“All right, time’s up.”
A loud voice jolted me awake as all the tension in the classroom dissipated.
Cheers of “It’s over!” filled the air as students rejoiced and began to worry about how well they’d done. I focused my blurry eyes on the wall clock and saw it was five minutes before the bell.
“Pass your tests up to the front, please,” the teacher said, and then I felt someone poking my back.
I turned around and saw Kaoru staring at me with a sour look. She was holding her test out to my side and shaking it. I took the paper, placed mine on top, and poked the shoulder of the student in front of me.
I couldn’t believe I’d fallen asleep so quickly. I sat for a while in a daze, my eyes narrowed against the bright lights of the classroom until my vision finished adjusting…and then, I felt another poke from behind.
“You were fast asleep,” Kaoru said when I turned around, her cheek propped up on her hand.
“I didn’t mean to doze off.”
“I doubt you were up late cramming. Did you lose yourself in a book or something?”
“I wouldn’t do that the night before finals. I was just bored, so I put my head down, and for some reason, I conked out.” I scratched my nose absently, and Kaoru snorted.
“There were only fifteen minutes left! I figured you had to be exhausted.”
“Well, I’d already finished the test and double-checked my answers, and I didn’t have anything else to do.”
“…You finished so early you had time to double-check and fall asleep? That kinda pisses me off.” Kaoru pouted and muttered, “I worked right up until the last minute.”
I was going to say, “Well, I actually studied,” but I decided against it.
She was pouting because she already knew that. At this point, no matter what I said, it would only piss her off more.
When it came to tests, the biggest factor was how much you studied. Kaoru knew I always studied a lot, so saying that wouldn’t make any difference. This was all banter anyway, so there was no need to respond seriously.
Just as the teacher confirmed all the test papers were accounted for, the bell rang.
The student on duty that day called out for us to bow, and everyone did. And with that, finals were over.
Any tension left in the classroom faded instantly. Everyone was joking with their friends or stretching, as if all their stress was now gone. It was kind of fun watching everyone relax. I’d been pretty nervous about finals myself, and I felt the tension leave my body, too.
I looked around the classroom and saw Sousuke in his seat by the teacher’s desk. He turned toward me, and our eyes met. With a cocky grin on his face, he rose from his chair and walked over to me.
“That’s it for exams, huh,” he said.
“Yep. Over at last.”
“Oh man, you can say that again,” Sousuke said, rolling his shoulders. “Now, I can finally get back to soccer practice.”
Club activities were paused during finals week, and students were supposed to use that time to study instead. What’s more, depending on your club advisor, anyone who did badly might be barred from club activities for another whole week.
Sousuke was grumbling, but it seemed like he’d studied seriously. His entire body was radiating happiness at the thought of going back to soccer practice.
“Plus, it’s almost summer vacation,” he said excitedly.
I felt the same…but we weren’t quite done yet.
“We still have to figure out what we’re doing for the festival,” I pointed out.
I thought Sousuke would be disappointed, but he surprised me. His eyes sparkled, and with a theatrical snap of his fingers, he said, “Oh yeah! About that!”
“Um… What?”
He leaned toward me so intensely that I flinched a little. “The school festival is in October, right? And we’re deciding what to do for our class’s contribution, yeah?”
“Umm… Yes?”
“But that’s not all there is to the school festival!”
“Wh-what are you talking about?”
Sousuke’s eyes were still twinkling, but I had no idea where he was going with this. Was there something else besides our class’s contribution?
“The closing party, after the festival!” he shouted. The student who sat in front of me had already left, so Sousuke plopped down in the empty chair. “They’re gonna have the usual events, like the beauty pageant for the upperclassmen and the confession contest. But you can also form a group and do whatever you want.”
“O-oh yeah?”
It was very like Sousuke to get into the festival spirit, but I wasn’t sure why he was this excited. At his next words, though, my mind went blank.
“Why don’t we start a band?”
Start a band. Why don’t we? The words echoed in my mind, reordering themselves for some reason. I took a minute to think them over.
“Huh? You mean…you want me to join you?”
That was my biggest question about all this. Surely that couldn’t be what he meant, but Sousuke nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Obviously. I said we, didn’t I?”
“Hang on a second. I can’t even play an instrument…”
“You can practice over summer vacation. And…I’d like to ask Mizuno to join, too, if possible.”
“Hang on, hang on. I haven’t even said yes!”
“Ask me to join what?”
“Whoa!”
As I was freaking out about Sousuke’s suggestion, I noticed Ai poking her head in through the window into the hallway.
She’d startled me, but Sousuke looked pleased to see her. “Oh, hey!” he said, waving. “Tests are finally over, huh?”
“Yeah! Thank goodness they’re all done.” Ai smiled and looked back and forth between the two of us. Then, she tipped her head as if to say, “Well?”
Sousuke picked up on this and continued.
“At the end of the second day of the school festival, we always have an after-party,” he explained, realizing Ai had just transferred that year and might not be aware. He can be really considerate sometimes, I thought to myself.
“Anyway, Yuzuru and I were thinking of getting some other people together and forming a band.”
“No, like I said—” I began, trying to cut in.
“A band?! That sounds so fun!” Ai seemed more excited about the idea than I’d expected, and her words drowned mine out.
“Oh, interested? You wanna join? So far, it’s just me and Yuzuru.”
“I never said I’d do it!” I tried again.
“I can play the keyboard!” said Ai.
“Huh?”
“For real?!” asked Sousuke. “Let’s do it, then!”
I was shocked. I had no idea Ai could play the keyboard. We’d fallen out of contact for a while, but I’d known her since junior high, and this was the first time I’d ever heard that information.
Sousuke happily invited her to join, and Ai immediately agreed.
“Yeah, it sounds fun! I’d love to!”
“All right! I’ve got the guitar covered, so now we gotta find someone to play the drums and the bass… Oh, and the vocals!” Sousuke turned his thoughts to the band’s composition, excitedly counting the remaining parts on his fingers.
Honestly, I didn’t think I could do any of those. I couldn’t play an instrument, and I wasn’t that great of a singer, either.
Ai briefly glanced at me, then turned her gaze toward the seat behind mine. “Do you wanna join too, Kaoru?”
“Hm?” Kaoru replied listlessly.
I turned around and saw she was on her phone. I figured she either hadn’t heard us talking, or she’d assumed it didn’t involve her and ignored us.
“What? A band?” she asked, sounding flustered. So she did hear us.
Sousuke turned toward Ai. He saw how excited she looked and grinned. “Yeah! We’re gonna make a band to play at the school festival’s after-party! You wanna join, Odajima? It’ll be a lot of fun with you and Mizuno in the mix!”
Kaoru frowned and shook her head. “No way. I’m not gonna add anything… I can’t even play an instrument.”
“Don’t say that! Everyone will be excited to see you on stage! And if you can’t play an instrument, you can just sing. Don’t you always get compliments in music class?”
“Oh yeah!” I blurted out. I could feel Kaoru glaring at me.