Tabula rasa¹

Thank you all for coming to today’s live show!

Ev3ns’s Smiling Cute Chihiro here. ♪ Enjoy the show~!

Huh? Isn’t that…?

What’s up, Chihiro?

That person in the front row is the anti-fan who wrote all those negative comments about Kinyari…

Are you sure?

I searched everywhere online to confirm it. The penlight has the same decoration he posted. There’s no mistaking it.

Are you okay to sing in front of that guy, Kinyari?

…

I’m going to pour all my emotion into my voice and sing with all my strength today.

That’s how I’ve decided to live from now on.

…? Got it.

Then, do your best, bestie!

(Even now, I’m still singing at dusk. Just like the Developer… My father requested of me.

Since I was created, I lived with my father and cared for him until his passing… I thought everything was over and yet… Why am I still standing here singing?

In the fading sun of twilight, it feels like an illusion as if father is still here listening to my voice.

No, even if my father isn’t really here, the people gathered here to listen to my voice certainly are…

~♫♪♪ (singing)

Why are these memories coming to the surface..? The sadness of losing my father, the loneliness I felt when I was on my own… The feeling of relief and comfort I experienced when I gained a new master…

Something feels like it’s going to overflow… Is this what they call emotion?)

Kinari-kun’s voice was amazing today. It almost brought me to tears!

I was so close to switching him to my main bias! Maybe I should make him my second fav~!?

Excuse me…! Kinari… Azekawa-kun.

(Ah, that anti-fan is trying to talk to Kinyari!?)

Yes…?

Um… Today’s singing was really, really wonderful. I’m surprised by how much you’ve grown… in such a short time.

…Thank you very much.

Ohhh, wooow, so beautiful…! I-I’ll continue to support you from now on!

…? He ran away.

Kinyari~ I saw that. ♪ You totally took him to the cleaners! As expected of Shortcake-chan. ♪

Take to the cleaners… Definition is to thoroughly beat. Colloquial slang.

(Hmph… As expected of Ev3ns’s Ice Prince! His singing and fan service have improved! That Anti-Fan was lucky to escape without feeling the wrath of this Kodama’s iron fist!

I will continue to protect Your Majesty from behind the front lines for all time!)

(Wait… Isn’t that Kodama in a disguise again…?)

We’ll come to see you perform again at the next live location!

Good luck at the review meeting~! See you tomorrow~!

Ah, yes, thank you. See you tomorrow!

Your solo part was fantastic today, Kinari. Has something changed?

…I simply sang honestly. As myself. However…

I think what I’m feeling right now… is happiness.

Hmm, plüss… Your recordings are likely becoming memories.

A recording… becoming a memory?

Memories are something than evoke emotion rather than a recording which only captures data. Anyway, it’s none of my business. I’m taking my leave.

Recordings that contain emotion are transformed into memory…?

Isn’t it great, Kinyari! Your singing was full of “Big Love”! ♪

…A recollection as a memory?

Hum, hum, hum. ♪ Today’s live performance was sooo baller~. Maybe I should do a quick little ego search.

You really love looking yourself up online… Didn’t you say it’s toxic if you do it too much?

I have tough skin when it comes to this so it’s okies~. I’ll keep watch on Taotao’s name! Searching for yourself is forbidden!

Yeah, yeah.

Wah, no way! A fan uploaded a recording of Kinyari’s solo part and it’s going viral online~.

Really? Wow, look at that. Kinari’s performance was definitely incredible today.

Look look! Ev3ns’s official account followers are increasing~. I’m so happy~! I’m on cloud nine~!!

Ooh. I need to put more effort into singing.

Chii will contribute with even more dancing!

May I enter for a moment…?

Kinyari!? Eh~, how rare. We were just chatting about you. Come on in~!

What brings you all the way over here?

To be forthright, Tao Kinouchi… I came here to ask for information about my original.

Huh?? What’s this about?

Ah… Uh… Actually, Kinari’s original was one of my classmates in high school.

What! For real!?

Honestly, we only went out for karaoke a few times through a mutual friend of ours… What did you want to know?

Any information is satisfactory. This could provide a hint for how I will live my life going forward.

Hmm, he was great at singing. Just like you. Although I think your singing today was a bit different from how he used to sing.

…I see.

Also… you know that magic card trick I did in Beppu? That guy asked me to show it to him countless times.

The card trick? Truthfully, I thought that was amazing. It was quite impressive.

Haha, although your appearance is exactly the same, you guys are very different on the inside. He was fiercely determined to expose the secret behind that magic trick. That’s why he forced me to repeat it for him so many times.

…That makes sense.

Kinyari~, are you okay? Does it feel bad to be told that you’re unlike the original model as an android?

I previously thought of myself as a defective good. But now… I think what I feel is closer to happiness.

Ah, that’s good to know. I’m glad I didn’t say anything hurtful.

Is there anything else you can remember?

That reminds me… There was something he said to me once at karaoke. “If you were to die tomorrow, is there anything you would want to say to those you would leave behind?” Something like that.

When I think back on it… there must have been some sort of hidden meaning.

It’s probably because… the original had an incurable illness.

Oh. Then, there must have been a message he wanted to convey to those around him before he died.

Something one wants to convey… That still does not exist within me.

Tao, thank you for sharing this information with me.

Ah, sure. Was that enough?

Yes. I think this will become an opportunity for me to think about what I want to share with others in the future, and how I want to live going forward.

Please let me know if you think of anything else.

Doesn’t Kinyari seem a lot more relaxed now?

Hm… I hope he’s feeling more comfortable with us.

Anyway, Taotao and Kinyari’s original used to be classmates! What a small world!

Yeah. But I really wasn’t that close with the original Kinari…

It was more a friend of a close friend.

…

A close friend…

Well, I’ll never see him again though.

Anyway, want to pair up as a duo for a game again?

…

Chihiro?

I don’t feel like it today… Sorry.

Huh? Chihiro suddenly seems to be in a bad mood? Did I do something wrong?