And Mizuki was the one who sent that message.

Yeah.

I was so happy that time...

Because someone had made a video out of the drawing I'd worked so hard on.

Hehe. That's good to hear.

I'm glad I made it.

After I discovered Kanade's music, I was able to start taking a harder look at my art...

I also realized then that I could keep drawing.

After that... We agreed that you should upload that video you made, Mizuki, since you put so much effort into it.

While you hoped that K would see it and like it, right?

H-Hey, they don't need to hear that part...!

Haha. Sorry.

Anyway, I uploaded it right after that.

And about a week later...

K sent me a DM.

Huh...?

Hold up... Is this real?

I guess I can take a peek at it...

<To Amia...>

<My name is K. It's nice to make your acquaintance. I apologize if this is sudden, but I took the liberty of watching the video you posted the other day.>

<And I'd like to tell you that I enjoyed it very much.>

<Again, I know this is sudden, but would it be possible for you to make a music video for the next song? I can't offer much, but I'd like to compensate you for your work.>

...!

<I'll be looking forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely, K.>

K wants me to make another video...?

Hmm...

This could be the real K, but...

<Thank you for your message. This is Amia.

Thank you for watching my video. I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed it.>

<And to be personally asked to make another music video... I'm stunned with disbelief. However...>

(This account... It's using the default avatar and has zero followers... I can't help but feel suspicious...)

<I apologize in advance, but I need to be sure of something first. Can you present me with any proof that you are actually K?>

I've seen more than a few people who force others into producing stuff for them like this...

Oh, I got a reply.

<I appreciate your response.>

<I'm not sure this will count as proof, but I can send over the demos of the songs I've made in the past.>

Whoa...!

I'm being barraged with files!

What if they're viruses...? No, I'm being too paranoid... Let's have a look...

Oh, it's that song... But a rougher version of it... Which means...

That's so cool...

You can totally tell it's K even though they're just demos.

(There's no way they'd go this far just to pull a fast one on someone like me.)

(So... This is really them...)

I never expected to be asked by K to make a video like this...

K...

I wonder what they're like...

(What kind of personality do you need to have in order to produce songs that feels so dark and painful, but also kind and gentle...?)

(At the same time, my curiosity being the driving factor behind me wanting to work with them probably isn't great...)

(However...)

...

<I apologize for bringing your identity into question. Thank you for sending me those demos.>

<If possible, I'd like to hear a little more about your proposition...>

<I understand.

Do you happen to have a Nightcord account, Amia...?>

(Nightcord...?

I used it a lot back in the day when I was still playing online games.)

<Yes, I do.>

<Would it be possible for us to talk on there? I believe things will proceed much smoother if we do.>

I get to talk with K...?

<Understood.>

<Thank you very much. Then, let's talk again later. Preferably tonight at 25:00.>

Huh? That's pretty late...

<I'd like to have the other person I work with be there as well, and they're generally only free to talk at this time...>

(They work as a team...?

I couldn't tell since I didn't notice any credits.)

<Okay, we can talk then.>

<I appreciate it.>

<Oh, also... I've already contacted Enanan, so we may all be able to talk to one another.>

(They already got a hold of Enanan...?!)

(That's great.

Enanan also said they really like K's songs, so I'm sure they're over the moon about this.)

<Understood. I have no issues with that.>

<Okay, then we'll talk again on...>

<Nightcord at 25:00.>

It's time...

Alright, I'll log in...

<Good evening. This is Amia...>

<Oh, good evening... This is K...

Um... Thank you for joining us today.>

<No, thank you as well.

You caught me by surprise, but I was also really happy to hear from you...>

<I see... I'm glad to hear that.>

(So this is K...)

(Based on that voice... She's a girl? Pretty young too. She could be around the same age as me...)

(A teenager? Producing the songs that she does? That's pretty incredible.)

<Oh...

