“You’re a really quick learner, Yuzuru,” said Misuzu. “It’s super impressive to be able to play an eight-beat pattern on your first day.”
She’d taught me a four-beat pattern and an eight-beat pattern. It was really challenging to coordinate my hands and feet independently, but the more I got the hang of the rhythm, the more natural my movements became, even if they were a bit clumsy.
Drumming was actually starting to feel…fun.
“Here, you can have these sticks.” After we cleaned up the studio, Misuzu gestured toward the drum sticks we’d been using.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I just got new ones. As long as you don’t mind hand-me-downs.”
“Of course not! Thank you so much! I’ll take really good care of them.”
“Ha-ha, it’s no big deal.” She laughed. “Keep practicing the four-beat and eight-beat patterns at home whenever you can. It’ll get really loud if you try to bang on your desk or something, so I suggest using a folded towel on your bed as a makeshift snare. Sit on the edge of the bed with your right foot on the floor, so you can practice the bass drum pedal while you move both of your arms.”
“Okay. I’ll practice every day.”
“Good. You do that.” She nodded with satisfaction and then clapped her hands. “All right! Now that we’ve cleaned up, let’s head out!”
“That sure went by fast.”
Sousuke practiced his guitar throughout my lesson. He said he’d been playing since junior high, and I thought he seemed pretty good at it. I wasn’t an expert or anything, but he clearly knew what he was doing. He was certainly good enough to play in our band.
It was already after four o’clock when we left the studio. Since the summer days were long, it was still bright outside, but the sun would probably start setting in about an hour.
Misuzu spoke as we walked toward the station. “I covered the studio fee since it’s your first day. But renting a studio all the time gets expensive fast.”
Her tone was lighthearted, but I knew she was being serious.
“That’s true,” said Sousuke. “But the only other place I can think of with a drum set is the music club, and we can’t keep hogging their equipment.”
“Yep,” Misuzu agreed. “Then I wouldn’t be able to practice.”
“But who has drums at home?” Sousuke wondered aloud.
“Oh, I know!” Misuzu said, clapping her hands. She turned to us with a grin. “Let’s go to Risa’s house. She has an electronic drum set there that she doesn’t use.”
✦ ✦ ✦
We followed her to the station and rode the train for about ten minutes, before getting off at a small stop that only the local trains used. Misuzu ambled along without a care in the world, but Sousuke seemed nervous, and I was feeling uneasy, too.
“Are you sure we’re not bothering her by showing up unannounced?” I asked.
Misuzu snorted. “Risa spends her weekends sleeping, gaming, or cutting. She won’t mind if we drop by.”
She said it so casually both Sousuke and I gasped.
“You mean…she hasn’t stopped cutting?” Sousuke asked, sounding frustrated.
So he knew, too, I thought.
Nagoshi always kept a box cutter in her breast pocket, and I’d seen her left arm wrapped in bandages. I didn’t know why she cut herself, but maybe Sousuke did.
Misuzu glanced over at him. “There’s no reason for her to stop, is there?”
“……”
Sousuke fell silent. It seemed he didn’t know how to respond.
“When did she start?” I asked.
“Hmm,” Misuzu said. “After she quit the band. She changed drastically back in ninth grade. I guess that was inevitable, though.”
“Do you know why Nagoshi suddenly changed, Misuzu?” I asked.
She left an intentional pause, then shook her head. “I know, but I can’t tell you.”
“Oh. Sorry for prying.”
“It’s fine. I know you’re asking out of concern, so don’t worry about it.” She smiled faintly and cast a sidelong glance at me. “Just leave her be. It’s not like she’s going to die or anything.”
“But…”
“Forget about it, Yuzuru. Just focus on getting better at drumming,” she said, effectively putting an end to the conversation. Then, she pointed ahead. “That’s Risa’s house over there.”
“What? ……She lives there?”
It was a single-family home that stood all by itself in the middle of nowhere. It had a foreign construction style, and it only looked more out of place surrounded by a bunch of rice fields.
“The only things around here are rice paddies, and the nearest house is pretty far away, so you don’t have to worry about playing instruments,” Misuzu said, walking along a path between two fields. “There’s a garage with an electronic drum set. It’s sitting there collecting dust, so you might as well use it.”
She seemed to be making a lot of decisions about someone else’s stuff, and I kept wondering if it was really okay. But maybe she and Nagoshi had some kind of bond that I didn’t understand. From our earlier conversation, I could tell that she cared about her, at least.
I, on the other hand, knew very little about Nagoshi, and there wasn’t much I could do for her. I should just follow Misuzu’s advice and focus on practicing the drums.
I glanced at Sousuke beside me. His cheerful demeanor had faded, and he seemed lost in thought.