[Novel] Strum the Sky! Episode 7

Soraku went to the Kyokuto High School festival in the afternoon, accompanied by Kotona. Shizuku, who had said she would bring a friend, was acting separately and they had agreed to meet up at the venue. When they arrived and contacted Shizuku, the person she was with when she appeared, eating a frankfurter, was a quiet-looking boy.

“Oh. So the friend Shizuku said she was bringing was Tomonari-kun?”

Soraku said, looking at the boy who was standing half-hidden behind Shizuku.

“U-um, I’m Kuuma Tomonari, in the same class as Mikanade-san and Minazuki-san. Nice to meet you.”

Tomonari greeted them from behind Shizuku and bowed.

“Kotona, do you know Tomonari-kun?”

“I’ve seen his face, but I don’t think I’ve ever talked to him.”

When Kotona said that, Tomonari nodded several times in quick succession.

“Are you friends with Shizuku, Tomonari-kun?”

“Yes.”

Tomonari answered, looking visibly nervous. Seeing that, Kotona laughed.

“You know, no matter how you look at it, Shizuku is scarier than me or Soraku. If you can talk to Shizuku normally, then you’ll have no trouble with me or Soraku, and you’ll be fine with Rumi and Mugen who we’re meeting later today too. Tomonari-kun, the first hurdle you cleared was the highest one. I think you can assume you’ll be fine with everyone else from here on out.”

Hearing Kotona’s words, Shizuku burst into a hearty laugh and joked, “Hello. I am the highest hurdle.”

Tomonari laughed too.

“Thank you. I’m not good at talking to people I’ve just met. I end up using formal language in a weird way, and I have a hard time opening up.”

“If it’s easier for you to talk using formal language, then you can just keep using it. You don’t have to worry about it being a problem or anything.”

At Kotona’s words, Tomonari’s expression softened.

“That’s right, you make music using DTM, right, Tomonari-kun?”

Soraku asked, remembering what Shizuku had said when they first talked.

“Yeah. It’s all programmed, and I make stuff for Vocaloids to sing.”

“So, we were talking the other day, and he mentioned he wanted to add a guitar solo to a song he wrote, but it felt a bit empty with just programmed tracks, so he was asking if anyone could play it. I thought, ‘Why don’t you just ask Rumai to play it?’”

Shizuku said.

“Tomonari-kun has never seen Rumai play before. Since Rumai is going to be participating in that idol-like girl’s performance at the school festival, I thought it would be a good chance for him to see her, so I brought him along.”

“Oh, so the one Rumai is performing with is an idol-like girl?”

“I don’t really know much about it either, but that’s what Rumai said.”

“By the way, where’s Rokugen? Have you met up yet?”

Sora checked that Rokugen wasn’t near Shizuku and asked.

“Yeah. He’s out buying Jingikara right now.”

“He’s totally hooked on Jingikara, isn’t he?”

As Shizuku and Sora were laughing, Kotona, who had been doing her own thing last week, asked, “What’s Jingikara?”

“Rokugen is bringing some back now, so you should ask him to share. It’s super delicious.”

“Oh, you’re all here.”

Rokugen returned, carrying a tray of Jingikara in each hand.

“They had Jingikara at my high school, too.”

“Huh. So this is what they call Jingikara?”

Kotona peered at it.

“Oh, you don’t know what Jingikara is, Kotona? It’s deep-fried Genghis Khan. I only found out about it myself at the Kita High school festival last week. It’s so good, it’s addictive. Try some.”

As Rokugen said that and handed one of the trays to Kotona, she took it, grabbed a piece with her bare hand, and popped it into her mouth.

“Whoa. You’re right. This is delicious.”

Rokugen said, “Everyone else have some too,” and Kotona held the tray out in front of Sora and Kuma. Sora reached out first, and Kuma said, “Then I’ll have some too,” and took it. Seeing this, Rokugen held out the remaining tray to Shizuku and offered her some.

Is this just deep-fried Genghis Khan meat?

Kotona asked.

I think so. After all, it's something that can be made for the school festival, so it shouldn't be that difficult.

I feel like I could make this myself right away. Hey, if we kept a machine like a deep fryer in the practice room, couldn't we have a Gen-Kara party while we practice?

Don't people usually do that with takoyaki? Like, a takoyaki party?

If we have a fryer, this might actually be easier than takoyaki.

Maybe so.

Kotona and Rokugen laughed together.

By the way.

After they had finished talking about the Gen-Kara and all the Gen-Kara they had bought was gone, Rokugen brought it up.

What's going to happen with you, Kotona?

