Moonlight

Chapter 13

"A day without the captain~ A day without the captain~ A day without the captain~" Nishinoya and Tanaka sang as they sprang around in circles. A vein popped on Daichi's head as he scowled at the two.

*pak!*

"I'm still here, you two." Ennoshita said with a smile on his face and his hand mid-air. The two second-years could only rub the back of their heads. They know how Ennoshita is a mini-Daichi in the making and they grumbled at their misfortune.

"I trust you three, being the eldest of the group. Please do take extra care, though!" Keishin rested a hand on Daichi's shoulders as he addressed the trio. They nodded and gave their coach a thumbs up as they prepared to leave. Akane was waiting again at the school gates wondering how the third-years would somehow have their date a good one. She couldn't help but feel a little bit defeated as she always perceived them to be serious.

"Akane-san!" Akane looked up at the call of her name. Sugawara was leading the trio, waving at her. He had a bright smile, as always, on his face as he offered his arm. Akane accepted and they both walked together with their arms intertwined.

"Where are we off to, Sugawara-senpai?" Akane asked as they approached a bus stop.

"We want to go somewhere we can have fun but secluding the society's peering eyes." Sugawara said mysteriously, winking with a peace sign. Akane's brows met in confusion.

"It's a karaoke, Akane-san, a karaoke." Asahi spoke up with his hand on his nape, "Stop twisting words around or else she'll just get scared at us."

'A karaoke', Akane thought, 'Oh no, I haven't sung in a while...' 

Panic spread silently over her body as she grew conscious. During the bus ride, she sat beside Asahi while Daichi and Sugawara sat at the seats infront. Asahi was gentle with talking to her the whole while as they engaged in a talk about the recently released movie. Akane was engrossed with the poster but said she could not find a time yet to watch it in cinemas. 

Hearing this, Sugawara elbowed his fellow third-year who exchanged a smile. He quickly typed a message on his phone and, without any second to spare, sent it. The two of them smiled as they shared a similar vision in their heads.

When they arrived, the streets were busy as workers rushed out from their offices. The four ducked every stressed out professionals and reached the karaoke place they had intended.

"Good evening! Welcome!" A lady greeted them inside. Sugawara approached the counter and settled out the formalities. Upon having trouble with the change, he called on to Daichi for assistance.

"Asahi-senpai, with all due respect to you and your friends, I mean to say that..." Akane looked at the towering figure beside him and motioned a whisper, "Sugawara and Daichi look good together."

Asahi took a while to digest what she said as his eyes darted from her to his friends, and back again. The silence lingered for a while that Akane became afraid that she offended him.

"Finally! Someone sees what I see!" Asahi pumped his fists in the air, "Right, you can see it too? Don't they look good together? I'm not sure of their preferences but, wow, sometimes they just really look like the part."

"Hey, you two! You coming to join us or you're gonna stay here in the lobby?" Daichi called at the two chattering bubbleheads. 

Sugawara smiled apologetically and tugged at Daichi's sleeves, "You don't have to be in such a strict tone, Daichi. We're not in the court now."

"Parents!" Asahi and Akane whisper-shouted together and they squealed as minimally as they could before standing up to join the former.

Daichi only looked in confusion but started his way down to the room they were given. The rest of the party followed him, all in a lightened atmosphere but not necessarily of the same reason.

Food and drinks were delivered in a few minutes while Daichi took the initiative to go through the song lists. My American Boy  played around them as Daichi accidentally pressed the wrong button. Asahi and Akane bopped along with the instrumental as they reached for the food. They  guffawed at Daichi's perplexed face as Sugawara took the microphone to volunteer to sing. 

Soon enough, each of the lads took turns singing. Daichi sang I Want It That Way with Asahi backing up the vocals in his seat. Grenade came through and Asahi stood to sing. The shy image he always wore slowly melted away as he got into his feels with the song. It seemed karaoke is a good way to strip away his shyness. After, they took more turns with singing (or leaving the microphone so they can sing at the top of their lungs). 

Akane enjoyed her view, settling more fries on her plate. She enjoyed eating more than singing with them. 

"Akane-san, do you want to sing?" Sugawara asked her. They really wanted to make her join them break free but they also do not want to force her as it may trigger the wrong emotions within her. 

"It's okay if you don't feel up with the energy, though. We just want to make you feel included." Asahi crouched before the center table and shoved crackers in his mouth. 

The girl unconsciously bounced her leg as she thought of an answer. Of course, the others noticed and jumped into a safety-first protocol.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. We'll just do the singing and you can enjoy in your seat." Daichi reassuringly told her. 

"Akane-" Sugawara was cut off when a Dancing Queen automatically played across. 

Coming into decision, Akane smiled at them, "I'll take this."

The trio held in their yelps of excitement as they gave her the microphone. The environment turned up a notch as happiness overflowed at the assumed success of this date. They got Akane's trust just by singing infront of them.

Akane's been more into dancing thanks to her mother. However, she's gotten the genetics of her father in the singing field, as well. To make sure her talents will not decay away by time, her parents always encouraged her to dance and sing whenever she wants to. May it be a random invite to a waltz in the living room or a singing contest with laddles in the kitchen.

Therefore, it is no surprise that she was able to hit each notes perfectly with the song. When she ended, she left the trio dumbfounded. The screen showed her a score of 89 over 100, but do machines ever gave you a perfect score? 

"That-" Daichi leaned forward in his seat.

"Was-" Sugawara beamed at their friend.

"Amazing!" Asahi opened his arms, wanting to hug Akane but waits for her consent. Akane chuckled at the three and received Asahi's hug.

Having broken the wall, the four of them had finally taken turns in singing. Sugawara took the liberty of taking pictures and videos to commemorate the fun day (or night). When Akane sang Party in the USA, they were already too hyped up that they shared the song at the top of their lungs. As their time paid was almost coming to an end, the three seniors decided to sing Best Song Ever. Sweat trailed down their faces as they pumped their energy at the highest level, laughing and singing rolled into one chaotic mess. Akane took the microphone as the next song rolled in. As the tone of I Knew You Were Trouble played, her eyes darted to Daichi questionably since he was the one who picked out the songs earlier. 

"I don't even know what I was trying to code in!" Daichi yelled amidst the speakers, and laughed with Sugawara and Asahi.

Dismissing it, Akane bopped along as she sang. It was an upbeat song anyway, though she could not relate to its lyrics, it had a fun tune. Asahi opened his phone's camera and motioned at Akane that he will take pictures. She gave him a thumbs up as, just like with Nishinoya, she felt comfortable enough to be photographed. Sugawara filmed her singing, and it was all good. The framing was done nice but around the chorus part, Sugawara shook with so much laughter and cheers that his video became disarrayed. 

Daichi took the background vocals to heart as he knelt down on the floor and dramatically sang with Akane. Akane couldn't continue as laughter took place in her lungs and heart. She finished the song in between laughter. 

Feeling their energy plummet, they all slouched on the seats as Pump It played in the background. They allowed the cool air from the AC caress their faces as they exchanged laughter every once in a while.

"Thanks, you guys. I had fun." Akane said after the boisterous music died down. The trio kept a smile to themselves.