183. A Hidden Melody (2)

(Haruna POV)

***

"Granny, stop gawking!" Haruna pleaded, trying to pull the old woman along.

However, she was completely ignored as Granny didn't budge, simply looking up at the towering building in front of her in awe.

They had just arrived at Reiji's place for the update on the progress and to record subsequent videos, but Haruna was in a bit of a rush because she had followed Reiji's advice and hadn't looked at the current data.

"Grannyyyyyy!"

"Oh, keep quiet for a second. Let me take a good look at this place!"

"If you spend so long just with this, it'll take days for you to snap out of your amazement once you see Reiji-tan's place!"

"Really? Now I have to see where that little devil lives," Granny chuckled, stepping into the building eagerly.

'Oh god, she's going to bicker with him all day, isn't she?' Haruna groaned.

They hopped into the elevator and made their way to Reiji's house, knocking on the door once they arrived.

But they didn't get an answer for a few seconds.

"Strange....." Haruna muttered as she knocked a second time.

This time, she heard a muffled shout.

"Coming, coming!"

The door swung open as a slightly disoriented Reiji came into view, his hair more messy than it usually was, and small beads of sweat running down his face.

Granny frowned at the sight.

"What happened to you? You look like you just completed some great battle," she asked.

"Sorry, I was in the kitchen, and the vent was on high, so I didn't hear you the first time. Come in and get comfortable. I'll join you guys in a bit."

Without waiting for a response, he rushed back inside, leaving behind the two bewildered women who glanced at each other with confusion.

Haruna took the lead to show Granny where the guest slippers were, and they both entered the living room to see Reiji bustling around in front of the stove.

The heat seemed to be on high, and he was continuously stirring whatever was in the pot.

"What're you making?" Haruna asked, walking up behind him.

"Some stew. You show Granny around, once I'm done the prep-work and let it simmer for a bit, we can go check the data."

Haruna nodded and turned around to notice that Granny had completely disappeared.

"Granny?" she called out.

But she didn't get a response.

Haruna checked the guest bathroom first, but it was empty, so she headed towards the corridor where all the rooms were.

She saw that all the doors were open, and then a shadow from the main bedroom moved.

"Granny? Are you in there?" she called out again.

"Whoa, look at this bed!"

Haruna rushed into the bedroom to see Granny sitting on the cot as she bounced up and down, testing the softness of the mattress.

"Haruna, come see how amazing this bed is!" she laughed.

The old woman laid down with only her feet outside the bed area as she sighed with satisfaction.

Haruna almost joined her, but then stepped back with a small blush once she realized that it seemed a little too intimate.

"G-Granny, get up! How rude!" she scolded instead.

"Rude Shmude, it's not a big deal."

But Granny still stood up with a bit of reluctance and left the bedroom, and Haruna watched her go with a bitter smile.

'...I hope I can give this to you someday.'

"Ohhh, that smells good!" Granny exclaimed once she re-entered the living room, taking in the strong aroma from the stew.

Reiji looked over in great surprise.

"...Are you feeling okay?" he asked with a trace of worry.

"Huh? I feel fine, why?"

"I didn't know you could give compliments, so I feel like something has to be wrong!"

"I will slap you into the next dimension."

"Aaaaaand she's back!" Reiji chuckled, placing the lid over the pot as he took off his apron.

Haruna rolled her eyes as she sat down on the sofa, propping her head up with her hand.

"You should've come over yesterday, it would've been nice," he lamented with a shake of his head.

Granny also lost some of her vigour once she heard that.

"It's not like I didn't want to... But the delivery date for my clothing supply was moved up, and I had to be there to sign off on it."

"Fair enough. Don't worry, we're going to record two song covers today, so you can still see your pretty butterfly light it up!"

Haruna blushed at the strange description, flinging a small pillow on the couch at him.

'Why would he say that?????' she cringed internally.

But Reiji caught it easily and stuck his tongue out at her.

"Yes, I'm definitely staying for both recordings," Granny nodded firmly.

"Guys, can we please wrap it up and go check the data?? I can't wait any longer!" Haruna interjected, clenching her fists in anxiety.

Reiji also stopped playing around and clapped his hands.

"Right, let's go to the studio."

He led the way into the newly renovated study, which basically became Haruna's studio at this point, and powered up the PC.

