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[Piano v1] Chapter 11: Desert, Heart, Kashmir

 As suspected, the part where they were playing Kashmir was the most

difcult or this chapter. I managed somehow. For now. The dreaded

Chapter 13 cant come slow enough.

!n"oy. For now.

####################

 Three days later, in the evening, Chiaki brought the scores to my house.

"Why haven't you come to the roof in the past few days? ou went home

right after school today too! enpai's really worried about you!"

#s usual, the uniformed Chiaki climbed the tree in the courtyard and

s$uee%ed in through the window of my room. he said that as she shook a

stack of handwritten scores in her hand.

"&mm......"

twirled the wires of my headphones and vaguely answered,

"omehow, don't feel too motivated these days."

"That's not something someone who lacks any motivation to begin with

can say."

became even more depressed. climbed into my bed and pulled my

blanket over my head.

"orry, my bad."

Chiaki sat ne(t to my pillow and pulled the blanket away from my face.

he then asked,

")id *bisawa say something to you again?"

didn't reply, and instead, covered my face with my pillow. ince the day

went to apologi%e to &afuyu, haven't once touched my bass. &y brain

was a total mess.

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"+ey, are you going to say things like you wanna $uit?"

"...... &aybe."

had already prepared myself to endure Chiaki's punch or triangle choke,but instead, she looked up at the ceiling and said nothing for a long while.

"...... thought we could nally start a band or something."

heard her mumbling something. -or a moment, thought was thinking

too much of it. #s lifted my head to look at Chiaki's face, she pressed a

score sheet into mine.

"enpai spent so much eort converting that /eethoven piece into scores

for the bass, all 0ust for you!"

la%ily stared at the tadpoles dancing on the ve1line sta.

"2o, can't do it. can't possibly play this piece of music."

"That's because you haven't practiced, right?"

Chiaki was absolutely right, so lay myself on my bed and hid myself

under the blanket. uddenly, Chiaki pressed her entire body weight on an

area near my waist, and began practicing drumming basics on my

back. Crotchet, $uaver, triplets, semi$uaver...... she actually used her

drum sticks, accurately hitting my back to the rhythm.

"Chiaki, that hurts!"

" know."

What's with the " know"!? What sort of answer is that! he continueddrumming the rhythms on my back while maintaining a (ed tempo.

/efore long, my mind became la(.

"#ll people feel hurt if they're hit directly in their heart."

had no idea what she was talking about. till, began imagining the pain

of my heart being drummed on. t's probably agoni%ing enough to make

corpses 0ump out of their graves in pain.

don't know if Chiaki was getting more and more into it, but she slowly

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began drumming some $uavers. omehow, it felt like my head was the

cymbal and my right hand, the 3oor tom. Wait, stop4&iss Chiaki, that

really hurts! /efore long, the piece suddenly entered the chorus. he

began lightly rapping semi$uavers on my left shoulder, which served as a

replacement for the snare drum.

"Chiaki, wait, that hurts! said it hurts!"

kept moving about beneath the blanket, but my opponent was a retired

black belt in 5udo4she knew e(actly where she needed to apply force to

render me immobile. n the end, had to wait till she nished drumming

the whole piece before was freed from beneath her butt.

")o you know what song that was?"

Chiaki asked me that $uestion after nally managed to escape from

under the blanket. # naughty smile appeared on her face.

"6nicorn's 7+ige to /oin8?" 9T:2ote; 6nicorn is a 0ap rock band<

"=h, you're $uite sharp."

 Though such cases are rare, 0ust like the how 7tand by &e8 can be

recogni%ed 0ust by the bass line, some songs can be recogni%ed instantly

 0ust by listening to the drums. #ctually, this miracle might've happened

purely because Chiaki and had grown up listening to similar music since

our days in kindergarten, before 6nicorn disbanded.

"/ut sadly, the answer is 7#sia no 5unshin8."

"o you're 0ust toying with me!?" To think had thought of it as a miracle4

doesn't that make me an idiot?

"2ot at all. We still have to do our best, even if life is boring! 'll root for

you, 0ust a little."

With that, she grabbed the shoes she had placed on my desk, and 0umped

out the window...... why can't you 0ust leave through the main door?

was alone yet again. sat on my bed and picked up the scores Chiaki left

behind. The theme was really simple and the tempo was $uite slow as well

4 thought could probably play it right o the bat. 6p till the point wherethe second, third and fourth voices gradually overlapped, there was no

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gFF6AYGgckhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn_(Japanese_band)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQPcXzvq7Rshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn_(Japanese_band)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQPcXzvq7Rshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gFF6AYGgck

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change in the di>culty of the part was supposed to play. +owever, the

variation before that was much more complicated, and for the fugue,

actually had to play a melody as di>cult as &afuyu's, right till the very

end. That's 0ust impossible no matter how you look at it! tossed the

scores aside, lay down, and stared at the ceiling for a while. &y back wasstill a little sore from Chiaki's drumming.

 Things like how the pieces were too di>cult, or how had no motivation at

all4they were all e(cuses. knew that perfectly well. o, Chiaki might've

known as well. was 0ust ashamed of myself. didn't understand the

situation surrounding &afuyu at all, and yet, enthusiastically challenged

her to a ght. To get back the classroom so could kill time after school4

 0ust for something as stupid as that? What an idiot was. /ut that was

even more reason why couldn't give up at a point like this, or else 'd

become an even bigger idiot than already was.

$uickly grabbed the scores and went to the living room to take my bass

out from its case.

#s was tuning the instrument, a string suddenly snapped in two. t felt

like it was telling me couldn't possibly do it.

lay on the sofa and planned to 0ust sleep it o, but the area on my back

where Chiaki had drummed began to hurt again. #nd so, stued the

scores in the case, lifted the case onto my back and walked out the main

door.

 The skies were already growing dark when reached 2agashima's &usical

nstrument tore. Through a gap about as wide as a pencil, could see all

sorts of guitars displayed in the shop they were glowing under the display

lights. omehow, the scene felt so nostalgic almost teared from my eyes. had only gone to the shop once, so why did feel that way?

@agura%aka1senpai was tending the store alone, as there were no

customers. he was on the other side of the counter. 6sing a piece of

yellow cloth, she carefully and tenderly cleaned the neck of a guitar that

had its strings removed.

"oung man, here am thinking it was about time for you to come! 'm

really happy, yeah?"

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6pon noticing me, she put the guitar down and stood up.

"ou're here to buy strings for your bass, right?"

0umped in shock and nodded my head in a da%e. +ow did enpai know?

"There's something 'll have to apologi%e to you for."

#s she said that, she took out the bass strings from a rack and brought

them to the side of the counter, which housed a lot of compartments.

"...... Which is?"

" actually did something to the third string, so that it would snap more

easily."

"+aa?" gave a strange cry. "Why did you do that?"

"ou burn1out really easily, right? thought you might coop yourself up in

your house if you started to get tired of it halfway through. f your string

happened to snap right then...... ee, isn't that a perfect e(cuse for you to

come see me?"

"o let me pay for that!" enpai smiled as she took three thousand1yen

bills out of her wallet and put them in the cash register. Compared to

strings for the guitar, strings for the bass are shockingly pricey, but the

shop owners always help you change them. was surprised, and for a

moment, couldn't speak. had always thought tuning would cause the

strings to wear easily, but in actual fact, the strings don't break that

readily?

"What did you plan to do if decided to give up on the bass because of the

broken string?"

"Then there'd be nothing else could do. had thought about it before4'll

give up if things are not fated to be. +owever, you still came running to

me, right?"

enpai said that with a smiling face, so there was nothing much for me to

say.

"ou got the score?"

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nodded my head and took the score4which was hand1notated by enpai

4out from my bass case.

"o, you're not here to complain about how the score is too di>cult for

you, right?"

"2o...... nothing." moved my eyes away and cooked up a lie.

"+ow far have you played?"

"...... 6p to about the fourth variation, but 've been stuck there ever since.

couldn't play the fugue at all, and don't even think it's possible for me

to do so."

enpai $uickly nished tuning the newly1strung bass and began to play

the fugue while sitting on the counter. listened to it with a complicated

feeling.

 The music that came from &afuyu's guitar felt like it was directly shaved

out from a giant pillar of ice. n contrast, @agura%aka1senpai's performance

felt like the fro%en rays of winter4her music appears all of a sudden, and

pierces right through the clouds. t was really unbelievable to hear such

clear sounds 3ow smoothly, without any hiccups.

#fter she was done with her performance, enpai returned the bass to me.

-or a while, couldn't bring myself to face her.

"t's not that hard! didn't use any special techni$ues either. 5ust reduce

the tempo by half, and carefully play through each and every note."

