Happy holidays!

I may have rushed this one, but only because the release date is coincidentally Christmas Eve! Hope you all are having a good time.

I finally finished my term to get straight As, which is VERY poggers. Studying definitely pays off, it seems. It may have cost me a part of my soul though lmao.

Oh right, I almost forgot to apologize for the cringy previous short special I wrote. I remember writing it with the little spare time I had, and I sort of looked at it and was like: "Eh, sure why not. I want to get this over with." Looking at it again, I certainly am cringing a bit too haha, sorry about that.

Will I take it down? Mmm, I might be a little too lazy for two or three clicks.

Well anyways, let's get started.

The mall continued to bustle with shoppers, and a middle-aged man with a list of errands walked along in a store to buy necessities. Suddenly, amidst the sounds of the crowd, he hears a faint sound of music, someone was playing the piano in the middle of the mall. Intrigued, he followed the music until he saw who was playing.

In the middle of the mall was a public piano, and seated at its bench was a long chestnut-haired girl. Just as the man came among the crowd who stood by the live performance.

"Enough warming up…" The girl mutters to herself. The man could have barely made that out by reading the girl's lips. She then stretched her fingers and began to play. The music resonated with an air, and captivated the many who stopped by to listen.

In the public, the man who stopped by was just any ordinary citizen minding their business. However, little did the girl know that this man was actually a professional musician, and had that highest form of understanding in the art of song.

Looking forward to what kind of songs the girl would play after her "warm up," the man happily listened and put his keen ear to work. He has been hired to tutor many rich young ladies in playing the piano, including those who attend Tokiwadai middle school.

'I wonder how talented this young lady could be…' He wonders. The girl begins to play.

'The first song feels… sorrowful.' The man thinks, closing his eyes. As the song progresses though, the song begins to convey intensity and passion, almost like a bright fire that refuses to go out.

'Sorrow strains blossomed like a flower of determination, evolving into a powerful anthem of resilience.' The man thinks to himself, nodding in approval. 'What a powerful musical narrative, whoever has taught her the piano must be very proud of her.' As a professional musician himself, he marveled at the seamless transition, and artistically beautiful song she was playing. He instantly recognized the genius in her ability to convey such complex emotions through her music.

The man continued to muse, 'The composer of this song must also be a newly manifested musical genius, given that I do not recognise this song anywhere.'

The crowd around him seemed equally entranced, their eyes fixed on the girl who played at an intensity that resonated emotions the man had already noticed. What is most impressive was that the girl doesn't have any sheets, meaning she is playing everything from memory. Could it be that she wrote the song herself?

As the song slowly came to an end, an applause followed.

Undeterred, the girl continued to play a second song. The man could instantly tell the composition that struck a completely different tone and theme. The melody was adventurous, upbeat, and filled with an infectious energy that seemed to infuse the very air around them. He couldn't help but notice the uniqueness and creativity in the song. Shutting his eyes once again, he cannot help but picture himself in an exhilarating adventure when he hears the song.

This song, he concluded, was the embodiment of freedom. Simply listening to it made him want to break free from the constraints of his everyday life. Looking at the crowd, he sees many people understandably nodding to the rhythm, enjoying the music.

Finally nodding in approval, the man considers to scout the girl over to his industry. Although it would be nice to have spread influence on the music industry, the main reason for this was that he couldn't bear to allow the girl's talent to go to waste.

Suddenly, the girl starts playing the next song. The transition to the third song was abrupt, catching both the audience and him off guard.

'Contrast.'

It was the only word the man could even remotely think of. This song was such a contradictory and inconsistent piece, as if it were written by a beginner, but this clearly wasn't the case… This was without a doubt a high-level song, with a kind of hidden meaning behind it…

The crowd still enjoyed this song, without noticing what the man had already noticed. This song left the man the most perplexed, completely unable to pinpoint a single interpretation.

'Dark. Aggressive. Loneliness.' His heart told him, almost half of the time the girl plays.

'Bright. Pretty. Dazzling.' His heart also told him, the other half of the times the girl plays.

This girl was constantly switching between two contrasting styles, refusing to cease being chaotic.

The man continued to think hard and listen carefully. This song completely defied conventional understanding. Never in his whole musical career did he ever encounter such an abstract song.

The song seemed to represent duality, if anything. Two different forces, one bright, another dark.

But finally, it hits him. The man was a bit of an expert music connoisseur himself, and this was the hardest song he had ever interpreted.

This song was the very definition of a lie. Almost as if the deep, ugly truth constantly tells sparkling lies to appear dazzling and pretty to others. There was so much more to it, that the man could write a paper about this one single song.

The girl finally finishes and comes to a halt, and slowly stands up from her seat.

"Bravo!" The man couldn't help but shout out. Of all three songs, this one was undoubtedly his favorite. With such and fascinating and abstract meaning to the piece, there was no way he couldn't enjoy it. Other people seem to express different opinions for other reasons, such as catchyness and so on. The man could understand that.

