“…Don’t look at her, Kou. Tone down the fake sweetness.”
My unhappiness about having Kou removed from my line of vision went right out the window at Sou’s remark.
Huh? What did he just say? Was that some kind of jealousy? Yeah, as if! Impossible. I don’t have anything that would attract this pretty boy. Talk about overconfidence.
“Heh… She’s got you that attached, huh? Now I’m curious.”
You’re ten years too early! But I can forgive you! I thought, as Kou swiftly came around Sou’s side to get a better look at me.
“I’m Kou Narita. I’ve been friends with Sou since preschool. Won’t you be friends with me too, Mashiro?” Kou said smoothly, with a charming smile. Then he purposefully winked at me, as if to ensure that I would accept.
He winked! I got to see my precious Kou wink in person! This is the same line as the one Kou rewards the heroine with after she clears the first in-game test, and he finally starts to acknowledge her ability a little. Is it all right for you to be using that on a random minor character?!
Flustered, I turned bright red and fervently nodded. Feelings I couldn’t put into words gushed inside me. I’ve no doubt that it was the same bliss felt by someone who meets eyes with or gets waved at by their favorite idol at a concert. If I wasn’t careful, I’d turn into a puddle of fangirling goo.
I can’t remember how I managed to purchase my books and go home after that. I just dashed upstairs without looking at anyone, tossed aside my newly purchased workbooks and backpack, and dived onto my bed.
“Becchin…! I met Kou! I was able to meet him!” I squeezed my teddy bear Becchin and excitedly rolled around on my bed for a good while before I found myself staring up at the ceiling. Countless unrestrainable sighs slipped past my lips.
He was super kind to me even though it was the first time we met. He’s a thousand times lovelier than I’d ever imagined!
I was completely unaware at the time that Kou’s wink and smile were a ruse.
I was also unaware of the conversation the two boys had once I left the bookstore.

“Sou, do a better job of picking your friends. No matter how you cut it, she’s just after our looks.”
“Shut up. Mashiro isn’t like that.”
“I’m tellin’ you not to trust people until you know what they’re like.”

◇◇◇
*Heroine’s Results*
Target Character: Sou Shiroyama
Second Event: Reunion at the Bookstore

Target Character: Kou Narita
Encounter Event: Who’s That Girl?
*CLEAR*
◇◇◇
***
A huge turning point arrived the year I turned eight. A used upright piano found its way to our home.
“Mrs. Tanaka on Third Street asked us to take it off her hands because it’s been collecting dust in her house for ages! Apparently, her daughter used to take lessons as a child, but got sick of it. It hasn’t been used since, and by now she’s an adult. Still though, isn’t this an expensive instrument? I tried to turn Mrs. Tanaka down, but she told me to accept it without reservation, so here we are.”
I immediately realized that Mom had actually spoken to our neighbor for my sake. One day out of the blue, her young daughter suddenly became abnormally passionate about learning music. I wonder exactly how much of a shock my parents had experienced. At first, they took me to a shrine for purification, then had me undergo counseling, but none of it influenced me whatsoever, so they finally gave up on fixing me.
And then there’s my sister, who remained completely unaffected, making remarks like, “Mashiro’s latent ability has finally awakened! I’m sure of it!” She readily accepted the dramatic change in her younger sister.
“Thanks, Mommy! I’m so happy!” I was so overexcited that I had a hard time sleeping the night I heard the news.
The price for transporting the piano to our house and the fee for tuning it added up to a rather hefty amount before I could even play it.
…I’ve stretched my parents on this one. The very least I can do is teach myself how to play instead of taking lessons.
At the time, I hadn’t realized that Mom had already searched for piano lessons for me.
“Violin lessons may be beyond us, but we should be able to dig up money for monthly piano lessons. I talked with your dad and we decided we’d let you play the piano since you love music so much.”
My heart ached painfully at her words.
I’m sorry, Mom. My motives for learning the piano are impure, dyed in a dark pink. But you’ve gone so far to support me, so I’ll be sure to never give up! I definitely won’t quit halfway through!
Thus, I became an incredibly busy third grader.