"enpai......"

$uietly muttered that with my head still lowered.

"+mm?"

"Why can't you recruit &afuyu by yourself? ou play better than me

anyway."

")idn't tell you already? t has to be you."

shook my head weakly.

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"*ven if it's me, can't converse much with &afuyu either. he's not

willing to tell me anything, and all do is make her angry......"

enpai took two round stools out from behind the counter, and placed

them in the aisle displaying the guitars. he then pressed on my shouldersto make me sit down.

"t's not 0ust that."

"...... *h?" lifted my head. enpai shifted her sight away from my face

slightly, letting her ga%e slowly 3oat upwards.

"That's not all there is to it. ou see, before knew about the e(istence of

*bisawa &afuyu, had already known about you."

gradually found it di>cult to breathe. What's enpai talking about now?

"oung man, you're familiar with a music maga%ine called '-riends of

&usicians,' right? n the 5uly issue, two years back, read a criti$ue that

was published in it the title was, '+andel and the verses in the bible.' The

article's roughly about how +andel's pieces, including those that aren't

music, can all be interpreted as verses. *ven though the logic's a little far1

fetched, it still felt rather ama%ing. t's a rather touching article."

was still da%ed as hugged my bass tightly with my arms.

=f course know that article. t's because, that criti$ue4

" took a look at the name of the writer; it was +ikawa Tetsurou, a critic

whom was very familiar with. +owever, something didn't feel $uite right.

 The article was written in *nglish simple enough for middle school

students to read, and the e(amples cited in it should not have e(isted in

the middle school education +ikawa Tetsurou should have received, as hewas already in his forties."

"#h......"

 There's...... There's actually someone who notices something like that?

"That strange feeling caused me to shift my suspicion to the whole article.

brought out older maga%ines and scrutini%ed them, rereading every

single criti$ue written by +ikawa Tetsurou. omehow, a few articles stoodout from the rest, and all these articles shared the same weird feeling as

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well. also searched through a few C) reviews and managed to nd one

for 7-inlandia8, played by /erlin Ahilharmonic =rchestra and conducted

by @ara0an in BD."

gulped. &y dry throat was sore.

"+owever, couldn't nd any more concrete evidence after that, and

didn't know anyone from the publisher either. #ll knew was that +ikawa

 Tetsurou had a child. /ecause, for some unknown reason, he had written

about his son in $uite a few of his articles, and had even written out his

name. Therefore, when saw that name in the booklet containing the

names of all the newcomers4 guess you can understand how shocked

was, right?"

With a light smile on her face, enpai prodded my nose with her nger.

"The criminal is you."

"...... 6rm, what do you mean by criminal?"

"#ll my deductions are correct, right?"

enpai suddenly moved her face close to mine, and could only nod my

head.

 There was actually someone in this world who, 0ust by reading the articles

alone, could identify the articles had written under Tetsurou's name.

"Therefore, had already been paying attention to you for a long time,

young man. need a secretary in my revolutionary army, and can't think

of anyone that's more suitable for that position than you. Thus, 'm not

asking you to 0ust 0oin along the way as try to recruit *bisawa &afuyu."

enpai placed her hands on my shoulders.

"4 want you."

)on't say something like that to me when you're at such a close distance

and when we're all alone. &y mind was a mess, and couldn't say

anything. n order to avoid enpai's ga%e, turned my head away and

packed my bass.

"+owever, for someone like me......"

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conrmed the touch of my case.

"t's not like the band will benet from me 0oining. can't play as well as

&afuyu, and 'll probably never catch up to her. #ll this time, 've......always been listening to music by myself."

enpai narrowed her eyes and stared at me for $uite a while. he then

suddenly diverted her ga%e, and yelled behind me.

"Comrade #ihara, it's about time you show yourself. Want to come in?"

turned my head around in shock. Chiaki was standing in the shadows of

the few guitars ne(t to the door. he $uietly showed herself. There was a

gentle e(pression on her face.

"ou must have stalked young man all the way here, right? #s e(pected of 

a ghter in my revolutionary army. ou're $uite adept at stealth missions

as well."

" didn't stalk him." Chiaki said that angrily and stomped all the way over.

"enpai, you can't say things that'll frighten 2ao!"

"That 0ealous look of yours is really cute too!"

enpai patted Chiaki's head lovingly. looked at Chiaki with a

dumbfounded e(pression.

)id she really stalk me all the way here? s that really true or not?

Chiaki glared at me while saying, " 0ust so happened to come here to take

a look around, and it 0ust so happened that 2ao was already inside, so itwas inconvenient for me to enter." enpai consoled her by saying, "

understand, understand."

"Comrade #ihara, did you bring your drum sticks along?"

"...... )rum sticks?" Chiaki tilted her head, then nodded.

"&mm. 'll go wake up the sleeping store manager inside and borrow the

key to the studio."

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enpai shifted her ga%e to me, then formed a gun with her hand and red

a pretend shot at my chest.

"oung man, let me light your passion abla%e."

 The third 3oor of 2agashima's &usical nstrument tore was modied into

a studio for rent. There were two tightly1shut doors along the long and

narrow passageway. #fter opening the door before me, was greeted by a

room four1and1a1half1tatami big. #bout half the room was occupied by the

drums, with two giant guitar ampliers standing on each side. There were

also mikes and recording e$uipment, as well as an asphy(iating smell of

smoke.

"'ve specially allowed you guys in, all thanks to the benets receive as

an employee here." #nd with that, @agura%aka1senpai pushed me into the

studio. Chiaki followed as well.

"Whoa4 it's been a long time since 've played on real drums."

Chiaki sat in the middle of the drum set and was tuning the snare drum

rather happily.

@agura%aka1senpai then connected my bass and her guitar to the

ampliers. enpai's guitar was a Eibson :es Aaul, which was said to cost a

million yen4though had no idea whether that was true or not. f so, that

was probably part of the old "+istoric Collection" series. -rom the colors of 

the guitar, it should have been a replica of the FG's series?

slung the strap of the bass across my shoulder, then plucked the string

once timidly. #n unbearable noise lled the small and cramped studio.

-or some strange reason, was led into this studio by her, 0ust like that......

"There's no need for you to play something that's overly di>cult, young

man. ou 0ust have to follow the drums and play ) in $uavers, that's all."

"+aa."

Chiaki lifted her drum sticks high into the air and said, "enpai, are you

ready?"

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 The two of them e(changed glances for a second. #t the e(act instant the

sound of the cymbals disappeared, became surrounded by music that

moved forward at a heavy pace. Chiaki began to hit a series of powerful

$uavers with the hi1hat, and on the drums, she was overlapping the

$uavers with triplets. The slowly1rising and screeching guitar ris were likethe faltering footsteps of a traveler heading towards the sea with a cane

in his hand.

tried tapping along to Chiaki's rhythm, then $uietly strummed the bass.

nitially, couldn't believe that the low notes that were pressing up against

my abdomen were actually coming from my bass. The three dierent

melodies began to blend together stiHy, and entwined4

 Then came the sound of a singing voice4

t was the voice of @agura%aka1senpai.

t was like the whispers of the night in the desert4though her voice was

slightly hoarse, it transmitted all the way to the hori%on at the other end.

t was :ed Ieppelin's 7@ashmir8.

t was a song that had heard countless times. listened to this song in

bed4deep in the middle of the night4on repeat, a countless number of

times. #nd now, my ngers were etching out the pulse of the song.

n the areas the song fell silent, the guitar replied with a similar phrase of

music. Chiaki maintained her footsteps and marched on continuously and

endlessly. already erased whatever enpai had told me from my mind.

When the guitar began playing the winding stretches of the #rabian1style

music, began searching for the low notes hidden within the song, and

wove them out with my ngertips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfR_HWMzgychttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfR_HWMzgyc

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really felt the song could continue on forever.

 That was why, when the song nally stopped, felt as though were left

alone in a desolate desert. The room was lled with a rumbling sound, but

could no longer determine whether that was 0ust the noise, the echoes,

or the memories of 7@ashmir8 that had seeped into my ears.

Chiaki's face was 3ushed red, and she stared at me, her forehead lled

with sweat. # seemingly triumphant smile appeared on her face. turned

my sight away, and this time, the graceful sight of @agura%aka1senpai

appeared before my eyes.

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don't know why4but couldn't look right into her face.

"...... oung man, what do you think the bass is?"

slowly lifted my head. There was no smile on enpai's face, but her ga%ewas gentle.

"f we're to view the band as a person, then the lead singer would be the

head, and the guitar, the hands......"

enpai moved her sight away from her hands and directed it towards

Chiaki.

