I Just Want A Single Ending!

"...Satisfied…"

As the song came to an end, Kaname Raana's face lit up with pure joy.

She'd clearly had a blast playing her guitar.

Then, she set down the instrument and walked over to Kamigawa Saku's backpack, grabbing a snack to munch on.

"..."

Shiina Taki could hear everything. Standing next to her, Nagasaki Soyo and Chihaya Anon were both enthusiastically praising Raana's performance.

But she just stood there in a daze, completely unable to say a single word.

Why? Why was she able to modify my composition so effortlessly?

This was a piece I wrote during a surge of inspiration.

Does that mean that even an inspired piece from an ordinary person doesn't stand a chance against the improvisation of a true genius?

Suddenly, Shiina Taki's gaze shifted. She turned urgently to Kamigawa Saku, who was standing just a bit away.

"You said my composition was pretty good earlier, didn't you?"

"I did say that."

Saku quickly confirmed, noticing that something seemed off with her, much like it had on Tuesday.

Is she really bothered by the fact that someone altered her work? Or... did this composition genius thing really hit her that hard?

"Then why could Raana just modify my song so easily?" Taki murmured, lost in confusion.

Saku's a genius, and even he said the piece was solid.

Didn't that mean it was already good enough?

But Raana had changed it with such ease. Why? Why could she do that?

Was Saku lying to me?

"Raana has done things like this before, hasn't she?" Saku said in the most calming voice he could manage. "She probably just felt like it and improvised. You don't need to take it to heart."

"..."

Taki knew Raana sometimes played on impulse.

It wasn't like she hadn't done it often while they practiced "Spring Shadows."

But back then, Taki would just comment on it once or twice and wouldn't give it a second thought.

Because Raana's spontaneous versions of "Spring Shadows" never added much. If anything, they sometimes messed up the band's cohesion, causing more trouble than help.

But this time, her changes had undeniably made a significant improvement, elevating the piece Taki had written to a new level.

How could Taki not care about that?

Then, Taki remembered an important fact:

The original composer for "Spring Shadows" was Togawa Sakiko.

She had only adapted it by adding a second guitar and swapping the keyboard parts.

No wonder Raana's impulse-driven version of "Spring Shadows" had felt chaotic before.

Sakiko is a composing genius too.

The more she thought about it, the worse Taki felt.

It turned out she was utterly useless on her own.

Without Togawa Sakiko's guidance, any piece she composed could be easily improved by someone else.

And as for Saku, maybe he only complimented my song because he hasn't been composing for that long.

Wait a minute—he hasn't been composing long?

Taki looked up at him, her eyes sharp with another question. "Saku, do you think you could do what Raana did just now?"

"Not a chance. I mean, I'm learning bass, not guitar. How could I?"

Saku instantly understood what she was asking but chose to play dumb, hoping it would let him dodge the question.

Because he already knew what was happening with Shiina Taki.

She'd been affected—no, overwhelmed—by the presence of a real genius.

Not Sakiko. Somehow, it was him and Raana who'd left her shaken.

Reality is strange like that, after all. It doesn't always follow logic.

So now, he figured he'd have to take responsibility for helping Taki work through her issues.

Raana was oblivious; she'd only picked up a guitar and played a song on a whim. There was no reason to hold her accountable.

But he was different. He'd chosen to share his experience as a composition genius and had offered to discuss it with her. It was on him to fix this.

After all, he was the one who had unintentionally shaken her up in the first place.

He was the one at fault, so he should be the one to set things right.

At least, it was a very reasonable way to look at things.

And hey, if he could help her out, he might gain a bit of favor back, avoiding too steep a loss.

He made up his mind.

But wait... what exactly is my plan here?

Even if the plan failed, it shouldn't have lowered her opinion of him. Yet this time, it had gone so wrong that she ended up feeling completely disheartened.

He could practically see his approval rating tanking in her eyes.

But it all looked fine when I planned it. How did it end up like this?

"Are you able to edit the song I just played as effortlessly as Raana did?"

Taki stated her question bluntly, giving him no chance to deflect.

[Yes]

[No]

The system options floated into view.

Kamigawa Saku: "..."

To be honest, neither answer felt right.

If he said yes, he'd just hurt Taki even more.

But if he said no, it'd be an obvious lie.

He was supposed to be a musical prodigy, after all.

As a composing genius, how could he say he couldn't do something that Raana had done?

Trying to change the topic? Sometimes, not answering a question, or avoiding it, is as good as admitting the answer.

What if he ignored the options and replied with something unrelated?

For example, denying that he was a genius, explaining it had all been an act.

That wasn't ideal either.

Pretending to be less intelligent is possible, but faking genius is impossible. Not after what she'd seen from him on Tuesday when he'd clearly demonstrated his musical prowess.

In other words, the "composing genius" label was stuck.

And even if she somehow believed he wasn't a genius, it'd only make her feel worse.

If he'd just started learning and could easily tweak her work, it would make her feel even more inadequate.

He had no choice but to address the options.

Since he couldn't undo the damage he'd already caused, Saku could only try to soften the blow.

"Of course I can't. Don't overestimate me like that. I haven't been studying composition for long."

