Chapter 155 You Could Also Be a Rapper

"You can read a chord chart, right?"
After receiving a confirmatory nod, Sho Aozora handed the handwritten sheet music to Tsuyoshi Domoto.
Tsuyoshi looked over the sheet music for a moment before suddenly saying, "Whenever I look at sheet music like this, it occasionally makes me feel that music and art are truly matters of pure talent."
"That is true. In the realms of music and art, perhaps having a hundred true geniuses in existence is enough to satisfy humanity's demands in this area. While technical proficiency can be acquired through study, inspiration is truly something that cannot be forced." Saying this, Sho added with a joking sigh, "At the end of the day, the world belongs to the geniuses."
"So, does Nii-san think it's something to be ridiculed if an ordinary person has the audacity to say they want to enter these fields that belong to the geniuses?" Tsuyoshi asked with a cautious expression.
In Japan, a natural hierarchy existed among actors, singers, and idols. When Momoe Yamaguchi fell in love with Tomokazu Miura, she felt she was not good enough for him. Even someone as formidable as Takuya Kimura had faced targeting and disdain from fellow male actors in the same cast when he first started acting. Given the context, Tsuyoshi's reaction was entirely normal.
"I think the people who laugh at ordinary people are mostly ordinary people themselves. There are two kinds of such people: one kind lacks the courage to even try and instead mocks those who do, and the other, even more detestable kind, whose very first act after achieving success in a certain field is to block the path for those coming up behind them so as not to threaten their own status."
Sho did not notice Tsuyoshi's internal fluctuations and simply spoke his mind as thoughts came to him. "While blindly encouraging fools with the notion that 'effort alone leads to success' is wrong, mocking ordinary people who are working hard and telling them 'you can't do it' is practically malicious. The world belongs to the geniuses—that is not a cruel statement, merely a fact, so there is no difficulty in acknowledging it."
"However, rather than the fact that the world is commanded by geniuses, what is truly cruel is how 'the existence of geniuses is used to simply and brutally dismiss the efforts of ordinary people.'"
At this, Sho sighed. "Blaming people who have dreams and mocking those who want to change their circumstances are certainly hateful actions, but to willingly give up and do nothing just because you were blamed and mocked—that is far too absurd. Before worrying about whether you will be mocked or whether you will fail, I think it's better to just take things one solid step at a time."
Tsuyoshi's expression gradually shifted as Sho spoke. The slight hesitation and unease he had displayed moments earlier melted away, replaced by a thoughtful look. The sixteen-year-old boy possessed bright, spirited eyes; although many things were still far beyond his reach, he was already capable of catching glimpses of certain truths.
Noticing the change in him, Sho belatedly realized the anxiety Tsuyoshi had been feeling just now, and casually changed the subject. "Since you can read chord charts, you must know how to play the guitar, right?"
"I've been teaching myself in my spare time, but I can only play fairly simple tunes. I don't know any deeper techniques at all," Tsuyoshi replied, pulling his thoughts back.
"In that case," Sho handed him the guitar, "it's a rare opportunity. Care to play something?"
"Eh?" Tsuyoshi hesitated for a moment, but after a second thought, he accepted the guitar from Sho's hands and gently rubbed his palm against the strings. "Then I'll play Ryo Aska's *The First Time It Always Rains*? That was the very first single I ever bought."
...
The girls, who had been glancing over from time to time during their casual chat, finally lost their restraint upon seeing Sho hand the guitar to Tsuyoshi. Temporarily pushing aside the idea of keeping their distance from Johnny's, they gathered around the two. "Is Tsuyoshi-kun going to play the guitar?"
"Yes," Tsuyoshi answered, looking somewhat reserved.
Sho smiled and told the group, "If you're going to support him, make sure your applause is extra enthusiastic."
"You can count on that," replied Minami Minegishi—no, Minami wasn't here—Miho Kanno, the most lively of them all, readily agreed.
Tsuyoshi looked at Sho and, feeling the encouragement in his gaze, nodded, gaining a bit more confidence.
When it came to musical aptitude, both members of KinKi Kids were among the very best at Johnny's. Tsuyoshi in particular would not feel out of place or strapped for ability even if he were placed outside and compared directly with mainstream, orthodox musicians.
Although he was still only a sixteen-year-old boy, both his guitar playing and singing were already taking proper shape. A boy like this, if placed in a regular school, would undoubtedly be one of those wildly popular campus idols.
After the brief performance, the girls rewarded Tsuyoshi with enthusiastic applause.
Tsuyoshi handed the guitar back to Sho. "I've made a fool of myself."
"That wasn't making a fool of yourself at all, that was genuinely cool," Sho teased as he took the guitar back.
Taking advantage of the moment, Miho Kanno chimed in, "Since it's a rare opportunity, would Nii-san please play a song for us as well?"
The girls all nodded in unison to back her up.
"Now that won't do." Sho intentionally poured a little cold water on the request. "If you want to see me perform live, you'll just have to go to a concert." It wasn't that he was intentionally putting on airs; it was simply that his current level in both guitar and vocals was above Tsuyoshi's. Since Tsuyoshi had just finished performing, if he were to immediately follow up, it would inevitably cause the girls to subconsciously compare the two. "Flaunting one's prowess" in front of a fledgling bird learning to walk—now that truly was a situation where winning brought no glory and losing brought even greater shame.
Tsuyoshi realized this as well and shot Sho a grateful look.
...
"Eh~ Nii-san is so stingy!" Miho Kanno complained after being refused.
"Speaking of which," Sho ignored her comment and smoothly changed the topic, "Didn't Kanno-san just release a new album not long ago? How does it feel to sing?"
"Honestly, it's a lot more tiring than acting," Miho said, her face falling slightly as she uttered a small complaint. "When I was in the recording studio, the recording engineer scolded me so many times."
"Still, the agency was willing to hook you up with a record label to release an album. From that perspective, they clearly value you a great deal." Even though it was an era where practically everyone—actors, models, and comedians—was releasing records, it wasn't as if just anyone could drop an album.
"About that, I'm certainly grateful... but, just between us, I honestly have no singing talent whatsoever," Miho confessed quite honestly.
"Singing skills don't really matter all that much," Mai Hosho offered a rather dry remark. "If you really can't sing well, you could always become a rapper. Isn't there a really popular rap group lately where the rapper is a girl..."
"EAST END x YURI?" Tsuyoshi chimed in immediately.
"That's the one!" Mai Hosho nodded. "It was the first time I realized that girls could rap too. It's really cool."