Tokyo Color Sonic!! Growing, Premium Guidebook | Sakaki Oshiro Short Story

[odorekijin]

Sakaki Oshiro’s Prelude

Posted on April 4th, 2022 (source)

“Let’s get this show on the road! NEW DEVIATION!”

It was in fall—November 7th, to be exact. I was in my senior year of high school.

I had casually turned on the television when I witnessed the upheaval on my screen unfold. His fierce gaze, sparkling, seemed to shoot through everything standing in its way. His singing voice, an embodiment of the crowd’s shouts, struck something deep within my heart.

I was glued to my screen, mesmerised by that guy.

His name was Komiyama Arashi.

He's the singer that changed the course of my existence.

⁂

Night had already fallen. I had packed the last of my belongings before my departure for Tokyo when my mother knocked at my door.

Standing by the doorframe, I asked if something was bothering her, but she didn’t reply. Her worried look was enough to tell why she came: she wanted reassurance, to know that everything would be alright.

“Dun’ worry so much, err’thin’ ‘s gonna work out. Y’know how I work: if I talk the talk, then I’m gonna walk the walk.” I wasn’t making up comforting lies, that was nothing but the truth. I’m pretty sure my mother knows me better than I know myself, enough to see through me.

She laughed, commenting that I was a hopeless troublemaker, and mumbled a single word of support before leaving my room.

Basking in a stifling silence, my bedroom was depressingly lifeless.

I won’t be returning to this home—my family’s home—for a very, very long time.

Something suddenly overcame me, a feeling so potent it made me swing my closet’s door open. My eyes immediately landed on the club uniform hanging on the rack. It felt like centuries since I last held it in my hands.

Despite already being admitted to a university under a sports scholarship, I had refused their offer and chose to enrol in Ironoha Music Academy. My homeroom teacher, my friends, even my own relatives—everyone around me was gobsmacked when I announced I wanted to make a career out of music. Every single one of them replied the exact same thing: “snap out of it, get yourself together”.

I had zero intention of changing my mind either.

My parents were especially against my decision. After going hours on end to convince them that I had found a dream I wanted to chase after, something worth fighting for, they reluctantly gave me their consent.
It must have felt like I had dropped a bombshell on them: becoming a songwriter was the last thing they could have expected out of someone who devoted the last twelve years of his life to basketball.

I've had piano lessons as a kid, I play guitar as a hobby, it’s not like I was a total newbie to instruments or music as a whole.

Whether it was studying for Ironoha’s entrance exam or practising instruments for the practical test, I didn’t mind the extra work as long as I was doing everything in my power to reach my dream.

I’m pretty sure most of my surroundings thought I would never meet the standards of a music academy known for its severe tests, especially after putting in the effort so late, for such a short amount of time. Yet, I got into the Kumamoto branch with the highest grades.
I proved them, everyone, that my efforts were not in vain.

Other obstacles will stand in my way from thereon, but I’m persuaded they’re good, necessary troubles.

There are people in the wide world who have yet to find what to live for. Some of my classmates have dreams they want to achieve, and many others do not—I know, I was one of them myself. I always wanted to have a career related to sports simply because I had played basketball my whole life. Naturally, I aimed to become a physical education teacher.

But things are different now.

I have a clear objective. I have places I want to go, people I want to meet… And most importantly, I want to make a song for him, one I want him to sing.

No matter what they say about me, no matter the obstacles I have to surpass, I will never, ever give up.

Right after enrolling, I was offered a golden ticket to get a step closer to achieving my dream. Soon, I'm going to participate in the “Growing Fes.” arts festival, a national event that only selects two students among the ten thousand freshmen across the country.

I won’t let this miraculous chance go to waste.

”Wait for me, Komiyama Arashi.”

Like a kick start to new beginnings, I resolutely closed my closet.

I want to stand by your side, on that stage.

I want to meet you. I want to talk with you.

I want to see you in the flesh, singing in front of me.

I want to vibrate with the same excitement I felt on that fateful day…

—this time, with you singing my song.

Fin.