He continued to clap his hands wholeheartedly, until a similar looking girl with shorter hair came to pick her up. He presumes that they must be sisters.

As I finished playing the piano, I nodded with satisfaction.

'As I thought, the best thing to do is to just play all three of the songs.'

I looked around and I suddenly found myself surrounded by people.

'Ehh!?'

All of them applauded and cheered, which took me by complete surprise. Well, I would be lying if I said that this didn't boost my ego.

"Bravo!" One older man shouted, who seemed to clap the loudest out of everyone.

I just sat there, meekly. Waiting for the people to stop. However, the louder the people began to clap and praise me, I started to realize something.

'This is… Exactly what I wanted when I came to this world!'

I unlock a hidden talent, get popular, and everyone will love me! That was just the dream I envisioned when I went to another world.

"-!"

Of course, my daydreaming had to be interrupted by none other than my older sister.

"Hey, Miyano!" She hissed, snapping me back to reality.

I didn't say anything, but my eyes rendered focus. I was still sitting in the piano seat, and I could tell it took Mikoto some effort to navigate through the crowd.

Mikoto looked serious. "We're gathering too much attention, let's go."

"O-oh, okay, Onee-chan." I said, a bit startled.

'She's surprisingly cold…'

I held my older sister's hand, being dragged to the exit of the mall. We finally made it out of the building, rasping deeper breaths from running.

I sulked a little. I didn't know why, but I expected some kind of praise from my older sister. It was as if I wanted her attention, or something. I suppose I can't get too greedy.

"..."

"Onee-chan?"

"Miyano…"

"That… was amazing!" Mikoto suddenly shouted, her face brightening up at once. "Where did you learn to play the piano? We should do a duet sometime!"

'Oh, nevermind. Scratch that.'

Although I tried to play it humble, I still couldn't wipe the grin off my face. "Ah w-well, I just dabbled here and there…"

I probably looked like Hitori Gotoh from 'Bocchi the Rock!' at this point, as my older sister patted me in the back.

As we both walked, Mikoto prompted me to take me back to the studio. She's really into the "big sister" role…

However, we both were completely oblivious of the man trailing us from behind, listening to our conversation…

"Oh."

It was just another ordinary day for ITEM, as the team just wrapped up their commissioned job. However, Takitsubo looked at her phone to see she and her team had gotten a message. "Hm? What is it Takitsubo?" Frenda asks, peeking at Takitsubo's phone.

"Jeez, nosy much?" Hamazura couldn't help but comment.

"Just shut up and start driving, will you?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Takitsubo finally spoke. "It's from that author. She wrote a new series, and wants us to tell her what we think about it."

"-!"

"...!"

"-!"

With small started gasps and mutters, the van was dead quiet. Although Hamazura kept his eyes on the road, he knew exactly what was about to transpire.

Kinuhata finally spoke up. "I think I should have a look first, right? I was the one who manage to score a connection with the super good author."

"Bull-"

As Mugino was about to retort back, Hamazura had enough. He was well aware he was sticking his neck out for this, but something had to be done. "Of ALL places, do NOT fight while I'm driving! Just have Takisubo-san sent the files to everyone so everyone can read at the same time!"

"No."

"Why would we?"

"That's a horrible idea."

The girls all voice their firm rejections, with Takitsubo the only one remaining silent.

"Why?" Hamazura asked.

"Well, it would take super long for the upload to go through." Kinuhata spoke. Hamazura could see the nods of approval through the rear mirror as he drove.

Sighing in resignation, he could only muster a single thought: 'We should make a joint account so everyone gets the volumes fairly…'

After hearing such a perfect performance, the man watched another similar looking girl grab the girl playing the piano, and run off. They were probably sisters.

The man had little time to act, and he decided to pursue the twins quietly. If he ever did lose them, he may not ever meet them ever again after all.

The two finally stopped in front of the exit of the mall, outside. The man decided to wait near the exit, inside of the mall. Of course, the girls had no way of knowing his reason for waiting there would be because of them.

"Onee-chan?" He heard the piano player say. This would mean the girl is the younger sister.

"Miyano…"

"That… was amazing!" The shorter haired girl suddenly shouted, her face brightening up at once. "Where did you learn to play the piano? We should do a duet sometime!"

The man noted that the girl who played the piano was the girl with longer hair. This would mean that "Miyano" was the quintessential piano player.

Stuttering, the younger sister replied. "Ah w-well, I just dabbled here and there…"

The man was taken aback. There was no conceivable way this girl only "dabbled" in this art. He figured this girl had to only be modest, but he still considered the slightest possibility that he may be dealing with a genius here.

It has been a long time since the man had felt this way. Smiling, he mutters a single sentence under his breath. "Hmmm, Miyano was it? I'll have the company look into her, so we can make preparations for scouting."