The three members of Butter step onto the stage accompanied by their entrance music.
Each of them carries a smile full of confidence, and the way they hold their instruments looks incredibly natural. I wonder where that dignity comes from.
When Jinno-san sits in front of the drums and raises her right hand, the entrance music fades out.
"Alright, let's go."
Jinno-san speaks without using the microphone, and Eriguchi-san and Shaku-san nod in response.
Jinno-san swings both sticks up.
Without a count and without being even a fraction of a second off, the three of them begin playing simultaneously.
"Whoa..." "Amazing..."
I’m painfully reminded that what I heard yesterday was truly just a first-time rehearsal after a long break.
The high-pitched guitar sounds like it's rampaging recklessly at first glance.
The bassline moves freely while maintaining balance with both of them.
And the drums bundle it all together, sublimating it even further.
As expected, the genre is blues, and furthermore, there are no lyrics.
Despite it being a song that should be difficult to get into, my body moves anyway, and my heartbeat begins to sync with the rhythm.
"That’s incredible..."
All three of them must be having the time of their lives performing; they play their instruments like they are parts of their own bodies, making sounds as if they were singing.
"Eriguchi-senpai and Shaku-senpai were too good, so they couldn't get along with the members of their first band. Even in their next bands, they were avoided and passed around. I heard that neither of them had ever been in a single band for a long period of time."
Azuma told me that yesterday.
"So that's why..."
Because, strangely enough, words seemed to be audible from that song without lyrics.
The sound said, 'I finally met them,' and, 'Even though I thought I was alone all this time.'
With teary eyes and a smile, it said, 'I finally found comrades who can follow and lead me, where I can finally do as I please in freedom.'
Suddenly, Amane's profile came to mind.
'Until that day I met Konuma-kun, I was a "loner".'
Being lonely because one is too much of a genius is a feeling I surely won't ever understand, but I feel like I can understand a little of the joy of someone being rescued from that now.
As expected, Butter is amazing.
I was so overwhelmed that I even forgot they were supposed to be our rivals today.
After playing about three long songs, Jinno-san picks up the microphone that had been stuck in the side stand for the first time and begins to speak.
"Um... the next one is our last song."
"Eh...!?"
The voice escapes me, and I hurriedly cover my mouth, but voices like "Already...?" and "Ehh" are rising around me, so it seems I haven't been caught.
"Konuma-kun, you're too pure..."
...Or so I thought, but Amane is beside me, laughing happily with a 'hehehe'. She has sharp ears...
"I haven't decided what to talk about... what should I do?"
Jinno-san asks Eriguchi-san while scratching her cheek. That person is the same as always, even on stage...
"No, if there's nothing in particular to talk about, you don't have to, but..."
Eriguchi-san lets out an exasperated voice while glancing at the audience.
"Wouldn't it be better to tell them why Maika forced her way into this live?"
"That's right~. It was like Maika the drummer suddenly said let's do a live~. The guitarist and I are currently candidates for university entrance exams, but she pushed us into it, saying we had to do it even if we skipped cram school~."
Shaku-san explains and follows up for the audience so that it doesn't just become a conversation on stage. The coordination here is perfect too.
Perhaps because the high school-related topic landed well, a small laugh breaks out on the floor.
"Right, right. So, Maika, there's a reason you wanted to perform that badly, right?"
"That's, well, the prize money—!"
"You don't have to hide it, Maika. If you really don't want to say it here, that's fine too?"
The cool beauty Eriguchi-san smiles.
"Do you guys... realize...?"
"Of course we do." "It's pretty obvious, isn't it?"
'Um, the person coming to watch this live, Daikoku Tsukiko, seems to be the person who inspired Maika to start drumming. I heard about it back in our first year.'
Eriguchi-san had said that.
"It's been found out anyway. Well then, I might as well declare it...!"
Jinno-san grips the microphone again and stands up.
Then, she speaks out boldly toward the floor.
"Daikoku Tsukiko-san!"
"Hm?"
Having her name called so suddenly, Daikoku-san gives a response that doesn't seem like an adult's.
"I..."
I wonder if she's going to say, 'I started music because I admired you'? That would be emotional... I think as I watch.
"I want to perform in Youth Rebellion as Butter!"
""Eh?""
Eriguchi-san and Shaku-san let out dumbfounded voices.
"What do you mean 'Eh'...!?"
Jinno-san is the one surprised instead.
