According to my childhood friend, “You should respect your elders, even if it’s just a little,” apparently.

To be honest, that’s a line I hear about once a year, and after she says it, she always follows up with, “So that means now that I’ve had my birthday, I’m older than you, Gin-chan! Now respect me, Gin-chan!”

At some point, I don’t even remember when, my childhood friend started saying things like this every time her birthday came around, and every time, it became a tradition for me to poke her or tug on her cheeks.

Now then, as for my childhood friend Sakura Ayuri, who proclaimed that line again at her birthday just the other day and got her cheeks poked by me as usual…

“We’re here, Gin-chan.”

“Yeah.”

Just a little while ago, we had accepted an invitation from a nearby senior—Kazufuku Hotaru-senpai—and we’d come to visit her house. I kind of ended up coming along with the flow.

“Okay, I’ll ring the intercom.”

“No, even if you don’t—”

Clack.

“Welcome, both of you!!”

“See, I told you—wait, watch out!”

“Wahp!”

The moment Ayu reached her finger toward the intercom, a voice that practically screamed, “I’m super excited!” rang out.

At the same time, the door flew open, and a figure burst out with momentum and latched onto Ayu, who was standing beside me.

“I’ve been waiting for you~ Ayu-chaa~n!”

“Mmph! Mmph!!”

“Um, Hotaru-senpai.”

“Hm? What is it, Ginoko-chan?”

“Ayu is tapping like crazy, so please let go.”

“Oh, sorry, Ayu-chan.”

At my call, Ayu was freed enough to breathe. Yes, only her head was freed, though—her body was still held firmly, so it didn’t look like she could escape either way.

“Haa… you scared me. Don’t just hug me out of nowhere, seriously, it’s startling.”

“If I hug you every time we meet, you’ll get used to it and won’t be startled anymore. Can I do it every day?”

“Obviously not. That’s sexual harassment.”

From my perspective, if she used to be a guy, then being hugged by a beautiful senior with a great figure would be a pretty nice perk… or so I’d think, but apparently, because it’s always sudden and she feels guilty about it, it just genuinely troubles her.

Most guys… honestly, even most girls, would probably be happy to get hugged by this senior, but the fact that she reacts like this only makes my suspicion grow, like, does she really have memories of being a guy in her previous life?

Though you could also call it being mature because she has a clear sense of boundaries.

“Senpai, stop flirting at the entrance and let us inside already.”

“Hm? Ginoko-chan wants to come in too?”

“I’m not joining the hug. I mean let us into the house and hurry up and give me tea and snacks.”

“Gin-chan, you’re pretty shameless too…”

I wouldn’t have come if there weren’t any.

* * *

Now then, earlier we were testing whether Ayu had any cheat abilities sleeping inside her, even though she probably doesn’t.

I mentioned it briefly before we started those tests, but the truth is, we’d already done almost the exact same thing once back in middle school, and even back then we’d reached a sort of conclusion like, “Well, if you had to pick one, it’s probably this.”

“So, Ayu-chan, what should we do for the first song?”

“Hmm, let’s see…”

I don’t come here every time, but apparently these two regularly do something like a private little concert like this.

Hotaru-senpai sat at the piano, with Ayu standing beside her. While watching the two of them from a bit farther away with a cookie in hand, I found myself thinking back to the cheat-ability hunt Ayu and I had been doing earlier.

“Then… since we’re high school students now, how about the school song? Can you do it?”

“Easy, but… is that really what you want?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s just the first song.”

The school song? She’s probably the only one who’d voluntarily sing that on a day off.

Anyway, that conclusion I came to back in middle school. If Ayu has any cheat ability as a reincarnator, I think it’s probably singing. For some reason, Ayu herself doesn’t seem satisfied with that answer.

“Alright, here we go, okay? One, two, three, and—”

“～♪”

'...She really is good.'

Hotaru-senpai played the melody on the piano, and Ayu sang along with it.

Clear and smooth, with a voice so crisp it sounded like a model example, it was the kind of singing anyone would immediately recognize as good.

