As I mentioned before, our school had a large music hall that was capable of accommodating more than a thousand people.

The size of the music hall was huge; and sometimes, bands from town would even use the music hall as a venue for their concerts. It was a facility our school was proud of.

However, Kagurazaka said this as she sat down in the last row of seats, looking downwards with her hands crossed in front of her chest:

"This won't do. This venue isn't suitable."

"Why?"

The first-year male student and I asked at the same time. He was one of the first-year members of the school festival committee, and had followed us here earlier.

"Because we're a rock band!" Chiaki stuck her head out from behind and answered before Kagurazaka-senpai could. "Think back to the chorus contest—the people in the audience couldn't even stand up to enjoy themselves, right?"

I faced the stage and looked at the audience's seats, which were arranged in the shape of a bowl. It was just as she said. If people in the audience became engrossed in the beats of the rock music and started shaking their heads about, a slight careless movement could result in an unfortunate accident, with the audience member falling over and getting injured, or even dying.

"Well, since most of the stage lighting is located in the sports hall, I think it'd much better to hold our performance there."

A month had pa.s.sed, and the school festival was already drawing close.

Because the sports hall and the music hall were both available as venues for the school festival, there wasn't a need to worry about not being able to accommodate all the music performances and stage performances.

Well...... that's only if Senpai and Chiaki don't make any unreasonable requests.

"Urm...... but the sports hall is already booked for the Drama Club's performance and the cla.s.s performances. Moreover, the Karate Club forced themselves onto the schedule just yesterday, as they wanted to do a martial arts performance, so the schedule for that venue is full. Can't we just have all the musical performances here?"

The committee member spoke to Senpai in a polite manner, and observed her with a timid look on his face. He was probably stuck with the task of following us around till everything was settled, as the festival committee had probably antic.i.p.ated that the Folk Music Research Club would create some sort of problem. Sorry—I apologized in my heart and slapped my palms together.

"To put it more explicitly, the stage is the furnace of our pa.s.sion, and is something I cannot control. The audience will definitely jump about in excitement, and some may even rush up to the front of the stage! And if anyone got hurt, it'd be a problem for the committee, right?"

The committee member could only answer with an unintelligible "Ah, u-uhh......" as Kagurazaka-senpai pressed on. She had cleverly turned her selfish request into a matter of public safety, essentially forcing the committee member to accept her request as a precautionary measure against certain disaster. Senpai's as cunning as ever.

"I-I'll discuss it with the rest of the committee."

The committee member ended up running away from us. And as I looked at his back, I prayed that he would be luckier in the future.

"Oh right, I'll be going to the student council's office for a while," said Senpai, with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"What for?"

"Obviously to check on the clubs that'll be using the sports hall. From here on out, we'll have to be on the lookout for some way to cut into the queue."

Senpai's hair swayed about like the tail feathers of a cuckoo as she ran away. I let out a sigh as I watched her disappear. She may look like someone that does things sloppily, but when she's hatching a ploy or something, she really gets serious. I wonder what she'll be like when she steps out into society.

"Things will be getting busy!"

Said Chiaki in enjoyment. During those busy days, there was no time for me to catch my breath after school. Though the chorus contest had already finished, the sports day was fast approaching, and after that was the school festival. Those hectic high school days, filled with all sorts of activities, continued on until November.

Chiaki and I were headed to the music preparatory room located at the other end of the corridor. There, Mafuyu was looking for pieces that could potentially be used for our performance at the school festival. She was working hard because of Kagurazaka-senpai's willful words: "I do not wish to perform the same piece twice on stage. We've gathered ourselves a group of interesting people, so I want to try dabbling in cla.s.sical music."

However, someone at the other end of the corridor spotted Chiaki and me and started walking towards us. She stopped in front of us and stretched her arms out, preventing Chiaki and me from moving forward. The person before us was none other than the music teacher that wore the shortest skirt—Miss Maki.

"It's best...... to leave Mafuyu alone for now."

"Did something happen?"

"Mmm—"

Miss Maki jerked her thumb towards the door of the preparation room. There wasn't any need for her to explain any further.

Sounds of the piano endlessly flowed from the room.

The three of us stood in the middle of the corridor for a long time, listening to the music that had pa.s.sed through the wooden door and swirled around our ears. The gentle stampede of the pa.s.sage sounded just like the footsteps amid the crowd.

"...... I've heard this piece somewhere."

Chiaki mumbled.

"It's ."