"f the drums were the legs, then which part do you think the bass

represents?"

couldn't answer enpai's riddle. -rom the moment was born, up till now,

had always assumed the role of someone who simply accepted things.

enpai nally broke into a gentle smile, and $uickly walked towards me.

he placed her palm on my chest, which made me 0ump in shock. &y body

fro%e.

"t's this, young man."

#s we stared face to face, enpai looked straight into my eyes and

continued,

"The heart. ou understand now? Without you, we would not be able to

move."

was stunned speechless. replied to her, not through words, but through

the pulse of my heart.

f were to view the band as a person.

was not moving forward by following in their footsteps. #s someone who

placed himself in a sound shared with others for the very rst time, that

was something was certain of. f were to listen to the C) alone in my

room, probably would've never understood that.

Jight then, was probably thinking the same thing as enpai. f only&afuyu were here4

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 The sound of that guitar. f only it were here4

gripped the neck of my bass tightly. nally understood4that was my

reason for playing the bass. t wasn't an e(cuse, but an actual reason4itwas so could transmit this bla%ing heat to &afuyu

[Piano v1] Chapter 12: Memories, Promise, Excuses

$eres 1%. !n"oy.

####################

 The following two weeks passed by in a 3ash as we engrossed ourselves in

our practice, and before long, the end of &ay had arrived. The skin on myleft ngertips was hard like dried soil. /ecause the strings of the bass are

much thicker than those of the guitar, the positions of the calluses on my

ngers were slightly dierent from those on @agura%aka1senpai's.

"ou look more like a bassist now."

enpai couldn't help but let out a loud laugh when our ngertips came

into contact like in the scene with the alien in *.T. +owever, the calluses

had slightly changed my sense of touch4which aected my work when was doing something delicate with machines4so they were a little

inconvenient.

+owever, before issuing a challenge to &afuyu, there was a matter that

re$uired me to utili%e my hobby of fooling around with machines.

=n the fourth Thursday of &ay, ran straight to the courtyard after school.

#t the same time, Chiaki tried to stall &afuyu by any means possible4

though, optimistically speaking, she could probably only keep her forabout twenty minutes. 'd have to win this battle with speed. started with

picking the padlock, which took me less than a minute. Then, turned the

handle slightly, as usual, and opened the lock to enter the room.

Jeplaying the imaginary scenarios had run through my head earlier,

took the tools and wires out of my bag and began to work on the amplier.

swiftly opened the back cover, bringing the internals of the machine into

full view. had worked on the ampliers several times before, so rewiring

the circuits wasn't much of a problem it was hiding the newly1e(tended

wire that took up the bulk of the time.

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#fter everything was done, locked the padlock. 5ust as was about to

round the corner to return to the main building, accidentally bumped into

&afuyu.

 The two of us 0ust stood there without moving. 2either of us had our eyesfocused on the other party.

*ver since that day, we hardly spoke to each other. /ecause of that, those

fellas in class were complaining about how their only source of information

regarding the Arincess was blocked o. +owever, none of them knew the

details behind the situation.

#s began to walk past her, &afuyu spoke.

"+ave you...... given up already?"

"...... *h?"

"/ass. ou used to play it on the roof."

"'m still playing it, yeah? t's 0ust that 've been practicing on the roof of

the northern building, because don't wanna disturb someone who has

une(ceptionally sharp ears."

":iar. looked for you there as well, but you weren't around."

 That was indeed a lie. Jecently, 've been going to 2agashima's &usical

nstrument tore to get a bassist, whom enpai knew, to take a look at

and oversee my practice. #s had no intention of letting her know about

my fervent practicing, wove that lie.

"...... ou 0ust said you looked for me? What do you mean by that?"

"#h, that's...... you don't have to mind that, it's nothing. 'm 0ust slightly

worried."

&afuyu's voice became even more an(ious, and she shook her head

repeatedly.

"'m 0ust wondering...... if you are still thinking about that incident back

then?"

0umped in shock, and turned around. t seemed like &afuyu was nding it

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di>cult to speak, and she kept staring at her ngers.

"Alease forget about that. 'm totally ne, so you do not have to be

concerned about it."

Alease forget it. 've heard that countless times from &afuyu already.

felt a slight anger stirring within me. guess 'll 0ust tell her my feelings

truthfully4

":ook, what do you think the human brain is? =ur brains aren't like some

hard disk do you think a simple '&emory delete' from you will make me

go, '=h, like this?' and 'll forget everything?"

&afuyu's eyes widened, and she took a step back.

" forgot nothing, and in fact, remember everything clearly. ou said, ')o

you think you can catch up to me by playing the bass?' Well, let's have a

showdown tomorrow after school."

"...... What do you mean by 'have a showdown'?"

"# showdown between my bass and your guitar, that's what. f can keep

up with you all the way till the end, in terms of playing, then it'll be my

victory. f win, 'll be allowed to use that room. #nd if lose, 'll never get

close ever again."

"#re you serious...... about that?"

=f course! /ut said nothing more, and walked past &afuyu 0ust like that.

 To be honest, wasn't even remotely condent about winning. /ut

@agura%aka1senpai did say before, that she'd make me win the showdowntherefore, it wasn't " will win," but "she will make victory mine."

# person who'd use all sorts of Kunderhanded?L methods to get her hands

on whatever she wants4a chill ran down my spine when considered the

fact that those few words from her mouth were enough to grant me so

much courage. guess the only person can depend on right now is her.

"oung man, you've become $uite good with words."

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@agura%aka1senpai said that to me when reached the roof. t seemed she

had watched us from the fence.

" really can't believe you were that born loser three weeks ago."

")on't call me a born loser!" shifted my sight away from enpai. had no

idea why, but ever since that day, felt rather embarrassed whenever

looked straight at her.

"When really think about it, there's nothing for me to lose in this

showdown. can't currently use that practice room anyway, so nothing

changes even if lose. t's 0ust like the rock1paper1scissors match had

with enpai back then."

+alf the reason for that sort of twisted thinking was self1mockery.

+owever, enpai sat down ne(t to me while hugging the bass, and 3ashed

me a satised smile.

"o you still remember what did during that match."

looked at the side of enpai's face and nodded my tilted head. /ack

then, enpai declared a match against me, and held a pick in1between her

inde( nger and middle nger. 6pon seeing that, thought she was trying

to trick me into thinking she wouldn't throw scissors, so 0ust went for it4

with my brain a huge mess, threw out rock. n the end, lost to enpai.

+owever, enpai laughed loudly and said,

"#ctually, wasn't trying to read your thoughts so could use them against

you. *ven if did that, it wouldn't increase the odds of me winning such a

simple game. What do you think is the surere method of winning rock1

paper1scissors?"

"*h?" That means enpai had used a sure1win strategy?

"t's simple. 5ust throw out last."

"+uh?"

"There was actually no special reason for holding the pick in1between my

ngers, other than to confuse you so you'd throw out your choice at my

tempo. That was all. Jemember this well; the sure1win strategy is to golast."

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was shocked speechless, and 0ust stared at enpai's triumphant face.

 Then, let out a long sigh in1between my knees. t was impossible. Jight

from the very beginning, had no chance of winning against someone like

her.

"t has always been said that battles are won long before they have even

started4that's e(actly what it means by that. Which means, how you lure

your opponent into your territory is of critical importance. =h right, do you

know the reason chose this song for your showdown against &afuyu? 'll

tell you."

With that, she took the scores out of a le in a case behind us, and spread

the sheets out before us. he then said, "There are four reasons why

picked this piece."

"ou should've told me right at the beginning!" That thought 3ashed past

my mind for a brief moment. -or the past few days, had asked myself,

while practicing, "Why this piece?" +owever, after listening to enpai's

lengthy e(planation, could only answer with a sigh.

"4o, are you slowly believing that you have a chance of winning this?"

"&mm...... # little."

answered truthfully. The chance of me winning has increased multiple

folds4it's G.MN now! That's probably how feel right now. enpai bumped

her shoulder into mine as she laughed.

"That's good enough! =nly you will know how your battle will unfold. #ll

know are the results of my own battles, because won't be taking part in

the battle between you two."

"f you took my place, you'd win...... is that what enpai is trying to say?"

asked weakly. enpai answered me with a slightly angry voice.

"Could actually win?"

looked at enpai's face in shock.

")idn't say already? t has to be you."

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couldn't reply to that, so lowered my head again.

enpai suddenly took out a piece of paper and used it to poke the tip of

my nose.

"Well then, this is the nal preparation. ign this rst so you're mentally

prepared for it. This copy's for *bisawa &afuyu."

lifted my head to take a look. t was the application form for 0oining a

club, printed out on coarse paper4there were two of them. -or both the

applications, the words "-olk &usic Jesearch Club" were written neatly4

using a pen4in the bo( where the applicant was supposed to provide the

name of the club of interest.

shifted my eyes away and tried to divert the topic.

