"Stop!"

Yelled Chiaki from behind the drums, as she lifted her hands while firmly gripping her drumsticks. I stopped my fingers from strumming the strings and wiped the sweat off my forehead.

Senpai and Mafuyu pressed the neck of their guitars with their right hand to stop the lingering sounds, and the rock tune that had filled the Folk Music Research Club practice room just a second ago, turned into the painful sound of killjoy in my ears.

The three girls looked at me at the same time. Unable to bear the inquiring gaze of Mafuyu, the teasing look of Senpai and the emotional gaze of Chiaki, I was forced to rest my eyes on the ba.s.s in my hands.

"You tell him, Comrade Aihara. I think we're all thinking the same thing, but you're the only one that young man will listen to right now."

Chiaki nodded and pointed her drumstick at me.

"Quit sticking to me all the time!"

I almost dropped the ba.s.s from my hands due to my shock. I was surprised by the meaning behind her words—though, in a musical sense, of course.

"I deliberately slowed down the tempo to convey the lazy mood! It won't do if you play your part in a similar manner and overemphasize the laziness! The ba.s.s and the drums operate on different timings, so you'll have to be livelier than that!"

"Uh......"

Chiaki's words. .h.i.t me really hard, because I knew very well that she was right.

"It seems like you lack practice, young man. Did you think I wouldn't notice you fumbling your way through the fill-ins during the unisons?"

The sinister grin on Senpai's face made her look like she was teasing a cat—I shrunk my body in response.

"Are you trying to screw things up so we fail the audition?"

"N-No way!"

I crossed my hands vigorously in denial. But Senpai's smile didn't disappear.

"Here, Comrade Ebisawa. You tease him a little too."

"E-Eh?" Mafuyu's hair flinched in response to Senpai's sudden words, but her sapphire-blue eyes were still intently fixed on my face. Just as I was about to turn my body away, Mafuyu spoke.

"...... Coward. Why didn't you express yourself clearly?"

That was the line that surprised me the most—to the point that I accidentally flicked off the power of the ba.s.s's amplifiers. Urm, she's referring to how my ba.s.s sounded, right? Senpai let out a loud laugh.

"Let's take a break! Young man needs some time to reflect on things anyway."

"For how long? It's already five—there's not much time left."

Mafuyu's fingers, which were resting on the strings of the guitar, moved uneasily.

"Till the sleeping young man wakes up?"

"It'll take until next year for that to happen! There's only a few days left till the audition! When exactly is it anyway?" asked Chiaki.

"The time hasn't been confirmed yet, as quite a number of bands have registered for the event. I think they should be contacting us soon."

"Will we be playing our actual performance songs during the audition?" interrupted Mafuyu. "If so, we will have to decide on the order of the songs, as there are quite a few songs that I want to play."

"Hey, how about we put in some Christmas carols at the end of our performance, so the audience can sing along? I mean, it will be Christmas Eve."

"I think, for now, we should just aim to clear the audition with songs that we're familiar with. That's an option for us as well—"

I listened to their conversation from a distance, then pulled the wire out of the amplifier and plugged it into the mini amplifier instead.

"...... I'll be practicing by myself for a while."

Mafuyu was surprised by that, and was about to remove her guitar strap from her shoulder, but I quickly turned around and opened the door. And what greeted me were the rays of the setting sun in that icy winter.

The rooftop that I typically went to was located right above our practice room, so I made my way to the rooftop on the other side of the school instead. When I arrived there, the sun was already deep below the horizon. And as the school slowly became enshrouded in darkness, I could see the small silhouettes of the baseball team tidying up the court.

At the side of stairwell leading to the protruding roof, there was a ladder that led to the large water tower on top. I heaved my ba.s.s on my back and climbed my way up; and when I sat down and viewed the scenery before me, I saw lights scattered across the streets on the opposite side of the school. It looked much more like the starry sky than the real thing above my head.

I placed the mini amplifier beside me, then rested my ba.s.s on my leg and began to fiddle with the strings. I played the same phrase over and over again—slowly, at half the original tempo.

But I couldn't immerse myself in the music. It was as if the strings had managed to read my thoughts and were rejecting my fingers.

Senpai's words rang in my ears.

"Are you trying to screw things up so we fail the audition?"

That was never my intention, but I would be lying if I said that that idea had never crossed my mind after Senpai had told us about the audition.

Why must it be on the twenty-fourth? It would've been great if it was held on any other day.

But what baffled me even more was Mafuyu—she seemed so incredibly enthusiastic about it. I know it's wrong to take that to heart, but even so.......

