Reincarnated Into Anime World

As soon as my hands pressed down those keys, my body instantly relaxed. Not the 'lazing around at home without anything to do' type of relaxing, but the kind of relaxation that just loosens my stiff body.

A moderate amount of nervousness can be helpful in stressful situations. Anxiety and nervousness can be an adaptive response that keeps us alert to danger and things going wrong.

Contrary to popular belief, being nervous isn't a bad thing. It's when that short-term nervousness turns into a full-blown case of anxiety that it becomes a bad thing.

However, with the presence of my loving family and girlfriend, it was hard for me to become super anxious about everything and anything when they frequently help me keep myself in check.

So, to ensure that I don't play anything wrong too obviously, that little bit of nervousness helped.

The piano grandmaster proficiency doesn't just let me play everything reflexively; it only gives me the talent to do it. If I want to play a piece, I still have to be conscious of how each key sounded, which combination sounded most suitable for the music, the piece's tempo and pace, and so on.

That is why I feel safe with this system. It doesn't just randomly give me the ability to do anything I want. It doesn't control my actions or my thinking process, nor does it force me to do anything that I don't wish to do. It's just a gacha system, after all.

Though I still wonder why God gave me this chance in life, I'm grateful to him regardless of his reasons.

But this was not the time to be inner monologuing. I have a competition to play in.

This piece was truly simple. Apart from the first three bars and the last five bars, which contained long notes, the rest of the music included only one simple rhythm.

Press down on my land hand, then right hand, then right hand, left hand, then right hand, then right hand, then left hand, then right hand.

This was one bar's worth of notes. Although each chord was different in each bar, the rhythm played was exactly the same.

[A/N: Chord, in music, refers to three or more single pitches heard simultaneously. Depending on the harmonic style, chords may be consonant, implying repose, or dissonant, implying subsequent resolution to and by another chord. In traditional Western harmony, chords are formed by superimpositions of intervals of a third.]

I was happy playing this piece, and although not very tiring, I had to continually focus on where my fingers were landing since I don't want to mess up on anything anyway.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I managed to periodically spot Kaori's figure dancing gracefully on stage.

Although I say 'dancing', she wasn't actually dancing. As she played her violin along with my accompaniment, her body instinctively swayed along with the music.

Her back was facing me, but I could tell from her body language that she enjoyed this very much. All her nervousness had disappeared into thin air by now, and now, she just focused on playing the violin the best she could.

We played according to the music score, from the dynamics to the articulations. Not a single thing was missed, and that was something everyone appreciated a lot. The judges were pleased, from what I could see from where I was sitting. They were nodding their heads and not writing a lot of things on their paper.

[A/N: Dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Articulation is a fundamental musical parameter that determines how a single note or other discrete event is sounded.]

This reminded me of Kaori's original anime. Arima Kosei and his very robotic-like playing; not a single mistake, not a single deviation.

If the score told him to play soft, he would play soft. Not moderately soft or very soft, but just soft.

If the score told him to play staccato, he would not play it in any other way.

[A/N: Staccato means performing with each note sharply detached or separated from the others.]

That was currently what Kaori and I were doing. But obviously, just sticking to the score wasn't part of Kaori's or my personality.

Kaori is a free-spirited girl; forcing her to just play exactly what was playing on the score wasn't a very good idea. Although Kaori mostly acted meek and tame in my presence, I know for a fact that she was a completely different person when she thought I wasn't looking.

Kaori would grow to become beautiful; there was no doubt about that. But that also incited some form of jealousy amongst the girls.

I don't know the exact details, but there were rumors that Kaori forced a bunch of girls back. Not using violence, but some other methods. As for what exactly? I don't know, and I don't think I would want to know...

That mysterious 'way' then became a legend among the school, and no one dared bully her anymore.

On the other hand, I have a grandmaster proficiency on the piano. Even if it's on the lower spectrum of the grandmaster level, I am still on the grandmaster level.

Just perfectly playing the piece is what a master proficiency can do. But what made a grandmaster different from a master was the incredible talent to rearrange, create, and combine music.

Following someone else's piece was fine and all, but I don't want to just blindly follow it. If I can find a way to improve it, why wouldn't I?

Although the judge might not like it, I don't think they would know the piano better than me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I managed to see Kaori turning sideways, just barely able to face me.

Her face was earnest, and her eyes told me that she was genuinely trying her hardest. But the smile that was on her face showed how much she was currently enjoying it.

She nodded her head and turned back to face the audience. Her nod was so tiny because her chin was placed on the violin, and if it weren't for knowing what to spot for, I would have missed her action entirely as well.