***
I hadn’t run into Kou again since the bookstore. Instead—not to make it sound like he was a replacement—Sou’s path often crossed with mine. However, everything I knew about Hear My Heart revolved around my darling Kou. I hadn’t seen a single one of Sou’s events, so I had no idea what kind of person he was. I couldn’t even recall the information on him that would’ve been printed in the game’s fanbook. So I remained unsure of why he’d taken an interest in me.
The one time I asked him if he knew Hear My Heart’s heroine—Kon Genda—he promptly replied, “Don’t know her.”
Hmm, I thought the heroine had a default name, but maybe I was wrong.
On another day, I found Sou standing on the footbridge again. My route home after school seemed to overlap with the area he showed up in as if it corresponded to his territory as a character.
If possible, I wish my path overlapped with Kou’s instead.
Sou was leaning on the handrail with a glum face. Whether I liked it or not, it reminded me of him crying on the day we met. His light-blue hair swayed in the wind, getting into his gloomy eyes. I couldn’t bear to watch any longer.
“Souchi! What’s up? Why the long face?” I called out to him, my voice deliberately perky. I tried to imitate Hanaka, but instead it looked like I’d seriously startled Sou. Sorry, that was accidentally too cheerful.
“I was just secretly hoping, ‘maybe I’ll be able to meet her again today?’” He made a tired smile, the corners of his lips curling up slightly. My heart broke at his overly mature, stressed expression—it didn’t suit his age.
Sou looks like he’s worried about something. I’ve got no idea what kind of worries the eight-year-old Sou has, but I’ll bet it’s not bullying. Wait, actually, that might unexpectedly be plausible. My thoughts drifted to the possibility of other boys at school becoming envious of his popularity and bullying him for it.
Even if the bully doesn’t really care one way or the other, scars that’ll never fade are carved into the victim through their actions. Consequently, some children choose to die.
Once my thoughts took a turn for the worse, I couldn’t stop them. Kou has a traumatic past; Sou might have one too.
I wasn’t sure how far to pry with someone I’d only recently gotten to know, but I couldn’t just walk away without doing something.
“Sou, if…and I mean if…you’re being bullied, you need to tell somebody. I get that you might be embarrassed. You might not want anyone to worry about you. But it could escalate if you keep it a secret. You should talk with an adult you can trust sooner rather than later.”
Sou watched intently as I cautiously breached the topic of bullying, then suddenly burst out laughing. “So you’re worried about me! I’m not being bullied. I don’t have that kind of problem.”
His carefree laughter meant my worries were misdirected.
Relieved, I laughed along with him. “You’re not being bullied? I’m so glad.”
“…Yeah. I’m okay. But thanks anyways,” he said, with a bashful smile.
If affection meters exist in this reality like they do in otome games, I think his just went up a bar. Sou’s honest, affectionate gaze left me unsettled.
“N-No problem. I mean, we’re friends. Anyone would be concerned if their friend was feeling down,” I said, overemphasizing the word “friends”.
He chuckled again.
What should I do if his type is, “a girl who makes him laugh”? ...No way. Sou is one of the romanceable characters in Hear My Heart. He wouldn’t have an ending with a trivial side character.
“By the way, have you folded anything new lately? What did you say you were attempting now?” Sou changed the topic, a smile still on his face.
At his requests and further pestering, I’d occasionally given him the origami creations I made.
“I’ve been attempting to fold Angkor Wat for a while now, but it’s not going well. Reproducing the small details of three-dimensional buildings is hard!”
“What’s Angkor Wat?”
“A temple in Cambodia that’s a World Heritage site.”
“Heh. You really know a lot of things, Mashiro.” Admiration twinkled in his eyes.
Huh. Maybe most elementary schoolers don’t know about it? I began to get nervous that maybe I’d let onto the fact that I reincarnated from another world if I kept talking.
“Th-That’s not true. Oh yeah, guess what? We’ll be getting a piano at my place today!”
Sou played an instrument as well, so I thought music would be a good topic. That was my casual reasoning for announcing my big news. Well, there was also the fact I was unbearably happy and wanted to share it with someone.
Contrary to expectations, Sou knitted his brow. But his frown lasted for only a second before he returned to his usual expression, as if nothing had happened.
“…Heh. I didn’t know you played the piano, Mashiro. So, what did you buy? A Bechstein? Or a Steinway?” he asked as if it were normal, rendering me speechless.