It won't do if things continue on like this. I'd be dragging the girls down yet again—I had been plagued by this feeling ever since our live performance at the school festival. I had improved compared to half a year ago, but the three girls—especially Chiaki—were climbing at an even faster pace. The current me—who can only strum as best I can, and is unaware of the things going on around me—will definitely be left far behind by them. I should just forget about the thing with Mafuyu. It isn't like I actually asked her out on Christmas Eve anyway.

My thoughts were pulled to that time when Mafuyu and I were alone in that room—that moment just before Senpai came barging in.

It would've been great if I could've at least popped that question.

My fingers had already stopped by the time I regained my senses. I let out a wry laugh. Wasn't I here to get in some practice alone? Why am I allowing my thoughts to run astray?

"—Naomi?"

I was shocked by the voice coming from the darkness. I forgot I was sitting on the ledge of the tower, and almost stood up in surprise. That was dangerous.

Looking down, I crossed sights with Mafuyu, who had popped her head out of the door of the stairwell. For a second, I wanted to find a place to hide, but the small s.p.a.ce on the water tower was barely enough for even one person to sit down by himself.

"U-Urm......"

While I was trying to come up with something to say, I deliberately gripped my ba.s.s to make it look like I was practicing hard; but in the meantime, Mafuyu had turned her head around and caught sight of the ladder.

"W-Wait."

Mafuyu ignored my nervousness and grabbed onto the ladder. But for some reason, she was only using her left hand. She pressed her chest against the side rail and climbed up clumsily. I quickly leaned my body over and stretched my hand out to pull Mafuyu up.

Mafuyu stood on the cramped ledge of the water tower, panting and heaving as she gripped my hand tightly. Her face was ghastly white.

"A-Are you alright?"

"....... I am okay, just a little scared."

Then why did you come up? And also—

My gaze landed on Mafuyu's right hand, which she was using to grab the hem of my coat.

"Your right hand...... it can't be...... that you can't move it again?"

"Eh? Ah, n-no."

Mafuyu shook her head. Her maroon hair came into contact with my chest.

"T-This is just a habit from the past....... Before I realized, I was already doing things with only my left hand."

Don't push yourself. I stared intently at the fingers of Mafuyu's right hand, which were buried inside my chest. When Mafuyu noticed what I was doing, she blushed and quickly retracted her arm. But we were still forced to sit side by side with our arms contacting each other, because the s.p.a.ce around the water tower was so small.

After that, the two of us looked down at the school surrounded by walls and encircled by darkness. And at the same time, we counted each other's thumping heartbeats. Despite my desire to convert my breathing into speech, nothing came out—because my voice was stuck in the back of my throat. The sleeve of the winter uniform sticking tightly to my skin was making me too nervous to speak.

Again. It was always the same. Whenever Mafuyu sat down next to me, the warmth of her body always made my mind go blank. The frustration that was tormenting me earlier had disappeared as well. Why does this happen?

Come to think of it, Mafuyu and I have come into contact with each other a countless number of times since we met. So the painful, conscious throbbing I'm experiencing right now is a result of me realizing my feelings.

Painful. Yes, it is painful.

"U-Urm."

Mafuyu finally spoke again. Her voice was no longer trembling.

"M-Mmm."

"Are you angry?"

I couldn't help but look in Mafuyu's direction. Half her face was hidden under the shadows.

"Why...... I'm not angry......"

I wasn't angry. I was Just losing myself.

"But, it seems like...... you dislike the practices."

"I don't dislike them!"

I almost fell off because I suddenly turned my body. "Whoa!" "Kyaa!" I seized the leg of the water tower while Mafuyu grabbed my shoulder, allowing me to regain my balance.

When I recovered from that shock, I turned my head to look at Mafuyu's face. Despite the fact that her face was burning red, she didn't let go of my shoulder.

"I could tell from the sounds. Naomi's ba.s.s was trying to run away from my Stratocaster."

I was stunned. I never thought music would betray my feelings so easily—I guess its not always on my side. I gripped the neck of my ba.s.s tightly as it lay on my thigh. I wonder...... if there comes a day when I have mastered the instrument and can play it on an entirely different level, would I be able to play the ba.s.s calmly despite the hesitation and confusion in my heart?

"Did you have something planned for Christmas? Back then, you—"

She popped the question.

I took a deep breath and nodded to prepare myself mentally, then turned towards the sapphire-blue eyes that reflected the starry skies.

Chiaki pulled me by the hand while Mafuyu pushed me from behind, and I was forced to run down the corridor with my ba.s.s hugged in my arms.