Songs in the Void: A Multiversal Score

Hub World, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.  

After a hardy breakfast courtesy of Sumire and Mai, Tatsuo, Sumire, and Mai went to get ready to go out. Meanwhile, Tio, who was already dressed for the occasion, sat in the living room with Ayane while waiting for the other three. As for Kasumi, she did exactly what she said she would and headed to her bedroom to finish her homework.  

About half an hour after finishing breakfast, Tatsuo was the first of those going out to return to the living room. When he did, he was no longer wearing comfortable clothing. Instead, he was dressed in a black suit with a white dress shirt, a black tie, black leather shoes, and a pair of aviator sunglasses. And when Tio and Ayane saw him, all of their attention was drawn to him until he took a seat on the couch.  

"Ara, ara, Tatsuo-Sama, I must say, you look rather dashing in that suit." Tio said as she raised her fan to cover her face, and the blush that had made itself quite prominent. "You will certainly be drawing many eyes to yourself when we arrive at the company."  

Reaching up to lower his sunglasses slightly, Tatsuo shot Tio a scathing gaze.  

"Probably." Tatsuo replied, sounding completely aware of his own attractiveness. "I just hope no one tries to jump me. Mai-Nee is gonna be there. And you know how she can get."  

"I will be there to protect you, as well, Tatsuo-Sama." Tio replied with a nod.  

"And for some reason, that worries me even more than the random women." Tatsuo shot back. "But you are a world-level pervert, so that makes sense."  

Immediately, Tio began to shudder, her face getting even redder than before. Meanwhile, Ayane, who was also still in the living room, could only sigh.  

"Is it really a good idea to set her off like that before going out?" Ayane asked. "You know she's gonna go need to change if you take things too far."  

"Don't worry, I know." Tatsuo replied while raising his sunglasses again and waving dismissively. "But she's tried so hard for my sake ever since she came to this world. So, I have to reward her every now and then."  

"If you say so." Ayane said with an uninterested shrug. Though, Tatsuo did not miss the fact that she was stealing glances at him whenever she thought he wasn't looking.  

Like that, close to another hour passed before Sumire and Mai entered the living room. And like Tatsuo and Tio, they were both wearing professional attire, with Sumire wearing a black blazer over a white dress shirt, a purple skirt, black stockings, a purple tie, black high heels, and her hair styled into two buns on either side of the back of her head.  

Mai, on the other hand, wore a short sleeved white blouse with a red skirt and red heels. However, what surprised everyone the most was how many buttons on her blouse were undone. But the amount of skin was not the actual issue. Rather, it was the fact that Sumire had not told her to cover up.  

Mai did, however, smile quite radiantly when she noticed how Tatsuo's gaze was drawn to her cleavage. However, Sumire spoke before she could start flirting.  

"Okay, is everyone ready to go?" Sumire asked energetically.  

With that, both Tatsuo and Tio stood up without needing to be told to.  

"Good, looks like you're both ready." Sumire continued with a smile. "Well then, let's go."  

Sumire then raised her right hand above her head as she stomped towards the elevator like she was the leader of a field trip. Meanwhile, Tatsuo smiled wryly at his over-enthusiastic mother while Mai and Tio followed behind him, Mai practically draping herself over him as she hugged his left arm.  

About a minute later, Tatsuo, Sumire, Mai, and Tio stepped out of the elevator into the apartment's garage. They then made their way to Sumire's business car, a purple, 2020 BMW 745, with Mai taking the wheel, Tio riding in the passenger seat, and the mother-son duo riding in the back.  

"I've never been to your company before, Mom."   

Tatsuo said while looking out the window as Mai drove out of the garage. "Where is it?"  

"Oh, that's right, you haven't." Sumire replied, sounding like she had completely forgotten about that. "My HQ is in Marunouchi. It's only about twenty minutes away from home."  

"But isn't that where mostly banks and real estate companies set up shop?" Tatsuo asked, turning to look at his mother.  

"More or less." Sumire replied.  

"Sumire-Sama has both the money and political pull to set up her headquarters wherever she wants." Mai replied with a smile. A moment later, however, her smile turned into a pout as she continued. "So, when she said she could get harem marriages legalized, she was not joking."  

"I sure wasn't." Sumire replied proudly as she puffed out her, nearly, non-existent chest, a stark contrast to her true body's proportions. She then leaned across the back seat and wrapped her arms around Tatsuo's left arm as she continued. "So, just let Mommy know if you find more than one girl you like, okay?"  

"*Sigh* Whatever you say, Mom." Tatsuo replied in a fondly exasperated tone.  

"No!" Mai shouted hysterically without swerving even a little. "All you need is your Mai-Nee, Tatsu-Kun. You don't need those other thieving cats! Mai-Nee will be everything you need."  

"I'll always be here if you want a pet, though." Tio said quietly with an excited blush on her face.  

"If I'm ever in the market for a--- Mmph mmm hmph." Tatsuo began to reply to Tio's statement. Yet, before he could say anything insulting or degrading, Sumire clamped a hand over his mouth.  

"Save it for after we leave the company, Sweetie." Sumire said indulgently. "You don't want her to ruin your image on your first day, do you?"  

