It was already the final week of summer vacation. We’d had more than a month off, but the time had flown by.
“All right, let’s get started!” Sousuke called out, guitar slung over his shoulder.
Everyone finished setting up and nodded.
We were at the studio, and we were finally going to play the song we had chosen and practiced separately over summer break.
Sousuke, Ai, Kaoru, me, and…
“Ready, Yushima?” Sousuke asked, looking at the black-haired boy holding the bass.
We’d borrowed Gen Yushima, the bass player in Misuzu’s music club. Sousuke said he still hadn’t given up on Nagoshi, so I was surprised when he invited Yushima to practice with us, but I was sure he had his reasons.
Yushima nodded quietly. He wore his bangs long over his face, so it was hard to see his expression.
Misuzu sat on a chair by the wall with her legs crossed. “Pretend it’s the real thing. I’ll give you feedback just like I would if it was an actual performance.” Her tone was stricter than usual, and everyone nodded.
“Let’s go, then…,” said Sousuke. “One, two, three, four!”
At his cue, I started to drum. I managed to play the first fill without any mistakes.
I could tell Sousuke was good, while Yushima’s playing was somehow detached. The sounds of their instruments wove together. Ai didn’t have a part in the intro, but I could see her body swaying to the rhythm in the corner of my vision.
I started to have trouble keeping up as soon as the other instruments joined in. It felt completely different from playing alone. I realized then that Sousuke had been adjusting to my pace when we’d practiced together.
I kept the tempo in my head and frantically tried to maintain the rhythm. I could feel Misuzu’s piercing gaze.
Once the intro was done, I heard Kaoru begin to sing into the microphone. “When night falls, I forget about what happened in the morning…”
The opening line was quiet and gentle, yet it had a certain presence to it. Kaoru’s singing voice was so beautiful I accidentally lost the rhythm. Sousuke glanced over at me briefly. Grinning, he nodded a few times as if to say, “I get it, man.”
Sousuke had chosen two songs for us to play at the festival. A quiet ballad first, and then something more upbeat. Both were famous songs everyone knew…except for me, since I didn’t really keep up with TV and pop culture.
Sousuke’s plan was to start by emphasizing Kaoru’s pretty voice, and then pump up the crowd with the second song. So far, things seemed to be going smoothly.
Kaoru’s gentle singing voice joined together with Ai’s keyboard. As the guitar and bass played the harmony, an indescribable, enchanting quality began to come through. The original song had a string section in it, but I thought it was coming together pretty well with just us.
“I miss you… I miss you… Just the feeling of longing for you…shakes me, burns me, scratches me, hurts me. Just once, in the darkness of night…I dream of you…”
I couldn’t tell if Kaoru was nervous or if she was singing like that on purpose, but the sound of her voice added an extra layer of intensity to the song.
This practice marked the first time I’d heard Kaoru’s singing and Ai’s keyboard, as well as the bass. By the second half of the song, I was messing up the rhythm constantly, but everyone adjusted without complaining. And somehow, we managed to make it to the end.
“Kaoru!” Ai blurted out. And instead of Ai, everyone looked at Kaoru, like they all knew exactly what Ai was going to say.
“Wh-what?” Kaoru fidgeted uncomfortably as everyone stared at her.
“You’re too good!” Ai rushed over and threw her arms around the other girl.
Kaoru’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Seriously, you were amazing! I almost stopped playing!” Sousuke clapped, sparkles in his eyes.
Yushima was looking down, his bangs covering his expression. He sat down beside Misuzu and quietly sighed.
“Right?” Ai said, turning to me. “Wasn’t Kaoru amazing, Yuzuru?!”
Kaoru looked at me, waiting for my response. I could see her gaze wavering.
I nodded slowly. “Yeah, you were amazing. I was so surprised—”
“So surprised you lost your rhythm,” Misuzu said, cutting me off.
She was right. “I’m sorry.”
“Being moved is fine, but remember this is a performance,” she said dryly, then stood up from her folding chair.
I nodded solemnly as she approached us. Everyone gulped.
“Well, for your first time playing together, it was better than I expected,” she said. Instantly, the tension in the room dissolved.
Ai turned to Kaoru and cheered, “We did it!”
“Also, Odajima?” Misuzu said.
“Y-yes?” Kaoru suddenly stood up straight.
Misuzu approached her with a serious expression. “Will you join the music club?”
“Huh? …What?”
“I want you to sing. You’ve got a great vibe. You’d be perfect for our vocalist.”
“W-wait a minute!” I slipped between the two of them. “Kaoru’s a member of the literature club!”
Misuzu frowned. “I thought that was just an excuse club for ghosters. That’s what Risa said.”
“Yeah, but Kaoru’s a serious member!”
“Oh yeah? Does she read books?”
“U-um, not really…” I stammered.
Kaoru tapped me on the back and peeked over my shoulder.
“The club president will be all alone if I don’t show up,” she said firmly, shaking her head. “So I appreciate the offer, but I’ll have to pass.”
“……Oh, well. That’s a shame.” Misuzu shrugged and sighed dramatically.
I glanced over at Kaoru. She wore her usual absentminded expression. When she saw me staring, she shot me a puzzled look.
“Hm? What is it?” she asked.
“Oh, um. Nothing.” I hastily averted my gaze and started fiddling with my drumsticks.
I was really happy she’d refused, but I couldn’t say that in front of the others, so I just fidgeted and looked down.
“Well, anyway. Let’s continue,” said Misuzu. “Overall, you did decently. Now, I’ll give you each individual feedback.” She crossed her arms and began to point out how each person could improve.
“Yuzuru, your playing was sloppy. You made the whole band sound bad. You need to make more of a conscious effort to keep up the rhythm. Your fills were better than I expected, though. I can tell you practiced them.
“Next, Sousuke. You’re too relaxed, and it gets on my nerves. That’s okay when you’re practicing, but remember you need to perform. If you slack off on stage, the audience is gonna notice. I want you to give it your all.
“Odajima. Try not to let your voice tremble. It’s fine for emphasis now and then, but it’s distracting if you do it all the time. Your voice is really good, so you don’t need to change anything else.
“Mizuno… Hm. Good. You managed to blend into the overall sound well, despite all the disjointed playing. But if everyone else improves, you could work on standing out a bit more.
“Yushima, try to look like you’re actually having fun. Once the band starts to come together, I’ll have more to say to you.”
The surprise over Kaoru’s voice and the sense of accomplishment from finishing our first song together had caused everyone to relax, but now that Misuzu had started seriously critiquing us, we all tensed up again.
“Let’s run that song one more time,” said Misuzu. “If it sounds better this time, we can move onto the next one,” She clapped her hands and settled back into her folding chair.
We repeated the full song several times, trying to keep her feedback in mind. Our performance improved quickly, no doubt thanks to all our individual practice.
Gradually, I got better at keeping rhythm while everyone else was playing. That allowed me to hear the nuances of their sounds—their volume, dynamics, and finer details—and adjust the intensity of my drumming to match.
The guitar and bass began to mesh more naturally, and Kaoru’s voice stopped wavering as much.
I had a lot of fun listening as the song came together. The hours flew by, and even though we’d rented the studio for longer than usual, it was time to leave before I knew it.
We gathered our things and did a quick clean, then left the studio as a group.
“All right! It’s coming together nicely,” Sousuke said once we were outside. “We’ve got about a month or so left before the festival, so let’s continue working hard and improving!”
Misuzu nodded beside him. “Yeah, it sounds a lot better than I expected. From here on out, it’ll come down to how well you guys keep your focus. Good luck,” she said, and everyone responded enthusiastically.