"Wait, didn't you want Daikoku Tsukiko-san to hear your performance...?"
"No, not at all? Since Tsukiko-san isn't even hitting the drums anymore."
"Hah, eh, ah, yeah...?"
Leaving the confused Eriguchi-san aside, Jinno-san begins talking to Daikoku-san.
"I just want to perform in Youth Rebellion with these three."
Jinno-san continued her story.
"Even last year, I actually wanted to go, but by the time we formed, the entries were already closed, so we couldn't."
I see, they haven't been formed for that long...
"But, since these two have exams this year, I thought maybe I shouldn't enter. Then I saw a poster about the Scout System, and I thought that if we used that, we could jump straight into the Finals after their exams are over..."
"So that's why she was looking at the poster at the instrument shop in Kokubunji...!"
Amane lets out a small gasp.
"So, I decided to appear in today's live."
She looks straight at Daikoku-san and declares it.
"Why did you want to appear?"
Daikoku-san asks back.
With a completely different expression and a completely different tone of voice than before.
Normally, having such intimate communication with the audience during a live might be taboo.
However, everyone in the venue was paying attention to Jinno-san's incredibly serious gaze and Daikoku-san's tone of voice, which didn't seem like she was dealing with a high schooler at all. It was like a performance in itself.
Jinno-san softly opens her mouth.
"I want to leave behind a proof of my youth, no matter what."
"Youth...?"
Despite giving her own event a name like 'Youth Rebellion', Daikoku-san still asks questions as if searching for the true meaning of that word.
"...Once we graduate, we'll have no choice but to disband. For the sake of my dream, I intend to go abroad."
"Heh...!"
"I have seen a truly great view through my club activities. Performing in front of many people from outside the school, and then, the venue became one."
I remember the Instrumental Club's performance at the school festival.
Surely, at the time of Jinno-san's retirement, it must have been a live performance comparable to that.
"I want to see that view with these two."
"Maika..." "Maika...!"
Jinno-san continues with a perfectly serious face.
"I want to see the view that players as great as these two couldn't see for a shitty reason like being 'too serious', together with them. For me, Butter was a certain place to belong after I lost my club activities."
"Maika-bucho...!"
Azuma clutches her chest.
Jinno-san just described it as 'lost my club'. Not 'retired', not 'graduated', but 'lost'.
Those words, which might sound extreme, are still something I feel I can understand after seeing Azuma right after the school festival.
...Surely, for Jinno-san too, 'the Instrumental Club was the entirety of her youth'.
"I think to myself, what am I doing talking about something as embarrassing as youth. I think about how nothing will come of just thinking about such formless things."
Jinno-san looks at the two of them and then laughs shyly with a 'hehe'.
"But I love Butter. I want to appear in Youth Rebellion with these two. Truthfully, I don't even need the prize money or the right to record."
And then, she says it clearly.
"I just want to play our music in front of tons and tons of people. There's... no chance left except for Youth Rebellion."
"...Heh."
It's dark on the floor so I can't tell, but I had the feeling Daikoku-san gave a cool smile.
"...I don't intend to beg you to let us out. Anyway, it's fine as long as you watch from there. Because,"
Bathed in the spotlight, Jinno-san wears a fearless smile once more.
"After you hear the live until the end, you'll definitely want to let us perform."
"Incredible...!"
Even I, who am just a bystander, feel like I'm about to take that groundless confidence at face value.
"Haha... I talked too much. Look, it's your fault. Hurry up and get ready. ...Let's go."
"O-Oh..." "What a great vibe."
Inspired, Eriguchi-san and Shaku-san pick up their instruments again.
"Well then, this is the last song. Only for this one, I will sing. It's a song called 'Count'. Thank you very much for today."
Unfitting for its song title, the song began without a count.
That song is another blues number.
It's not a sad melody, nor is it a ballad.
But.
It had a resonance that shook my heart the most out of all the songs so far.
* * *
『Count』
I often think about wonderful things
I often think about silly things
I often think about things that amount to nothing
As a result, nothing happens
I often think about new things
I often think about nostalgic things
I often think about things that amount to nothing
As a result, nothing happens
I often think about interesting things
I often think about boring things
I often think about things that amount to nothing
As a result, nothing happens
I often think about proud things
I often think about shameful things
I often think about things that amount to nothing
As a result, nothing happens
I often think about the sound I want to play
I often think about the things I want to convey
I often think about things that amount to nothing
As a result, nothing happens
Having repeated it many times
I realized something
'The reason nothing happens is because I'm only thinking'
I want to play something wonderful, new, interesting, and proud
I want to convey things that are silly, nostalgic, boring, and shameful
Even if nothing comes of it
I've decided to turn it into sound
The count is four
One, Two, Three, Four
* * *
At the same time she finishes singing 'One, Two, Three, Four', the guitar and bass stop their sounds.