"6rm...... guess 'll 0ust...... keep these two forms for now."

"Why? 've already taught you so much about the bass. Could it be......

that you actually hate me? s that it?"

Alease don't look at me with such a sorrowful e(pression. ou're obviously

faking it.

"&mm, how should put it?"

lifted the bass o my knees.

" don't feel 'm $ualied. The standards of both enpai and Chiaki are too

high for me."

" said it before already, didn't ? 'm not asking you to follow us. We will

be the ones to follow you."

/ecause the bass is the heart. know that, but still......

"till, can't decide if 'm going to 0oin the club or not. #t least, not for

now. Therefore......"

lifted the bass and stared at its strings.

"Therefore, if manage to win against &afuyu and make her 0oin theclub......"

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"f you can beat her, you'll 0oin us too?"

nodded in reply.

f it wasn't like that, 'd denitely regret it. t somehow felt like had no say

in everything that was laid out before me.

"Then...... what will you do if you lose?" That sentence from enpai left me

breathless due to shock. hadn't thought about that.

+owever, have to make my decision right now.

"...... f lose, 'll continue to play the bass4however, won't 0oin the club.

enpai has been looking after me this whole time, so can't bring myself

to say things like...... 'please allow me to 0oin the club even if lose.'"

#fter a short moment of silence, could hear enpai let out a gentle sigh

ne(t to me.

"'ve only come to understand this recently, but you are a man with really

strong self1esteem."

he showed a gentle smile. could barely keep my eyes open any longer,

and shifted my ga%e away after a brief look at her face.

"We'll treat this as a promise between us, for the day that's still faraway.

 eah, let's do 0ust that."

enpai took a screwdriver out of my bag4without my consent4and

removed the back cover of my bass. he folded the two application forms

in half and stued them into the empty space between all the wiring. he

then screwed the cover back in place.

"...... Why are you putting them in a place like that?"

"Try listening to it. There should be the faint sound of the papers rubbing

against each other."

placed the bass back on my knees. Then, enpai strummed the strings.

 The sound of the papers rubbing against each other4

"2ope, hear nothing?"

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"/ut can hear it!" our ears are comparable to those of a cat. "#nd

maybe *bisawa &afuyu can hear it too. he's really sensitive to the sound

of paper rubbing against each other, right? These minute sounds may

aect her subconsciously, causing her to become uneasy and frustrated."

 There was such logic behind it?

"f you want to be a little more superstitious, it's a sort of spell. 5ust like

how the samurais sewed amulets of protection on their clothes."

enpai patted my bass.

"=ur promise will be with you the whole time. o don't you forget it."

#fter a moment of hesitation, nodded.

" wish you good luck."

0ust so happened to meet &iss &aki on my way home. #fter walking into

the ordinary carriage, which stopped at every station, she asked,

"eems like you've been chatting with &afuyu $uite a lot recently?"

shrunk my head as grabbed the overhead handles. had been caught

by a troublesome person.

"2o, you can't $uite consider that chatting."

"5ust be straightforward and tell her you'd love to share that room with

her. Why are all the boys so indirect?"

 ou think could say that? &e? To &afuyu?

"#nd also, what have you been doing recently? eems like you've been

together with the second1year @agura%aka $uite a lot, right?"

"=h, well......"

With her vice grip grabbing the back of my collar, had no choice but totell her the truth.

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"# guitar showdown?"

&iss &aki suddenly let out a strange sound, resulting in the rest of the

passengers directing their attention to us.

"hould say you're stupid, or that you're similar to @agura%aka......"

&iss &aki let out a sigh as she voiced her thoughts. Was @agura%aka1

senpai that famous among the teachers as well? he didn't seem to

attend any lessons, so perhaps, she was one of those so1called

"problematic students" or something?

"#nd &afuyu said she was okay with the proposal? +ow's that possible?"

"2o, she was 0ust stunned."

"eah, that's more like it! Then, what are you going to do? )o you really

want to do this?"

"igh, there are a lot of reasons behind this...... but 'll put my best into it."

replied vaguely. couldn't possibly tell &iss &aki about the various things

we did to make &afuyu participate in the showdown.

&iss &aki knitted her beautiful pair of eyebrows for a moment, and

pressed her nger against her temple.

":ook...... 'm very grateful to you for interacting with &afuyu, but don't

provoke her too much. he's a really delicate girl."

"=h."

*ven if she told me that...... for some unknown reason, couldn't help but

get angry at how she wanted me to be gentle towards &afuyu. That lass

has said many terrible things to me you know?

"&mm......" &iss &aki crossed her arms in front of her chest. +er

e(pression suggested that she didn't know what she should say. " think,

the ma0ority of the problems are due to a certain psychological issue she

has. Therefore4"

"....... What do you mean? What's this 'psychological issue' that &iss

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&aki's referring to?"

&iss &aki stared at me without saying a single word. he then mumbled

to herself in a hoarse voice, "f it's 2ao, it should be ne telling him......"

/ut she immediately shook her head and canceled that thought of hers.

" can't be the one to tell you this. t'd be best if &afuyu was willing to tell

you about it."

Asychological issues. recalled the time &afuyu was holding a bag of

medicine tightly in her hands.

o &afuyu was really sick? couldn't $uite see that from the outside, but if 

4

"6rm, &iss &aki......" thought of something else and decided to ask her

about it. "&afuyu...... heard she's about to transfer away soon. s that

true?"

"Transfer? Why?"

"...... #h, nothing."

he was disappearing in 5une. /ut...... what did that actually mean? said

nothing, and once again sank into my own thoughts. n any case, &afuyu

said nothing to me at all.

"# showdown through guitars huh...... that's youth for you! /ut that may

be a good thing as well."

&iss &aki smiled as she ga%ed into the distance.

"&afuyu has no intention of making friends. o even though it might beslightly unreasonable for me to support this, it's $uite a good idea to force

her to 0oin a club. #nd if she 0oins, 'll be the adviser for your club!"

"o you think...... can win?"

"2o, not at all."

&iss &aki answered immediately. gripped the handle hard and slumped

my head in disappointment.

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"+owever, heard she only started playing the guitar half a year ago."

"Jeally?" he can achieve such skill in 0ust half a year? Eod is really unfair.

"till, everyone will go through things like this, right? There are timeswhen you 0ust have to do the things you need to do. #ll the best, my boy.

f you make &afuyu cry, though, won't let you o the hook so easily."

With that, &iss &aki gave me a hard slap on the back.

 That night, Tetsurou wasn't home. received a short message from him via

cellphone; "'m drinking with a friend, so probably won't be home

tonight." was thinking of asking him a few more things about &afuyu, but

that guy was never around at the most crucial moments.

returned to my room and sat on my bed. #fter placing the bass on my

legs, my ngers began to unconsciously strum the strings. then reali%ed

was playing the bass of that piano concerto unknowingly.

t was the piece &afuyu was playing at the 0unkyard on the day we rst

met.

went into Tetsurou's room and began stacking the C)s of the various

piano concertos of the late romantic era, then brought them all into the

living room. spent the whole night listening to the C)s without pause, to

the point that even skipped my dinner. +owever, didn't manage to

locate the track in my memory. That wasn't surprising though, as there

are a few thousand piano concertos.

switched the sound system o and gave up on trying to nd it.

suddenly remembered my declaration to &afuyu when was tuning my

bass; "f lose, 'll never get close ever again." That line suddenly

appeared in my mind, but wow. What the heck was saying? What meant

was that 'll never get close to that room, and that 'll never get close to

&afuyu, right? #nd since our seats are right ne(t to each other, it will be

impossible for me not to be close to her, right? n the end, was endlessly

trying to e(plain things to some random unknown person in my mind.

What would happen if lost? kept thinking that.

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&y e(cuse for talking to &afuyu would disappear along with that as well,

right?

#nd did say wouldn't 0oin the -olk &usic Jesearch Club if lost. That was

because would have no condence in starting a band with enpai andChiaki should that happen.

recalled the song we played in the recording room that day47@ashmir8.

t was a wonderfully sweet e(perience that left me breathless it felt like

my body was burning in 3ames.

 There was nothing to lose4what an incredibly huge lie that was.

6nknown to me, there were many things around me that might end up

losing, things didn't want to lose.

f lost4

shook my head and threw that thought out of my mind. t was pointless

to think about all that now.

 Tomorrow4 could only do my best and rock on.

[Piano v1] Chapter 13: Eroica

&ince this is still lagging 'ehind !den, Ill do chapter 1( as well.