It was the twelfth movement of Modest Mussorgsky's . It was a piano suite that consisted of diverse elements that had been inspired by the paintings of a deceased friend.

Rimsky-Korsakov brought about a renaissance of the piece that stimulated the imagination of musicians around the world, giving birth to all sorts of different transcriptions of the orchestra pieces. I never quite liked that piece, as the original version sounded very crude; and I had never once bought it—however, my opinion of the piece changed when I heard the sounds of the piano on the other side of the door.

But Mafuyu hasn't recorded this piece before. I unconsciously walked next to the wooden door and pressed my forehead against it, to listen attentively to the sounds coming from inside. The tempo of the tune coming from the room was much slower than the tempo of the typically played by other pianists. A slightly depressing atmosphere was mixed into the light and skillful tune.

It felt as though I could see my destination before me, after walking down the path in the marketplace.

The rapid steps were suddenly interrupted by a thick and heavy chord. I was shocked motionless in front of the dark entrance.

It was the thirteenth movement—.

The sounds of my heartbeat and my breathing reverberated in the cold air.

A sense of emptiness was brought about by the weakening sounds of the piano.

It was just unbelievable. I couldn't believe it, even after hearing it with my own ears.

Mafuyu was playing the piano, and she didn't play any single one of the notes wrong.

Mafuyu's fingers have really......

Not long after, the rays of the setting sun started faintly penetrating through the lingering smell of mildew, bones, death and dust. It was , the fourteenth movement—

Just then, the music from the piano suddenly stopped. I pulled my face away from the door in shock, and heard the tapping of footsteps. The door suddenly opened with great force.

Mafuyu's face turned red the moment her eyes met mine. She said furiously,

"S-Stop listening while you just stand there!"

"Eh, oh, sorry...... Does that mean we can go in and listen?"

"...... N-No!"

So we can't go in, and we can't stay outside? What do you want us to do then? Mafuyu slammed the door shut after stepping back into the room. We then heard the door lock. Eh? Hey!

"Why are you locking yourself in the room?" I immediately knocked on the door. "Let us in! I need to grab all sorts of musical scores from in there!"

"You can't!"

Why? Does Mafuyu have to get that angry just because someone heard her play the piano? Just as I was about to yell at the door, someone suddenly pulled the back of my collar.

"Guee!" I unintentionally let out a strange noise.

"You are not to cause a ruckus here. Just leave her alone for now."

With that said, Miss Maki began walking towards the stairs, dragging me with her. My limbs were thrashing about wildly, as I was about to asphyxiate. Chiaki stared bitterly at the door of the preparatory room for a while, then followed after us.

"Actually, Mafuyu has been practicing on the piano in the preparatory room for a few days already, and has always acted the same as she did just now. She seemed to have been set ablaze after looking at various scores. And before I knew it, she was already playing the piano, completely ignoring my presence next to her."

Miss Maki said that in a low voice at the corner of the stairs. Chiaki and I exchanged looks.

"Have her fingers...... really recovered? Is that true?" asked Chiaki.

"You two have heard about it already?"

I nodded my head slightly. What a perfect performance it was! I had always thought I would never get to hear Mafuyu's piano again, so I was very surprised when I heard the news from Julien. But the impact was even greater when I listened to her performance earlier.

"So her impairment seems to be something caused by psychological issues...... I guess? Because of that, I feel it's still too early to be happy about the recovery of her fingers. But in any case, it looks like that girl is planning to return to the embrace of the piano. However, because Maestro Ebisawa would probably kick up a fuss out of happiness if she were to practice at home, she's only practicing at school for now."

That's because there are still some knots in the relationship between Mafuyu and Ebichiri; and moreover, Mafuyu's a really stubborn girl.

Then again, I never thought she would recover to such a state.

"Since this is quite a pickle, please do not disturb her for now."

"W-When did Mafuyu start practicing the piano again?"

"Hmm? Last month, I think?"

So it's true she only started practicing after she reunited with Julien, huh? Everything made sense if that was the cause.

Even the doctors said we could only wait—and Julien was the one we were waiting for.

Before walking down the stairs, Miss Maki sternly instructed us to not get close to the preparatory room if sounds of the piano were coming from inside. Then, she left Chiaki and I at the corner. I leaned against the stairs.

"Mafuyu...... that's just great."

Chiaki murmured, as she looked up the stairs. We could no longer hear music coming from above us.

"Are you not happy about it, Nao? Mafuyu can play the piano again, you know?"

"No, I'm happy. But even though I'm happy......"