Since you want to do this, I'll accompany you all the way.

I started speeding up slightly, and that caused Kaori to fasten her bowing. Not too much, but enough for the piece to turn from a waltz-like song to more lively music.

The entire atmosphere around us changed. It seemed as though we were trying to pick a fight with the original composer in the judges' eyes. On the contrary, it seemed as though the audience became surprised.

Kaori played her notes all perfectly as well; that never changed. But the accompanying dynamics and tempo started to scatter all about.

This was a competition, and what we're currently doing was taboo. We weren't supposed to

As I continued playing my part, Kaori started going off on her own, ignoring my playing.

A wry smile was etched upon my face. It seemed that Kaori was still Kaori, after all. Her real personality of being free-spirited couldn't be hidden when playing the violin.

All her shyness and meekness that she usually showed in front of me vanished, but I didn't hate that.

In fact, her keeping up that shyness didn't really suit her, even though she was cute. Her original personality was the one best suited for her.

Going about Kaori's playing, I matched my playing with hers. It seems that this competition between violinists had turned into a battle between her and me.

Yet, at the same time, we sounded really superb. Although we were 'fighting' against each other and our music clashed against each other, the resulting noise resounded harmoniously.

It was as though we were playing an entirely new piece, but it was undeniable.

It was still Dream of Dreams...but the piece was no longer Brian Crain's.

I'm sorry, Brian Crain, that I'm not sorry.

This piece, there was no denying that we own it now.

A huge smile was plastered on my face, and I was grinning fervently like an idiot, but as much as I tried, I couldn't get it off my face.

In my very first competition, I was enjoying this way too much.

'Doing life again, but this time, without any regrets.'

That was the goal I made for myself the moment I came to this world. It was undeniable, I was taking my first steps in achieving my goal.

We continued playing on, with Kaori often maintaining eye contact with me and smiling happily. Playing the piano had never made me happier than the moment right now.

Her forehead glistened with sweat, but her eyes shined as brightly as always, never giving in to the tiredness.

Under that spotlight and bowing her violin enthusiastically, Kaori had never looked more beautiful. Her naturally blond hair that she did not inherit from either of her parents shined brightly, while her grey-blue eyes twinkled.

The music initially lasted only three minutes and fifty-four seconds. But after their 'slight' adjustment, it ended twenty-four seconds earlier, lasting three minutes and thirty seconds.

The moment Kaori bowed her last note and released the last note at the same time with me, her movement paused as she made her last pose.

Silence ensued in the audience hall for a moment before one person eventually started clapping slowly.

Soon, like a domino effect, the applause started spreading rapidly, and cheers could be heard very clearly, expressing their approval and excitement.

While Kaori panted slightly to regain her breath, she breathed in the atmosphere of excitement, the atmosphere of amazement.

This was my first time in a competition as well, and although the main focus wasn't on the pianist, I still felt the pressure of being the accompanying pianist.

I could still feel my heart pounding furiously from excitement, the adrenaline coursing through my body.

Although this entire place was air-conditioned, after playing one piece in an entirely different environment, it felt as though we were playing in the middle of an open field with the sun glaring down at us.

Sweat was present on both of our bodies, but we both could not hide the happy expression on our faces.

I stood up just beside the piano seat, and synchronizing with Kaori's actions, I bowed.

The applause only became louder as Kaori started waving back towards some of the audience.

I have to say, although this was Kaori's first time on stage, her stage presence wasn't something one could dismiss easily. While walking out of the stage, I could see the four judges deciding on our results. One of them was very obviously agitated as he furiously scribbled some stuff on his paper.

I didn't think that he would write anything positive about us, seeing that his face was contorted with fury. Perhaps it was because we just decided to ditch the original's intent and expression of the piece and created one ourselves?

While that may be so, I don't regret most of the things. If I had to say one thing that I regretted the most, it was the fact that we would not be able to win first place.

The other three judges' faces were relatively more calm and collected. However, they were also shaking their heads from side to side, which probably indicated that we wouldn't win first place.

Sighing, I walked out of the stage, lagging a little behind Kaori.

What more could I do? It wasn't just the violinist who had utterly altered the meaning of the piece; the pianist that was supposed to act as the 'guide' also wholly shifted the meaning, almost causing an imaginary 'battle' to happen between me and Kaori, who was supposed to be working together.

If this was a recital, we would have probably gotten first place with honors. But unfortunately, this was a formal competition, and a formal competition has its own rules, regulations, and criteria.