 And its horri'ly difcult, to the point where its enough or me to )eep it

in its trial status. Though I dont thin) completing *ol 1 is that much o a

 pro'lem.

 Also, i theres anything wrong with the musical technicalities o the

chapter, please let me )now.

!n"oy.

####################

 The skies, on the last -riday of &ay, were lled with dark clouds. couldn't

fall asleep, so headed to school early in the morning. #s soon as

entered the classroom, was immediately surrounded by my classmates.

" heard you're gonna have a showdown with the Arincess today?"

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"What? What do you mean by showdown? What'll happen if he loses?"

"Aerhaps he'll be her slave for life?" "Then isn't that the same as things

are now?"

&y face turned green after hearing everyone say things like that.

"6rm...... Well...... Why...... does everyone know about this?"

")idn't you talk to *bisawa in the courtyard yesterday?"

"ou guys saw?"

"The atmosphere was $uite nice, but you 0ust had to say something like

having a showdown. The audience was really disappointed!"

t's not like we were putting on a show there.

"o, when are you guys competing? Competing in what? What does the

winner get?"

#h, so they didn't hear the part about having the showdown later after

school? That was fantastic. )espite trying to divert the topic, still ended

up telling them everything other than the place and time of the

showdown.

"# new club? With *bisawa? #nd #ihara? #nd @agura%aka1senpai too?"

Why are they so damn e(cited?

"The @agura%aka1senpai you're referring to is the one in second1year?"

"eah, the one who looks like the head of a band of female nin0as."

What sort of analogy is that? can't understand that at all! Then again, is

enpai that well known at school?

"tarting a band in that small room together with those three girls? 2ao!

 That's unforgivable, so you better lose!"

"'d rather you win. Then 'll take over your place in the band." "eah, youdenitely must win, and then 'll 0oin too." "ou know nuts about

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instruments, right?" " can be in charge of moving the instruments."

"Then...... 'll be in charge of wiping their sweat." "omehow, 'm feeling

more and more motivated."

#nd then they actually started singing our school song4 felt like should 0ust run out of the room. #s they were discussing the time of the

showdown, Chiaki walked into the classroom. *veryone became silent. 'm

saved......

"#re you guys saying bad stu about me?"

# few guys 3ashed an awkward smile before returning to their seats.

eemed like everyone had nally learned one of the basic eti$uettes of

society; to not gossip about someone right in front of the person herself.

)uring lunch break, my desk was lled with sauce cutlet bread, which the

guys purchased from the store4seemed like they were all praying for my

victory. /ut how can possibly nish this much bread!

"2ao, you mustn't lose."

"Though 'm not too sure about what's happening, you must denitely

win!" =ne by one, they grabbed my shoulders and cheered me on. 0ust

stared blankly at the pyramid of sauce cutlet bread. t wasn't like there

was %ero chance of me fullling their e(pectations, but with everyone

being that e(cited about it, was honestly $uite troubled.

#fter school, brought my bass to the roof. enpai wanted me to go there

rst, before the showdown, but didn't see her around when got there.

 Then again, recall she has work today? then spotted something on the

3oor, near the fence where enpai usually sat. walked over to take alook. t was 5ohn :ennon's album of covers, 7Jock 'n' Joll8. The second

song of the C) was simply titled 7tand by &e8. took out my discman

and placed the C) inside. #s listened to the hoarse voice of 5ohn :ennon,

looked downwards through the fence and waited. took out a piece of

unnished sauce cutlet bread and stued it in my mouth.

+alfway into the song, suddenly remembered that &afuyu would always

head straight home on -ridays. hit, had actually forgotten that.

/ut 0ust then, the back of a girl, together with her maroon1colored hair,

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came into sight. was at ease. What's going on? he doesn't have to do

what she usually needs to do?

continued to let the song 3ow from my earpieces and into my body, even

as watched &afuyu walk into the practice room. grabbed hard onto thefence and stood there motionlessly, till 5ohn :ennon's voice faded away.

switched o my discman and grabbed my bass.

When reached the practice room, heard &afuyu playing /eethoven's

bagatelle on the other side of the door. stopped in my tracks and thought

about how should enter the room. came up with various lame ideas,

such as kicking the door open with my foot and yelling, "orry to disturb!"

/ut in the end, decided to 0ust knock on the door.

 The bagatelle suddenly stopped, as if it were shocked motionless.

 The uncomfortable silence was like a gush of bone1chilling cold air that

seeped through the gaps. t persisted for $uite a while.

"6rm......" was the rst to talk, but had no idea what to say. "'m here to

compete with you. told you about it yesterday, right?"

 The door opened.

&afuyu's guitar was slung across her shoulders. he looked at me, then

lowered her ga%e.

"...... ou really came."

-rom &afuyu's tone, could sense something was not $uite right.omehow, she was dierent than usual.

"#s the representative of rock, 'm here to take revenge on the stubborn

classical supremacist."

"ou idiot! #re you serious about this? ou didn't even know how to do the

hammer1on a few days ago."

)on't belittle me. Then again, why does she even know something likethat?

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"ou peeked at me while was practicing?"

"212o."

With her face 3ushed red, &afuyu slammed the door shut with her two

hands.

"4 Why do you have to do such a thing? )o you really want to use this

room that badly?"

Why do keep doing such things? #h, don't even know myself.

enpai said it is for love and revolution.

Chiaki asked before, +oure -ery concerned a'out !'isawa, right+

don't know. /ut can't allow things to go on like this.

&afuyu said from the other side of the door,

"5ust do whatever you wish over there! don't care anymore."

 5ust this once, chose to remain silent.

=h well. already knew things would turn out like this.

took out my bass, plugged in the cable, then s$uatted down near the

door. There was a hole beneath the hinge of the door that could directly

plug my cable into. This was the result of my fteen minutes of work

yesterday4a cable that e(tended from the ampliers to the door.

 5ust as was about to hi0ack the stereo device, my hand stopped. -orsome unknown reason, suddenly remembered a certain piece of music

history that Tetsurou had once told me, half in 0est.

t started with a small stream in Eermany. The river 3owed into a beet

plantation, then later spread throughout all of *urope. t clashed with the

local music, ending up either becoming engulfed by the music, or

swallowing the music instead. t then 3owed into the seas, and spread

throughout the world. That's how a lot of things in this world are born, and

rock is one of them.

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 Therefore, if we sought out the history of invasion and integration that

spanned three hundred years, we'd nd that all things were linked to each

other.

plugged the cable into the hole.

n that instant, a sharp screech blared out from the ampliers on the other

side of the door.

could almost see the frightened looks of &afuyu.

"What have you done?"

he found out. n reply, turned the volume on my bass to the ma(imum.

 The room lled with feedback.

"+ey, what are you do4"

n order to drown out her voice, played the opening note of the

piece. #llegretto vivace. must not play too $uickly4as if were stepping

on the 3oor with force, but at the same time, seeking for a place to step

with my toes. 6se the low notes to stomp out the boundaries of the

octave, then retreat back a little with slightly hesitant steps.

could hear &afuyu holding her breath in shock. =f course, she should

know what piece this was, 0ust from those eight bars. he had released an

album with this piece in it two years ago in -ebruary. had listened to that

C) many times, to the point that the C) was close to being damaged.

t was /eethoven's ODth piece, 7Pariations and -ugue for Aiano in *Q

ma0or84the variations were later used in his 7ymphony 2o. O8. There

was another title for this piano piece; 7*roica Pariations8.

/ack then4

@agura%aka1senpai told me there were four reasons for choosing that

piece.

"#s you can see......" enpai began pointing at the scores as she e(plained

on. "This is a piece that starts o with a single melody at low pitch. =nlythe bass will play in the opening thirty1two bars4she will denitely

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recogni%e this as 7*roica8 straight away. With this, we'll be able to re

the rst salvo and pull the opponent into our music."

With that, enpai tapped the tempo on the score with her nger.

"t's allegretto vivace, so don't ever go too fast. =ne of *bisawa &afuyu's

weapons is her ability to strum her guitar accurately at great speeds.

hould the showdown turn into a situation in which speed will decide the

victor...... young man, you will lose all chances of winning. +owever, you

can set the speed of the whole piece with the opening thirty1two bars4

that's the rst reason chose this piece."

"/ut......" There was a hint of uneasiness in my voice. "#t this part that

leads to the overture, there's a place where the four voices merge, and

the melody after that will be led by &afuyu! f she starts to rush then......"

"oung man, all you're thinking about are the areas where you might

lose......"

enpai shook her head and let out a sigh. curled my body up. 'm sorry,

but 'm a born loser.

