Chapter 2

At some point, Shido and Kurumi had stopped holding hands, and Kurumi had once again embraced one of Shido's arms.

As the lovers walked, they passed a building with glass doors.

Shido and Kurumi slowed their pace to casually look inside, and stopped walking altogether when they saw two people talking directly behind the door.

One girl had long, dark plum hair with indigo colored eyes. She gave the impression that she had an outgoing and blissful personality.

Meanwhile the one talking to the plum-haired girl had long, light indigo colored hair and eyes. She gave a similar impression as her partner, except there was also an air of confidence about her that said that she was famous.

The two girls who were talking noticed the pair staring at them, and their faces lit. Both of them waved and went out to greet their spectators.

"Shido! Kurumi!"

"Tohka."

"Good evening, Tohka-san."

Tohka Yatogami was a girl who Shido had known for over a year now. She was the first spirit he had ever encountered as well as saved, and their relationship had grown deep. Talking to her after his moments with Kurumi was one of the greatest challenges for Shido.

"Darling~ Kurumi-san~"

The indigo-haired girl followed Tohka immediately after she ran off.

"Hey, Miku."

"Good evening to you too, Miku-san."

Miku Izayoi was a popular idol in Tenguu City, hence the important aura that she gave. There wasn't any singer Shido knew of who could outperform her, and yet he had managed to win against her in a bet back at Tenguu Square during the time he was on a mission to save her.

Miku could also be seen as one of the other more dangerous spirits. Back when she had all of her powers, she used her voice to manipulate her audience, causing her to act spoiled. She had hated men, but slightly changed her perspective of Shido after he had saved her from an attack sent by Tohka. Now her fame came from her own voice, and it made Shido appreciate her for who she truly was.

However there was one concern that Shido had with what he was seeing.

"Huh? Since when did you two become close enough to hang out with each other?"

Miku hated men, with Shido being the exception, but she was also attracted to females. Tohka tended to keep her distance when she had to be around Miku, and Shido had never seen the two of them going out together once. That was, until now.

"Hehe, no man or woman can escape my charms."

Miku boasted proudly with her hands on her hips.

"No, that's not what happened at all."

Tohka looked at Miku, annoyed.

"Anyway, come join us."

Tohka looked at Shido and Kurumi with a twinkle in her eyes. She had avoided Shido's previous question.

"Join you for what?"

"Karaoke, karaoke."

Miku pretended to hold a microphone to her mouth.

"Karaoke, huh."

Shido turned to Kurumi.

"Want to give it a try?"

Kurumi replied with an amused smile.

"Yes, that sounds like fun."

"Then, let's go!"

Tohka grabbed Shido's wrist and began to pull him inside. Miku was doing the same with Kurumi.

Together, the four of them entered through the glass doors that were behind Tohka and Miku and walked inside.

"They say that you can order food here."

Tohka was looking at a menu, a twinkle still visible in her eyes.

The room that Shido and the others had entered was one where they had it all to themselves.

Sofas were found in the sides and back of the room, and a coffee table sat in the middle with a directory that contained a list of songs.

A pair of microphones also sat on top of the coffee table, and a television was set up front.

"Hey, Kurumi, what are you getting?"

Tohka showed the food menu to Kurumi.

"Doesn't all that food cost money?"

Shido raised a half bent finger up as if trying to get Tohka's attention. He couldn't help but think that Tohka might raise the food bill a little too high, but at the same time he also thought that she was beyond saving.

"Now, now, I'm an idol, so I've got it covered."

Miku reassured Shido.

"Let's see…"

Kurumi leaned closer to Tohka to see the menu better.

"Oh, they have Pocky."

"What's so special about that?"

Tohka tilted her head in wonder. Shido immediately became flustered.

"No Pocky game!"

Kurumi laughed at Shido's reaction.

Tohka ended up being the only person who ordered any food. By the time she had ordered, everyone had started to decide on their turns for singing.

"I'm afraid I'm not very confident in my singing."

Kurumi spoke modestly.

"Nonsense! You were wonderful a few months ago."

Several months after Shido had saved Kurumi, she and Miku had a hard time getting along with each other in the beginning.

During that time, the Tenou Festival was coming up again, and as luck would have it, Shido had to participate in it again. It was then that Miku had challenged Kurumi, and the prize was none other than Shido. Since that was Kurumi's first time in such a large event, she was the one who had lost the challenge, however, after some events that transpired afterwards, Miku had learned to accept Kurumi.

"Tell you what, I'll go first then."

"Sounds good. Then I guess I'll go second."

Shido had offered to sing after Miku.

"Then I'll go third."

Tohka raised her hand as she volunteered to be the third singer, making Kurumi last.

"Alright then. How about we make this a little more interesting?"