Even if we were the very best, if we don't abide by its rules and regulations, we would still be unable to win.

However, Kaori didn't seem to care much about that. She happily hummed as she walked down the aisleway back to the waiting room where our bags were.

"Kaori-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Do you regret doing that?"

Kaori paused a little at my question before turning around to face me.

"What do you think?"

"A little?"

"Yeah...although I may look stupid, I can tell by the looks of the judges that we weren't going to win. Too bad...I was looking forward to the surprise that you were going to give me." Kaori smiled sadly and replied.

"I see..." I took her free hand in mine, and I could feel it trembling ever so slightly. I pulled her gently close to my body as I embraced her, "There, there..."

She heard my gentle tone of voice, and her initial happy expression crumbled almost immediately. Her face was buried in my c.h.e.s.t, and before I knew it, sobs could be heard before evolving into a full-blown wail.

With one hand, she held on tightly to the bow and her violin, and with the other, she hugged my waist as she cried her hearts out.

I also feel a little disappointed that we couldn't win, but since I was an a.d.u.l.t, at least mentally, the least I could do was to comfort a twelve-year-old first before wallowing in my own self-depression.

I never knew what it was like to fail at something before until now. Perhaps I was too used to having a smooth life where everything goes as planned that I had forgotten how to 'lose'.

After five minutes, when Kaori had cried her heart out, she released herself from my embrace and took a step back with flushed cheeks.

"Thank you for your support..."

"No problem, let's get changed and meet outside, shall we?"

Kaori just nodded her head, and we proceeded to get changed to our original attire before meeting outside.

This is not a super big or prestigious competition, so there wasn't any second or third round. This also meant that everything was decided on that one performance that we performed.

Outside of the security gate, we saw a bunch of people gathering outside. However, the first ones that we noticed were, of course, our parents.

"Fuu-chan!"

"Kaori-chan!"

Five people shouted simultaneously while three children rushed towards us.

Shouko, Raiha, and Yuzuru came up to us and started hugging me. Kaori looked on from the side, and Shouko noticed it.

'Go on.' My eyes told Shouko the answer when she looked towards me.

"Kaori-chan. Come here..." Shouko was at the outer circle while Raiha and Yuzuru were snuggling as close to me as possible, so when Shouko opened up her arms, Kaori couldn't help herself but join the group hug as well.

"Onii-chan! You played very nice!!" Raiha exclaimed excitedly. She was barely half my height, so when she looked up from the height of my waist, her eyes were upturned, causing me to have an overload of cuteness.

"Please don't do this too many times...my heart can't take it!" I muttered loud enough for the group to hear.

Kaori and Shouko also agreed with me while Yuzuru and Raiha just tilted their heads sideways in confusion.

It's official. My little sister is the cutest person in the world!

Rubbing the two little girls' heads, I replied to them, "Thank you. Did you enjoy our performance?"

"Yeah! It's so lovely! The other people were so boring...but Onii-chan and Onee-chan were so amazing! You went like, wahh! And wow!! And woosh! And pew!"

As Raiha and Yuzuru described our performance, they also waved their hands around excitedly, trying their best to show us what they meant.

However, halfway through, they were interrupted from their performance, making them pout a little.

"A-Ano! H-Here..." Two little girls that looked just slightly younger than Raiha and Yuzuru came up to us and spoke nervously. Her hand had a bouquet of flowers, and she raised them towards us, or more specifically, Kaori.

"These flowers are for you. We were so moved! Our entire family enjoyed your performance!"

Kaori turned to look at me with excitement evident in her eyes. I could understand her feelings right now. It was, after all, her first fan after her first-ever competition.

Although the competition wasn't meant to be a concert or recital, Kaori and I sure made it seem that way.

"See? People do like it..."

"Un!" Kaori turned to face the two small girls and started thanking them, "Wow, they're so pretty! Thank you!"

Taking the flowers from their arms, Kaori appreciated the scent of the flowers' freshness. Some water droplets could still be seen on the flowers, so I could tell that gifting this bouquet of flowers to Kaori wasn't a pre-planned action; it was a decision made on the spot.

Kaori was shorter than the average girl's height, standing at only 146 centimeters tall, so she was only about thirty centimeters taller than her fans.

Seeing Kaori being so happy while talking to her fans, I felt satisfied as well, though I was a bit sad that they did not really notice me, it was pretty much expected. Not many piano accompanists do get the recognition they deserve, after all.

However, as though she could read my mind, Shouko raised her hand and patted my head.

