Reincarnated Into Anime World

"Alright, alright, I get it." I hurriedly interrupted his"passionate" speech before he could sprout more embarrassing things, "Please stop saying such things..."

"Hoh? Getting embarrassed, are we now, Uesugi?"

"Ahem...not really. I just don't have the thickness of your skin to hear your sappy words. Besides, I prefer to prove using my actions instead of just words."

Maruno smiled and patted my shoulder before leaving the room.

"Very well, then. I'll be leaving now to meet with Suzuki-san at the audiences' seats. Good luck! I, no, we believe in you." Maruno spoke before he closed the door.

"...Thank you."

It feels great when you know that people are supporting your actions. It makes you feel as though you would have all the power in the world to do even the impossible.

Maruno might have contributed a bit with his feelings, but I know that most of my motivation mainly came from home. My father, my mother, Yaeko, my sisters, Shouko and Kaori.

They were all equally important, and he wanted to make them proud to have him as an older brother, a son, or a lover.

Well, it's time for the show to begin. Hopefully, I can finish this arc by the next chapter.

∞

We didn't head towards the ballroom today. Instead, we took a ride on the personal cars prepared for us and headed towards an actual hall. The driver was someone unexpected - it was the driver who had driven Suzuki, Maruno, and me to the Kyoto airport for my preliminaries.

"Good morning, Uesugi-kun. It's lovely to meet the piano prodigy once more." The driver tilted his hat(?) and warmly smiled at me.

"Driver-san! You're here!"

"Indeed I am. It seems like fate is with us..." The driver spoke as he started driving, following behind the line of identical cars to us.

That just sounds really chuuni for some reason, but let's not comment on that.

"I'm glad to see you again. Did you know that you were going to drive for the international competitors? Besides, aren't you just an ordinary driver back in Japan?"

"As the Chinese say, when the master rises to heaven, the chicken, monkey, and dogs follow along with their master. I may be an ordinary driver, but my connections are nothing to scoff at."

Was there such a saying? Plus, if you really had those connections, why are you still a driver? Wouldn't someone with that much connection to land a job here be able to do something more?

I'm not saying that being a driver is a lowly job or anything, but why would anyone choose to drive people around when they could be sitting at home making a shit ton of money with a wife by your side?

"I just enjoy driving; it allows me to see different sights. Like my current situation now." The driver, as though able to read my thoughts, spoke, "Of course, I could have chosen to go with boats or planes, but driving allows me to feel 'real' when interacting with the people in my surrounding."

Hmm...that sounds deep. I don't understand, but sure. It's Driver-san's life, after all. I was just curious with no other intentions behind my questions.

As we continued chatting, the different roman sights flashed past us, the buildings slowly getting fancier and fancier until we stopped, where a magnificent round building appeared in front of our eyes.

"We have arrived, Uesugi-kun." The driver said.

"Oh, thank you for the ride."

"It's my job."

I was about to alight from the car before I stopped.

"By the way, if you don't mind me asking, what is your name?" This question has bothered me for some time before in Kyoto, but he never revealed it to me, saying that we'll meet again if "fate allows". But now that we did meet again, I'll not waste this chance.

"Ah, you've asked me that before, didn't you? Well, my name is..."

∞

As expected of the international stage, it was nothing like the one in Tokyo.

I mean, the general aesthetics are similar, but the overall "atmosphere" just feels...grander than the one in Tokyo. It's just pure feelings and no objective evaluation, but yeah.

The very front of the hall was an empty stage with a piano, a piano seat, and a microphone. While having a simple design, the ceiling looked amazing, especially when it's lights out, and it glows a nice starry-night-sky look.

There were a few VIP corners, one near the front on the right side, enclosed by a room with personal curtains, and two VIP rows near the top on both sides.

[Image here->]

Too bad I'll not be able to sit here since I'll be backstage the whole time. After having a quick glimpse of the audience hall, we, the ten competitors, left to prepare ourselves.

Unlike the regular competition, we had a lot more things to do. Changing clothes was just the minimum.

The organization's "preparation" included a balanced meal, an entire shower, and washover, an hour-long massage, changing our clothes, styling our hair, and wearing light make-up with the help of professional stylists.

Everything about us must be perfect. We must smell good, look good, speak good, and play well.

As to why we needed to smell good despite us not interacting with anyone apart from the other nine competitors, don't ask me that - the quirks of a prominent organization and the wealthy were not to be fathomed.

By the time everything was "prepared" finished, it was already close to 5pm. And damn, the "preparation" was much more tiring than I thought it would be.

Never thought a bubble bath would be stressful.

By the time we entered backstage, five rooms were prepared for us, two per room to relax. I got paired up with Hiroyuki Sawano, the sixth-placed dude. Whether it was a coincidence or not, I'm glad that I had at least a Japanese person to talk to.