")on't worry. This is the second reason why chose this piece. This

variation......"

enpai scanned through the scores $uickly. # variation is a section in

which a short main theme is repeatedly played by altering its playing style

or even its melody. n general, the similar parts are repeated for several

cycles.

"#lmost every variation has a ritardando and a fermata later in the part.

 ou get it now? There's always a 'pause' after a certain (ed distance. 2o

matter how fast *bisawa &afuyu speeds the tempo up, the fermata willalways disrupt the 3ow of her playing, and with that, you can get back

your own allegro. This piece of music is uni$ue in that sense."

RAhewR4 heaved a loud sigh. ndeed, everything made sense. was

certain this was the only possible piece4if it was this piece, then could

actually win.

"#nd the third reason......" enpai gave a sinister smile. "This piece is in *Q

ma0or."

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recalled each and every sentence enpai had said, and walked through

the opening theme with heavy steps. #t the end of the low1pitched melody

played, was a long pause. &afuyu's guitar nally made a recovery, andthe noise of her electric guitar overwhelmed the pause.

held my breath as we entered the second overture a series of simple,

yet hesitant, guitar melodies emerged. Eoosebumps appeared on my skin

in an instant. The ingenious use of syncopation moved and fused 0ust two

overlapping tones. +owever, all music we know is born from that

into(icating feeling one gets when two sounds overlap.

n the third overture, threw a simple line of melody towards &afuyu. The

high13ying, high1pitched notes of the guitar descended into the low1

pitched notes of the bass4it seemed as if &afuyu's steps had passed right

through the torrential waterfalls.

&afuyu's guitar led the fourth overture and took over the main theme. The

whole melody shifted an octave higher, and skipped through the brisk

middle octave beneath it. The tempo suddenly hastened, and even though

was thrown about by the huge force, nally managed to barely grab

onto the gaps in1between the phrases of &afuyu's melody, and pried them

wide open with my low notes, which acted as an intermediary between

the phrases. 'd be a goner if were to fall here there'd be no chance for

me to start over. applied the brakes to restrain &afuyu.

We nally reached the main theme, but was barely hanging on by a

thread. t was 0ust an ordinary chord accompaniment, but my ngers were

trembling nonstop. desperately tried to use the short pause to get back

the original tempo, but &afuyu never slowed down, despite going into the

second variation at a merciless speed4&afuyu could continuously play

triple notes in the time it took me to play a single one.

took a deep breath before entering the fourth variation. This would be

the rst crisis.

#s my ngers smoothly strummed the si(teen1beat legato, reali%ed

&afuyu was currently slightly disadvantaged4&afuyu's simple theme

sounded wobbly amid the constant rising and falling of my timbre. he

probably thought wouldn't know how to play that part. held my breath

and focused my attention on the intense passage. then recalled thewords of @agura%aka1senpai yet again.

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"*Q ma0or is4"

#s she gently caressed the guitar lying on my knee with her ngertips,

she said,

"ou should know, right? t's one of the most di>cult scales to play on the

bass and the guitar."

nodded my head.

imply put, scales that are easy for guitars are those that don't re$uire

the guitarist to press the chords much as they play. +owever, *Q4which

fre$uently appears in *Q ma0or4is a semitone lower than the lowest note

playable by the guitar or the bass. #s a result, the guitarist needs to press

on the higher ends of the chords while playing, and that's something

that's rather di>cult to do in terms of nger movements.

"*Q ma0or is 0ust as di>cult for *bisawa &afuyu, especially where she has

to play the middle1pitched notes during the high1pitched melody. *ven if

speed is the greatest weapon in her arsenal, she will denitely

be severely weakened by that."

"6rm, no, wait......"

knocked on my bass once.

"t'll be e$ually di>cult for me to play too, right? sn't that so?"

 The strings of the bass and the strings of the guitar would be tuned to the

same tone, so the part would be e$ually di>cult for both parties to play. To counteract this, enpai had specially shifted the pitch up a semitone in

her composition, converting it to * ma0or.

"oung man......" The e(pression in enpai's eyes was no longer that

of irritation4instead, it had been replaced by pity. ")o you still remember

what said? said we'll be doing e(actly what Aaganini did, right?"

"*h......?"

did..... remember something like that.

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 That was...... something that happened on the day enpai picked the

piece out of a huge stack of C)s and scores. #fter hearing the sounds of

&afuyu's guitar, enpai did mention Aaganini's name out of the blue.

"...... /ut, how do you e(plain that?"

"Aaganini's 7Piolin Concerto 2o. B8. ou should know that, right?"

tilted my head and tried recalling the songs should have heard of

before. then remembered the vast knowledge of Tetsurou4

"...... #h!"

 The bass on my knee fell to the 3oor with a thud.

Aaganini's 7Piolin Concerto 2o. B8 4 in *Q ma0or.

see, so that's what it was.

"ou nally understand?"

" have to lower it by a semitone when tuning?"

@agura%aka1senpai laughed and patted my head gently.

*Q ma0or is di>cult for violinists in the same way it is for guitarists.

+owever, the solo in the concerto played by the Piolin of the )evil, 2iccolo

Aaganini, is written in *Q ma0or. Therefore, he tuned his violin a semitone

lower4

0ust...... have to do e(actly what he did.

/y lowering the strings of the bass by a semitone, would force &afuyu to

take on the highly di>cult *Q ma0or, while played the simplest * ma0or.

"...... That's really despicable......"

accidentally let that slip out of my mouth.

"+ow's that despicable?" @agura%aka1senpai prodded my forehead with

the pick. "n order to achieve victory, giving it your all till the nal momentbefore the battle is necessary, no? This is also an act of respect for your

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enemy."

"6rm, that may be the case......"

"The fourth reason, is that we'll be doing the fugue after the variations."enpai stated the nal reason.

"*bisawa &afuyu will denitely not let go of the fugue. Therefore, we 0ust

have to let her know that this piece of music is not something that can be

played by one person alone. Those are my reasons for choosing this piece,

7*roica Pariations8 it practically e(ists for your triumph over *bisawa

&afuyu. Therefore4"

enpai placed her hands on my shoulders and looked straight into my

eyes as she said,

"4Jesolve yourself, and teach her a good lesson."

#fter playing through the continuous phrases, pressed my back hard

against the door and swallowed a huge gulp of air. The strings and the

neck of the bass had become slippery due to my sweat. The fth variation

nally returned to the simple two voices melody, but that moment of rest

was over in an instant. rushed straight into the si(th variation in C minor

without getting a chance to slow down the tempo. That was the only part

where the lowering of the bass by a semitone was unable to wield its

eects. t was as though &afuyu had cleaved open the opening phrase

with an a(e. The screeching melody dragged my body along. &y ngers

began to spin, and played $uite a few notes wrong. could almost see

&afuyu's rapidly1ring $uestions appearing in the places had planned to

stop at4in response, replied using the same tones that had my

stuttering sighs mi(ed into them.

*ven as we entered the beautiful dreamlike canon, &afuyu hardly showed

any mercy. f were 0ust a beat slower, she would immediately smash my

line of melody that was trying to sketch out her footsteps, and begin the

ne(t melody by herself.

could then feel a slight amount of weight pressing against my back. *ven

though couldn't see, somehow knew...... that &afuyu was leaning her

back against the door, 0ust like me. could almost hear &afuyu'sheartbeats, though that could've very well been the sound of my own

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heartbeat, or the echoes of the bass.

#s the backbeats sustained the melody of the tenth variation4the melody

with the dragon3ies 3uttering all around us4 became more and more

confused. Why am doing such a thing in a place like this?

had forgotten about the fact that had been thinking of all sorts of things

as glanced at the scores in an eort to keep up with &afuyu's guitar. The

tips that enpai had given me had already disappeared completely from

my brain.

#ll that was left were my ngers moving willfully.

Which of the sounds came from my bass, and which of them came from

&afuyu's guitar? don't know. &y modied #ria Aro and &afuyu's

tratocaster were like twins shaved out from the same piece of wood4

they blended with each other impeccably. couldn't $uite e(plain the

phenomenon by saying they had tuned themselves with each other so as

to harmoni%e perfectly. t was like a mere millimeter of distance between

them, a circuit bypass, and a careful balance of high and low tones4a

miracle that happened only after the integration of everything mentioned

above.

&afuyu and were like the left and right hands of one person4

#nd with that, the nal variation came. C minor. t was similar to the

vastness of the sea during a night that had 0ust e(perienced a violent

storm.

 The thunders were gradually receding, but they were still reverberating

deep within the clouds.

 The whispers from the depths of the ocean.

6sing my right hand, strummed out a low E that e(tended endlessly

outward.

