“All right! Let’s give this our all!” Sousuke grinned as he slung his guitar strap over his shoulder.
Right now, we were standing offstage while the music club performed. They sounded a lot better than us.
“Geez, couldn’t the committee have thought about the performance order a little more?” Sousuke complained. “Why is the music club going first?” Despite what he was saying, he had a smile on his face as he glanced toward the stage.
“Ahhh, I’m getting nervous!” Ai said, dancing in place.
“You never made any mistakes during rehearsals, Mizuno. You’ll be fine,” Sousuke reassured her casually.
Ai nodded and thanked him, but it seemed she couldn’t quite shake her nerves, and she anxiously rubbed her hands together.
Kaoru stood stiffly beside her. Her face was blank, but I could tell she was tense.
“Are you nervous, Kaoru?” I asked.
“Obviously.”
“Yeah. Me too,” I said.
Kaoru glared at me. “That’s not very encouraging.”
“It’ll be okay. I’ll definitely make more mistakes than you,” I said.
“I’d rather you didn’t make any.”
“Just enjoy yourself. Besides, your singing is really beautiful. Everyone will love it.”
“Yeah! You should be more confident!” Ai said, placing her hands on Kaoru’s shoulders.
Kaoru nodded several times and then dropped her poker face. She started to take deep breaths.
The music club’s performance ended, and applause filled the gym.
My heart was pounding like crazy. I didn’t have to touch my chest to feel it pumping. My hands and feet felt numb and tingly. I gripped the drumsticks tightly, reaffirming the sensation of them against my palms.
The members of the music club left the stage. Misuzu waved to Sousuke, smirking. “I warmed up the audience for you,” she teased.
“I didn’t want you to! You warmed ‘em up too much,” Sousuke said.
Misuzu grinned and balled one hand. She thrust it toward Sousuke as he did the same, and they bumped fists.
Then, Sousuke called out to Yushima, who had returned to the wings with Misuzu.
“You ready for a back-to-back performance?” he asked.
Yushima flipped him off. “Don’t underestimate me.”
“Ha-ha. Good answer. I’m counting on you.” Sousuke whacked him on the back. His mouth twisted in annoyance, but he looked like he was enjoying himself.
Misuzu’s gaze wandered over to me. “You look nervous, Yuzuru.” She approached me and clapped me on the back. “You practiced more seriously than anyone else, so you’ll be fine. You’ve really gotten better,” she said, smiling kindly. “Get out there and show everyone how cool you are, okay?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“All right.” She nodded as the emcee began announcing our act.
“Next up is another band! This one is composed entirely of first-year students! Let’s see what kind of performance they have in store for us!” The emcee turned in our direction and Sousuke nodded. “Get ready everybody, because here they come!” Applause echoed through the gym.
Sousuke led us all on stage.
As I emerged from the wings, my field of view opened up. “Whoa…”
The stage lights were shining right at us, illuminating the students’ faces in the audience. There were so many people watching.
My nerves reached their peak.
I went to sit down on the drum throne, but I accidentally dropped my drumsticks in the process. They clattered to the floor with a deafening noise, and the audience stirred.
“Are you okay?!” I heard someone shout.
I blushed and hastily picked up the sticks, then one by one, I made eye contact with the other band members.
Yushima, Ai, Kaoru, and Sousuke.
Sousuke flashed me a little grin.
Man, he’s so cool.
I felt my tension ease. We had to make this performance a success for our incredibly cool friend, so he could go into his next performance looking good.
And, if we could pull this off, I was sure we’d end up with a bunch of unforgettable memories, both for our friends and for ourselves.
It was time to show off our months of practice, and all the emotion we’d put into this performance.
I lifted my face and raised my sticks high. And then, I tapped them together, making a clacking sound.
“One, two, three!”
I started the performance off with a fill. Although my fingertips were numb with tension, the sound that came out was sharper than I expected. It was the most satisfying sound I’d ever made. And then the song began.
Sousuke’s guitar and Yushima’s bass wove together, and the gym erupted in cheers. Sousuke had picked a popular song to get everyone excited. The audience seemed to recognize it, and they were starting to get pumped up.
Ai swayed happily to the rhythm. She looked so natural, a complete one-eighty from the nervous girl of a moment ago.
Kaoru was standing in front of the microphone without moving a muscle. I could tell she wasn’t as tense as she’d been backstage. I was behind her and I couldn’t see her expression, but I could feel a kind of presence about her. Yeah, she’ll be fine.
After the intro ended, I heard her take in a deep breath and grip the mic.
✦ ✦ ✦
“When night falls, I forget about what happened in the morning…”