There was no way I could buy expensive grand piano brands like those. Some cost more than a car. I knew he wasn’t trying to be condescending since his expression had a simple innocence to it, but…
We live in different worlds. He’s been blessed with a life where he can get anything he wants, so there’s no way he would understand the happiness I feel over something this simple.
“…It’s a normal upright piano. Our neighbor didn’t have a need for it anymore, so we got it from them,” my voice trembled.
It felt like he was looking down on the piano Mom went through so much trouble to get for me.
“Ah…I see,” Sou mumbled awkwardly, and his lips parted to continue—
“I have to go now! I need to help out with the chores,” I declared, one-sidedly ending the conversation before he could say anything else. I managed to wave at him before dashing down the footbridge.
I know I live in a completely different world from Sou. Kou’s setting is the rich young son to a wealthy family, so Sou probably is too. So much so that he’d casually ask me if I got a Bechstein. Those start at twenty grand and some even go for half a million dollars!
Sou didn’t call after me. I glanced over my shoulder to see him silently standing still in the middle of the footbridge.
***
I meticulously polished the first instrument I had ever owned in my entire life—including my past life—with a soft rubbing cloth. The perfectly tuned piano, which was placed in my room at my request, shimmered and sparkled under the lights.
I needed to give the piano a name before I did anything else with it. In one of the Hear My Heart events, after the heroine becomes more intimate with Kou, they discuss their instrument names.
“Treat your instrument as dearly as you would a lover. If you do, it’ll whisper its love back to you,” Kou had said through the LCD screen.
I planned to follow suit and do the same with my piano.
I went downstairs and asked Mom while she was preparing dinner, “Hey, do we have a name book for babies anywhere in the house?”
It looked like we were going to have breaded pork cutlets for dinner. Mom tilted her head curiously as she dipped the meat in breading. “I think we still have one. What do you want it for?”
“I want to give my piano a name! A super cute name!”
“A name for your piano? I see. Hehe. I’m so happy to see you like it that much. You know where we store the albums in the closet shelves? I’m positive I put it there.”
“Okay. Thanks. I’m going to borrow it for a bit.”
I found the book I was after covered in dust and wiped it down before returning to my room. The old book, 1000 Names You Want to Name Your Precious Child, appeared to have been opened and closed many times, so that the binding was worn and the edges of the pages were snipped. The book naturally opened to the pages containing the names “Hanaka” and “Mashiro”. They must’ve considered other names too, since different areas had been methodically underlined.
Unexpected heat stung the corner of my eyes. I could easily imagine my parents from my last life going through the same process in order to name me and my sister. Somewhere in the back of my mind I still felt guilty for making them mourn for me. I blinked repeatedly to keep the tears from escaping and searched through the book for the perfect name.
Thinking about the past now won’t change anything. No one can redo the past. I can only do my very best at the present.
Flipping back to the first page, I started my search from the letter “A”. Ami, Akari, Ayu…an endless number of names covered the pages. My eyes stopped on the name “Aine”. Isn’t it a wonderful name that reminds you of Mozart’s famous composition “Eine kleine Nachtmusik”? The fact that Kou’s favorite composer was Mozart gave me the extra push to decide on this name.
“All right! From today on, you are Aine!” I said to the piano, then played the main melody from “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” that I vaguely remembered with my right hand. A broken melody rose from its keys, filling my room.
Wow! It’s the real sound of a piano! The keys are heavy.
I brought my ear to the keyboard and listened attentively to the quality of its sound coming from the keys I pressed. What an incredibly lovely sound. Thirty minutes passed as I struggled to get to the right sound. Eventually, it began to sound like it should. I learned the fingering techniques for playing a piano in my past life, but there’s a remarkable difference in difficulty between reading about something in a book and actually doing it.
I have to psych myself up for this one!
Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do
123 12345
I pressed the key for fa with my middle finger (corresponding to the number 3), then replaced it with my thumb (corresponding to the number 1).
I can’t increase the speed smoothly. My left hand’s definitely gotten more awkward. As if I were possessed, I practiced the C major scale obsessively. Separate the four octaves with a staccato. With syncopation. Until it becomes one smooth sound. Go up, up, up, and up and then down, and repeat.
“I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!”
