“Wow, it’s been ages since I last went to the beach!” Sousuke said excitedly as we rode the train.
Summer break had officially begun, and we’d decided to schedule our beach trip for the very first weekend. Ai asked Sousuke to come along, and he quickly agreed and took over the planning. He had way more energy than I did for such things.
“Mizuno and Odajima said they’d meet us there, but I wish we could’ve gone together,” he muttered as he leaned against the side of the train.
This was very in character for the extroverted Sousuke. I smiled vaguely in response.
To be honest, I was already nervous, and we hadn’t even seen Ai and Kaoru yet. I had no problem speaking to them at school, but just the thought of going on a special outing with them made me hyper-aware that they were both girls, which in turn made me feel kind of pathetic.
“Well, I’m sure they have a lot to do. They’re girls, after all,” I said, trying to brush aside my inner turmoil.
Sousuke turned away from the window and looked at me in surprise. Then he burst out laughing.
“Look at you, acting all mature! That sounded kinda pervy, though.”
“What?! How was that pervy?!”
I’d simply meant that it took longer for girls to get ready, but maybe it came across differently. My face felt hot. The word “pervy” had brought up the very memories I was trying to suppress.
The previous night, after I was done getting ready for the trip, I got into bed. But I couldn’t fall asleep, and I kept tossing and turning. Suddenly, I heard my phone ding, which was unusual when I was at home.
Curious, I picked it up from my desk and saw it was a notification from a messaging app. It was from Ai.
You’ll get to see my new swimsuit tomorrow! Let me know what you think!
After the short message, she’d sent a picture of an ugly dog saying, “I can’t wait!”
I stared at the message for a while, rolling around in bed. How am I supposed to respond to that? As I agonized over it, another notification popped up.
Don’t you want to see it?
Since I had the app open, it immediately marked the message as read, sending me into a panic. I deliberated for a few moments and then chose one of the default reaction images. It showed a rabbit making a thumbs-up sign.
After that, I tossed and turned for another hour or so, until fatigue finally got the best of me.
Ai in a swimsuit…
I knew she would look great no matter what she wore. Even though I couldn’t picture her in a swimsuit that clearly, my heart raced just thinking about it. I hoped she wouldn’t ask what I thought, because there was no way I’d be able to stay calm enough to give her a proper compliment.
I glanced over at Sousuke. I bet he could give a girl a smooth compliment.
Suddenly, our eyes met.
“Man, our class sure picked a boring event for the school festival, huh?” he said, switching topics. “I really wanted to do a haunted house.” He seemed to be having a blast talking to a friend outside of school, completely oblivious to my inner turmoil.
Now that we were talking about the school festival, I was able to somehow push the thought of Ai in a swimsuit to the back of my mind.
During our last homeroom session before summer break, our class voted on what we would do for the school festival. Sousuke really wanted to set up a haunted house, but all the girls were opposed, saying it would be too much of a hassle. In the end, we decided on a takoyaki stand instead.
This reasoning might sound weak, but there were other factors at play.
Each class had a set budget to put together their project, and every student had to pitch in a certain amount. All the first-year classes were given a maximum budget of 20,000 yen each.
This meant that food stands or projects with high preparation costs would be difficult to pull off while staying within the budget. Takoyaki had low-cost ingredients, was relatively easy to make with some practice, and could be sold in large quantities. Compared to other food stands, there was less risk of running out of ingredients and having to close shop in the afternoon, too.
The more practical suggestion won out, and the boys’ proposals (including Sousuke’s) were easily voted down, since they hadn’t thought any of their ideas through and simply chose them because they sounded exciting.
“The important thing is that we’re all doing something together. I’m sure the takoyaki stand will be fun,” I said, trying to make him feel better.
He pouted. “I know, but the haunted house would’ve been a blast…”
First the after-party, and now this… Sousuke seemed to really like planning fun group activities.
That reminded me about the band. There was still something we hadn’t decided.
“By the way, what about our bass player?” I asked. “You said you had someone in mind, right?” At that, his cheerful expression tensed up slightly.
His gaze wavered, and then he said slowly, “I was thinking of asking Nagoshi.”
I stared blankly at him. I hadn’t been expecting to hear that name. “Nagoshi? Can she even play?” I asked.
He nodded and shot me a sheepish grin. “Not only can she play, if she’d continued, she might’ve even gone pro,” he said, his expression darkening.
I had a feeling there was a story here.