I think Enanan and Yuki are here now... Um, Yuki's the person I mentioned earlier who I work with.>

<H-Hello...?>

<Good evening. I apologize for running late.>

<Oh, um...>

<Oh, where are my manners...? Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Yuki. I work on creating songs with K.>

<Actually, I just handle the arranging while K does the actual composing... It's a pleasure to meet both of you.>

<Oh, um... I-It's my pleasure as well...>

<I'm E-Enanan...

And... It's nice to meet all of you.>

<Oh, Enanan... We've spoken through messages, but this is my first time actually talking to you.>

<Huh?>

<It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Amia.>

<A-Amia...?!

I didn't realize you were here!>

<Yes, it's me. Thank you for giving me permission to use your art.>

<Of course...!

But actually getting to talk like this feels so strange...>

<Anyway, I'll set that aside for now...

There's something I'd like to ask you, K...>

<A-Are you really sure about using my art for this...?>

<What?>

<It's just... Yes, I was beyond ecstatic when you contacted me about this...>

<But I took a step back and thought that someone else's art would be more suitable...>

(Oh...

She's such an amazing artist, but doesn't have much confidence in herself...)

(How's K gonna respond...?

Just trying to comfort her probably isn't the right answer...)

<No, your art is incredible.>

<At the very least, I genuinely thought that.>

<I agree with K on this one...>

<You could feel this torrent of powerful emotions... And so much sadness... It's clear that you put quite a lot of thought into your piece as you drew it...>

<Oh...

Thank you very much...>

<...>

<So, I first saw the music video that you two worked on the night before last...>

<And I was struck by how you'd managed to carefully capture everything we hoping to express through this song.>

<On top of that...

I could feel and understand that powerful urge to shout out loud.>

...!

(That's the same thing I felt when I saw her illustration...)

(It's like she was shouting, “I can keep going,” or, “I want to keep walking”...)

(And I made my video with that in mind, as well as a few of my feelings sprinkled in...)

(That's really incredible...

We all felt the same thing.)

<Thanks to the video that you two made, Amia, Enanan, our songs have been receiving more views and comments.>

<It seems like more people have been listening to our songs than ever before, so we greatly appreciate what you've done.>

<Um, well... That's because your song was so good, but...!>

<But... I'm really glad that my skills could be of service.>

<I'd also like to have the songs we make heard by more people...>

<And I believe that we'll be able to do that if you keep making music videos for us, Enanan, Amia. That's why I decided to ask you to help us...>

<To reach more people...?>

<Yes...>

(Does that mean she wants to go pro or something...? For a moment there, she got a little intense...)

<And this is the demo for our next song...>

<It's still a bit rough, but please listen to it if you like.>

<Wait, are you sure?

This song hasn't been released yet, right?>

<Yes, that's right.

We'd like you to make the music video for it.>

(I wonder what kind of song it...)

...!

(This song... It's completely different from the other ones! It's so scary and jarring...)

(But there's still that bit of kindness...)

(Her other songs included, K's music always seems to include that kind and gentle feeling somewhere...)

(It's almost like she's trying to reach out to me with her hand...)

<This is amazing...>

<As far as design requirements go, I have none. I won't mind what you make as long as you find a way to express what you feel after hearing this song.>

<So, we're free to do what we like...?>

<Yes.>

(She trusts us this much after just seeing one music video we made...?)

(I'm still having trouble understanding what she's thinking...)

(But...)

<How do you feel about this, Amia...?

It sounded like you were still undecided.>

<Huh? Is that true?>

<Y-Yes...

I thought I should hear more details before coming to a decision.>

<But...>

<After hearing your explanation, as well as this demo, I've decided that I want to do this...>

<Th-Thank you very much...>

<This is wonderful news, K.

And thank you, Amia. We look forward to working with you.>

<I'm looking forward to working with you as well, Amia!>

<Likewise. Thank you all very much.>

(There's still a lot that I don't know...

But...)

(Right now...

I know for sure that I want to do this...)