Haibara's Teenage New Game+ Volume 8, page 1
Table of Contents
Cover
Prologue: The Dream I Once Had
Chapter 1: Calmly, Gently
First Interlude
Chapter 2: The Girl Called a Child Prodigy
Second Interlude
Chapter 3: Because I Want to Be Relied On
Third Interlude
Chapter 4: Courage Grasped Tightly in the Palm of Your Hand
Final Chapter: Valentine’s Day
Afterword
Color Illustrations
Bonus Short Story
About J-Novel Club
Copyright
Prologue: The Dream I Once Had
I’ve loved music since I was young. I thought it was only natural, given my parents’ influence. After all, my mother was a pianist and my father was a music producer. I was never forced into it. My attraction to classical music, my desire to to play the piano—both stemmed from me. However, considering the environment I was raised in, this was the obvious result.
It all started when my father brought me to a piano recital that my mother would be appearing in. I had been waiting for her turn while rubbing my droopy eyes. The quiet atmosphere lulled me to sleep before I knew it. When I woke up, my father was shaking my shoulder.
“Wake up, Yuino. It’s mom’s turn,” he said excitedly.
“Hm? Mama’s playing?”
“That’s right. Isn’t she stunning?”
My mother, clad in a gorgeous red dress, seemed like a different person up on the stage.
“Yeah, pretty...”
When mother’s performance finally began, her fingers looked like they were dancing on top of the keys. It made such a beautiful sound. Part of why I listened so diligently was because it was my mother playing. However, even now, I could still recall the timbre of her song like I’d heard it yesterday.
I began learning the piano the following day.
“I want to be like mom too!”
“Really? Then why don’t you try playing a little bit?” I had assumed my mother would surely want to teach me too, but she restrained herself because she didn’t want to pressure me. “You can learn at your own pace. Play whenever you feel like it.”
My mother had always been far too kind.
“Amazing! You can already play this well? You’ve practiced hard, Yuino.”
She always seemed to enjoy teaching me. Fortunately, I also had a talent for music. I grew up showered with praise.
“Say, Yuino. Why don’t you participate in a piano recital?”
“A recital?”
“Yes. You would play in front of lots of people, just like mama does.”
“In front of...lots of people?”
“Do you dislike the idea?”
“Sounds...nerve-racking. I’m a little scared.”
“All right. Then you can just keep up what you’ve been doing.”
“B-But, I want to try! I’ll do it!”
And so I was slated to appear in a recital.
“That Nanase girl is really something.”
“Apparently she’s Nanase Miwako-san’s daughter. It makes sense.”
I realized that I was leagues better than the other children around my age. But because my mother was a professional pianist, people deemed my talent a given. Before long, I was joining piano competitions and winning prize after prize. Performing in front of an audience was more enjoyable than expected, and receiving compliments a delight.
“Is Nanase-san competing?”
“Guess we know who’s winning first.”
The next thing I knew, people were calling me a child prodigy. My name was fairly well-known by the time I entered middle school. Those around me regarded me as the girl who would become a pro, and I was also aiming to be one.
However, my mother told me I should learn a variety of things rather than only focusing on the piano. In elementary school, I trained in tea ceremony and calligraphy, and in middle school, I joined the Japanese archery club. Ultimately, although my world revolved around the piano, those experiences enriched my life.
My mother knew how harsh it was to be a pianist who didn’t sell, so she wanted to give me many possible futures to choose from. She was always wishing for my happiness.
I was blessed, and I knew that. Despite all those options, I elected to pursue the piano. I didn’t care, even if there were to be only hardships in store for me.
“Amazing! Yuino-chan, you’re sooo good at playing the piano!”
I also had a precious friend who supported my efforts. Her overblown reactions always gave me strength.
“I want to enter higher-level competitions,” I told my mom in my second year of middle school, and entered a large national competition.
I passed the preliminary selections and played during the finals. The competition took place at a venue in Tokyo, the biggest location I had ever performed in. There were so many people in the audience, and of course my parents sat among the crowd.
Everyone considered me the special feature of the competition. The finest stage had been set for me. Considering my future goal, there was no better place to make my debut.
In other words, I could not fail.
The moment I realized that, my fingers began to tremble and my mind went blank. My turn to perform was coming up, and I was afraid—even though playing the piano should’ve been something I enjoyed.
I wouldn’t understand that I was nervous until much later. Cold sweat ran down my body like a waterfall. I usually had a concrete image of my music in the back of my mind, but it had turned hazy and disappeared.
I practiced appropriately, so why?
That question kept floating in and out of my head. The sound of the piano keys that I adored, Chopin’s étude that I had fervently practiced, became mere discordant noise, and when I realized that it was my fingers creating such noise, I fell into despair.
My crummy performance finally came to an end.
When I stood up, every single stare pierced right through me. There was no applause. I did not have a single ally in this world. I was so, so scared of those stares—my vision went completely dark.
***
“It was just a dream.”
