"What is this again?"
"It's karaoke! You'll love it!"
Rika pulled me onto the tiny stage in the small room. "Come on, Karin, it'll be so much fun!"
"What do I do...?" I asked Rika and Kazune, who were entering their names into the computer next to the stage. I stood alone on the platform and stared at the microphone in front of me, then turned to look behind me at the screen that Rika said would display the lyrics.
"Just sing whatever song we put on."
"Oh, okay!"
"Which song is your favorite?" Kazune asked, looking up at me. I sighed, immediately thinking of my mother's song. I doubted it would be on the list they were looking at. I mean, she was a mermaid, after all, and these were definitely songs from the human world.
"What's wrong?" he asked again.
"Oh, it's nothing... I just... I don't think you guys would find it."
"Come on, just tell us." Rika said.
I sighed again, "Okay, okay. It's called Yumemiru Ai Tenshi. My mother used to sing it to me when I was.."
I blinked as my voice trailed off when Rika frowned and turned to look at Kazune. He simply shrugged and began scrolling through the list of songs before choosing one. My eyes widened when I heard the beginning of a song start and I whirled around to look at the screen and saw the lyrics to my mother's song.
"What the.."
"Is something wrong?" Rika asked, "This is the song you chose, right? Yumemiru Ai Tenshi."
"Yes, but how.." I was at a loss for words. I couldn't believe a mermaid's song was here on Earth! That didn't make any sense at all unless... my mother had been on Earth before.
"You know, it's that opening song from the old anime Wedding Peach?" Kazune said.
"But.."
"Aw, Karin, who cares?! I want to hear you sing!" Rika handed me the microphone as she and Kazune sat down on the couches in their room. I shook the thought away and opened my mouth to sing, my emotions pouring out through my voice as I sang the lyrics.
"ashita ga SUKI, fushigi ga SUKI, kikasete yo UEDINGU BERU.. Uureru omoi mabushii kibun kokoro o somete. I'M READY FOR LOVE setsunai hodo. IMEEJI ha GOOD FEELING. Suteki na koi tsunagi awase kubi ni kazari masho..."
I closed my eyes, and once again thought of my mother. Her smile, her kind, encouraging words, her stories, and the few memories I had of her that were the most precious to me. When I finished, I looked at Kazune and Rika. Kazune looked shocked as he stared at me, and Rika was beaming brightly.
"Wow.."
"Oh my gosh! Karin, you have such a beautiful voice! Kazune, have you heard her sing like that yet?"
"Um.. no, not really.."
"What a pretty voice! I want to go next!"
/
"Amazing! Kazune, you have a nice voice, too!"
"Heh heh, you really think so? I don't really sing that much."
"Ugh. You shouldn't. Even the karaoke machine thinks so. You got 4 points, man."
"Rika-san..."
"You don't have to be so mean. Especially since I'm letting you stay in my house when you haven't even asked my permission!"
"See, that's the problem! I'm supposed to be so close with you that I don't HAVE to ask!"
"When does that ever happen in life between family members?! Karin had the decency to ask to live in my house! It really should just be me and her!"
"Ugh! You're so mean to your adorable younger cousin!"
"You guys.."
Sorry, short chapter. I REALLY wanted to update this cause I had really bad writer's block for this story. Sometimes I think of deleting it, but that would make it worse since the majority of you guys actually like it!(Plus, I'd feel guilty for giving up so easily) I do have many ideas of where I'm going to take this story, so I'm doing my best!