"Speak your mind. Come on?"

Chiaki grabbed me by the collar and rattled me about. I revealed my true feelings.

"It's frustrating. Even I find myself to be a huge idiot."

"What do you mean?"

All of today, I've just been pulled around by the scruff of my neck...... When Chiaki questioned me further, I told her about everything in my heart—about how Mafuyu had changed because of her reunion with Julien, and about how I couldn't do anything.

When I finished telling her everything, Chiaki released me and stared in the direction of the window.

"...... Is that so?"

Her restless voice landed at her feet.

"So Nao's feeling frustrated because he couldn't do anything for Mafuyu?"

"Mmm...... yeah."

What's wrong with Chiaki? Her back looked very small.

It felt as though she would cry the moment I touched her hands.

"That's right—it's painful precisely because the person's right next to us."

It seemed like Chiaki was mumbling to herself. I thought about what she said for a while, and just when I was about to say something back to her, she quickly turned her head around.

"Well then, what would you have done back then?"

Chiaki's usual determined gaze had returned to her eyes. She then greeted my stomach with a solid punch, which landed squarely with a thud. Ouch! I staggered back a few steps as I pressed my hands against my stomach.

"...... I would've gone back home and listened to beneath my blanket."

"You idiot. Listen to it yourself."

This time around, she rewarded my head with a slap. What do you want me to do then?

"Do I even have to say it? Practice."

The term "rhythm section" originally started out as a jazz term describing the combination of the piano, the ba.s.s, and the drums. These instruments didn't need to perform solo, and instead, only had to ensure that the tempo of the song went on without a hitch. For our band, this was Chiaki and me.

The general opinion was that the quality of a band wasn't determined by the talent of its striking vocalists or guitarists, but by the rigor of its rhythm section. One of the most notable examples would be a band like Green Day.

"...... So...... why am I doing push-ups here?"

"Because you lack physical strength! Hey, no resting!"

Chiaki stepped on the pedals of the ba.s.s drum as my sweat dripped onto the floor of what should've been the air-conditioned practice room of the Folk Music Research Club. I'm not bragging here, but the maximum number of push-ups I can do is ten.

"Listen. Nao was drained at the end of our live performance at the live house, no? Mafuyu always rushes ahead of us when we play as a band, so we need to step it up."

"Now that you mention it...... I am really weak."

"You should at least train till you can lift one of the guitar amplifiers with a single hand."

"How could I possibly lift that?"

"I can."

Whoa! She actually showed me. Put that down, that's really dangerous.

"No rest. Your goal is thirty push-ups."

Chiaki pressed me against the floor again. Please, just spare me from this already.

"It somehow feels like your perseverance is lacking. I'll be sitting on your back now."

"No way, you're heavy! I'll get squashed!"

I struggled nonstop as Chiaki squashed me under her b.u.t.t. The door opened slightly; and through the small slit, a pair of sapphire eyes timidly peeking into the room could be seen. Chiaki stood up immediately when she noticed.

"Mafuyu, what are you doing?"

"W-Well......"

Chiaki grabbed Mafuyu's hands and pulled her into the room. I'm saved. I stood up to pat the dust off my knees.

"...... S-Sorry...... for just now."

"Mmm, I'll spare you this time, since you're being honest." Why's Chiaki acting stuck-up? "But someone was engrossed in her piano even though we had something important to do as a band. The camaraderie of the band was wrecked in an instant by Mafu-Mafu."

"I was not engrossed in it!" Mafuyu tried her hardest to lie.

"Well then, I will entrust Mafuyu with a task related to the band."

"...... Which is?"

"Sit on Nao's back."

"Why?" "What's with that!?"

"Because you can practice the guitar even if you're sitting on Nao's back! I have to drum, you know."

"That's not the point."

With her eyes narrowed into slits, Chiaki thrust her drumstick at my throat.

"Alright, you still have thirty more to go, so persevere. Give me some clean push-ups, and match them to the beats of my drum."

That's scary! I dropped to the floor without a second thought. Having experienced the same dominating air of that sports-oriented girl, Mafuyu did just as Chiaki instructed and sat down gingerly on my back.

"Min! On! Fight!!! Min! On! Fight!!!" [TLNote: Min-on's short for their band, as mentioned in chapter 4 vol 2]

Chiaki began shouting out some strange cheer as she drummed in beats of four. What's with this? Is she a school bully? Moreover, Mafuyu's pressing down on my back with her entire weight—

Eh? She's not as heavy as I thought. Or rather, she's inconceivably light. Is her body really that slender? Come to think of it, didn't I climb the hills together with Mafuyu while carrying our luggage? Push-ups are nothing compared to that.