“Mm-hm, mm-hm. Ayu-chan, you’re doing great.”

“～♫”

Hotaru-senpai has been famous for being beautiful and talented since forever, and especially for her piano skills—she even won a competition in the past. Now she continues her music activities in the light music club, so there’s no question about her ability.

As for Ayu, she used to take singing lessons when she was younger, but apparently at some point she had a falling-out with her teacher, and ever since then I’ve never heard of her properly learning at a formal class again.

And yet, she can sing to Hotaru-senpai’s playing without sounding out of place at all, which I think is absolutely in the category of unfair by normal standards.

“You sound great~ as expected of you, Ayu-chan.”

“But we’ve sung the school song here and there before, haven’t we?”

“Maybe, but… next, let’s prioritize feeling over technique and sing however you like.”

“Okaaay…～♪”

...

The first verse ended and she moved into the second. Maybe because of Hotaru-senpai’s instruction, Ayu stopped holding that stiff posture and started singing while moving lightly, almost like she was dancing, like she was expressing her feelings with her body.

If her earlier singing was like a textbook model, this felt freer, more relaxed, like she was letting it stretch and breathe.

I’m not an expert in music, but I think the kind of person who can sing freely like this and still be called good is probably only a tiny handful of people, but…

'She’s still good even when she’s singing however she wants...'

In that sense, Ayu is probably one of them.

What she’s singing is the school song, which, to put it bluntly, is a stiff and not very interesting song.

And yet she can sing it in a way that makes her fun feeling spread to me too. If that isn’t a cheat, what is?

So if there were a question like, “What is Ayu’s cheat ability as a reincarnator?” I’d still answer: singing.

“～♫”

Even I, someone who tends to be kind of cynical, end up feeling pretty cheerful when I listen to Ayu sing. And Hotaru-senpai, who’s playing, has a full-on grin.

Even for a senior who’s normally smiling all the time on the surface, you don’t see that kind of smile so easily.

“～♪～♩”

…Come to think of it, cheat abilities are supposedly supposed to have names that sound like that. If so, then Ayu’s would be… Emotional Resonance, maybe.

It fits perfectly for her singing that makes the listener feel the same way she does… no, that’s lame and edgy. I should stop thinking about it.

Bang.

'Ah, it’s over.'

“…Phew.”

“Seriously, your singing voice never stops being amazing.”

“Well, I do sing like this with Hotaru-chan pretty regularly.”

“…No, that’s not how it works.”

“What are you saying, Gin-chan? Hotaru-chan is an active member of the light music club, you know? If Hotaru-chan taught you, anyone would get good.”

Most likely, the person most completely captivated by Ayu’s singing is Hotaru-senpai.

So of course, the senior persistently kept trying to recruit her into the light music club, but for whatever reason, Ayu hates singing in front of people so much that she refused, and that’s how things have stayed.

Still, she seems to like singing itself, so she’ll join these private sessions.

“Hey, Ayu-chan, won’t you come to our—”

“Senpai.”

“…Just kidding, Ginoko-chan. I promised Hina-chan and the club president I wouldn’t recruit her anymore.”

“Seriously… isn’t there some weird radio wave coming out of Ayu’s throat or something?”

“There’s no way, what are you talking about, Gin-chan?”

She said that with a totally serious face. It annoyed me, so I lightly tugged Ayu’s cheek, then went back to the chair I’d been sitting on.

…Seriously, you ungrateful little—me and our other childhood friend Hina had to protect you because you said you absolutely hated it, and we had to keep Senpai’s recruiting at bay.

“～♬”

Before long, the next piano melody began. Hotaru-senpai played, and Ayu sang along, still happily singing however she pleased.

This song is… I think it was the one she said they were practicing in the light music club.

'Well, this is more meaningful and classy than playing games alone.'

Listening to the music while enjoying the cookies and tea they’d prepared, I ended up spending a day off that didn’t really feel like it suited me.

…Partway through, they very clearly picked a song with the intention of putting me to sleep, and it annoyed me that I fell asleep exactly as they intended, so I tugged Ayu’s cheek again. It was soft.