"There, there...You did fantastically." Shouko praised, "Don't get so worked up because of the end result. As you said to me before, it's more often the journey rather than the destination, isn't it?"

Wow...my usually quiet and kind Shouko has grown up! And she's comforting (sort of) me right now!

What an angel...

"I'm not getting worked up, am I?"

"Are you not?"

Replying my question with another question, I gave up and just pulled her closer to me.

"Thanks for the support."

"Phew...my son is really popular!" The familiar loud voice rang out, and I immediately knew who was speaking.

"Yeah, yeah. So, what do you think of my performance, dad?"

"Hahaha! Fantastic! I was doubting for a second that you were playing the same song as the other participants! All the other participants were so boring and sounded exactly the same!" My father started laughing and slapping my shoulders hard at the same time, causing me to feel some pain in my back.

Correction. Not 'some' pain; I actually felt a lot of pain.

"Ow, ow, ow! Stop slapping your son with so much strength!"

"No sons of mine will be weak!"

"I'm your only son!"

"Don't sweat the details!"

Sigh, this father of mine...living his life so carefreely. Though, I wonder why his strength was so high. Does it have something to do with the 'family lineage' that the system was talking about?

[Affirmative. Being in physical contact with the host's father for a long time has allowed me the opportunity to conduct a rough scan. Though exceedingly minute, I have found several weird things about the host's father that differed from an average human that was only found in you and your sister. But because of the body that God has given you, it seemed that those 'minute' differences had mutated.]

Oh? I didn't even know about that. So if I didn't have the body that God has given me, I wouldn't have those mutations? I don't know whether to feel sad or happy about that...

[Don't worry. The family lineage would be anything but detrimental to you. You might not have realized it, but your strength has been slowly growing as you age, even without any deliberate training.]

I see. That's a relief, I guess. What would happen if I awaken my family lineage, though?

[No information could be given with the current research. Everything will have to be done by yourself, host.]

Hmm...well, it's not like I was in a rush anyway. I'll put that aside for now, because someone has come to inform us about the results.

"Oh, Miyazono-san. This is where you've been. I've been looking everywhere for you."

A man with a blue suit came up to us and spoke. His breath was slightly haggard, probably from brisk walking?

How unhealthy, panting from brisk walking...

"Why are you looking for me? I was sure that we wouldn't win..." Kaori looked a bit downcasted at her own words.

"Well, it was true that you didn't win any of the top three spots, but there was one more 'achievement' of some sort that you have earned."

Kaori was very curious, and seeing her expectant look, the man smiled, "You were the undisputed winner of the Audience's Award. No one else could even compare to your performance. Both of your performances."

The man added the last sentence while directing his look at me. Finally, someone notices the piano accompanist...well, at least someone did notice me.

"Both of your performances were absolutely spectacular! If I was a judge, you would have definitely been the best. However, it was the judges' decision in the end."

The man let out a sigh at the end.

My face revealed a smile once more. Of course, to an untrained ear, our performance was absolutely stunning. If this was a performance to decide who plays the best music, we would have been the most popular among everyone present.

Of course, we are still popular with everyone, except for the judges, that is.

I'm not going to repeat what I said previously, so let's move on to the prize ceremony.

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

Since Kaori and I had 'accidentally' dirtied our attire, we 'had no other choice' but to change out to our casual wear.

That was our excuse for appearing on stage with our casual wear.

The head judge's face twitched violently, obviously displeased to see his most hated contestants on stage receiving an award.

But rules were rules, and he was a stickler to rules. So as unwillingly as he was, we were still the audience's choice.

While we shook his hands, he tried grabbing my hand very tightly. I think I have adapted to my father's great strength that I felt nothing from him. An old man like him wouldn't be able to do anything to me.

How petty~.

What did I ever do to deserve the head judge's hatred? Just twist the competition's set-piece into something that sounded better? Because we arrived on stage slightly later and were in our casual attire? Or maybe it was the smirk that was on my face as I received my first award in both lives.

I don't count getting the best results in the cohort in elementary school as an achievement. Anyone would be able to do it as long as they were willing to study hard.

But winning a violin competition while playing as a piano accompanist? That was definitely a yes.

After receiving the head judge's 'congratulations', the other three judges came up to us to shake our hands as well.

Their attitudes were a lot nicer towards us, and one of them even commented that we were prodigies.

"I do like what the both of you have done, but unfortunately, you played at the wrong place."

Those were the main points of what they tried to convey to us. And although I agree with them, it didn't mean that I would follow their advice.

I would do whatever I want to do in this life, living my life to its fullest the way I want to.