The beats of the drum suddenly came to a stop.

"I'm so p.i.s.sed! Why's Nao doing those push-ups with an indifferent expression on your face!?"

Because you asked me to!

"You looked like you were in pain when I was sitting on you. Ah, darn. How much do you weigh, Mafuyu?"

"Eh, urm......" I didn't catch her m.u.f.fled answer.

"Unforgivable! I'll be sitting on Nao as well!"

"Why!? Don't, I'll die!" "It'll be fine, so stop moving!" "W-We are falling!"

I couldn't breathe under the combined weight of the two girls. But at that moment, Kagurazaka-senpai just happened to open the door; and when she saw the plight I was in, her eyes opened wide.

"H-Help me—"

Upon hearing my pitiful plea, a sinister smile appeared on Senpai's face.

"Where should I sit? On your head?"

"No, wait, don't do that!" Why did things turn out like this!?

When I returned home, I didn't catch any glimpses of Tetsurou anywhere in the house, and his shoes weren't in the shoe cabinet when I looked inside. That meant there was a high possibility he had stayed out for a drink with his friends (Tetsurou usually wore sandals when he went out). Thank G.o.d, I don't have to prepare dinner tonight. I didn't have much of an appet.i.te after being put through that strange form of torture. Not to mention, my back's still aching......

After I finished changing in my bedroom on the second floor, I took out my ba.s.s. The words Chiaki had said to me during the day were still echoing in my mind:

"So Nao's feeling frustrated because he couldn't do anything for Mafuyu?"

Mafuyu, Kagurazaka-senpai, and Furukawa, whom we had performed with on the same stage last month—

And more than anyone else, Julien.

After thinking about the numerous outstanding musicians I had come into contact with, and the music I had heard them play, I was left with a complicated feeling inside me. I understood how immature I was, but mixed in with that immaturity was also a sense of helplessness.

If this continues, I'll eventually become someone who just happened to be in the band by chance. I'll even end up dragging the band down. Furukawa had once said to me, straight to my face, "You should quit for the sake of the band." My reply to that was nothing more than just a farce.

What should I do? What step should I take next? I had no idea at all.

It wasn't until I had met Julien that I finally saw it.

I understood the question I had to answer.

Am I able to become Mafuyu's greatest pillar of support?

Not just for the guitarist Mafuyu, but also for the pianist Mafuyu—can I continue to stay by her side by taking on the role of the heart that pumps her blood and life?

The timbre of Mafuyu's piano was bright and clear, and its tempo, forceful and dynamic. Some of the conductors who had performed with her before had commented that her piano was "as forceful as the river that continuously erodes the fjords." The reason Mafuyu's playing was harshly criticized was because there were very few orchestras capable of accepting the force of her playing. And so, Mafuyu's fingers became frozen, and the sound of her piano disappeared before she could find her true place of belonging.

I used to think she would never return to the embrace of the piano; but that wasn't the case. Perhaps Mafuyu is just searching for that place.

Someone who could be next to her, or close to her, while supporting her playing—a place that existed forever.

Do I...... have the right to be there?

Perhaps Yuri's the only person that can reach that place for now.

But how much further do I have to walk before I can reach that place as well?

I turned on the stereo and inserted a CD. My fingers searched for the simple overlapping ba.s.s lines that could accompany Mafuyu's solo of Rachmaninoff's . Mafuyu's piano led the orchestra methodically as she rapidly changed the tempo of the variation.

I gradually lost hold of the sound of my ba.s.s. I couldn't keep up with her pace at all.

In my mind was the image of Mafuyu, sitting before the piano as she appeared on feketerigó's stage. And in front of the raised wings that gave off a black l.u.s.ter, I saw the faintly glowing drums, as well as Chiaki's brown-colored hair. When I turned my head, I saw the back of Kagurazaka-senpai. She was standing there, holding tightly to the microphone on the stand, facing the pa.s.sionate audience.

It began with a piano chorale that rose from the silence, followed by the careful integration of the drums via fill-ins. Next, came the clean overlapping tones of the guitar, and finally, the coa.r.s.e vocals of Senpai, that could seep into the deepest areas of the body. [TLNote: Fill-in is a sort of drumming technique or something, not sure if named similarly in English]

But where do I stand?

How should I go about carving out my rhythm on the stage?

