average, he’d still be better compared to Ken.
The screen flickered a few times as Shiro scrolled through the songs. He did it with such speed and ease, showing that he’d likely been to Karaoke many times in the past.
Ken’s eyes widened when he saw the words on the screen.
‘Unravel – TK, the popular opening theme from Tokyo Goul…’
“Tell me, oh tell me, the way it works.”
Shiro’s high pitched yet controlled voice sounded out from within the booth, without the accompaniment of music. Everyone’s ears perked up as they felt his tone seep into their bodies.
“Who is that inside me?”
As the music slowly fluttered in, Ken felt goosebumps appear on his neck and arms.
“Here in this broken-down, broken-down world, you laugh without seeing a thing.”
Shiro was like a performer on stage, perfectly captivating the audience members through his story telling. All 5 teens in the booth could only stare in amazement as the once short and clumsy guy turned into a star.
From start to finish, no one made a sound.
At the end, Shiro turned to the screen and nodded in approval.
“Looks like I tied my personal best.” He said simply, before turning to the group.
His eyes lingered on Kaori’s shocked expression, feeling some satisfaction creep into his bones. It was always good to impress the person that one liked, especially in a scenario like this.
“W-Whoa man, I didn’t know you could sing.”
Ken was the first to break the silence, applauding the guys efforts.
“Yeah that was amazing Shiro.” Ai followed, giving him a sweet smile.
“Dude, did you have to go all superstar in front of my girlfriend? I might lose her at this rate.” Yuta said, letting out a laugh.
“Hehe, you don’t have to worry about that. He’s into Kaori, not me.” Yuko said, causing 2 people in the room to stiffen.
The shock on Kaori’s face increased at this news. She didn’t think much of Shiro beforehand, mainly because they’d never talked or seen each other apart from their gazes meeting a few times during training.
Yet the revelation that this guy was into her kind of freaked her out.
Shiro on the other hand, felt his face and neck heat up. He had never told anyone that he liked Kaori, not even Ken, so how did Yuko know?
He wanted to speak up and dismiss the claims to help with his embarrassment, yet his heart couldn’t do it.
Seeing the shocked and morose expression on Kaori’s face caused his self-esteem to plummet. Just as he was lowering his head, a deep voice interjected.
“Ahem. Shiro and I will go order some food while you guys choose who is next.” Ken said, standing up and swooping in.
He calmly took Shiro outside of the booth and let out a small sigh of relief. The tension within the air was enough to make anyone go crazy.
“You okay man?” Ken asked, his concern evident.
“Y-Yeah I’m alright.”
Although he tried his best to sound convincing, it was obvious that he was crushed.
There was a small silence that stretched out between the two, one which Ken knew he would have to fill. He had a feeling that if he didn’t say anything, Shiro’s self-esteem would regress once more.
After racking his brain for a little while, Ken put his arm over his friend’s shoulder and patted it gently.
“Slow and steady wins the race man. Any girl would have such a reaction if you were to spring it on them so suddenly. That’s why you see plenty of confessions get outright rejected.”
Ken obviously had no idea what he was talking about, especially since he’d never been with a woman himself. However, like the old saying, he was faking it till he made it.
And it seemed to work!
Shiro’s head raised slowly as he met Ken’s gaze.
“You’re right… It was just all too sudden.” He said, almost as if he was convincing himself.
Instantly, his posture began to change, the confidence returning to his body.
Ken let out a sigh of relief.
‘Hopefully I don’t have to do this every time he gets rejected.’ He thought.
The two returned to the room in the next moment, only to see 4 pairs of eyes locked onto them.
“Did you take the order already?” Yuko asked, clearly oblivious to the whole mess she’d caused.
‘Crap! We said we’d be getting food.’
“Ah yeah sorry I forgot, you can only order food through the land line phone over there.” Shiro said, pointing to the corner of the room. He seemed apologetic, none of his earlier depression evident.
Kaori’s gaze landed on him, filled with mixed emotions. She was worried that he was going to openly pursue her in front of everyone after Yuko’s remarks, however she breathed a sigh of relief after seeing him now.
However, a little intrigue crept into her mind about the mysterious character Shiro.
After the group ordered food, everyone else had their turn at singing. Out of the remaining 4, surprisingly, only Kaori had a decent singing voice. She sang a ballad from one of the popular Japanese girl groups, to which everyone bopped along to.
Yuko and Yuta did a duet which was almost as painful as Ken’s performance, mainly because of their over dramatic dance moves. Yet everyone was laughing and enjoying the moment.
Ken had watched as Ai took her turn at the front of the booth, not knowing what to expect from the mysterious girl.