(*Sigh*
Taiga had me do a lot again during practice...)
(When he asked me to do animal impressions, I didn't expect to get so serious about it...)
Grrr... Woof!
No, don't try to express yourself using words. Remember, humans and animals produce sounds in very different ways...
R-Right. Uh...
(We humans speak by using our tongues and lips to alter the sounds produced by our vocal cords. Animals on the other hand simply produce sound from their throats.)
(From their throats...)
GRRR... WOOF!
Hey, that was pretty good.
Alright, now try doing an elephant.
A-An elephant?!
Tricky, right?
So, how are you going to tackle this one?
Okay...
Why don't we call it here for today?
Oh, aren't you heading over to Ken's place after this? In that case, your homework will be to keep doing animal impressions until you get there.
What...?!
You can choose any animal you like. However, you need to speak as them, not just impersonate their sounds.
(Speak? As an animal...?)
(This is really embarrassing...
But this is practice, so I need to keep trying!)
Meow.
(Oh, it's Vivi... She's coming towards me.)
(Wait, maybe she can help me with this. She's a real cat, so I might be able to use her voice as reference.)
(Alright, I'll start by greeting her...!)
Meow! Purr, meow...!
(Hello! Nice weather today!)
...?
(Huh? She tilted her head.
Maybe she didn't understand what I was trying to say... I'll give it another try!)
Isn't that...?
Meow! Purr, meow...!
(Hello! Nice weather today!)
Meow...
(Oh, Vivi responded! Does that mean she understood me? Okay, I'll keep trying to talk to her...)
Kohane!
What are you and Vivi talking about?
Wah!
(Huh, An...?!)
(Oh no... What do I do...?
As much as I want to talk to her, I'm supposed to talk like an animal until I get to An's place...)
Huh...?
Sorry, did I scare you that bad?
Me...
Hm...?
Meow, meow.
(Sorry, An.)
Me-Me-Meow, meow, meow...
(Taiga asked me to talk like this...)
Oh no... Th-That's way too cute...!!!
Kohane, what's going on? Why are you talking like a cat?!
(Sh-She didn't understand me at all!)
(Wait, of course she doesn't understand...
I should just explain things to her normally...)
(But that would take away from my practice...)
(Taiga's always asking me to do the strangest things, but they've all had some sort of positive effect.)
(Which means this exercise should also ultimately help me. He told me over and over again to focus on using my throat better, so I just need to keep at that...)
(I need to see this through until the end!)
Kohane...?
I still have no idea what's going on, but you seem to be taking this really seriously...!
So, I'm also gonna try my best to decipher what you're saying! Would you mind repeating what you just said?
(An...!)
Meow!
(Okay!)
(Thank you so much, An!
I'll try my best too...!)
...is what happened.
It was seriously the cutest thing ever!
Geez, it's one thing for Kohane to just do as she's told without asking any questions, but you going along with her still doesn't make any sense...
Haha...
But I'm impressed.
You eventually managed to explain how Taiga asked you to do that for practice.
Of course she did!
I mean, she's the best partner ever!
Still, animal impressions...
I'd heard some people do vocal training like that before...
Yes, it's apparently a way to make your vocal cords more flexible because you use muscles you normally don't. As a result, you're able to express yourself in more ways.
Akito, why don't we give it a try?
Huh?
Toya...
You just want to make animal noises, don't you?
Yes, that's a part of it.
Yeah, let's give it a try!
Kohane, I'll try copying an animal this time, so can you give me some pointers on how?
Okay!