"…interesting how?"

The last time Shido made a personal bet with Miku, he had to put his way of life on the line and almost lost it, thus he was skeptical whenever she wanted to make any type of singing interesting now.

"Don't worry so much, Darling~"

Miku smiled at Shido innocently.

"The person who scores the second highest can have a duet with me."

"Second highest?"

Miku giggled at Shido's confusion.

"I'll score first, of course."

"Oh, so the top two get a chance to sing together."

Tohka seemed to be fond of the idea.

"I don't have any problem with that."

Kurumi showed no concern about the suggestion.

"Alright, it's settled."

Miku had already selected a song from the directory and was now beginning to dim the lights in the room.

"Here we go~"

Miku stood in front of the television, raised the microphone to her mouth, and began to sing. The moment her voice came out, it was as if she knew how to follow every rhythm. Her song was an upbeat one, and not only did she sing in tune with the it, but she also danced to it. At times she would twirl and even make her movements flow with every beat. It was one of the best forms of singing anyone else in the room had ever seen.

A few minutes later Miku's song ended, and she wiped her forehead despite it not having any sweat.

"How was that?"

Miku looked at Shido eagerly. He replied with a satisfied nod.

"Yeah, it was great. Just like always."

"Great work, Miku."

"My, I just might become another fan."

Miku beamed happily. After being saved by Shido, she had promised to sing only for him, but the opinion she just received was returned threefold, and it made her feel warm inside.

"Well, I guess I'm up."

Shido got up from his seat. Miku passed the microphone over to him and sat down.

The lights remained dimmed, and Shido began to sing.

The song wasn't as upbeat as Miku's but it wasn't slow either. In truth, it was just normal.

There were a few mistakes that were made, but Shido didn't lose his nerve and continued singing, yet at the same time he wasn't as confident or powerful as Miku.

Fortunately none of the girls around Shido cared about the quality of his singing. The thought of how horrible or wonderful he may have sounded didn't cross any of their minds. What they cared about more than anything was that he was here. They were reminded of that truth every day.

Miku turned to look at Kurumi. What she saw was something that shouldn't have surprised her, but it did anyway.

Kurumi's eyes were shining. The lights were dim, and the brightness of her visible eye color wasn't changing, but even in this environment, Miku could see the feelings that Kurumi was showing.

Tohka had noticed Miku's stare, and also decided to look at Kurumi. While being stared at by two girls would most likely make many people feel awkward, Kurumi wasn't aware of either of them. She only paid attention to the man up front, admiring him from afar and showing that she always would.

Miku and Tohka made eye contact with each other. Just like how they could see the emotion in Kurumi's eyes, they were also able to see the emotion in each other's eyes. The two of them were close enough to understand each other without exchanging any words. They smiled at how close they were now. There was a hint of jealousy and sadness, but there was no hatred.

Tohka and Miku had come to respect Shido's feelings since what felt like a long time ago.

After the song ended, Shido inhaled deeply as if he had run out of breath on the last part.

"I think you sang better when you were a girl."

Miku began to tease Shido.

"Well, sorry for being a guy."

Shido replied with a grin.

"Don't worry, Shido, I liked your singing."

Tohka patted Shido on the back as he sat back onto his spot.

"It was truly amusing."

Kurumi gave an ambiguous comment.

"I can't tell if that was a compliment or not…"

"Of course it was. It's always amusing."

"That doesn't clarify anything…"

Kurumi gave another one of her soft giggles.

"Alright, then I guess it's my turn."

Tohka got out of her seat and grabbed the microphone that Shido had set back on the coffee table.

The lights remained dim, and the song began to play.

Surprisingly, Tohka had found a song about food, and she sang it with enthusiasm. It was almost as upbeat as Miku's song, but it was also somewhat childish.

Regardless, Shido could tell that Tohka was singing her heart out. He always appreciated the fact that she was living her life to the fullest. He was always worried about how she would take care of herself after he confronted her about Kurumi, but she began to take care of herself before even that.

The moment Tohka's song ended, her food had arrived, and so she immediately sat down and began to devour her order, not waiting for any feedback. Shido gave a smile that said she was hopeless and past the point of no return.

"I guess the next singer is me."

Kurumi got out from her seat and grabbed the microphone from the coffee table. She held the microphone to her mouth, and waited for the song to begin.

Kurumi's choice was a somewhat slow tune. Her singing was slightly above average, but it was only almost as wonderful as Miku's.

Kurumi didn't dance along with the music, and it lacked the enthusiasm of Tohka's, but there was emotion that could be felt in the singing.

Regardless of how much Kurumi's singing had or lacked compared to Miku and Tohka's, her voice had still managed to surprise Shido. This was the second time he was able to hear her sing. It was something that he didn't get to witness often, so he didn't know what to expect from her despite the depth of their relationship now.