I'm not racist, but anyone would be more comfortable speaking to someone from the same country.

"Uesugi Fuutarou. I believe this is the first time we are having an actual conversation?"

Sawano looked at me and raised an eyebrow, "Hiroyuki Sawano. You surprised me."

"Hm?"

"Actually, your very appearance surprised everyone present. But the other boy...is much scarier than you." Sawano said.

"It's true that he's good at piano. But we still don't know anything about his ability to compose and create music pieces. For all we know, he could be good at playing the piano."

"Positive, huh?"

"Of course," I smiled, "What's the use of being pessimistic? Might as well diss everyone before the competition, and just maybe the goddess of luck would curse my target."

Hiroyuki Sawano is a man in his twenties with the usual Japanese features - black hair, black eyes, and an average-looking face. Well, it might not be the regular now since this world was filled with plenty of people with colored hair.

His face seems rather blank, and if he grew older, he would look like the typical old uncle at a countryside sweet shop.

"I see. Good luck, then. Let's pray that the other countries don't start creating better anime songs than us Japanese." Sawano smirked as he adjusted his hair.

While Akira said he didn't mind Western-type songs, it would still be embarrassing for us to put a Western piece for the opening of a Japanese anime.

"Yep~. Good luck to you as well~!"

The waiting room fell into a peaceful silence afterward.

The waiting room was, like everything else that I have experienced today, luxurious. Two comfy sofas at each side, with a dressing room and a complete wardrobe for each of us. The room was spacious and well-lighted, and the white paint only made the room look bigger than it actually is.

The television hanging on the ceiling in the middle of the room allowed both of us to watch the whole competition live.

Yes. Live.

This competition is broadcast live, so if anyone messed up their original song...well, let's just say you're going to be humiliated across the world.

My headphones were turned on as I listened to my own playing and trying to see if there was any improvement I could try to make last minute. It's probably not a good idea, but I had to get my mind to focus on something; to distract me from the actual thing.

We were not rushing for time. We didn't have to end this competition within an hour or so.

But being the first one to perform, I didn't have much of a choice to wait. The first to play was neither a very good nor terrible place to be at. At the very least, there would be less pressure than being the last, where you were expected to be the best since the saying goes, "Save the best for the last".

It might not be accurate, but people often subconsciously think that way. Being the first allows me to have no comparison to judge whether my song was good or bad, so, at the very least, I didn't have to endure criticism on the spot.

All's fair in love and war. Even if I have to screw others over indirectly by playing very well, I won't give them a chance.

"Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Says."

"Says who?"

"Says me, that's who."

I opened the door and left after keeping my headphones into the wardrobe and bidding Sawano a temporary goodbye.

No one mentioned the (horrible) joke, and things proceeded normally.

The hallways weren't long, but it seemed as though it took forever for me to see the other end.

And when I finally did, I didn't even get a chance to catch.

"And let us present, number 10, Ususegi Fuutarou, coming from Japan, Shikoku region."

The exact words were repeated once more in several languages, including English, Mandarin, French, and a few more.

As I went on stage, strangely enough, my nerves calmed down. As bright as I saw the audience seats were before, it was now pitch-black, with only the light from the bottom of the seats illuminating the ground.

Contrary to the audience seats, the entire stage was lit up. In front of the piano was a person with a microphone in her hand.

"Good evening, Uesugi."

"Good evening."

No one told me anything about speaking on stage.

"Can you introduce your song and the show you wish to be created with your song as the theme?"

Oh, so it's for this. Well, it makes sense, but I still don't like that I'm replying without much thought beforehand.

"Etto...I still don't have a name for it yet, but today, I'm playing a song that combines the emotional elements with a sub-genre of action and romance."

"Oh, an emotional anime mixed with action and romance? I understand the romance part, but emotional action, huh?"

"Yes."

"That's a new type, but we all look forward to your performance." The woman announced as she shook my hand and whispered, "Good luck."

The woman winked before turning around and leaving the stage at the same time the lights went out. Hearing the audience clap in the dark, I understood that it was my cue to prepare myself at the piano.

I hurriedly sat down on the seat provided and adjusted the height just in time for the lights to turn back on again. Only this time, it was concentrated on me alone, a spotlight, so to speak.

Honestly, the feeling was amazing on stage. I might have said this before, but I'll repeat it.

The thrill on stage, especially on a stage as grand as this where everyone in the music world is watching me, whether live or on television, is addicting.

I didn't even have to take in deep breaths to calm myself down like in previous times.

*****************

A/N: As for the driver's name, you guys will meet him later in the fanfic. It's nothing serious, but I let it have a sense of mystery just for some comedy and me wanting to be an extra.

If you want to support me or/and want chapters in advance, link:

patréon..com/spirits_everywhere. We are currently 8 chapters ahead~