My bedroom door flung open. Hanaka stood in the doorway panting with a maddened expression. “Seriously, please don’t make me suffer through any more of this racket! You’ve been repeating the same sound for an entire hour since I came home. I’m freaking out here. Please cut it out!”
The sky peeking through my lace curtains was completely dark.
“Ah, I’m sorry for being so noisy. Next time I’ll use the soft pedal to bring down the volume.”
“It’s not that it’s too noisy. It’s really not that, but—gah, forget it. Let’s go eat.” Hanaka slumped her shoulders.
Everyone regarded me differently at the dinner table. Starting with Hanaka, my entire family unanimously emphasized, “We’re all here for you if you have anything you want to talk about.”
***
THE day of my first piano lesson arrived. This lesson was for meeting and getting to know the piano teacher and to purchase the necessary music books—we weren’t going to actually touch the piano. Regardless, I was a nervous wreck as I tightly clasped Mom’s hand. I was led to a lesson room on the second-story of a large mansion. I was overwhelmed by the excessively spacious, completely soundproof room, when a slender, beautiful woman, who appeared to be in her mid-twenties, entered.
“How do you do? I’m Ayumi Matsushima. Is it all right for me to call you Mashiro?”
Overcome by the image of her polished beauty, my mouth hung open.
“I-It’s nice to meet you! I’m Mashiro Shimao. I’m eight. This will be my first time playing the piano, but I’ll try my very bestest!” I was too nervous, and my greeting abruptly came out sounding like a typical eight-year-old.
“Haha. You don’t have to be so stiff. Relax. Okay? Play the piano a lot with me so you can start thinking music is fun!”
Not only is she a beauty, she’s super sweet as well. She’s way too cool. My piano teacher was thoroughly captivating.
I secretly stole a glance at Miss Ayumi’s fingers while she spoke with Mom about business details like the monthly lesson fee. Her dainty fingers were exceptionally long and looked like they could make the sound of an octave chord resound. As I dreamily gazed at her fingers, Mom awkwardly cleared her throat.
“…I’m sorry. Mashiro, don’t stare so much.”
“Ah, sorry.” I quickly averted my eyes.
“It’s all right. Don’t worry about it. Mashiro, if you like, why don’t you wait in the drawing room next door until we finish talking? I left books and manga in there,” Miss Ayumi suggested, out of consideration for my boredom.
Drawing room? Curiosity piqued by the unfamiliar term, I nodded excitedly. Following Miss Ayumi, I crossed the threshold into the room next to the one we were chatting in. Miss Ayumi pushed the solid wood double door open to reveal the embodiment of a drawing room.
A white porcelain vase decorated an antique side cabinet. The chic-colored, striped upholstered sofa seemed like it could comfortably sit about five people. On top of the exquisitely crafted Draw Leaf Table rested a crystal bowl filled with colorful candies. Miss Ayumi pointed to the built-in floor-to-ceiling bookshelf with her perfectly manicured fingers.
“Read any book you like and wait here, okay? You are always welcome to relax here before your lessons start and while waiting for your parents to come pick you up. My other students may be present sometimes, but they are all very good children, so you can rest at ease.”
“Okay! Thank you very much!”
She watched me respectfully bow my head to her, and left the drawing room with a gentle smile.
I immediately made my way to the bookshelf. Manga about ballet and music filled the shelves, unexpectedly side by side with shounen (for boys) sports manga. Naturally, there were normal books, music books, musical grammar books, and a lot of essay compilations on music in general.
What should I start with? I was cheerfully rummaging through the bookshelves, when—
“Hello. Oh…?” A girl entered the drawing room.
It wasn’t like I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to, but I frantically pulled my hand back from the bookshelf.
I wonder if she’s one of the students Miss Ayumi mentioned.
I timidly turned around and tried my best to greet her without sounding funny. “Hello.”
Long, brown hair; big, beautiful eyes with several layers of color; and perfectly white skin caught my eye. An undeniably beautiful girl like the genuine incarnation of a two-dimensional character was standing there.
Huh. I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before. Who is she?
The girl intently stared at me as I racked my memories for who she was, then, for some reason, she struck a triumphant pose in the middle of the room.
“YEESSSSSSS! I found you! I finally got to meet you!”








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            End of part 10 of 56.



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