“Hey, Yuzuru! You’re early!”
Three days after our trip to the beach, Sousuke asked me to meet him, and I made my way to a station in the city I usually never went to. When I saw the girl walking beside him, I began to get nervous.
“N-nice to meet you!” I bowed to her. She had black hair and was dressed in eye-catching street fashion.
She raised her hand casually. “What’s up? I’m Misuzu Ishigami. You can call me Misuzu.”
“O-okay! I’m Yuzuru Asada!”
“Yuzuru, huh? Nice to meet you.” She immediately called me by my first name.
I was a bit taken aback and bowed again.
When Sousuke told me he had a friend who’d teach me to play the drums, I hadn’t expected such an outgoing, fashionable girl, so I was pretty nervous.
She looked me up and down with an impassive, inscrutable expression and then suddenly leaned in close.
“Wha—”
Without warning, she grabbed my bare arm just below my sleeve.
“You’re pretty scrawny,” she said with a smirk. “You’re definitely gonna be sore for a while. You’d better brace yourself.”
“Um, I’m a total beginner, just so you know.”
“Yeah, I heard. You’re a bookworm, right? And he’s making you play the drums?” She turned to Sousuke and gave him a long, hard look.
He grinned brightly and said, “Well, he’s my friend!”
“Whatever. Let’s stop wasting time and head to the studio.” Misuzu nodded casually and walked off.
I leaned toward Sousuke and whispered, “What does she mean, studio?”
“Well, if you wanna practice the drums, you need drums, right? We’re going to a place where you can rent studio time.”
I still wasn’t sure about the details, but it sounded like this studio place had drums to practice with.
I glanced over at Sousuke, who was carrying a guitar case on his back. “By the way,” I said, “there’s something I kept meaning to ask you.”
“Hm?”
“You can play the guitar?”
“Ah yeah. Kinda. I started practicing back in junior high.”
“After seeing Nagoshi’s concerts?”
He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Yeah. Got a problem with that?”
“No, not at all. I think it’s great. But why guitar and not bass?”
I saw his gaze waver and his cheeks flush. “Well, I thought that maybe if I knew guitar, me and Nagoshi could play together.”
His words left me speechless for a moment, then I burst out laughing. “Wow, even you can be cute sometimes, huh?”
“Don’t tease me!” He gave my arm a sharp jab, clearly embarrassed. Then, he sighed. “Well, in the end, that never happened anyway.”
“Yeah…” I looked down, feeling a little gloomy.
“Turn right here,” Misuzu said.
She had been leading the way as the two of us chatted. After about ten minutes, we arrived at the studio.
“Hello?” she called out into the empty lobby. A few moments later, someone emerged from the staff room.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Oh, Misuzu! …Who are these two guys?” An imposing man with dreadlocks looked at Sousuke and me curiously. “I thought it would be your usual trio, since the reservation was for three.”
“Today’s a little different. How much will it be for three hours, again?” she asked, taking out her wallet.
“5,400 yen, but I’ll make it 5,000 for you.”
“Oh, thanks!” she said and handed over a 5,000 yen note from her wallet.
“I-I can pay my share!” I said quickly, but she glanced at me and shook her head.
“No need. Sousuke, you pay up.”
“Sure. Here’s 2,500. Good thing I had a 500 yen coin on me.”
“Wait, I can’t let the two of you pay without chipping in,” I protested. It didn’t seem right to have them cover me, but they both shook their heads.
“You already agreed to join the band,” said Sousuke. “I can’t make you pay for studio space, too. Just focus on practicing today.”
“I have a job,” Misuzu added. “It’s fine.”
Both of them made it clear they didn’t expect me to pay.
I finally relented and bowed. “…Thanks.”
They nodded, looking satisfied.
“Okay, you’re all set,” said the man with dreadlocks. “You can use Studio B. Bottled drinks are allowed, but be careful not to spill. No food or open containers, though.”
“Of course. We’ve been coming here forever, y’know.”
“I’m telling the adorable new kid!” he said.
“Huh? I’m way cuter!” Misuzu rudely flipped him off and led us toward Studio B.
I bowed my head slightly to the man to thank him and then followed her. From the outside, the building looked small, but it was surprisingly spacious. We walked down a winding hallway until we reached our destination.
Misuzu turned the door handle and walked right in.
“Wow…”
The first thing I noticed when we went inside was the drum set, then a guitar and bass on stands. Up close, the drum set was even larger than I’d imagined. I found myself staring at it.
“There’s no way I can play those,” I blurted out.
Misuzu burst into laughter. “Tapping out before you even try? C’mon, go sit down.”
She patted the leather stool by the drum set, which was apparently called a “drum throne.” I cautiously took a seat, increasingly intimidated by the large number of drums.
“Uh…?” I wasn’t sure what I should do next, so I looked at her for guidance.
“Here.” She handed me two wooden drumsticks from her bag. They had slightly rounded tips for striking the drums. They were slender, but heavier than I expected.
“Today, you’ll just be using these.” She pointed to three parts on the left side—a smaller drum closer to me, a large drum with a pedal by my feet, and a smaller cymbal further to the left behind the smaller drum. “They’re called the snare, bass drum, and hi-hat.” She pointed to each one.
I repeated the names, and she nodded.
“First, try hitting the snare.”
“O-okay.” I hesitantly hit the smaller drum, or the snare, which produced a dull sound.
She made a face and then quickly knelt down. “Hm, it’s not set up properly. Well, I guess this is kind of convenient,” she muttered as she checked the snare drum. “Yuzuru, come down here and take a look.”
I got off the seat and examined the snare drum with her. I could see a spring-like contraption attached to it.
“These are the snare wires,” she said.
“The snare wires…”
“Yep. They’re not tightened. That’s why the sound is dull. Now, the strainer… Ah, this thing right here.” She pointed to something that looked like a clamp on the side of the drum and lifted it up. “When you raise the strainer, the snare wires tighten. That changes the sound. Try hitting it again.”
“Okay…… Whoa!” A familiar tat! noise rang out.
“The snare should have the snare wires on when you play in a band. Remember that tat sound. That’s what you should be hearing.”
“Okay.”
“Also, you were hitting it with your right hand, but you should hit it with your left. Go sit back down.”
I sat down while she stood close behind me. I could feel my heart speeding up.
“Now, hold the left drumstick over the snare.”
“Okay…”
“Your right hand is going to strike the hi-hat.”
“Like this?”
“Yep. Now, use your right foot to press down on the bass drum pedal.”
“Okay… Whoa!”
I followed her instructions and pressed down on the pedal. The loud, deep thump! noise startled me.
Misuzu must have been used to it, because she didn’t even flinch. “Those are the basics. Remember this stance for today.”
“O-okay…!”
Having my hands crossed was uncomfortable and trying to coordinate both hands with my right foot was making my head spin.
“Uh… I’m kinda bored. Do you mind if I play the guitar?” said Sousuke.
“Go ahead,” Misuzu replied.
He took out his guitar and began to play. “Good luck with your lesson,” he said with a smirk.
I nodded back, feeling overwhelmed.
“All right, let’s switch places. I’ll show you how to play the hi-hat now.”
Misuzu took the drum throne and demonstrated.
I imitated her. She drilled me on the basics for three solid hours. She understood I was a complete beginner and patiently repeated the same instructions over and over, while giving me tons of praise whenever I made the slightest bit of progress.
As I practiced, I slowly began to grasp the basics. It was really only the barest foundation, but it was a start.