While Tatsuo nodded in understanding, the quickly growing flush on Tio's face was instantly wiped away when she heard Sumire mention ruining Tatsuo's image. At the same time, all her excitement was completely suppressed. On top of that, she reached into her purse and pulled out a small bottle of perfume to get rid of the scent of arousal she had begun to produce out of anticipation for Tatsuo's reply. Then, once all that was done, she put on the expression of a perfect manager while looking out the car's front windshield.  

"Sumire-Sama is correct, Tatsuo-Sama." Tio said in a solemn tone. "Although I enjoy your rewards and punishments, your reputation comes first. And I would never do anything that might compromise it."  

Hearing Tio's solemn declaration, Tatsuo and Sumire smiled. Meanwhile, Mai was shooting her a complicated side-eye. While she was happy that   

Tio cared so much about Tatsuo, she saw her as a threat.  

The chatter and playful banter continued for the next twenty minutes. Around that time, Mai pulled into the garage of a five story building in Marunouchi. Naturally, this was the headquarters building of Sumire's record company, Kurashikku Ensō.  

"Okay, are you ready to see where Mommy works?" Sumire asked in an upbeat tone as she climbed out of the backseat of the BMW.  

"We're not gonna be here too long, are we?" Tatsuo asked in a much less enthusiastic tone. "I'm more interested in seeing where are new house is gonna be."  

Sumire could only smile wryly at her son's unenthusiastic reply. Even so, she did not seem all that bothered by it. Tatsuo never showed much interest in going into the music industry in the first place. He was only doing it because she had pestered him about it for a few months, after all.  

After that short conversation, the group of four made their way into the elevator. Then, when they were all inside, Mai pressed the button that led up to the lobby. Usually, they would head straight up to the fifth floor where Sumire's office was located. However, Sumire wanted to show off Tatsuo to the employees and get him introduced to the people he would be working with.  

*Ding!*  

A few seconds later, the elevator door opened and the four walked out. When they did, every eye on the first floor was aimed at them.  

"Welcome, Soramoto-Sama." All the employees said in unison when they saw Sumire.  

Despite Sumire receiving all the greetings, there actually were not many eyes focused on her. Instead, Tatsuo, Tio, and Mai, especially Mai, received all the employees' attention. The only eyes on Sumire were those who just thought she was too cute and wanted to cuddle her.  

But the other three received quite a few hot gazes. And that was no surprise. Tatsuo was quite possibly the most handsome young man in Japan. Add to that his tall, lean, athletic build, and it was basically guaranteed that he would draw the eyes of most of the women in a room.  

As for Mai and Tio, they were just as beautiful as Tatsuo was handsome. And when you add the fact that Mai's assets were basically hanging out, you can imagine the scene.  

However, what surprised Tatsuo the most was the fact that Mai was not acting like the woman he often saw at home. Instead of trying to hang off of him like a lovestruck, possessive yandere, she looked quite professional. Though, he did notice that her eyes flicked between every woman who was looking at Tatsuo like they wanted to take a bite out of the world's juiciest steak.  

'I guess we're gonna have to make sure Mai doesn't disappear in the middle of the night to make any assassinations.' Tatsuo thought to himself. He then glanced at his mother, who was still smiling cheerfully. 'Then again, I bet Mom already has a plan for this.'  

While having that thought, Tatsuo was also scanning the faces of the people in the lobby. And there was someone who really caught his attention.  

At the end of Tatsuo's line of sight was a young woman, about Tatsuo's age, standing at about 5'2" with long, wavy blonde hair that reached her waist, pale indigo eyes, a slender figure, wearing a short-sleeved white t-shirt, a black knee-length skirt, a pair of white sneakers, and carrying a pink violin case. However, unlike everyone else in the lobby, she did not have the same level of reverence in her gaze. Instead, her gaze held more gratitude than anything else when she looked at Sumire.  

'There's something wrong with that girl.' Tatsuo thought to himself while discreetly looking over the girl he saw. 'Her life force seems really weak. Actually, it's kind of a miracle she's even alive. I wonder what her deal is. Well, I'll just have to ask Mom about it later.'  

Meanwhile, Mai and Tio also noticed that Tatsuo's gaze was settled on a girl around his age. And while Tio was curious to know what about her caught Tatsuo's attention, Mai was once again feeling complicated feelings.  

The fact that Tatsuo's attention was on another woman was making her boil with anger inside. But at the same time, she knew the girl's circumstances. In fact, she was the one Sumire sent to recruit her into the company. So, she found it hard to really be angry with the girl. Still, that did not stop her from disliking the fact that she was drawing her Tatsu-Kun's attention.  

*Clap!*  

"Okay, enough with the bowing." Sumire said loudly. "If you've got time to bow like that, then you've got time to work. But since you're all gathered, I want to introduce you to someone special."  

Sumire then gestured behind her towards Tatsuo' before she continued.  

"Allow me to introduce you to my son, Tatsu-Chan!" Sumire shouted energetically.  

"Mom… Please, stop." Tatsuo said with a groan. "Just introduce me normally, please. Because you know good and well that you're the only one who can call me that. And that's only because I can't get you to stop."  

