I went up to the rooftop. Contrary to the gloom that hung over my heart, the sky was clear. Yamano wasn’t here yet, and Serika was gazing down at the city through the fencing.
“Hey, Natsuki.” She turned around when she heard the sound of the door open. “It’s calming up here. You can feel the wind and look at the city.”
I stood next to her and looked down as well. The tranquil streets of Maebashi were spread out before us. Only Gunma’s prefectural office towered above the rest of the buildings. Although it was after school, the sky was still blue. It was near the end of April, and the days were gradually getting longer.
“It’s my fault,” Serika murmured. “Sorry, Natsuki. I was wrong. If this was how things were going to turn out, then it would’ve been better if I hadn’t gotten so hung up on being serious. It would’ve been way more fun if we had continued as we did before.” She was clearly depressed.
“I didn’t suggest we take the band seriously so we could have fun.” What I wanted was to have fulfilling days. And that means we don’t only have fun, but also go through pain and hardships. I believe that the ultimate youth lies ahead of that. “I’m still going to take the band seriously. I don’t intend to bend on that point now.”
“Then...are you giving up on Shinohara-kun?”
“Serika, what do you want to do?” I asked.
Tears spilled from her eyes, and she looked away. She wants to change the world with her music. But she’s scared of the band falling apart. That’s probably what she’s thinking.
Suddenly, someone cut into our conversation. “I’ll quit.”
We turned around to see Yamano standing behind us.
“I’m probably the one Shinohara-senpai hates. Everything’ll be solved if I just quit.”
“Not you too. Why did you jump to that solution?” I asked.
Yamano’s hair slowly swayed in the wind. Her expression was morose. “Mishle was your guys’ band in the first place. So I should leave now that I’m a problem. If I do, I think Shinohara-senpai will come back.”
I shook my head emphatically. “Nope, not allowed.”
“Wh-Why? Isn’t Shinohara-senpai more important?!”
“I’m the one who wanted us to be serious. You were just responding to my demand. That’s why you did nothing wrong, Yamano. And I don’t think Mei was wrong either. Everything was my fault.”
Reita was right. I should be more realistic. When you aim high, there will always be someone who leaves. We have no choice but to find a new bandmate who shares the same dream as us... I understand all that. And yet, I added, “It’s still too soon to give up. We haven’t listened to Mei’s side yet.”
“What’ll we do if Shinohara-kun says he’s sick of being serious?” Serika asked.
I knew what she was getting at. Would we choose to give up on being serious and stay in a band with Mei? Or would we discard Mei and take the band seriously?
“I don’t want to decide our future path before we find out how Mei feels,” I finally said. I mean, I still want to be in a band with him, with the four of us.
“Senpai, aren’t you in the same class as Shinohara-senpai? If you still haven’t heard his side, then that means he’s avoiding you, isn’t he? If that’s what’s going on, then I think it’ll be impossible.” Yamano’s opinion was unsympathetic. “It didn’t look like Shinohara-senpai was serious at all from my perspective.”
“I know,” I said.
Being serious means having the resolve to dedicate your passion on top of everything you have. It’s the attitude of not giving up even in the face of hardships and trying to overcome your limits in order to improve.
“I agree that Mei’s been lacking enthusiasm lately.”
Even I felt it, although I had my hands full with my own part. Yamano and Serika were concerned about how our music sounded as a whole, so I’m sure they felt it even more.
“But I don’t think that’s because he dislikes being serious.”
There’s no doubt that the four of us were serious about the school festival. All those days we spent practicing for it were truly fulfilling. I believe he shares the same sentiment as me.
“I want to be in a band with him.”
Were you trying to end our friendship with a message like that? That’s naive of you, Mei. Our relationship isn’t so shallow anymore. You’re going to need more than that to persuade me.
“Well,” Serika began with some hesitation. “I feel the same. I like Shinohara-kun’s bass.”
“Ideals and reality are two different things,” Yamano said coldly.
“I know that. But that’s no reason not to pursue your ideals,” I replied.
She gave me a puzzled look. “You’re brimming with confidence. Do you have a plan?”
“Yeah, more or less.” This is a real-world problem. And real-world problems are often a matter of degree. Changing white to black doesn’t necessarily solve anything. Most things are gray, and the outcome is intertwined with all kinds of factors. I don’t think our problem is a simple one that can be solved by persuading Mei to get serious. There’s one more thing we need to remedy.
“Yamano!” I said.
“Y-Yes?” Her eyes went round with surprise.
“You gave Mei a lot of harsh feedback, right?”
“Wh-What about it? Where’s this coming from? We agreed to be serious, so there’s no way around criticism.”
“True, and I’m the one who asked us to be serious. But let’s fix your bad phrasing!”
“Um...what?” Yamano drew her brows together.
She still doesn’t get it.
“Ohhh. I see... If that’s your angle, I get it.” On the other hand, Serika seemed to catch my drift and agreed.
“Whether Mei decides to continue or not is unrelated. You need to fix it for the sake of our band going forward.” If you don’t, we’ll run into a similar problem again in the future. Seeing Yamano argue with her classmates today convinced me of that.
“Senpai, didn’t I stop being harsh when you told me to? Although Serika-senpai told me I was fine as is...I trusted you and kept my mouth shut, remember?”
“Saya. Stopping isn’t the answer. You need to speak your mind,” Serika said.
“Huuuh?” Yamano was floored.
She must feel like we’re being contradictory. “Listen, Yamano. Phrasing is extremely important when you’re giving tough feedback!” Just because you’re right doesn’t mean it’s okay! The world runs on interpersonal relationships!
The instant I pointed my finger at Yamano, a strong gust of wind blew by. The flurry lifted her skirt into the air. Juicy thighs. My eyes were drawn to the light-blue triangle of cloth covering the area above her legs.
✦ ✦ ✦
Yamano pushed her skirt down in a panic. Then, scarlet-faced, she glowered at me. “Senpai, you perv!”
G-Gunma sure does have some strong wind!