When I came to, I was looking at a familiar ceiling. My senses slowly came around, and I returned to reality. I was in my bed. My heart was pounding in my chest. I was covered in an uncomfortable layer of sweat, the area around my neck having become completely drenched. I glanced to the side. The clock next to my bed pointed to seven.
“I’ve got to go to school...”
I threw off my blanket, sat up, and dropped my feet to the floor. The first thing that entered my vision when I exited my room was the music room where I’d grown up. I walked into it on unsteady feet, like I was being drawn in. My eyes jumped to the grand piano enshrined in the center of the room. I reached out, about to touch the keys.
“No... I don’t have time right now.”
I tore my eyes away and left the music room.
Who was I making that excuse for?
Chapter 1: Calmly, Gently
January thirteenth.
Winter break had ended, and the classroom was gradually returning to a state of normalcy. The heater was running, and the sound of the world history teacher writing on the board echoed throughout the room.
I lacked motivation, but I knew I’d be in trouble if I didn’t pay attention to the lesson. If it were a science subject, I could’ve somehow figured it out utilizing knowledge from my first round of life. However, I didn’t have much confidence in humanities subjects that were mostly rote memorization.
White chalk clacked against the blackboard, drawing a line. I took notes as I tried to drill the teacher’s prosaic explanation into my head. When I had a moment to spare, I glanced at the seat next to mine. A girl with beige hair that hung over her ears diligently stared at the board.
Her name was Hoshimiya Hikari. She was a cute first-year and the (self-proclaimed) school idol. She had large, round eyes and long lashes, as well as clear, pale skin and pretty facial features. Her side profile was so beautiful that I could’ve stared at her this way forever without getting bored. It was hard to believe that I was dating a girl like her. Sometimes, I even wondered if this was all just a long dream.
Sensing my gaze, she shot me a perplexed look, and our eyes met. She tilted her head and smiled, silently asking, “What’s up?”
She was so darn cute that I reflexively averted my eyes. I tried to play it cool by poking her cheek with the mechanical pencil in my right hand. What am I, five?! I mentally quipped before returning my gaze to her.
Her eyes narrowed into a scowl. “What’re you doing?!” she wordlessly asked. However, although her cheeks were puffed up, she didn’t actually seem upset.
Cute.
Hikari leaned her face towards my ear and whispered, “Stuuupid.”
Not gonna lie, that gave me the tingles. Was that ASMR? Well now I’m awake. While such silly thoughts were going through my mind, Hikari snatched the pencil out of my hand and began using it to copy the writing on the board. Hey... I only have one pencil in my case. Is this my punishment for messing around during class?
Since I couldn’t take notes, I stared at Hikari until the bell rang. Our taciturn world history teacher said goodbye and briskly left the room. Something prodded my cheek. Hikari was poking me with my own pencil.
“Please pay attention to class,” she said.
“Natsuki-kun, what kind of person do you think I am?” Displeased, she pressed the pencil into me harder.
That hurts! “Oh, you know... Ha ha ha...” You’re kind of a ditz...but I can’t say what I’m thinking. I looked away.
“I did well on the last exams, but it doesn’t matter if I only do well once. I need to pay attention in class so I can keep my grades up. Understand?”
Hikari had promised her father, Sei-san, that in return for his recognition of her dream of becoming an author, she would obtain good grades. However, Hikari’s grades had fallen due to lovesickness (I guess?) a short while ago. She had put in a lot of work for our finals and climbed up the rankings by an impressive amount. Nevertheless, she was right—simply performing well once would not be enough to keep her end of the bargain. That was why she had been diligently paying attention to her lessons more than before.
“Sorry for distracting you,” I said.
“It’s okay, no harm done. I’ve always liked world history, and my scores have been good.”
Hikari’s fatal weakness was the sciences. She would have no issues if humanities were the only subjects she needed to deal with.
“World history is useful for my writing too. I can draw inspiration from it when I write fantasy in the future, which motivates me. And I genuinely find history interesting. Oh, but...don’t get the wrong idea, okay?”
Wrong idea? I cocked my head to the side questioningly.
With her eyes still fixed on me and her cheeks slightly pink, she said, “It doesn’t...not make me happy...when you pay attention to me.” The words came out in a hushed whisper, but I heard her clearly.
“I... I see...” Her destructive force was too immense, and I was precariously close to being knocked out. She’s too cunningly cute! When it comes to Hikari, it’s hard to tell when she’s doing it unintentionally or on purpose. Both are possible, but my hunch tells me she calculated this one!
“So, um, I don’t mind if you do that sometimes.” She glanced at me intermittently, examining my reaction.
This girl is using her cuteness against me! “O-Okay.” But I can’t retaliate, because she’s so cute! How frustrating!
Hino, who sat behind us, piped up then. “Uh, hello, can you guys give me a break sometimes?” He wasn’t using his typical flippant tone, and he actually sounded pretty done with us. “It gets real muggy in here whenever you two flirt. Do that in the privacy of your own home!”
Nishimura-san, a cool-looking girl with glasses who sat next to Hino, nodded in agreement.