#nd then, along with the parting of the clouds, could nally see the

arrival of dawn.

listened to the rumbling echoes in my stomach into(icatingly, and

loosened my left hand. Then, gripped the neck of the bass tightly withmy sweaty palms once more.

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t was the fugue. had nally arrived here.

#fter e(pelling all of my wishful thoughts that were burning in 3ames of

darkness, what appeared before me was something lled with endlesspossibilities4the ensemble that shimmered like crystals. immediately

drew out the rst note of the beginning phrase. The four simple voices4

that had e(isted since the beginning of the war4rang, while the main

melody of the fugue followed the signal and began its 3ow. #fter four bars,

&afuyu began chasing the already1running me. /etween the two melodies

that wouldn't intersect and that would never touch each other, e(isted

what seemed like the melody of a mirage. Who actually played that?

=bviously, it was &afuyu and . We constantly sent out fragments of the

melody, which slowly merged into a crystal clear line of melody4it felt as

though there were a third person there playing together with us. didn't

$uite know what was happening4all did was play whatever was written

in enpai's scores. &afuyu seemed to have analy%ed the meaning of the

tune in an instant, and kept replying to me. That was the only thing could

come up with. +owever, was that really something that was possible?

Without using words, only transmitting our feelings through music4could

this miracle really happen? =r would the miracle disappear the moment

opened my eyes4

...... t gradually disappeared.

stopped moving my ngers.

&afuyu's melody, which was supposed to be chasing me, had suddenly

disappeared.

 The hallucinated warmth of &afuyu, which had felt on my back this

whole time, had disappeared as well.

turned around. #n ReekR sound came from the other side of the door. t

was the faint sound produced by feedback from the guitar.

had a bad feeling about this.

"...... &afuyu?"

tried calling her once. he didn't reply.

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nstead, began hearing the ominous sounds of moaning and weeping

through the gaps of the door.

[Piano v1] Chapter 14: Doctor, ir! Cata"o#ue, $ns%ers

!n"oy.

####################

"4&afuyu?"

heard no response, despite my loud yelling from outside, so began

knocking on the door. suddenly heard the sound of something hitting the

3oor. #nother blast of feedback reverberated inside.

tried opening the door by pressing hard against the handle, but for a

moment, forgot the method of opening the lock, and nearly tore the door

down. nally remembered; had to press the handle diagonally

downwards and to the right before turning it. #s the door opened, &afuyu,

who should have been leaning against the door, came crashing down on

my body instead. $uickly supported her. &afuyu's back knocked into my

bass, making the ampliers blare out a tight noise.

&afuyu's fair skin had turned even paler.

"What's...... wrong?"

&y voice was an octave higher due to my nervousness.

"...... 'm ne."

"+ow do you look ne!? Can you stand?"

" can't. /ut...... 'm really okay."

&afuyu brushed my hand away and tried sitting up. +owever, her

shoulders lost balance immediately, and her right leg was paraly%ed. #fter

seeing how her body had twisted into a strange position, propped up her

upper body and leaned her against the wall.

"Why have things turned out like this......" &afuyu began sobbing. he

turned her head away to avoid looking at me, and murmured, "Why? had

already forced myself to forget everything, so why did you make me

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remember again?"

What's she talking about? really had no clue.

removed my bass from my shoulders. The strings seemed to havebrushed against something, making a low1pitched tone ring throughout

the small classroom. &afuyu's left hand twitched a little.

"top! top it! )on't make it play any sound!"

&afuyu was overcome with a sudden surge of strength4she snatched the

bass away from my hands and slammed it forcibly against the ground.

=ne of the bass's knobs fell o the main body. There was a loud horrifying

sound, akin to a pair of claws scratching the walls.

&afuyu collapsed onto the bass and the guitar that were lying on the 3oor,

 0ust like a marionette that had its strings cut. The ampliers were

persistently giving o a disharmonious sound4similar to that of wailing

voices4but had no idea how to stop the sound. 2ow what? Why have

things turned out this way? What should do? n any case4

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should head to the inrmary rst. nally managed to think of that, amid

the sharp shrieking sound of the feedback.

"'ll get the school nurse."

" don't want that4"

&afuyu moaned. What the hell is that idiot saying at a time like this?

immediately sprinted towards the main building.

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 5ust as was about to dash into the inrmary, almost crashed into &iss

@umiko, the school nurse. &iss @umiko was very young, and the rumor

was that she used to be a delin$uent, which was $uite scary. #ctually, the

rst thing she did was grab my collar, yelling, ")on't run in the corridors!"

he then reali%ed something and released her grip.

"ou're from the Third Class of -irst ear, right? The same class as *bisawa

&afuyu?"

was still breathless from my run, and couldn't speak as a result. barely

nodded my head in reply.

")id you see her in the classroom? he has an appointment with the

hospital today, but the hospital 0ust called and said she hasn't arrived

yet."

he should be going to the hospital today?

-riday. The only day &afuyu would head home immediately after school.

+ospital. was shocked. #s tried to regulate my breathing, gasped,

"&afuyu......" "-ainted."

"Where is she?" &iss @umiko's voice was still calm, but there was a

change in the e(pression of her eyes.

"Courtyard4"

&iss @umiko $uickly grabbed some medication from the rack, then sei%ed

my arm and rushed out of the inrmary. When we returned to the

courtyard, we saw Chiaki s$uatting ne(t to the crumbling &afuyu. Why......

is Chiaki here? Could it be that she was waiting for our showdown to be

over?

"#ikawa, please step aside."

"'ll administer some rst1aid, then call someone"4 stared blankly at &iss

@umiko's actions, while Chiaki looked at me helplessly.

"What in the world happened?"

could only shake my head in response to Chiaki's $uestion.

"What in the world did you guys do to make things turn out like this......"

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&iss @umiko glared at me as she checked &afuyu's pulse.

"We...... were 0ust playing the guitar."

"That's all? +ow can that be? t shouldn't be a problem for her to play amusical instrument."

&iss @umiko4she knew about &afuyu's condition?

"n any case, 've asked her father to head over. +e said he'd be here

soon."

&afuyu's left shoulder trembled slightly. he slowly leaned towards

Chiaki's legs and lifted her face, e(posing her pained e(pression.

"2o...... don't want that."

"What are you talking about? ou should be reporting to the hospital

today, no? )o you have any intention of treating your illness at all? ou

can't get careless! our body's condition is dierent from an ordinary

person's, so we'll have to ask the doctor in charge of you to come down as

well......"

&afuyu shook her head as tears fell from her eyes,

"2o. don't want...... to be seen by 'that person' in my current state."

&iss @umiko ignored her protests, and turned around to speak to me,

")escribe what happened in greater detail. #ihara, please bring the

cushions from over there and prop them under &afuyu."

saw two men in suits walking in our direction from the parking lot. had

only seen *bisawa Chisato in photographs, but despite that4and even

though was some considerable distance away4 immediately knew that

the one leading was &afuyu's father.

"What in the world happened?"

 The same stupid $uestion4that a certain someone had asked4came from

*bisawa Chisato's mouth as well. +is hair was neatly combed and well1greased, although there was a bit of white hair mi(ed in. +is stern and

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well1dened contours clearly displayed his anger. &iss &aki came to the

courtyard following &iss @umiko's call. #fter seeing her arrive, he

immediately started to yell.

"To think such a thing has happened, even with you around her! What willyou do if something happens to &afuyu!"

"ou can't e(pect me to be by her side all the time, right?" &iss &aki

replied coldly. The middle1aged doctor Khe should be a doctor?L, who also

came along, was standing ne(t to the emotional *bichiri, telling &iss

@umiko to "carry the lady to the car" with his eyes.

"Why did you not go to the hospital? Who were you sticking around with?"

turned my eyes away and wondered if should 0ust run away from that

place.

"Euitar? )id you say guitar? #re you 0oking, who allowed you to play that

sort of thing? &afuyu, what are you trying to do by learning the guitar

behind my back? )o you not know how important your ngers are? ou

may never get to play the piano4"

"&aestro *bisawa! Alease! )on't corner &afuyu like that!"

&iss &aki pleaded with a pained voice.

" did not send her to high school so she could play things like that!"

bit my lip as listened to the piercing roars of *bichiri. The doctor and

father stued &afuyu into the backseat, as if she were a bagged corpse.

 There was nothing could do, other than watch everything in silence.

