She thought no one was there.
Keromi was singing, beneath the plaza's weeping cherry tree, her favorite song after finishing her vocal exercises. Not a performance for anyone — just a moment to sing, only for right now, today. If her voice trembled a little, it wasn’t because of pollen.
Kopo froze in the shadows.
He’d only meant to pass by, but his feet stopped moving. One verse became two; two became three. Keromi’s voice shook the cherry branches and dissolved into the spring air.
It was the best he’d ever heard her sing.
“…(I can never tell her that.)”
Kopo made up his mind.
When Keromi finished singing and turned around, Kopo was already running away.
Margin note: Kopo’s heartbeat was pounding three times as fast as Keromi’s singing.
【Today’s Drop】
- Music Day (March 19): Established from a wordplay reading of “3 (myuu) 19 (jikku)” — sounding like “music” — a day honoring music.
This is an English translation of “誰も聴いていない歌”, part of Tales of Amencho Town (蛙鳴町奇譚).