“Something amazing happened, didn’t it?”
“No, it’s not just ‘happened.’ We’re actually in quite a pinch here,” Sako retorted with a look of slight exasperation while preparing her instrument in the studio. I could feel a bit of malice in how she mimicked Amane’s tone...
“Maika-buchou, what’s gotten into her...?” Yuri, who seemed to have fully woken up thanks to Jinno-san’s declaration, muttered with her arms crossed.
“I wonder...”
* * *
“Butter... we’re going to perform at that live show after all!”
At those words from Jinno-san, Yuri and I both shouted, “What?!”
“Wait, aren’t the other two members examinees?! Did they say they could make it?”
“Oh! Well, since we play blues, we’re fine with basically no rehearsal. They said it’s okay as long as we practice once the day before! It’s easy, easy!”
Despite her words, I felt like I heard some threatening phrases like ‘I’ll kill you’ in the background...
“Hey, hey, Konuma-kun, is that how blues is?” Amane whispered into my ear from the other side of the table.
“Ah, well... yeah. It’s mostly like ad-libbing...”
“I see, as expected, you know a lot.”
“Takuto knows his stuff,” Sako added, showing off a smug face for the first time in a while.
“I know Konuma-kun is knowledgeable too, but...” Amane pouted.
The explanation would be long, so I kept it brief. Blues music apparently originated from people singing about their daily frustrations over the same chord progressions. Eventually, those emotions were expressed not just through singing, but through instruments like guitars as well.
So, by its very nature, the entire performance is built on improvisation.
However, because nothing is set in stone, it’s a genre that demands the ability to read the musical atmosphere and the technical skill to respond to it on the spot. ...I think I read that in a book somewhere.
“Maika-buchou, why did you suddenly decide you wanted to perform at this live? You weren’t interested last week,” Yuri asked Jinno-san, ignoring our whispered conversation.
“Well, that’s... you see...”
Jinno-san’s eyes darted around for a moment.
“L-Look! The two million! I want it!” she answered, pointing sharply at the poster on the wall.
“That’s a lie, isn’t it...?”
“I-It’s not! Working part-time is hard! I’m going to study abroad!”
“Is that true...?”
As Yuri narrowed her eyes, Jinno-san covered her face with both hands. As expected of a senior, she knew how to avoid her junior’s Mind Reading.
“It’s true!”
Since her hands were covering her mouth, her voice was muffled like a child’s...
Watching this exchange, I remembered the expression on Jinno-san’s face when she looked at the poster at the instrument shop in Kokubunji.
Maybe she really was after the prize money, but it also felt like she had some kind of special attachment to ‘Youth Rebellion.’
“I get it, I won’t read your mind anymore, so take your hands off...”
“Really?!”
“Really. How old are you...?” Yuri-neesan sighed like an elementary school teacher.
Removing her hands, Jinno-san grinned again.
“Anyway, we’re performing! I’m looking forward to seeing Yuribou and her merry friends!”
“...It’s amane. If you say that again, I’ll be really angry.”
* * *
“We won’t get the recording rights unless we beat those people. Then we won’t be able to record ‘Charm’ either.”
I nodded at Sako’s words. For that song, it was more meaningful to record it so it could be heard anytime rather than just performing it live.
“Well, it’s not impossible if we pay for it...”
“Do you have the money?” Sako glared at me.
“I don’t...” I let out a pathetic sigh.
“But those people are really good... I haven’t been moved like that very... often.”
I almost said ‘not since amane,’ but I glossed over it because the ‘amane believer’ issue was still on my mind.
Then, Amane herself said,
“Either way, all we can do is what we can do! I’m sure it’ll be fine. More than that, I’m happy we get to perform together.”
She said it with a smile. (By the way, I don’t know what ‘taiban’ is short for, but it refers to bands performing in the same live show, or the act of performing together.)
“Amane is so composed...” “As expected, she’s got guts...” Yuri and I sighed in admiration.
“I mean, why are you so confident?” Sako asked, as if representing us.
Amane looked down slightly.
“...On the contrary, why are you so lacking in confidence? I think we’ve given great performances in our lives so far...”
She asked with a smile, but her voice carried a sense of inner strength.
“That’s because of amane’s...”
I started to say it almost reflexively and then caught my breath.
Then, the words that followed in my head made me shudder again.
Because I was about to say...
‘That’s because we had amane’s songs, right?’
I was about to deny the existence of the band ‘amane’ again—the significance of members other than Ichikawa Amane.
Rather, I realized that just because I didn’t put it into words didn’t mean I hadn't already denied it in my heart.
“Konuma...” Yuri must have thought the same thing. She bit her lower lip in frustration.
Sako also looked down.
Amane, who smiled somewhat lonely, clapped her hands as if to change the atmosphere and encourage us.
Then, she spoke the words that should have been celebratory, but were the ones I least wanted to hear right now.
“You know, I wrote a new song today.”