“We don’t care that you guys are the school couple—this has gotta stop, right?” Hino said.
“Honestly, you’re practically having sex.”
Uh, Nishimura-san, what the heck did you just say with a straight face?!
Hino cracked up at that and began smacking his desk while cradling his stomach.
“Wh-What?!” Hikari exclaimed.
Look! Hikari looks mortified! And I am too!
“S-Sorry,” we apologized, our faces bright red.
***
The students trickled out of the classroom one by one after school.
“All righty...” I could take it easy today since I didn’t have band practice or work.
Hikari called out to me when she’d finished packing up. “Natsuki-kun, let’s go home together!”
“No club meeting today?”
“Nope! I’m going to go home to continue writing my new novel!”
“What’s it about?”
“Romance! Youth! A murder case!”
“That last thing is very disturbing.” Seeing how elated she was warmed my heart. “Do your best.”
“Yep!”
“Oh, Nanase, what about you?” I asked our friend, who was still in the middle of getting ready to leave.
A troubled look spread across her face. “I plan to return home for my piano lesson, so...”
Which means she could go home with us, but given her iffy reaction... Well, I get why Nanase is trying to be considerate. And honestly, I wouldn’t want to third wheel a couple either. I would feel like the odd man out. I asked her with my usual amount of pep, but maybe I should’ve held back.
Without a clue about what was going through my mind, Hikari approached Nanase. “Then you can go home with us too, right?”
“Eh...” Nanase replied.
Huh? Is she not trying to be considerate? Does she actually dislike the idea?
“Wouldn’t I be intruding upon you two?” she said.
“Of course not! Yuino-chan, I want to go home with you!” Hikari wrapped her arms around Nanase’s—she likely knew her friend was attempting to obliquely decline our invitation, but chose to ignore it.
“Excuse me, could you pick up what I’m putting down? I’m saying that I don’t want to.”
Nanase’s blunt rejection put tears in Hikari’s eyes. “Wh-Why?! Yuino-chan, do you hate me now?!”
“That is not it, but... I just find being around you two embarrassing as of late.”
“Don’t you think you’re being too harsh? Look at Hikari! She’s in shock!”
Nanase’s statement was so brutal that Hikari had turned to stone. She didn’t move a muscle even when I shook her. The two of us are living earnestly! Stop telling us that we’re embarrassing!
“S-Still... I’m going home with you, Yuino-chan!”
Oh, Hikari rebooted. She tightened her hold on Nanase’s arm. Hikari’s ample breasts squished against her friend’s arm, enveloping it. I’m super jealous.
“Goodness. I can’t win against you, Hikari.”
My secret yearnings aside, Nanase smiled gently at her friend’s clingy attitude. Yep, she’s Hikari’s mama at heart. It’s hard to believe they’re the same age. What’d you say? I’m on my second round of life?
“Yaaay! Heh heh heh! Yuino-chaaan!”
“Hey now, Hikari, give me a little space. It’s hard to walk like this.”
We exited the room while chatting. It was then that I realized something. Huh? Now that it’s this group of three, doesn’t that make me the intruder? The two of them are completely off in their own world. The atmosphere even feels like “Why the heck is this guy here?”
Suddenly, trauma from my first life came rushing back. However, there were so many similarities that the resistances I had built up protected me, so I was mentally okay. Maybe? Going through that painful existence was what had led me to learn how to make my presence as faint as possible.
I’m not at Mei’s level, though. That guy’s got a natural talent for it.
“Natsuki-kun, why are you so quiet?”
I had been trying to reduce my presence, but Hikari noticed me anyway.
“Thanks, Hikari. That’s my girlfriend for ya.”
“Huh? What? You’re scaring me.”
And there I go, scaring my girl.
***
We changed into our outdoor shoes at our cubbies and stepped outside. The stinging, chilly air made my shoulders tremble. Hikari and Nanase commented, “It’s cold,” and “It’s frigid out,” as they shared Hikari’s scarf.
Aren’t they a little too comfortable getting touchy-feely? Who’s the girl who said, “I just find being around you two embarrassing as of late”? Huh, what about me? I’m riding solo!
But enough about my envy. Hikari continued chatting with Nanase, bringing up a certain topic. “Hey, hey! Yuino-chan, it’s happening this Saturday, right? The piano competition you’re performing in?”
“Yes, but I won’t force you to come cheer for me.”
“I’m definitely going! I love listening to you play piano!”
“I see. If you feel that way, I’d play for you as much as you want at home, then.”
“Wow! Talk about friend privilege! But I’m still going to your competition too!”
Nanase smiled wryly when she saw how elated and excited her friend was.
“Plus, Natsuki-kun said he’d come too!” Hikari continued.
“Really now? He doesn’t seem interested in classical music.”
“I don’t know much about it, but I’d like to hear you play,” I said.
“It won’t be anything impressive. I haven’t competed in quite some time, so don’t expect too much,” she said apprehensively, her eyes averted.