“So she gave it up?”
“Yeah, in junior high.”
Junior high… I tipped my head to one side. “Did you guys go to junior high together?”
“No,” he said in a low voice. “But remember how I said I knew someone who can play drums? I went to junior high with her, and she had a band outside of school. Nagoshi was their bassist.”
“Oh, okay.” I nodded and cast a sidelong glance at him.
I’d thought he only knew Nagoshi through the soccer team. I’d guessed from things he said that they had some kind of history, but I never would’ve guessed it went all the way back to junior high.
Sousuke smiled faintly, as if reminiscing. “She was an amazing performer. She gave solid support when the focus was on the vocals or guitar, but the moment it was her turn for a solo, she’d go wild, making these incredible sounds. It reminded me of the way Yuugo Ichihara played.”
“Yuugo Ichihara?” I’d never heard that name before.
Sousuke nodded. “Yeah, he was considered one of Japan’s top bassists. He was really cool.”
“Hmm…” I didn’t quite follow, but it was clear the guy was really talented.
Up until then, I’d seen Sousuke primarily as a soccer guy, so I was surprised that he knew so much about music.
“Honestly, at first I was only there to see Misuzu play—oh, that’s the drummer’s name. She invited me, saying they needed to fill a quota at the venue. But then, I fell in love with the sound of Nagoshi’s bass. And after that, I went to every one of their gigs.”
“She must’ve been really amazing.”
“She was. I didn’t know much about music back then. I still don’t, really. But even I could tell she was incredible. I don’t know how to explain it, but it was like there was emotion in her sound.” His eyes softened, and his voice became gentle. I could tell he was remembering the concerts he’d attended back then in vivid detail.
Emotion in her sound.
I had a hard time imagining someone saying that about the Nagoshi I knew. To me, she seemed evasive and vague—the kind of person who never let her true feelings show.
Maybe playing the bass was the way she expressed herself. If so, I’d like to hear her.
“But when she was in her third year of junior high, she suddenly quit playing and left the band.” A shadow crossed Sousuke’s face. “When I realized I’d never hear her play again, I felt really sad. After that, I stopped seeing her around, and then it was time to start studying for my high school entrance exams… Then, lo and behold, I find out we’re at the same school, and she’s the soccer team’s manager. I was shocked.”
So he thought he’d never hear her play or even see her again, but then their paths unexpectedly crossed. Though, from what I’d heard, that didn’t last long.
“And then…she quit, right?”
“……That’s right,” he said with a sigh.
He fell silent and looked out the window for a while. His gaze flitted around. I couldn’t tell if he was just watching the passing scenery or searching for the right words to say.
“Do you know why she quit?” I asked. I figured he might.
He nodded quietly. “Sort of. But…I don’t know if what she said back then was the real reason or not.” He smiled sadly. “After she quit playing bass, she seemed like a totally different person. During her concerts, it was as if I could hear her ‘voice’ loud and clear. But now, I don’t understand her at all. It’s really frustrating.”
“Oh…” I didn’t know what else to do but nod.
I understood what he meant, though. I found her similarly hard to read. But if she’d been different back when he first met her, the change must have left him much more confused than I could imagine.
“I really want to hear her play the bass again. So I’ll try asking her.” His voice was quiet, but his gaze was steady, like he was determined to pursue his goal no matter what.
“I hope she’ll play for you,” I said, and he gave me a big grin and nodded enthusiastically.
“Ah, sorry! I got all depressing there for a bit.” He laughed and clapped his right fist against his left palm. “Let’s focus on having fun at the beach today!”
It was clear he wanted to change the subject, so I nodded and tried to match his energy.
“Y-yeah!”
“I’m looking forward to seeing Mizuno in a swimsuit! What kind do you think she’ll wear?”
This brought back my memories of the night before, and I almost choked.
“I-I have no idea,” I stammered, and Sousuke laughed out loud.
“I can see her wearing something super racy and shooting us an innocent smile. That’d really be something, huh?”
“……”
I imagined exactly what he said and blushed.
He pointed at me. “I knew it! You’re a closet perv!” he teased.
“Stop being rude! Some things should stay in the closet, okay?!” I said, flustered.
I wasn’t used to chatting about girls with male friends. It was a little embarrassing…but kind of fun, too.
As Sousuke and I bantered back and forth, the train rumbled along, carrying us toward the beach. It’s really starting to feel like summer vacation.