"You're no fun, Tatsu-Chan." Sumire said while pouting and puffing out her cheeks, which made all those who wanted to hug and cuddle her swoon. "Fine~. This is my son, Soramoto Tatsuo. Some of you have already heard the album he recorded. He's a pianist and a singer. And he's great at both."  

Sumire then looked at the musicians in the crowd one by one.  

"And I'm sure you'll all get a chance to work with him at some point." Sumire continued with a smile. "So, everyone try to get along, okay?"  

After Sumire's introduction was finished, the crowd of employees and artists started to chat amongst themselves. And Tatsuo could hear things like, "Didn't Soramoto-Sama's kid get kidnapped a long time ago?", "Wow! He's so handsome!", "She said he's recorded an album, who's heard it already?", as he, Sumire, Mai, and Tio returned to the elevator.  

However, instead of heading right up to Sumire's office, the four stopped on every floor to repeat the introductions. Then, after about half an hour, they finally made it to the CEO's office.  

"So, what did you think, Tatsu-Chan?" Sumire asked with a smile as she took a seat at her desk.  

"I don't actually have much of an impression yet." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "I mean, other than meeting people, I didn't get to really see any of the facilities."  

"We'll do that next time." Sumire said nonchalantly.  

"There was something that caught my eye, though." Tatsuo said as he took a seat on the couch in Sumire's office.  

"Oh, what's that?" Sumire asked curiously.  

"There was a girl on the first floor, blonde hair, pink violin case, you know who I'm talking about?" Tatsuo asked in a solemn tone.  

"Oh, I saw her, Tatsuo-Sama." Tio said as she took a seat next to Tatsuo. "Did you find her attractive? Will you add her to your harem?"  

"I don't' have a harem." Tatsuo replied. "I only have one girlfriend."  

"For now." Sumire and Tio replied with smiles.  

Surprisingly, Mai was awfully quiet while this conversation was happening. Though, it was clear to see that she was uncomfortable. But because she knew who Tatsuo was talking about, she had nothing to say.  

"Anyway, you know the girl I'm talking about, right?' Tatsuo asked once again while rolling his eyes as he took off his sunglasses., folded them, and put them in his suit's breast pocket.  

"Yes, I do." Sumire replied. "Miyazono kaori, an unconventional genius violinist. She has the issue of not following sheet music when she plays. But her skill as a violinist is unquestionable."  

"I see." Tatsuo replied with a nod. "But what is up with her? I mean, from what I could tell, she's barely alive."  

Hearing that, the mood in the room fell. A moment later, Sumire took a deep breath. She then looked at Tatsuo with a solemn gaze.  

"You noticed that, huh?" Sumire asked sadly. "Well, you're not wrong, she actually doesn't have much time to live. And even less time to play the violin. She's got a genetic disease called Friedreich's Ataxia."  

"The disease is causing her to lose feeling throughout her body." Mai added. "After Sumire-Sama discovered her talent, she's been trying her best to find a cure for her. Unfortunately, modern medicine simply doesn't have one yet."  

"If modern medicine can't cure it, why not use your powers?" Tatsuo asked his mother.  

"*Sigh* Despite how powerful I am, I'm no healer." Sumire replied. "The best I've been able to do is partially alleviate the symptoms by pushing some of my [Energy] into her secretly whenever we meet. But even that has its limits. And my [Energy] is simply too potent. So, it will slowly kill her in the long run if I do it too often. Plus, there's keeping the supernatural a secret, too."  

"Tatsuo-Sama could save her." Tio said casually. "He has certainly saved people with worse afflictions than a mundane disease before."  

Though Sumire already knew that, she never had any intention of getting Tatsuo involved in this. Like she said, she wanted to keep the supernatural side of the world secret from the normal girl, as she was simply not cut out for its dangers. But now that Tatsuo knew about it, she would leave the decision whether to save her or not up to him.  

"I see." Tatsuo said calmly. "Well, like Tio said, I could save her if you want me to. I'm sure you wouldn't wanna lose such a talented musician from your roster. But I don't even know the girl. So, I'm not really all that invested."  

"Well, I'll leave the decision up to you, Tatsuo-Chan." Sumire said with a shrug. "I'll admit, I do like the girl. She's free-spirited and has an independent mindset. Though, she can be a bit too passive aggressive. But I've done all I could for her, and you're not obligated to do anything for her either. Even so, you'll probably get the chance to get to know her. She'll be attending Yagami High when the term starts, too. Plus, she'll need a piano accompaniment for a song she's writing. And since you're both newcomers, I was thinking of pairing the two of you up for the song."  

"*Sigh* Of course you were." Tatsuo said in fond exasperation. "And I can't even say no because I'm under contract."  

"Exactly~!" Sumire cheered happily.  

"Well, whatever." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "Anyway, what's her name again? I wasn't really paying attention before. But if I'm gonna work with her, I should at least know that much, right?"  

"*Sigh*" Sumire could only sigh at how little Tatsuo seemed to care. She then nodded before answering his question. "Her name is Miyazono Kaori."