Miku's singing managed to keep Shido upbeat. Tohka's singing reminded him to always have fun. But he saw something entirely different in Kurumi's singing. He managed to experience something rare a second time. The fact that he couldn't listen to her singing often was what made him appreciate the fact that she could. And so he watched the girl in front of him sing a song like any normal person would, a grin spreading across his face.

Kurumi had the power to use time when she was a spirit, but after sealing her powers, she was unable to use those powers again. Despite that, it felt as though time had slowed down just so Shido could listen to her enchanting voice.

Unfortunately slowing down time wasn't the same as stopping time, and Kurumi's song eventually came to an end.

Kurumi turned around and looked at Shido nervously. It took him a few seconds to realize that she wanted to know what he thought. Once again he found that he couldn't find any words.

Kurumi gave a thin smile at Shido's silent amazement. To her that was more than enough of a praise.

"See, even Darling liked your singing. So much that he's speechless"

"Umu, well done, Kurumi."

Tohka nodded in agreement with Miku.

"Now then, Kurumi-san, are you ready for round two?"

Kurumi looked at her score on the television and saw that she had the second highest score out of the group. She sighed.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped."

"You said it."

Miku got up from her seat and grabbed the other microphone from the coffee table. Without any time to sit back down, Kurumi brought the microphone to her mouth. Miku stood to her left, and their new song began to play.

Kurumi didn't even have time to know what song she was singing, but impressively she managed to follow Miku's lead. The song wasn't another slow one, but at the same time it wasn't as upbeat as Miku's either. It was picked so that one wouldn't be ahead of or behind the other.

Even with a song that wasn't as upbeat as her first one, Miku continued to dance appropriately to the rhythm of the song.

Shockingly, the dancing even influenced Kurumi a little, as she started to do something that was beyond everyone's expectations. She began to dance.

Miku had noticed her singing partner, and her own eyes widened a little. She continued to sing, but she glanced over at Kurumi every now and then. Eventually the two made eye contact, and they began to dance in unison, both of them smiling.

Tohka and Shido watched with amazement.

The synergy between Miku and Kurumi was unbelievable.

The song was normal, and Kurumi's singing didn't improve at all, but combined with Miku's singing, it was the happiest thing they'd ever seen.

Most importantly, the duet was out of character.

As the worst spirit, Kurumi spent most of her days hidden. She watched everything from the darkness of her shadow, meaning she was practically the opposite of Miku. And yet she was now expressing herself in another way Shido had never seen.

Together, Miku and Kurumi continued to sing, one not slowing down for the other, but one not falling behind the other either.

No matter how dim the lights were, Miku and Kurumi were shining brighter than anything Shido and Tohka had ever seen.

Exiting the glass doors and heading back outside, Shido noticed that there was a thin blanket of snow covering Tenguu City now.

"Well, that was quite fun~"

Miku stretched her arms despite the fact that she didn't do anything strenuous with them.

"Umu. Let's do it again sometime."

Tohka spoke with a grin on her face.

"Yeah, anytime."

Shido gave a slight nod in agreement. He and Kurumi faced their comrades from the karaoke room.

"We actually have somewhere to be, so we'll be heading off now."

"It was a pleasure singing with you, Miku-san."

Kurumi spoke to Miku with a cool smile.

"Same here. You were really good, Kurumi-san."

Miku returned a smile of her own. She began to turn around while waving.

"Merry Christmas Eve~"

Tohka copied Miku's behavior.

"I'll see you later."

Tohka kept waving to Shido and Kurumi until she caught up with Miku.

The couple returned the wave until Tohka and Miku were out of sight.

"Shall we get going too?"

Kurumi smiled warmly.

"Yes, let's."

Holding hands again, Shido and Kurumi began to walk in the opposite direction from where Tohka and Miku went.

"My, Kurumi-san is so lucky~"

After walking a few blocks, Miku decided to start a conversation.

"Hm?"

Tohka looked at Miku with wonder.

"She's not even an idol, yet she still managed to win someone over."

Tohka continued to observe Miku in silence.

"Hey, Tohka-san."

Miku made eye contact with Tohka.

"Thanks for hanging out with me today."

Tohka thought that she saw a hint of sadness in Miku's eyes, but it quickly disappeared. She understood what Miku was feeling all too well.

Fortunately Tohka had more time to cope with her own feelings, thus she also understood that what Miku needed now was a little more time.

Tohka grabbed Miku's wrist and walked ahead, pulling her along.

"Come on, we're going to be late."

Seeing the kindness Tohka was showing, Miku couldn't help but give a bright smile. She continued to let Tohka pull her to their next destination, not slowing down for anything.

To Be Continued