 5ust before the door of the car closed, &afuyu and e(changed glances. The e(pression in her eyes was the same as that back then4they couldn't

make a single sound, and could only desperately seek something to

depend on. Those eyes were like the skies 0ust before a downpour, lled

with dark grey clouds. 2o, can't let her go like that. could almost hear a

whisper right ne(t to my ears, but couldn't say a single word, or move a

single step.

wasn't too sure about what happened after that. was probably brutally

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scolded by either &iss &aki or &iss @umiko? Aerhaps the reason couldn't

remember much of the details was because neither of them was willing to

tell me what happened to &afuyu. The only thing remembered was that

didn't say a single word. Chiaki was the one who answered almost all the

$uestions in my stead.

t was already past si( when returned home, and the speakers in the

living room were playing &essiaen's 7Catalogue d'oiseau(8. Suails,

nightingales and even blackbirds4 0ust a single piano was enough to

weave out the cries of the various birds. Tetsurou was lying on his side on

the sofa, listening to the music while sipping a glass of whiskey. 9T:2ote;

 The piece is translated as 7/ird catalogue8<

"ou're back...... What's wrong? ou look $uite bad, you know? )id

something happen?"

shook my head weakly, and removed the bass from my shoulders and

threw it on the carpet. sank myself into the sofa.

)espite Tetsurou being e(tremely dense, on some occasions, he would

pick up on my feelings without the need for words. #t such times, the best

course of action would be leaving me alone and making dinner himself4

which was e(actly what he did.

=n the dining table was some sort of burnt meat, as well as salad

drenched in dressing. #ll had were a few sips of the tasteless miso soup.

"+ey...... 2ao......"

"+mm?"

"ou aren't complaining, so perhaps the food cooked today is actually

decent?"

"2o, don't you worry, it sucks as usual. 'm full."

 Tetsurou was visibly saddened by my tsukkomi, but left him alone and

returned to the living room. planted myself on the sofa and continued

listening to the cries of the birds. had a sudden urge to cry.

o &afuyu had been waiting for me.

he should've gone to the hospital today. /ut because of the things said

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yesterday...... the me who knew nothing and said idiotic things like, ":et's

have a showdown on -riday." /ecause of that, she had been waiting4she

was waiting for me.

 The song of the birds had ended. Tetsurou removed the apron from hisbody and sat on the sofa opposite of me. +e silently poured some whiskey

into his glass. n a situation like this, would be really grateful if he didn't

ask me any $uestions about what happened.

"=h right, Tetsurou......"

"+mm?"

" think...... it should be a piano concerto...... t's made up of three

movements, and the middle movement is a march. +ave you heard

something like this before?"

hummed the piece that &afuyu had played at the 0unkyard.

"4That should be Javel's piano concerto......" Tetsurou mumbled halfway

into the tune.

# chill ran down my spine.

"...... Which one?"

&aurice Javel had only written two piano concertos in his entire life. The

rst was a piano concerto in E ma0or, written for his own playing. The

other was4

"The one in ) ma0or," Tetsurou replied. That was the answer had missed.

 The other piano concerto, in ) ma0or, was written for #ustrian pianist AaulWittgenstein. Aaul lost what was dubbed "a pianist's life"4his right arm4

during the -irst World War. Therefore, the piano concerto that was written

for him is also known as4

"7Aiano Concerto for the :eft +and8."

Why didn't notice sooner?

 There were lots of signs4&afuyu never used chopsticks, and didn't copynotes in class. )uring arts class or physical education, she did nothing at

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all. There was also that strangely shaped guitar pick, with two rings to slot

the inde( and middle nger through. *ven a person with no grip could

easily secure the pick between his ngertips.

 That was the reason she chose the guitar.

 The ngers on &afuyu's right hand...... they probably could no longer

move. t was only now that nally reali%ed that fact. # certain cruel fate

had robbed &afuyu's piano career away from her, but despite that, she

couldn't run away from the music she loved the most. Therefore, she

grabbed onto the guitar with all her might, 0ust like a drowning person

would to a piece of 3oating wood.

Why didn't notice it earlier? *ven if no one else had noticed......

should've found that answer!

Why4

Why did she not tell me anything about it? The dense me knew nothing at

all. had even acted like a kid, insisting on challenging &afuyu to a guitar

showdown. forced her to stay back, but in the end, had actually harmed

her unknowingly.

really didn't know, because &afuyu told me nothing at all! really wanted

to nd an adult whom could voice my e(cuses to, but Tetsurou and the

bass case on the 3oor were both silent. recalled the 7*roica Pariations8

that played together with &afuyu, and the fugue that was disrupted

halfway. What sorts of feelings did &afuyu e(perience as she listened to

the ensemble that she could no longer play by herself, as she watched on

as someone else played the melody in place of her immobile right hand?

Why do we always fail at converting the feelings deep inside us into

words?

 5une arrived a week later. &afuyu really had disappeared. he no longer

came to school.

&y classmates were discussing something, something that seemed to

have happened on the -riday before the break. They had always ignored

what others said, and paid no attention to the moods of others, but 0ustthis once, they didn't ask me anything.

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"/ecause 2ao looks really depressed......" Chiaki said that to me softly

during lunch break.

")epressed? 2o?" wove a lie.

" even went to ask &iss &aki about it."

Chiaki's appetite was surprisingly low she didn't take anything from my

bento.

"t seems *bisawa's father wants to go back to #merica. think there are

specialists there, so it'll be more convenient for them to go for checkups

or to schedule an operation...... 'm not too sure about the details, but it

seems like *bisawa will be going as well."

"...... Jeally."

o that was what she meant by, "'ll be disappearing in 5une"?

Which meant, &afuyu would never come back again? o that was why she

wanted us to forget everything......

/ecause of that4 no longer had a chance to apologi%e to her, or a chance

to smile at her. could no longer make her angry, or scare her with the

image of a %ombie anymore and it was denitely impossible to ask her to

help tune my bass.

f knew, right at the beginning, that she would really disappear4if knew

what she said would turn out to be true4then would've 0ust forgotten

about her, and that would've been it.

#ccording to Chiaki, for some reason, @agura%aka1senpai hasn't been atschool either. )id that person also feel responsible for what happened to

&afuyu? That couldn't be!

"Will she be coming back after her checkups......" Chiaki mumbled. began

to feel that nothing mattered anymore. was the one who completely

misunderstood her, and wrecked everything. had always thought that

&afuyu would open up to me, but in reality, there e(isted a wall between

us, a wall thicker than the door of the practice classroom4one that no

sounds could pass through. couldn't help but admire how wonderfulmusic was4despite us being so far away from each other, 0ust by playing

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what was written in the scores, could imagine that &afuyu was right ne(t

to me. What a wonderful power that is! )isappear from my sight right

now.

When returned home, took the bass to the recycling center and dumped

it there. t seemed like when &afuyu slammed the bass against the 3oor, a

connection broke somewhere it could no longer play any sound. turned

the knobs to the ma(imum, and even tried dismantling and reassembling

them again, but none of that worked. With my skill, it was possible for me

to repair it, but honestly, was not in the mood to do that.

6pon seeing that scene, even Tetsurou didn't crack 0okes like, "#s

e(pected of my son, you've given up really $uickly" or "5ust be a virgin for

life" he even prepared me a Ke(tremely disgustingL dinner. could always

say pointless things like this easily, but couldn't voice the important

feelings within me.

#fter dinner, sat opposite of Tetsurou who was working on his articles,

and hugged my knees. could hear the speakers play the 7+ungarian

)ances8 softly ne(t to my ears.

"...... Tetsurou, have you heard?"

"+mm? #h, mmm."

 Tetsurou replied without lifting his ga%e from the laptop,

" heard something from a papara%%i who claims to be the hear1it1all in the

music circle. ou want to know about it?"

"s it about...... &afuyu's right hand?"

"o you do know!"

"...... /ut knew nothing!"

reali%ed everything only after nothing could be salvaged anymore.

 Tetsurou pushed the laptop to the side. +e then looked at me and said, "t

was probably last year? eems like the ngers on her right hand suddenly

became immobile 0ust before she was about to start her concert in*ngland. The concert was canceled. They went to $uite a few hospitals,

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but they couldn't nd the reason behind it. /ack then, there were some

who said it might be due to obsessive1compulsive disorder."

remembered the frightened look in &afuyu's eyes, and suddenly

thought, could that be related to her father?

"That was the reason she returned to 5apan. t was thought that a brief

break from piano, and some rehabilitation, could perhaps lead to her

recovery. /ut things don't look that optimistic, do they! +er condition's

getting worse and worse, and she has to go to the doctors for fre$uent

checkups."

could feel a sense of pain near my heart. o that was what &afuyu was

so desperately trying to hide. he chased away any classmates who tried

to get close to her, and was unwilling to approach anyone she was pretty

successful at being someone who was really annoying. &oreover, all those

who had tried to get close to her were idiots, so no one had noticed that

something was wrong with her right ngers.

Could we really have done nothing about it?

really hoped someone would tell me, "t's all your fault!" or "t's actually

not your fault," straight to my