What do you mean, what's going to happen?

From now on. Will you be able to come to practice?

Rokugen said in a light tone.

Oh, right. I need to talk about that. I'm sorry, even though we finally got a practice room, I haven't been able to go at all. But it's okay now. I quit the brass band after the school festival.

Huh. Seriously?

Yeah. It was just impossible to balance both.

I did think it sounded a bit tough. But are you sure you're okay with having quit?

Rokugen asked, watching Kotona's face.

Yeah. I only joined in the first place because I thought I might be able to play the drums. Well, there was some drama when I left, so I was a bit down. But I'm 100 percent sure that my heart is truly set on focusing on the band. I really have no regrets at all.

“That’s good then. Let’s resume practice starting next week.”

“Totally. I’m super excited. Let’s make a striking debut at the summer festival.”

Kotona said that and gave a thumbs-up with both hands.

*

The announcement for the post-festival party played over the school PA system, and the visitors who had been enjoying the school festival as they pleased began to move toward the gymnasium. The Higashi High students who had been participating in exhibits in each classroom, as well as the guests who had come from outside, were all flowing toward the post-festival party.

“It’s great that there’s a post-festival party, isn’t it? Kita High has a pre-festival party, but no post-festival party.”

Kotona said this as they entered the gymnasium, where the blackout curtains were drawn and the space was lit by spotlights in the darkness.

“Well, Kita High doesn’t even have a light music club to begin with. When you think of a post-festival party, you think of bands. It’s hard to get really excited without a light music club, isn’t it?”

Shizuku said this while looking around the gymnasium.

“If students from other schools were allowed to perform, we could play in our band. You don’t have to be in the light music club to perform at this post-festival party, but you do have to be a current student at Higashi High.”

When Rokugen said this, Shizuku replied, “Isn’t that usually how it is?”

“Is Rumi on the right side?”

“Generally, I suppose so. It seems like the bassist is often on the left side facing the stage.”

Looking up at the stage, where the curtain was down and the situation was unclear, Sora and the others moved toward the front, slightly to the right of the center.

“Should we go to the very front?”

“Let’s do it.”

As Sora and the others took their positions in the front row in front of the stage, a student soon came out in front of the still-lowered curtain, and the spotlights from the left and right converged on them.

“Everyone, thank you for coming to the Asahi Higashi High School festival today. Looking at it from here, it seems like more than half of you are wearing Higashi High uniforms.”

Laughter rose from the gathered students.

“It’s the long-awaited post-festival party. This year’s Light Music Club is really buzzing, and there are two groups of first-years performing. Please enjoy yourselves to the fullest until the end. The first band is GLAY HOUND. They are a band formed by first-years who entered this year and joined the light music club. Please welcome them.”

The student who had given the greeting bowed to the audience, then returned to the side of the stage while thrusting their right hand into the air. A color filter was placed over the spotlight, and the stage was bathed in warm-toned light. The curtain rose, and the noise from the pedal effects rang out. The drummer counted in with a half-open hi-hat cymbal, and a roar of sound echoed through the hall.

The first band consisted of four boys—guitar, bass, drums, and vocals—with the vocalist singing without an instrument. Because of the overwhelming roar, Sora couldn't tell what kind of song it was for a while, but as she listened, she realized it was a recent hit. The sound was a solid mass, and she could barely tell which part was doing what. A bass sound that made the bottom of her stomach vibrate was ringing out, but she couldn't tell what kind of phrase the bass was playing. The vocalist was singing in a near-shout; she could hear the voice, but couldn't make out the lyrics. Looking around, the audience, centered on the students from Higashi High, was getting excited, and many were jumping up and down while pumping their fists. Sora wanted to move her body to the beat too, but the rhythm was hard to distinguish, and she couldn't get into it well.

Before long, the first song ended, and the vocalist spoke in a shouting tone. She could tell from his gestures that he was hyping up the audience, but she couldn't really understand what he was saying. The second song began just like that, and after listening for a while, she realized this was also a song she heard often lately. Checking on her companions, Kotona was swaying her body somewhat, and Shizuku was really getting into it. Rokugen didn't look like he was really feeling it, but he was smiling. Sora-ma was looking up at the stage with a blank expression. In the end, Sora couldn't get into the rhythm even once until the final song of this first band.

The venue fell silent, and even after the band members left, the roar remained in her ears like an afterimage. Sora leaned her face toward Rokugen, who was standing next to her, and spoke.

"Maybe it's because the sound is too loud, but I couldn't really tell what they were playing."