At last, having a short study time worked in his favor; he could reasonably say he couldn't do it.

Even a musical prodigy would still be human. It wasn't like he could become a master overnight.

Saying he couldn't do it was perfectly acceptable.

Plus, he'd already told her her composition was solid, so it sounded consistent.

This way, he kept up his "genius" act without making Taki feel too down.

At least for now, she'd feel like she'd surpassed the genius at something.

[Stamina +1]

"I see."

Shiina Taki understood the meaning beneath his words.

For now, he couldn't, but that didn't mean he never would.

It was exactly what she'd expected.

Actually, she already knew the answer before she asked.

If even Raana could do it, what kind of genius would he be if he couldn't?

She had only wanted to confirm how exceptional a composing genius truly was.

For now, at least, he was still within human limits.

If that's the case, I still have a chance.

I still have a shot at composition.

Taki admitted that while Raana was a guitar prodigy, she wasn't a compositional one.

Proof of that was her inability to improve Togawa Sakiko's "Spring Shadows."

If Raana really were a compositional genius, she could modify songs in a way that would reflect her personal flair.

Yet her version had only managed to mess up the song's flow—a sure sign she wasn't a true composing talent.

Togawa Sakiko, however, could compose and edit freely.

That meant that even if Raana hadn't made any changes today, Kamigawa Saku would eventually learn enough to tweak her song himself.

It meant the piece didn't yet meet her personal standards.

Though Raana's modifications had shaken her, Taki now realized she still had room to grow.

And better to face this now than later when Saku would make changes himself and reveal a harsher truth.

The best part was that Saku, as he was now, couldn't edit her piece and still thought it was good.

It had only taken her two days to reach that point.

If she had more time and could stay in that inspired state, she'd eventually create a song on par with "Spring Shadows."

Even if it fell a bit short, that'd be fine.

At the very least, next time she composed, she didn't want Raana to be able to improve it so easily.

I'll try again.

Shiina Taki wasn't ready to give up.

What's going on?

At that moment, Saku realized something unusual.

It looked like Shiina Taki had bounced back—her strange mood didn't last as long as he'd expected.

The more he thought about it, the more it felt familiar.

This had already happened once.

After Tuesday's discussion, she'd looked exactly like this. Drained, downcast—completely shaken.

Yet by today, she'd managed to write a genuinely impressive new piece.

He'd just watched her go through the entire cycle of despair and recovery again.

If things kept progressing this way, the next time he saw Taki, she'd likely have an even better piece ready.

If so, maybe she didn't need anyone else's help to work through setbacks and grow from them.

Considering this possibility made Saku hesitate to step in.

If he helped her, it might feel like her hard work had been in vain.

Should he do it? It was a big question.

Even more important, he wanted to help her but had no clue how.

He still didn't even know what had shaken her up so badly in the first place.

In this situation, stepping in without knowing the full picture might only make things worse.

Risking his own image was one thing, but making things worse for Taki could leave a much bigger impact.

After careful thought, Saku decided to wait and see.

If Taki managed to pull through on her own and created an even better song, he'd apologize later.

If she struggled, he'd step in and handle whatever came her way.

Whatever issues came up, he'd see it through to the end.

After all, this misunderstanding was his fault for not knowing her well enough.

---

"Are you two talking about composing?"

Since they weren't exactly hiding their conversation, Chihaya Anon had been able to hear them loud and clear.

"Pretty much," Saku answered.

"So… does that mean Tikki's song still needs some edits?" Chihaya Anon asked, concerned.

"Maybe just some minor tweaks," Nagasaki Soyo guessed. "I mean, Taki did put it together pretty quickly. It's only natural if it still has some rough edges."

"Well, we'll have to see what Shiina-san thinks," Saku said, still a bit worried.

Everyone turned their eyes to Shiina Taki.

"The piece needs a complete overhaul. Actually, I'm going to compose a new song entirely."

The others stared at her in surprise.

"Wait, what? A whole new song?" Chihaya Anon sounded like she hadn't heard right.

"Why all of a sudden?" Nagasaki Soyo asked, clearly confused. "That song was already so good. Just a few tweaks and it'd be ready to go, wouldn't it?"

"It's a great song, sure, but it's not good enough."

Taki explained, looking at Saku with a determined expression. "You said I could take my time composing, right? Whether it's a week or even fifteen days?"

"So, I should still be able to compose a new song within that time, right?"

"No problem." Saku agreed without hesitation. "And even if you don't finish in fifteen days, no one will blame you for taking it slow."

"I'll try to finish as soon as possible."

This time, though, Taki wasn't in as much of a rush; she didn't make any promises on timing.

She knew she'd need all the time she could get to make something as good as "Spring Shadows."

---

Oh, you're still here? Nice. While I'm out here juggling revival matches and reminding villains why they should reconsider their life choices, someone's behind the scenes making sure my story reaches you. Gotta admit, they're doing a pretty solid job.

If you want to help keep this whole thing running smoothly, here's the link: [patreon.com/WiseTL]. Think of it as… supporting your favorite underdog. Everyone loves an underdog, right?

Anyway, time to get back to saving the day. See you in the next chapter—don't forget to stay out of trouble (that's my job).

— Xia Luo 🕸️