Then, from there, a drum solo began.
"Incredible...!"
That drum solo assaulted my body and my heart with a level of expressiveness I had never witnessed before.
It wasn't about things like 'it looks like she has many arms', 'the rhythm keep is accurate', or 'the rapid fire is fast', which are often used as paraphrases for 'the drumming is good'.
There was certainly a 'melody' existing in that drum solo.
A melody that was much more lyrical, romantic, sad, intense, and emotional than any ordinary song.
"There it is, the 'God's Dance'...!"
Azuma widened her eyes and whispered that.
Apparently, that drum solo has a technique name.
It was a drum solo that could make one judge that even retorts like 'What is that, a shonen manga?' or 'Is that the name of an izakaya?' were extremely tactless, making one think it's only natural it has a name.
In the world of jazz, it's true that drum solos can sometimes have names.
But that's only for the drum solos of a very select few drummers.
And what drum solos with names have in common is that there is a 'melody' there.
Even if someone else plays it, you can tell they are playing that song. But it won't be like that person. That kind of melody.
Because drum solos that aren't like that are just improvisations, so they don't get names.
"This is too insane..."
Jinno-san, playing the drums with a shining smile, had the entire venue captivated. No one could take their eyes off it anymore.
There's no mistake.
This person is someone who could potentially become one of the leading drummers at least in Japan, if not the world.
"One, Two, Three, Four"
When Jinno-san utters the count once more, the sounds of Eriguchi-san and Shaku-san return, and the three of them begin playing together again.
* * *
I want to play something wonderful, new, interesting, and proud
I want to convey things that are silly, nostalgic, boring, and shameful
Even if nothing comes of it
I've decided to turn it into sound
Since I've decided
I've decided to turn it into sound
* * *
It’s the best.
Even though it's a band that's supposed to be on hiatus.
The three of them were playing sounds, definitely not out of nostalgia, but toward the future.
Their gazes cross once more, and after playing the final note, Jinno-san stands up.
And then, with her sharp canines showing and her sweat glistening, she gave a proud, smiling parting shot.
"If you'd like, please give us our youth just one more time."
After Amane and Sako moved to the side of the stage, Azuma was standing still in the corner of the floor as if shrinking back.
"Azuma, what's wrong?"
"Konuma...! No, I just thought we were shown something incredible..."
Azuma looks down, unlike her usual self.
It must mean there was enough energy to make even Azuma, who had been acting so tough, end up like this.
"Indeed, Butter was amazing. The 'size of the emotion they want to express', the 'percentage of a song/lyrics that can draw that out', and 'whether they have the performance technique to draw that out'—everything was extraordinary."
"That's right, isn't it... Compared to that, my strategy is..."
"But, don't worry."
I cut her off. I can't let Azuma say anything weak anymore.
"What I received from Azuma won't lose to anything today."
As if that strategy could lose to anything.
"...I see."
I couldn't see Azuma's expression, but.
"Come on, let's go."
"...Yeah!"
Accompanying Azuma as she answered like that, we headed toward the side of the stage, and all four members of amane were gathered there.
"Alright, then, the usual circle, right?"
Amane smiles with a strong, typical grin.
...She's a cool one as always. She's always dignified at the important moments.
"I... to make the delusion, the dream of the four of us debuting together, into reality."
Amane speaks out.
"I... to win this competition to create the sound of amane better than anyone else."
Sako overlaps her hand there, and,
"I... to deliver the music co-created by the four of us to the world."
Azuma overlaps her words there, and,
"I... to perform the concerto of a sound that only the four of us can play."
I overlapped my sound.
No one talks about 'admiration' anymore.
"Alright, then, shall we do this!"
At Amane's command,
""""Oh—!""""
We let out a small, yet large voice.
Almost simultaneously, the lighting on the floor went out.
The BGM cut out, which was the signal for our entrance.
"Alright,"
And then, smiling with full confidence while backlit by the lights shining brightly on the stage, Ichikawa Amane.
"Well then, I'm off!"
She stepped onto the stage all by herself.