"It's fairly common for bands that aren't used to live performances to sound like that. Also, it might be partly because your ears aren't used to the blast of sound, Sora."

Sora nodded and then turned her eyes back to the stage.

The student who had appeared first to give the greeting appeared on stage, and the spotlight returned to its original color, overlapping there. At the same time, the members of the next band entered the darkened stage and began setting up their equipment and tuning their instruments. Rumi came right in front of where Sora and the others were positioned and began tuning her guitar.

"Are you guys having fun?"

When the emcee shouted, the students in the audience reacted and got excited.

"The next band is Merry. This band is centered around a first-year student who usually performs solo, Meri Unno, and was formed to appear at the after-festival. We have a comment from Ms. Unno. 'Uh, since I usually perform solo under the name Merry, I initially thought about naming this band Merries. But the guitarist helping me out this time told me that Merries sounds like diapers, so I used the same name as my solo act,' she says."

The audience was filled with laughter. Thinking that the guitarist was Rumi, it felt just like her, and Sora laughed too.

"Well, it looks like they're ready. Then, the second band, Merry. Go ahead."

As the emcee left the stage, the light color turned warm again, and a single-note phrase played by the guitar in the high register rang out. The guitar repeated a phrase that wasn't very long, and the drums, bass, and the guitar played by the vocalist joined in. Overall, the sound was much clearer than the previous band, and she could tell what they were playing. The vocalist was wearing a cute outfit with frills and had her hair tied in twin tails. She played the intro, approached the microphone stand, and winked at the start of the singing. Meri's crisp pronunciation and energetic singing were very charming. The guitar she played while singing wasn't doing anything difficult, but it was sharp, and she could clearly tell what kind of notes were being played. The guitar, drums, and bass played by Meri formed a properly completed ensemble. Rumi, who joined in, played in a way that kept playing the same phrase even when the chords changed. Rumi was playing the same phrase the whole time, but the chords of the other parts kept changing. By playing in a monotonous way, it seemed to add more color instead. Sora peeled her gaze away from Rumi, which tended to get sucked in, and tried to look at Meri as much as possible. She could see Rumi's performance anytime, and there seemed to be a lot to learn from Meri. Whenever there was even a slight gap in the melody, Meri would leave the microphone stand, walk around the stage, jump to the rhythm, or strike a pose to match the accents of the song. That calculated cuteness was powerfully driving the excitement of the audience. As they approached the chorus, she took her hands off the guitar, raised both hands, and urged the audience to clap along above their heads. People who had been pumping their fists until then also started clapping. Sora also swayed her body while clapping. Meri looked at the audience evenly, winking and smiling from time to time while she sang. Rumi's guitar solo, which entered during the interlude, rang out clearly enough that even the fine phrases could be heard.

When the first song ended, Sora spoke to Rokugen again.

"That vocalist girl is good, isn't she?"

"Yeah. She feels incredibly used to the stage. It's pretty amazing that she's only a first-year."

Sora had forgotten that Meri was a first-year until Rokugen mentioned it. After introducing the first song, Meri introduced the members and said that she usually records songs she writes and composes herself at home and posts them online. Meri also handled the MC between songs very naturally.

The second song was a ballad. Meri began to sing quietly while playing arpeggios. The band joined in halfway through, and Meri changed her singing style to match. Meri's vocals, stretching out in high notes, felt like a talented idol singer; it wasn't just that she was good, but her voice had a lot of charm. Sora understood the meaning behind Rumi telling her to come see this vocalist. Meri was a completely different type of singer from Sora, but her awareness of the audience and her guitar playing ability were both far superior to Sora's. She felt like she had more vocal volume than Meri, but she thought she couldn't beat Meri in any other aspect. Suddenly, she didn't understand why Rumi had chosen to start a band with Sora instead of Meri.

The second song ended, and Meri shouted, "This is the last song. Let's all have a great time. We'll be on the stage at the summer festival next, so everyone come see us." Immediately, the drum count came in, and an up-tempo, flashy song started. In this song, the arrangement had Meri's guitar and Rumi's guitar calling and responding to each other, and the two of them were playing in perfect sync while looking at each other on stage. Meri was doing this performance while singing, and Sora felt anxious about how much longer it would take for her to reach this point. This third song had a bright and fun tone, and the lyrics were also positive. Shizuku and Rokugen were swaying their bodies, and Sora-ma was also looking up at the stage with a smile. Rumi had said that she was only helping Meri for the school festival, but if Meri was also going to be at the summer festival, they would be competing on the same stage. She thought she didn't want to lose, but unfortunately, it was clear that with Sora's current ability, it wouldn't even be a contest, let alone a matter of winning or losing.

