After continuing the training of hitting only the rim of the snare for as long as possible, Kanno-san, who had taken a break of about ten minutes, uttered a mysterious sentence.
"We will connect the right hand and the right foot."
"Connection...!!"
To be honest, I didn't understand anything Kanno-san was saying. However, by this point, I already saw Kanno-san as a wonderful existence who only put forth brilliant ideas, so my heart swelled with expectation for what she would say next.
"How should I go about doing that...?!"
"You have the same look on your face as Yuribou did when she first joined the club. Don't start worshiping me, okay? I'll send you flying."
"Y-Yes...!"
Getting scolded quite seriously for some reason made me flinch for a moment, but Kanno-san continued.
"First, hit the floor tom with your right hand in quarter notes. Then, step on the bass drum on the off-beats. Make it sound no different than if you were hitting the floor tom with both hands."
"Yes...!"
A floor tom is generally the drum on the far right of the drum set, and it produces the lowest sound among the drums hit by hand. And the bass drum is the largest drum that serves as the foundation of the drum set, played with the right foot.
The instruction this time was to alternate between the floor tom and the bass drum to create eighth notes, which didn't seem like a very difficult task, so I gave it a try.
But...
"This too, huh..."
I felt a bitter taste in my mouth at the sheer number of things I thought I could do but actually couldn't.
Despite needing to produce a continuous, flat sound like *do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do...*, in reality, it sounded bouncy, like *dot-do-dot-do-dot-do-dot-do...*
"It's quite difficult... Why did I feel like I could already do this?"
"Well, yeah. The right hand and right foot are rarely played in succession like this, so people often don't focus on it. In truth, they often aren't synchronized."
"What should I do then...?"
"Just practice. A shift in perspective like before won't make this work."
"I see..."
I suppose there are no shortcuts better than practice.
"Once the right hand and right foot are connected and you can move them freely, the entire drum sound will naturally tighten up."
"Understood. I'll give it a try."
"...Also, you,"
"What is it?"
When I tilted my head, she said it with a slightly embarrassed look.
"...You're shaking your hips too much."
"M-My hips...?"
Excuse me?
"Every time you step on the bass drum with your right foot, your hips lift a little from the recoil. Then they go back, then you step and they lift again... It looks like nothing but you shaking your hips."
"No way...!"
She's saying something incredibly embarrassing!
"Hips look cool when they're settled. Put strength into your Tanden. Be conscious of your center of gravity. Then you'll be able to do it."
"Understood...!"
"Right, if you understand, then repeat."
* * *
...And so, I continued that practice for about two hours after that. In the end, except for the final one minute where I was given the gracious words, "I'll let you play a little so you can know your growth and what you're still lacking," I didn't get to play the drums to my heart's content.
However, that one minute was incredible. I felt my own tremendous growth.
It's a pity there aren't specific numerical values like spiritual power or combat power, or blue transparent windows appearing in the air, but the actual sensation was a change as big as having my OS updated.
It's a common story that the seemingly unreasonable special training forced upon one by a master actually turned out to be useful, but I can't thank Kanno-san enough for letting me experience that from the very first lesson.
I descended to the bottom of the building in the elevator with my master.
When the elevator doors opened, the cold, transparent air pierced my skin.
"It's cold..."
"It gets chilly in the early morning. Well then, I'm heading home on the first train, but what about you, Takuto?"
"Ah, I..."
...What should I do? Although I brought the sleeping bag I borrowed from Sako, where should I use it?
"Um, the studio is..."
"The studio closes once at 6:00. You could probably sleep in the lobby until then, but you'd have to wake up in an hour—where would you go?"
"True..."
"If you want, you could come to my—"
Just as Kanno-san was about to say that, a beautiful voice called out.
"Konuma-kun!"
"I-Ichikawa...?!"
Standing there was Amane Ichikawa, her black hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a windbreaker.