"Afraid? Afraid of the stage?" Lady Umaru was puzzled, but also somewhat angry. "If he's afraid of the stage, then he shouldn't go onstage..."
"No..." Mashiro Shiina shook her head. "That person isn't afraid of the stage. He seems to be afraid of the piano..." Sogo Doma: "..." So that was it after all?
Still, Mashiro had actually noticed. Perhaps, despite seeming to lack common sense, she was more perceptive than anyone else.
Lady Umaru fell into thought at those words. "Afraid of the piano?" As she murmured, her anger subsided—though she didn't know how skilled he was, if so many people called him a piano prodigy, then he must have poured a great deal of effort into the piano. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he loved it. Yet someone like that was afraid of the piano... That could only mean he'd suffered some kind of psychological trauma because of it... Though useless little sister didn't know exactly what had happened to Kousei Arima, she wouldn't take out his past wounds on him. Besides, Kousei Arima was the accompanist Kaori Miyazono had chosen herself. Kaoru must have had her own reasons... While her thoughts wandered, Kaori Miyazono, having drawn out the first measure's rest, stopped and opened her eyes to look at Kousei Arima, who seemed to be either dazed or trembling beside her. "Friend A, can you continue?"
"..." The young Arima sat silently before the piano, as though he hadn't heard her at all. Yet his increasingly trembling shoulders seemed to prove something.
Kousei Arima hated himself more than ever. He had clearly promised her they would give the most perfect performance. He had clearly agreed to be her accompanist. Yet... when his hands touched the piano, he still couldn't hear anything, couldn't do anything... It