After Meri's band, about three upperclassman bands performed, but the best ones were Rumi and Meri. The two of them were clearly on a different level.

"Rumi and the others were the best, weren't they?"

Sora asked Rokugen as they were leaving the gymnasium.

"Yeah. Well, I think this is about what you'd expect. The other bands are at the level of a normal light music club, but there's something strange about Rumi and Meri."

"Meri-chan said she's performing at the summer festival, too. She's a formidable opponent."

"My arms are itching to play."

When Rokugen said that, she flexed her thin arm to show off a muscle that looked rather weak. Seeing that, Sora remembered that Rokugen was also someone with skills that far surpassed those of a normal light music club member.

When they left the gymnasium, Rumi and the others were waiting.

"Hey!"

Standing next to Rumi, who was waving, was Meri, who had changed back into her school uniform.

"Hi. I'm Meri Umino. Thanks for watching."

Meri said that and gave a little bow. She was such a normal student that it was hard to believe she was the same person who had been leading the audience on stage just a moment ago. Seeing her face-to-face like this, Meri was shorter than Sora and looked small. Thinking about how this person could shine so brightly on stage made Sora feel anxious again. She couldn't help but wonder if she had that kind of power herself.

"It was amazing. I was surprised because you were so good at everything."

Sora put her thoughts into words and forced a smile.

"Rumi and the others are performing at the summer festival too, right?"

Meri said, looking around at the group gathered there.

"Yeah. We're planning to."

Rumi replied.

"I'm planning to perform solo. Let's meet again then. I'm looking forward to hearing the sound of Rumi's pride-and-joy band."

Meri said this while looking around at each person there again, then let her gaze rest on Sora and smiled.

“Well, I’ll be going now. Thanks for watching, really. See you later.”

Meri said this while staring straight at Sora, then walked away while waving her hand. Sora waved back with a smile that looked like it had been pasted onto her face.

“So, where’s Shizuku’s friend?”

“Oh, right. Yes, this is Tomonari-kun, who is in the same class as me and Sora.”

“I’m Kuma Tomonari. You’re really amazing at guitar.”

Kuma greeted her more confidently than he had during the day.

“Thanks.”

“I make music using a DAW, and I was wondering if you could play guitar for me. When I talked to Minashigawa-san about it, she said she’d introduce us.”

“I don’t mind helping with the recording at all. How are you planning to record it?”

“I’ll bring the recording equipment, so any location is fine. It’s battery-powered, so I could even do it outdoors.”

“I see. Hey, we’re having band practice next week, right?”

Rumi asked Sora.

“Yeah. We haven’t decided on anything yet, but I think everyone is planning on it.”

Rokugen and Kotona nodded.

“Then, why don’t you have Shizuku bring Tomonari-kun along again, and you can record at that practice studio?”

Rumi looked at Shizuku as she said this.

“I’m fine with that anytime. If next week works for you, Tomonari-kun, I’ll bring you along.”

“Thank you. Next week is fine. I have the audio and the sheet music, so I’ll hand them over to you.”

Saying this, Kuma took off the backpack he was carrying and pulled out a flash drive and some printed sheet music.

“Huh? Wait, was it already decided that I’d be doing this?”

Shizuku said in surprise.

"It's not set in stone, but I thought I'd ask you if it seemed good, so I brought it along."

"Thanks. I'll give it a listen."

Rumi said this as she accepted the memory stick and the sheet music.

"Hey, would you mind if I took a look at the sheet music too?"

Kuura asked Kuuma.

"Of course."

Rumi, who had been watching the exchange, spread out the sheet music she had received from Kuuma and showed it to Kuura.

"I was thinking of using it as a reference for how to write sheet music."

"This is sheet music exported from the DTM software I used for programming, so it's printed properly and is very professional. If you're just bringing a song to a band, it doesn't have to be this formal. The important thing is that you can tell the number of measures and the chords."

Kuura nodded while looking over the sheet music.

"This sheet music of Tomonari-kun's has the tempo, the feel of the rhythm, the rhythmic accents, and also things like this, which are called unisons, where it gives instructions to play the same phrase as other parts. With this, it's really sheet music that you could play properly even without a reference recording. When arranging in a band, we can talk about the tempo while actually playing, saying things like 'about this much,' and we can show the accents while playing, saying 'like this,' so as long as the sheet music shows the chords and the number of measures, it's fine."

"Thanks. I'll try to put the song I wrote into some kind of sheet music and bring it to practice next week too."