I had no idea. That place was just too far, too high, and too dazzling for me.

Rachmaninoff's piece ended, and the stereo at the head of my bed stopped playing. I was pulled back to reality, back to my room. I realized I had been deep in thought while I was sitting on my bed with my ba.s.s in my arms.

What should I do?

In my head, Chiaki's voice replied with, "Do I even have to say it? Practice." She's right.

I really want to plug my ba.s.s into some amplifiers and practice at the loudest volume possible! But there was a limit to the time I could spend in the school's practice room; and there, I'd be distracted by Senpai's and Mafuyu's timbres anyway. And although Tetsurou wasn't at home, I couldn't use the speakers in the living room, as I'd disturb the neighbors if I did that.

If that's the case—

I checked the time on the clock. It's not eight yet, so I should be able to make it. After packing my ba.s.s into its case, I jumped on my bike and left the house.

The southern entrance of the sizable train station was about twenty minutes away from my house by bicycle, and the building Nagashima's Musical Instrument Store was located in, was just a few steps away from the overhead bridge, at the boundary between the shopping street and the residential area.

It was Senpai's workplace, and I had been under their care on numerous occasions. There were three recording studios on the third floor that were rather small and cramped, but because Senpai knew the store manager's weaknesses (though she called it a privilege of the employees), the store manager allowed the members of feketerigó to use the studios for free, as long as they weren't occupied.

I did pity the store manager, but as a poor student, I was grateful for the privilege as well.

"Eh? Nao?"

When I walked into the store—where even the walking s.p.a.ce was filled with guitars—the store manager revealed his face from behind a music magazine. Looks like he's manning the store by himself. His hair was tied up roughly behind his head, making him look like a hippie; and that appearance of his made the store seem even more like it was on the brink of collapse. There aren't any customers around today as well.

"Did you guys agree to meet up beforehand? She already went up," said the store manager, pointing towards the ceiling.

"...... Eh? Are you referring to...... Senpai?"

"Nope. Chi-chan."

Upon opening the ridiculously heavy soundproof door, I was greeted by sounds of intense drumming. However, the beats stopped all of a sudden.

"...... Nao?"

Chiaki was sitting behind the drums, her forehead glistering with sweat. When she saw me, she froze with her mouth opened wide. The same applied to me as well. Why is Chiaki here? Was all that practicing we did earlier not enough for her?

"Hey? What's going on here?"

Chiaki walked in my direction. Her face was giving off a radiant glow. Even though it was already October, she was only wearing a T-shirt and short pants. Her outfit was very similar to what she had worn during our summer training camp. Then again, it is really hot and stuffy in these studios.

"Eh? Are you actually here to practice?" She asked, when she saw my guitar case.

"Y-Yeah...... I want to practice with amplifiers."

"You'll have to stop practicing if any customers show up." With that said, the store manager pushed me into the studio and closed the door. The smell of tobacco oozing from the walls was mixed in with the sweet scent of sweat. And for some unknown reason, Chiaki was happily setting up the ba.s.s's amplifiers for me.

"What a coincidence. I'm really surprised. I was feeling really uneasy because of the lack of practice today. Did Nao come because you found the amount of push-ups to be lacking as well?"

"Nope, I've done enough push-ups. Also, am I bothering you here?"

"Not at all. Because together, we're the rhythm section, so It'd be better for us to play together."

But if possible, I hope to practice alone on my ba.s.s......

"Oh well, let's start! Just treat me as a metronome and play your ba.s.s!"

After beginning our practice, I realized it was just as Chiaki said—the ba.s.s and the drums were not enemies. Just like the sounds of heartbeats and footsteps, the instruments resonated with each other to move forward. The quavers, semiquavers and triplets—Chiaki supported my stiff wobbles with her steady steps.

What an inconceivable feeling. Come to think of it, this might be my first time playing alone with Chiaki. Normally, the sound of Kagurazaka-senpai's guitar (like the scattering rays of the sun) or Mafuyu's guitar (akin to the crystallization of the cold air in a night bathed in the moon's light) would be mixed in between us.

It's mind-boggling. Compared to the sound of the drums when Chiaki was drumming alone by herself, the sounds the drums made now were much brighter—I could clearly hear each and every beat from her. Each time I pumped blood into my ba.s.s using my fingers, the comfortable sound of a footstep would reciprocate. I could almost grasp the glimmer of the two hi-hat cymbals with my hands.

"H-Hold on. As per what was determined initially? H