While he was logging in, he glanced at Granny, who looked even more nervous than her granddaughter.

"By the way. Do you want to listen to the song before we see the update? I have it on a separate file, so you won't be distracted by the numbers when you see it for the first time," he said.

Haruna opened her mouth to protest, but when she saw the anticipation on Granny's face, she bit back her words.

"Yes! I want to listen to it first!" the old woman replied with a wide smile.

Haruna felt the warmth in her heart grow stronger when she saw how eager and proud she seemed to be, causing her to fidget in place while hoping she liked it.

Reiji didn't waste any more time and pulled up the edited version of the video, connecting the speakers before he pressed play.

The impactful visuals paired with the powerful instrumentals and Haruna's own magnetic voice was a combination that meshed almost seamlessly, and even Granny, who didn't have much appreciation or interest for modern music, listened with rapt attention.

Her body swaying to the rhythm of the music showcased just how much she was enjoying herself, and when the song came to an end, she immediately turned to Haruna and gave her a bear hug.

"G-Granny! Why all of a sudden....."

"I'm so proud of you."

Her muffled response echoed through the room, and Reiji just smiled as he sat in his chair.

Haruna felt some tears form in her eyes, which she quickly brushed away.

Granny straightened up and nodded at Reiji.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"Don't thank me just yet. This is only the start."

He rolled his chair back to the PC and opened up the Scrollz website.

"Now that we're all caught up, let's check the progress on the video we posted," he muttered, navigating to the account page.

Granny and Haruna leaned in, the latter placing her hands on Reiji's shoulder for support as her foot bobbed up and down.

And when the page finally loaded...

"Eh?"

"What?"

"..."

Reiji stayed silent, but the other two completely stiffened up as they tried to digest the series of numbers on the screen.

***

@hiddenmelody

Following: 0

Followers: 22,767

***

"...Reiji, why are there 5 digits? Did they forget to add a decimal point?" Granny asked with her trembling voice.

For someone who wasn't involved much with social apps, she thought maybe there was a mistake.

"Reiji-tan, is this r-real?" Haruna added once she regained her senses.

".....Let's look at the video data first."

He clicked on the only video listed under the account, and he could feel the two of them freeze in place once again as soon as he did so.

The video had 153k views and over 50k likes!

That was a like-to-view ratio of over 30%!

Keep in mind, a viral video itself usually gets a ratio of around 10%, so this figure had completely blown those averages away.

Of course, the gap might decrease as it gets more and more views, but this was already a remarkable achievement for a video that had been up for less than 24 hours.

The views could be explained by Arata's actions, but the likes were genuine and natural.

For a brand new account with no prior fans, this was nothing short of incredible.

"Reiji-tan! What is happening??" Haruna squealed, jumping up and down with the excitement that had bubbled over.

Even Granny was teetering a little, maybe feeling a little dizzy at the astronomical figures.

'"This...is beyond my expectations," Reiji replied, his face twitching like crazy as if he was trying to hold back his laughter.

"....You already checked, didn't you?" Haruna hissed.

"Huh? Uh.....Check what?"

"You liar!!"

"L-Let's look at the comments! The comments can't be forgotten!" Reiji laughed awkwardly, changing the topic as he opened them up.

The other two also looked over curiously, though Haruna was determined to get her revenge later.

***

babymakingking: I'm in loveeeeeeeee

justarandompasserby: [heart emoji] [heart emoji]

singsong32: wow, a gem amongst hidden gems! we need more!

frogmasterz: need a way to get this on my playlist

bobbabobobi: wow! can you sing 'Trust Me' next??

vexyland: how are those eyes both scary and beautiful at the same time?

sojusojusoju: this is even better than the original. thank you for posting this

***

They couldn't read through all the comments, because there were over 5k, but most of what they read was positive.

Leaving aside the horny ones, which were impossible to avoid, they were all praising the song in different ways.

Some even said that it was better than the original, which was a subjective opinion, but it gave a sense of understanding of how well regarded the cover had become in such a short time.

Haruna read these comments again and again, unable to stop the emotions from breaking through as a few tears finally managed to free themselves.

Reiji didn't say anything.

Because he didn't need to give her any validation or support at this moment.

The results spoke for themselves.