Idol Reincarnation Academy: 765 Pro Assembles at School!
Shota Amagase, a first-year middle schooler who dreams of the entertainment world, is running late on the first day of the new semester. He bumps into a girl in uniform around the corner. With fluffy brown hair, she hurriedly apologizes. The next moment, Shota realizes: she looks exactly like the famous idol Haruka Amami. Actually, she IS her.
The truth: the idols of 765 Production have reincarnated as ordinary students at Nijigasaki Academy. Haruka, Chihaya, Yayoi, Iori, Azusa, Ritsuko, Yukiho
Idol Reincarnation Academy: 765 Pro Assembles at School! - A Fading Voice, the First Resonance —The Miracle in the Music Room—
The hospital corridor smelled of night. Disinfectant, silence, and the faint lingering trace of distant rain. Amagase Shouta walked through that stillness in mud-caked sneakers. He'd spent the whole night on the Hill of Silence. Soaked by rain, screaming, crying—and still, no answers came.
(Is Haruka-san okay?)
Deep in Shouta's chest, the voice from last night's phone call replayed. The Tuner's emotionless voice. "Erase her past-life memories, and she will be saved."
Erase them, and she's saved.
Don't erase them, and what happens?
Shouta stopped in front of the hospital room door. His clenched fist was white. A deep breath. Once, twice. With trembling fingers, he opened the door.
"...Shouta-kun."
Haruka sat on the bed, hugging her knees. Her fluffy brown semi-long hair spread across the white pillow. Her round amber eyes looked up at Shouta. They were slightly red, as if she'd been crying.
"Haruka-san, I'm sorry I'm late."
Shouta sat down on the round stool beside the bed. Haruka's hand trembled faintly on the sheets.
" No. I'm happy you came."
Haruka smiled a little. But it wasn't her usual sun-bright smile. It was like a faint light hidden behind clouds.
"Hey, Haruka-san. Are you... is your body okay?"
Shouta peered into her face.
"...Yeah. Physically, I'm fine. But..."
Haruka gently touched her own throat.
" I can't hear my voice. When I try to sing, nothing comes out. It's like my throat's become hollow."
Shouta's chest tightened.
"Maybe I can't sing anymore."
A single tear spilled from Haruka's amber eyes. It made a small stain on the sheets.
"That's not true! You'll definitely sing again!"
Shouta grabbed Haruka's hand with both of his. Her hand was cold as ice.
"I'll figure something out. I swear, I'll make it so you can sing again."
Shouta looked straight into Haruka's eyes.
"...You're so kind, Shouta-kun."
Haruka smiled as she wiped her tears.
"Hey, Shouta-kun."
Her voice trembled.
"I never cared about being center."
Shouta held his breath.
"I just wanted to laugh with everyone. With Miki-chan, with Iori-chan, with Yayoi-chan, with all of them. Sing together, laugh together. That was all I wanted."
Haruka's voice grew wet with tears.
"But somewhere along the way, I got so caught up in being center. I said terrible things to Miki-chan. I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be the producer..."
"You didn't do anything wrong, Haruka-san."
Shouta squeezed her hand tighter.
"Miki-chan wants to sing with you too. Everyone's waiting for you."
Haruka's tears wouldn't stop. Shouta's heart pounded painfully.
(What am I supposed to do?)
The Tuner's words resurfaced in Shouta's mind. Erase her past-life memories, and Haruka is saved. Don't erase them, and she disappears.
(If my memories can save Haruka-san...)
But he was afraid. He didn't know what erasing memories would actually mean.
(What am I supposed to choose?)
Still holding Haruka's hand, Shouta hung his head.
"It's okay, Shouta-kun."
Haruka squeezed his hand back.
"Just having you by my side, Shouta-kun—it makes me feel safe."
Shouta raised his head. Haruka's eyes were looking straight at him.
"So let's do this together, okay? Let's all sing together."
Shouta couldn't say anything.
* * *
It was past two in the morning when he left the hospital.
Outside, the air was cool and fresh after the rain. Puddles on the asphalt reflected the moonlight. The streetlamps bled orange.
Shouta walked through the night streets of Nijigahoka City, pushing his bicycle.
(Haruka-san's tears.)