*

As usual, because there were few buses, they all ended up riding the same one, and the group headed to Rumi's house while chatting. Kuuma was gradually getting used to it and had become a full-fledged member of the group.

When they arrived at the practice space, Rumi was playing her guitar along to the demo recording she had received from Kuuma. It was a familiar sight for Kuura to see Rumi, but today was different from usual; a music stand was set up in front of Rumi, and the sheet music was spread out on it.

"Hey there."

When Kotona waved and called out, Rumi stopped playing, stood up, stopped the music that was playing, and said, "Good morning."

"Have you been practicing here the whole time, Rumi?"

Rokugen asked.

Yeah. It's so comfortable here that I haven't been to the studio lately. Sora comes over quite often on weekdays, and we practice together.

Wait. Seriously? Why didn't you invite me?

Kotona pressed Sora for an answer.

Oh. Right. I forgot you quit the club, so you're free to come over.

Exactly. You're being so distant. If you two are practicing together, you should have told me.

I can come over on weekdays too, you know.

Rokugen added.

I'm usually back by about 4:30 on weekdays, but just let me know in advance so you don't come all the way here for nothing. You're welcome to come whenever I'm around.

How often does Sora come over?

Hmm, I think I came every day this week. Rumi was here a lot because of the school festival makeup days and stuff.

Every day? Hey! Call me. Call me too.

Kotona said, fidgeting. Everyone laughed at the sight.

Sorry, the idea of inviting the other members completely slipped my mind.

Sora said with a laugh.

Well then, shall we get Tomonari-kun's recording done first?

Once the laughter died down, Rumi said this, and Kuma replied, "Please do," as he took a small device out of the not-so-large backpack he had been carrying. It was about the same size as the recording equipment Shizuku always carried.

Can you really record with such a small machine?

Yeah. With this, I can play back the rough mix accompaniment while recording the guitar in stereo onto it.

That's amazing.

Rumi connected Kuma's recorder to the practice room's mixer and then connected the guitar's effector board to Kuma's recorder.

“Hey, how many guitar parts can you record?”

“As many as you want. You can copy the recorded tracks to keep them safe, and then keep layering them while mixing them into the original backing track, so you can record as much as you like.”

“Okay. I’ve got two parts, but I want to record them in four separate takes.”

Rumi said this, strummed her guitar, and turned down the volume on the mixer.

“Oh, I see. Rumi’s guitar is going into Tomonari-kun’s recorder and then to the mixer, so the guitar amp isn’t making any sound.”

When Sora said that, Rumi nodded and said, “Yeah.”

Preparations were complete, and the recording started. With Sora, who was just watching, feeling very nervous, Rumi showed a calm performance while recording. After playing through the song once, Sora-ma operated the machine to save the recorded data, and for the next recording, created a backing track that mixed the guitar Rumi had just played into the original accompaniment. While playing the new backing track, Rumi performed the next part over it. For the third take, she recorded the parts with special sounds using an effector, and for the fourth, she recorded the guitar solo section.

“Amazing. So this is how you build music by layering it like this.”

“I mean, it’s crazy that she finishes everything in one take. She said she’d do it in four parts, and she really finished it in exactly four.”

Rokugen said with a sigh.

“I’ll play back a rough mix for you.”

Sora-ma said this and operated the small recorder to play it back. The guitar parts Rumi had just played and recorded were now split left and right, creating an easy-to-listen-to sound. Only after hearing it this way did Sora realize that the two guitar parts Rumi played were partially calling and responding to each other, with one phrase answering the other. This was surely the kind of guitar arrangement Rumi was aiming for, and she felt that this left-side part was exactly the kind of guitar expected of her. Through her duo practice with Rumi, Sora had begun to understand how to play rhythm guitar in a band, but she was still far from having the skill to perform on par with Rumi. She wanted to be able to play at least as well as Meri, whom she had seen at the school festival, by the time the summer festival arrived. Listening to the multi-tracked performance Rumi had recorded alone, Sora felt that way even more strongly.

“How is it? Is it okay? If there’s anything you want me to do differently, I can try.”

“No, it’s fine. This is perfect. I wanted to use live guitar for this song, so this really helps. Thank you.”

Sora-ma said, looking a bit excited.

“If you want to make other parts live performances too, feel free to consult us anytime. STUNNUTS will cooperate.”

Rokugen said.

“This band is full of skilled people, it’s like a gathering of studio musicians.”

These words, as described by Shizuku, caused a pain somewhere in Sora, like a fish bone stuck in her throat. But for now, Sora didn’t yet know what the true nature of that pain was.

《To be continued》

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