Haruka's crying face was burned into his mind. She never cared about being center. She just wanted to laugh with everyone. Those words pressed heavy on Shouta's chest.
(I haven't done anything.)
Shouta looked up at the sky. Through gaps in the clouds, stars peeked out one by one.
That's when it happened.
A static buzz stirred deep in Shouta's ears.
(Again.)
Shouta stopped. He covered his ears. But the noise didn't go away. An unpleasant sound, like a scream with no audience. Ever since before Haruka collapsed, this noise had been ringing deep in his ears.
(What is this sound?)
Shouta closed his eyes.
And behind his eyelids, images surfaced.
* * *
—A schoolyard. Autumn sky. White lines.
"Come on, get up!"
A girl reached her hand out to a boy who had fallen. Fluffy brown hair. Round amber eyes.
"You'll be able to do it tomorrow, okay?"
The girl's smile was bright as the sun.
—A stage. Lights. The roar of the crowd.
Thirteen girls sang under the spotlight. A girl singing center. A girl laughing at the edge. All of them sparkling.
Shouta watched from the very back of the audience.
(Ah... I was there. I was definitely there.)
—The day of farewell. Dusk. A classroom.
"Let's sing again, okay?"
"Promise."
"Producer-san, it's a promise."
The girls' smiles melted into the sunset.
* * *
"...!"
Shouta opened his eyes.
His heart pounded violently. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
(That memory just now...)
Fragments of images replayed over and over in his mind. Himself falling at sports day. Haruka reaching out her hand. Thirteen people singing on stage. The promise on the day of farewell.
(That day, someone told me...)
A voice echoed deep in Shouta's ears.
"Being smiling and hiding your true feelings—those aren't the same thing."
Whose voice was that?
Shouta didn't know. But those words burned hot deep in his chest.
(Don't hide your true feelings.)
Shouta dropped his bicycle.
Before he knew it, he was running.
Through the night streets of Nijigahoka City, at full speed.
* * *
The front gate of Nijigahoka Academy was closed.
But Shouta's feet wouldn't stop. He slipped through a gap in the back gate. Dodging the security guard's patrol, he ran through the shadows of the school building.
(Why did I come here?)
Even Shouta didn't know. But his feet moved on their own.
The music room.
Second floor, east end. Shouta stood before the door of the music room.
(Something's here.)
Shouta opened the door.
Moonlight poured through the window, illuminating the grand piano. The soundproofed room was quiet, the air cool.
Shouta sat down at the piano.
Black keys. White keys. Shouta had never taken piano lessons.
But his fingers moved.
Pohn.
One note.
Shouta's fingers slid across the keys.
Poloron. Poloron.
A clumsy melody. But Shouta's fingers definitely remembered something. The accompaniment of the song he'd delivered to them in his past life. The song Haruka sang, Miki sang, everyone sang.
Shouta kept playing.
(Reach them. Reach Haruka-san.)
The noise deep in his ears faded away.
In its place, something welled up from inside Shouta's body.
(I want to reach someone.)
Shouta's fingers struck the keys.
Pohn. Poloron. Poloron.
Clumsy notes. But those notes were definitely conveying something.
Deep in Shouta's chest, something burst open.
Light overflowed.
From Shouta's fingertips, white light was drawn into the piano keys.
(This is... the receiver of Resonance Singing.)
Shouta understood instinctively.
I'm the one who receives their songs.
Shouta closed his eyes and kept playing.
* * *
The hospital room.
Haruka lay quietly asleep on the bed.
That's when it happened.
A faint sound reached Haruka's ears.
The sound of a piano.
Coming from far away.
(I know this sound.)
Haruka's eyelids trembled.
(It's Shouta-kun's sound.)
Deep in Haruka's chest, something grew warm.
(I feel like I can sing again.)
Haruka's lips moved faintly.
"...Shouta-kun."
A single tear traced down Haruka's cheek.
* * *
Morning came.
Shouta was asleep in front of the piano in the music room.
Morning sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating his face.
Shouta slowly opened his eyes.
(What was I doing?)
Shouta sat up. His fingers were still touching the piano keys.
(Right... I was playing the piano...)
Shouta stood.
His body felt light.
He left the music room and headed for the hospital.
* * *
When he opened the hospital room door, Haruka was smiling on the bed.
"Shouta-kun!"
Haruka's voice was completely different from yesterday.
Bright, energetic—like the sun.
"Haruka-san, your voice..."
" I heard it! Your sound, Shouta-kun! I heard the piano!"
Haruka clasped her hands in front of her chest, beaming.
"I feel like I can sing again! It's like your sound opened up my throat!"
Shouta was speechless.
(My piano...)
Deep in Shouta's chest, something warmed gently.
"Thank goodness... I'm so glad..."
Shouta took Haruka's hand.
Unlike yesterday, her hand was warm.
* * *
Before noon, everyone gathered at Crossroad.
Hearing that Haruka had recovered, they all came rushing over.
"Haruka-chan, thank goodness!"
Yayoi threw her arms around Haruka and burst into tears.
"Yayoi-chan, I'm sorry I worried you."
Haruka gently patted Yayoi's back.
"You really had us worried, you know."
Iori looked at Haruka with her arms crossed.
"Iori-chan, thank you too."
Haruka smiled at Iori.
Iori turned her face away sharply.
"I-it's not like I did it for you. If there's a hole in the stage, it's a problem for everyone."
Shouta couldn't help but laugh at Iori's tsundere act.
"Shouta-kun."
Miki quietly sidled up next to Shouta.
"My song reached you, didn't it, Shouta-kun."
Miki's light-blue eyes stared intently at him.
"Huh? What makes you think that?"
"Because you played the piano, didn't you? You received my song."
Miki's voice trembled slightly.
"I'm happy. Because now I know you've been listening to my song, Shouta-kun."
Miki gently touched Shouta's arm.
Shouta's heart jumped.
"Uh, um, Miki-chan, you're a little close—"
"It's fine, isn't it? I like being next to you, Shouta-kun."
Miki smiled brightly.
"Hey, Miki. Don't go bothering Shouta."
Iori glared at Miki.
"I'm not bothering him. Are you bothered, Shouta-kun?"
Miki looked up at Shouta.
"Uh, um, well..."
Shouta turned bright red.
"See? You're bothering him."
"He's just embarrassed."
"You..."
Haruka watched the two bicker, laughing.
"Ahaha, everyone gets along so well."
"We do not."
"We so don't."
Iori and Miki said simultaneously.
"Ehehe, you two are in perfect sync."
"Shut up!"
Again, simultaneously.
Shouta burst out laughing.
"Ahahahaha!"
His laughter echoed through Crossroad.
"You laugh too much, Shouta-kun."
Miki pinched Shouta's cheek.
"Ow ow ow, sorry, sorry!"
Shouta tried to escape from Miki's grip.
"But I'm glad. Everyone's laughing again."
Haruka said softly.
"Yeah. I'm really glad Haruka-chan's okay."
Yayoi smiled, wiping her tears.
"Alright then."
Shouta looked around at everyone's faces.
"A few hours until showtime. There's something I want to tell you all."
His expression turned serious.
"What is it, Shouta-kun?"
Haruka peered into his face.
"Last night, I played the piano in the music room. And then Haruka-san's noise disappeared."
Shouta took a deep breath.
"I think... I've awakened as a receiver of Resonance Singing."
"A receiver of Resonance Singing?"
Iori tilted her head.
"Yeah. The power to receive everyone's songs. The power to deliver everyone's songs to someone."
Shouta looked at his own hands.
"I don't know if I can use it well yet. But I want to deliver everyone's songs to the audience. No matter what."
His voice trembled.
"So please—lend me your strength."
Shouta bowed his head.
Silence.
"...So you finally made yourself useful."
Iori spoke up.
Shouta raised his head.
"Iori-chan..."
"I-it's not like I've acknowledged you or anything! It's just—if you erased Haruka's noise, then maybe you're a little useful, that's all!"
Iori's face was bright red as she spoke rapidly.
"Yeah. Thanks, Iori-chan."
Shouta smiled.
"That's amazing, Shouta-kun!"
Haruka took Shouta's hand.
"If I'm with you, Shouta-kun, I feel like I can definitely sing!"
"Shouta-kun, you'll receive my song too, right?"
Miki took his other hand.
"Wha—hey, both of you!"
Shouta had both hands held by Haruka and Miki at the same time.
"Shouta-kun, is my hand warm?"
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